A British RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft has been monitoring Russian forces near the Ukrainian border within the last 24 hours.
A British RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft has been monitoring 'the front line' of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea within the last 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/ibqaZjbZ1E
— George Allison (@geoallison) April 12, 2021
Other aircraft, including an American RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone are also present in the area.
What does the RC-135W do?
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.
Excellent. Do the Russians really think NATO is too stupid to see what it is up to?
Or just not care. What are NATO going to do, even if Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine proper ?
Exactly, there is no political will in Germany to intervene. It is ironic that Biden gave Trump a hard time for being in Putins back pocket when Putin did nothing when he was in power yet ready to invade when he’s gone.
If they do invade are they only interested in the Russian speaking Eastern side of the country or do they want the whole lot.
Most Ukrainians can speak Russian, either as a prime language or bilingually. Regardless, they voted for a western leaning President in 2019 for the most part. Could be that that’s provoked Putin’s ire as much as supporting ‘Crimea and the Donbass’.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Ukrainian_presidential_election
Jack actions which could inadvertently lead to WW3 have always been on the minds of western nations. Russia would not be bothering to fabricate a pretence to invade Ukraine unless they were a little worried about Western reaction. They are watching Russia’s and I am sure Western nations will provide an appropriate reaction to any Russian move.
NATO won’t do anyhing because the Ukraine si not a member.
The most they can do is reinforce the borders of Poland , Moldovia, and Romania. If Russia rolls over those borders then Clause 5 kicks in.
That means only what the individual nations want it to mean. Yes, Article 5 sent troops into Afghanistan in 2001, mighty Afghanistan. Nothing of consequence will happen if Russia rolls into Ukraine, *again*.
Give a sternly worded telling off to naughty Mr Putin. Other than that absolutely nothing!
We deploy forces to the Baltics as a ‘tripwire’, if they are attacked it gives the British People and Government more motivation to respond as well as a clear casus belli for retaliation. However NATO has been afraid to do the same for Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army is large and capable, it just technical support and air power support to defend Ukraine from Russia.
Beware the Britishers. The rest of Europe is silent. Britian is a mischief maker – it also led US in invading Iraq.
It may be the case the Russians want to be seen.
Fair point. Show of force? Distraction for domestic audience? Something else?
Yes Mark all of what you mentioned but as people have said on here before could Putin make move to secure Crimea water supply?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had an aircraft designed to track troop movements. Pity we’ve just scrapped them.
Too right.
The Donbas will be Russian by the end of the year and there is nothing anyone one is capable, willing or interested in doing about that (outside of Ukraine).
Taiwan – different story.
Lets see.
Thank you for the dose of reality.
The German Socialist party will ensure Germany will not cancel Nord Stream 2 – as their leaders are heavily invested in the profits they will make.
Are you sure that Germany aren’t feeling a little threatened by this? Perhaps they should
Yep, the Germans will do absolutely sod all, I would place a bet that all that will come from Berlin, in the event of a Russian attack, is a deafening silence….
At what point will they worry? Romania, Poland, East Germany?
I seem to recall a point where we were guaranteeing the safely of Germany?
Even if you assume that this is a Ukraine only issue it makes you wonder how much the central Europeans care about their own defence.
I think Merkel still believes in fairies. Not sure she understands the intent of Russia. The oil pipeline is a perfect example of appeasement and I think Putin just keeps piling on the pressure until he gets what he wants. Germany seems to have massively miscalculated Putin at every step.
Just like Pre-WW2 politicians miscalculated Hitler!
Merkel will be gone very soon. Maybe Russia knows she will do nothing. However, her replacement on the other hand, may have different views and so a Russian strike before Merkel goes is quite likely, although the numbers don’t yet stack up.
IIRC the Ukrainian Army is some 240,000 strong with a lot of modern weapons, nothing like the almost misfit army of 2014.
Russia will take causalities and that’s something that I don’t think the Russia majority would be happy to see.
