I think the Saudi deal is pretty much done and the aircraft used for trials have been 2 Saudi ones based at Warton. As far as I remember, the Saudi ones are due for retirement in 2020 unless I missed a further extention announcement

12 are away at the moment. Also bear in mind the airfield is shut until Tuesday morning from tomorrow evening

Their Facebook page states they will be releasing their schedule in March!

Batman is a 9 Sqn callsign

That's the Christmas cards sorted for this year then! Very nice set indeed

The date for the two squadrons deployment is 2021 according to the OP, surely we will have more than 617 active by then?

Not sure what the serial was but ZH857 isn't a Tornado and has never been allocated. Suspect a typo for something else

12 aircraft are away

Well the Blackhawk was designed to do exactly that, fit inside a c-130 as it was a requirement, whether that is still the case for its eventual replacement I don't know

Hex code it was showing has been tied to ZZ106 yes

Yes I am fully aware who does QRA in this country, I was merely suggesting that, as it is just up the road, Lakenheath was probably the source of fighter aircraft noise

Lakenheath?

Step outside, that'll give you a reminder!

From my files:
1513-N40814 then to G-CCOY

Can't attest to how much of it you saw on the day though

Can't comment on what the activity levels will be but 12 left recently for deployment 'out east'

Back to normal for me this morning

Think this should be in the Mess section rather than down here, amazing story that we should all be aware of! Thanks for posting

Am I missing something, where did the Saudi participation get mentioned?