Home  /  Newsroom  /  2021  /  Atlantic Trident Air Exercise kicks-off for France, UK and US

RAMSTEIN, Germany - It’s on! Exercise Atlantic Trident started with first sorties of French, UK and US fighter jets taking off from Air Base 118 in Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) until May 28. For the first time, the exercise, organised by the French Air Force Command, takes place in Europe.   

This combined air force training is the meeting hub for three Allied air forces enabling them to practice the "high-spectrum" missions of air combat, for today and tomorrow. Over the next two weeks, the United States Air Force, the British Royal Air Force and the French Air and Space Force will hone their skills to operate together and to increase interoperability as well as technical and tactical know-how.

More than 600 women and men from the three air forces will be ready to accept the operational challenge of this exercise. Almost fifty latest-generation combat aircraft such as the French Rafale, the British Typhoon or the American F-35 will simulate combined raids in the French airspace. Their objective: to promote the development of common procedures, reflecting the high intensity of air combat.

Interoperability means how to fight together. It’s about increasing exchanges between the most modern fighter jets in the world

“Interoperability means how to fight together. It’s about increasing exchanges between the most modern fighter jets in the world, sharing our tactical and technical knowledge and improving the responsiveness of our joint operations,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Mickaël, deputy director of the exercise.

On the British side, "the exercise is a major milestone in the history of the Royal Air Force," said Captain Jonathan Farrow OBE, based in France as a liaison officer. “Atlantic Trident will notably be the first international exercise in which the new aircraft carrier HMS  Queen Elizabeth will be deployed ,” he added.

French Air and Space Force Rafale fighter aircraft at Air Base 118 in Mont-de-Marsan south of Bordeaux. Photo by Emma Le Rouzic / Armée de l’air et de l’espace.

French-US pilot briefing. Combined missions begin with laying out a plan and discussing how to achieve it together. Photo by Emma Le Rouzic / Armée de l’air et de l’espace.

A United States Air Force F-35 with a French Air and Space Force Rafale in the background. Both jets will be flying training mission together with Royal Air Force Typhoons continuing tri-Allied aerial drills. Photo by Emma Le Rouzic / Armée de l’air et de l’espace.

The trilateral exercise’s focus will be on the constant modernization of the three air forces, innovation and technological performance to better enable them to protect the integrity of an area or a territory. With the crews, the know-how of specialists - mechanics, controllers, communication systems experts, logisticians and many others - will be mobilized.

As the host nation for this great first in France, the French airwomen and men will share their excellence "à la française" with their UK and US colleagues.

Atlantic Trident is the result of a strategic partnership called the Trilateral Strategic Initiative established among the three participating air forces in 2010. The two previous editions, held in 2015 and 2017, were conducted from Langley Air Force Base (United States).