Typhoon jets head for Qatar to help provide security for World Cup
Four Typhoon jets have set off for Qatar to help provide air security for this year's World Cup.
The jets are from 12 Squadron, a joint RAF and Qatari unit based at Coningsby in Lincolnshire.
They will police the skies over the eight World Cup stadiums hosting the tournament next month, protecting fans, players and the public.
Typhoon pilot Squadron Leader Luke Wilkinson said: "If (fans) see us – well, they probably won't, but they'll definitely hear us – then they know that there isn't going to be a threat from the sky.
"We'll provide deterrents, we'll also provide that ability to react to threats should we need to.
"It's going to be a great event to be part of and we've got a good pedigree going all the way back to the Olympics in 2012 with the Typhoons, I was there with them.
"We really do understand layered defence of a really global important event."
Qatar took delivery of its first four Typhoon jets in August, five years after signing a contract to buy 24 Eurofighters and nine Hawk Trainers.
It was part of a £5bn deal that also saw the RAF and Qatar form a joint flying unit.
The World Cup will be the joint squadron's first operational deployment and it will involve a total of eight Typhoons and 200 personnel.
Air Commodore Richard Yates, who is the senior responsible officer for the UK/Qatar Typhoon programme, said: "This deployment to Qatar is their longest to date.
"They've done several exercises together in Qatar but this is their first long deployment and there is an operational component as part of it.
"But the key part of the deployment is how we prepare the Qataris for owning and operating the Typhoon over the next several decades."
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