A400M det to Coastal Command?

[Training Risky]

Was that an Atlas I saw on the news yesterday flying over the Channel while Priti Patel was on a Border Force Cutter?

How is that supposed to help stop the migrant hordes...drop a horror box on them?!

[BEagle]

There are more suitable aircraft for doing that job.

Such as which, at such short notice?

What a waste of money and resources.

Let's see your figures.....

[Training Risky]

Is Sentinel still around?

[Ivan aromer]

The question is what is (any) aircraft going to do? Complete waste of time and effort imo.

[Guernsey Girl II]

Is Sentinel still around?
The idea was,I thought, to find a more capable platform.
Not, as difficult as it may be, a less capable platform than A400 in service; but you have done well with that task TR

[Training Risky]

The idea was,I thought, to find a more capable platform.
Not, as difficult as it may be, a less capable platform than A400 in service; but you have done well with that task TR
i am aware that it carries a G​​​​​​MTI...but can't it at least be of some use? And the SAR? At this rate we'll have to scrape all the concrete out of the Chain Home/ROTOR stn down the lane from where I grew up!

[safetypee]

Shadow R1 flying racetracks near Dover - Folkestone today.

[ExpectmorePayless]

Do any of the fighters need target practice ?
An orange inflatable would seem to be a perfect target. Asking for a friend.

[Out Of Trim]

Why wait for the dinghies to launch? These dinghies are being purchased locally in France. I suggest a secret raid on the sellers' warehouse. Place a tracker on them and wait for them to arrive at the coast. Then inform the Gendarmerie to go stop them!

If that is too difficult; said dinghy warehouses could have unfortunate firey accidents! :suspect:

That should save some fuel and fatigue hours...

[tartare]

Wankspangle!
Larfed out loud I did...! :)

[woptb]

Do any of the fighters need target practice ?
An orange inflatable would seem to be a perfect target. Asking for a friend.

1+1 = 2 bellends.

[Radley]

Would have thought that this would be suitable employment for the WATCHDOG brigade.

[pr00ne]

Do any of the fighters need target practice ?
An orange inflatable would seem to be a perfect target. Asking for a friend.

Oh just brilliant! That's it, with sites like this the subject of journalists looking for an incendiary quote you just go and recommend the cold blooded murder of innocent men, women and children.

Excellent. Award yourself a lollipop.

Total waste of space.

[skua]

"Coastal Command"? Civil Service Command, more like.

[Herod]

"Coastal Command"? We haven't commanded our coast for many years.

[GeeRam]

Do any of the fighters need target practice ?
An orange inflatable would seem to be a perfect target. Asking for a friend.

There was a Typhoon doing countless wide circles high over Ramsgate/Margate area last Thursday.....:E

[woptb]

There was a Typhoon doing countless wide circles high over Ramsgate/Margate area last Thursday.....:E

As hilarious as a sucking chest wound.

[TEEEJ]

Was that an Atlas I saw on the news yesterday flying over the Channel while Priti Patel was on a Border Force Cutter?

How is that supposed to help stop the migrant hordes...drop a horror box on them?!

It wasn't trying to stop them.

https://twitter.com/RAFBrizeNorton/status/1293115626928713728

[chevvron]

Was that an Atlas I saw on the news yesterday flying over the Channel while Priti Patel was on a Border Force Cutter?

How is that supposed to help stop the migrant hordes...drop a horror box on them?!
Obviously THE Posiedon was U/S.

[Video Mixdown]

Obviously THE Posiedon was U/S.
Whatever the TWO P-8's delivered so far were doing then, one of them is over the Strait today.

[Richard Dangle]

Annndddd relax. Maritimes finest are on it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-53754245

[H Peacock]

As for types and suitability, get the A400 low enough and that god-awful noise it makes will make anyone row away from it!

Not sure about the AEA they’re wearing in those pics, but lovin’ the cap. Do aircrew in a 4-engine prop really need to wear LSJs over the water or is this another crazy risk-averse SOP?! I’m hoping the FADEC software issues are sorted by now.

