RAF starts preparing for Black Sea air support mission

Personnel from RAF Coningsby have started preparing for a four-month operation which will see Typhoon jets from the base supporting allies over the Black Sea.

More than 200 tonnes of equipment, including a spare jet engine worth about £2m, is being sent to Romania.

Typhoon fighter jets from the Lincolnshire base will form part of Nato's Enhanced Air Policing measures, introduced in 2014 to bolster defences in the region.

Up to 180 staff from RAF Coningsby will be based at the Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase in southeast Romania.

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