A FIGHTER jet carves its way through the sky during a spectacular training mission in the Welsh countryside.
The US airforce F-15E Strike Eagle left lengthy trails from its wingtips while on manoeuvres in an area of Snowdonia known as the Machynlleth Loop.
The site, on the coast, near Barmouth comprises of a number of valleys that are often used by fighter pilots for low level training.
That sees jets fly as close as 250 feet above the ground and at speeds of around 600 miles per hour.
The F-15E Strike Eagle is what is known as a multirole strike fighter.
Designed in the 1980s for long-range missions it has seen action in the Gulf War, the Balkans, and in the liberation of Iraq.
It is currently deployed on bombing missions in the Middle East – combating the threat of Islamic State.
The £71million craft features a navigation pod containing a terrain-following radar which allows the jets to fly safely at very low altitudes.
Its cutting-edge laser targeting system allows an enemy to be selected for destruction from a distance of 10 miles.
It carries the most air-to-ground weapons of any US air force craft including Sidewinder missiles, advanced Air-to-Air Missiles and 20mm cannon with 500 rounds – used against enemy aircraft and ‘soft’ ground targets.
Its twin engines provide 58,000 of thrust – enabling it to exceed speeds of Mach 2.5 – and giving it a combat range of 1,000 nautical miles.
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The UK fleet is based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
The trails from its wings are known as wingtip vortices.
They are caused by heat distorting the sections of air that are left behind as a wing generates lift.
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