Intel Report
Alan Warnes compares the recent RAF intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) orders with those from the rest of Europe before looking at the special-mission highlights from this year’s Paris Air Show.
Airforces
In many ways, the UK leads the way in the art of airborne ISTAR in Europe. As an important military power, there’s an enduring requirement for the strategic and tactical knowledge that only spy planes can bring.
When the Cold War ended, the UK armed forces switched much of their focus to the Middle East, beginning with Iraq. Then came more than a decade of operations in Afghanistan and a campaign in Libya in 2011. When the last British combat elements left Afghanistan in October 2014, military minds switched to defeating so-called Islamic State and other jihadi militias in Iraq and Syria. Now, with the tit-for-tat seizure of a British-flagged oil tanker by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz in July, thoughts are turning towards Iran’s intentions and capabilities.
In supporting all these operations, the UK has built up extensive aerial reconnaissance skills. You simply can’t send military platforms and personnel into conflict…
