Heads up .... RAF Mildenhall!

The second batch of four Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyyah Al-Amiriyyah Al-Qatariyyah (QEAF, Qatar Emiri Air Force) Boeing F-15QA Eagles ('Ababil') have departed the Boeing facilities at St. Louis International Airport (MO) on 12 December 2021.

The fighters, of which two have been identified as 17-0009 and 17-0019, left late in the evening with call sign Retro61/62/63/64 with a fifth F-15QA acted as a spare. They are expected to arrive at RAF Mildenhall (UK) on 13 December in the afternoon at around 14:30 hrs LT.

The first delivery flight on 27 October 2021, also transiting RAF Mildenhall, encountered some issues. The plan was that four F-15QAs would meet up with GOLD11 (USAF KC-10A), but the tanker developed some technical problems and the fourship landed at Bangor International Airport (ME) for an unplanned fuel stop. The four F-15QAs, serials 17-0006, 17-0013, 17-0014 and 17-0015, crossed the pond but stayed a bit longer at RAF Mildenhall than expected. On 16 November only three Eagles managed to depart leaving 17-0015 behind with technical problems.

The QEAF has 36 F-15QAs on order that will replace the air force's Mirage 2000-5 fleet. Qatar took an option in the contract for another 36 airframes. The aircraft will be operated by the Ababil squadron, which is in line with the Al Adiyat squadron for the Rafale DQ/EQ.

UPDATE 13 December 2021: RETRO61 flight arrived at Mildenhal aroud 13:30 hrs LT, serials 17-0009, 17-0016, 17-0017 and 17-0019. GOLD11 KC-10A 84-0186 took them accross after GOLD12  KC-135R 62-3566 from Scott AFB (IL) accompanied them for the first few hours. Meanwhile  RETRO65 17-0015 performed a local test flight. 17-0018 was the ground spare in St. Louis and did not launch.