RAF lands Globemaster on frozen runway to deliver fuel to planet's most northerly station

Twelve members of the RAF's No. 99 Squadron have spent a week in the Arctic Circle helping to resupply the most northerly station on Earth.

The RAF C-17 Globemaster aircrew and ground support crew have been working alongside their Canadian counterparts as they resupply Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert, more than 1,100 miles inside the Arctic Circle.

The squadron was very far from its normal base at Brize Norton, where they normally take care of the RAF's transport and air-to-air refuelling capability.

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CFS Alert is the most northerly permanent settlement on Earth and it is used by the Canadians for climate research and military operations.

When the Arctic Sea freezes once a year, the only way to get to or from the station is by air on a 5,500ft-long snow and gravel runway, and only a few aircraft are up to the job – the Globemaster being one of them.

"When it's -40°C, even the simplest things can get difficult real quick, and when you're landing a 200-tonne jet on a strip less than half the length of Heathrow, that's also covered in ice, it's far from simple!" Flight Lieutenant Chandler, RAF detachment commander, said.

Known as Operation Boxtop, the resupply happens twice a year, when fuel and equipment is delivered in order to keep the base running throughout the brutal Arctic winters.

The C-17 goes from Pituffik Space Base in Greenland to CFS Alert.

RAF crew joined the operation for the second year in a row to learn polar operations that involve semi-permanently frozen runways.

"It's been amazing to learn from the Canadians. These guys are born for this stuff, and training this far north is an awesome opportunity we can't get anywhere else," Flight Lieutenant Shaw, Junior co-pilot, said.

Nearly two million litres of jet fuel were delivered over the course of two weeks, straight from the aircraft's tanks to containers in CFS Alert.

The fuel will run everything from heaters and generators to radios and scientific equipment.