Exercise Cobra Warrior 2025-2
Multinational Combat Training Evolution
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| Canadian CF-188 Hornet takes off from RAF Waddington, UK, to take part in a mission in Exercise Cobra Warrior 2025-2. |
RAF Waddington, UK, Sept. 17, 2025 - Exercise Cobra Warrior 2025-2 represents the Royal Air Force's flagship multinational air combat training exercise, conducted biannually under the Air Warfare Center at RAF Waddington. The three-week exercise integrates NATO and partner nation air forces in high-intensity scenarios designed to test coalition interoperability across contested, degraded, and operationally limited environments. Participating nations include the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Germany, and the United States, deploying approximately 60-70 aircraft.
Group Captain Paul Hanson (OF-5), Exercise Director, emphasizes the unprecedented scope: "Cobra Warrior is one of the largest exercises that we run in the UK. It's probably one of the largest and most complicated in the world. We're not just talking air forces, we're talking in the land and the maritime and also forces that do electronic warfare and other things, to be able to bring all of those together and to create a series of training scenarios that are safe and tactically relevant."
The exercise qualifies personnel across multiple specialized roles: Qualified Weapons Instructors, Multi-Engine Tactics Instructors, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and Space Instructor certifications. Squadron Leader John McFadden describes it as "a challenging air-led multi-domain exercise focused on pitting our NATO, JEF and International partners against a capable peer adversary within a contested degraded and operationally limited threat environment."
Training Architecture
The exercise operates on a carefully structured progression. "Each participating nation has their own areas that they'd like to do. And we, as the RAF, as the exercise owner, we'll take those and we'll build scenarios to make sure that everybody can get their own objectives satisfied," Hanson explains. Training begins with familiarization operations, transitions into two weeks of daylight missions, and culminates in night operations during the final week.
Mission complexity extends to "enormous 60 or 70 ship missions," requiring detailed pre-mission planning. "It is one mission but it's so complicated and lengthy that it requires a detailed plan beforehand to be able to execute," Hanson notes.
The exercise operates on a carefully structured progression. "Each participating nation has their own areas that they'd like to do. And we, as the RAF, as the exercise owner, we'll take those and we'll build scenarios to make sure that everybody can get their own objectives satisfied," Hanson explains. Training begins with familiarization operations, transitions into two weeks of daylight missions, and culminates in night operations during the final week.
Mission complexity extends to "enormous 60 or 70 ship missions," requiring detailed pre-mission planning. "It is one mission but it's so complicated and lengthy that it requires a detailed plan beforehand to be able to execute," Hanson notes.
Geographic Advantages
The UK's extensive airspace provides distinctive training advantages. "We're very blessed in the UK to have such a large bit of airspace, which goes out across the whole of the North Sea, incorporates a lot of Northern England and Southern Scotland as well, where we can exercise some really brilliant training, air, land, maritime, and put in the full suite of electronic warfare and other effects," Hanson explains.
The Exercise Director emphasizes Cobra Warrior's unique focus: "The difference, I think, comes from the emphasis it puts on integration, as opposed to just on air fighting and force elements. If they don't integrate themselves properly, and in order to be able to make sure that not only as air fighters, but also on the land and in the non-kinetic areas, if they don't think about that and put the puzzle together in a way that's going to work, then they'll fail in the air as well."
The UK's extensive airspace provides distinctive training advantages. "We're very blessed in the UK to have such a large bit of airspace, which goes out across the whole of the North Sea, incorporates a lot of Northern England and Southern Scotland as well, where we can exercise some really brilliant training, air, land, maritime, and put in the full suite of electronic warfare and other effects," Hanson explains.
The Exercise Director emphasizes Cobra Warrior's unique focus: "The difference, I think, comes from the emphasis it puts on integration, as opposed to just on air fighting and force elements. If they don't integrate themselves properly, and in order to be able to make sure that not only as air fighters, but also on the land and in the non-kinetic areas, if they don't think about that and put the puzzle together in a way that's going to work, then they'll fail in the air as well."
Coalition Integration
Hanson's assessment reveals collective capability through coordination: "I think if you look at the amount of Typhoons that we've got here, and the amount of F-35s that European nations have on order, when you come together and in an exercise like this, when you're watching the fly through, and there's so much combat air, but also so much high-end intelligence assets as well going into preparing that battle space, all of which gets fused together, you really sense that coming together, there's quite a big punch that's sat there, ready for action."
Hanson's assessment reveals collective capability through coordination: "I think if you look at the amount of Typhoons that we've got here, and the amount of F-35s that European nations have on order, when you come together and in an exercise like this, when you're watching the fly through, and there's so much combat air, but also so much high-end intelligence assets as well going into preparing that battle space, all of which gets fused together, you really sense that coming together, there's quite a big punch that's sat there, ready for action."
Royal Canadian Air Force Participation
Lieutenant-Colonel Maxime Renaud (OF-4), Canadian Air Task Force Commander, leads composite forces from multiple squadrons. "I am the commander of the 425th Tactical Fighter Squadron in Canada, and we're here to participate in Exercise Cobra Warrior 25-2 as part of Operation REASSURANCE for Canada. It includes more than just the 425th Squadron. It includes people from the sister squadron, the 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron, people from our tanker squadron in Winnipeg, 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron with the CC-130HT, and we have a lot of support trades as well from all over Canada."
