Original subtitles

Baghdad requesting to transit working airspace.

The people that we're looking for are ISIS bad guys.

I'm shifting the orbit now.

But they know our drone's capabilities.

They do anything to make our job harder.

What is that? It's about two metres wide.

We've received specific intelligence.

ISIS could easily hide something in there, couldn't they? Yes.

I'll get us close.

That looks like a cave.

We need to make sure that we're alert

and that we don't miss that split second of action.

Oh, movement.

Holy shit.

Here we go.

The RAF is on high alert.

We know something is going to happen in the next 24 hours.

RADIO: Buzzard Tower, this is our radio check.

It's a potential ISIS safehouse.

Everything that's happening with Russia and Ukraine,

it's like a tinder box.

You're doing an important role, protecting from Vladi the Baddie.

Scramble!

RADIO: Here we go. Woo! Holy shit.

With conflict in Europe...

..and the Middle East.

..British war planes are poised to face any threat.

RADIO: ID, Russian aircraft.

You don't want to fire on it and end up starting World War III.

RADIO: Cleared for take-off.

I can't work out the coffee machine.

That coffee machine stole my beans.

I brought some really nice expensive beans in that I love,

and then the machine broke.

Great.

RAF Waddington is one of the UK's most advanced

intelligence and surveillance bases...

GUNFIRE

..where missions to combat terrorist groups in the Middle East and Europe

are secretly planned and remotely executed.

EXPLOSION

You do get used to working nights

cos the Reaper Force is a 24/7 squadron.

As the boss, every day is different. There's always a new challenge.

I'm Wing Commander Stu. I'm Officer Commanding 13 Squadron

and I'm in charge of the UK Reaper Force.

What we bring to the party is a phenomenal

intelligence gathering platform,

an unmanned air vehicle, almost the same size as a Typhoon,

carrying live weapons. We're able to fly our aircraft undetected,

circling overhead a target for 18 plus hours, day or night,

developing that pattern of life of a target below.

Located in 13 Squadron's hanger are metal containers,

each acting as a cockpit.

Via satellite, Stu and his teams can plug in to a fleet

of fully-armed Reaper drones, flying anywhere in the world.

Hello.

Stu has received highly sensitive intelligence from Iraq

and is assembling a Reaper crew to execute a surveillance mission.

So, the intelligence brief primary looking for ISIS.

The task is getting the aircraft up on to the central region,

and that's a known region we've seen lots of pockets of ISIS.

We've got 14 points of interest. Once I've plotted them,

that will give us a better idea of what it is

we're going to be specifically looking at today.

I'm Melissa.

I'm a Mission Intelligence Coordinator with the Reaper.

When I was at college, I actually wanted to be a psychologist.

So, I find this job really interesting

because I'm essentially watching people on the ground,

watching human behaviour.

You'll be operating close to coalition bases,

so if there is any one-way attacks or any mortar attacks,

you may be called in to support any troops in contact,

so be ready for that if it does start to ramp up in theatre.

Happy? Absolutely. Cheers, Sir. Cheers. Thank you.

Tonight, the team will fly the drone to an isolated area of desert

with recent ISIS activity.

Their mission is to identify ISIS safe houses or weapons stores

and establish if those sites are still operational.

ISIS, they're very much still a live threat to the security of the UK.

They live in small pockets and they live amongst the population

but they're still no less dangerous.

If we can find that needle in the haystack...

Which one are we in? 06.

Then we can put a stop to ISIS and its acts of terror.

Taking control of a drone flying thousands of miles away above Iraq,

Melissa is part of a three-person crew.

The box of dreams.

Alongside her is camera and sensor operator Jim

and Ollie the drone pilot.

So we're just setting up the aircraft

to start getting up towards the tasking area.

It's quite impressive, the first time you go down to the box

and see what Reaper actually does and the capabilities that it has.

Right, I'll see if can grab hold of Baghdad.

It's quite hard for a lot of people to get their heads around

the fact that we're here at Waddington, flying and controlling

an aircraft that is thousands of miles away.

