A gap in the UK’s airborne surveillance capability is expected to open in 2021 when the Royal Air Force (RAF) retires its remaining four operational Raytheon Sentinel R1 airborne stand-off radar (ASTOR) aircraft.
A gap is expected to open in the UK’s airborne surveillance capability in 2021 after the retirement of Sentinel R1, pictured here operating from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus during Operation ‘Shader’ against Islamic State. (Crown Copyright)
The RAF’s director for fixed-wing manned aerial surveillance platforms, Group Captain Shaun Gee, revealed in the service’s Annual Review 2020 journal published at the beginning of February, “Sentinel is currently scheduled to leave service in 2021, although no alternative source of its unique capability has been identified in that timeframe.”
A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman confirmed to Jane’s on 13 February that the Sentinel aircraft will be withdrawn from service in March 2021 without being replaced.
“The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 confirmed the Sentinel out-of-service date as the end March 2021; there has been no change to this position,” said the spokesman. “We are currently assessing a range of potential options that could deliver wide-area surveillance capability. A decision will be taken in due course.”
Jane’s understands that this has not yet resulted in the start of any procurement process to find a replacement system by the MoD.
A senior RAF source told Jane’s
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