Por Tierra Mar y Aire

Parece que en el ILA de este año Alemania dará el paso definitivo para integrar el Taurus en el Eurofighter, además del Brimstone 3: https://x.com/MBDADeutschland/status/1797266494566416698

"La Armada ya plantea una flota de seis submarinos S80 en Cartagena": https://www.infodefensa.com/texto-diario/mostrar/4898722/armada-plantea-flota-seis-submarinos-s80-cartagena

• La NSPA realiza el primer pedido automatizado para la reparación de un motor del A400M: https://defence-industry.eu/nspa-conducts-first-automated-order-for-a400m-engine-repair/

During the week of 7 October, NSPA successfully processed the very first automated A400M Engine Repair Order through the A400M Logistics Portal System (ALPS).
...
ALPS is a fully integrated, web-based platform built by NSPA to facilitate how A400M maintenance and logistics are managed by users from participating nations, agencies and companies. In addition to ordering spare parts, the system includes features such as Customer Price Lists, electronic Requests for Quotation (RFQs), an Order Management module, and an Invoicing module, accessible through a modern, user-friendly interface.

• El futuro láser de protección aérea británico destinado al A400M y al Shadow R2 consigue en una prueba derrotar al 100% de las amenazas: https://www.forcesnews.com/services/raf/air-protection-laser-destined-raf-defeats-100-targets-live-fire-trial

During the trial at the Vidsel Test Range in Sweden, the operational system defeated a range of infrared heat-seeking missiles being fired simultaneously.

All threats were quickly defeated using a laser with pinpoint accuracy, the system being designed and developed by Team Pellonia.

This is a partnership between Leonardo UK, Thales UK and the MOD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).

The system works by Thales' Elix-IR threat warning system quickly detecting and identifying the launch of missiles, using a series of algorithms to filter out background clutter so that only valid threats are tracked, classified and declared.

Once the threat or threats have been classified, an alert is sent to Leonardo's Miysis directed infrared countermeasure, which moves to track the incoming missile and directs a jamming laser onto the missile.

According to the MOD, threats are defeated faster than the time it takes to read this sentence.

• Airbus ofrece a la india "industrializar" el A400M localmente: https://money.rediff.com/news/market/airbus-india-employment-to-hit-5-000-sourcing-to-reach-2-billion/17590820241024

• Indonesia recibirá su primera unidad a finales de 2025: https://armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2024/indonesia-to-receive-its-first-a400m-atlas-transport-aircraft-from-airbus-in-2025

Las dos unidades encargadas contarán con los pods subalares para reaprovisionamiento en vuelo. La segunda unidad llegará en 2026.

• Airbus firma con la OCCAR dos importantes contratos: https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-10-airbus-and-occar-sign-a400m-contractual-framework-update

Global Support services contract

The Global Support Services contract, which covers all A400M-user nations, replaces the previous agreement signed in 2019. The new contract provides a full range of tailored services by Airbus to meet the needs of its customers. These services range from ground tools, spares delivery and technical support, giving flexibility to industry and operators to explore new areas of collaboration, concepts and services.

The A400M GSS3 contract brings the benefits of a fully-integrated suite of common services using shared resources and assets in combination with specific nation’s requests. Performance-based, it creates a new partnership framework based on pooling and sharing, with clear performance indicators to boost and incentivise fleet availability and reduce the cost of ownership.

Block Upgrade 0 / enhanced capabilities

The agreement between Airbus and OCCAR includes a second contract, the so-called Block Upgrade 0. It represents the first upgrade of the A400M’s operational capabilities beyond the scope of the original launch contract.

Block Upgrade 0 not only improves key elements of the A400M systems, such as flight management systems, it will ensure the A400M fleet is fully compliant with the latest NATO requirements. Tactical Information enhancement, Satellite based Landing System or Narrow Band SATCOM and Wifi will be among the new enhanced capabilities.

