UK | Exercise Red Flag 2001

[Jamie]

EXERCISE RED FLAG, 2001
Exercise Directive, October 2001
Security Classification: TOP SECRET

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XI. PRELIMINARYX
Exercise Red Flag is ana dvanced aerial combat training exercise with the intention of been held annually in the United Kingdom. Aimed to offer realistic air-combat training for military pilots and refine skills to support such aircraft.
For the first exercise in years, it's due to commence with combined efforts of the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force working against a common foe. Exercise skills to include:

1. Low Level Flying
2. Air to Air Refueling
3. Air to Air Combat
4. Air to Ground Combat

XII. BELLIGERENTSX

Blufor United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United States of America [TR][TD]Opfor UK Aggressor Squadrons

[/td][/TR]

[TR][TD]XIII. STRENGTHX

[12] Panvavia Tornado ADV F3, No. 49 Squadron, RAF.
[12] Panvavia Tornado ADV F3, No. 52 Squadron, RAF.
[12] Panvavia Tornado GR4, No. 38 Squadron, RAF.
[12] Panvavia Tornado GR4, No. 39 Squadron, RAF.
[4] Eurofighter Typhoons Tranche 1 Block 5, No. 115 Squadron, RAF, A Flight.
[4] Boeing E-3D Sentry Aircraft, No. 48 Squadron, A and B Flight.
[4] Lockheed TriStar KC1, No. 2 Squadron.
[4] Lockheed TriStar KC1, No. 6 Squadron.

XV. OPERATING BASESX

Designation	Location	Status
RAF Waddington	England, United Kingdom	Active

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With the agreement of participation from the United States Air Force, a memo was sent ahead to request their assets arrive at RAF Waddington; which is the starting location for Red Flag 2001. Once all aircraft arrive, each crew (Pilots, Commanders, Ground Crews, etc) would all undergo the briefing which is as follows:

"The scenario is as follows, allied forces are compiled of the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force, are to conduct an air war against a fictional enemy named the Republic of Alsatian. The enemy are known to have Hawk T1 aircraft and ex RAF Tornado ADV F3s. We are expecting air to air engagement. We have located a number of sites across the country which contain Surface to Air missiles which will be the main focus for the initial part of our air campaign. Due to the vast geography of the region, we'll have air tankers and AWACs as support. RAF and USAF commanders will remain here at Waddington to discuss plans and responses. All movements shall be coordinated together. The area of operations may be across the entirety of the country. Any questions?"

Odinson[/TD][/tr]

 

[Odinson]

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EXERCISE RED FLAG​

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TOP SECRET​

AIR FORCE DEPLOYMENT​

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AIR COMBAT COMMAND​

Unit	Airbase	Aircraft	Cabin Crew
2nd Fighter Squadron	Langley AFB, Virginia	x24 F-15E	x48 Pilots
25th Fighter Squadron	Dover AFB, Delaware	x24 F-15C	x24 Pilots
1st Air Control Squadron	Dover AFB, Delaware	x2 E-3 Sentry	42 /// x4 Pilots, x38 Mission Crew
2nd Air Control Squadron	Dover AFB, Delaware	x2 E-3 Sentry	42 /// x4 Pilots, x38 Mission Crew

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AIR MOBILITY COMMAND​

Unit	Airbase	Aircraft	Cabin Crew
5th Air Mobility Squadron	Dover AFB, Delaware	x10 KC-10	x40 Pilots

