Most advanced long range airborne surveillance system
According to Official Guinness Records,
With the introduction of the fifth and final new Sentinel R1 (spy jet) into Royal Air Force service on 10 February 2009, the UK armed forces have gained a long-range battlefield intelligence, target imaging and surveillance capability that is the most advanced of its kind in the world. Located at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, UK, No 5 (Army Co-operation) Squadron – which, when fully staffed will have over 300 personnel and be the largest flying squadron in the RAF – now has five modified Bombardier Global Express aircraft equipped with the Raytheon Airborne Stand-off Radar (ASTOR). This is an upgrade of the ASARS-2 sideways looking radar used on the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. The radar will provide high quality radar images of a surveyed area, while the Moving Target Indicator (MTI) will detect moving vehicles operating in the area. The aircraft can operate at altitudes in excess of 40,000 feet an endurance of 9 hours without refuelling, and has a max speed of Mach 0.75. It is operated by a crew of five: two pilots;two imagery analysts;and a mission commander. The UK MOD is spending £954 million on the five aircraft and eight, associated ground stations.