Six Sea Harriers of 800 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) have returned to RN air station Yeovilton after a successful outing on Exercise Flying Fish in Malaysia.

While outbound, 800 NAS were able to make use of the RAF VC10 ‘tanker trail’ which had been established in support of the Gulf War.

Consequently, their route to Malaysia took them via RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and Al Dhafri near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, then down the east coast of India and out into the unpredictable weather systems of the Indian Ocean.

The water crossing of some four hours was a hair-raising experience for the pilots of the little single-seater fighters, with moderate turbulence as the formation stuck close together through a large cumulonimbus thunder cloud, where one aircraft was twice struck by lightning. Despite the weather the formation made it safely to Colombo in Sri Lanka.

The departure of the diminutive Sea Harriers from Colombo International Airport was bizarre. They followed a Thai Airways Boeing 777 to the threshold and sat there while another tropical storm blew in, depositing some 11mm of rain in 25 minutes.

Exercise Flying Fish was a three-week Air defence exercise, one of a regular series organised by the nations of the Five Powers Defence Arrangement – the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Ten Australian F-18Ds, seven Malaysian MiG-29s, eight Hawk 108s and 208s, four Royal Malaysian Air Force F-18As, five RN Sea Harriers and a number of aircraft from the Singaporean Air Force took part.

Each RN pilot faced the MiG-29 in combat, and found the Sea Harrier to be a good match for the MiG – thanks to the Blue Vixen radar, the Sea Harrier won every time in beyond visual range engagements, and also scored some notable successes when converting to the visual fighting arena.

During a four-day break from the exercise, some squadron members travelled to Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, to see the sights, and some went south to Singapore.

But, most were quite happy with the local beaches, restaurants and bars, and food was generally delicious and cheap.

The best aspects of the detachment, as far as squadron members were concerned, were the excellent support received from the RAF and their Malaysian hosts, the opportunity to fight the very competent and professional RMAF force in their MiGs, the weather and very high standard of accommodation, and – of course – the nightlife and tourist attractions.

The squadron’s beach volleyball team was clearly not world-class, but their footballers were victorious in all their games against the RMAF and the Australians, rounding off what was generally regarded as a “superb” detachment.