How much use is it going to be?
Just because the Sentinel has been sent to Mali, that does not automatically follow that it will be of any real use.
Many have been 'taken in' by the story that it saved the day in Libya, where is the evidence?
It remains now what it always has been an aircraft with no real current role looking to preserve its future.
Ask yourself these questions,
"If we did not have a synthetic aperture radar reconnaissance aircraft would we go out and buy one?"
"What exactly would we use it for - and where?"
"What questions does the information gained by this sensor provide that can not be acquired by other sources?"
Don't be fooled guys ...