Baghdad, we're approximately ten minutes away from our tasking area.

RADIO: Roger.

Communication is essential within the crew

because we all have a part to play,

and without one of us it wouldn't work.

We are on task.

Happy days.

The team are investigating the first points of interest

that intelligence has linked to ISIS.

We've identified a small cluster of buildings

quite close to the grid reference we've been given.

We're just having a search around them,

just to make sure we're not missing anything obvious.

We haven't really seen any vehicles or anything, to be honest with you.

No. There was one vehicle in that compound

but there was no activity with it. With a sheet over it. Yeah.

It's very clearly a farm, isn't it? Yeah.

I wonder what they're growing. Yeah, they look like greenhouses.

I'd imagine it's probably just carrots.

This part of the world is well known for its carrots.

Yeah, the old Iraqi carrot. MELISSA LAUGHS

Not much more to report. Leaving the compound.

We're essentially looking for anything out of the ordinary.

We're looking for the kind of odd behaviour.

Maybe there's a tarp over something that looks a little bit unusual,

we'll pay close attention to.

If we see large groups of males congregating,

we want to kind of know what that's about.

The minute we see a weapon, that's kind of, you know, game on.

To avoid detection, the drone operates above the target area

at high altitude, using state-of-the-art infra-red cameras

to see the ground in high definition, even at night.

It's dark currently in Iraq,

so we're using IR to pick up any heat signatures.

We can see someone smoking a cigarette

from about ten nautical miles away...

..so it's really capable equipment and it makes our job a lot easier.

There's one more compound northeast, just up that road a little bit.

There it is.

Quite a well-protected building, isn't it,

with the berming 'round it? Yeah. Yeah.

It's quite a quiet area as well, isn't it?

Intel has this down as an ISIS shelter.

If there are people around here, we are assessing them to be bad guys.

We'll also see if we can see any, like, flags or anything

that might show their affiliation with ISIS or Daesh.

You can see from this building that it has sustained damage

to its northern side, possibly from a previous strike.

We can also see that there's two cars parked there.

Erm, they're both showing up white hot.

They've also parked close to the entry points to the building...

..which would suggest that there may be people present.

So, this is probably the perfect look angle.

Yeah, cos realistically no-one's going to be coming out

of that damaged part, are they? No. On the northern side. Unlikely.

Yeah, they'll be coming out of those three doors.

That's a lovely picture.

You should do this professionally, mate. I should, shouldn't I?

Even though we are at Waddington and not operating on the front line,

we need to make sure that we're alert

and that we don't miss that split second of action.

Oh, movement.

Holy shit. Oh, look.

Ooh. What's going on up here?

It looked like a figure.

RADIO: 4135, ready for departure.

Come on, big boy.

Coningsby is the RAF's only Typhoon base in England.

Home to five squadrons and over 50 jets...

RADIO: After departure mid north, climbing flight level 150.

..many of which are ready to be deployed to the front line.

RADIO: Have a good trip. RADIO: Thanks.

All except for one, that has its own unique mission.

Are you happy taking these all in the wagon with you?

Each summer, a display Typhoon takes to the skies

at airshows in the UK and abroad

to showcase the aircraft's incredible capability.

I'm just going to go ring ATC just to make sure

those lights and the ASP lights are off.

Unbeknown to aviation enthusiasts,

this year's display jet has been given a special makeover.

Just looking over there, those lights are on,

so I'm just going to radio through to ATC to get them to turn

the ASP lights off and the fuel pump lights off as well.

Under the cover of darkness, the jet is leaving the paint shop.

It must be moved two miles across the base

without prying eyes or cameras seeing the new colour scheme...

Coningsby Tower, this is Backlash Two, message.

INDISTINCT REPLY

..before its official unveiling in a few days' time.

Can you please turn off the ASP lights

and the fuel pump lights, please?

Thank you, over.

They can't turn those ones off, so we'll just have to be quick.

I'm not a plane enthusiast. I probably am a Typhoon enthusiast.

