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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
American and British spy planes appear in the skies over the Middle East to hoover up electronic messages and phone calls from Iranian forces and their allies
2020-01-05
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • A pair of US and UK spy planes were spotted operating in the Middle East today

  • The US Air Force RC-R135W 'Rivet Joint' was spotted circling west of Lebanon

  • An RAF Sentinel R1 was tracked from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to Jordan

  • Both aircraft can provide early warning for possible missile attacks in the region
A useful map can be seen at the link.
Posted by:Skidmark

#5  You're both correct. British ELINT aircraft are Rivet Joints, but they also have a JSTARS aircraft called the Sentinel
Posted by: The peanut gallery   2020-01-05 14:05  

#4   #1 - Sorry to snipe at you but I 'm certain that the RAF ELINT Sentinels are modified Bombardier Global Express aircraft, not used Rivet Joints. Agree that the Nimrods were getting far too long in the tooth.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper   2020-01-05 13:16  

#3  I can hear the Democrats crying it's not fair that we can suck up phone calls and the Iranians can't. Crocodile tears.
Posted by: jpal   2020-01-05 12:14  

#2  Traffic analysis.
Then comes target assessment.
Posted by: ed in texas   2020-01-05 11:53  

#1  The Brit ELINT planes were Nimrods, but when the refurb costs got out of hand they bought used Rivets from the US.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2020-01-05 10:37  

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