"Sky News Prog on RAF Quick-Reaction Alert" Topic
7 Posts
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| Jemima Fawr | 14 Sep 2015 9:36 a.m. PST |
Saw this today and it's a very good overview of how the RAF defends UK airspace. It's made me feel old, however, as a. Fighter Control radar scopes are a thing of the past. b. The guy I joined the RAF and shared car-journeys to Cranwell with aged 18 is in it as a Group Captain (full Colonel equivalent)! You young'uns get off my lawn, etc… link |
| Jemima Fawr | 14 Sep 2015 9:40 a.m. PST |
As an aside, that film also includes an exerpt from this amazing animation, which shows a speeded-up 24 hours of radar plots in UK airspace. It does illustrate the havoc that the infamous January 2015 Bear sortie through the Channel must have caused to civil traffic. It also illustrates what a challenging job RAF Fighter Controllers have in identifying the threats among the crowd: vimeo.com/110348926 |
| Sudwind | 14 Sep 2015 9:37 p.m. PST |
Yes. The clutter of civilian air traffic is a big issue. After the failed efforts to get fighters anywhere near the hijacked planes on 9/11, this should be a major concern for our military planners. |
| Bangorstu | 15 Sep 2015 2:38 a.m. PST |
To be fair, I don't think the Russians regularly poke around the eastern coast of America…. Hence no need for a CAP to be armed and ready. |
| Jemima Fawr | 15 Sep 2015 5:07 a.m. PST |
The main problem in the USA re 9/11 was that due to the large geographical area of continental USA, they primarily used 'secondary radar' (i.e. the transponder squawk) for general surveillance instead of primary radar (i.e. the traditional detection of the radio 'echo' bouncing off an object). So as soon as the terrorists switched off the transponders, they simply disappeared off the screens. The UK has always had total coverage with primary air defence radar, so nothing can disappear if it simply switches off its transponder. |
| Mako11 | 15 Sep 2015 10:04 a.m. PST |
They do so with Alaska, and apparently Canada. They used to send bombers down the East Coast of the US all the time too – usually a pair of Bears. Sometimes, they'd pay a visit to the Cubans. They've also been doing some sorties out of Venezuela and Cuba too, in order to probe the soft underbelly of the US, along the Gulf Coast. Recently, they sent bombers to within 30 miles off the West Coast of CA as well (to help us celebrate our 4th of July this year), if not closer, so yes, we should have jets armed and ready. Not much use sending them up and out there if they aren't armed (might as well save the fuel and airframe hours). |
| Howler | 17 Sep 2015 6:46 p.m. PST |
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examines another house in this series.