I'm Sergeant Polly McKinlay,

engineering manager of the Typhoon display team.

As soon as the lights go off in here, you need to walk along with

the pods at all times because the aircraft lights

aren't going to be on. Has anyone got any questions?

Sweet.

When I was growing up, there was an Army base nearby.

He's up in the cockpit, is he?

I remember going to airshows as a kid,

just enjoying watching the different displays.

All good? Cool, sweet.

And then as I got older, it was just something that clicked.

I could join the RAF and go places and travel the world.

I'll get Robbie to take the blanks with him

because I just don't want anything accidentally falling off.

I've been places that you just wouldn't get to go in civilian life.

We're moving it in the middle of the night so that hopefully spotters

don't see it, take photos and leak the paint scheme

before we're ready to show the public, but who knows?

There's some dedicated fans and if they've got, like, any sort

of inkling that it's happening tonight, they might be out there.

It is exciting, isn't it? I'm sad. SHE LAUGHS

Ready? Into positions.

Lights off and hanger doors open, please.

SIREN

Chocks out.

Coningsby Tower, this is Backlash Two Plus One.

Permission to move, over?

RADIO: Outback Three, 1230 straight report holding to November One.

Roger.

Happy to move.

Breaks off!

The team have reached the critical moment.

This is one of the more risky bits of it.

Day and night, plane enthusiasts flock to RAF Coningsby

to take photographs and publish them online.

RAF Coningsby is quite visible

cos we've got an open fence line all the way round.

Hopefully there's no spotters with big cameras or lights out

ready to take pictures of us as we're moving.

After joining the RAF, I'd done two tours of Afghanistan

and then I got posted to Coningsby.

The stripes are reflecting the moonlight a little bit,

so hopefully the camouflage is well hidden.

I was a bit disappointed initially cos, obviously, I wanted to travel,

but I realised it's the home of the Typhoon display team,

so as soon as I could I put my name down and I've never looked back.

Coningsby Tower, this is Backlash Two Plus One, message.

RADIO: Go ahead.

We are now in position.

INDISTINCT REPLY Yeah, good to go.

I'd say that's probably good there. Brakes on!

Do you mind getting the HAS doors shut pretty quick?

I didn't see any flashing, so I'm hoping no-one got any photos

and they still haven't seen how incredible the jet looks.

The jet will now remain hidden under lock and key

until a ceremony in a few days' time

to officially reveal the new display Typhoon to the public.

It looked like there was movement in the doorway.

At RAF Waddington,

13 Squadron are piloting a Reaper spy drone over Iraq.

Quite a well-protected building, isn't it?

Intelligence coordinator Melissa has information that ISIS

are operating close by, deep within the desert.

Oh, what was that?

RADIO: Appears to be a dog. Off it goes.

That could be a stray dog just trying to stay cool

or it could be that there's ISIS in there with food

and it's been attracted towards that building.

No activity observed at this time.

I've just asked if they want us to continue to scope this building.

RADIO: Roger.

Melissa is in real-time communication

with mission commanders, relaying top secret intelligence.

They want us to relocate.

The stray dog isn't enough to confirm the presence of ISIS,

so fresh orders have been passed to the team.

Melissa, have you got that new grid?

Yeah, I've got that new grid plotted.

It's 4km away. We are on our way.

Roger. I'm shifting the orbit now.

So we've just been re-tasked to go and take a look at

a new point of interest that they've just found.

It's a potential ISIS location.

ISIS know our drones' capabilities,

so we've seen them in the past burn tyres to create black smoke

to prevent us to be able to see what's happening on the ground.

We're establishing the orbit on that location, Melissa. Roger. Thank you.

We've seen them put tarps over areas

that they don't want us to see what's going on underneath.

They're hiding a lot.

They do anything to make our job harder.

Going back to original zoom level, then.

It may be hours sat staring at those screens looking for that break.

It just looks like barren land in the middle of nowhere.

That looks like a cave of some sort, doesn't it?

I'll get us close.

