Royal International Air Tattoo 2017

By: Scott Lee.

It is just over four weeks until the self-proclaimed ‘world’s greatest air show’. RIAT 2017 kicks off at RAF Fairford, UK on the 14^th July with an extensive participant list. The ever popular presence of the USAF, celebrating its 70^th anniversary year, will be a major focus. The USAF contingent may turn out to be the largest in recent times, and possibly surpass the UK presence! The USAF Thunderbirds, returning after 10 yers, and the F-22 Raptor Display Team will be making the transatlantic crossing to give the flying display a bit of ‘Uncle Sam’ noise and spectacle, while a B-52H and B-1B will be a major draw in the static park. They join up with USAFE contingents including F-15E Strike Eagle’s, Pavehawk, RC-135R tanker and CV-22 Osprey’s from RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall. One major presence not to be repeated in 2017 however, is the much publicised attendance of the F-35 from 2016, despite the type appearing at the Paris Airshow this week.

One less familiar highlight will be the appearance of the Finnish Hawk display team, the ‘Midnight Hawks’ who last appeared some 13 years ago. It will be interesting to see how this Scandinavian team put their aircraft through their paces in comparison to the RAF Red Arrows! Belgian, Spanish and Italian attendees are confirmed, while the British RAF contribution is falling into place. This includes the first appearance of an in service A400M Atlas which will be joined by the Airbus Military A400M display aircraft.

Last year saw the demise of the very popular and dynamic Ramex Delta display team from the French Air Force, who flew a pair of nuclear capable Mirage 2000N aircraft in a stunning display. The French however have replaced them with the Couteau Delta Tactical display with two Mirage 2000D aircraft, one of which sports a very attractive paint scheme! Adding to the colour will be another popular French attendee, the Solo Rafale display, who will no doubt be in competition with the Italian and British Typhoon displays and the Italian Tornado display!

Participants from the southern hemisphere are sadly thin on the ground, with none coming from South America or Africa, as yet. Japan and New Zealand have become regular attendees over the last few years, but only Japan returns in 2017 with their KC-767J tanker/transport. The NZ contribution however has been filled by the Royal Australian Air Force, and comes in the form of an aircraft never seen at the show before, the E-7A Wedgetail ISTAR platform, based on the Boeing 737 airframe.

At present 24 countries will be represented at the Royal International Air Tattoo in 2017, in what promises to be a spectacular celebration of military aviation. Over the next few weeks the list of attending aircraft will no doubt be added to as operational needs become clearer, and I look forward to bringing you some highlights during the show, and a more in depth report once the dust settles.

Here’s a look back to 2016 to give you a feel for what to expect!