Royal Air Force News Friday, December 26, 2025 P14 ––
1
Review of the year 2025 2
January
2
1
1
February
April
March
4
May
June
01 02 03 04 05 06 1 Sqn Ldr ‘Dusko’ Frost, who flew into an inferno as wildfires ripped across Cyprus during a 48ºC heatwave, heads the New Year Honours after being awarded the MBE for his role supporting local emergency services. 2 Future Top Guns fly for the first time using augmented reality technology which allows them to engage with ‘enemy’ fighters projected onto their visors. 3 St Mawgan becomes one of Cornwall’s largest animal sanctuaries as more than 100 rescued hedgehogs are released at the site’s newly rewilded area. 4 WWII hero and champion fundraiser Colin ‘Dinger’ Bell becomes the oldest recipient in the New Year Honours, receiving the BME at 103.
2
1 UK combat jets join the world’s biggest air combat drill as Exercise Red Flag marks its 50th anniversary. Britain, Australia, and Canada launch training sorties from Nellis Air Base.
1 Puma helicopters launch a farewell tour of the UK as the veteran aircraft retires from service after more than 50 years on frontline combat, security and humanitarian missions.
2 RAF amateur archeologists unearth a 2,000-year-old Iron Age haul of chariot parts from beneath the Valley airfield. The find is declared a national treasure and donated to Museum Wales. 3 WWII pilot and founder of the world’s largest humanitarian airline Jack Hemmings dies, age 103. He served in India flying Lockheed Hudsons to protect the Bay of Bengal from the Japanese and received the AFC.
2 Channel 4 series Top Guns returns giving viewers unprecedented access to RAF fighter jets, drones and Service personnel as the cameras head right back onto the frontline.
4 Tornado parts are recycled as new components for the futuristic Tempest fighter. Bits from the veteran jet are ground down and 3D printed into parts for the UK’s next generation military aircraft. 1
3 Veteran Douglas Gowans is dubbed Chop Gun after saddling up for a ride from Derbyshire to Germany in memory of the Dambusters on his vintage Raleigh Chopper to raise money for The Royal British Legion.
1 Churchill’s Few pass into history with the death of the last Battle of Britain pilot, John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway, at the age of 105. At 21, he was one of some 3,000 pilots and crew who drove back the Luftwaffe in 1940.
1 Rookie Benn Morris becomes the fourth generation of his family to serve with the RAF and part of a Service dynasty stretching back 87 years to his great-grandfather, who signed up in 1927 as one of the famous Trenchard Brats.
2 A 60-year-old ban on Tunnocks Tea Cakes is lifted after the product aces pressure tests at the Aerospace Medicine facility. The embargo was introduced during the Cold War following claims the snacks explode under rapid changes of altitude.
2 F-35, Typhoons and combat helicopters join veteran aircraft of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Red Arrows as the RAF marks VE Day 80 with a display of 23 aircraft.
3 F-35 Lightnings hit the deck of HMS Prince of Wales as the Carrier Strike Group launches Operation Highmast – an eight-month deployment taking in Europe, the Gulf and Indo Pacific.
4 Rookie race ace and F1 hopeful Aidan Young lands a sponsorship deal with his local RAF station as he prepares to hit the track for the national karting championships sporting the Air Force badge on his helmet.
4 Mountain Rescue veteran David ‘Heavy’ Whalley, who served for almost 40 years and was one of the first on the scene of the Lockerbie disaster, dies at the age of 72.
1
2
3 Typhoons scramble from Poland three times in three days to intercept Russian aircraft close to Nato airspace. RAF jets launch twice in one day to track Ilyushin Il-20M and two SU-30 flankers. 4 Air chiefs unveil the StormShroud drone designed to fly alongside Typhoon and F-35 and disrupt enemy radar, reducing the risk of ground to air missiles. 2
1 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says Britain must be ‘battle-ready’ to counter the growing threat from Russia, ahead of the Strategic Defence Review. 2 The Typhoon force nets £204 million for the worldbeating ECRS Mk2 radar allowing pilots to detect, identify, and track multiple targets in the air and on the ground. 3 Protector enters RAF service as the first Remotely Piloted Air System authorised to fly in UK airspace, making its debut with a short sortie from its Waddington base to Marham. 4 Brize personnel volunteer for duty as zoo keepers for the day at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, getting up close and personal with the venue’s resident lemurs, penguins, giraffes and rhinos. 1
3 3
3
4
4
3
3
4
4 4
2
4
3