Inside the top secret RAF spy plane in shadow war with Putin’s forces

A apical concealed RAF spy level shown being threatened with demolition by a Russian combatant pitchy has been likened to an ‘electronic hoover’ due to the fact that it sweeps up truthful overmuch information. 

The elephantine ‘Rivet Joint’ was filmed being told to permission the Black Sea adjacent Ukraine oregon it and 2 escorting RAF Typhoon combatant jets would beryllium ‘destroyed’ by Vladimir Putin’s aerial arm.  

The tense encounter was captured connected the attack to illegally annexed Crimea arsenic the physics surveillance craft gathered captious accusation astir the Kremlin’s forces.  

Crewed by astir 30 RAF unit and bristling with precocious surveillance technology, the Rivet Joint’s ngo was truthful concealed adjacent the 2 RAF combatant pilots tasked with protecting it from harm and intimidation were not told of the objectives.  

The craft is considered ‘the eyes and ears of the battlefield’ and is thought to beryllium relaying captious accusation to Ukrainian forces, perchance including intercepts from mobile phones utilized by Russian soldiers engaged successful the all-out attack.  

The RAF operates 3 of the 132ft-long spy planes which are considered an hold of the US Air Force’s ain fleet.

The jets are thought to beryllium their sanction to the Americans’ past of ‘rivet’ modifications to an airframe which tin beryllium traced backmost to the 1950s.

On board, the ambiance appears to beryllium 1 of calm absorption arsenic unit including pilots, crypto linguists and physics warfare operators spell astir their enactment astatine machine stations.

In vigor tiny speech with 1 of the Typhoon escorts precocious implicit the Romanian coast, a aviator casually spoke astir however the occupants had passed the clip aft taking from RAF Waddington successful Lincolnshire.  

‘We’ve had a fewer 120m strolls, a spot of food, bully cupful of coffee,’ helium said.  

Asked by Flt Lt Josh what the java is similar onboard, the unnamed aviator replied: ‘We person a enactment — we person a Starbucks.

‘I’ve had immoderate bully worldly from Yorkshire.’ 

Typhoon pilots Josh and Joe, of 11 Squadron based astatine RAF Coningsby, besides successful Lincolnshire, had made 500mph flights from RAF Akrotiri successful Cyprus to conscionable up with their ‘package’ implicit Romania.  

They flew alongside the ‘electronic hoover’ — arsenic Flt Lt Josh described the eavesdropping craft — to support it connected the ngo over the Black Sea. 

Ahead of the sortie, helium said: ‘We cognize 100% that there’s going to beryllium Russian surface-to-air rocket systems that volition beryllium looking astatine us, Russian combatant jets. We don’t cognize what’s going to happen.’ 

As they approached Crimea, a Russian connection transmitted to each 3 RAF craft warned: ‘Ivory Eagle, Ivory Eagle, Ivory Eagle, Delta Echo Zemlya. You are approaching the authorities borderline of the Russian Federation combat zone. If you don’t leave, you volition beryllium destroyed.’   

The British enactment past had a important determination to make.    

The stakes astatine play were underscored successful September 2022, when 1 of 2 Russian SU-27 jets released a rocket successful the vicinity of a Rivet Joint on regular patrol implicit the Black Sea   

After a crippled of feline and rodent with the interceptor jet, the RAF enactment turned astir conscionable abbreviated of the Crimean seashore successful the footage captured for Channel 4’s Top Guns: Inside the RAF. 

Military expert Sean Bell told Metro: ‘Obviously there’s a batch of precise delicate capableness wrapped up successful determination but there’s a emblematic regularisation successful that the West is providing weapons and capableness to the Ukrainians portion not getting straight involved.  

‘However, platforms similar the Rivet Joint that are the eyes and ears implicit the battlefield tin look heavy into Ukraine, tin look into Russia and tin perceive and ticker with a assortment of sensors to enactment retired what is going on. Undoubtedly that is being utilized to assistance Ukrainian forces successful their warfare against the Russian invasion.’ 

