‘Immense effort behind the scenes’: What it’s like to fly fighter jet missions | Sean Bell
Despite an international coalition providing a protective umbrella over the Red Sea – Op Prosperity Guardian – the Houthi attacks against merchant shipping continued.
Shortly before midnight on Thursday, the US and UK launched a wave of attacks on 60 Houthi military targets using over 100 guided munitions, predominantly Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The UK contribution to the strike package was four Typhoon fighter jets.
Although cruise missiles can be launched from hundreds of miles away from their targets, once launched they can take some time to reach them and, while en route, the ground situation can change.
Fighter missions place the pilots in harm’s way, but also enable a much shorter time-of-flight for the weapon, and thus a more dynamic assessment to be made of the threat and potential collateral damage.
So, what is involved in mounting a Typhoon attack mission?
From the moment that the Houthis started attacking Red Sea merchant shipping on 19 November, US and UK forces would have been developing a suitable list of military targets and options.
Satellite imagery and routine intelligence gathering would have identified command and control nodes, radars, weapon storage areas and missile launch sites, plus established “pattern of life” around potential targets to assess the risks of collateral damage.
Diplomatic options ‘exhausted’
Once the two countries’ political leadership had exhausted diplomatic options, they would have outlined what they wanted any military action to achieve, and be briefed on options.
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UK and US hit Houthi targets
The political objective was to avoid further escalation, demonstrate resolve, and degrade the Houthis’ capability to attack shipping, but limit collateral damage.
The US appears to have identified a window of opportunity to conduct strikes – overnight to limit the number of casualties – and the UK PM approved the military action.
The Typhoon capability already deployed to Cyprus would have received their tasking several hours before launch, prompting an intense period of planning and preparation.
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US and UK strikes on Yemen explained
Pilots planning routes, weapons specialists matching weapons to targets – size of bomb, fusing, guidance required – and deciding which pilots would be selected for the mission.
In addition, the whole squadron would have been focused on preparing the four aircraft, refuelling, and arming, servicing and downloading vital software – a team effort.
But Cyprus is a long way from the target area – a round trip of more than 3,000 miles. Two air-to-air refuelling tankers (Voyager) would also be required to refuel the Typhoons both before entering Yemeni airspace, and also to provide the vital top-up to get the jets home again.
Planning these sorties takes time, co-ordination and patience.
Working back from the planned Time on Target – co-ordinated with the US strikes occurring simultaneously – the pilots would identify where the tanker needed to be, and when, and with how much fuel, for both ingress and egress.
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How UK jets struck the Houthis
The pilots can then work out their departure time from Cyprus, before which they need to conduct pre-flight briefings, get kitted out in flight gear, walk to jets leaving time to race for the spare jet if the primary fails to start – and getting briefed on the recovery plan should the pilot get shot down over Yemen.
Jets ‘bristling with arms’
Walking out to the jets focuses the mind – seeing the Typhoon jet bristling with live missiles and explosive munitions is a stark reminder that this is no training mission.
Finding the refuelling tanker can often be a challenge – especially if the weather is less than fair – but plugging in at over 20,000 ft (6,100m) and seeing the fuel gauge read full again, it’s time to depart the sanctuary of international airspace and plot a course to the target.
Defensive aids on, chaff and flares ready, watching for any signs that enemy radars are tracking you.
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Handheld Houthi missiles and bullets are a threat, but flying above 10,000 ft (3,000m) limits their effectiveness.
Approaching the target, the adrenaline is surging, and pilots must avoid getting distracted by other US munitions impacting their targets.
Read more:
Explainer – the comparisons with WWII and IS fight
How British warship repelled Houthi attack
Who are the Houthis?
Explainer – why the UK and US struck Houthi targets
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Houthi sites before and after airstrikes
A second rendezvous with the tanker to fill up again, and then the long flight back home.
Land, sign in the jet, get out of the immersion suit, g-suit and other flying kit, go to the bathroom, rehydrate, then prepare for an hour-long debrief.
