VIDEO: Coningsby's Typhoons training with Jordanian counterparts in Wadi Rum desert

RAF Coningsby's Typhoons conducting low-level flying training with the Royal Jordanian Air Force F-16s. Photo: YouTube

The fighter pilots have been conducting low-level flying training with their Jordanian counterparts in the Wadi Rum desert, which was used for filming on films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, and Dune.

Maintaining a long-standing partnership with their Jordanian counterparts, the fighter jet sorties saw the pilots flying in formation with Royal Jordanian Air Force F-16s as part of a series of training events with Jordanian forces, honing the low flying skills required for tasks such as evading adversary aircraft and air defence systems.

Flying in a mountainous desert region – reaching top speeds of 400 miles an hour, at 500ft from the ground – presents additional navigational and environmental challenges and requires flying with exceptional flying skills, mutual trust, strong communication, and total precision around the terrain, while continuously maintaining safe distances from each other.

Essential support was provided by an RAF Voyager, which provided air-to-air refuelling to prolong the duration and range of the training.

Shortly after the demanding sortie Officer Commanding 3 (Fighter) Squadron, Wing Commander Buchler, said: “It is nearly 20 years since I last flew over Wadi Rum in a Jaguar, but the landscape still takes your breath away as you cruise in from the North. The rich history of the region is symbolic of our close ties with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, and it is always a pleasure to conduct training serials with them.

"We fly and fight in a very similar fashion, and their support on Op Shader is extremely valuable. I look forward to joining their F16s at Low Level over Stars War country in the coming years.”

The Typhoons from 3(Fighter) Squadron flew from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, where they are currently supporting operations in the Middle East to help combat Daesh in Iraq and Eastern Syria, as part of the international coalition against terrorism.

You can watch footage of the sortie via the YouTube link here.