Weeks after transporting Queen's coffin, RAF Globemaster provides crucial military aid to Ukraine
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: An RAF C-17 Globemaster, used to transfer the Queen's casket from Edinburgh to London, recently delivered vital military support to strengthen Ukraine's defences against Vladimir Putin. The C-17 delivered 62 precision-guided brimstone missiles, each capable of destroying a Russian tank or bunker from a distance of 25 miles, together with 35,000 pounds of high-explosive warheads to an unnamed air base in Eastern Europe.
The aircraft, recently rechristened Lizzie in honor of the Queen, was flown by 32-year-old Flight Lieutenant Searle, the sole female pilot of 99 Squadron. “I’ve flown six of these missions since the middle of this year. There is so much at stake – we just want to do our part. The RAF really stepped on the gas,’ she said, according to NY Daily Paper.
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Earlier, when the prestigious aircraft was being used to transport British nationals from Afghanistan, the Queen reportedly told Zara Tindall's husband Mike, "If it's good enough for my boys, it's good enough for me." This was her approval for the aircraft to transport her coffin.
Pete Bond, a staffer responsible for transporting the Queen's coffin in case she died abroad, reportedly said that a BAE 146 business jet was to transport the Queen, but because it was difficult to get into the cargo hold. So the larger C-17 was substituted. Bond was appointed for this task in 2009.
The Queen's coffin was transferred from the military jet to the state hearse by pallbearers from the Queen's Color Squadron, a group established in 1960 to ensure safe escort for the Color, before it was laid-in-state at Westminster Hall. “The military has carried out extensive and comprehensive planning for the death of Her Majesty The Queen. The most appropriate resources were used throughout the operation," said a senior RAF source.
More than six million people tracked the flight online. When the flight landed, the coffin was greeted by three officers and 96 non-commissioned officers, symbolising every year of the monarch's life.