And for the ground crew, armourers, suppliers and support staff, the work starts all over again.
A simple headline like “UK Typhoons strike Houthi targets”, requires an immense effort behind the scenes, and it’s a superb example of British experience, professionalism, and teamwork.
World
Body pulled from mine after police cut off supplies to ‘smoke out’ thousands of illegal miners
A body has been recovered from a South African mine after police cut off basic supplies in an effort to force around 4,000 illegal miners to resurface.
The body has emerged from the closed gold mine in the northwest town of Stilfontein a day after South Africa’s government said it would not help the illegal miners.
Around 20 people have surfaced from the mineshaft this week as police wait nearby to arrest all those appearing from underground.
It comes a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to “smoke them [the miners] out”.
The move is part of the police’s “Close the Hole” operation, whereby officers cut off supplies of food, water and other basic necessities to get those who have entered illegally to come out.
Local reports suggest the supply routes were cut off at the mine around two months ago, with relatives of the miners seen in the area as the stand-off continues.
Relatives of miners and community members wait at the mine shaft. Pic: AP
A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, with pathologists on the scene, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said.
It comes after South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not send any help to the illegal miners, known in the country as zama zamas, because they are involved in a criminal act.
“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be prosecuted. We didn’t send them there,” Ms Ntshavheni said.
An aerial view of a mineshaft. Pic: AP
Senior police and defence officials are expected to visit the area on Friday to “reinforce the government’s commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion”, according to a media advisory from the police.
In the last few weeks, over 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in South Africa’s North West province, where police have cut off supplies.
Many of the miners were reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.
Illegal mining remains common in South Africa’s old gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.
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Relatives of miners and community members wait near the mine shaft. Pic: AP
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The illegal miners are often from neighbouring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.
Their presence in closed mines has also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.
Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations.
World
Ukrainian frontline commander warns: ‘The world is scared of Russia and losing is not only our problem’
In the courtyard of a farmhouse now home to soldiers of the Ukrainian army’s 47th mechanised brigade, I’m introduced to a weary-looking unit by their commander Captain Oleksandr “Sasha” Shyrshyn.
We are about 10km from the border with Russia, and beyond it lies the Kursk region Ukraine invaded in the summer – and where this battalion is now fighting.
The 47th is a crack fighting assault unit.
They’ve been brought to this area from the fierce battles in the country’s eastern Donbas region to bolster Ukrainian forces already here.
War latest: Russia ready to carry out ‘massive attack’
The captain known by his men as ‘Genius’
In the summer, Ukraine launched an incursion into Russian territory, in Kursk
Captain Shyrshyn explains that among the many shortages the military has to deal with, the lack of infantry is becoming a critical problem.
Sasha is just 30 years old, but he is worldly-wise. He used to run an organisation helping children in the country’s east before donning his uniform and going to war.
He is famous in Ukraine and is regarded as one of the country’s top field commanders, who isn’t afraid to express his views on the war and how it’s being waged.
His nom de guerre is ‘Genius’, a nickname given to him by his men.
Captain Sasha Shyrshyn and Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay
‘Don’t worry, it’s not a minefield’
Sasha invited me to see one of the American Bradley fighting vehicles his unit uses.
We walk down a muddy lane before he says it’s best to go cross-country.
“We can go that way, don’t worry it’s not a minefield,” he jokes.
He leads us across a muddy field and into a forest where the vehicle is hidden from Russian surveillance drones that try to hunt both American vehicles and commanders.
Sasha shows me a picture of the house they had been staying in only days before – it was now completely destroyed after a missile strike.
Fortunately, neither he, nor any of his men, were there at the time.
“They target commanders,” he says with a smirk.
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‘The world is scared of Russia’
It takes me a moment or two to realise we are only a few steps away from the Bradley, dug in and well hidden beneath the trees.
The disguised American Bradley vehicle hidden in the forest
Sasha tells me the Bradley is the finest vehicle he has ever used.