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DETAILS PER AIRCRAFT
F-15E - Fully Fueled; x2 Pilots; Pilots fully rested; All crew uniformed; Compasses and all necessary maps (terranean and deep-sea topographic maps) and other necessary standard on-board equipment and emergency manuals for F-15E; Full loadout of standard physical and electronic countermeasures for F-15E; x2 750-gallon Conformal Fuel Tanks; x3 600-gallon External Fuel Tanks; x1 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled Gatling cannon, 500 rounds of M-56 ammunition.
F-15C - Fully Fueled; x1 Pilots; Pilots fully rested; All crew uniformed; Food and beverages for two trans-Atlantic flights; Compasses and all necessary maps (terranean and deep-sea topographic maps) and other necessary standard on-board equipment and emergency manuals for F-15C; Full loadout of standard physical and electronic countermeasures for F-15C; x2 750-gallon Conformal Fuel Tanks; x3 600-gallon External Fuel Tanks; 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrel rotary cannon, 940 rounds; x4 AIM-120.
E-3 Sentry - Fully Fueled; x23 Crew (x4 pilots: aircraft commander, pilot, navigator, flight engineer; x19 mission crew) uniformed; Crew fully rested and uniformed; Food and beverages for trans-Atlantic flight; Full loadout of standard physical and electronic countermeasures for F-15E; Compasses and all necessary maps (terranean and deep-sea topographic maps) and other necessary standard on-board equipment and emergency manuals for E-3.
KC-10 Extender - Fueled enough to refuel other aircraft and fly itself to RAF Mildenhall; x4 Pilots (Aircraft Commander, copilot, flight engineer, and boom operator); Crew fully rested and uniformed; Food and beverages for trans-Atlantic flight; Full loadout of standard physical and electronic countermeasures for KC-10; Compasses and all necessary maps (terranean and deep-sea topographic maps) and other necessary standard on-board equipment and emergency manuals for KC-10.

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DEPLOYMENT ORDERS​

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CONTEXT​

The British Defense Secretary invited the United States to participate in Exercise Red Flag which would take place in the United Kingdom and involve 48 fighter/strike aircraft from each side, refueling aircraft, and AWACs as well as simulated enemy aircraft. The U.S. Secretary of Defense agreed and the operation was planned for October. This pushed the Department of Defense and the Air Force to finally deploy a squadron of F-15Cs and other aircraft to RAF Mildenhall which would be the permanent U.S. presence in the United Kingdom. RAF Mildenhall had been acting as the headquarters for the U.S. Air Forces in Europe command, but it had been essentially a phantom command with only some support staff until recently. Red Flag was planned to be the beginning of joint exercises and operations with the United Kingdom.​

HOMELAND​

All of the aforementioned aircraft would be departing Dover Air Force Base in Delaware in order to have a new permanent home in the United Kingdom, except for 2nd Fighter Squadron which would be flying out of Langly Air Force Base in Virginia and would only be in England for this training exercise. Careful coordination would be made to ensure that the aircraft would be able to fly together, in formation, and careful observance was made to ensure that all of the aircraft would be flying at (or close to) their most efficient altitude and speed in order to conserve on fuel. The KC-10 Extenders, which would also be staying at RAF Mildenhall permanently after the operation, would refuel the aircraft (with the amount calculated to be necessary) in order to get the to RAF Mildenhall. The Royal Air Force would be securely informed of when the aircraft left and approximately when and where they would be crossing into British airspace. The Canadian government was securely informed in advance of takeoff that the aircraft would be flying over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in order to get to Britain; if the Canadians had no issue with this, the operation would go ahead. The aircraft would not fly through Irish airspace and would instead fly south of Ireland's territorial waters/airspace. Throughout the operation, the AWACs would use their powerful radars to scan the sky for any potential threats or unidentified aircraft. All aircraft would have pre-flight checks done to ensure that they were airworthy.​

ENGLAND​

Once at RAF Mildenhall the aircraft would request to land, in order of those with the lowest fuel and at a safe distance and interval from each other. Once all of the aircraft had landed at RAF Mildenhall, they would be refueled and restocked as needed. Offensive weaponry, including missiles and live rounds from the F-15Cs and F-15Es, would be removed in order to avoid an accidental discharge of weaponry. However, conformal and external fuel tanks would be brought to RAF Waddington in case they would need to be part of the operation.

The aircraft had their preflight checks done before they were deemed airworthy to fly to RAF Waddington. All of the aircraft to be mentioned would fly at the appropriate altitude and speed with the appropriate amount of fuel to make it to RAF Waddington and to be able to circle the airbase for at least 45 minutes before landing (if necessary). The 2nd and 25th fighter squadrons would depart from Mildenhall first and shortly thereafter request to land at RAF Waddington. They would then be followed by the aircraft and crews from the 1st and 2nd Air Control Squadrons, and then the 5th Air Mobility Squadron.

