Monday 21 January 2008

ASTOR (Sentinel R1): early deployment to Afghanistan?

The Ministry of Defence is considering deploying part of the Royal Air Force’s new Airborne Stand-Off Radar equipment (ASTOR) to the frontline in southern Afghanistan this year. The total system (budget £1billion) will combine airborne radar mounted in business-type jet aircraft with ground processing stations and has been reported to provide images of the battlefield at ranges of 160 km, at altitudes up to 47,000 feet. The radar identifies the location of hostile forces and their quantity, direction and speed.
The MoD may be deploying the ground station element of the system; this will enable the armed forces to exploit the growing intelligence, surveillance, targeting and reconnaissance data available from US airborne platforms.

Link> DefenseNews: U.K. May Take Part of ASTOR to Afghanistan