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Surveillance crews to benefit from enhanced UK-based training
from April 2023
by Desider
RAF crews preparing to operate the updated Shadow Mk2 surveillance aircraft fleet will benefit from a bespoke UK-based training system.
The Shadow Mk1 fleet provides the UK with battle-winning intelligence gathering. Under a £110 million contract with Raytheon UK, the fleet is being expanded and upgraded, with Shadow Mk2 due to enter service in 2024.
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RAF personnel currently travel overseas for simulator training on the Mk1, but under a new £11.5 million contract with Raytheon UK, secured by DE&S, crews will be able to train on a full Shadow Mk2 flight simulator on home soil. This will increase access to quality training and save the taxpayer up to £200,000 a year.
Richard Murray, Director Air Support at DE&S, said: “We are delighted to be providing the RAF with a UK-based solution, which will be the first King Air 350 simulator in Europe. This capability provides essential synthetic training for our military and offers financial, environmental and social value benefits to Defence and the UK.”
Having access to a domestic King Air 350 will also ensure the RAF’s intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) Force is able to better support its UK and overseas commitments.
Minister for Defence Procurement Alex Chalk KC said: “Our investment in this programme means RAF crews will now be able to train on a UK-based simulator for Shadow Mk2, not only reducing our travel expenditure and carbon footprint, but ensuring better support for operational and overseas commitments from right here in the UK.”
The news comes as Raytheon UK announced that it has passed a Critical Design Review milestone on its work to increase the current fleet of Shadow aircraft from six to eight and to integrate the latest UK Sovereign Defensive Aids Systems.
Based at RAF Waddington and flown by 14 Squadron, the Shadow fleet is a key part of the RAF’s ISTAR Force. They can gather intelligence through highdefinition electro-optical and electronic sensors. Once that data is gathered, satellite communication links enable the information to be assessed while the aircraft is still airborne.
Air Commodore Alex Hicks, the RAF’s Senior Responsible Owner for Shadow, said: “The contract award for a UKbased full-flight simulator follows the successful and on-time delivery of two strategic programme milestones in the preceding months. The provision of a new synthetic training facility represents a further enhancement that will deliver an exceptionally capable asset to Defence.”
Shadow crews are expected to begin training with the flight simulator in late-2024.
