A RC-135W Rivet Joint lands at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire (Photo: UK MoD)
The UK has announced it has extended a support agreement out to 2035 with the US for three RAF Airseeker electronic surveillance aircraft – designated RC-135W Rivet Joint – in a deal worth £970 million.
The agreement covers maintenance, spare parts, engineering support, technical data and access to capability updates, according to a Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) statement.
Airseeker support falls under the Rivet Joint Cooperative Programme which had been due to lapse in 2025.
‘The Rivet Joint Cooperative Programme is a fantastic example of the UK/US special relationship and the support for our Airseeker fleet has been extended for a further decade,’ said Jeremy Quin, minister for defence procurement.
‘With a commitment to invest almost £1 billion, this agreement will ensure that we, and our allies, can benefit from the aircraft’s impressive surveillance capability for years to come.’
The aircraft, operated from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, by 51 Squadron have been used in counterinsurgency missions in the Middle East relying on its sensor capabilities to detect, identify and geolocate signals throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, DE&S noted.
The airborne three-domain, the two ground-based and the ¼ ATR OpenVPX-based cross-domain systems were engineered to provide real-time security across multi-domain operations.
DARPA’s Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) programme was set up to develop an autonomous tactical network and enable critical data flow in contested environments.
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Defence-secure mixed reality headsets can save hours, or even weeks, of travel time to fix defunct equipment or get subject experts effectively “on-site” where they are needed.
The Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare (JCREW) counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and Drone Restricted Access Using Known Electromagnetic Warfare (DRAKE) counter-UAS (CUAS) systems are mounted and dismounted RF jammers.
Adarga’s Vantage information analysis tool is in service with the UK MoD and individual UK forces. It builds on the company’s Knowledge Platform which processes, organises and analyses open source material, as well as information held by the user’s military, security and intelligence services.
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