[Just This Once...]

Hopefully the RN can work their way up to this challenge - being able to provide a recognised surface picture only, on an area about the size of a large lake in an uncontested and benign area of operations.

If the RN get the hang of it they could look to achieve a surface picture of say, the south coast. Clearly this capability will take a few years and probably best to ignore sub-surface or the air domain.

Beyond that, as a stretch target, the RN could try and have a loose idea of the surface picture around England, with a potential 'surge capability' to the inshore areas of Scotland and Wales.

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule a few waves, and one day perhaps even inflatables.

Still, credit to the Boarder Force, Police Service, Coastguard, Typhoon Force, E-3D, Sentinel, Poseidon and Atlas for all having a go at maritime operations.

[oxenos]

Man with binoculars
At least they seem to be gyro stabilized .
I did one of the trials of the first ones ( about 1972). They were actually monoculars but even so they made an enormous difference to the range at which you could identify something.

[Akrotiri bad boy]

Spin Bins:ok:

[NutLoose]

Surely it’s what the MOD use RVL for.


https://rvl-group.com/specialist-operations/

[Training Risky]

Oh just brilliant! That's it, with sites like this the subject of journalists looking for an incendiary quote you just go and recommend the cold blooded murder of innocent men, women and children.

Excellent. Award yourself a lollipop.

Total waste of space.
Master caution...sense of humour failure. FRC immediate action: check Pomposity master switch.

[NutLoose]

DEA aviation with their aircraft? Aircraft modified with the kit for Surveillance. How many surveillance cameras in all visual and IR ranges does an Atlas have bar spotters holding binos? DEA have the equipment and the skill set.

What figues do I need to show? The fuel burn of 4 Europrop TP400 engines or 2 PT6A turboprops? Right people with the right tools doing the right job. Maybe the Journo watching this should ask the question why we do not have the military tools to do local coastal control monitoring. Sorry, no RAF or Navy ex officers in Government. Just short service infantry grunts and weekend warriors. The former shout the loudest about the problem it seems.


Totally agree with you, current assists being used seem to be totally overkill when all you need is a few DA’s which are economical with a good range.

https://www.diamondaircraft.com/en/about-diamond/newsroom/news/article/diamond-aircraft-delivers-next-da62-special-mission-aircraft-to-dea-aviation-uk0/

[NutLoose]

But then nothing surprises me, especially considering the rift in the Brexit negotiations over fisheries etc, while U.K. plc disposed of an asset without knowing the final outcome of the talks.

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/ministry-defence-branded-foolhardy-cutting-ties-ex-royal-navy-workhorse-hms-clyde-2860894

[unmanned_droid]

fisheries protection is going to be busy after brexit.

[POBJOY]

Fear not, the back up (meant to be top secret plan) button only has to be pushed to reactivate our 'resting' Shackleton at Newquay Airport. Poised to be available for total counter immigrant control including search and destroy. The twin point fives no longer fitted, but as only rubber boats straffing easily done with Marine with auto up front. Of course no violence will be needed as when the smoking and shaking bellowing contrarotating monster appears at nought feet looking very angry*, the boats will turn around and go back to a far more friendly French beach.
* suitable Sharks mouth art work to be added.
If the above is a bit late on delivery we also have a fleet of Islanders 'down west' that can appear at low level and skip drop time expired pasties that will shred a rib in seconds.

[chevvron]

UKBF have 'quietly' been using drones operating out of Lydd until now; has that contract finished I wonder? (Not small ones either; they're about light aircraft size)
Hate to see a mid air between a drone and an Atlas/Posiedon.

[treadigraph]

If the above is a bit late on delivery we also have a fleet of Islanders 'down west' that can appear at low level and skip drop time expired pasties that will shred a rib in seconds.

These will be accompanied by a squadron of seagulls, noted for their precision bombing...

