to ensure that coalition air strikes
did not hit the ‘friendlies’.
The SAR/MTI radar can identify
the quantity, speed and direction
of hostile forces. This information
can be transmitted in real time
via secure data links to ground-
based processing stations. The
intelligence gleaned from these
types of missions is usually
fed along the command chain,
and can ultimately support a
Typhoon or Tornado action
required over Iraq or Syria.
Meanwhile, MQ-9B Reapers
operated by personnel from
Nos 13 and 39 Squadrons are
being deployed over Syria and
Iraq from a ‘Middle East’ base.
They loiter at medium level
for up to nine hours looking at
areas of interest, with a pilot
and sensor at the controls, in a
ground station, often at Creech
AFB or RAF Waddington. If
called upon, they can launch
up to four AGM-114 Hellfire
missiles or two 500lb (227kg)
GBU-12 laser-guided bombs.
Two cameras in the aircraft’s
forward fuselage provide the
crew with a forward view on
take-off and landing, while a
full sensor suite, with targeting,
daylight TV and infrared
capabilities is turret-mounted
beneath the Reaper’s forward
fuselage. An internal synthetic
aperture radar completes
the MQ-9’s sensor suite.
The five Sentry AEW1s are
pooled across Nos 8, 54 (ISTAR
upgrade by 2025. Air Cdre
Andrew would only comment:
“Whether it is an E-3 upgrade
or a new system or something
else on the market depends
upon the value for money.”
The official RAF line is that the
AWACS Capability Sustainment
Programme will be pursued after
full consideration of current and
emergent threats and in the best
interests of national security.
While No 51 Squadron’s
RC-135W Rivet Joints participate
in Operation Shader, they also
fly regular missions along the
Baltic corridor, trying to glean
any signals intelligence from
Russian assets, including the
radar signatures of surface-
to-air missiles (SAMs).
In April 2017, an RAF Rivet
Joint flew missions close to
Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave,
situated between Poland andRAF Digby, Lincolnshire
RAF Digby, 14 miles (22.5km)
southeast of Lincoln near the village
of Scopwick, is Britain’s oldest RAF
station, having been opened on March
28, 1918. However, it’s no longer an
RAF base. On August 1, 2008 the unit
changed its name to the Joint Service
Signal Unit (D) and the RAF ensign was
lowered for the last time on June 1,- However, the station remains
RAF Digby in name due to its historic
links. Today the facility is an important
signals site for all three services, and
home to what is known as the Joint
Service Signals Organisation (JSSO),
reflecting not only its tri-service
environment, but also a bi-national
one with members of all three US
forces serving alongside RAF, British
Army and Royal Navy personnel.
The station is alternately commanded
by a British Army colonel or an RAF
group captain. The facility receives
radar imagery or signals intelligence
down-linked from aircraft and then
analyses it for information that can
be provided to field commanders.
Documents leaked by National
Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower
Edward Snowden revealed that
the facility is a “surveillance
network maintained by British and
American spy agencies, GCHQ and
the National Security Agency”.Above: Crew on board an E-3D Sentry AEW1 conduct a training mission over
northern England. The Sentry’s mission systems can separate, manage and
display targets individually on situation displays within the aircraft, or it can
transmit the information to ground-based and ship-based units using a wide
variety of digital data links. Crown Copyright
Top: RAF E-3D Sentry AEW1 ZH106 ‘06’ takes part in an exercise over North
Yorkshire. The service has recently begun to consider replacing its Sentry
aircraft, which are becoming increasingly costly to maintain. Crown Copyright
Operational Conversion) and
56 (Airborne Command and
Control ISR Test and Evaluation)
Squadrons at RAF Waddington.
During involvement in Operation
Shader they de-conflicted the
airspace, providing the bigger
situational awareness picture
for coalition aircraft. Another
important role was the early
warning of aircraft movements
outside coalition control, which
was made all the more important
by Russia’s reluctance to identify
their aircraft as per international
law. As well as operating in
Shader, the RAF Sentry is fulfilling
a NATO air mission, flying up
and down the eastern fringes
of Europe monitoring Russian
military activities on a daily
basis. According to the Strategic
Defence and Security Review
(SDSR) 2015, the RAF’s Sentry
AEW1 is due for a significant36 // JULY 2018 #364 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
Intel
Report