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The Expeditionary Air Wing concept has its origin in the Second World War when EAWs were formed so that the RAF could project Allied Air Power around the world. During the Cold War era the emphasis turned to largely static forces with home defence being the main priority. However, since the end of the Cold War there has been a dramatic shift of focus back to the EAW concept.
The exercise was also supported by a number of external organisations, including Tactical Communications Wing, the Mobile Catering Unit, 2Force Protection Wing (RAF Regiment) from RAF Leeming, Air Movements & Transport, Airfield Services and Facilities, Logistics & Administration, Medical & Media and a Bomb Disposal unit. The presence of journalists on the airfield was a good opportunity for Media Ops to train new personnel in dealing with the Press.
As mentioned early, Exercise Crown Condor was part of the much larger Exercise Joint Warrior which is a 2 week tri-service exercise conducted in the Spring and Autumn of each year. This exercise is the largest held in Europe and involves ground troops, ships and aircraft from NATO countries.
The exercise was planned and executed by the Joint Tactical Exercise Planning Staff (JTEPS) based at Northwood HQ, London.
JTEPS aim is to provide coordinated training for all three UK Armed Services along with forces from allied nations. The exercise this year saw participants from all UK services along with eight Foreign Nations including Forward Air Controllers (FACs), six companies of Infantry, twenty nine surface ships, four submarines and sixty aircraft that flew approximately 80-100 missions a day.
The exercise provided much scope for Close Air Support (CAS) often using live weapons and in conjunction with Forward Air Controllers. Urban CAS was also practiced to replicate current Middle-East operational missions. The ranges at Castle Martin, Sennybridge and Spadeadam were used for these purposes along with the airfield at Llanbedr in Wales. The Tornado GR4 aircraft used Squadron callsigns “Wolf”, “Jackle” and “Vermin” and the Swedish Air Force Gripens used the callsigns “Akila” and “Eagle”.
Large Force Element (LFE) missions were flown against mobile targets including inflatable Scud missile decoys and Electronic Warfare (EW) emitters simulating surface-to-air threats. Throughout the exercise the EW range at RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria was used extensively.
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