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| October 2007 | |||
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Two Tornado F3's of 25 (F) Squadron over fly the old Royal Flying Corps /
Royal Air Force airfield at Montrose, Scotland. Montrose holds particular
significance for XXV(F) Squadron as the unit was formed there on 25 September
1915 from a cadre of instructor pilots and students from the resident No 6
(Reserve) Squadron.
25 Squadron was saying it's farewells. After almost ninety two years of continuous service to the defence of the United Kingdom and one of the Royal Air Force's most senior squadrons, 25 Squadron is due to disband in 2008 and it's colours laid up. Association members; please visit the member's area for more details on this sortie. |
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| September 2006 | |||
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Six Tornado F3's crewed by 25 Squadron deployed to the Royal
Malaysian Air Force Kuantan base in East Malaysia for
exercise Bersama Padu ("Together
United"). The exercise ran from 4th to 22nd September and
involved all nations of the 'Five Powers Defence Arrangement' (United Kingdom,
New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia). Further details to follow but further information on the exercise from the nations taking part can be obtained from the following links. Exercise Fact Sheet www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/news www.defence.gov.au/bersamapadu/default.htm www.nzdf.mil.nz/operations/deployments/exercises/ www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.6821 |
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August 2006 An ex 25 Squadron F3 pilot became the first in the RAF to complete the F-22 (Raptor) conversion training in the USA. The former Tornado F3 pilot left 25 squadron in March 2006 and completed his training at Tyndall air force base on July 17th 2006 as part of the RAF/USAF exchange programme. |
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July 2006 25 Squadron F3's and crews took part in TLP 2006 from 19th June to 14th July. The exercise is held at the Florennes air base in Belgium. TLP is the The Allied Command Europe Tactical Leadership Programme (ACE TLP) and involves eight NATO nations. The objective of TLP is to increase the effectiveness of allied tactical air forces through the development of leadership skills, tactical flying capabilities, mission planning and tasking capabilities, and conceptual and doctrinal initiatives. TLP is the only large-scale multi-national air exercise taking place regularly from one single airbase in Central Europe. Included in the deployment was the Squadron's 90th anniversary jet. See 90th Anniversary page.
Photo's of 25 Squadron's F3 taking part in the TLP
can be seen here:
www.targeta.co.uk/squadronaction_25.htm. Photos also available in the
Association's Member's Area. |
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| March 2006 - Just Another Day at the Office | |||
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On a training sortie high above the Lake District the crew of a 25 Squadron Tornado receive a message from Scottish Military Air Traffic (Scot Mil) who ask for an intercept and to possibly assist a small business aircraft that appears to be in distress. Once permission to intercept is granted the F3 heads north at over 700mph towards the target, which is flying in circles just south of Glasgow. Radar contact is established and Scot Mil inform the F3 crew that they suspect that the aircraft (a Beechcraft 200) has lost all of its communication radios and navigation equipment. The Beechcraft is flying above the cloud blanket, in clear air at 15000 feet and 220 knots. Despite his slow speed, the F3 crew complete the intercept and are able to formate alongside him.
So began the eventful recovery of the Beechcraft to RAF Leuchars with
some hair raising incidents on the way. 'As our own situation becomes more
perilous, I am forced to break out as our altimeter is decreasing rapidly'. Read the full report from the crew in the Association's Area |
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| March 2006 - ATLC 06 | |||
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On 11 March 2006, 8 crews, 7 F3's and 89 groundcrew, led by OC XXV(F) Wg Cdr
John Prescott, departed RAF Leeming bound for Al Dhafra Air Base in the United
Arab Emirates. 25 Squadron was to participate in Advanced Tactical Leadership
Course 06 (ATLC 06), a large multi-nation, multi-aircraft exercise. Over the
next month 25 Squadron would fly with and against American, French, Saudi,
Qatari and Emirati forces flying the F16C, Tornado IDS and a whole host of
Mirage 2000 variants. 25 Squadron also had the services of a French Air Force
E3-F AWACS for the first two weeks of the ATLC. Full report and photos in the Association's Area |
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| November 2005 - Lord Mayor’s Parade | |||
 Click image for larger view. |
Airborne shot of 25 Squadron's 90th Anniversary F3 ‘XXV’. This photo was taken
on Saturday 12th November 2005 at 2000’ over Greater London. 25 Squadron was
tasked with a flypast for the Lord
Mayor’s Parade. The mandated formation was 9 aircraft, but in 3 lots of vic 3.
XXV was the
number 2 aircraft of the formation and was piloted by Wg Cdr Ian Vallely (OC Ops
Wing at RAF Leeming) with Wg Cdr John Prescott, OC XXV(F) Squadron as navigator. The photo was taken by the number 3 aircraft, approximately 30 seconds
from the Mansion
House, the flypast target. Photo courtesy of OC 25 (F) Squadron. |
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October 2005 - QRA
April 2005 - Exercise Roving Sands Roving Sands is a U.S. Army exercise and 25 Squadron’s contribution was to share with them R.A.F concepts of air defence, requirements of air power, airspace management and rules of engagement. Other aircraft that took part in the exercise included a Sentry E-3D of 23 Squadron R.A.F as well as F-15, F-16, F/A-18s plus the B-1 and B-52 heavy bombers from the U.S. Airforce. The project officer for the deployment was Sqn Ldr Steve Savage who was responsible for getting the Tornados, support equipment, aircrew and ground crew from 25 Squadron’s base at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire to the U.S.A. |
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