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Red Arrows and Blue Angels Fly Together: The RAF’s 2026 US Tour in Review

The Red Arrows flew with the Blue Angels over Maine and closed the July 4 flypast in New York. What the 2026 US tour included and if they return in 2027.

By Airshow Guide · · 3 min read

Six blue and yellow Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornets in a Delta formation over an airfield, with the lead jet pitching up and smoke trailing behind
Blue Angels Super Hornets over NAS Pensacola, archive photo. Photo: U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, CC0, resized.

In July 2026 the RAF Red Arrows and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flew together in one formation over Brunswick, Maine. It was part of the Red Arrows’ month-long tour of the United States for the 250th anniversary of American independence, their first displays in North America since 2019. Here is what the tour included and whether you can expect the Red Arrows in the U.S. in 2027.

The joint formation over Maine

Forces News reported on July 13, 2026, that the two teams flew a mixed formation flypast over Brunswick, at the Great State of Maine Air Show, with the Red Arrows trailing red, white and blue smoke. The show itself was on July 11 and 12, 2026, at Brunswick Executive Airport, with the Blue Angels as the headline act; see our Great State of Maine Air Show 2026 page. A report syndicated by Talker News gives the date of the joint formation as Friday, July 10, the day before the show weekend, so many people who came for the weekend displays did not see it.

The tour in numbers

  • Name: Operation Eagle Hawk, June to July 2026.
  • Five airshows in New York, Wisconsin, Maine, Maryland and Michigan, according to the RAF.
  • Flypasts over Washington DC, Charleston, Boston and Chicago.
  • July 4 in New York: the Red Arrows flew the finale of an international flypast over the Hudson River with more than 150 aircraft.
  • Oshkosh for the first time: the team displayed at EAA AirVenture for the first time in its 62 seasons. The RAF gives a record attendance of 734,000 for the event. The next AirVenture is on our EAA AirVenture 2027 page.
  • About 11,500 nautical miles flown in total.

Why getting there takes so long

The Red Arrows fly the single-engine Hawk T1, which cannot refuel in the air. To cross the Atlantic the team hops via Scotland, Iceland, Greenland and Canada, with two A400M Atlas transports, a P-8 Poseidon for search and rescue cover and an Envoy for command and control. On the way home in late July, bad weather in north-east Canada kept the jets at Goose Bay for longer than planned, and UK displays were put on hold until the team was back at RAF Waddington in mid-August. That is one reason overseas tours are rare and planned long in advance.

Will the Red Arrows return to the U.S. in 2027?

  • Nothing is announced. The RAF has not published any 2027 overseas tour. Before 2026, the last U.S. tour was in 2019.
  • The team has a new leader and is building a new display over the winter; see our story on the new Red 1.
  • For the Blue Angels in 2027, see the Blue Angels 2027 schedule. The Great State of Maine Air Show has not published 2027 dates yet.
  • Dates for both teams appear on the Red Arrows and Blue Angels team pages as soon as they are official.

Worth bringing

  • Hearing protection Fast jets are very loud, especially for children. Ear defenders or foam plugs make the day much nicer.
  • Sun protection Airfields have little shade: hat, sunglasses and sunscreen, even on cloudy days.
  • Folding chair or blanket You may stand or sit for hours. Check the show rules first – some sites limit chairs near the crowd line.

Sources

Written by Airshow Guide in our own words from the sources above. Checked November 8, 2026.