Amid growing tensions between Europe and Russia over the future of the war in Ukraine, it has become known that an RC-135W aircraft belonging to the British Royal Air Force carried out new surveillance flights around the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, forming part of London’s intention to increase its presence in the Baltic. In this way, the United Kingdom joins its allies in efforts to maintain constant surveillance and deterrence assets in the region, although unlike other intelligence missions, this occasion stood out for allowing the aircraft to be tracked through publicly accessible monitoring services.
It is useful to recall that the RAF has a fleet composed of three RC-135W aircraft, which have the capability to intercept and analyze communications, as well as radar signals and various kinds of electronic emissions, increasing strategists’ understanding of adversary deployments. In the United Kingdom, the aircraft are known by their special designation Airseeker (also called Rivet Joint), reflecting their role in operational tasks of this nature.
Following this line, it is useful to remember that the RC-135 family of aircraft has been in service for decades in the aforementioned institution, being derived from the C-135 design operated by both the United Kingdom and the United States. With a history dating back to the 1960s, different variants of the aircraft have emerged from modifications made to the base design, with the RC-135W being one of the most modern available.
Particularly, it is characterized by having a wide set of advanced, small-sized equipment to detect electromagnetic emissions, solving among other things the problem posed in the original models by the prominent external antennas that made their detection easier for the enemy; maintenance and upgrades have been handled by L3Harris in Texas. Its development and incorporation into the United Kingdom came through the conversion of three KC-135R airframes, with the aim of closing the gap left by the retirement of the old Nimrod R1, which were replaced between 2013 and 2017.
Finally, briefly reviewing some technical characteristics of the platform operating under the orbit of No. 51 Squadron based at RAF Waddington, each unit features a length of about 42 meters and a wingspan of 40 meters. It operates with a crew of more than 20 people, while its propulsion system consists of four F108 turbofan engines, allowing it to reach speeds of up to 504 knots and altitudes of up to 15,000 meters.
Images used for illustrative purposes
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