Walter Finch
BRITISH fighter jets are leading NATO exercises in Spanish skies designed to train alliance pilots in the art of modern combat.
The eight Typhoon jets from RAF Coningsby are part of a training operation taking place at Albacete’s Los Llanos Air Base.
Described as a ‘flying laboratory for tactical employment concepts’, fighter pilots from all over Europe are being trained in ‘the art of moving, turning and situating fighter aircraft in order to obtain an advantage over your adversaries, and be able to combat or launch an attack.’
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The Los Llanos Air Base, just outside Albacete, is the unassuming home to NATO’s Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), which involves 850 personnel from eight countries.
It trains NATO personnel to improve tactical coordination between pilots from different air forces so that they can work together in the heat of battle.
For the first time, British and Italian air force engineers are working together directly by servicing and maintaining each other’s sophisticated Typhoon and F-35B Lightning aircraft.
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Wing Commander Andrew Shaw from the RAF described the training as an opportunity to develop leadership skills in a live flying scenario.
“Working closely with other NATO nations makes this training incredibly valuable,” Shaw said, highlighting how these exercises demonstrate current and future military capabilities.
The programme is part of a broader NATO initiative to enhance international military responsiveness and agility, with implications that could improve global defence strategies.
Albacete residents might catch a glimpse of some extraordinary aerial manoeuvres as these international forces turn the local air base into a high-tech training ground.
