PHOTO-RECONNAISSANCE
The rst Jaguar for the Laarbruch-based
II(AC) Sqn, XZ101, arrived on February 26,
1976, quickly followed by 11 more single-
seaters and a two-seater. It was tasked as
RAFG’s tactical reconnaissance unit, with a
secondary attack role. First tour pilots arriving
on the squadron followed a basic ight
syllabus to accustom them to this specialist
task, taking around six months to reach ‘limited
combat ready’ status and around 250 hours to
become fully edged.
On a typical training mission, a
number of targets would be selected to
be photographed. The routing and best
approach to it was calculated, together with
fuel requirements. The main objective was to
capture the required images in a single low-
level, high-speed pass, plus any targets of
opportunity encountered during the mission.
This low-level photographic role was a
challenging one using a specially designed
British Aerospace reconnaissance pod under
the Jaguar’s fuselage. It contained a forward-
facing Vinten F.95 Mk.7 camera, behind
which were four synchronised F.95 Mk.10
cameras mounted in a fan con guration, each
tted with a 250ft (76m) lm magazine.
The cameras all used 70mm lm and
were equipped with image movement
compensation and automatic exposure
control mechanisms to cope with the
demanding high-speed, low-level
environment.
At the rear of the pod was a BAe Dynamics
EMI 401 infrared linescan sensor (IRLS).
The IRLS camera was easily removed andexchanged for a vertical F.126 survey camera,
with a 6in (15.24cm) lens, for use in medium
level operations. The pod also contained an
air conditioning system and a data converter
unit (DCU) that accepted inputs from the
aircraft’s NAVWASS annotating the camera
and IRLS lms.
Retired RAF Warrant Officer and Air
Photographer Mick Gladwin worked with II(AC)
Sqn at Laarbruch between 1984 and 1987.
“The pilots would make a single pass
on their targets with all cameras blazing,
just a short burst of images exposing a few
feet of lm,” he explained. “On its return the
Jaguar would shut down engines and the
lm magazines rapidly removed by the air
camera tters and taken by motorbike to the
Reconnaissance Information Centre [RIC] for
processing.”
As well as the larger ‘soft’ processing
facility at Laarbruch, the squadron also used
a mobile, Air Transportable Reconnaissance
Exploitation Laboratory (ATREL) for eld
operations. It housed all the control,
processing, printing, photo interpretation and
other equipment in up to 14 cabins that could
be assembled in a variety of con gurations.
“In Germany mobility was achieved by
mounting the cabins onto standard trucks,”
revealed Mick. “At Laarbruch, we used the
whole installation set up inside one of the
HAS shelters and staffed by up to 50 people.
As well as operating the RIC we kept the
generators going, did other essential tasks
and guarded our site. As the squadron’s key
task was producing imagery for the Army, we
had a Ground Liaison Officer [GLO], normallyfrom the Intelligence Corps, attached to the
squadron.”
“The whole operation was very fast paced;
inside the RIC the lm processing was split
between two machines just in case one was
faulty. The exposed material was processed
by old equipment but it managed up to six
lms simultaneously at up to 180ft-a-minute.
The F.95 cameras were brilliant and produced
very high quality images. We processed
them within four minutes and then they were
handed directly to the photo-interpreters [PI]
for analysis.
“The PIs used a six-strand light table to
examine the imagery in negative form and
we quickly printed any individual frames
they needed. The PIs completed their initial
analysis of the images within 15 minutes and
produced a full report within 45.
“We were working in a very con ned space
and with a lot of volatile chemicals. It was an
intense job, not always very nice, but you got
a buzz from it as the sorties came in and you
had to get the images processed and printed
very quickly.”RAFG JAGUAR PHASE-OUT
The Jaguar was only ever an interim aircraft
in RAF Germany, with an operational career
of a little over ten years until replaced by the
Tornado GR.1. Of the 200 Jaguars bought
by the RAF, more than 120 of them passed
through the hands of the Brüggen squadrons
at some time.
All the RAFG Jaguar squadrons
transitioned to the Tornado, rst to go being 20
Sqn on June 30, 1984 followed by 31 Sqn on
November 1, 1984. No.17 Sqn disbanded on
March 1, 1985 with 14 Sqn, the rst Brüggen
unit to form, disbanding on November 1, 1985.
The distinction of being the nal Jaguar
squadron in RAF Germany fell to II(AC) Sqn,
which retained its aircraft until December 16,
1988 due to delays in introducing the new
Tornado reconnaissance pod into operational
service.
While the Jaguar’s career in West
Germany may have been a relatively short-
one, it spanned an intense period of the Cold
War with the QRA aircraft ready, at minutes’
notice, to ful l the Brüggen station motto “to
seek and strike”.66 Aviation News incorporating Classic Aircraft June 2016No.17 Sqn Jaguar XZ383/BC touches down after a training sortie from RAF Brüggen in 1977.
R Shaw and HJ BreuerThis jet is carrying the British Aerospace reconnaissance pod
used by the Jaguars on the centreline station. Peter R Foster62-66_jaguarsDC.mfDC.mf.indd 66 04/05/2016 17:25