Moment RAF Dambusters in F-35B fighter jets land on Britain's largest warship to take part in the biggest NATO exercises since the Cold War
THIS is the breathtaking moment a pair of RAF Dambusters in huge F-35B fighter jets gracefully land on Britain's largest warship.
The two Lightning jets joined more than 90,000 NATO staff participate in practical exercises in the largest European training exercise since the Cold War.
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Impressive footage shows the two gigantic F-35Bs flying over HMS Prince by Wales before landing on the Royal Navy aircraft carrier.
The five-month NATO exercise, called Exercise Steadfast Defender, is intended to prepare 32 countries for a war with Russia as brave troops prepare for any land, sea, air, cyber or space operation.
Commanders said the exercise was intended to simulate the period of “rising tensions before the outbreak of war.”
Almost 600 British armored vehicles and light artillery guns were put on ferries at the nearby military port of Marchwood Southampton on February 13.
About 20,000 in total British Armed Forces will participate in the Steadfast Defender exercises, including RAF fighter jets and Royal Navy warships and submarines.
The Royal Navy has also sent two aircraft carriers – HMS Prince of Wales and the even larger HMS Queen Elizabeth and eight warships to conduct and test conflict scenarios in exercises called “Joint Warrior”.
They are expected to continue through May.
During the successful NATO operation, alliance members will practice how American forces can reinforce European allies on the alliance's eastern flank if a conflict were to flare up.
American paratroopers will later dive into the east Europe as part of the 'Swift Response' exercise, while thousands of troops will be fighting battles on the other side Poland and to the Baltic States for “Dragon-24”.
More than 50 ships, from aircraft carriers to destroyers, will participate, as well as more than 80 fighter jets, helicopters and drones and at least 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry fighting vehicles.
The plan behind Steadfast Defender 2024 (STDE24) is to “advance readiness at strategic, operational and tactical levels,” said Brigadier General Gunnar Bruegner.
He added: “The sheer scale and ambition of this exercise will show us where we stand and how we need to adapt.”
One that will send a “clear message inside and outside the military (alliance) that we are ready!”
It's a chance to do “stress testing from top to bottom,” Bruegner said.
“This is how we prepare, emphasize this with troops on the ground and build capacity for deterrence.”
THE SNOW WAR
Last month I spoke to The Sun, Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey explained that as NATO went to war with Russia, Britain's main role would be fighting in Arctic conditions – some of the toughest in the world.
This left British forces on the Royal Marines' Cold Weather Airline Operators Course have trained to survive and operate in icy environments.
Temperatures in Norway can regularly drop well below -20 degrees Celsius.
The troops have undergone brutal week-long training packages to prepare.
This includes lessons in classrooms, followed by five evenings of field training, where they learn to spot drones, build forts and use some of the latest gadgets the military has at its disposal.
This comes after a damning new report detailed how The British army is not prepared for an outright war with Russia.
The “overloaded” British Armed Forces would last only a “few months” and are “well below the level needed to confidently counter a US threat Russian army”, MPs warned.
History of the Dambusters
In 1943, a new squadron was formed to carry out attacks on dams in Germany, which would later become known as the Dambusters.
Initially codenamed Squadron
On the night of May 16, 1943, Gibson led his men on a daring bombardment to destroy three dams in the Ruhr Valley, the industrial heart of Germany.
The mission was called Operation 'Chastise' and was seen as a revolutionary event for the bomb used in the attacks.
The dams were fiercely protected as torpedo nets in the water stopped any underwater attack and anti-aircraft guns defended them from enemy bombers from above.
So the team had to come up with a secret weapon to win the battles: the 'bouncing bomb'.
During the attacks, 133 aircrew in 19 Lancasters took off in three waves to destroy the dams, but suffered heavy losses.
Fifty-three men were killed and three ended up as prisoners of war of 617 Squadron, while a further 1,300 people died in the resulting flooding.
The surviving crew came home as heroes and leader Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his part in the attack.
The 617 Squadron was then used as a specialist precision bombing unit, experimenting with new bomb sights, target marking techniques and colossal new 'earthquake bombs'.
Since then, the squadron has played a crucial role in British-backed combat and has come to dominate the skies with F-35B Lightning jets.
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