Loaded and ABLE F-15Es depart RAF Lakenheath 25th May 2015

[mikee115]

Hi all,

Wasn't expecting any movements at Lakenheath on the Bank Holiday as it was Memorial Day. But the radio kicked into life early as ABLE flight called up for departures.

I headed up the Warren as its the closest place for me to get to from home. Listening to the radio i heard that QUID91 flight at Mildenhall were ready to depart too. I guessed that the Strike Eagles were off down range. ABLE flight departed in pairs and had to keep 15 mile trail as advised by ATC. 01 and 02 headed south following QUID91 and 92 as ABLE 03 and 04 were holding over East Anglia as back up aircraft. They were in the end supported by 5 KC135s.

The photos aren't the best but good enough for a record of Strike Eagles loaded with weapons. They look to be loaded with 7 JDAMS each and A2A missiles. Pilots wearing sand coloured flight suits too.

Enough chat!

ABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (15) by mikee115, on Flickr

ABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (14) by mikee115, on Flickr

ABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (10) by mikee115, on Flickr

ABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (11) by mikee115, on Flickr

ABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (6) by mikee115, on Flickr

ABLE Flight 25th May 2015 (3) by mikee115, on Flickr

F15E (8) by mikee115, on Flickr

They returned after 11hrs down in the Mediterranean but unfortunately i wasn't around to catch them.

Thanks for looking.
Mike

[podge]

Very nice and a rare sight. Thanks for sharing

[lowlevelRAF]

Great catch indeed!!

[TeeJay]

Well caught, Mike. Nice pics too
Trev

[Grifter]

Can someone confirm looking at those if they've got a light blue band on the JDAMs?

[POL]

No blue bands anywhere other than on the aircraft. AIM-120s appear to have a pinkish-gold band on them too.

[Grifter]

No blue bands anywhere other than on the aircraft. AIM-120s appear to have a pinkish-gold band on them too.

I think only Mike can get a decent close-up on his photos. With the bad light it's hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure there's a light blue band on the front of those bombs.

The AIM-120s do appear to be live.

[POL]

You can download 3800px wide images from Flickr, which is what I did, then drop them in to Photoshop and lighten them (which I didn't do) to be sure, but I'm almost convinced there is no blue band.

[GhostFlight91]

very nice mate

[Grifter]

You can download 3800px wide images from Flickr, which is what I did, then drop them in to Photoshop and lighten them (which I didn't do) to be sure, but I'm almost convinced there is no blue band.

Ok I've done that...looks like my eye is just distorting the grey.

Have we had the discussion about them not using yellow bands all the time to denote live weapons? I'll assume we have

[Andy_99]

Of Course the next question is did they return with the JDAMS still on-board, assuming the AIM-120's weren't needed

[BOLLO]

Shame no one was there to get them coming back,or was they ?? Nicely done Mike

[paddyboy]

Top, top shots, buddy

Cheers

Paddyboy

[Ramsey]

Fantastic capture. GBU-38's onboard too.

[mikee115]

Thanks all for the comments. Would've been good to catch 03 and 04 returning fully armed, but also 01 and 02 to see if they dropped their weapons.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/uk-bas ... 1707131274

Article written about the mission is found here. Not much detail but sums it all up.

Thanks
Mike

[Grifter]

It isn't the Libyans that are fleeing Libya on the migrant boats.

And were those AIM-9s or AIM-120s? The JDAMs appear to be minus any sort of yellow or blue banding that SHOULD be there. This one is going to be a mystery until news reports start to trickle out of extremists wandering out of the desert suffering from severe headaches.

[Doughnut]

Intersting Link. Very well written, obviously not your average tabloid hack

[Andy_99]

My monies on them returning minus a few JDAMs.

Get them undercover ASAP to prevent people seeing what they may have been up to