| Sentinel | |
|---|---|
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| Role | Airborne battlefield and ground surveillance |
| Manufacturer | Raytheon |
| First flight | 26 May 2004 |
| Introduced | 2005 |
| Status | Operational |
| Primary user | Royal Air Force |
| Number built | 5 |
| Developed from | Bombardier Global Express |
The Raytheon Sentinel is under development as the RAF's ASTOR (Airborne STand-Off Radar) aircraft. Based on the Bombardier Global Express, it will be a dedicated RAF asset albeit with the squadron having joint manning with the British Army, providing battlefield and ground surveillance in a similar role to the American E-8 JSTARS aircraft. ASTOR will be totally interoperable with allied systems such as JSTARS and the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system.
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The radar is installed on a heavily modified Bombardier Global Express, which will be known as the Sentinel R1 in RAF service. The aircraft is powered by the same engines used in the Nimrod MRA4 upgrade programme, the Rolls-Royce BR710. The first flight of the prototype, a modified Global Express airframe, was in August 2001, which validated the modifications required for the ASTOR system. The first production Sentinel R1 made its 4.4 hour maiden flight on 26 May 2004. The initial operating capability will be achieved in 2008. The aircraft is based at RAF Waddington and operated by 5 Sqn.
The original contracts call for a total of five aircraft, eight mobile ground stations (six on wheeled all terrain vehicles and two in air transportable containers), and extensive training facilities at the main RAF station.
The ASTOR cockpit features a new centrally housed, pull-down screen capable of displaying a moving map, Link 16 datalink information and defensive aids subsystem (DASS) data.The DASS comprises a towed radar decoy, missile approach warning system and chaff and flare dispensers and can be operated in automatic, semi-automatic or manual mode.
The aircraft will normally fly at over 15,000 m (40,000 ft) to ensure a high resolution view of a large battlefield area. It will be crewed by a pilot, a co-pilot, an Airborne Mission Commander (AMC) and 2 image analysts. Mission endurance should be about 9 hours. While the image analysts can analyse the images on board the aircraft it is expected that, unlike the JSTARS, the actual battle management will occur on the ground.
The radar which provides this capability is supplied by Raytheon Systems Ltd. (RSL), the UK subsidiary of Raytheon. It is a next-generation dual-mode Synthetic Aperture / Moving Target Indication (SAR/MTI) radar based on proven technology previously used in Raytheon’s ASARS-2 system.
While suffering from delays the project is one of few procurement projects to be below cost estimates.[citation needed]
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