The Ministry of Defence has announced that a medium-scale air exercise will take place over parts of Dorset and West Wales over the period November 22-30. The exercise, code-named 'Early Resolve', is designed to practice close air support operations and forward air control techniques. This training is essential for the UK aircrews and ground forces and allows them to practice various techniques and procedures before possible deployment to operational theatres. Exercise aircraft will operate in the Dorset area on November 22 and 23, before moving to operate over the Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire areas of Wales between November 26 and 30. Flying will take place daily between 9 am and 10 pm. There will be no weekend activity. A variety of aircraft types will be involved in Exercise Early Resolve and observers may see Tornado, Hawk, Harrier, F15, F16 and A10 aircraft; some munitions will be used when aircraft are operating over the Castlemartin Range area. The exercise will be monitored and supported by E-3 AWACS and Nimrod aircraft operating at high level. Throughout Exercise Early Resolve some flying will be required at low level, but any time spent operating at low level during this exercise will be the minimum necessary to achieve the task, with every effort being made to minimise disturbance; additionally, where low flying operations have been arranged as part of the exercise, this precludes the use of the same area by aircraft carrying out routine low-level training flying.