[NutLoose]

It appears we have put out a contract to trial a drone and it may be in use now.

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/713d488e-6c55-4293-9a10-9759a2191dad?origin=SearchResults&p=1

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-drones-migrants-english-channel

At 9.59pm on December 9, an aircraft appeared over the English Channel. On aviation website FlightAware, the flight popped up suddenly, already airborne at 240 metres. In neon green, the flight-tracking website showed an apparently muddled path, tracing a scribble alongside the coastline between Dover and the village of Camber before landing at Lydd Airport in Kent around four hours later.

FlightAware labelled (https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/GTEKV) the flight under the tail number G-TEKV, a code that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) database registers as a “fixed-wing landplane (unmanned)”. Aka: a drone.
The flight took place four days after the BBC revealed (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-50673241) unmanned aircraft would be flying from Lydd Airport to monitor people attempting to cross the channel from France by boat, a phenomenon that was declared a “major incident” in December 2018 by Sajid Javid, when he was home secretary. Since then, the number of migrant crossings has continued to rise. In 2019, at least 1,892 people had arrived in Kent and Sussex in small boats, according to research (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50958713) by the BBC. Another 1,235 attempting the journey were intercepted by authorities in France.

A spokesperson for the CAA said drones should not appear on flight trackers, but could not explain G-TEKV’s presence on the site. The Home Office said it has access to aerial surveillance, and works with partner agencies to make use of available assets. A spokesperson declined to comment on what company manufactures the drone based at Lydd, citing commercial sensitivities.


CAA records show the unmanned aircraft flying with the tail number G-TEKV is the 7.3m x 4.0m AR5 model manufactured by the Portuguese IT, defense and aerospace group Tekever. In the UK, G-TEKV is registered to Tekever’s office (https://www.science-park.co.uk/businesses/tekever-ltd) in the University of Southampton’s Science Park. (Incidentally, the company was visited (https://twitter.com/carolinenokes/status/1030120632124665857) by local MP Caroline Nokes in August 2018, when she was immigration minister).



https://www.wired.co.uk/article/english-channel-migrants-drones

The UK is spending big on migrant-tracking drones to surveil the seasAs media attention around the arrival of small groups of migrants on dinghies reaches fever pitch, a government contract offers a glimpse of the future

The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) awarded an Israeli defence company with a contract worth almost £1 million to demonstrate and develop unmanned aerial vehicles – or drones – to enhance coastal surveillance operations.

Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Haifa-based Elbit Systems, was awarded the £990,000 contract in February 2020, but the contract summary was only published on a government website (https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/713d488e-6c55-4293-9a10-9759a2191dad?origin=SearchResults&p=1) in July.
According to the Invitation to Tender, the MCA was looking to “assess the potential use of UAV to augment current and future aerial surveillance capability by reducing, enhancing or replacing existing delivery methods”. The contractor that secured the deal would have to work out and implement a flying programme to showcase how drones could be deployed in various scenarios – including search for missing people or vessels, surveillance, and search for a missing person both on the ground and at sea.

The UK has grown increasingly keen on using drones to keep watch on its coasts, as media attention around the arrival of small groups of migrants on dinghies on British coasts has reached fever pitch. The home secretary Priti Patel has called on France and the rest of the European Union to make sure that migrants do not try to sail to the UK.
In January 2020, WIRED reported (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/uk-drones-migrants-english-channel) that a surveillance drone belonging to Portuguese company Tekever – which had recently signed a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence – was hovering for hours over the English Channel, in what appeared to be a patrolling operation.
Back then the Home Office declined to comment on the details of the operation, but stressed that the UK was working with France and other countries and resorting to technologies including drones to stem illegal crossings. Over the last few days, Tekever’s drone has kept flying twice a day (https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/g-tekv) over the English Channel, according to data by Flightradar24, a website that collects information about aircraft traffic. On one occasion, on August 4, Tekever’s drone criss-crossed the sea between Dover and Calais for over 21 hours.

