"With rows of economy seats, overhead baggage bins, television screens, and illuminated seatbelt signs, the cabin of this Royal Air Force tanker looks nearly identical to that of a commercial jetliner. But out the window, NATO fighter jets are flying just a few feet away, receiving fuel from the Voyager at nearly 30,000 feet and at speeds around 300 miles per hour near the militarized Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. It's a fast and dangerous job, where even the slightest mistake could be deadly."
"Under the cover of clouds and darkness early Thursday morning, the Voyager - call sign KAYAK21- departed from base at RAF Brize Norton, west of London, for a nearly nine-hour journey that took the tanker over the Baltic Sea and Eastern Europe, and on the edge of Russian territory, before returning to England. Several times during the journey, the Voyager refueled an assortment of British Eurofighter Typhoon and Swedish JAS 39 Gripen multirole fighter jets, a process"
The Royal Air Force Voyager tanker operates with a cabin resembling a commercial airliner while enabling air-to-air refueling close to Russian territory. NATO fighter jets receive fuel at nearly 30,000 feet and around 300 miles per hour, a high-risk maneuver requiring precision. The Voyager functions as a flying gas station carrying enough fuel to sustain long-distance fighter operations and serves as the RAF's only air-to-air refueling tanker, extending the UK’s operational reach. The aircraft supported Eastern Sentry missions after incursions into NATO airspace, departing RAF Brize Norton for multi-hour patrols over the Baltic and Eastern Europe.
Read at Business Insider
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]