This Block Upgrade 0 contract is an end-to-end contract covering the development, certification, embodiment and in-service support of these enhancements. The initial phase has already started and will be completed by end 2026, while the next phases, including notably the fleet’s embodiment and in-service training, will continue until the end of the decade.

• T.23-10 a Turquía: https://x.com/MilRadar/status/1853448607195599018

@chema dijo en F-35 Lightning II:

Al contrario del resto de los aviones que tienen un ordenador para cada gestión, motor, vuelo, armas, sensores, etc, aunque luego se comuniquen entre si.

La arquitertura federada pertenece a una generación anterior ya superada. Hoy, incluso en la mayoría de los cuartas, se monta la modular e integrada (IMA). La tiene el Rafale, el M2000 indio, el Gripen E... pero también aviones como el A400M tienen este tipo y no por ello tienen más problemas.

Un ejemplo extremo de avión de segunda generación al que se le metió IMA fue el IAI MiG-21 2000: https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/mig21/?cf-view

El gran diferenciador del F-35 es el inmenso volumen del código que monta. Simplemente por cantidad, hace que el riesgo de fallos aumente y que detectar y remediar esos problemas sea mucho más laborioso. Un remedio parcial (no existen las recetas mágicas) es MOSA, que permitiría rehusar tanto software como hardware ya desarrollado y probado en múltiples plataformas, lo que reduciría el riesgo, los tiempos de desarrollo y los costes.

¡Feliz 2026!

@Vorlon https://www.defensa.com/espana/espectacular-ef-18-ala-15-conmemora-40-anos-creacion-unidad

Airbus presentará su concepto de UAV de escolta en el ILA: https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-06-unmanned-escort-for-manned-fighter-jets-airbus-presents-new-wingman

Los F-35 holandeses asumen la misión de ataque nuclear: https://theaviationist.com/2024/05/31/dutch-f-35-nuclear-role/

"Defensa nombra al teniente general Braco nuevo jefe de Estado Mayor del Ejército del Aire y del Espacio": https://www.eldebate.com/espana/defensa/20240723/defensa-nombra-teniente-general-braco-nuevo-jefe-estado-mayor-ejercito-aire-espacio_215303.html

Nueva misión del Tk.23-02 en la India: https://x.com/Web_AME/status/1823259543603679379

@blasdelezo En realidad se trata de equipamiento Elint/Sigint: https://www.facebook.com/Scramblemagazine/posts/on-friday-9-february-2018-the-finnish-defence-forces-dragon-shield-airborne-surv/2095022623857594/

On Friday 9 February 2018, the Finnish Defence Forces “Dragon Shield” airborne surveillance system achieved its final operational capability.

The Dragon Shield system provides larger cargo aircraft with the ability to collect electronic intelligence, communications or signals intelligence capabilities in order to enhance situational awareness for the aircrew and provide command and control nodes with better imagery intelligence.

According to Lockheed Martin, who produces this Roll-on/Roll-off integrated intelligence system, an Airbus Military C295M cargo aircraft was modified in order to integrate the Dragon Shield System.

This particular aircraft, serial CC-1 and c/n 035, was delivered to Finland on 6 March 2007 and joined the transport wing TukiLLv. This unit is nowadays based at Tampere-Pirkkala. Together with Finnish industry, Lockheed Martin heavily modified the aircraft and it was first noted with various humps and antennas in September 2013 at Tikkakoski. However, integration with all systems did not work out smoothly and it took until February 2018 before the final operational capability was achieved.

The ELINT/SIGINT unit, TukiLLv/3 Flight, soldiered on with the SIGINT modified Fokker F27-100, serial FF-1. This Fokker was delivered to the Finnish Air Force in May 1982 after a short lease that started in July 1980. The aircraft was modified to the SIGINT role somewhere in 1996 and was last noted in July 2015. Most probably the Fokker was withdrawn from use shortly after that and part of the specific role was fulfilled by the unit’s Learjet 35A.

