The last week of May and the first week of June saw RAF aircraft and personnel training on an exercise in Sweden alongside eight other nations to work together in building collective security.

Arctic Challenge Exercise (ACE) is one of Europe’s largest air force exercises with 140 aircraft and 4000 troops from the UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and US, supported by NATO assets, all of which came together from 22 May to test their effectiveness in a realistic threat environment. The exercise is expected to be concluded on 4 June.

By taking part in the exercise, the nine participating air forces share knowledge and learn from each other to strengthen their interoperability. Personnel are tested in various disciplines including: (a) Threat evasion tactics such as low- level flying; (b) Aerial resupply (load drops) to friendly forces; (c) Search and rescue, and (d) Air-to-air refuelling.