Lieutenant General Alvin Daniels, commanding officer of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, would fly onboard one of the E-3s along with some other commanding staff to RAF Waddington in order to personally oversee the opening of Exercise Red Flag. He would ensure that American operations were ready to begin and would then meet his British counterparts in the RAF to discuss any necessary logistics or details.​

TRANSIT
FM>FN>GN>GO>HO>IO

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Jamie Nathan

 

[Odinson]

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DEPLOYMENT ORDERS​

TOP SECRET​

ENGLAND​

The airmen, aircraft, weapons, and equipment of the 2nd Fighter Squadron, 25th Fighter Squadron, 1st Air Control Squadron, 2nd Air Control Squadron, and 5th Air Mobility Squadron all successfully transited from the United States to the United Kingdom without any incident. All of the aircraft successfully landed, the aircraft were checked, and all of the crews and aircraft were successfully transported to RAF Waddington. As previously mentioned, Lieutenant General Alvin Daniels who is the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, personally flew aboard one of the E-3s from RAF Mildenhall to RAF Waddington along with some support command staff. The general and his support staff would join British leadership at Waddington to overview plans for the entire exercise as well as the opening days which would probably take the most adjustments. Daniels was especially interested in safety and standard operating procedures to ensure that the American and British pilots would be able to coordinate together in the sky.

The American airmen and their equipment were now totally prepared and in place to begin Exercise Red Flag with their colleagues in Her Majesty's Royal Air Force.​

TRANSIT
IO

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Jamie

 

[Jamie]

By this point, a total of 126 aircraft from the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force had amassed for Exercise Red Flag, the briefing that was delivered remained unchanged:

"The scenario is as follows, allied forces are compiled of the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force, are to conduct an air war against a fictional enemy named the Republic of Alsatian. The enemy are known to have Hawk T1 aircraft and ex RAF Tornado ADV F3s. We are expecting air to air engagement. We have located a number of sites across the country which contain Surface to Air missiles which will be the main focus for the initial part of our air campaign. Due to the vast geography of the region, we'll have air tankers and AWACs as support. RAF and USAF commanders will remain here at Waddington to discuss plans and responses. All movements shall be coordinated together. The area of operations may be across the entirety of the country. Any questions?"

With no questions asked by their American guests, work was able to begin. In the command base, where the RAF and USAF commanders met, a screen sat visible showing the operational area and would provide live coverage for any aircraft that were in the skies. Rather than discussing any plans and to mix up the situation, something neither the RAF and USAF were aware of, a voice echoed around the airbase reading: "The following alert is for Training Purposes" before an ear-piercing alarm echoed through the entirety of RAF Waddington. On the screen pinged four markers, each with their own ID Number (101 - 104) that stated unknown bogeys across all four corners of the United Kingdom. It was established the alarm was part of the Exercise and that it was down to the joint command of the Exercise to determine a response. Turning to his American counterpart, RAF Wing Commander F. Benson spoke.

"Four separate bogeys, some distance away too. I'd suggest the RAF respond to two, and the USAF respond to two. If you'd respond to 104 and 101, we'll deploy to 103 and 102?" he suggested, of course, open to a alternative ideas. "If that's the case, we'll deploy a tanker to Scotland and an E3 Sentry if you'd want to send something alike further down south? We can then deploy 4 Tornado F3's to each known bogey."

As the Commander finished his sentence, another 2 pings appeared on the screen of 'intelligence' gathered on the ground of two 'enemy bases' that need targeting. One in Wales (#105) and one near Southampton (#106). It is currently unknown as to whether these had any air defences either. The Wing Commander spoke again shortly after: "What air to ground capabilities do you have? I can deploy Tornado GR4's but if you have the ability, perhaps deploying to one each? We could then have escort aircraft from each country, for example, if we sent Tornado GR4s, your aircraft would escort them?"

Exercise Red Flag Control Room

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Secret​

"I concur," the American Commander said. "We can take on 101 and 104," he responded. "We will send an E-3 Sentry and a tanker east of Burmingham. We can also deploy four Eagles to each of our bogeys," he concluded.

"We have 24 F-15E Strike Eagles - we can definitely take on one of the facilities. I recommend that the USAF takes on #106 and that the RAF take #105. We can prepare some of our Strike Eagles for a SEAD mission; the rest will be armed to perform strike missions on the base in order to render it useless," he said.

The American team would abide by all safety regulations, including flight regulations, while in British airspace in order to avoid coming near civilian or unrelated military air traffic.

