Big increase in military flights

Question on surveillance aircraft, the AWACS has gone (I think, still see it airborne every so often) theres the Beechcraft super kings and the RC-135 variants that have been wandering over to the Russian border pretty frequently

What are they listening for and how do these things work (in basic terms) maybe I’m to sci-fi here but I thought recon would mostly be done by satalite if wanting to actually see ground movements – I’ve read the RC-135 is looking for EMC type frequencies but what are they getting from that intel?

@scratch – all sorts of electronic information, radio, phone, most kinds of telemetry, just sniffing for conversations and casual chitchat waiting for a few unguarded words or sentences which can give clues to intent by the Russians. Conversations were picked up concerning the shooting down of the civilian airliner over Ukraine a few years back, which implicated Russian missile crews, along with photos taken of the missile launcher truck on its route out and back across the border, and research using online photographic resources matched them together.
The Russians aren’t quite as smart as they like to think they are; I reference the clowns who poisoned the Skripals, along with a police officer and the unfortunate woman who died in Salisbury. They were identified using CCTV and transit info, and despite using false ID were identified and their identities confirmed by a phone call to a relative!

Bellingcat is a good place to look.

This went over work yesterday, I heard it coming, and I was able to get my phone out and grab some quick shots. 2x zoom, it was at around 5-600ft, another went over again today, a bit further away, and ADS-B showed it at 650ft and 214knts

Thanks CZ, R-135 Rivet Joint out over the Ukraine coast overnight

Couple of B52s are up from Fairford

Saw the British Rivet Joint (Airseeker?) was out over there for most of yesterday afternoon and evening. They’ve been busy the past few weeks..

Edit: bit late!
2 B-52s have taken off from Fairford not long ago. Will be interesting to see what they’re doing (give they’ve got their transponders on)

They were out doing bombing practice over the Wash and Scottish coast before arriving at Fairford earlier in the week

I’m guessing the Russian Bears that routinely head our way do not show on ADS-B!

Random one – an A-4 Skyhawk off the coast of Germany…

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=c01266

The B-52s will be flying to northern Norway again, you know to de-escalate things with Russia

Random one – an A-4 Skyhawk off the coast of Germany

Thats flown by a company who provide aggressor jets for airforces to train against. So probably be some other fighters out there going against it.

Those B-52’s switch their transponders off? They were above Sweden last time I looked

Ah, got ’em now

One of the B52 currently coming into land.

That will be quite some landing…

At least it’s a westerly

Thought I’d check if the RAF were being forced into weekend/nights. Obviously not, but didn’t expect this to show up instead

Sadly can’t see the beginning of the track, but it’d definitely flown some distance to get there

Hope I’m not reading too much into it, but just saw that a WC-135W was going into a Lakenheath.

They’re a bit ‘specialist’…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_WC-135_Constant_Phoenix

That Global Hawk is still on station. Nice “we’re watching” message being sent there

but just saw that a WC-135W was going into a Lakenheath.

Thats been appearing on and off for the last few weeks.

Big Jet TV currently at Coningsby watching the Typhoons

Been a few of these over lately (this was last year when I had camera). Yesterdays was even lower than this one Of note was that the tail engine housing was covered in a Union Jack livery like a BA aircraft, while the rest was military drab. Any significance?

EDIT: Just wanted to say how incredibly loud they are this close up. Make all the windows in the house rattle. We sometimes get 4 of them in convoy.

2nd Edit: I should have just googled it 🙂

https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-chinook-helicopter-celebrates-40th-anniversary-with-new-colour-scheme/

Of note was that the tail engine housing was covered in a Union Jack livery like a BA aircraft,

Sorry to be really boring, but some of those RAF Chinook airframes are actually 40 years old, including the sole survivor of the Falklands conflict – still seen flying around. Although its days are now numbered, it has had an incredible service life Bravo November – RAF Chinook

Here’s a screenshot of one of its 40 year old stablemates flying near Henley right now:

2 US Black Hawks taken off from Poland this morning heading towards the Ukraine border, transponders switched off on one – not sure if they crossed or not

Busy day in Polish airspace this morning…

find duplicate lines in text file online

Pretty much every type of recon / intelligence jet there is now up in the air.

JSTARS, Rivet Joint, Sentry etc

Sort of interesting that the KC10s refuelling them flew over from the US earlier this week. Almost as if they knew something was going to happen…

Couple of B52’s currently on their way east out of Fairford now as well

B52’s are hanging about at the moment… bugger all flying over Ukraine for obvious reasons.

Call Sign Viper31 has been out last day or two – no detail but there is an icon of a stealth bomber on ADS-B ?

Couple of B52’s currently on their way east out of Fairford now as well

One of the two that you mentioned flew to northern Poland, went round in circles at ~20,000ft a little way north of Warsaw, and is now just about to come back into Fairford.

I lost track of the other one some hours ago, but it seemed to be heading for the Baltic states on its way out, and is currently (16:06pm) just flying back over southern Norway. Seems to have turned its tracker off for a large portion of the flight.

The other B-52 is still hanging around Denmark (might be a pair since sometimes only one has the transponder on).
https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae58a7

Switching the U off and seeing all the planes diverting round the Ukraine airspace plus some shows the airlines are not taking risks this time.

18 x il 76’s leaving Russia for Ukraine full of paratroopers?

Re that WC 135W probably cos prospect of fighting in the Chernobyl zone..makes sense to sample the air if/when fires lift up radioactive particles.

Looks like two Typhoons about to refuel off the coast of Norfolk

Was watching Noble2 (the Poland B52) all day, lost Noble1 as well. Those tankers and Sentry’s had a dull job!

Watching an E-3 sentry doing laps overhead from here on Speyside. I wonder if they’re watching for anything in particular
https://www.flightradar24.com/SOLEX01/2afb6f47

They are waiting for scotroutes to pull out the fatbike before they strike..

https://planefinder.net/flight/SOLEX1

Round and round we go…

One of those Global Hawks was doing circuits over the Black Sea along the Ukrainian coast and dipping under Crimea for hours. That’s old tech now isn’t it, makes me wonder what they don’t want anyone to see?
ALso a mid sized Citation Doing circuits on the western Moldovan border. No nationality shown.

That’s old tech now isn’t it, makes me wonder what they don’t want anyone to see?

The airframe is but I can’t think of any reason why you wouldn’t be able to keep the payload modern in something like that. Helps that you don’t have to consider fitting changes in around an onboard pilot

B52 doing circuits over John O’ Groats.

There’s a C17 over northern Germany at the moment heading SE which took off from Bangor – the one in Maine USA, not the one in Wales.

Flew right over Isle of Man then northern England and off over Europe.
Looks like a landing somewhere in southern Germany actually.

Three Indian C17s heading towards Romania.

Is that to get nationals out I wonder? Can’t imagine they’re bringing MANPADS or Stingers.