Tim Ripley/LONDON
The Royal Air Force's five veteran BAC Canberra PR9 strategic reconnaissance aircraft are receiving a defensive aid suite (DAS) upgrade to increase their ability to penetrate hostile airspace safely.
The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) at Boscombe Down designed and is fitting the upgrade, but the programme has caused controversy in the UK intelligence community as the high-flying Canberras were unavailable to support RAF and NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia during the Kosovo conflict.
"The Canberras did a good job supporting the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe monitors in Kosovo from last October, but as soon as Operation Allied Force started in March, the RAF decided to pull them back from their forward base at Gioia del Colle, in Italy, to fit the DAS," says a senior British Army officer involved in Balkan operations. "This meant we had to rely on the US and French for strategic photographic reconnaissance."
The RAF confirms the Canberras did not fly missions during the Kosovo conflict, but gave no reason for their inaction.
The programme to install Vinten supplied chaff and flare dispensers was "well under way" says the UK Ministry of Defence. "The work is not being done under an urgent operational requirement arising from the Kosovo crisis, but this did give [the programme] added impetuous," it says.
It is unclear if the DAS includes changes to the Canberra's missile approach warning system. Before the installation of the new DAS, Canberras were fitted with BOZ-107 chaff and flare dispenser pods underwing as a temporary protective measure.
The service has regularly updated the aircraft to enhance the capabilities of its reconnaissance sensors. Recon Optical KA-93 wide area high resolution panoramic cameras were fitted across the fleet in 1997 and a number of aircraft have received electro-optical long-range oblique photography sensors.
Source: Flight International
