Big increase in military flights

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About to get loud over Norfolk

Tornado!

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Not seen any blackhawks close to the border before..

Tornado!

They have kept a handful for dropping nuclear weapons.

Cant have them on Eurofighters or something. They have now ordered some F-35s to take over the role.

Not seen any blackhawks close to the border before..

They’ve been around since February. Check the “History” in the aircraft details.

Any idea what just flew over East Lothian towards Edinburgh and I assume over Scotland to the atlantic? Big multi engined jet at 20,000ft plus escorted by at least 5 fighters and another smaller multi engined jet?

I’ve seen similar before, I think it’s a Stratotanker refuelling plane topping up the fighters.

I just saw them fly overhead and came online to check the websites, but nothing is showing up.

Should be near Perth by now.

Stratotanker popped up again about 5 minutes ago, now about to cross the Minches. Not seen them so clearly over here before, clearly audible and huge contrails.

3 Merlins just flew past my house but interestingly only 1 pops up on the flight tracker

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Interesting Italian Gulfstream G550 doing 8’s around Ludbin at the moment.

3 Merlins just flew past my house but interestingly only 1 pops up on the flight tracker

That seems to be fairly normal. only the lead will switch it on.

two apache a couple of weeks back, clearly drawing a cock and balls… but only one side of the shaft shows on flightradar 🙁

Pair of C-130s out of Brize Norton, did a loop over the sea south of Edinburgh.

https://www.flightradar24.com/OMEN1/2b678394

These have been recorded flying into Serbia, six Chinese Y-20 military transport aircraft, worth keeping an eye open for more flights.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/45158/half-a-dozen-chinese-y-20-cargo-jets-popped-up-over-europe-last-night

Chinese heading back now
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Nothing to see here….

RSD82 from Brussels https://fr24.com/RSD082/2b773e38

Spies Diplomats being sent home?

Yes that checks out

Russia is sending an aircraft to collect diplomats expelled from Spain. Routing around airspace bans and through international airspace adds 3,678km—more than doubling the length of the flight. https://t.co/FxKrgDvtqA pic.twitter.com/v07T9wdiDV

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) April 11, 2022

RAF RC-135 on its way back home after a jaunt across to Moldova, I like the way it very neatly followed the borders south…

Not military as such, but nobody knows what it was doing, especially considering it’s country of origin;

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/mystery-giant-unidentified-russian-antanov-23712511

Google has un-cloaked Russian military bases Enjoy the satellite views

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being followed by a couple of F15s, any guesses what it is?
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I would assume another F-15 or maybe a F-35.

3 x F15’s getting ready to do the Mach Loop I reckon 😉

For anyone interested FORTE10 has its own redit page.
Global hawk that’s currently parked over the black sea.

Lancaster heading east just south of RAF Benson, did a few turns over north east bristol earlier.

I’m currently watching (both out of the window and via marinetraffic.com) a SAR helicopter in the area of the Lairig Ghru. Unlikely to be an exercise, I just hope it’s not bad news.

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-3.699/centery:57.104/zoom:12

From that article above, Zhukovsky Airport is a bit of a Soviet era plane graveyard

Embrace your inner geek here: Tu-144

Buran – 55.57121272401071, 38.14295161303361

Closure on last night’s callout.

Call out last night at 9pm for a walker in difficulty on Braeriach. A potential for a stretcher carry, 17 team members made their way onto the hill with the help of Rescue 151. After treatment the casualty was able to walk off with help from the team. Back at base at 03:30! ?☕ pic.twitter.com/BpjvFS33EC

— Cairngorm MRT (@cairngorm_mrt) May 3, 2022

55.571190, 38.143210

Is that the Russian space shuttle I thought there was only one left and it was falling to bits in a hanger?

pk13

Is that the Russian space shuttle I thought there was only one left and it was falling to bits in a hanger?

It does look like it.
If you go directly east from that pin, you also get to what look like Concordski (the Tupolev TU-144).

55.570507, 38.157739

There’s some cool looking stuff in amongst that lot.

Any idea what this is? It looks like an AWACS of some type..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myasishchev_VM-T

Not been to that airfield.

One I went to in about 1995 was Monino Airfield Museum. Was a Buran spaceplane very early protoype there iirc.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Central+Air+Force+Museum/@55.8333839,38.1821707,725m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x414ad1ab79d279a7:0xda2069124df8f6e6!2sMonino,+Moscow+Oblast,+Russia!3b1!8m2!3d55.8426843!4d38.1871216!3m4!1s0x414ad04c4511e6d9:0xa3aadf566b4a7f8!8m2!3d55.8328848!4d38.182853

The other one I went to was near Samara, which did have a (kinda) airworthy Tu144. I got a guided tour in it, with students from the local Uni doing lab work or something. It was all powered up on aux power.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Uchebnyy+Aerodrom+Sgau/@53.2407876,50.3629672,325m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x41661a740f991e4b:0x4e3e80dbdccebe9d!8m2!3d53.2409229!4d50.3626833

I hope those links work.

Links work.
I’ve just been looking at the Google review photos that’s a huge amount of “stuff” world’s biggest hele ect. there is enough titanium to keep bike builders going forevermore.
You could park a ti fighter in that display and it would just fit right in.
I’m not sure if communism made Russian military go that way out of need or fantastic engineering but they knew how to build funky planes

Some info here about the Jubilee Flypast in June and there’s a rehearsal for it at the end of May as well:

https://www.military-airshows.co.uk/press22/platinumjubileeflypast2022.htm

There’s an Italian Global Hawk up at 54,000 ft, it’s track first showed over Souther Greece, it’s flown over Romania and is now heading into Hungary. I wonder what it’s keeping an eye on…?

I was reading earlier that there’s been a modification made available for the Reaper armed drones giving them folding wings and tail, and an STOL capability, allowing their use from big flat-tops and other short runways.
This now gives navy and marine operations a long endurance facility for anti-shipping and submarine observation and offence. They could easily operate from our new carriers as well.

Had a V-22 Osprey fly over me the other day. Very strange looking thing that is.

14 Typhoons just heading out East across the North Sea 😯