UAE and Britain join forces for training exercise

Operation Air Khanjar saw the RAF and Royal Navy working with the Emirati F-16s and Mirage fighter craft.

An RAF Eurofighter Typhoon taxis on the runway at Al Dhafra Air Base. The UAE used F-16 and Mirage aircraft during the manoeuvres, which grew more complex during the two-week operation.

AL DHAFRA AIR BASE // The UAE and Britain held joint air force and navy training exercises during the past two weeks as part of expanding military ties with this country, which the UK sees as a crucial ally in the region.

Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon jet fighters and airborne surveillance aircraft joined Emirati F-16s and Mirages in the air exercises, called Operation Air Khanjar.

The training also involved the UAE Navy and Britain's Royal Navy. The event, held from November 18 to December 1, sought to enhance "interoperability between the UAE and UK military as part of [the] UK's ongoing commitment to the UAE", the British military said in a briefing note.

The training increased in complexity as the operation developed, with more advanced flight manoeuvres and joint exercises with the British HMS Cumberland, which was conducting maritime security operations in the Gulf.

The climax was a combined air defence exercise involving the UAE Air Force, the RAF and the Royal Navy, designed to showcase the ability of the Emirati and British air forces to co-operate with each other and maritime forces.

The British units formed the 906 Expeditionary Air Wing, based out of Al Dhafra for the duration of the mission. The UK said the exercise showed its commitment to "broader regional stability" and enhanced ties with the UAE.

"It's important for us to understand how the Emiratis fly and it's important for them to know how we fly, and to be able to communicate," said Wing Commander David Crump, a staff member stationed at the Air Warfare Centre, which is based at Al Dhafra.

Some of the combat training involved dogfights, before the aircraft returned to base for debriefings on how the pilots could better handle these combat scenarios.

The two air forces also carried out mixed fighter training, which involved setting up combat situations for teams of different fighters.

"You put different aircraft types on the same side, so you will still have somebody who is the enemy, but you will still have, say, Typhoons and F-16s as the friendly forces," he said. "Working together [is] something quite difficult because the Typhoons have different ways of doing business and the F-16s have a different way of doing business.

"It raises the professional competence of both and it induces a sense of trust and understanding."

Most of the foreign students who train at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (the British army officer training centre in Surrey) are from the UAE. The country is operating alongside Britain in Afghanistan, which showed its strategic importance, said Maj Andrew Teeton, of the British Joint Force Headquarters.

The Royal Navy relies on the UAE for ports, and the RAF participates in training alongside Emirati forces at the Air Warfare Centre.

But the UAE's most significant contribution is allowing British tactical planes to use Al Minhad Air Base in Dubai as a final "hopping point". Aircraft such as C-17 transport planes, which carry troops and supplies to Afghanistan, use the base.

The base also provides logistical support to British vessels deployed in the Gulf, which are tasked with destroying naval mines in the region.

"They provide us the basing we need and give us the access we need," Maj Teeton said. "It's the right distance from the UK and the right distance from Afghanistan, in a safe country."

The exercises are part of the Defence Co-operation Accord, which was signed in 1996, but languished under Britain's former Labour government.

The joint exercise follows the first state visit since 1979 of Queen Elizabeth II, who was also accompanied by William Hague, the British foreign secretary. The defence relationship between the two countries was identified as a top priority for the UK-UAE Task Force, established under Britain's new coalition government to bolster political, trade and military relations.

Lt Gen Simon Mayall, the deputy chief of Defence Staff, led a visit to the UAE and met earlier in the year with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Air Khanjar included a military flyby during the Queen's visit.