A British RC-135 surveillance aircraft is currently being escorted by Typhoon fighter jets over the Black Sea as the type monitors Russian forces in occupied Ukraine.
The Typhoons, flying from RAF Akrotiri, joined the RC-135 over the Black Sea.
Typhoon jets are back up over the Black Sea, escorting a British RC-135 surveillance aircraft as it gathers data on Russian forces in occupied Ukraine. This is due to an incident last month in which a missile was "released" by a Russian jet near a British aircraft. pic.twitter.com/I2Iv84Ppqh
— George Allison (@geoallison) October 21, 2022
The deployment of British RC-135 surveillance aircraft on these missions is routine, but the escort by Typhoon jets is new, having started recently after an incident.
A Russian Su-27 jet “released a missile” near a British RC-135 surveillance aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea on September 29, British defence minister Ben Wallace earlier confirmed.
Wallace told parliament Britain had previously suspended patrols following the incident and expressed concerns to Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. Russia, astonishingly, said it was a “technical malfunction”, and Wallace said Britain has now resumed patrols. However, the patrols now have fighter aircraft escorts.
What does the RC-135 do?
The RC-135W Rivet Joint and its sensors are designed to undertake ‘signals intelligence’ missions. In other words, they ‘soak up’ electronic emissions from communications, radars and other systems.
This isn’t the first deployment of this type by any means, this has been ongoing for months now, but activity has increased recently due to the Russian invasion. The UK has been increasing the frequency of such flights over the last few months in order to gather intelligence. US aircraft are also present.
As we need to post this each time, here’s the usual disclaimer. This isn’t a new occurrence. In fact, it is pretty routine. The UK has long been gathering intelligence about Russian forces since long before the invasion of Ukraine, and it should be noted that these flights are designed to be visible so that the public and Russia know they’re happening. If it were a secret, I would not know. Also, for those remarking ‘this isn’t new’, that’s right, but people only know this often happens because it is reported often.
British surveillance aircraft being over the area isn’t unusual, but we are seeing a significant increase in the frequency of the flights over the last few months for obvious reasons.
According to the Royal Air Force website, the RC-135W Rivet Joint is a dedicated electronic surveillance aircraft that can be employed in all theatres on strategic and tactical missions. Its sensors ‘soak up’ electronic emissions from communications, radar and other systems.
“RC-135W Rivet Joint employs multidiscipline Weapons System Officer (WSO) and Weapons System Operator (WSOp) specialists whose mission is to survey elements of the electromagnetic spectrum in order to derive intelligence for commanders.”
The Royal Air Force say that Rivet Joint has been deployed extensively for Operation Shader and on other operational taskings. It had been formally named Airseeker, but is almost universally known in service as the RC-135W Rivet Joint.
The UK operates three of these aircraft.
Sightly off topic but still remaining inside the realm of surveillance, it was reported yesterday that two internet cables were cut between Scotland and the Shetlands and the faroe islands. Well early this morning is was reported that 3 internet lines of communication were cut running out of the south of France.
Perhaps a reasonable follow-up question would be what were the indicators from IUSS/SOSUS and isn’t NATO employing SURTASS and ADS? Come on folks, we need to up our game in the middle of a grey zone conflict.
Well it’s been reported here on UKDJ over the weeks indications of increased SSN activity with those boats putting in at Faslane.
I doubt we will get anything official regards IUSS.
The story about likely done by a fishing boat didn’t really do it for me .Red’s playing dangerous games no doubt🤔
The lack of reporting on MSN is a head-scratcher. The more crucial Marseille-Lyon, Marseille-Milano and Marseille-Barcelona link was cut at 11.08 on 20.10.22. That’s 3 fibre links and the company has already said it’s deliberate.
That’s 2 in the UK, and 3 (in)from France in the Med.
Something is afoot.
IT is odd that MSN are not really saying an Awful lot 🤔
I saw this flash a few hours after the event. They didn’t know if it was weather related. Those cables have gone due to weather-related damage before.
However, it’s a worrying thing to read.
The real issue here is what if? What if that missile had tracked and prosecuted the RC-135? That could have started WWIII.
Stupid move by the Russian pilot, whether deliberate or accidental. All the same, this is a constant scenario used as a precursor for a massive response from NATO in several war games I took part in.
Dangerous times.