A spectacular video of an Alpha Scramble with Eurofighter aircraft from Spain and Germany

@DefAviation ES 4·17·2024 · 20:46 0

NATO fighter aircraft have a series of codes to designate orders issued to pilots doing QRA duty.

The history of the Eurofighter Typhoon and the numbers that summarize its current situation
The joint mission of Eurofighter combat aircraft from Spain and Germany in Estonia

In a QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) service, fighters have to take off within a maximum of 15 minutes after receiving an alert. This alert can be of various types and has the generic name of "Scramble", which indicates that the pilot must take off as soon as possible, receiving broader instructions already in the air. There are the following codes for Scramble alerts:

• Alpha Scramble (A-SCR): high priority alert with a potentially dangerous aircraft, generally motivated because it flies with a transponder off, without communicating its flight plan or because it has suddenly changed route without informing to air traffic control.
• Delta Scramble: alert to turn on planes and wait for instructions.
• Romeo Scramble (R-SCR): a verification preparation alert.
• Tango Scramble (T-SCR): air defense exercise.
• Foxtrot Scramble: notice to cancel alert.

This Wednesday, Airbus Defense and Space has published a spectacular video of an Alpha Scramble with Eurofighter Typhoon of the Spanish and German air forces. The video very ingeniously combines images of the fighters of both countries:

The video was recorded at the Ämari Air Base, in Estonia, during NATO's Baltic Air Police (BAP) mission carried out by Spanish and German fighters last year, as indicated by this flag seen in the video.

Spain deployed 8 Eurofighters from the 11th Wing and an A400M Atlas tanker aircraft from the 31st Wing between August 1 and December 1, 2023, forming the so-called Ámbas Detachment. For ten days, the Spanish aviators coincided with four German Eurofighters from the Jagdgeschwader 71 Richthofen (JG 71, Richthofen Tactical Wing, named in honor of the German pilot Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron).

During that deployment, Spanish and German pilots participated jointly in Tango Scramble and Alpha Scramble alerts, taking advantage of the advantage of having the same type of aircraft. Above these lines we see one of the Spanish Eurofighters, the C.16-33 (11-33).

In this video capture we can see the weapons configuration of one of the German Eurofighters: two AIM-2000 IRIS-T medium-range air-to-air missiles, located on the outer underwing mounts. Inside it had two external fuel tanks.