All language subtitles for Top Guns Inside The RAF - Season 2 - EP-06

This programme contains
strong language

Scramble!
ALARM RINGS

First thing that's in my head
is run.

Breaking news, Typhoon jets have
been scrambled...

Your adrenaline's going.
You're acting on instinct.

We're not sure what it is.

It could be an imminent threat,
like a foreign jet in our airspace.

It can be a matter of life of death.

The RAF is on high alert.

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

Buzzard Tower, can I radio check?

There's a potential ISIS
safe house.

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.

Here we go.

Whoa. Holy shit.

With conflict in Europe...

..and the Middle East...

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

ID - Russian aircraft.

You don't want to fire on it

and end up starting World War III.

Good morning, cleared for take-off.
Surface wind 170, 11.

From my bedroom window I've got
a perfect view of

the runway.

I'm very particular about

not having my pants on the
washing line

in the garden in the summer,

because I just don't want pilots
to see my pants.

Who wouldn't love it? Aircraft
24/7, it's great.

RAF Coningsby is one of
the UK's two Typhoon air bases...

Morning, Sir. Thank you.

..and home to the toughest pilot
training course in

the world,
with a famous Hollywood link.

Top Gun is an easy frame
of reference for people, right?

Because everyone's seen the movie.

Top Gun is effectively just

the US Navy's weapons
instructor school.

But their course is only, like,
three months long,

whereas ours is nine months
long.

Some may say ours is harder,
but I've not done the other course.

I'm Buzz.

I'm a Typhoon pilot currently doing

the Qualified Weapons Instructor
course.

I grew up in South London,

not far from Biggin Hill Airport,

which used to be
a big RAF base during

the Second World War.

It definitely never even crossed my
mind that that was something

I might end up doing.

This year, Buzz is one of just
nine hand-picked pilots vying

to become a Qualified
Weapons Instructor.

Pass, and he'll become a Top Gun

and one of just nine on the
front line.

But 25% of the pilots who attempt
this course, fail.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome
to QWIC 16.

The Qualified Weapons Instructor
Course is pretty much

the pinnacle of tactical operations
in fast jets.

It's going to be a tough nine
months,

clearly not everyone gets through,

but trust me, at the end of
the day, it is going to be worth it

and the rest of your careers will
not be the same.

Every front line squadron will have

a Qualified Weapons Instructor.

The graduates of our course have
to be ready to lead

the squadron into war if
that's required.

And as a result, they're kind of at
the cutting edge

of the UK tactical capabilities.

Today we're going to be looking at
your ability to plan,

and to execute a valid strafe
attack.

We're going to actually load
the guns in the aircraft,

dive at the ground
and shoot the big circular target.

Typhoon jets use modern missiles

and bombs to take out targets
with pinpoint precision.

In a test of raw skill,

Buzz is being asked to hit
a target using only

the Typhoon's machine gun,

without any help from
the onboard targeting computer.

We're here, to learn how to master
all of those disciplines,

to an expert level.

If we run out of bombs,

if we run out of air-to-surface
missiles

and your life is in the balance,

ultimately the gun might be
the only thing you have left.

The course is seen as very
prestigious, internationally.

So you can't really understate
its value,

to the RAF and I guess,
frankly, to the country.

If we go to war tomorrow,

I definitely want to be on
the front line leading

the defence of the nation.
Hence why I'm on this course.

ALARM WAILS

Breaking news, Typhoon jets have
been scrambled to respond

to what they are calling an
unidentified aircraft

approaching the United Kingdom.

Above the North Sea,

RAF Typhoons have intercepted

a Russian long-range
strategic bomber...

..and escorted it away from
UK airspace.

Coningsby is home to
a Quick Reaction Alert facility,

where jets scramble in response

to any airborne threat coming close
to the UK.

It is a 24/7 duty.

With threats from Russian
incursions growing,

new personnel are regularly drafted
into the QRA team.