Bell, a erstwhile combatant aviator and Air Vice-Marshal, gave an penetration into the blase systems onboard the eavesdropping station. 

The capabilities were demonstrated successful a milestone travel betwixt NATO’s astir southerly constituent successful the Mediterranean to the Barents Sea successful the High North past October, the archetypal clip 1 of the jets has flown the route. 

‘I tin lone surmise what mightiness beryllium disposable connected those aircraft, things similar radar technology, listening connected the vigor waves,’ Bell said.  

‘A bully illustration of that is that Russia has been rife with corruption and they should person unafraid radios connected the battlefield.  

‘But if you haven’t got capable unafraid radios for everybody past you can’t usage them astatine each due to the fact that you can’t talk to everybody.  

‘Russia has successful the past not procured capable unafraid radios.

‘Some of the wealth appears to person been diverted elsewhere and truthful forces a batch of the Russian soldiers to revert to mobile phones oregon non-secure means. If you person the capableness to perceive to those means, past it allows you to find retired what’s going on.’ 

Both sides cognize the Rivet Joint’s intent but while the Russian forces mightiness privation to counteract its presence, the Kremlin is constricted successful its quality to usage force, Bell assesses.  

‘Russia knows afloat good what the West is doing but due to the fact that the Rivet Joint is operating successful planetary airspace it is perfectly astatine liberty to alert determination and it would beryllium an unprovoked enactment of aggression if Russia was to people it,’ helium said. ‘But that doesn’t halt Russia being hacked disconnected that the West is capable to deploy assets similar that which the Russians volition cognize are helping the Ukraine warfare effort.

‘There is the irony wherever everyone knows what is going connected but the Russians can’t bash thing astir it. What they tin bash is bully and threaten.’  

Flt Lt Josh, whose 2nd sanction was not given, told film-makers of the request to safeguard not conscionable the Rivet Joint’s ngo but besides the crew, who bash not person parachutes and are travelling successful an unarmed aircraft.  

In a precocious stakes game, the Typhoons show a lethal capability.  

‘The Russians volition regularly alert acold excessively adjacent to Western craft and enactment retired warnings, each of which are designed to dissuade the West from utilizing its assets,’ Bell said.  

‘As a effect of the Rivet Joint appearing to beryllium targeted a fewer years backmost determination are 2 Typhoons riding shotgun truthful the Russians cognize afloat good that if they bash thing they volition beryllium the adjacent to perish. It conscionable ups the ante.

‘We had assumed that with quality gathering craft successful planetary airspace the Russians would respect the law.

‘But they person knocked down the American Reaper unmanned drone craft and they are intelligibly unhappy that the West is engaged, albeit successful planetary airspace, truthful determination is simply a monolithic crippled of intimidation going connected to effort to halt the West doing what it does.

‘Put bluntly, they have nary prime and if they were to occurrence a rocket that would beryllium an enactment of warfare which would beryllium precise rapidly dealt with.’

In a abstracted disclosure, figures showing however British jets person been repeatedly scrambled to intercept Russian bombers person been released by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).   

Seven launches successful effect to the Kremlin’s long-range ‘Bears’ and different rogue craft successful oregon adjacent UK airspace took spot past year, the accusation obtained by Metro shows.   

The launches person remained reasonably accordant implicit the past 4 years contempt tensions escalating betwixt Moscow and the West aft Putin’s all-out onslaught connected Ukraine.    

In a further incident, two Norwegian jets rushed to respond aft 4 Russian planes flew close to NATO airspace yesterday. 

The Russian TU-95 bombers, being escorted by 2 Flanker-D planes successful the precocious north, were intimately monitored by the Norweigan Air Force F-35s. 

Major General Øivind Gunnerud, Norwegian Air Chief, said: ‘Our Quick Reaction Alert ngo successful the High North is important for our nationalist defence and NATO’s corporate security.’ 

The MoD has said that RAF craft are ‘held astatine continuous precocious readiness 24/7’ successful bid to support UK and NATO airspace.   

Top Guns: Inside the RAF is disposable on demand astatine Channel 4.

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