True ,since 2014 there have been Russian Casualties because of their involvement in the Donbass Adventure ( and in Syria ) which the Russian Public had been fed lies regarding numbers etc.They won’t be as Casualty averse as we are in the West but they aren’t the Blindingly Loyal Servants that they used to be.
Surely if the US is capable of defending Taiwan it is capable of defending anywhere if it so wishes. Does it so wish that is the question?
Whilst I fully understand your point about Donbas western governments will be looking carefully at Russia’s true objectives. If it is felt the ultimate goal is simple expansionism then the West will know it must confront Putin sooner or later.
That maybe so. The problem is what can realistically be done to prevent them from marching further into Ukraine? Once they have there is no way we will fight them, our only option is to deter and make them international pariahs if they do it. That is probably the only way we can confront Putin, even then China and Russia will block all moves through the UNSC.
I also don’t think the US would go to war over Taiwan. Complain bitterly yes, but not fight. Just look at where Taiwan is. The US could never win.
The Ukrainian army is large and capable, it just technical support and air power support to defend Ukraine from Russia.
Yes we should provide air support to Ukraine to fight Russia.
Putin will Not commit Armageddon, he is enjoying a too good of a life of luxury with hookers etc!
No he will not. But he may well continue to push below the threshold of war (as Ben Wallace puts it). They have issued over a million Russian passports to people within the disputed areas of Ukraine. It won’t take much for Russia to move in to protect them, a mass build up of Ukraine’s army perhaps.
In that circumstance no more territory has been taken that they don’t already control, no direct fighting with Ukraine (one assumes Ukraine wouldn’t launch an offensive), so is that above or below the threshold for war in the UK’s\the west’s eyes? The latter I’d say, so no intervention.
Decades of cuts to NATO forces really are paying dividends—For Putin et al!
The strategy will be for Russia – no military defence, sanctions max. The Germans & Italians will of course do nothing but everyone else will try.
& for Taiwan – defend militarily with Japan and much of the rest of SE Asia, US and CANZUK.
Can you see any defence of Taiwan being successful? China wouldn’t try unless they had built up their forces enough to be sure of victory. They may not have the logistics to sustain a large campaign far from their shores but Taiwan is just off the coast. It is very difficult to imagine anything other than a Chinese walkover of the Taiwanese forces, with little or no involvement from the countries you mention. At the end of the day there would just be no way to win given their sheer numbers.
I think that landing overwhelming numbers of troops across a seaway is a very difficult exercise requiring long term air and seaspace domination. China will not be able to achieve that I suspect. Also Taiwan is armed to the teeth.
I’m not sure Taiwan is really that well armed. Some 80s designed indigenous aircraft plus 100 or so F16s. China have strategic bombers and a huge navy, including an ever growing fleet of landing ships. I’m not saying they will do it, but given another 5 to 10 years they may well be capable.
Taiwan doesn’t even scramble fighters anymore, they are so worn out.
Where you read that ? I don’t think that is accurate at all. Anyhoos they signed a deal last year with US for 8billion USD for 66 latest block brand new F16’s .
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-security/taiwan-says-tracks-intruding-chinese-aircraft-with-missiles-not-always-scrambling-idUSKBN2BL0JS
https://www.reuters.com/article/taiwan-defence-idUSL1N2LK0HN
I already went and looked it’s not that they aren’t scrambling jets anymore it’s that they aren’t going to do it for every incursion and for the ones they choose not to ground based missile systems will track instead.
I dislike Reuters they are like the bbc of international news 😜
Taiwan is really hard to defend because its within range of China’s short-medium range ballistic missiles and land based fighter squadrons. They could blast anything on the island to pieces thats why the US will never deploy forces there only basing them further away. Its similar to how India is pursuing an aircraft carrier programme specifically to create airbases out of range of Chinese first strike.
Taiwan produces a range of short range missiles and cruise and anti-ship missiles
Some may be hidden in containers, so may have a nasty surprise in store for the Chicoms.
With what? Also that’s mass murder, if not genocide. Millions live in the path of those dams. You’d lose all sympathy from the world community doing that.