The pilots wanna get going in that
aircraft as soon as possible.

Q shout could happen at any point,

during the time you are down
there, OK?

What's the bleed-air signal?

That is palm up

and a fist just coming into it,
right there. Yeah? Yeah.

I'm Beth. I'm an aircraft mechanic
with

the Typhoon at RAF Coningsby.

My dad's a mechanic.
My grandads a mechanic.

But I wanted to do something
a little bit bigger.

I thought, "OK, Typhoon."

Four and a half years later, here
I am.

Will a man be aboard
the right-hand chock,

as you would on
a normal power check? Yes.

QRA is Quick Reaction Alert.

So, we get told there's something
coming.

Happy with that? Yep. Good.

There's two kind of
potential threats that we deal with.

You've got people like
the Russians coming in,

and also,
anything that could be like a 9/11.

We've got to be ready for anything.

For the next seven days,

22-year-old Beth is responsible
for defending

the UK around the clock...

..by helping to scramble
Typhoon jets.

Hi. Hello. Hiya, you all right?

QRA is definitely what I
want to do as a career,

and I've never done it before.
So, it is really nerve-racking.

I'm just about to go in for
the first one.

But what an experience, though?

Yeah, if something happens.

Well, I kind of hope something
does.

That makes it a bit more
interesting, doesn't it?

Yeah, I guess you could see it
like that!

Right, OK, so we've got one
of our QRA jets behind us here,

it is fully armed, ready to go.

If the alarm sounds,

Beth has just minutes to power up

and launch the Typhoons,

a process that normally takes over
half an hour.

Soon as the buzzer goes,

these doors are
going to start opening,

you'll be running out of
the Q building,

in through here and doing your stuff

to get this jet launched as quickly
as possible.

There is a reason we get
the jets up within a set time.

And that's
because the ramifications

of those jets not going up could be
quite serious.

So, this is my room.

Got a bedside table
and a couple of drawers.

We get a little bit of normal
daylight, which is quite nice.

Am I allowed to see the teddy?
Yeah.

Oh, cute. Which at 22 may be a bit
weird,

but it's nice to have something
that reminds you of home.

I always knew that being a
mechanic,

it was a very male-dominated area.

There's five lasses on my squadron,
engineering-wise.

So, there isn't a lot of us.

Ear defenders. That's it. Pop them
in.

Sweet, right.

Cheers, Dicko.

I just turn around to the lads,
I'm like,

"Look, don't treat me as a lass.
Treat me as one of the lads."

And they do.

At the end of the day I am just
here doing my job, you know?

My job's exactly the same as
theirs,

there's no reason why, as a female,

I can't do it as good as them,
if not better.

As far as the unpredictability
of when that bell might go off,

you know it's a possibility.

But if you constantly are
there, like,

"Is it going to go? Is it going to
go? Is it going to go?"

you're not going to be able
to go to sleep.

But if it goes off,
it goes off - and just go for it.

Scramble.
ALARM RINGS

Just a few hours into
Beth's first shift,

Coningsby's Quick Reaction Alert
is activated.

First thing that's in my head is,

"Fuck!

"Run!"

Two pilots have just minutes
to get into the air.

Phantom one, ready.

It can be a matter of life
or death.

RAF Coningsby's Quick Reaction Alert
has been activated.

We're not sure what it is.

It could be an imminent threat,
like a foreign jet in our airspace.

22-year-old engineer Beth

has just minutes
to get Typhoon jets in the air.

It's like, right, OK. Doors are
open, right? Get to the stairs.

Pilot's in. What do I do next?

Engine.

With a potential threat to
the UK, there can be no delays.

OK, I can hear engine one
spooling up.

Right, get that power lead out,
get that chock out.

Run. You need to get that jet in
the air as soon as you can.

My heart's still going, like, ten to
the dozen,

but, yeah, so it went all right,
it's fair enough.

