Exercise Joint Warrior

*This page is due to be revamped soon - individual pages covering more past JW exercises to follow*

Twice a year the UK hosts Exercise Joint Warrior which is designed to enable the armed forces of participating countries to practice procedures and operate as a multi-national coalition. The event incorporates a wide variety of training scenarios, including small boat attacks, boarding operations, large-scale amphibious assaults, air defence and anti-submarine warfare.

Until recently most of the aircraft involved in Joint Warrior have operated from RAF Lossiemouth, Kinloss and Leuchars but following the closure of Kinloss and Leuchars passing to the Army, Prestwick Airport has been adopted as a temporary base for Royal Navy Hawk T.1s of 763 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) and Dassault Falcons of Cobham Aviation Services.

Although the Cobham jets are civilian, they work closely with the MOD and play a major role in proceedings. They`re equipped with onboard systems and special electronic warfare mission pods for radar and communications jamming, threat simulation and electronic surveillance. The Falcons also act as hostile airborne targets for the warships by running in at low-level to simulate a sea skimming missile, or 'launch' simulated missiles electronically which the navy can track and respond to with their defensive systems.

The slideshow features just a few of the vessels that have participated in Exercise Joint Warrior in recent years. Most of the individual shots are each linked to relevant posts on Clydeside Images.com. The Warships: Foreign Navies gallery also features Joint Warrior vessels and check out my Stock Photography Archive.

Joint Warrior 18:1