RAF jets shot down 53 drones in their largest mass firing of advanced short-range air-to-air missiles.
Over 10 days, pilots from eight different squadrons successfully downed dozens of target drones over the sea at the Hebrides Air Weapon Ranges in Scotland last month.
Typhoon and Lightning jets were involved in the test, which is designed to help the pilots and weapons crews gain confidence in using the infrared-guided missiles and give them real-world experience of firing them.
Footage of the exercise shows the missiles being launched from the planes and rocketing through the sky.
A whoosh can be heard as the missiles shoot past the planes bound for their drone targets.
One pilot involved in the exercise described the experience of launching the missiles as “fantastic”.
He said: “It surpassed all expectations of what my first live firing exercise on the Typhoon would be.
“Selecting the weapon and knowing a live missile would come off the rail was a unique moment; hearing the missile tone and pulling the trigger, followed by a large whoosh sound and a slight wobble of the aircraft was fantastic.
“Watching the missile disappear into the sky in front of me was a moment to remember, it really is impressive how fast the ASRAAM can go.”
The pilots were aiming at Banshee target drones, specifically designed for these training exercises.
Typhoon pilots from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, as well as from RAF Coningsby in Lincoln, worked with Lightning pilots based at RAF Marham in Kings Lynn, during the exercise.
One of the weapons technicians involved in preparing the aircraft said: “Seeing the preparation of the aircraft and missiles was crucial to the more junior members on the squadron, it gave them the opportunity to understand the challenges of a live weapon firing exercise.
“Operating armed aircraft requires all those involved to maintain the highest levels of concentration due to the extra risks involved.
“As a weapons technician you get massive job satisfaction when you’ve loaded the aircraft, carried out all the post-load testing and watched it taxi away armed.
“When the aircraft returns ‘clean’ having successfully fired its missiles, it validates the years of training, the hard work and months of preparation.”