Por aquí una foto a más resolución, donde se aprecia que no lleva la "bola" IR, que sería imprescindible para ISR: https://www.flyfinland.fi/view/12943/

"Defensa sanciona con 9 millones a Indra, Sapa y Santa Bárbara por retrasos en el 8x8": https://www.20minutos.es/lainformacion/empresas/defensa-sanciona-millones-indra-sapa-santa-barbara-5631384/

@Vorlon . Pero hay más:

• La ministra voló en Falcon hasta Albacete (260km por carretera).
• La ministra dijo que "Para la llegada del nuevo Eurofighter estaríamos hablando de 2028 ó 2029". La planificación original hablaba de las primeras entregas en 2026. Entiendo ¿? que se espera por el radar, el cual no llegará hasta 2028.
• El Ala 14 volverá a hacer labores de policía aérea dentro de la OTAN, sin precisar dónde.
• Las fotos de la visita: https://flickr.com/photos/mindefensa/albums/72177720327760965/with/54677970054

Contrato de 141 motores para el lote 18 (22/08/2025): https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/4283984/

Raytheon Technologies Corp., doing business as Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a not-to-exceed $2,878,495,761 cost-plus-incentive-fee, fixed-price-incentive-fee, undefinitized contract modification (P00008) to a previously awarded contract (N0001923C0030). This modification adds scope for the production and delivery of 141 F135 propulsion systems in support of Lot 18 F-35 aircraft production for the Joint Strike Fighter program for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, F-35 Cooperative Program Partners, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (17.3%); Indianapolis, Indiana (10.4%); Middletown, Connecticut (8%); Kent, Washington (7%); North Berwick, Maine (4%); El Cajon, California (3%); Cromwell, Connecticut (3%); Whitehall, Michigan (3%); Portland, Oregon (2%); San Diego, California (2%); South Bend, Indiana (2%); Columbus, Georgia (1%); Hampton, Virginia (1%); Manchester, Connecticut (1%); Cheshire, Connecticut (1%); Elmwood Park, New Jersey (1%); various locations within the continental U.S. (27.3%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (7%), and is expected to be completed in February 2028. Fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $575,726,390; fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funding in the amount of $537,304,610; fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $79,962,704; fiscal 2025 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funding in the amount of $77,336,243; FMS customer funds in the amount of $513,763,860; and non-U.S. Department of Defense participant funds in the amount of $228,500,253, will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

Un par de noticias que se me quedaron colgadas de marzo:

• Primera foto de un T4 alemán (recordemos que tenían que comenzar las entregas el año pasado): https://x.com/PAFFalconsPK/status/2037558810378985596
  
  Photo by: Dietmar Fenners

• Los británicos comienzan a producir las unidades turcas: https://www.zona-militar.com/en/2026/03/27/the-united-kingdom-has-begun-production-of-the-new-eurofighter-fighters-for-the-turkish-air-force/

• Unidades desplegadas por RU en el exterior: https://x.com/ArmchairAdml/status/2037520382962307434
  

Actualización de noticias del mes de abril, primera quincena.

• "Los Eurofighter del Ala 14 del Ejército del Aire estarán en el Gran Premio de Fórmula 1 de Madrid en septiembre": https://www.infodefensa.com/texto-diario/mostrar/5833441/eurofighter-ala-14-ejercito-aire-estaran-gran-premio-formula-1-madrid-septiembre

• Habrá un Eurofighter en el Festival Aéreo Internacional San Javier a principios de mayo: https://x.com/EuroAirshow/status/2041855001748807955

• BAE Systems potencia al Eurofighter Typhoon con el sistema de armas de precisión APKWS: https://www.hispaviacion.es/bae-systems-potencia-al-eurofighter-typhoon-con-el-sistema-de-armas-de-precision-apkws/
  
  Foto: BEA Systems

BAE Systems ha realizado con éxito un disparo de prueba del APKWS en Eurofighter Typhoon, marcando un hito en la búsqueda de soluciones de armamento de bajo coste y alta precisión.
...
Se espera que la próxima fase de pruebas incluya enfrentamientos contra objetivos aéreos, consolidando el uso de este armamento en misiones de defensa aérea. El APKWS ya ha sido desplegado operativamente en plataformas como el F-16 y el A-10, así como en helicópteros, ofreciendo una alternativa de menor coste frente a los misiles guiados tradicionales.