More of this might be coming soon, since the MCA has made it clear that it plans to add more unmanned vehicles (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-52821363) to its fleet, according to a BBC report from May 2020. That goes beyond the Elbit System programme. A tweet sent out from the Agency’s Twitter account on July 31 showed a MCA-liveried surveillance drone (https://twitter.com/HMCoastguard/status/1289101238441848834)designed by Austrian company Schiebel flittering over North Wales in what the post described as “an operational evaluation”.

[chevvron]

It appears we have put out a contract to trial a drone and it may be in use now.



That's the one I mentioned above; has been in use with attendant temporary DAs for some time.

[4mastacker]

It's all very well these, no doubt, expensive drones tracking the inflatables crossing the Channel, but they're not stopping them. The suggestion of a low-flying Islander dropping time-expired pasties might be the best solution......Oh! Hang on, Greenpeace and St Greta of Thunberg would probably object to that because they might cause environmental pollution.

[TEEEJ]

RAF P-8 Poseidon, ZP802, 12 August, low level flight.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1262x639/zp80212aug_80b0f27a4e8f0aa8901d7a82102c7c30e9b0bbe1.jpg
https://www.radarbox.com/data/registration/ZP802

[Herod]

Teeej: 1670'? That's almost nosebleed height!

[GeeRam]

It's all very well these, no doubt, expensive drones tracking the inflatables crossing the Channel, but they're not stopping them.

Exactly.

You could have WW2 era Royal Observer Corps style bods stationed up on the white cliffs with binos and field telephones and probably be just as effective at spotting them.......but again, that's not the issue.

[NutLoose]

I wonder if you could claim the nice new boat you found on the beach...

You need to drones to broadcast in French, you are under arrest, please follow our drone back to France. then head for the UK and watch them turn around and flee... back to France ;)

[oxenos]

broadcast in French
I understand that one of many reasons they want to get here is that they speak English, but not French

[POBJOY]

It's all very well these, no doubt, expensive drones tracking the inflatables crossing the Channel, but they're not stopping them. The suggestion of a low-flying Islander dropping time-expired pasties might be the best solution......Oh! Hang on, Greenpeace and St Greta of Thunberg would probably object to that because they might cause environmental pollution.
Never underestimate the penetration power of an old Pasty delivered at 100mph from 6 feet. These double ended projectiles are 'cured' in old Clotted Cream mines and can be dropped in passive or spin mode.
The double baked ends are as hard as Tungsten (even before curing) and are noted to be able to penetrate high tech armour plating. In spin mode with extra gravy filling they are quite devastating for rib shredding and if consumed by the targets will have the double benefit of making them realise how nice the French cuisine was.

[Bergerie1]

But I thought they were dug out of Cornish Treacle Mines.

[Herod]

But I thought they were dug out of Cornish Treacle Mines.

I think you may be getting confused with the Jam Buttie Mines, but they are a lot further north, where the Jam Buttie seam is closer to the surface.

[nimboboy]

Wish you lot would stop giving our secrets away. You really should know better!

[treadigraph]

I think we need an in-depth analysis of the relative effectiveness enjoyed by the two distinct scone priming techniques; the Devon method or the far superior Cornish process.

[farefield]

Hello Chaps, it's Nigel here (Sharkey to you). All this talk of aircraft doing this job is complete rot. With the fuel burnt in a day over the channel our Sea Harriers could have mounted 25 sorties in the Falklands and made a bloody sight better job than the RAF.

This channel job should be left to the RN.

[oxenos]

I think we need an in-depth analysis of the relative effectiveness enjoyed by the two distinct scone priming techniques; the Devon method or the far superior Cornish process.
Why would anyone want to study the unspeakable eating habits of the Devonians, a race so backward that there is a prehistoric era named after them?

[Bergerie1]

As a Devon man, I take grave offence at your remarks, oxenos!!!

