A UK friend says he is tired of them being called Spyplanes. I would agree.
This report doesn't say what airframe is used. what is it? The report only discusses the radar and ground systems without a lot of detail.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7881031.stm
Five new RAF Surveillance Aircraft
-
GZR_Sactargets
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Posts: 984
- Joined: 23 Aug 2006, 19:20
- Version: FS9
- Location: PAPILLION, NEBRASKA(Near OFFUTT AFB-KOFF)
Five new RAF Surveillance Aircraft
GZR_SACTARGETS
-
CelticWarrior
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Posts: 1122
- Joined: 15 Aug 2006, 17:16
- Version: FSX
- Location: Llareggub
It's a Sentinel R1, based on the Bombardier Global Express ......
"ASTOR (Airborne Stand-Off Radar) will provide a long-range, battlefield-intelligence, target-imaging and tracking radar for the RAF and the Army and will have surveillance applications in peacetime, wartime and in crisis operations. The prime contractor selected to provide the ASTOR system is Raytheon Systems Limited, using the Bombardier Global Express aircraft as the air platform. The system comprises three basic components, or segments. The first segment is the air platform, a modified twin-engined Global Express business jet, called the Sentinel R1 by the RAF, equipped with a radar system capable of both Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Moving Target Indicator (MTI) functions. The SAR will enable all-weather, day and night reconnaissance and surveillance to be carried out; the MTI will enable the operators to monitor the activity of mobile ground targets.
The second segment comprises two transportable Ground Stations (GS) to support deployed HQ and six mobile GS to support Division and Brigade. Each GS can receive, store and exploit radar information down-linked from the air-platform and present it, via existing communications networks, in a variety of formats to commanders, tacticians and weapons operators on the battlefield. Finally, the support segment provides important mission-support functionality, such as mission planning and mission data replay, at the main operating base (RAF Waddington) and for deployed operations. A two pilot flight-deck crew will operate the aircraft, with a mission crew nominally comprising a mission controller and two image analysts. The aircraft, currently in production as an ultra-long range business jet, will be modified to include a radome under the forward fuselage to house the radar and datalink antennae, and a radome on the upper fuselage to house the SATCOM antenna. The aircraft will operate at altitudes in excess of 40,000ft with a mission endurance over 9 hours.
The engines used by the ASTOR aircraft are the Rolls-Royce Deutschland (RRD) BR710 engines, which are very similar to those used on the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft. Defensive aids will include a radar-warning receiver, a missile warning system, a towed radar decoy and chaff and flare dispensers. The radar is an upgraded version of the Raytheon ASARS-2 radar used on the U-2 aircraft and will be capable of providing high resolution images of the battlefield at ranges of several hundred kilometres. The SAR mode will provide high quality radar images of the area surveyed, while the MTI mode will detect moving vehicles operating in the area. The SAR can be operated in spot mode to produce high-resolution imagery over relatively small areas of fixed location. The SAR swath mode can collect lower-resolution imagery broadside to the aircraft as it proceeds but at a much greater width than SAR spot. Multiple passes using SAR swath mode can effectively provide wide area surveillance of fixed and static targets. These images can be exploited by the airborne mission crew, or down-linked from the aircraft in near real time to the ASTOR GS, to generate intelligence reports for commanders.
It is currently envisaged that ASTOR will become the most advanced long range, airborne-surveillance system of its kind in the world. Five Sentinel R1 aircraft will be purchased and operated by No 5(AC) Squadron, based at RAF Waddington, where they will form one arm of the surveillance triad of Sentinel R1, E-3D Sentry and Nimrod R1."
"ASTOR (Airborne Stand-Off Radar) will provide a long-range, battlefield-intelligence, target-imaging and tracking radar for the RAF and the Army and will have surveillance applications in peacetime, wartime and in crisis operations. The prime contractor selected to provide the ASTOR system is Raytheon Systems Limited, using the Bombardier Global Express aircraft as the air platform. The system comprises three basic components, or segments. The first segment is the air platform, a modified twin-engined Global Express business jet, called the Sentinel R1 by the RAF, equipped with a radar system capable of both Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Moving Target Indicator (MTI) functions. The SAR will enable all-weather, day and night reconnaissance and surveillance to be carried out; the MTI will enable the operators to monitor the activity of mobile ground targets.
The second segment comprises two transportable Ground Stations (GS) to support deployed HQ and six mobile GS to support Division and Brigade. Each GS can receive, store and exploit radar information down-linked from the air-platform and present it, via existing communications networks, in a variety of formats to commanders, tacticians and weapons operators on the battlefield. Finally, the support segment provides important mission-support functionality, such as mission planning and mission data replay, at the main operating base (RAF Waddington) and for deployed operations. A two pilot flight-deck crew will operate the aircraft, with a mission crew nominally comprising a mission controller and two image analysts. The aircraft, currently in production as an ultra-long range business jet, will be modified to include a radome under the forward fuselage to house the radar and datalink antennae, and a radome on the upper fuselage to house the SATCOM antenna. The aircraft will operate at altitudes in excess of 40,000ft with a mission endurance over 9 hours.
The engines used by the ASTOR aircraft are the Rolls-Royce Deutschland (RRD) BR710 engines, which are very similar to those used on the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft. Defensive aids will include a radar-warning receiver, a missile warning system, a towed radar decoy and chaff and flare dispensers. The radar is an upgraded version of the Raytheon ASARS-2 radar used on the U-2 aircraft and will be capable of providing high resolution images of the battlefield at ranges of several hundred kilometres. The SAR mode will provide high quality radar images of the area surveyed, while the MTI mode will detect moving vehicles operating in the area. The SAR can be operated in spot mode to produce high-resolution imagery over relatively small areas of fixed location. The SAR swath mode can collect lower-resolution imagery broadside to the aircraft as it proceeds but at a much greater width than SAR spot. Multiple passes using SAR swath mode can effectively provide wide area surveillance of fixed and static targets. These images can be exploited by the airborne mission crew, or down-linked from the aircraft in near real time to the ASTOR GS, to generate intelligence reports for commanders.
It is currently envisaged that ASTOR will become the most advanced long range, airborne-surveillance system of its kind in the world. Five Sentinel R1 aircraft will be purchased and operated by No 5(AC) Squadron, based at RAF Waddington, where they will form one arm of the surveillance triad of Sentinel R1, E-3D Sentry and Nimrod R1."
"We attack tomorrow under cover of daylight! It's the last thing they'll be expecting ... a daylight charge across the minefield .."
-
GZR_Sactargets
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Posts: 984
- Joined: 23 Aug 2006, 19:20
- Version: FS9
- Location: PAPILLION, NEBRASKA(Near OFFUTT AFB-KOFF)
-
CelticWarrior
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Posts: 1122
- Joined: 15 Aug 2006, 17:16
- Version: FSX
- Location: Llareggub