Logistics? Have you seen the number of large LPH & LPDs they have with more constantly being added? Plenty of air transports too. What we need is firm commitments from major players tofully support & intervene to deter or defeat any attack.
Yes I agree. I did go on to say that they could be ready in 5 to 10 years. Much of their LPH and LPD fleet is either in construction or brand new. They will need lots of training and exercises before they could be considered ready for large scale amphibious assault. They might not be quite able right now but they certainly will be.
We can not do that Stephen, We do not have enough Lancasters left
The US is not capable of defending Taiwan. They even say so themselves.
As far as I know, there is no concrete commitment to defend Taiwan by the US and I believe they are very reluctant to provide the necessary arms and equipment lest they fall into Chinese hands.
Here is an analysis of US war games..
https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2021/04/12/a-us-air-force-war-game-shows-what-the-service-needs-to-hold-off-or-win-against-china-in-2030/
Basically, the US gets wiped out under every realistic scenario.
On their own, probably not. However, with the collaboration of other local forces there’s a lot of firepower that could be lined up against China
What other forces?
Not S. Korea, that’s for sure. The ONLY possibility is Japan, and that’s not enough.
South Korea has a Sizeable Military,superior to Japan’s in some respects,why wouldn’t they contribute ?.
They have basically rebuffed US efforts to even criticize China. In fact the Sec Def went to visit and their joint statement didn’t even mention China.
Meanwhile, China is ramping up efforts with North Korea which is the South Koreas number one priority, above all else.
China and South Korea are become partners far more than ever recently.
China just has to play the North Korea card well and they keep South Korea out of any US led alliances.
Then they are not worthy of being a superpower.
Well, the 9 May is quickly coming around, which is a big day in Russia. Any military action now may see an outpouring of nationalistic fervour, more so the closer it gets to the day itself.
Who knows?
Excellent opportunity to get some valuable signals Intelligence, they will have their radars and systems fully ‘live’ watching for a sneak Ukrainian attack.
Global Hawk is just to the south of Yalta ATM.
South of Odesa now….. The Rivet Joint is off Radar now, probably back home.
When dealing with the Russians a knowledge of history is important. 1944 Operation Bagration; They moved dummy stores and replicated Army Group, Army, Corps and Divisional signals nets opposite the German Army Group South before attacking Army Group Centre with overwhelming force, a classic example of ‘maskirovka.’ Now since they have signalled this build up I would suggest they want it to be seen which means the message is clear, ‘don’t push your luck Ukraine.’ Similarly NATO must have the resolve to say the same thing back if a disastrous miscalculation is to be prevented.
Ah, Bagration. As a researcher of the Eastern Front I know it well. Timed for 22nd June, 3rd anniversary of Barbarrosa.
Germans didn’t stand a chance and a release from their genocide taking place in Bylorussia under the cover of a “partisan war”
Has anyone else watched the Norwegian TV drama ‘Occupied’. Fascinating concept drama. Energy Security, EU, Russia, ambivalent USA and issues of the Law v what is right…etc etc… so much of what is discussed here and in the media in general about Ukrain and Germany wtc was acted out in the drama. ..worth a watch.
God my smart phone typing is not very smart !!
It was interesting to note how Russia has been handing out passports like smarties as a genuine excuse for invasion to protect its citizens.
I wonder at what point the west will send a clear message? most probably when the reach the cost of Germany!
I’m surprised they haven’t adopted the Chinese approach and offered free oil in return for ports along their coastline!
Havent we retired Sentinel, which was designed to monitor large vehicle heavy forces in mass (and did that quite well AIUI), just as the Russians mass large numbers or vehicles possibly to enter Ukraine…
Yes last flight of Sentinel took place not that long ago .
He is a bit of a card is Vlad, keeps everyone guessing. He has outplayed the west for a long time now. What’s his real motive? I guess expansion under the guise of protecting ethnic Russians.
Nato will do nothing.
The re-creation of the Soviet Union?
I think a reset yes. Expanding because of perceived loss of influence in bordering countries. And distraction from internal problems. Also a test for others on how they react.