• Otro artículo al respecto con un poco más de información: https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/eurofighter-typhoon-apkws-low-cost-drone-defence/
  

• Y un vídeo: https://x.com/Gabriel64869839/status/2042341017328799837

• Más sobre el derribo de drones por parte de los británicos sobre Oriente Medio: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-892150

"UK Typhoons and F-35 jets, supported by Voyager and Royal Navy Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, have continued their defensive missions over the Eastern Mediteranean, Jordan, Bahrain, and the UAE," the post read.

Four RAF pilots have achieved the "ace" status due to the mission, the ministry added in a separate statement, having "aving blasted Iranian drones out of the sky during operations in the Middle East, protecting British interests, partners, and personnel in the region."

• Sobre las configuraciones que se están volando en este escenario: https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2026/uk-typhoon-fgr4-fighter-jet-shows-heavy-air-defence-loadout-in-middle-east-air-operations
  
  A newly released UK Ministry of Defence image shows an RAF Typhoon FGR4 armed with Meteor and ASRAAM missiles, highlighting Britain’s layered air combat posture in the Middle East (Picture Source: UK MoD)

• CAE entrega su generador de imágenes Prodigy para Austria, mejorando su capacidad de simulación: https://www.afm.aero/cae-prodigy-achieves-military-milestone-with-deployment-on-german-and-austrian-armed-forces-simulators

• Tras seis meses y unas 650h de vuelo, termina el despliegue de Eurofighter alemanes en Rumanía: https://www.pressreader.com/romania/nine-o-clock-daily-9jgg/20260406/281565182315174

• Alemania prueba el despliegue rápido de cinco Eurofighter en el aeropuerto civil de Lübeck:

• Una curiosidad sobre los EJ200 y cómo se soldan los blisk ("bladed disk" o "integrally bladed rotor"): https://x.com/Jordan_W_Taylor/status/2042866998766399553

On early engines, something called ‘fretting corrosion’, between tight-fitting parts in the EJ200 compressor, was cutting component life down to a mere 400 hours, rather than the 4,000 they’d been designed for. This occurred due to wear between the tight-fitting compressor blades and disc subject to colossal cyclic stresses, and needed to be eliminated somehow.

The solution was to change how they were made: Rolls-Royce elected to replace the conventional compressor disc (with retaining slots for the blades) with a single-piece, fully machined bladed disc, called a ‘blisk’. The rationale was simple: You can’t get wear between tight-fitting parts if there is only one part! To achieve this, Rolls-Royce needed to pursue a new and very unusual type of welding.

Simply put, it needed to use friction, -ridiculous friction!- to join the jewel-like blades to the machined disc. Think of it like rubbing your hands together to keep warm on a cold winter’s day, but taken to absurd extremes, ending with your hands becoming merged together. Uncomfortable body horror, but impressive.

Friction welds were already performed on the shafts that run up the middle of jet engines, to join multiple pieces by spinning them up and forcing them together until frictional heating, and ludicrous pressure, bonded shafts together. The advantages of this are significant: Friction welding creates minimum heat affected zones (HAZ), extremely low porosity and high quality welds with favourable microstructure that’s well-suited to highly-loaded assemblies like jet engines. It also works well with dissimilar metals, and can be done very, very quickly, with low-ish energy costs.

In linear friction welding, a specialized fixture holds a part such as a compressor blade and applies it to the workpiece with many tens of tons of compressive force, while vibrating 20-125 times a second at very low amplitudes of just a few millimetres. This rapidly generates exactly the same kind of frictional and compressive load that woks so well with rotating friction welding, and lets you weld blades onto compressor discs, which can be further machined down into finished ‘blisks’ at leisure, saving weight and adding extra life to the engine.

