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 14th July
with an extensive participant list. The ever popular presence of the
USAF, celebrating its 70th 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!
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