Bombardier Sentinel R1 DE&S Raytheon, Chester arriving for TLT exercise at RAF Kinloss Morayshire. SCO 5557
ASTOR (Airborne Stand-Off Radar) will provide a long-range, battlefield-intelligence, target-imaging and tracking radar for the RAF and the Army and will have surveillance applications in peacetime, wartime and in crisis operations. The prime contractor selected to provide the ASTOR system is Raytheon Systems Limited, using the Bombardier Global Express aircraft as the air platform. The system comprises three basic components, or segments. The first segment is the air platform, a modified twin-engined Global Express business jet, called the Sentinel R1 by the RAF, equipped with a radar system capable of both Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Moving Target Indicator (MTI) functions. The SAR will enable all-weather, day and night reconnaissance and surveillance to be carried out; the MTI will enable the operators to monitor the activity of mobile ground targets. The second segment comprises two transportable Ground Stations (GS) to support deployed HQ and six mobile GS to support Division and Brigade. Each GS can receive, store and exploit radar information down-linked from the air-platform and present it, via existing communications networks, in a variety of formats to commanders, tacticians and weapons operators on the battlefield.
Size: 5507px × 3810px
Location: RAF Kinloss Air Station Morayshire Scotland UK.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 26, 2004, 2008, airborne, battlefield, bombardier, capability, endurance, flight, ground, initial, introduced, long, manufacturer, operating, radar, raytheon, role, side-, status, surveillance