Nothing really went wrong,

but shocked me when
the bell went off.

Beth and the team won't know what
the scramble was

for until the pilot gets back,

but she's already made
an impression on her superiors.

Pretty good for a first go, yeah.

When you get that adrenaline
running to go

and do the see-off,

it's really important that we know
where we

need to be around the aircraft,

there's a lot of dangerous areas...
So, it was pretty good.

It's been a successful first launch
of QRA,

but Beth still has six days before
she can leave.

How did it go?

Yeah, it was all right,
we had one live shout go.

Oh, wow.

The point of QRA is to make it
a muscle memory,

so when that bell does go,
you know that you can do it,

because you have it drilled
into you.

Did you hit all your time limits?

Yeah, it went up in the time
so that was all right,

and watching it kind
of go vertical, that was good.

Oh, nice one. Fab job.

I think the thing I learnt from
my first

QRA scramble was,
have confidence in myself.

Everyone self-doubts.

But when you have that moment where
it's like,

actually I did that...

..it does a hell of a lot
for your self-esteem.

This is Holbeach Tower...

..first customer's inbound.

Training to become an RAF Top Gun on

the Qualified Weapons Instructor
course,

Buzz must try to manually hit
a five-metre target

with bullets fired from
the Typhoon's machine gun,

whilst flying at just under
the speed of sound.

Employing Typhoon's in-built 27mm
cannon

which you're then
going to point at the ground

and shoot while you're travelling
at 500mph,

it can become dangerous very,
very quickly.

Visual.

We are going to try and make sure
that my rounds

impact the target at a very
specific time, down to a second,

with my QI instructor at
the back watching every move.

No pressure.

Here he comes. Yeah, he's through
the clouds, look. He's levelling
off.

I'm going to pull the trigger at
58 seconds,

which accounts for
the two seconds it's going to take

for the round to leave the gun
and hit the target.

So that it hits
the target at three o'clock.

And he hit the target.

Copied, direct hit.

It's complicated,

but that's why we're trying to
make it as difficult as possible,

so that we can do this
with absolute precision.

With the first run successful...

..Buzz must now increase his height,
to make hitting

the target even harder.

The further away we are,

gravity's going to have
a significant effect.

The wind is going to have
a significant effect as well.

You only have a certain number
of rounds,

and you can only fire in very
short bursts.

If we have to go
and do this for real and someone,

somewhere really,
really needs to strafe a target,

the gun is hard to hide from.

Hitting the target is
a great feeling,

it's really satisfying,

especially when you've got
a direct hit.

Because you can't always see it
from the jet.

There's nothing like seeing
a fast jet doing its stuff.

Buzz's performance will be analysed
in detail.

On the elite weapons
instructor course,

even small errors could prevent him
from passing.

I've made a lot of sacrifices
to be here wearing this uniform,

flying that jet, for a reason.

I think that I can do
a good thing in a Typhoon.

I can be a force of good.

All in all, not a terrible day.
So, onwards.

OK, first thing we'll do is
we'll watch.

Decent, really solid start,

bang on the middle of
the target circles.

So nice tracking initially,
so 11 rounds.

Always roll out four degrees below
the target, then assess.

Roger. Yeah, cool. Thanks.

Trips like today are very much
the first step,

he has got a lot more coming.

It's impossible
to put your finger on it,

whether or not someone is
going to get through or not.

It totally depends on how they
deal with

the mounting pressure,
which is significant.

My name is Gouldy

and I run the

Qualified Weapons Instructor course
on 29 Squadron.

We've seen plenty of people fail in
the past.

It's a standard that we're not
going to flex on,

so if people don't make
that standard,

then they won't pass, unfortunately.

The course has always had
a reputation that it's challenging,

but that's certainly not
a bad thing.

If we're expecting them
to be mission commanders in

an incredibly stressful,
dangerous world,

then it's only right that they
should be trained and tested.

