Sentinel surveillance aircraft – Ten years of service celebrated at Raytheon Broughton

Defence Minister Stuart Andrew MP helped celebrate 10 years’ service of the Sentinel surveillance aircraft at Raytheon UK’s facility in Broughton with a visit to the site, yesterday, August 29.

Raytheon Broughton specialises in servicing and modification for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, including the Sentinel R1, the UK’s most advanced manned surveillance aircraft.

Defence Minister Stuart Andrew MP said:

“The Sentinel has proved its enormous worth time and time again, from tracking terrorists in Syria and Iraq, to helping provide overseas aid and even mapping floods here in the UK.

The fact it has now spent over 30,000 hours on operations not only demonstrates how the RAF is working around the clock to put it to use on behalf of the country, but is a testament to its home here in North Wales.

“The workers in Broughton should be extremely proud of the fantastic work they are doing to ensure this ‘eye-in-the-sky’ continues to collect crucial intelligence so our Forces can keep us safe”

Richard Daniel, CEO of Raytheon UK, said:

“Broughton is a leading centre of ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] capability in the UK and has huge potential for growth in the future, supporting economic development and high quality jobs across North Wales.

We are proud to have delivered 10 years of Sentinel and honoured to host the Defence Minister Stuart Andrew at Broughton on this milestone.”

Defence Minister Stuart Andrew and Squadron Leader Graham Edwards, ISTAR Force HQ, celebrate 10 years’ service of the Sentinel surveillance aircraft at Raytheon UK’s facility in Broughton

The Sentinel R.Mk 1 provides long-range, wide-area battlefield surveillance, delivering critical intelligence and target tracking information to British and coalition forces.

The aircraft has been operationally deployed in support of operations in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali, and is currently deployed in support of British and Coalition operations in Iraq and Syria.

Using its powerful multi-mode radar, the Sentinel’s mission crew identifies, tracks and images numerous targets over great ranges, passing the information in near real time to friendly forces.

A team of intelligence imagery analysts from the RAF’s 1 Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) Wing backs up the Sentinel crews, conducting in-depth forensic analysis of collected data, and using it to generate intelligence products for “time-critical dissemination to commanders and decision makers, enabling them to execute current operations and plan future strategies.”