FOUR American F-15 Eagle jet fighters have been spotted flying over Hampshire.

Photographer Darren Crain took these images of the US jets in the air over the south coast on Friday morning.

The F-15s, on a routine training flight from the United States Air Force (USAF) base at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, are a relatively rare sight over this part of the country.

A USAF spokesman from the airbase told the Daily Echo: “They may not regularly fly over that location but every once in a while they will take different flight patterns on their way to different training areas.

“This would have been part of routine mission operations, nothing out of the ordinary.”

It comes a matter of months after a Russian plane carrying a nuclear missile was escorted away from the Channel by RAF planes.

Mr Crain said: "They came in off of the sea over the top of Hengistbury Head at about 9.15am. There were four of them.

"I've never seen F-15s here before, I wouldn't have thought they'd normally be flying down here - especially not in those numbers.

"I've been going to Hengistbury Head all week photographing an osprey down there.

"I was hoping he was going to come in, instead I got four eagles."

The twin-engined F-15 Eagle, one of the most successful tactical fighters in the world, carried out a string of combat operations in both Gulf wars and over Afghanistan.

Share article It first flew in 1972 and entered service four years later.

RAF Lakenheath in home to the USAF 48th Fighter Wing.