The third Reaper will replace one lost earlier this year when it suffered a mechanical failure during an operation over Afghanistan.
Thornton said the Reaper had become a vital asset and was in constant demand by NATO forces operating in Afghanistan.
In January, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a potential sale of up to 10 Reapers to the British.
Thornton said Britain expected to spend 900 million pounds ($1.6 billion) on urgent operational requirements (UORs) this year. Earlier in the summer, government ministers said Britain had spent more than 3.6 billion pounds on UORs since its current round of overseas deployments had gotten underway.
The Air Material chief said managing the coherence of the urgent equipment procurements ordered by the armed forces was posing "quite a challenge."
Thornton also said the RAF's intelligence surveillance target acquisition and reconnaissance capability would get a further boost in November with the start of operational trials of the new Raytheon-supplied Sentinel ground surveillance aircraft.
The aircraft, which sports synthetic aperture and moving target indicator radars, is the British equivalent of the U.S. E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.
Three of the five aircraft, based on the Bombardier Global Express business jet, have now been delivered to the RAF base at Waddington, in eastern England.
Thornton said the MoD is reviewing its options on the provision of future signals intelligence aircraft to replace the current Nimrod R1 capability.
Options on the table include the U.S. Rivet Joint, installing SIGINT equipment on the new Nimrod MRA4 and installing new internals on the R1, he said.
On Europe's stalled A400M airlifter program, Thornton said the British were looking at ways to plug the capability gap if the aircraft was delayed beyond its current delivery date of 2011.
Extending the life of its C-130K fleet, leasing aircraft or chartering capacity were three possible options, he said.
The Airbus airlifter development program has been dogged by problems with the Europrop International-developed TP400-D6 turboprop. An engine fitted to a C-130 test-bed aircraft modified by Marshall Aerospace in the U.K. has yet to fly even though the A400M itself has been rolled out.
Thornton said the C-130 was expected to fly in October. One industry executive said he thought that was optimistic.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
RAF Details Purchase Plans
RAF Details Purchase Plans
(NSI News Source Info) LONDON - September 4, 2008: Britain's Royal Air Force will more than double its fleet of armed MQ9 Reaper UAVs by next year, according to Air Marshal Sir Barry Thornton, the Ministry of Defence's Chief of Material (Air).
The British will add a third Reaper to their fleet next January and have agreed to purchase two more vehicles next year, Thornton told a Sept. 4 meeting of the Air Power Association here.
Two vehicles are currently operated from a base in Kandahar in Afghanistan, purchased as an urgent operational requirement. The Reapers are operated by personnel from the RAF's 39 Squadron situated at Creech Air Force base in Nevada, where a combined U.S./U.K. task force has been in existence for several years.
The third Reaper will replace one lost earlier this year when it suffered a mechanical failure during an operation over Afghanistan.
Thornton said the Reaper had become a vital asset and was in constant demand by NATO forces operating in Afghanistan.
In January, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a potential sale of up to 10 Reapers to the British.
Thornton said Britain expected to spend 900 million pounds ($1.6 billion) on urgent operational requirements (UORs) this year. Earlier in the summer, government ministers said Britain had spent more than 3.6 billion pounds on UORs since its current round of overseas deployments had gotten underway.
The Air Material chief said managing the coherence of the urgent equipment procurements ordered by the armed forces was posing "quite a challenge."
Thornton also said the RAF's intelligence surveillance target acquisition and reconnaissance capability would get a further boost in November with the start of operational trials of the new Raytheon-supplied Sentinel ground surveillance aircraft.
The aircraft, which sports synthetic aperture and moving target indicator radars, is the British equivalent of the U.S. E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.
Three of the five aircraft, based on the Bombardier Global Express business jet, have now been delivered to the RAF base at Waddington, in eastern England.
Thornton said the MoD is reviewing its options on the provision of future signals intelligence aircraft to replace the current Nimrod R1 capability.
Options on the table include the U.S. Rivet Joint, installing SIGINT equipment on the new Nimrod MRA4 and installing new internals on the R1, he said.
On Europe's stalled A400M airlifter program, Thornton said the British were looking at ways to plug the capability gap if the aircraft was delayed beyond its current delivery date of 2011.
Extending the life of its C-130K fleet, leasing aircraft or chartering capacity were three possible options, he said.
The Airbus airlifter development program has been dogged by problems with the Europrop International-developed TP400-D6 turboprop. An engine fitted to a C-130 test-bed aircraft modified by Marshall Aerospace in the U.K. has yet to fly even though the A400M itself has been rolled out.
Thornton said the C-130 was expected to fly in October. One industry executive said he thought that was optimistic.
The third Reaper will replace one lost earlier this year when it suffered a mechanical failure during an operation over Afghanistan.
Thornton said the Reaper had become a vital asset and was in constant demand by NATO forces operating in Afghanistan.
In January, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a potential sale of up to 10 Reapers to the British.
Thornton said Britain expected to spend 900 million pounds ($1.6 billion) on urgent operational requirements (UORs) this year. Earlier in the summer, government ministers said Britain had spent more than 3.6 billion pounds on UORs since its current round of overseas deployments had gotten underway.
The Air Material chief said managing the coherence of the urgent equipment procurements ordered by the armed forces was posing "quite a challenge."
Thornton also said the RAF's intelligence surveillance target acquisition and reconnaissance capability would get a further boost in November with the start of operational trials of the new Raytheon-supplied Sentinel ground surveillance aircraft.
The aircraft, which sports synthetic aperture and moving target indicator radars, is the British equivalent of the U.S. E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.
Three of the five aircraft, based on the Bombardier Global Express business jet, have now been delivered to the RAF base at Waddington, in eastern England.
Thornton said the MoD is reviewing its options on the provision of future signals intelligence aircraft to replace the current Nimrod R1 capability.
Options on the table include the U.S. Rivet Joint, installing SIGINT equipment on the new Nimrod MRA4 and installing new internals on the R1, he said.
On Europe's stalled A400M airlifter program, Thornton said the British were looking at ways to plug the capability gap if the aircraft was delayed beyond its current delivery date of 2011.
Extending the life of its C-130K fleet, leasing aircraft or chartering capacity were three possible options, he said.
The Airbus airlifter development program has been dogged by problems with the Europrop International-developed TP400-D6 turboprop. An engine fitted to a C-130 test-bed aircraft modified by Marshall Aerospace in the U.K. has yet to fly even though the A400M itself has been rolled out.
Thornton said the C-130 was expected to fly in October. One industry executive said he thought that was optimistic.
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