Pilots regularly failing
to keep up with

the relentless pace

and exacting standards, face
being cut.

There are no second chances.

Buzz's one shot now hinges on
a challenge that ramps up

the difficulty,

designed to push him to
the limit of his piloting ability.

This is going to be my one v one
combat phase.

We are both in Typhoons fighting
our best game plan.

We're going to have
a hard deck today of 5,000 feet,

so that hard deck is
going to be simulating the ground.

If you go spearing though it,

then we'll treat you as dead.
I will be dash one today.

Sir, you're going to be dash two.

Our aim is going to be kill
and survive.

Gouldy has challenged Buzz to
a dogfight,

with revised rules.

Buzz has just one minute

to manoeuvre his jet behind Gouldy's

and lock-on his heat-seeking
missiles,

half the time pilots are
normally allowed.

The only rule is for safety,

no jet can drop below 5,000 feet,
a simulated ground level.

Any questions on what we're
go and do today?

No questions.
Sweet. I'll see you at the jet.

Don't embarrass myself,
that's the plan.

There is always pressure,

especially when you're flying
OC QWIC,

because ultimately,
he's the one who makes

the decision on whether or not you
make the grade on the course.

With under a minute to complete
the challenge,

the fight begins with Buzz making

the first move towards Gouldy's jet.

The entire one v one basic fight
manoeuvres phase is all about,

get behind the other guy
and shoot him.

This is a jet that can pull
and sustain 9G.

There's a lot of physical demands
put on your body.

I mean, it hurts at the best of
times.

For fast-jet pilots,

there's not a course that tests you
any more than this.

I can see why Buzz
has been selected.

He's very confident,
he's very enthusiastic,

but he's lacking in experience.

Right, let's try something.

To shake Buzz off,

Gouldy dramatically reduces his speed

and begins circling towards
the ground.

Eager to stay on his tail,
Buzz immediately follows,

but both jets are now heading
towards base height.

He is an outstanding operator.

He's seen every possible mistake
that

everyone could possibly make.

So, he's sees it happening before it
has even happened.

We're spiralling lower and lower.

Almost managed to get my missile
locked on

and in a few more seconds
I should have him.

It's a single-seat jet,
so you're the only person in it.

No-one's going to stop you making
a mistake that's

going to get you or somebody
else killed.

ALARM BEEPS

ALARM BEEPS

Circling down towards the North Sea,

Typhoon pilot Buzz is closing in on
RAF Top Gun instructor Gouldy

in a one-on-one dogfight.

Flying really, really close to
the deck is risky,

but he's definitely doing it try
and lure me down there.

So I'm just focusing on getting
him in range,

locking my weapons onto his jet

and getting the shot away as soon
as I can.

The blood is doing its very best

to pull itself out of your brain,
and down into your feet.

All of the kit is squeezing
your body,

to try and force that blood back up

so you don't lose consciousness
and then crash into the ground.

Turning tightly,

Buzz is almost in range to get

a missile lock on Gouldy's jet
within the time limit.

ALARM BEEPS

To get a missile lock on Gouldy,

Buzz has gone lower than base height,

breaking the rules of the test.

Buzz managed to get a lock onto me,

but in the real world you can't
fire

a missile if you've crashed into
the ground.

The standards are high on
the course.

You have to meet the standard.
But if you don't,

there isn't an infinite amount
of slack.

Flying the Typhoon is expensive,

so you can't keep going up
and getting it wrong.

It's no good graduating someone

who's competent when things
are easy.

You have got to see how they react
to the pressure and the stress

because that is the kind of stress

that there could be like on
operations.

What a fucking dickhead.

As with every flight,

trainee performances
are scrutinised...

Good days and bad days,
and today was a bad day.

..with instructors often brutal in
their assessment.

So clearly you are
a natural instinctive pilot

definitely very talented,
but I think sometimes

that fight recognition wasn't
necessarily there,

and I think your BFM will come

a long way if you get your head in
the books

looking at those academic pictures
and how you define everything.

