Exercise Joint Warrior JW 15:2
Lone Piper, HMCS Athabaskan, River Clyde, 1 October 2015
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 fairly 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.
Until fairly 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 second of 2015`s Joint Warrior exercises took place between
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Joint Warrior JW 15:2
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Joint Warrior JW 15:1
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*Page under construction - other Exercise JW pages to follow*
HMCS Windsor (SSK 877) ex HMS Unicorn, Victoria-class Submarine, Gare Loch, Scotland.
USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) Alreigh Burke-class Destroyer, US Navy.
FS Aquitaine (D650) Multi-purpose Frigate, French Navy.
FGS Ludwigshafen am Rhein (F264), K130 Braunschweig-class Ocean-going Corvette, German Navy.
Joint Warrior aircraft at Prestwick Airport. 8 October 2015.
USN MH-60S Seahawk 167852 (HW-61) of Squadron HSC-26 `The Chargers` at Prestwick Airport.
Dassault Falcon 20DC G-FRAL Cobham Aviation, Prestwick Airport.
BAe Hawk T.1 XX221 Royal Navy, Prestwick Airport.
USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) Blue Ridge-class Amphibious Command Ship.
Although she arrived on the Clyde at the end of Joint Warrior, the timing of her visit was purely coincidental as she was not thought to have been involved in the exercise. One of two Blue Ridge-class Amphibious Command Ships, Mount Whitney acts as the command ship for the US Navy`s Sixth Fleet. A US Navy officer is in overall charge with a navy mission crew, but navigation, seamanship, engineering, laundry and galley services are all provided by the civil service mariners of Military Sealift Command.
Joint Warrior 15:1
*Page to follow*
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Joint Warrior JW 15:2
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Joint Warrior JW 15:1
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Other JW pages to follow
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