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Powys County Times
05-05-2025
- Powys County Times
The planes involved in the flypast for VE Day 80
Thousands of people lined the Mall to catch a glimpse of the Red Arrows during the RAF flypast for the VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations in London. Leading the flypast was the Lancaster, the most successful RAF heavy bomber of the Second World War, watched from the Buckingham Palace balcony by the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Hundreds of spectators lined Waterloo Bridge to see the aircraft over the Thames and despite intermittent rain the flypast went ahead as planned. These are the planes that were involved: – Lancaster One of only two airworthy Lancasters left in the world, it was built at the Vickers Armstrong Broughton factory at Hawarden Airfield, Chester, on May 31 1945. The war against Japan ended before it was deployed and it did not take part in any hostilities, but it remains a symbol of those who died in service of the country. – Voyager The Voyager, based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, is a modified civilian passenger aircraft. Capable of carrying up to 291 passengers and cargo all over the world, this Voyager was flown by Flight Lieutenant Jason Alty, Flight Lieutenant Will Ricketts, Flight Lieutenant Andy Theobald and Sergeant Handibode. – A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft, a contemporary plane, can carry up to 37 tonnes and 116 passengers. It was used heavily when the UK evacuated civilians from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021. – C-17 Globemaster The C-17 Globemaster is a long-range aircraft which can carry heavy loads and is used in combat as well as humanitarian missions. It has been used to support operations in the UK and overseas including providing support to Ukraine and delivering aid to the Middle East during the crisis in Gaza. – P8 Poseidon MRA1 Based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, the Poseidon is a maritime patrol aircraft. It has sensors and weapons for anti-submarine warfare, and can also be used in search and rescue efforts. It can detect, identify and monitor targets above and below the waves. – Typhoon FGR4 There were six Typhoons involved in the flypast, flanking other aircraft as they flew over London. Typhoons are based permanently at RAF Coninsby in Lincolnshire and Lossiemouth, where they are ready to respond to potential threats in UK and Nato air space, the Ministry of Defence said. – Rivet Joint An electronic surveillance aircraft, Rivet Joint has sensors which can detect emissions from communications, radar and other systems. It has been used as part of Operation Shader, the UK's contribution in ongoing military intervention in Iraq. – F-35B Lightning Flying on each wing of the Rivet Joint were F-35B Lightning jets from RAF Marham in Norfolk. The F-35B Lightning is a short take-off and vertical landing aircraft that can operate from aircraft carriers including the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth-class ships. – The Red Arrows The Red Arrows, formally known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, provided the colourful finale to the flypast. Since the Red Arrows' first season in 1965, they have performed almost 5,000 displays in 57 countries. The Red Arrows are led by Red 1, Squadron Leader Jon Bond. The former frontline Typhoon pilot, from Essex, joined the RAF in 2006. The 2025 season is his second year as team leader, responsible for choreographing the new display routine, which is seen by millions of people at big events and air shows.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Yahoo
The planes involved in the flypast for VE Day 80
Thousands of people lined the Mall to catch a glimpse of the Red Arrows during the RAF flypast for the VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations in London. Leading the flypast was the Lancaster, the most successful RAF heavy bomber of the Second World War, watched from the Buckingham Palace balcony by the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Hundreds of spectators lined Waterloo Bridge to see the aircraft over the Thames and despite intermittent rain the flypast went ahead as planned. These are the planes that were involved: – Lancaster One of only two airworthy Lancasters left in the world, it was built at the Vickers Armstrong Broughton factory at Hawarden Airfield, Chester, on May 31 1945. The war against Japan ended before it was deployed and it did not take part in any hostilities, but it remains a symbol of those who died in service of the country. – Voyager The Voyager, based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, is a modified civilian passenger aircraft. Capable of carrying up to 291 passengers and cargo all over the world, this Voyager was flown by Flight Lieutenant Jason Alty, Flight Lieutenant Will Ricketts, Flight Lieutenant Andy Theobald and Sergeant Handibode. – A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M Atlas military transport aircraft, a contemporary plane, can carry up to 37 tonnes and 116 passengers. It was used heavily when the UK evacuated civilians from Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021. – C-17 Globemaster The C-17 Globemaster is a long-range aircraft which can carry heavy loads and is used in combat as well as humanitarian missions. It has been used to support operations in the UK and overseas including providing support to Ukraine and delivering aid to the Middle East during the crisis in Gaza. – P8 Poseidon MRA1 Based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, the Poseidon