AirForces Monthly – July 2018

Estonia, when a pair of US Air
Force F-22A Raptors flying from
RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, was
in the area. It is believed the
Rivet Joint – along with a USAF
counterpart – was trying to track
Russia’s ‘double-digit’ SAMs
there. Gaining knowledge of
such systems helps build up the
threat libraries for the electronic
warfare suites of aircraft such as
the F-35B, being delivered to RAF
Marham, Norfolk, this summer.

Tri-service ISTAR
force?
In January 2017, Lockheed Martin
was awarded a £269m contract
to launch manufacture of the
Crowsnest system upgrade
for the Royal Navy’s Merlin
HM2. It means the Royal Navy
will have its own new ISTAR
capability when it takes delivery
of up to ten Crowsnest Merlin
airborne surveillance and control
capability (ASaC) systems, to
succeed the Sea King ASaC7s
that are due to be retired next
year. The Crowsnest Merlin
will be among the complement
of aircraft on board the HMS
Queen Elizabeth for its first
operational deployment in 2021.
With new ISTAR assets set to
become operational with the Royal
Navy, perhaps there’s an argument
for a tri-service ISTAR force.
Air Cdre Andrew told AFM: “The
Chief of Defence Intelligence
[CDI], Air Marshal Philip Osborn
and his two-star, Major General
James Hockenhull, the Director
of Cyber Intelligence and
Information Integration [DCI3]
are mandated to pull the three
services together in terms of
collect, exploit and disseminate.
“There is no panacea on one
platform or a series of platforms,
and the way we maintain the

competitive edge today is by

bringing all the data together and

fusing it and it is not just military

• it is all sources together.
  “I am mandated to co-ordinate
  and integrate the UK’s air ISTAR
  assets together in a coherent
  force so that we are joined
  up, ensuring all the platforms’
  capabilities are entwined,
  synched and fused. Above me,
  the CDI is trying to do the same
  across defence so we have one
  single enterprise. It doesn’t
  matter where it comes from, we
  are talking together so that we
  are not just going our own way,
  ensuring there is a plan, focus
  and co-ordination between us.
  “It is not the actual getting
  together that matters, it is
  ensuring the focus from various
  HQs is coherent in the way we are
  tasked across the three services.
  Whether we are fusing across
  open sources or other sources,
  it should all work together.

“On the Royal Navy ISTAR,

[Crowsnest] will be there for the

navy’s own use, for the situational

awareness of wherever that

‘collect’ is happening. Equally,

if we are talking about a carrier

group, it would be looking after

the needs of that – gaining the

much bigger picture where air,

space and maybe even land is

contributing as well. There is

an understanding that a focus

would be co-ordinated, so if the

navy carrier is in a part of the

world, we would probably have

strategic assets in the same

region so we can back up each

other and not waste effort.”

Protector RPAS

In December 2016, the UK

Ministry of Defence (MOD)

announced a £100m design

contract with General Atomics

Aeronautical Systems Inc

(GA-ASI) for the development

of the Protector RPAS,

which will replace the MQ-9

Reaper for the RAF.

This funding covers the

development of a weaponised

SkyGuardian system, which

will include integration of the

MBDA Brimstone 2 air-to-

surface missile and Paveway

IV laser-guided bombs, as well

as an advanced data link and

improved imaging technology.

The deal covers four systems

comprising 16 aircraft and seven

ground stations, and the first

Protectors are due to enter service

with the RAF in 2021. Protector is

the UK’s name for GA-ASI’s Type

Certifiable Predator B (TCPB),

of which Britain is the launch

customer. Systems on board will

include General Atomics’ own

Lynx SAR multimode radar as well

as the Raytheon Multi-Spectral

Targeting System (MTS-B) electro-

optical/infrared package.

Qualification testing for type

certification is ongoing and

Shadow ZZ417 returns to base from a sortie over

Yorkshire in May. Of note are two new antennas on

the rear of the aircraft that indicate its conversion

to Shadow R1A standard. This aircraft left RAF

Waddington on March 9 on its maiden overseas

mission since being reworked. David Mackey

Below: Using the callsign ‘RRR7256’, RC-135W Rivet Joint ZZ666 returns to RAF Waddington on May
22 after a mission over the Baltic of around 10hrs duration. The aircraft had come back from the US
the previous morning after undergoing upgrade work with L3 Communications. David Mackey

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #364 JULY 2018 // 37

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