But it’s not straightforward. Friction welding is one of those weird hyper-specialised processes that’s thrives in strange niches, too awkward and specialised for mere mortals. The capital cost of friction welders, especially LFW machines, is nothing short of astronomical, so you only pick this as a weld method if the output justifies the expense… as it does with jet engine compressor blisks, where it nets you a juicy weight saving as well as eliminating fretting corrosion risk.

• Los blisk no se adoptaron en un principio en el HPC debido al escepticismo, por lo que los 85 primeros motores tenían un diseño más convencional. Por cierto, MTU también contribuyó al desarrollo: https://www.mtu.de/fileadmin/EN/5_Investors/7_Financial_Reports/PDFs/2019_Annual_report.pdf

In 1995, when Arthur Schäffler first unveiled the new full-blisk low-pressure compressor to the four Eurofighter customers for their EJ200 jet engine, the response was less than enthusiastic. “Heated discussions broke out immediately,” recalls the then Technical Director of the EJ200 consortium Eurojet, thinking back to that meeting in London. The representatives from Spain, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom had some grounds for their skepticism. Although a first blisk had already been used in a helicopter engine back then, the blisks that MTU’s Schäffler was proposing had a much greater diameter than the helicopter component. “With the EJ200 blisks, we’d gone out to the very frontier of development technology,” says the engineer, who is now 81 years old. Driven there by necessity, the MTU engineers were forced to try the new technology in order to fulfill the service life requirements for the EJ200. The high rotational speeds of the rotors in the jet engine—and thus the centrifugal forces—were so great that fretting corrosion became a problem for the conventional individual blade technology. Fretting corrosion here refers to the formation of little pits on the surfaces of the blade root and rotor groove, which can lead to cracks and ultimately to loss of the blade.

“The first 85 EJ200 engines that were delivered without blisks in the high-pressure compressor in stages 1 and 2 were thus limited to 400 flight hours—whereas the design had planned for 4,000 hours,” says Christian Köhler, who joined MTU in 1990 and is today the Chief Engineer of the EJ200 program. The blisks resolved the problem and fully convinced the customers of the integrated disk-blade solution. By the start of 2019, 558 jets had already been delivered with the EJ200 engines—and more are on order. MTU’s blisk experience was then further utilized in an experimental high-pressure compressor that was developed as part of the HDV12 technology program and which fit more or less exactly into the PW6000 engine for the A318. “This allowed us to show Pratt & Whitney our technological abilities,” Köhler says. With a few modifications, the high-pressure compressor is a standard component in the PW6000 today, and for blisk technology this represented the leap into commercial business.

• Un vídeo al respecto:

Parece que el piloto implicado en el último accidente de un F-35B (New Mexico, 28/5/2024), se encuentra estable: https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-pilot-f-35b-crash-kirtland/

Esta unidad accidentada era una instrumentalizada de pruebas configurada como TR2 y entregada en septiembre de 2023. Esta flota es muy escasa y con mucha demanda, por lo que la pérdida es significativa.

Contrato relacionado con los motores (29/05/2024): https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/3790490/
NAVY

"Raytheon Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a not-to-exceed $380,604,448 modification (P00053) to a previously awarded, cost-plus-incentive-fee, fixed-price incentive (firm-target), cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable contract (N0001921C0011). This modification adds scope and increases contract ceiling to provide for F135 propulsion system annual sustainment including program management, financial and administrative activities, propulsion integration, replenishment spare part buys, engineering support, material management, configuration management, product management support, software sustainment, security management, Joint Technical Data updates, and support equipment management. Additionally, this effort includes depot level maintenance and repair for all fielded propulsion systems at the F-35 production sites and operational locations, as well as training in support of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft for the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, non-U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) participants, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (40%); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (21%); Indianapolis, Indiana (12%); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (6%); West Palm Beach, Florida (6%); Brekstad, Norway (4%); Leeuwarden, Netherlands (3%); Iwakuni, Japan (3%); Williamtown, New South Wales, Australia (2%); (1%); Cameri, Italy, and Marham, United Kingdom (1%); and Fort Worth, Texas (1%), is expected to be completed in August 2024. Fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Air Force) funds in the amount of $91,144,011; fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $54,514,229; fiscal 2024 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $16,667,989; non-U.S. DOD participant funds in the amount of $49,397,375; and FMS funds in the amount of $25,311,056, will be obligated at time of award, $162,326,229, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity."