Sometimes it might come across like
I'm being harsh,

but it's an incredibly challenging
course.

There's a lot of pressure on
people,

they need to be incredibly resilient
to be able to deal with it.

Buzz, he's got to be able
to understand

and comprehend all of
the disciplines.

So a lot's riding on it.

He's got to be able to get
through it

or he doesn't pass the course.

Nearly all of Coningsby's
3,000 personnel are

focused on helping Typhoon
squadrons train

and deploy to the front line.

We're looking for leaks on the
mask.

I know it's not comfortable,
so are you ready?

Three, two, one, go.

HIGH-PITCHED WHISTLING

Eyes popped out my head, yep.
THEY LAUGH

Like all parts of Britain's
Armed Forces,

pressure is mounting on the RAF
to recruit more people.

Coningsby's Battle
of Britain Memorial Flight

flies at airshows across the UK,

to attract the next generation
of pilots and aircrews.

With the war in Ukraine showing no
sign of abating,

the Middle East is also becoming
more destabilised by the day,

and the RAF
need to recruit more people

to ensure we're ready to respond
to any escalation.

My name's Simon Jessett,

everybody calls me Jesse

and I'm on the Battle
of Britain Memorial Flight.

So, let's have a physical look

at things we spoke
about in the classroom, then -

the hydraulic system and, more
specifically, the undercarriage.

It's a fucking beast, isn't it?

Before this year's display
season begins,

Jesse must learn to pilot
a Hurricane from World War II.

Widely regarded as the Air Force's
toughest plane to fly.

So, if you want to jump up
and pop yourself into the cockpit.

In my career, I've been very lucky.

Go on, give it some beans, mate.

Started on the Tucano,
flew the Hawk.

Then the Harrier,

but now I think inspiring

the next generation is genuinely
really important

and what pilot wouldn't give their
eye teeth to fly a warbird.

Here we are. The clutch, the
booster, start and your magneto.

Showing Jesse the ropes is
the squadron boss, Suggs.

Ultimately, you need to bring that
aeroplane home safely.

We're not playing around now.
He's still got a lot to do,

a lot to learn and a lot to prove.

And if any time that light comes
on,

that is one of the emergency
scenarios where

the decision you're making is what
is most survivable.

Typically for me, abandoning would
come down to either

I'm on fire... Yep. ..I've
lost control of the aeroplane,

or I cannot make a safe landing.
Yep. All right?

And if anyone tells you that they
enjoyed their first

Hurricane trip,
you've just met a liar.

We always say that getting airborne
is optional,

bringing them back is not.

Before Jesse can perform in front of
the public...

..he must first pass a flying test

to prove he can handle
the Hurricane, safely.

Well, this is not looking good,
is it? No.

But there's an immediate problem
with the World War II relic.

It would seem the generator is not
doing what it should.

What's happened, mate? Well,
the team are working on it now,

but the volts was down. So, yeah,
they're going to have a look,

do a bit of diagnostics and
hopefully sprinkle some fairy magic

on it and get it back serviceable
again.

At least there's plenty of room
to work.

Sometimes, things like this happen
where things just don't work.

Older aeroplanes tend
to have that problem a bit more,

but I think it's just cos it's
old and temperamental.

PHONE RINGS

Afternoon, medical centre AS1
Murgatroyd speaking.

Would you like a cookie?
I'm good, thank you.

Would you like a cookie?

And then lowest line you can from
right to left.

Erm... X-O...

Oh, my. OK.

As a main operational air base,

personnel at Coningsby work shifts
of up to 24 hours.

It's now half past six.

So we've pretty much been planning
for 11 hours.

Nearing the end
of his training course to become

an RAF Top Gun,

fighter pilot Buzz has been put in
charge of a huge military exercise.

This will be their biggest test,
it's an incredible ask,

it's a 48-hour endeavour.

