PARIS AIR SHOW: RAF confirms plans to send ASTOR back to Afghanistan

The UK's Airborne Standoff Radar system is on static display this week ahead of a crucial deployment of the surveillance system in the skies above Afghanistan.

One of five Sentinel R1 aircraft heavily modified Bombardier Global Express business jets - from the Royal Air Force's 5 (Army Co-operation) Sqn is in Raytheon's outside exhibit area, accompanied by part of the ASTOR system's ground-based imagery exploitation equipment.

Used in combination, these have performed two earlier deployments to the Middle East and above Afghanistan, and the aircraft's synthetic aperture radar and ground moving target indication sensor have been used to support operations by ground forces in the country's southern Helmand Province.


© APG Photography

"The intelligence provided by ASTOR has had an immediate operational impact on the success of UK and ground forces in theatre," says Gp Capt Harry Kemsley, officer commanding 5 Sqn. He confirmed the new commitment at the show yesterday, saying: "We are preparing to deploy again to provide airborne support during the Afghanistan presidential elections."

In addition to providing over-watch services for the election process, the new ASTOR deployment will also support operations involving British and coalition troops, by for example looking for suspect vehicle movements by insurgents.

Kemsley says other key requirements for the coming operation will be to prove ASTOR's ability to be integrated with operations involving other intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets used in the theatre.

He declines to say exactly when the squadron will go and how long it will stay, but confirms that this will be longer than the previous deployment, which saw two Sentinel R1s and related equipment deployed between February and May this year.

Raytheon is promoting its wider array of ISR products at the show. Ranging from sensors for unmanned air vehicles up to a complete system like ASTOR, these are being pitched at an available market worth more than $20 billion over the next 15 years, says Neil Peterson, director of strategy and business development for the company's Space and Airborne Systems business unit.