If the American and British command team were in agreement on what had just been discussed, an order would be given for the USAF to scramble 8 of its F-16C Eagles. The fighters were fully fueled, and simulated to be armed with the x940-round load-out of their canons as well as x8 AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles each. The USAF fighters would request to take off, in pairs, on Runway 02. The American pilots would follow the directive of the RAF air traffic control as it was decided who was allowed to take off in what order. The American fighters would fly together in finger-four formation. The F-15C Eagles were separated into two groups, "White Team" and "Blue Team" each of which consisted of four aircraft. White Team was assigned to respond to 101, while Blue Team was assigned to respond to 104. Both teams would be flying at approximately 600 miles per hour and an altitude of 15,000 feet, and they would be sure to not break the sound barrier.

The next priority after scrambling the fighters would be the deployment of the E-3 Sentry and x1 KC-10 tanker. Both of the aircraft, which were fully fueled, would request clearance to take off on Runway 02, individually. The E-3 would fly just below its service ceiling at 28,500 feet at 360 miles per hour while the KC-10 would fly at an altitude of 33,000 feet, and 1,000 feet from the right side of the E-3 at 360 miles per hour. They would fly, together, back and forth between Shrewsbury and Peterborough.

Once the E-3 was in the air and could begin performing its mission, it would search for the target and securely transmit data back to RAF Waddington and the USAF fighters that were on an interception course - specifically, the altitude and speed of the bogey would be transmitted, as well as whether it was truly just one bogey or multiple.

The order to scramble the USAF Strike Eagles to take on one of the 'enemy bases' would not be given until the plan could be confirmed with the British commander.

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

"That's agreeable, we'll task our assets to take out #105 if you could please confirm once #106 has been taken care of and we'll re-convene once we have an update on all actionable points." responded the British Commander. Air Traffic Controllers were naturally more active as they had a large amount of coalition aircraft to coordinate and a national NOTAMs was sure to be displayed to advise of increased military aircraft activities in the aforementioned areas. Following the USAF departures, eighbt Tornado ADV F3s departed in line-up as two separate flights, one with a heading for #103 and #102. Each aircraft were armed for an air-to-air confrontation via simulated means:

Guns: 1 × 27 mm (1.063 in) Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon with 180 rounds
Hardpoints:
4× AIM-9 Sidewinder or ASRAAM (mounted on shoulder rail hardpoints)
4× British Aerospace Skyflash or AIM-120 AMRAAM (mounted on 4 semi-recessed under-fuselage hardpoints)

The two air targets for the Royal Air Force were much further apart with one reported bogey at the Isle of Man, another to the west of Scotland. While departing and grouping into their respective flights, an RAF E-3 Sentry was lined up and began take off procedure at the earliest opportunity with its destination over Northern Ireland to coordinate coalition efforts. This was followed by a Lockheed Martin Tri-Star that was ready to conduct air to air refueling if necessary. Objective #105 was to be targeted by the Tornado GR4s where two had, after the queue of other traffic, left Waddington and started going straight south with the following armament:

Guns: 1 × 27 mm (1.06 in) Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon internally mounted under starboard side of fuselage with 180 rounds [note 2]
Hardpoints: 3 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) (UK Mk 20) Paveway II/Enhanced Paveway II

Awareness would be given via the pilots to ATC and the join USAF/RAF AWACs already airborne to help coordinate a response.

All four bogey targets consisted of the same:

x4 BAE Hawk T1
1× 30 mm ADEN cannon, in centreline pod
4× AIM-9 Sidewinder or ASRAAM or A-Darter on wing pylons and wingtip rails

The sidewinders permit the Hawks to provide a significant opponent despite its other technical limitations and would hopefully prove to be competitive against the Tornados and F-15s headed their way.

Odinson

 

[Jamie]

By this point, coalition aircraft would have arrived at their destination and the fight commenced. Air to air fighting had begun at postings 105 and 106 where the Tornado ADV F3 pilots, experienced in dog fighting, begun to engage the training hawks that awaited them. Starting with sidewinders, those in the Hawk aircraft dropped altitude considerably and fired off countermeasures in the form of flares and chaff where applicable, hoping to avoid hit. Naturally, any weapons fired were simulated as part of the exercise but it gave pilots from the RAF, whether attacking or defending, some valuable experience. While posting 105 mostly considered of beyond visual range engagement, posting 106 had descended to low level flying and for the purpose of remaining in visual range, pilots had discretely agreed for cannon-only fire. This permitted them to fly lower altitudes and much closer to one another for the purpose of training.

