Information released today from the RAF regarding Exercise Cobra Warrior has confirmed that the Belgian Defence – Air Component, Finnish Air Force, Royal Saudi Air Force and Indian Air Force are taking part in Exercise Cobra Warrior.
This is the first official confirmation of the air arms taking part, apart from India which we covered previously on Key Aero. Interestingly, the latest rumours were that the Indian Air Force had cancelled their participation in the exercise. The dates for the exercise have not yet been released, but NOTAMs suggest it will run from March 6 to March 24.
Exercise Cobra Warrior is run by No 92 Squadron, along with the RAF’s Air and Space Warfare Centre. It is a biannual exercise designed to exercise participants in high intensity large force tactical training.
Talking about the last such exercise held in September 2022, the then Officer Commanding of the aforementioned No 92 Squadron, Wg Cdr Abbott, said: “Exercise Cobra Warrior is the most important exercise that the RAF runs here in the UK and provides us with the opportunity to work with key NATO allies in a simulated contested and degraded operational environment that synchronises multi-domain effects. It is only by doing this that our aviators are able to learn and maintain the highly complex skills that are required to conduct such operations now and in the future as part of a coalition.”
The press release on the September 2022 edition of Cobra Warrior also stated: “For the RAF one other key aspect of the exercise is that it gives the opportunity to complete the required training within the Mission Employment Phase for future RAF Weapons Instructors. The level of training combined with the variety of training partners helps to achieve the required standards within the Weapons School Criteria.”