is a maritime patrol aircraft. It has sensors and weapons for anti-submarine warfare, and can also be used in search and rescue efforts. It can detect, identify and monitor targets above and below the waves. – Typhoon FGR4 There were six Typhoons involved in the flypast, flanking other aircraft as they flew over London. Typhoons are based permanently at RAF Coninsby in Lincolnshire and Lossiemouth, where they are ready to respond to potential threats in UK and Nato air space, the Ministry of Defence said. – Rivet Joint An electronic surveillance aircraft, Rivet Joint has sensors which can detect emissions from communications, radar and other systems. It has been used as part of Operation Shader, the UK's contribution in ongoing military intervention in Iraq. – F-35B Lightning Flying on each wing of the Rivet Joint were F-35B Lightning jets from RAF Marham in Norfolk. The F-35B Lightning is a short take-off and vertical landing aircraft that can operate from aircraft carriers including the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth-class ships. – The Red Arrows The Red Arrows, formally known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, provided the colourful finale to the flypast. Since the Red Arrows' first season in 1965, they have performed almost 5,000 displays in 57 countries. The Red Arrows are led by Red 1, Squadron Leader Jon Bond. The former frontline Typhoon pilot, from Essex, joined the RAF in 2006. The 2025 season is his second year as team leader, responsible for choreographing the new display routine, which is seen by millions of people at big events and air shows.
The Guardian
06-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
UK to continue to supply intelligence to Ukraine after US cutoff
Britain will continue to supply intelligence to Ukraine, though the more limited capabilities on offer from London and other European countries will make it difficult to replace the flow halted from the US earlier this week. The UK will also continue to supply its analysis of the raw data, sources said on Thursday, though in line with normal intelligence practice it will not simply pass on US information obtained via long-established sharing arrangements between the two countries. 'They are not as far reaching as US capabilities, not at the same scale and not able to take their place,' a former Whitehall insider said. But they will allow Ukraine to maintain some early warning from attack and a degree of deep strike capability into Russia. Reconnaissance data collected from satellites, ground stations, surveillance aircraft such as Rivet Joint, and even covertly deployed ground forces is accumulated and shared with Ukraine in conjunction with open source material to enable damaging deep missile and drone strikes into Russia. France also said publicly that it would continue to provide intelligence to Ukraine. Sebastien Lecornu, the country's defence minister, said that while the US decision would have a 'significant operational impact' Paris would continue to help with its 'sovereign intelligence'. The French minister said the UK's position was 'more complicated' because its intelligence apparatus was more closely bound up with Washington – though British sources emphasised there had been a long history of competition as well as cooperation between the UK and US. One expert suggested the US decision to halt its intelligence could make it easier for Russia to renew a stalled offensive towards Ukraine's second city. The Kremlin could 'move everything inside its borders near Kharkiv and attack again', Dr Jade McGlynn, of King's College London, said. There are concerns Ukraine would struggle to detect the launch of bombers from Russian air bases and incoming missiles, though there was a warning on Wednesday before a missile attack on a hotel in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, which killed four and injured at least 32. A defence expert said he believed the intelligence freeze meant Ukraine could no longer detect incoming Iskander-M ballistic missiles and their North Korean equivalents, KN-23s and KN-24s. Valeriy Ryabikh, the editor of the Defence Express consulting firm, said the US had jeopardised the safety of civilians with its decision. However, Ryabikh suggested the cutoff would not significantly affect the situation on the frontline. 'We have our own intelligence officers, satellite services and agents in Russia. This is enough to strike stationary objects deep inside the Russian Federation,' he said. The Institute for the Study of War said the US decision 'will damage Ukraine's ability to defend itself against ongoing Russian attacks', and gave examples of successful long-range strikes by the Ukrainian military that would prove harder to execute. That included the bombing of an ammunition facility near Toropets, Tver oblast, overnight on 17-18 September 2024 which 'destroyed 'two to three months of Russia's ammunition supply' at a site that stored ballistic missiles, glide bombs and other artillery ammunition. A day after the ban was announced by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, another member of the Republican administration said the US decision was primarily political. Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, said the idea was 'sort of like hitting a mule with a two by four across the nose. You get their attention.' Speaking at an event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations thinktank, Kellogg said the goal was to force Ukraine to 'engage in diplomatic activities' and to get them to set out 'their term sheet', or outline negotiating position, for a deal. 'So, more of anything, it's a forcing function,' he added. Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to bring about an end to the three-year war in Ukraine, and has held preliminary discussions with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, while at the same time pressuriing Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy to agree to peace negotiations. Senior Trump administration officials will travel to Saudi Arabia to meet Ukrainian officials next week, Fox News and Axios reported on Thursday. On Monday, the US announced it would halt military aid for Ukraine after a meeting at the White House in which the intelligence -sharing ban was also agreed, though it did not start to be implemented until Wednesday. There were reports that, after the supply of targeting data was cut, US-supplied Himars rocket systems were abruptly turned off. The change was also thought to affect longer-range Atacms missiles, though stocks of these are limited and it is unclear how many Ukraine had left. Ukraine has only a small number of Himars launchers. But they have played a crucial role in the destruction of high-value Russian targets, such as ammunition dumps and logistics centres. The Kremlin has tried to hunt down Himars crews, who change locations frequently. Ukraine's military intelligence organisation, the HUR, also relies on some foreign intelligence to carry out sabotage operations inside Russia and for real-time updates on the deployment of Russian bomber planes on air bases. The agency is believed to be behind the killing of leading military figures, such as Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian army's chemical weapons division. In December a bomb taped to an electric scooter blew up outside his Moscow apartment block, killing him and an aide as they left the building.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Yahoo
RC-135 Rivet Joint Surveillance Jet Just Flew Unprecedented Mission Off Mexico
A U.S. Air Force RC-135V Rivet Joint conducted a highly unusual flight in the Gulf of California yesterday, between Mexico's Baja Peninsula and the rest of that country, according to online flight tracking data. The strategic intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) plane looks to have done the same today. The Rivet Joint is one of America's most capable intelligence-gathering assets and the appearance of one off the Mexican coast is a significant development. This comes amid a major increase in U.S. military support for operations along the border with Mexico under President Donald Trump and talk of unprecedented direct action by American forces against drug cartels, which you can read more about in this separate TWZ feature. Flight tracking software shows RC-135V serial number 64-14845 flew southwest from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska to the skies over southern California on Feb. 3. Offutt is home to the 55th Wing, which oversees the bulk of the Air Force's Rivet Joint fleet along with an array of other ISR and highly specialized command and control aircraft. The jet then hooked south along the Pacific coast of the Baja Peninsula before flying up into the Gulf of California. The aircraft subsequently returned to Offutt following the same route, but in reverse. USAF RC-135V Rivet Joint operating in the Gulf of California. Flights off Baja over the Pacific happen from time to not in the gulf…64-14845 — RivetJoint (@SpeckleBelly64) February 4, 2025 Additional flight tracking data indicates that 64-14845 conducted a sortie along essentially the same route earlier today. There may have been additional recent Rivet Joint flights over the Gulf of California prior to Jan. 3, but has not been immediately able to verify that independently. So, about that RC-135 flight today…… Fair warning, this'll be a longer I watched as 64-14845 launched out of Offutt this morning and headed toward the Pacific for today's mission. Yes, I have seen claims about "sending a message" etc. and the big one, operating… — MeNMyRC (@MeNMyRC1) February 4, 2025 Despite how relatively narrow the Gulf of California is, there are international waters and airspace above at its center. There are no indications that 64-14845 ever entered Mexican national airspace in the course of any of these flights. When queried about 64-14845's activity off the coast of Mexico, the U.S. Air Force redirected TWZ to U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM). We have also reached out to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. It is worth noting up front that the use of RC-135V/W Rivet Joints to support operations in the Western Hemisphere, especially counter-drug missions, is not necessarily well known but is also not new, something TWZ has highlighted in the past. Rivet Joints flying sorties tasked to NORTHCOM, specifically, is something that occurs on a somewhat regular basis, as well. In addition, RC-135V/Ws have been tracked flying in international airspace near Baja on the Pacific side in the past, typically in support of exercises in the ranges off of southern California. Curious but not unheard seen Rivet Joint conducting flights off the Baja California coast in the past. — Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) February 3, 2025 However, by all accounts, Rivet Joint sorties in the Gulf of California are at least exceedingly rare, if not an entirely new collection area for the jets. From there, 64-14845 could listen into the northwestern corner of Mexico, an area that largely falls under the influence of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel. Whose boss? Map of drug cartels in Mexico as of 2024. Source: — Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) May 