They've got a lot of problems
to solve in

a very limited timeframe.

Buzz is the mission commander,

so he's ultimately responsible
for all of it.

My job is assess him as we go.

Is this the first meal of the day?

I've had a Twirl
and a lot of coffee.

Known as Storm Warrior,

the exercise replicates
a wartime scenario.

Buzz must lead a group of Typhoons
to protect

a large RAF cargo plane as it
drops-off troops.

Standing in the way will be ground

and air defences that
Buzz must react to in real time.

To pass,
the troops must be landed safely,

and the Typhoons must avoid being
shot down.

I'm Buzz,
I'm going to be Warlord one,

and the MC as well.

Big thing I want today is just
to sprint early on,

so that we can get ourselves to
a safe

and executable primary game plan.
Try and enjoy it,

it should be a good day,
I'm going to try and have fun.

Any questions for me?
See you in an hour.

It's coming up on nearly ten
years in the RAF this summer,

which is pretty mad now that
I think about it.

But, yeah, I think anyone here
wearing one

of these flying suits would be lying

if they said today wasn't
going to be brutal.

This will be the biggest test
of Buzz's career.

Pass and he will make it as
an RAF Top Gun.

Fail and the last few months will be
for nothing.

A lot of stuff going on. A lot of
scrutiny, a lot of pressure,

but in reality, about to go flying

with, like, half-a-billion pounds'
worth of assets.

So if I didn't fucking love this
shit, I wouldn't be here.

The training is not a walk in the
park.

You know, people don't pass it.

You've got a lot of pressure,
so we've just got to do our best.

Big day today, first time getting
into a Hurricane.

At Coningsby's Battle
of Britain Memorial Flight,

the World War II Hurricane
has been fixed,

and Jesse is ready
for his first test flight.

My first deployment was back
in 1995,

so I was 23,
flying a Harrier over the Balkans.

Ran the engine up to full power
and it just went bang.

And so I ejected and,

yeah, that is a painful,
violent experience.

I'm not sure who is more nervous,
me or him, to be honest.

I mean, there's risk inherent in any
flying, right?

Any gross mishandling on my
part can lead to a bad outcome.

You don't apply
for this job unless you've

rationalised that you're OK
with that.

I've lost friends in
peacetime training.

It's never far away in this game.

To prove he's safe
to perform at airshows,

Jesse needs to fly
a smooth circuit around the airfield

and land without incident.

You're flying an 80-year
aeroplane with

an 80-year engine.
You have to be thinking,

what would I do if that stopped?

Until it's done and you've got
her down in one piece,

you know, all of those human natural
doubts are there.

Roger, got that.

OK, once he's finished
this manoeuvre,

I want to terminate this display,
for him to land.

Landing a Hurricane is the
most dangerous part of the test,

because visibility in
the cockpit is limited.

OK. So, here we go.

Gear flap.

Looks a bit shallow to me.

Hold it off, mate, hold it off,
hold it off, hold it off.

OK.

Good effort.

Hey, for a first Hurricane landing -
well done. Thanks, mate.

Let's call it a day at that.

If you can taxi back to BBMF,
please.

OK.

That is like putting
a harness on an angry lion

and then stabbing it in
the backside with

a rusty syringe
and then trying to keep hold if it.

Good fun, incredible.

Well done, mate. You OK?

Thanks, mate.

Well done. There you go. Cool.
Newest Hurricane pilot.

Exercise Storm Warrior is about
to begin.

Do this correctly

and Buzz will qualify as
a weapons instructor,

making him an RAF Top Gun.

Fail, and the last nine months could
be for nothing.

Buzz must protect
a huge RAF A400 transport plane,

code named Dreadnaught.

As it drops off a platoon of troops,

Typhoons will keep an eye out
for threats both on

the ground or in the air.