Operation REASSURANCE provides strategic context. "It is Canada's contribution or response to what happened in Crimea in 2014. The first thing is to reassure our allies, mostly in the Central and Eastern European countries, that we are there for them as part of NATO. But also to prove to Russia that we can actually deploy and project force to Europe from Canada, which is not a small feat," Renaud explains.
Recent CF-188 modernization has enhanced capabilities. "Better capabilities overall. It's a much better radar. The APG-79 is a more modern radar. To us, it's a brand new way of thinking in the cockpit. With new capabilities always come new tactics. Yes, we are definitely more lethal with the APG-79," Renaud confirms.
Mission Commander qualification represents a critical objective. "We're trying to qualify three mission commanders for this exercise. Three of our pilots will upgrade to mission commander qualified, which means they can lead large force employment packages. In Canada, we started doing some training, some ground school, which are like academic lectures initially. We did a smaller scale exercise just before we came here, and this is their graduation exercise," Renaud notes.
Major Kevin Prior (OF-3), CC-130HT detachment commander, explains tanker operations: "This is a CC-130HT. We have a large internal fuel tank and the ability to give away gas right now to any Coalition NATO partner if they are probe and drogue. The biggest thing here is we're essentially a force multiplier for the fighters. They can stay airborne longer, they can do more training because now they are not having to land in order to get more gas."
Lieutenant-Colonel Maxime Renaud (OF-4), Canadian Air Task Force Commander, leads composite forces from multiple squadrons. "I am the commander of the 425th Tactical Fighter Squadron in Canada, and we're here to participate in Exercise Cobra Warrior 25-2 as part of Operation REASSURANCE for Canada. It includes more than just the 425th Squadron. It includes people from the sister squadron, the 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron, people from our tanker squadron in Winnipeg, 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron with the CC-130HT, and we have a lot of support trades as well from all over Canada."
Operation REASSURANCE provides strategic context. "It is Canada's contribution or response to what happened in Crimea in 2014. The first thing is to reassure our allies, mostly in the Central and Eastern European countries, that we are there for them as part of NATO. But also to prove to Russia that we can actually deploy and project force to Europe from Canada, which is not a small feat," Renaud explains.
Recent CF-188 modernization has enhanced capabilities. "Better capabilities overall. It's a much better radar. The APG-79 is a more modern radar. To us, it's a brand new way of thinking in the cockpit. With new capabilities always come new tactics. Yes, we are definitely more lethal with the APG-79," Renaud confirms.
Mission Commander qualification represents a critical objective. "We're trying to qualify three mission commanders for this exercise. Three of our pilots will upgrade to mission commander qualified, which means they can lead large force employment packages. In Canada, we started doing some training, some ground school, which are like academic lectures initially. We did a smaller scale exercise just before we came here, and this is their graduation exercise," Renaud notes.
Major Kevin Prior (OF-3), CC-130HT detachment commander, explains tanker operations: "This is a CC-130HT. We have a large internal fuel tank and the ability to give away gas right now to any Coalition NATO partner if they are probe and drogue. The biggest thing here is we're essentially a force multiplier for the fighters. They can stay airborne longer, they can do more training because now they are not having to land in order to get more gas."
Italian Air Force Participation
Major Cavallo (OF-3), leading six F-2000 Typhoons from four Italian wings, emphasizes instructor development: "We are here to upgrade and train and qualify weapons instructors that then, after qualification, will be back in their respective unit and squadron. There they will be the key element representative for the unit in the role of tactical mentor to ensure also standardization among all the units."
Selection criteria extend beyond technical proficiency. "Weapons instructor is a qualification that is not for all the pilots. The selection is based on specific criteria that start from characteristics like attitude and commitment. Additionally, the performance, both on the ground and fly-wise is key. You need to be good on the ground, in the air, be humble, approachable. The most important is to share this knowledge," Cavallo explains.
Training objectives encompass multi-domain integration: "The main objective is to train and qualify these guys and test their ability to plan, brief, conduct and debrief complex missions in a high-intensity scenario that requires analysis of a tactical problem in a multi-domain scenario in order to be ready tomorrow to counter or to deter any evolving threat."
Major Cavallo (OF-3), leading six F-2000 Typhoons from four Italian wings, emphasizes instructor development: "We are here to upgrade and train and qualify weapons instructors that then, after qualification, will be back in their respective unit and squadron. There they will be the key element representative for the unit in the role of tactical mentor to ensure also standardization among all the units."
Selection criteria extend beyond technical proficiency. "Weapons instructor is a qualification that is not for all the pilots. The selection is based on specific criteria that start from characteristics like attitude and commitment. Additionally, the performance, both on the ground and fly-wise is key. You need to be good on the ground, in the air, be humble, approachable. The most important is to share this knowledge," Cavallo explains.
Training objectives encompass multi-domain integration: "The main objective is to train and qualify these guys and test their ability to plan, brief, conduct and debrief complex missions in a high-intensity scenario that requires analysis of a tactical problem in a multi-domain scenario in order to be ready tomorrow to counter or to deter any evolving threat."
Report: Joris van Boven and Alex van Noije
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