That's a vehicle. That's a vehicle.

Trying to get us a low-look angle.

This is when sensor position earns their corn.

So we're now just trying to manipulate the picture

to make it as best possible.

We've got eyes on what looks to us like a man-made cave entrance.

ISIS created bed-down locations in caves,

in deserted locations, to try and isolate themselves

from general population and to try and hide themselves from us,

so they can conduct their operations in secret, essentially.

If ISIS militants are living underground,

the only visible clue on the surface

would be small air vents hidden in the rocks.

What do you think, Mel? Looking at it,

you can tell there's been activity within this cave or this tunnel.

There's been interference. You can see little tracks, little trails.

We're looking for the ventilation hole.

Is that it, there? Yeah, that's quite a neat little hole.

Pop your crosshairs on that so I can just report that.

We've found a small hole in the side of the rock face

that looks to be man-made.

If it's something we've not seen before or if it's something

that we've been waiting to see, it can be quite exciting.

It's out in the mountains, it's covered from view

from the west, south, and north.

It's fairly promising that this is a match to an ISIS location.

There was definitely something moving there as well.

Holy shit! It looks like there's heat rising

from that exhaust ventilation spot.

Here we go. We've actually found ISIS.

Rising heat from underground confirms the presence of ISIS.

So, we are going to keep feeding information back to the Iraqis,

who will make a decision on whether they'll go in and try

and detain people there or potentially put weapons down on it.

After taking nearly seven hours to locate the cave structure,

another Reaper crew is taking over the operation.

Hi, team. Good. How are we? All good?

We've got the live feed up now and I can see where the next crew

are observing the tunnels.

Where it is, I think it's a really good find,

cos that is pretty well hidden within that valley.

Happy? Yeah. Brill. Thank you.

When I joined the RAF as a 17-year-old,

you don't really know what it is that you're going to be doing,

but I just knew I wanted to do something with a purpose

and with meaning, and I've found exactly that.

To actually get eyes on a compound and confirm there are people living

in that compound, in that area, in those tunnels, is a great win.

What we've found this evening, that may be a target

that we may stay on for a couple of days, or could even be weeks,

if not months, because we might understand,

actually, where does that lead us to?

It could actually be quite a large ISIS network

living in the hills in northern Iraq.

The Reaper has completely transformed

how we do intelligence gathering and surveillance.

The fact that the crew have worked together

and found that target I think is first class.

REPORTER: Breaking news. Above the lands that border Ukraine,

the skies are full of NATO planes air policing the Black Sea region.

It's a mission which has got significantly busier recently

as the airspace nearby has become a Russian jet run

for bombing raids on Ukraine.

It's a mail day!

It's probably one of my favourite days in the office thus far.

People aren't going to have a whinge,

they're just going to be really happy, which is nice.

Stationed 80 miles from Ukraine are a fleet of NATO jets,

including four from RAF 9 Squadron.

RADIO: Contact, you are clear to climb flight 200 in bound areas.

Their mission is to protect NATO's borders

from an increasingly hostile Russia.

Good to go, I think.

My name is Wilko and I'm one of the pilots on 9 Bomber Squadron.

I've always wanted to be a fighter pilot,

ever since I was young, so I joined the Cadets at 15.

I was flying before I had my first driving lesson

and I'm pleased to be finally on the front line doing the job.

Since arriving from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland,

Wilko and 9 Squadron are on duty around the clock...

..ready to face off against any Russian aircraft

that stray close to NATO's borders.

We're here for air policing for NATO

from Russian aggression out in the east.

We're here in a de-escalatory mindset

and that's what we'll be here for throughout.

Sometimes it's just luck of the draw as to what shift you're on

as to whether that's the day that a scramble comes in, so...

..not yet, but there's still time.

Hiya. Are you all right?

Whilst on standby,

Russian jets aren't the only thing on Wilko's mind.

Excited to have you home.

You are? I was going to ask are you excited.

Yeah, just a little.

Just a little.

I'm getting married in a few weeks.

