What...like a RAPTOR pod??
I found this on a spotter\'s site - now we know why the \'berra is going...
The British armed forces have not exactly had much success with UAV’s – to date the only UAV to enter operational service has been the ill-fated Phoenix. However, the inability of this poorly designed, unreliable and ill-equipped UAV to undertake operations in the high summer temperatures of Iraq led to MOD to approach the US about the possibility of operating the General Atomics Predator A.
The approach was obviously successful because, with almost no publicity, the RAF began to actually operate the Predator A. Early in 2004 the RAF formed 1115 Flight, also based at ISAFAF, Nevada, as part of a subordinate unit to the US Air Force’s 15th Reconnaissance Squadron. The exactly compliment of 1115 Flt is unknown, but if it follows US Air Force practice, the Predators will be flown by a GD pilot, supported by a WSO sensor operator (believed to be ex-Tornado crews) - interpretation of the data will be undertaken by various intelligence specialists in the US and UK. Individuals from 1115 Flt are operating the Predator in Iraq, as part of a 44 strong US/UK Combined Joint Predator Task Force, in support of UK forces operating around the Basra area.
A report in the Sunday Times on 3 Oct 04 suggested that personnel from 1115 Flt were operating from two sites, Balad, near Baghdad and Nellis AFB, Nevada – which I suspect is actually ISAFAF which is near Nellis. At Balad they were reported to be part of the teams responsible for take-off and recovery, whilst in flight the Predators were being controlled remotely from Nellis, via satellite link. Nevertheless, although the Predator detachment at Balad are undoubtably quite capable of controlling the aircraft throughout their mission, current practice appears to favour the actual control of the 18hr+ missions being conducted from ISAFAF, which has the benefit of cutting down the number of staff in theatre.
Further info from Flight International...
UK details recent Predator UAV operations
The UK Royal Air Force has provided further details of its use of US Air Force-owned General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Predator unmanned air vehicles in Iraq. Flown under a three-year urgent operational requirement deal contracted last year, UK-controlled Predators are required to provide persistent wide-area surveillance for 12h a day over Iraqi cities such as Basra and Fallujah, controlled by pilots and sensor operators based at Nellis AFB, Nevada.
The UK Ministry of Defence approved the deal due to the operational limitations of the British Army’s current BAE Systems Phoenix intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance UAVs in Iraq’s demanding environmental conditions, and to reign in the overland surveillance demands placed on the RAF’s BAE Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol fleet.
Predator Joint Task Force operations by the RAF’s 1115 Flight currently represent one system orbit in Iraq, with this equating to around 18% of the total Predator coverage supplied by the USAF’s R/MQ-1 air vehicles, says Gp Capt Andy Fryer from the RAF’s Headquarters 3 Group.
A 44-strong detachment supports the deployment, including eight pilots and seven sensor operators, plus intelligence, administration, meteorological and operations staff, including non-air force personnel.
Operations take place in concert with ground forces, with streaming video acquired by the Predator relayed to forward air controllers equipped with Rover terminals over a line-of-sight distance of up to 200km (110nm).
Future expansion to the UK’s capabilities could include the ability to use the Predator to support urban close-air support and combat search and rescue missions, Fryer told RUSI’s Unmanned Vehicle Systems conference in London on 12 July. However, there is currently no training in place to support such a development, he says.