UK Typhoons assume QRA duties

The UK Royal Air Force's (RAF's) Eurofighter Typhoon multirole combat aircraft has joined the Panavia Tornado F.3 fighter on 24-hour readiness to respond to unauthorised or suspicious flights in UK airspace.

At the announcement of the start of Typhoon Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) operations on 11 July, the UK's Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall Sir Glenn Torpy, insisted that the RAF does not believe there is a need for the gun for air-defence duties. He did, however, say that the RAF is seriously considering "going down the road" of activating it for potential ground attack operations in Afghanistan later next year, saying "there is no doubt that in Afghanistan or Iraq a gun would be a very useful facility".

He went on to explain that the RAF often uses an increasing show-of-force approach, building up from a low-level fly-over to the dropping of ordnance, and that the gun "would fit in nicely with this".

As the RAF did not order any 27 mm rounds for the Typhoons, it plans to transfer ammunition from the Tornado GR.4 fleet in anticipation of the UK Ministry of Defence's Investment Approvals Board granting approval for the launch of ground-strafing training ahead of the proposed deployment of 11 Squadron (Sqn) in 2008. 211 of 527 words