May I suggest current buns at dawn?

[oxenos]

current buns
Current buns, as opposed to stale buns, as eaten in Devon? Or did you mean currant buns?

[chevvron]

Hello Chaps, it's Nigel here (Sharkey to you). All this talk of aircraft doing this job is complete rot. With the fuel burnt in a day over the channel our Sea Harriers could have mounted 25 sorties in the Falklands and made a bloody sight better job than the RAF.

This channel job should be left to the RN.
Don't know if you're aware, but the RN don't have Sea Harriers any more, in fact do they have any FW aircraft at all (apart from half shares in F35s)?

[Bergerie1]

oxenos, You are right! Let's settle for stale currant buns. At 20 paces?

[Melchett01]

Is Sentinel still around?

What is the radar cross-section of a rubber dinghy full of migrants? :E

A tongue in cheek question, asked only because I bet there’s someone in AIR that’s suggested it in a bid to keep Sentinel’s life support turned on

[Melchett01]

Hello Chaps, it's Nigel here (Sharkey to you). All this talk of aircraft doing this job is complete rot. With the fuel burnt in a day over the channel our Sea Harriers could have mounted 25 sorties in the Falklands and made a bloody sight better job than the RAF.

This channel job should be left to the RN.

I think Lord West has come out and said pretty much that!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/08/13/mod-accused-using-raf-quick-fix-research-shows-majority-public/

[NutLoose]

What we need is a chain of masts mounted speakers pointing out to sea and broadcasting Des O'Conner songs 24/7, that will make any sane person turn around and head back to France.


As for the current bun theory, are they AC or DC?

[oxenos]

stale currant buns. At 20 paces?
I shall cheat, and hurl Hevva buns.

As for the current bun theory, are they AC or DC?
The Devonian ones would be B.C. About 400 million B.C.

[NutLoose]

So it that a hermaphrodite bun?

[squawking 7700]

If we're playing Des O'Connor the immigrants will be caught in the crossfire as the Frogs retaliate with Charles Aznavour

[oxenos]

So it that a hermaphrodite bun?

That would be a heshe bun,, Shirley?

[4mastacker]

A simple, low tech solution to the people arriving in inflatables situation would be to deploy doctor's receptionists along our Channel coast . Nobody, but nobody, would get past them - if reports from a local surgery are anything to go by. Not even the Soviet 3rd Shock Army would have dared to take one particular receptionist on.

[MAN777]

I believe BN have the ex Manchester Police Defender sat at Lee on Solent with the Mx15 camera still on it.

I know 1/2 a dozen ex observers who would man it tomorrow if asked ! 😄👍

[NutLoose]

If this is the RAF helping out, I would suggest trying further out

https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/chinook-flying-low-over-kent-4425867

[LastStandards]

Never underestimate the penetration power of an old Pasty delivered at 100mph from 6 feet.

Ooooh, a fast Islander :E

[chevvron]

If this is the RAF helping out, I would suggest trying further out

https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/chinook-flying-low-over-kent-4425867
Quote from above:
'The UK low flying system covers the open airspace of the whole of the UK and surrounding sea areas from 2,000ft above ground level'.

Is that upwards or downwards? Or maybe it should read 'up to' instead of 'from'?:rolleyes:

[Davef68]

Doesn't the A400 do maritime surveillance from the Falklands?

[NutLoose]

They’ll need some seriously strong binos to see Folkestone from down there and it’s a hell of a sortie, Stanley to Folkestone and back... :E

[icemanalgeria]

Would have thought that this would be suitable employment for the WATCHDOG brigade.

I remember flying the odd sortie “Watchdog Alf November” in the good old days searching for fishing boats ( guess these are going to be busy soon )

[NutLoose]

I still wonder how that’s going to work, one of the reasons you get a lot of foreign boats was the U.K. fleet in a typical get rich quick idea sold their rights and quotas to foreign boats, post brexit surely they still own the rights and part of the UK’s quota?