It is frustrating to be deployed whilst also doing a wedding,

but that is part of military life.

A big list, is that right? THEY LAUGH

I know what you're after. You're after some cringey lines.

I know your game.

All right, love you loads. I'll see you later.

Love you. See you. Bye.

Obviously, being on the border of Ukraine and the conflict

that's going on, it certainly heightens your senses.

I think my fiance was a bit concerned about that as well.

I'm Q2 today, so, yeah,

good to go for whenever the scramble comes now.

It's just a lot going on on top of the deployment.

HOOTER Scramble!

When the alarm goes, you just kick into action.

RADIO: Priority is scramble, so you should be getting airborne.

Once the alarm is raised, NATO demand that jets

must be airborne within minutes, ready to receive orders.

It could be Russian jets or it could be unmanned aerial systems

flying towards NATO airspace.

So you need to have your wits about you,

be on your A game and be prepared for anything.

RADIO:Clear to land... INDISTINCT

After launching his Typhoon, within minutes, Wilko is returning to base.

The order to scramble from NATO headquarters

was to test 9 Squadron's response time.

Everything you do, you have to treat it as if it is for real,

because the next time we do that sort of event,

it genuinely might be in anger.

The team successfully launched the jet in the required time

but now Wilko faces a sterner test.

Before leaving to get married, he's vying for promotion from wingman

to lead pilot on future Typhoon missions.

It's a big step in responsibility that I'd like to take on.

A lot of people might think that you do seven years of training,

you get to the front line and that's you done, but that's not the case.

You're constantly moving, looking for progression.

Assessing whether Wilko can make the cut

is 9 Squadron's top gun, weapons instructor Jake Desmond.

I'm the Qualified Weapons Instructor here on 9 Squadron,

effectively the lead tactical instructor,

so getting the guys to be as lethal as they possibly can be.

Previously, Wilko's been on the wing and being told what to do.

He's now moving into one of those leadership positions,

where he is going to be making decisions

and he's going to be guiding someone else around the sky.

It's a big ask, so we'll see how it goes.

Wilko's mission is to lead wingman Jake into a war-like scenario.

Using virtual bombs, they must take out two enemy targets.

The first is an airbase at a fixed location.

The second is a target that will only be given to him in the air,

forcing him to react and plan in the moment.

I want to keep the risk minimum for the amount of time

we're going to be there. Yeah, that makes sense. Cool. All right.

We'll go and get in kit. Sweet. Brews and poos. Brews and poos.

I've got my perfect plan if everything runs on rails.

Flying alongside Wilko, Jake will monitor

the junior's every move and could throw in a curveball.

CAMERAMAN: Do you think he enjoy this?

Punishing the JPs?

Yeah, I think he secretly enjoys it. Secretly?!

THEY LAUGH

If you think it's going as per the plan,

you're more stupid than I thought.

I'm just going to sit there and be as unhelpful as I possibly can

and he's going to have to show that he can lead me through

what's going to be a pretty complex plan.

INDISTINCT RADIO MESSAGE

I'm nervous, for sure. I know Jake's going to be watching very closely.

INDISTINCT RADIO MESSAGE

Some people don't make it. That's just the way it is.

Wingmen that fail to step up could be removed from the Typhoon force

to make way for more skilful pilots.

There's a lot riding on the mission.

You don't have unlimited chances.

If you don't pass, then that's you chopped.

We can't scuff the paint work or anything. I would cry.

After months of planning and half a tonne of fresh paint,

the new-look display Typhoon

is being officially unveiled to the press.

They've done a really good job of the paintwork,

so I'm hoping that all of our fans really, really enjoy

the surprise that they're about to get.

After pulling her across in the middle of night and now hiding her

in a HAS for the last few days, it'll just be nice that the

pressure is off and just hope all the fans love her as much as we do.

Everyone's going to want a photo of her.

I've already seen some enthusiasts out on the fence line.

I like to name the aircrafts.

When you're a fan, people like to have a name for something.