Otro contrato más relacionado con el motor (30/05/2024): https://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/3791872/
"Raytheon Technologies Corp., doing business at Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $301,762,768 modification (P00002) to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive (firm-target), cost-plus-incentive-fee advanced acquisition contract (N0001923C0030). This modification procures Lot 19 long-lead time materials as well as the manufacture, assembly, inspection, acceptance, and delivery of 108 conventional takeoff and landing F135 propulsion systems, 27 short takeoff and vertical landing F135 propulsion systems, and 13 Carrier Variant F135 propulsion systems. Additionally, this effort provides global spares requirements to include spare engines, power modules, and other hardware supporting the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp, non-U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) participants and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (17%) (labor surplus area); Indianapolis, Indiana (10%); Middletown, Connecticut (8%); Kent, Washington (7%); North Berwick, Maine (4%); El Cajon, California (3%) (labor surplus area); Cromwell, Connecticut (3%); Whitehall, Michigan (3%) Portland, Oregon (2%); San Diego, California (2%); South Bend, Indiana (2%); Columbus, Georgia (1%); Hampton, Virginia (1%); Manchester, Connecticut (1%), Cheshire, Connecticut (1%); Elmwood Park, New Jersey (1%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (34%), and is expected to be completed in June 2027. Fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $45,759,000; fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Marine Corps) funds in the amount of $21,319,250; fiscal 2024 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $18,408,000; FMS customer funds in the amount of $195,364,769; and non-U.S. DOD participant funds in the amount of $20,911,749, will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity."

Hola a todos, un placer estar otra vez por aquí.

Para ir probando, pongo esta noticia sobre las mejoras que están introduciendo los británicos, con las que esperan lograr nuevas ventas: https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/technology-enhancements-to-boost-eurofighter-sales-appeal-bae-says/158396.article

Además de las ya conocidas del radar ECRS Mk2 y el HMD Striker II, se habla como novedad de una computadora de misión unificada con 200 veces más capacidad, pensada para la LTE y que se sumaría a la nueva pantalla panorámica de presentación de datos. Respecto a la computadora, el hecho de que hablen de "unificada" hace pensar que por fin se dará el salto de la arquitectura federada a la modular integrada, como ya tienen los 5ª y el resto de Eurocanards

Nuevas operaciones de los Eurofighter británicos en Yemen: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-on-air-strikes-against-houthi-military-targets-in-yemen-30-may-2024

"On Thursday 30 May, UK forces participated in a joint operation with US forces against Houthi military facilities to degrade their ability to persist with their attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which have thus far killed innocent merchant mariners from Vietnam and the Philippines, damaged several merchant ships, and sunk the bulk carrier Rubymar.

Intelligence had confirmed two locations near Hudaydah as being involved with the Houthi anti-shipping attacks, with a number of buildings identified as housing drone ground control facilities and providing storage for very long range drones, as well as surface to air weapons used to impede coalition operations to safeguard shipping in the region. Furthermore, a set of Houthi facilities at Ghulayfiqah, further south on the Yemeni coast, had also been identified as being involved in the command and control of their anti-shipping campaign.

Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s therefore conducted strikes on the target buildings at these three locations, using Paveway IV guided bombs. As ever, the utmost care was taken in planning the strikes to minimise any risk to civilians or non-military infrastructure. Conducting the strikes in the hours of darkness should also have mitigated yet further any such risks. As ever with such missions, RAF Voyager tankers provided essential air refuelling support to the Typhoons."