Cobham Aviation Services participates in Exercise JOINT WARRIOR

Six Cobham Aviation Services UK [CAvS UK] aircraft supported by a team of around 30 crew, engineers and operational staff recently took part in Exercise Joint Warrior – NATO’s two-week, multinational training exercise led by Joint Tactical Exercise Planning Staff from the United Kingdom.

Based in North West Scotland, the exercise which ran from 30 March to April 11 involved 35 warships, five submarines and 59 aircraft and helicopters from 13 countries; with CAvS UK being the only non-military unit to take a key role in the delivery of the exercise.

Five Falcon Jets and one DA42 were deployed to Prestwick to deliver a range of operational readiness training activities including electronic warfare (EW), threat simulation, target towing and UAV simulation.

Working in conjunction with 736 Naval Air Squadron, four Falcons flew alongside Hawk aircraft disguised as missiles during a succession of EW and threat simulation tasks to test the tactics, techniques and procedures of various British and foreign military ships. A series of live firing tests were also supported by another Falcon fitted with target towing capability.

Whilst the Falcons remained in Scotland for the duration, our DA42 aircraft, tasked with simulating UAV activity (flying low and slow with full motion video capability) made its way down to Cornwall during an amphibious warfare exercise.

Exercise Joint Warrior is intended to provide forces with a variety of joint training scenarios that explore real world challenges.

During Exercise Joint Warrior, NATO celebrated its 70th anniversary on 4 April, a milestone recognised by CAvS UK having shared a long partnership with the organisation.

Military personnel from the UK, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the US were all involved in Exercise Joint Warrior.