The fighter pilot who did not want to be identified said the mission was ‘just like training’ and celebrated with a sunrise beer
An RAF fighter pilot who shot down two Iranian drones over Jordan said he has not properly celebrated yet, and just wants to get back on the job. He did however enjoy an ice cold beer at sunrise.
The pilot had been flying for four hours in his F-35B with two Typhoon jets when his radar detected two Shahed drones in the skies over Jordan. The Mirror reports he homed in on the targets and fired Amraam air-to-air missiles, destroying the enemy drones and blowing them out of the sky.
It is reported to be the first time a British F-35B pilot flying the UK’s deadliest warplane had destroyed a target during operations. He said it was “like training” and does not want to be identified for security reasons, he was concerned about positively identifying it before taking any shots.
He said: “But we had a good time to do that between me and the Typhoons that were airborne at the time to get that done”.
Asked what it was like when he struck the targets on Monday night, he said: “You are kind of more concerned about making sure you’ve shot the right thing. Making sure you positioned the aircraft in the right places.
“It’s not a euphoric sense of success, I suppose. I just get out the way and get back on to doing the job again.”
RAF Akrotiri had been struck by a drone a day before he flew, creating a hole in a hangar home to two US U2 spy planes. He knew the stakes were high if either he or his fellow airmen and women let any drones slip through.
He added: “What we don’t know, is because they, they’re so small and difficult to detect, we don’t know if there’s any more out there. When you have to turn your aircraft around to shoot them down, what you’re not doing is turning your radar back to where they came from to try and find the next.”
He said what he shot down was “very different” to the kamizake one-way attack drone that hit RAF Akrotiri, without explaining why. He is among thousands of troops at the base who are on high alert for any incoming drone or missile, nobody wanting to be the one to miss anything.
Asked if he did anything to celebrate his win, he said: “We had one beer at sunrise and then I had to go to bed because I was on duty the next day.
“We’re kind of a pretty high operational tempo at the moment. So, when this is all over, whenever it ends, then I’m sure we’ll celebrate appropriately.”