We have a plan to protect the A400,

which is always going to be
the most vulnerable asset

just because it's a really big
target,

big radar cross section,
and it moves slowly,

and it can't really defend itself.

Good job, well spotted.

Buzz's team have spotted
a missile site,

camouflaged on the ground.

I think one of
the biggest characteristics

of anyone who finds themselves in
this job...

..is the ability to make difficult
decisions,

and make them quickly,
with a lot of pressure.

And that decision might be dropping
a bomb.

Exercises like this,

we use digital systems in
our cockpit

to simulate dropping real bombs.

So we're not actually blowing
things up for real,

but our targeting

and firing procedures are all as
they would be

if we were dropping live weapons.

Under Buzz's orders,

the targeting computer records
a direct hit

and the missile launcher
is eliminated.

The transport plane can now
land safely

and off-load the platoon of troops.

Two enemy jets have just appeared on
the radar screens of the Typhoons.

All of a sudden, our radars pick up
two new aircraft.

Ones that we weren't expecting to
see.

They're F-35s who today are playing
the role of the enemy.

With the transport plane still
off-loading troops,

and his fuel levels low,

Buzz faces a critical decision about
the F-35s.

Instead of re-fuelling,
Buzz decides to lead the attack.

I'm low on fuel, but I know if I
don't do something

about this now, then the A400 on
the ground

won't be able to take-off safely.

So I need to kill both
of those F-35s.

The F-35 is a brand-new aircraft...

..a fifth-generation fighter,
compared to Typhoon, which is

a little bit older.

It can take a lot of skill in
an older aircraft to fight

an F-35.

What it really comes down
to is your own individual skill

versus the skills of
the other pilot.

One of the F-35's has been taken
out of the game.

As the transport plane takes off,
time is running out.

Buzz must eliminate the last
F-35 before it gets too close.

Ultimately, it is life and death.

He's doing his very best now
to try to get away,

but I've done a really good job
to put a lot of pressure on him.

And then we'll kill him.

It feels great to come out on top.

This is what we train for,
this is what it's all about,

its why we're here.

Killing the bad guy,
home for tea and medals.

With barely any fuel left,
Buzz has achieved every objective.

All that stands between Buzz passing
the course now,

is Gouldy's final assessment.

Our initial execution of the tasks
went well.

They managed to protect
the transport aircraft in and out.

Buzz definitely did some air-to-air
shooting as well.

He made a tactical decision
to use his fuel

for that rather than being able
to get back to the tanker.

Gouldy said we had
to make sure we had enough fuel

to go all the way round
the airspace to get out,

and I decided to not do that,

in the interest of staying there
five minutes longer,

to kill someone that was
going to kill other people.

I think it basically is
going to mean that I die in

the exercise, like, in the game of
the exercise,

I think he is going to say that I
ran out of fuel.

But I made a conscious choice
to do that, to shoot people.

Evening, everyone. Firstly,
thanks to everyone involved today

and yesterday supporting
the various QWICS.

A really complicated mission
with lots of moving parts.

A really strong showing.

We're pretty privileged today
to have access

to that number of different assets
to play with.

So you ended up with
a big picture game plan,

which worked really well.

You're definitely a big picture
guy,

and the mission that you generated
kind of shows that.

A really strong effort.

So the UK's newest Mission
Commander. Well done.

THEY APPLAUD

In becoming the RAF's newest
Qualified Weapons Instructor,

Buzz is now classed as one of

the most elite fighter pilots in
the world.

I think to be a good fighter pilot,
I think ultimately

all the Top Gun-esque
bravado has to disappear.

If you make a mistake,

owning up to that mistake,
then ultimately,

we can be more lethal

because without that we are just
a flying club.

All the training we do was in

the event that we end up having
to do something with it.

If we're not here to fight
and win wars,

why are we here,
why are we spending all this money,

why are we putting people through
all this stuff...

..if it's not to make sure that
when we are called upon,

we do it, we do it well, and we win.

It's the whole game.

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