PHOTO FEATURE | 53 IMAGES
The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is one of the largest military airshow in the world held annually at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, England in support of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust.
The theme for this year’s show is Skytanker23, which commemorates 100 years of air-to-air refuelling. Therefore, the show ground was populated by a huge variety of tankers such as Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker, Lockheed Martin KC-130J Hercules, Airbus A330 MRTT and Boeing KC-767.
There were about 250 aircrafts participating either in the static displays or flying displays. On top of that, the Italian Air Force is celebrating their 100th anniversary and have a massive area in static display showing off many of their asset from old to the latest.
Flying for the first time at RIAT2023 is the Messerschmitt Me 262 replica operated by Flugmuseum Messerschmitt and supported by the Airbus Heritage Flight. Other flying display participants include Eurofighter Typhoons and SAAB Gripens from many of the European Air Forces, F-16s from Belgium and Denmark, a F-18C from Finland, 5 aerobatic display teams and air-to-air refuelling flypasts.
Here we present the flying display participants of RIAT2023 in the pictures below.
01 Royal Saudi Air Force 88 Squadron “The Saudi Hawks” starting their display segment
02 Royal Saudi Air Force 88 Squadron “The Saudi Hawks” Opposing Solos
03 Royal Saudi Air Force 88 Squadron “The Saudi Hawks”
04 Refuelling demostration by USAF MC-130J and CV-22B
05 USAF CV-22B Osprey
06 German Air Force Refuelling Display with a A400M and 2 Tornadoes
07 German Air Force Refuelling Display with a A400M and 2 Tornadoes
08 German Air Force Panavia Tornado buddy tankling another Tornado
09 German Air Force Panavia Tornado ECR
10 German Air Force Panavia Tornado IDS
11 Flugmuseum Messerschmitt Me-262
12 Flugmuseum Messerschmitt Me-262
13 Royal Danish Air Force General Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcon
14 Royal Danish Air Force General Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcon
15 SAAB JAS-39E Gripen
16 SAAB JAS-39E Gripen
17 Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Avro Lancaster
18 Finnish Air Force McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet
19 Finnish Air Force McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet
20 Italian Air Force Leonardo T-346A Master
21 Italian Air Force Eurofighter F-2000A Typhoon
22 Italian Air Force Eurofighter F-2000A Typhoon
23 Italian Air Force Leonardo HH-139B
24 Swedish Air Force SAAB SK.60
25 Swedish Air Force SAAB SK.60
26 French Air & Space Force Dassault Rafale C
27 French Air & Space Force Dassault Rafale C
28 Czech Air Force SAAB JAS-39C Gripen
29 Czech Air Force SAAB JAS-39C Gripen
30 Czech Air Force SAAB JAS-39C Gripen
31 Belgian Air Component F-16 Solo Display
32 Belgian Air Component F-16 Solo Display
33 RAF Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4
34 RAF Eurofighter Typhoon FGR.4
35 Swedish Air Force SAAB JAS-39C Gripen
36 Swedish Air Force SAAB JAS-39C Gripen
37 Italian Army Agusta AH-129D Mangusta;
38 United Arab Emirates Air Force “Al Fursan”
39 United Arab Emirates Air Force “Al Fursan”
40 United Arab Emirates Air Force “Al Fursan”
41 RAF Boeing Chinook HC.6
42 RAF Boeing Chinook HC.6
43 German Air Force NH90 TTH
44 RAF F-35B Lightning II and Spanish Navy EAV-8B Matador II flying in formation
45 Spanish Navy McDonnell Douglas EAV-8B Matador II
46 Spanish Navy McDonnell Douglas EAV-8B Matador II
47 Spanish Navy McDonnell Douglas EAV-8B Matador II
48 Spanish Air and Space Force “Patrulla Aguila”
49 Spanish Air and Space Force “Patrulla Aguila”
50 USAF Boeing B-52H Stratofortress
51 Royal Air Force “The Red Arrows”
52 Royal Air Force “The Red Arrows”
53 Royal Air Force “The Red Arrows”