One of the three Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft UK is buying from the U.S. as part of the Airseeker program has been flown in UK airspace by an RAF aircrew for the first time.
The RC-135W is one of the most important assets in the U.S. Air Force inventory: it has been used to perform SIGINT (Signal Intelligence) in almost all U.S. missions across the globe and, as we write, an American Rivet Joint out of RAF Mildenhall, in the UK, is probably flying over the Baltic region (as done almost daily in the last couple of months) to collect and relay Russian signals and communications.
Equipped with all sorts of antennae and sensors, the Rivet Joint is capable to eavesdrop enemy transmissions and detect frequencies used by radio and radars: it can pinpoint emissions within a large coverage area and transmit the snooped data via satellite.
Therefore it is a strategic platform that helps the Pentagon to draw the EOB (Electronic Order of Battle) of the enemy prior and during crisis or wars.
The Royal Air Force is going to be the only Rivet Joint operator outside the U.S. Air Force. It will operate three RC-135W surveillance planes, within a project dubbed “Airseeker.”
http://theaviationist.com/2014/05/28/rivert-joint-first-raf-flight/
No comments:
Post a Comment