19, 2024 Each airliner-sized RC-135V/W is packed with a variety of signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems that detect and intercept communications and other electronic transmissions. The aircraft can also geolocate and categorize the emitters sending out those signals, from radios to radars. On a typical mission, an RC-135V/W's crew consists of more than two dozen individuals, which includes linguists, electronic warfare officers, and other intelligence specialists who can immediately begin analyzing the information the SIGINT suites collect. The Rivet Joint also has an extensive communications array that allows data to be passed in near real-time to nearby units in the field and/or to nodes globally for further exploitation and dissemination. Intercepting and geolocating communications chatter, together with other intelligence, can help establish so-called 'patterns of life' for a select individual or group of individuals. That information, in turn, can be used to help further refine intelligence gathering strategies or even plan and execute targeted ground raids or strikes. Similarly, data provided by Rivet Joints can also help in the creation of what are known as electronic orders of battle detailing the disposition of enemy or potentially hostile forces, especially air defense units and command and control nodes, in a given area. However, this is not applicable to the flights off the coast of Mexico. Rivet Joint flights in the Gulf of California could provide a valuable additional stream of intelligence on cartel operations and other illicit activities, as well as just better situational awareness about what is happening in a critical cartel activity area. That would be in line with official statements from the Pentagon about its expanded presence around the southern border since Trump took office in January. 'We anticipate that overall, on the southwest border, [active-duty personnel] will provide real-time situational awareness of persons, vehicles, vessels and aircraft; and they'll work with [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] on operator-level maintenance, movement and staging of [CBP] assets,' a senior U.S. military official said last month. 'We also anticipate that there could be some additional airborne intelligence, surveillance, and support assets that would move down to the border to increase situational awareness.' USNI News reported yesterday that U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol planes are now conducting flights along the border with Mexico as another example of increased U.S. military ISR support. P-8As also have extensive SIGINT capabilities, as well as turrets with electro-optical and infrared video cameras. Intelligence that RC-135V/Ws, as well as other ISR aircraft, collect could be passed along to other U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including to support interdiction operations on land and at sea. The U.S. military has an established history already of providing near real-time information from aerial surveillance platforms about suspected drug smuggling and other illicit activities to law enforcement agencies along the border, as TWZ has explored in detail in the past. Certain intelligence might also be passed to authorities in Mexico to support their counter-drug and other operations. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to deploy 10,000 troops on her country's side of the border to help combat drug trafficking yesterday as part of an ostensible deal to try to stave off a trade war with the United States. Sheinbaum's predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had similarly agreed to send 10,000 troops to the border back in 2021 as part of an earlier agreement struck with former President Joe Biden's administration. The appearance of a Rivet Joint in the Gulf of California also comes amid open discussion about the possibility of the U.S. military taking direct action against drug cartels in Mexico, including targeted strikes. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in an interview on Fox last Friday that 'all options will be on the table,' but added that any such decision to act would rest with Trump. Pete Hegseth on possible military strikes in Mexico: "All options will be on the table." — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 31, 2025 The capabilities that the Air Force's RC-135V/Ws offer mean its presence could be a precursor to such an operational intent, dramatically increasing the quality and volume of available intelligence collection. Rivet Joints are used regularly in this general role in the lead-up to larger operations. As just one example, Rivet Joints flew regularly off the coast of Syria in the lead-up to U.S.-led missile strikes on multiple targets in that country in April 2018 during Trump's first term in office. At the same time, RC-135V/Ws are also used to collect regular intelligence from a standoff distance all over the world. So, it is important to stress that there are no indications at the time of writing that any such direct military activity is imminent or even planned. In addition, even if the flights were conducted with the explicit approval of the Mexican government, pursuing that course of action would have far-reaching ramifications. TWZ has published a feature just today exploring these issues, which you can find here. Still, openly conducting Rivet Joint sorties in the Gulf California, together with the rest of the expanding U.S. military presence around the southern border, does already send broader signals to Mexico's cartels across the region. Contact the author: joe@
