[updated:LAST EDITED ON 22-01-03 AT 02:41 PM (GMT)]Britain has formed a specialised “Nightstalker” helicopter rescue team to pluck downed pilots from behind enemy lines, and is trying to rush the combined army, RAF and Royal Marines unit into service in time for any Iraq conflict.
The Joint Personnel Recovery planners have been working on a blueprint for the combat rescue force since last June, using lessons learned on operations in Sierra Leone two years ago during an SAS raid on a rebel camp aimed at freeing captured British peacekeepers.
Its primary mission would be to snatch fast jet pilots shot down over enemy territory, but it would also be available to avoid a repeat of the disastrous Bravo Two Zero SAS patrol lost inside Iraq in 1991 and immortalised in a bestseller by one of the survivors.
The UK group is based loosely on the dedicated US special forces’ “Nightstalker Talon Trap” squadrons, which have retrieved pilots from under the noses of the opposition in the Gulf in 1991, Bosnia in 1995 and Serbia in 1999.
The Americans use customised versions of the MH53 transport helicopter, known as Pave Low, fitted with night vision equipment, terrain avoidance radar, global positioning systems and a digital guidance computer.
The British have carried out a series of exercises using naval Sea King helicopters, an army Lynx gunship and a light Gazelle reconnaissance aircraft as a rescue “package”. The entire flight is controlled by a specially-adapted Sea King fitted with radio relays to allow the helicopter crews to communicate at low level.
For long-range sorties, RAF Chinook heavy-lifters fly bladders of fuel to forward bases and carry spare missiles and ammunition for the gunship in case it needs to rearm. Harrier GR7 strike aircraft with night strike capabilities are also on call to suppress enemy defences and cover the exit of the helicopters under fire.
The US special forces have a flight of “Spectre Ghost” Hercules transport aircraft converted to flying gun platforms to give them protection in a hostile environment.
The RAF lost six Tornado fighter bombers during the 1991 air campaign against Saddam Hussein. All aircrew were either killed when shot down or captured deep in Iraq after ejecting.
Source: The Glasgow Herald (22nd January, 2003)
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About time too I would say! I imagine this role was envisaged for the RAF’s new Chinook HC.3, but now these look like all going back to Boeing without even having been put into service their replacement could be years away still. 🙁
Best regards
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
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January 22, 2003 at 2:40 pm