So, obviously, Moggy matches the lettering on the side

using the roundels, so we started using that as our code name for her.

But when I go down to do my Eng meetings and I call her Moggy,

they all look at me like I'm crazy.

I do get some side eyes, like, "Stop naming the jets names, Polly."

PDT02, this is TDT01 heading out for Moggy's reveal now.

Today's ceremony is the culmination of a challenging few months

keeping Moggy's new look under wraps.

We were told that no-one is allowed to know,

so none of our sponsors know, none of our friends, family.

People keep coming over trying to guess, trying to get us to slip up

on what the paint scheme is and stuff,

but hopefully we've been able to, as a team, keep it a secret.

This is an exciting day for the whole Typhoon display team,

and, obviously, the British weather has given us rain,

but we'll do what we can.

I'm Flight Lieutenant David Turnbull, known as Turbo.

I'm lucky enough to be the Typhoon display pilot this year and,

obviously, there's just one of you, so it's quite a prestigious role.

The most common thing people say to me when they see me at airshows is,

"How old are you? You look way too young to be doing this."

I have to constantly tell them I have been trained.

They've not just plucked me out of school to do this.

Recently selected to be the display teams' pilot,

this is the first time Turbo will see Moggy's finished paint job.

Three, two, one, open.

SIREN BEEPS

That's pretty cool, isn't it? Looks amazing.

APPLAUSE

I knew what the paint scheme was going to be, roughly,

but seeing it in the flesh, it's awesome.

It's kind of the idea come to life. It's always better than you think

it's going to be. I think everyone's going to love it, to be honest.

In a week's time, the summer display season begins,

with Moggy taking to the skies

at the biggest military airshow in the world.

This looks very different to pretty much all the Typhoons

that people will have seen flying over Coningsby recently.

What's standing out about this one? This aircraft is the first time

we've had a new paint scheme for three seasons.

So, it's the 80th anniversary of D-Day this year,

and we've painted up our aircraft in honour of that.

Those black and white stripes, known as invasion stripes,

or D-Day stripes, they would have been hastily painted on

back in 1943-1944.

Usually, they would've been the width of a RAF broom.

That's how quickly they were painted on. Oh, wow. They'd just dip it in

the paint, then slam it onto the aircraft, so it's a bit neater here,

I absolutely can't wait to throw this thing around.

Really chuffed with today.

Everyone was really positive who was here, they loved the paint scheme.

We had quite a few come over with their ladders to try and get photos

of Moggy, so, yeah, I'm excited to see her fly in a week's time.

Above the Romanian countryside, junior pilot Wilko

is facing a combat exercise,

during which he's being assessed for promotion.

Pass, and he gets a leadership position.

Fail, and his future could be in jeopardy.

You've got to fly the aircraft, work out where your wingman is,

make sure he's doing his job correctly.

The instructor might chuck in mistakes on purpose

to see whether you're picking up on them.

Wilko must lead wingman Jake on a mission to destroy

two enemy ground targets with virtual bombs.

Using call signs Tirpitz One and Two,

they're on track to the first target.

The second target will only be revealed mid-operation.

This is an exercise, so although no real missiles will be fired,

all the targeting procedures and the radar lock-ons

are the same as if it's for real

and everything is under the microscope.

You've got a specific time you need to hit those targets.

Accuracy is huge. If you're not accurate, you make mistakes

and, ultimately, civilians might lose their lives.

Wilko is now less than 90 seconds from the first virtual target -

an enemy airbase.

ALARM SOUNDS

Wilko's onboard computer registers a successful virtual missile strike.

As the air controller sends through co-ordinates

for the second target...

..something appears on the radar.

Two Spanish jets are coming for Wilko and Jake,

acting as enemy fighters.

They're going to try and shoot us down

before we get to the targets that we've been given.

It is kill or be killed.

Pushing for a promotion to lead pilot,

Wilko is halfway through his assessment.

Along with wingman, Jake,

he's facing a surprise attack from two Spanish jets.

The Spanish today were replicating Russian Flanker aircraft.