The Royal Air Force E-3D Sentry had entered its holding pattern over Northern Ireland to relay any details of movement onto the Royal Air Force and United States Air Force Command units, specifically focused on delivering intelligence on the movements of the Hawk Aircraft in comparison to the Tornados that were engaging in the air. Meanwhile, the Tornado GR4s entered their attack patterns with a stopwatch in the cockpit, marked 'TTT' on a roughly-cut piece of paper. Time 'til target. The WSO, or Weapon Systems Operator, operates with the pilot to deliver the payload. Utilizing high-definition cameras and targeting pods from within the cockpit, the WSO locked target before releasing the three Pave II missiles to Posting 105.

There was little doubt that the USAF contingent would also be arriving at their postings, only to encounter the same as the RAF Tornados. Four BAE Hawk aircraft with limited load-outs; cannons and sidewinders. However, they seemed to have the element of surprise with no initial attack from the American forces. They made their approach to the aircraft detected on their radars and fired two AIM-9 Sidewinders each. This meant a total of 8 sidewinders targetted at both 101 and 104, this simply meant a total of 8 sidewinders would be spread across 4 F-15s. Immediately after, cannon fire would follow. Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

The E-3 Sentry and KC-10 tanker would maintain their back and forth route between Shrewsbury and Peterborough - the aircraft would continue operating at the given perimeters. The E-3 provided secure radar data to the American fighters so that they had highly accurate location data of all unknown bogeys, as well as a mothership to focus communications on so that there was an encrypted uplink back to RAF Waddington.

White Team and Blue Team both arrived to the vectors they were aiming for - 101 and 104 respectively. However, they found themselves under a surprise attack from the bogeys. The leaders of each American team would immediately report radar lock followed by hostile contact back to headquarters - after relaying this message they would focus on combat. The teams would break apart, taking evasive action. Several of the fighters pulled back hard on their yokes to gain altitude and deploy flairs, while the rest broke hard right or left (minding each other) and also deploying flares. If the flares were ineffective, the fighters would continue to try to evade and deploy flairs again.

The fighters that took hard right/left paths would be the first to be able to engage against the bogeys. The pilots called their shots (i.e. "Eagle One, Fox Three") as they simulated retaliatory attacks on the bogeys. With each of the F-15s being armed with x8 AIM-120 AMRAAM each, they would at least have a numerical missile-to-missile advantage.

Both American teams would manage to quickly fire x4 AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles in response (from the fighters that banked right/left - one for each BAE Hawk) while another volley of x4 AIM-120s would soon come from the fighters that took on considerable altitude to try to evade the missiles. This would also mean that if the bogeys were not destroyed, the lower-altitude American fighters would be the first to attempt dogfighting the bogeys with either their canons or getting a successful lock on the enemy.

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Dogfighting continued between the RAF Aircraft and the 'opposing force' which consisted of Hawk T1 Aircraft, operated by a range of experienced and newer pilots part of the Royal Air Force, footage of Tornados and Hawks conducting low level flying over elements of the United Kingdom has been seen on social media sites and aviation enthusiasts hording the fence lines of RAF Waddington to take photographs and videos of departing and arriving RAF or USAF aircraft. E-3 Sentries, Tornados, F-15s, Typhoons and more -- its one of the busiest airbases in the UK during the exercise. After over an hour and a half, aircraft at postings 102 and 103 had ended their combat with one success to the RAF and one success to the Opposing Force. The aircraft involved had turned back and begun their end-of-exercise journey back to their respective airbases.

This was the same for the air-to-ground strikes carried out by Tornado GR4s that had successfully taken out their targets and with all coalition forces working together for air-to-air refueling or through detection of the E-3D Sentry... it was safe to say the exercise was coming to a delayed close.

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

Once the exercise was concluded, the American aircraft would return to the current forward operating base that they had launched from. After going over conclusions of the exercise from the British, all of the aircraft now based in the United Kingdom returned to the U.S. Air Forces in Europe headquarters at RAF Mildenhall while the aircraft that were only there for the operation returned home to the United States in a similar way to which they came. The aircraft would refuel in the United Kingdom and would not leave unless they could make the full journey home. Once the mission was concluded, the Air Force would securely send over all training data from this exercise to the Royal Air Force for review.

Jamie