Big increase in military flights

Refueling global hawks and other reconnaissance equipment .

Are global hawks capable of aerial refuelling? Given the trickiness of the exercise trying it with a UAV seems dangerous.
There are fighters out there. The UK typhoons sometimes appear flying out with the tanker but they then go dark once over Poland.

Watched one of the buffs fly back at 10000ft last week, it was about 20 miles away so had the binos on it. Without a doubt the dirtiest jets around (and not in a good way 😏), leaving a filthy smudge across the sky. It’s insane that the fighter cohort is so cutting edge, although the F15s are older than their pilots, but the heavy bombers saw action over Vietnam in the 60s. The two up today date from ’60 & ’61.
I’ve read somewhere recently that the upgrades they have in mind hope to get them through another 50 years, that’ll be over 100 years in service. Assuming a MIG29 doesn’t take them down in the coming months…

I’ve read somewhere recently that the upgrades they have in mind hope to get them through another 50 years

The engine replacement project is going ahead (8 new engines each, reducing the number was incredibly complicated) so they’ll absolutely be going for a long, long time

B-52 about to land at Fairford

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae5889

There was a NASA program a few years back trying to successfully achieve this, it didn’t happen and reports since are vague and ambiguous.

As it has a range of 9000+ NM it’s probably not that much of a concern if their homeplate is in the region.

Are global hawks capable of aerial refuelling? Given the trickiness of the exercise trying it with a UAV seems dangerous.

Just had a look around Europe to see what military stuff is up and about, there’s a fair few US C-17’s about, but this one caught my eye, as it was flying a racetrack course – Luxembourg E-3 Sentry, over Poland right on the borders of Belarus and Ukraine…

@creakingdoor – this piece will give you more background info about the Buffs, and ongoing upgrades to them the Rolls-Royce engines that are being fitted are already in use on a number of small military jets, and lots of civilian aircraft. They will improve performance and range, and previous work installing rotary weapons delivery systems inside the bomb bays had allowed mixed weapons loads, and allowed the removal of underwing pylons, cleaning up the airframe and again improving aerodynamics and fuel efficiency and range. Seeing them flying after a century of service isn’t an exaggeration! They first entered service in 1955, first flight was April 1952, 69 years ago,

Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that the B-1B Lancer, and B-2 Spirit will have both been retired from service and replaced with the B-21 Raider, (the first of which should be undergoing its first test flight very soon), while the Buff’s are still in service.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022/03/08/heres-how-21st-century-design-is-giving-60-year-old-b-52s-a-new-lease-on-life/

Regarding the B-21, nobody’s quite sure what it looks like, but educated guesses think it’ll be like this:

This is actually closer to what the B-2 Spirit should have been, before Air Force Top Brass stuck their oar in and demanded changes to be made, slowing development and increasing costs – not much new there, then…

I would not be at all surprised if the US intend to re assign the B52 as drone delivery system.
Use the heavy, slow, huge bomber to drop maybe hundreds of drones near to where they are needed but out of SAM range.
Then either control them from another airframe or satellite. If weapons weight payloads are necessary then range will diminish. So you could use many cheap, disposable one way kamikaze drones instead of a few million dollar ones.
Thebomb bay is probably big enough to allow for a launch and replen of a single larger uav too. Might need a tiny jet motor and folding wing but in the world of weaponry with mind blowing budgets these things are possible

A couple of long missions from Akrotiri tonight on Flightradar24

Friday and its 1950 hrs and look where the RAF Typhoon FGR 4 is pottering about!!!! (the aircraft marked in Red on the map) pic.twitter.com/hibU5a5U71

— @Exasperated(FORMER!!)Tory!!??????????? (@ExasperatedTory) March 11, 2022

Keep your eyes open for a C-5 Galaxy that’s heading in our direction, looks like from somewhere in Greece – no clear indication as to the take-off point. It’s over the Czech Republic at the moment, I’d guess it’s heading home, but it may land in the U.K.

@singletrackmind – that’s entirely possible, the military/aviation sites I see on Flipboard have talked about drone swarms for some time, along with ‘loyal wingman’ systems, where a single fighter or bomber controls a number of semi-autonomous armed drones. It’s even being mentioned about a pilotless version of the B-21, for particularly hazardous missions, where sacrificing a pilotless version would be seen as acceptable, leaving the manned version to act as stand-off observer/controller.

Might need a tiny jet motor and folding wing but in the world of weaponry with mind blowing budgets these things are possible

Look up rapid dragon. They are experimenting with dropping cruise missiles out of cargo planes.

I thought this was an intriguing flight pattern

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae01c6

Just going over cypress or looks like it.
You don’t often see Russian military or I don’t

Hmm, it flew over Turkey. Considering they have implemented a blockade of military shipping in the Bosphorus I’m surprised they are allowing Russian military flights in their airspace.

Ah I see. Destination Syria, so figures.

Picking up freedom fighters then 😞

B52’s just popped up, had their trackers turned off:
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae58b2

The war feels just a little bit closer when I hear some unusual aircraft hum past, look it up on flightradar and inevitably it’s a military one heading/returning to the Ukrainian border or has been around there looping and loitering around.

US F35 out and about this morning.

I was awoken by a bloody Chinook over Stroud at around 3am this morning, I guess it was heading to Fairford. A bit early in the day!

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=3f46a2
Anyone?

Anyone?

At the airport so assume fire engine or similar.

Antonov

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=508015

Super Galaxy just passed overhead – looks like they forgot to switch the gas off or something!

https://www.flightradar24.com/RCH466/2b37ffdc

USAF tanker returning to Mildenhall from northern Norway https://www.flightradar24.com/LAGR341/2b37ede1

Apache was out playing above Dent Station in the Dales today:

Culdrose Hawks out for final flight this afternoon.

Linky with timings.

Currently seeing a C-32B heading across the Atlantic from apparently Belfast – investigation shows it’s quite a secretive aircraft…

ID NORA78.

From ADS and U2 mode.

Saw 4 x F35 on the M6 at Tebay yesterday and thne 4 x Apaches at Ribblehead.

Air Force One currently on way to have a nosey at Russia ;0)

That must be the closest it’s ever got to a live war zone that is using proper air attack systems.
Poland bound?

It’s taken a strange route to Poland. I wonder if it’s doing a round trip on NATO countries?

Is that the Young59 Nighthawk?
It was at Mildenhall earlier on the ground. Charge ID if Biden gets aboard apparently.

A friend of mine earlier…😁

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-weev#2b43c0d4

simply good catering

Interesting circular flight path, must be doing some sort of calibration with RAF Fairford.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ac42fa

Looks like the restricted airspace over the SPTA got in the way.

B52 over Slovakia.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae5889

Oh and one over Romania too.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae589a

I spent Thursday and Friday at each end of Lossiemouth runway.

The Eurofighters are burning a fair old chunk of fuel and the Poseidon doing circuit and bumps. At one point, while walking with a group of young children, we had the ‘fun’ of the heat and jet fuel smell as a Eurofighter lit up at the end of the runway for a steep take off, only about 500m away….

They are busy folks up there.

Eurofighter having fun in the hills around Shropshire
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=43c7ac

That was indeed a calibration flight into Fairford. Was quite a nice chap.

Hmm not a normal playground, I’d imagine some pissed off farmers if it was quite low