Not an easy adversary to go up against.

NATO allies regularly impersonate Russian jets

on military exercises...

..to pit their tactics against the Soviet playbook.

They attacked us at the point at which I least expected it.

But the training kicks in, so you prioritise.

Wilko decides to fight one jet, ordering Jake to take out the other.

Dogfighting is up close and dirty, shooting each other.

The aim is to get behind the enemy fighters as quickly as possible

to get a lock on with a missile.

Wilko decelerates quickly, outmanoeuvring a Spanish jet...

..and fires a virtual missile on his weapon system.

One enemy jet is quickly out of the equation.

But Jake needs help, having deliberately got himself in trouble.

There are going to be a couple of errors. Wilko has got to come up

with the right tactic and lethal when he executes it.

There's a lot to deal with in one go

but I can't afford to lose my wingman. If he dies, it's a fail.

It was a close shave. I managed to take out the red fighters.

Ultimately, we've come out on top,

but then you are straight on to the next thing.

With the skies clear, Wilko can turn his attention

to the final ground target.

In those final minutes, time is running out

so you're doing lots and lots of checks on your systems

to make sure the correct data is being input.

It's not a game.

Wilko's onboard computer registers a direct hit.

The lead pilot test is over,

but Wilko's result will only become clear once back on the ground.

Ultimately, there's always points to work on,

but hopefully Jake likes my performance.

We'll see how it goes.

INDISTINCT RADIO MESSAGE

RADIO: Muchas gracias for the mission, Sir.

I think it went all right. We'll see.

There was a lot going on so...

..yeah, we'll see what Jake thinks.

It's the moment he's been waiting for, isn't it?

Am I going to shake his hand or not? Well done, mate. Really good.

No good from my gob, it's "see you in the debrief", but...

..a provisional pass. I could lose it all now this afternoon.

Happy days.

The promotion can only be confirmed once 9 Squadron's boss

gives Wilko the official news.

Awesome. Have a great day. Nice to meet you.

RIAT is the biggest military airshow in the world.

There you go, Faye.

Have a good day. See you later.

It's known as, like, the Glastonbury of the airshow circuit.

It's massive.

When I was young, at school, I could never have seen myself

in the position of walking through a crowd

and high-fiving people on the way to a display.

It's amazing.

And, yeah, getting to show Moggy off at RIAT is a big thing.

The freshly-painted Moggy is being readied for her debut show

on this prestigious stage.

RADIO: Fairford Tower, good afternoon.

Turbo One is with you from ground.

And Turbo has a new trick up his sleeve.

RADIO: Wind today is seven knots.

OK, thank you for displays, everyone.

I've been working on a new move.

I wanted to have a signature move

that I can leave my mark on this year's airshow.

Pull up, pull up.

It's taken a lot of work and I know people are going to love it

so, yeah, I can't wait.

It is almost an optical illusion

that the jet is just hovering in the air.

It's such a massive moment, I really get a chance

to look out and see the crowd for the first time.

Maybe I can be that initial spark of inspiration

to someone to think, "That's a job I could do."

In the Royal Air Force, we really have a job for everyone.

If I hear anything, I will give you a shout.

We are on our way.

There's such a diversity of jobs -

engineering, drone technology, photographer, pilot.

Pairs lead qualified, so congratulations. Thanks, boss.

Great news. Thank you. Well done.

Yeah, chuffed. Pairs lead. Definitely a weight off shoulders.

I need to go and pack, check-in and then get married.

What's amazing is that we all work towards the same goal.

There's that sense of adventure in the military.

And my dream, it has come true,

and it's a real honour to be part of the Royal Air Force.

Next time... Scramble!

When the bell goes, the first thing that's in my head is, "run".

..Typhoons are scrambled from RAF Coningsby...

There's a foreign jet in our airspace,

it's not declaring itself, it could be an imminent threat.

..and a wannabe Top Gun pushes himself into the danger zone.

No-one is going to stop you making a mistake

that's going to get you or somebody else killed.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media