Two F-35 fighter planes flew into action on Sunday from Volkel air base after a Quick Reaction Alert. “How quickly do we get into the airspace? Blink twice and we’re off,” F-35 pilot Stephan previously told Omroep Brabant. It is not known whether he was on duty on Sunday.
From Volkel, the airspace above the Benelux is controlled and protected. The two F-35s, like their pilots, are ready to fire if necessary.
“We are ready day and night to respond to threats. There are two F-35s, two pilots and two technicians, fully armed, ready at a secluded part of the airport. We are on standby 24 hours a day. In fact, we mainly wait for, hopefully, nothing,” Stephan explains his task.
Did Major Stephan fly?
Suspicious situations in the airspace of the Benelux are monitored by air traffic controllers and air combat controllers in Nieuw-Milligen, Gelderland. If a suspicious situation requires action, a QRA or Quick Reaction Alert is decided.
Such a report was made on Sunday morning at 10:20 am and two F-35s took off. At 4:43 p.m., the Ministry of Defense announced that it was a drone. A spokesperson would not say whether that drone was armed.
Few alerts
If such an alert is given, the airmen will have to run. “We run to our aircraft next to our accommodation. Blink twice and we are taking off.”
How often they have to respond is kept to a minimum, says Stephan. “That wouldn’t be good either and then there is something wrong with the supervision of the airspace. We operate at most a few times a year. It varies from commercial aircraft that make contact with air traffic control too late or do not make contact. If it concerns military aircraft from other countries, we are there like the chickens.”
Report of a hijacking
His daily work largely consists of waiting. “We are in a building close to the parking lots of our aircraft. The space is homely with a kitchen, TV, computers and four bedrooms. We are on standby 24 hours. We sleep on base. We may have to deploy in the middle of the night.”
The last time Stephan marched for QRA was ten years ago. “At that time there was a report of a suspected hijacking. We intercepted the plane and escorted it to Schiphol.”
Hand gestures in the air
How does such an interception in the airspace of an unwanted aircraft work? “The instructions come from the air combat controllers in Nieuw-Milligen. It depends on the situation on board the other aircraft. If it is a passenger aircraft, we can be instructed to follow the aircraft and keep an eye on it. We may also have to make ourselves known to the personnel in the other aircraft. We then make contact via radio or hand signals. We then follow and guide them to a civil airport.”
This article is an updated version of a previously published interview with Major Stephan from Volkel Air Base.
Here you can read all the stories about drones over Brabant.