I’m actually on board an RAF Voyager, a mid-air refuelling aircraft, and right now we’re in the middle of one of the most realistic air combat simulations staged anywhere in the world. This is Exercise Red Flag, flown out of Nellis Air Force Base, just north of Las Vegas. Every day the scenario facing the allied pilots is different, and every day there’s an enemy force somewhere in the skies with just one mission: Stop them. During my visit the scenario was combat against a “near-peer adversary” which, if you de-code the military speak, means either Russia or China. That would cause the enemy to turn on their air defences, including their radar, to try and shoot these jets down.

Source: Daily Mail February 12, 2026 16:28 UTC