UK Ministry of Defence,
Fast jets from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy will be flying in and out of RAF Kinloss from 14 January to 8 February to take part in a NATO Tactical Leadership Programme exercise.
Approximately 18 aircraft will take part, comprising of F16s, Mirage F1s, Mirage 2000s, Super Entendards and Tornados from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy. In addition there will be around 11 other aircraft and helicopters from the UK, France and Italy to provide support on some of the missions. Whilst the aircraft will operate from RAF Kinloss the majority of the overland flying activity will take place in northern Scotland, the Borders and northern England.
The flying programme is limited to only a few hours a day and night flying is planned for just one week – 21-25 January and all aircraft should be on the ground by 2200 hrs. Apart from some arrivals and departures aircraft should not fly at weekends.
TLP is a NATO course involving participation from air forces from eight nations. Its aim is to bring aircrew experienced on their own aircraft type into close contact with participants from other NATO nations. This is to enhance knowledge of the capabilities of potential coalition partners, through the comprehensive planning, execution and debriefing of flying missions.
The Station Commander at RAF Kinloss Group Captain Jerry Kessell said: “Whilst I appreciate that the noise from these additional jets may be disruptive for a short time, I hope that our neighbours can accept that they are essential to aircrew training and this training is extremely valuable in today’s volatile world. I do however apologise for any inconvenience and assure you that exercise planners and participating aircrew will do all they can to ensure that this essential training activity is conducted in a manner that causes minimum disruption to members of the public.”
