Stig Östlund

söndag, mars 20, 2011

RAF sends ''flying frisbee'' to Libya

LONDON, March 20 (KUNA) -- Military operations to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya will be supported by an early warning aircraft known affectionately in UK Royal Air Force (RAF) as the "flying frisbee" because of a distinctive rotating radar dish mounted on its fuselage, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Sunday.


The E-3D Sentry surveillance aircraft, described as highly complex and expensive, will provide airborne monitoring of land and sea to back up operations involving Tornado and Typhoon fighters.

The Sentry fleet based in RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, is made up of seven Boeing 707 commercial aircraft modified into a military early warning and control aircraft.

The aircraft's distinctive feature is a large rotating radar dish mounted on top of the back fuselage on two pedestals around 20 feet long.

The aircraft can fly for 11 hours on a mission but this can be extended by air-to-air refueling.

The normal crew is 18-strong with four flight-deck crew, three technicians and an 11-man mission crew.

Each aircraft has been nicknamed after the seven dwarfs in Snow White as there are seven aircrafts, the MoD website said. (pickup previous) he.hb KUNA 201449 Mar 11NNNN

RAF sends ''flying frisbee'' to Libya


Kuwait News Agency
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The E-3D Sentry ( ''flying frisbee'') :

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