A vehicle so good, he says, it’s keeping the Ukrainian army going in the face of Russia’s overwhelming numbers of soldiers.
He explains: “Almost all our work on the battlefield is cooperation infantry with the Bradley. So we use it for evacuations, for moving people from one place to another, as well as for fire-covering.
“This vehicle is very safe and has very good characteristics.”
The American Bradley fighting vehicle that Ukrainian soldiers have found vital in their efforts
Billions of dollars in military aid has been given to Ukraine by the United States, and this vehicle is one of the most valuable assets the US has provided.
Ukraine is running low on men to fight, and the weaponry it has is not enough, especially if it can’t fire long-range missiles into Russia itself – which it is currently not allowed to do.
If President-elect Donald Trump cuts the supply of military aid, the Ukrainians will lose – it’s that simple.
US President-elect Donald Trump has been clear he intends to change his nation’s policy on the war in Ukraine. Pic: Reuters
Sasha says: “We have a lack of weapons, we have a lack of artillery, we have a lack of infantry, and as the world doesn’t care about justice, and they don’t want to finish the war by our win, they are afraid of Russia.
“I’m sorry but they’re scared, they’re scared, and it’s not the right way.”
Like pretty much everyone in Ukraine, Sasha is waiting to see what the US election result will mean for his country.
He is sceptical about a deal with Russia.
“Our enemy only understands the language of power. And you cannot finish the war in 24 hours, or during the year without hard decisions, without a fight, so it’s impossible. It’s just talking without results,” he tells me.
Read more from Stuart Ramsay:
How Ukrainian units are downing Russia’s drones
Heartbreaking final moments of girl who tried to flee Gaza
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‘Losing will be not only our problem’
These men expect the fierce battles inside Kursk to intensify in the coming days.
Indeed, alongside the main supply route into Kursk, workers are already building new defensive positions – unfurling miles of razor wire and digging bunkers for the Ukrainian army if it finds itself in retreat.
Barbed wire rolled out in the Sumy region ahead of expected fighting
Tank traps in the Sumy region
Sasha and his men are realistic about support fatigue from the outside world but will keep fighting to the last if they have to.
“I understand this is only our problem, it’s only our issue, and we have to fight this battle, like we have to defend ourselves, it’s our responsibility,” Sasha said.
But he points out everyone should realise just how critical this moment in time is.
“If we look at it widely, we have to understand that us losing will be not only our problem, but it will be for all the world.”
Stuart Ramsay reports from northeastern Ukraine with camera operator Toby Nash, and producers Dominique Van Heerden, Azad Safarov, and Nick Davenport.
A weather warning has been issued for parts of Spain, as the country counts the cost of recent flooding.
The orange warnings are in place for parts of southwestern Spain – the area around Seville down towards Gibraltar.
Up to 8cm (3ins) of rain could fall within 12 hours, but the weekend looks much more settled in the country.
The latest warnings come just two weeks after flash flooding in Valencia and other parts of the country killed more than 200 people.
Malaga saw 14.2cm (5.6ins) of rainfall on Wednesday – Spain’s highest of the day – most of which fell in six hours.
All train services were halted in Malaga. Some flights have now resumed after the initial disruption.
Pic: Jamie Marchant
Emergency services in the province have moved 3,000 people from homes at risk of flooding close to the Guadalhorce River in the west of the city.
Jamie Marchant, 29, from Caerphilly in South Wales travelled to Malaga last Wednesday.
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He told Sky News that “debris” had been left behind by the recent rainfall in the region.
“Everyone is pitching in to clean up and some shops are opening as usual,” he added.
Orange warnings for the Valencia region in eastern Spain expired earlier on Thursday.
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The adverse weather could lead to total insured losses of more than €4bn (£3.33bn), according to credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS.
Much of the claims are expected to be covered by the Spanish government’s insurance pool, the agency said, but insurance premiums are likely to increase.
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