One of the lesser known missions of the major powers is that of Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) gathering. This is very much a passive task which basically consists of flying near the borders of the nation of interest and waiting for that nation to scan the ELINT aircraft with its various electronic devices. This allows the various recorders on the ELINT aircraft to record and catalogue the emissions directed at it. In this way, others can not only develop methods to disrupt those emissions, but can also use that information to understand what weapons system is being trained on the aircraft. This latter portion of the mission allows the development of Electronic Countermeasures (ECM - which is active) or Electronic Support Measures (ESM - which is passive). For instance, ECM would be used to jam missile tracking and ESM would allow an aircraft to identify the type of radar used. This latter is quite useful on ASW aircraft to detect submarine radar transmissions.

This particular book covers the development and missions flown by RAF ELINT aircraft over the years. While the mission started in WWII against German electronic systems, it lapsed post war until started up again thanks to the realization that the Soviet Union was the next aggressor nation, and not the ally that everyone had thought. This program was started back up in 1946 using Lancaster and Mosquito aircraft along with mostly US equipment, a trend that was to last for several decades.

While never possessing a large fleet of aircraft, the RAF did perform useful missions, operating mostly on the western fringes of the Warsaw Pact and in the Mediterranean. Funding was and apparently still is a major obstacle to not only flying missions but developing equipment. Rarely has the unit been able to operate more than a handful of aircraft, unlike the USAF and USN which has many squadrons devoted to the task. There have often been times when ELINT aircraft, operating in international air space, have been attacked and even shot down by Soviet aircraft. As an ELINT aircraft needs to fly rather close to the borders to perform its mission, mandates to fly farther 'off shore' pretty well negated the effectiveness of the program. Fortunately, most of those were short lived.

A variety of different aircraft types have been operated by the RAF over the decades including the Lancaster, Mosquito, Lincoln, Washington, Canberra, Comet, Nimrod and most recently, the Airseeker, a derivative of the RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft.

In this book we look at the full history as well as many of the more interesting missions of RAF ELINT aircraft over the decades. This includes several US missions that proved to be overly provocative and caused some international concern. All of the older equipment is described and we also see what modifications were made to many of the aircraft involved. There are a lot of superb photographs and maps to help illustrate what is a fascinating look at a little known mission. It is a book that will take some time to read, but is well worth it. I was personally involved in this mission for several years as a technician and can highly recommended this one.

October 2014

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