Turkey is interesting to watch in all of this too, Erdogan has very big Ottoman ambitions and would probably not blink if Putin acts in the Donbas area.
Putin is an enigma to many westerners, they underestimate him at their peril. Of course Sleepy Joe calling him a killer was a really good move lol.
Yep, at least Joes awake to the threat unlike Trump that let Putin do whatever he wanted in Ukraine because he was so enamoured with dictators… and the Russian leverage of the peepee photos lol.
Stuff like Trump inviting Russia to rejoin the G8, pulling out of Syria to make room for Russia, doing nothing and denying the Russian were paying bounties for US citizens murders despite intelligence to the contrary, being Putins bitch at the Helsinki conference in 2018, personally giving Putin classified US and Israeli intel causing Israel to stop sharing intelligence, etc…
Not really Ivan he’s not expanded territory into the Ukraine since 2014 and had to deal with a shed load of sanctions since, not good for a economy smaller than Italy’s and living standard way much lower than the EU, also a decreasing population ,considering Russia is the largest nation on the planet. Invading the Ukraine just enforced the opinion of the large majority of Ukraine people that there is no future with a mafia state like Russia ,there for Putin has just lost a allied nation Right on its border which is his biggest fear come true. I doubt Russia has the money for a war and occupation of the whole of the Ukraine . Keep trying for your 7 Rubles an hour though Ivan.:)
The Ukraine forces are no push over ,they conducted what some said one of the longest armoured Raids in history into Donbass ,in the great raid of 2014.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Raid_of_2014
Just been looking at various tweets and information coming out of Ukraine…
The ships including landing craft are heading down the canal, from the Caspian Sea to the Sea of Azov.
They believe when and if things kick off worse, an amphibious assault could potentially happen on the beaches west of Mariupol
Another Ukrainian soldier killed on the front with a GSW
and possibly another killed, hit by shellfire
A total of 7 attacks by Russian backed forces today including remote mining and use of Russian 82mm mortars
Various UAVs spotted over Ukraine and 2 C130s spotted landing, unknown cargo
I think things may be getting worse, but lets hope for a de-escalation
2 x C130….wonder if they were Turkish loaded with loitering drones ? Certainly interesting days…and a de-escalation has to be in everyone’s interest…apart from arms dealers.
I guess a sign the West may be concerned and motivated would be if QE CSG deployment got deferred or perhaps dispatched early to hang around the Med for a while.
Update…. Global Hawk is still up some 5 plus hours later, currently to the west of Donetsk.
Well the reports are right as they said it had not returned to base yet.
The UAVs, and other surveillance aircraft are rather busy !
still up….. 6 hours and counting. Must have a total shed load of intel by now….. was watching a U2S a couple of days ago until it went quiet between Iceland and Faroes……. It’s such fun watching them from the comfort of my armchair.
Not sure why they are doing this. Just like last time the West won’t lift a finger to help Ukraine especially with China Joe in office now.
Right again Dan you are chock full of facts after watching Faux news! After all, it was Biden’s Eastern European daughter Ivanka who got all those patents awarded to her by the Chinese Government. And as far as who has the gut to stand up to Putin, you’re right again Dan, it was Biden at the 2018 Helsinki Summit who said he took Putin at his word!
As an aside, these drones have an RR engine and can stay aloft for 32 hours……….. So, I’ll not keep updating you all on where and what it is doing !!!! (But it’s still there ! )
I wonder if it’s a case of putting BBC news on one morning and finding out USSR Tanks have roll in ,hope it doest happen but with Putin who can tell.
Some reports say end of April for something major to kick off
At the moment it is the spring rasputitsa (meaning time of mud when the snow melts). The military campaigning season in eastern Ukraine starts in May.
Rasputitsa – Quagmire on the Eastern Front « Steven’s Balagan
If it is going to happen it will be then.
Meanwhile our bright sparks have figured out that it correct to reduce the British army to 70000 blokes and an Alsatian.
