Four RAF Typhoons from 12 Squadron fly in formation as they conduct an air-to-air refuel flight over the North Sea with a Voyager aircraft powered by sustainable aviation fuel, April 2023. Credit: Crown Copyright/UK Ministry of Defence.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that Typhoon fighter jets and P-8A Poseidon submarine hunters in the Royal Air Force (RAF) are using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on routine operations for the first time.

In an update on 14 August 2024, the government pointed out that the move will cut carbon emissions and bolster energy security.

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The selected aircraft operating from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, north-eastern Scotland, are using a blend of conventional and sustainable aviation fuels as they take to the skies to defend the UK and its allies.

This move is made more significant by the breakdown of fuel used across Defence, whereby aviation currently accounts for nearly two thirds.

SAF content and delivery contract

World Fuel Services, a Florida-based supplier of sustainable fuels, provided four million litres of blended sustainable aviation fuel to the RAF between November 2023 and February 2024. A follow-on contract was signed with the MoD at the end of March for a further five million litres in the next few months.

The supplied fuel is blended with approximately 40% SAF, sourced from Neste, a Finnish oil refinery, with the renewable part of the feedstock produced from used cooking oil or animal fat.

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Typically, the content of SAF can also include hydrogenated fats and oils, wood waste, alcohols, sugars, household waste, biomass and algae.

“The pioneering use of sustainable fuels on routine operations shows how we’re delivering on our first priority to keep Britain secure without compromise, while addressing our carbon footprint,” said Lord David Coaker, a UK Minister of State for Defence.

SAF advancement in the RAF

While this is the first time the service has used SAF for routine operations, it is not the first time that an RAF platform has used SAF.

In April 2023, a British Voyager tanker was powered by a 43% blend of SAF during an air-to-air refuelling mission with Typhoon fighters as part of planned training. It flew from RAF Brize Norton and operated over the North Sea before returning to its home base via Farnborough.

Before that, in January, the RAF’s first air-to-air refuelling mission took place using SAF, transferred from a Voyager tanker to Typhoons and an old C-130 Hercules.

Back in November 2022, an RAF Voyager unit used 100% SAF in a flight demonstration lasting 90 minutes.

In spite of the proven use of the fuel, the MoD still foresee difficulties in adopting certain types of SAF going forward. According to the government’s Defence Operational Energy Strategy released in December 2023:

“Sectors such as aviation and shipping are more difficult to decarbonise due to the energy intensity required. They will continue to use fossil fuels to some extent for the foreseeable future.”