Nobody can say that MoD planners in Whitehall don’t have a sense of humour when it comes to naming things. When it starts tomorrow, Exercise Macaque Attack will be the first full-squadron size exercise to have taken place at RAF Gibraltar for several years.

Six Tornado GR4s of XIII Squadron, based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, will conduct operational training flights supported by five Hawk aircraft from 100 Squadron normally based at RAF Leeming in Yorkshire. The Hawks will also carry out their own operational training.

In total, over 130 RAF personnel will have travelled out from UK to take part in this two week exercise. That should keep the bars and the Military Police busy for a few days. And not much sleep for TheEye when they start night take-off and landing practice. Blogging will continue uninterrupted but a level of sleep-deprived tetchiness may creep through on occasions…apologies in advance.