Winter is over, the mud is drying up. The Ukraine is good tank country as Army Group South found in 1941. Kiev will be ruled by Uncle Vlad very soon.
Every cut encourages our enemies & makes the free world far more dangerous.
Never underestimate the Power of an Alsatian ( German Shepherd).
Just think, if it wasn’t for the FlightRadar24 website, we would probably never know where our Rivet Joints – and other RAF aircraft – are being deployed, as the MoD would never give out such information.
Letting Putin do what he likes will given CHina the encouragement to do the same to Taiwan and a few other countries it has designs to annex.
Also the sanctions that could be imposed on Russia would be crippling, Putin knows all this.
If he is gambling that the west will not intervene or at the least make it a fair fight. He is playing a very dangerous game.
Makes me laugh how everyone are commenting like they’ve been to there, and know exactly what’s happening.
Morning Plane Spotters ! Rivet Joint and KC135 to the east of Cromer at the moment. Heading East ?
RJ off Radar now.
Keep it coming Captain.
Never used these online trackers myself but sounds fun.
Lol, the fun bit is when you find something interesting that directly relates to current events. flightradar24 is free and easy to use mate.
do you have to search every plane you see to get its callsign and info? Usually there would be 100s if not 1000s of planes to look at
Depends what site you use Freedar is another one where Military Traffic is highlighted.
Hello mate, I just tend to have a look then click on one to see what it is…… Most Airliners are on normal routes, some just stand out for being a bit random….. a lot are Blocked or blank but It’s still interesting to second guess where they are heading before they go quiet. I also check in to see what other countries aircraft are doing, today there were a fair few Swedish Planes up and an Italian based KC135 flying East out of Sigonella.
Ok mate, ta.
Well, the 9 May is coming up, which is a big day in Russia and a bank holiday. Any push into Ukraine now may see a huge amount of nationalistic fervour within Russia and see Putin’s ratings soaring. As I see it, it’s not by accident that this is all happening now.
They have just gone through 100k covid deaths officially in Russia…assume the unofficial number is significantly higher ? Is Putin under any ratings pressure on covid response or is that issue just brushed aside?
The word is “officially”, but in reality the figure is way higher: think at least 2-3 times higher.
I often come across people who say the following: “I like how Putin acts on the world stage, but I don’t really like his internal policies”. What they don’t see though is that Putin is using a classic diversion tactic that allows him to keep in control.
Many people are very disbelieving, ie many don’t think covid is real or that bad, and many refuse to wear masks. At the same time there are just as many who do believe it’s real and who do wear masks. We only had one lockdown, and that was last summer; the thinking probably being that they will try and achieve herd immunity, whilst keeping the economy going, but at the same time giving people the feeling that the virus isn’t that bad. Alos, he made various payments to different groups of people over the virus period to keep them sweet.
One thing I have learnt here is that people are expendable in the moment but will be remembered as heros.
Cheers…that’s your original post popped up today but is recorded as being posted 7 days ago…just got notification email this morning….strange things in cyber space….mentioned Putin..?.
I don’t get you. What’s the question? Bit slow today lol
You said you tried to post and it kept disappearing. Today I got an email saying you had replied…but the reply was a week old. Lost in ether for a week.
What does a man have to do to not get his reply deleted? This is my third time of trying to make a reply.
Anyway, to answer your question. Yes, the real figures are much higher; they even have another set of figures that are semi-official, but they use the lower figures for the public. Expect there to be 2-3 times more than the official figures.
Many people don’t take the virus seriously here themselves; it’s conspiracy theory central. There are plenty that do though.
Cheers…I can imagine he needs a distraction. Interesting days.
P
I did make a much longer post, but for some reason it hasn’t gone live.
Know that feeling.! Cheers
Looks like there’s a RJ on its way to Ukraine again.
The build up of Russian forces across from the Ukrainian border is a classic monitoring job for the Sentinel aircraft.
Back again at 12:24 hours Alpha.
RAF RC-135W Rivet Joint spotted now just about on Moldova \ Ukraine border.