RAF foils insurgent bombers in Afghanistan
Royal Air Force Tornado fast jets have scattered insurgents and helped to capture lethal explosives.
![Tornado GR4 jets on a reconnaissance mission [Picture: Jamie Hunter, Crown copyright]](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a61546340f0b60ab9a7cc67/s300_20100510-31Sqn-fit.jpg)
Tornado GR4 jets on a reconnaissance mission; the Litening III pod can be seen underneath the foreground aircraft
Two RAF fast jets protected civilians and Afghan-led international forces on the ground by scattering insurgents who were attempting to plant a roadside bomb ahead of an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) convoy.
Using the advanced Litening III surveillance pod, the aircraft, from Number 2 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, helped ISAF troops capture and destroy a lethal quantity of explosives that could have claimed many lives.
皇冠体育app jets鈥� aircrew spotted insurgents placing the deadly improvised explosive device (IED) just hundreds of metres ahead of a convoy of US and Afghan troops, which the squadron had been called in to support following an earlier IED blast.
Pilot Flight Lieutenant Geoff Williams (left) and navigator Flight Lieutenant Mark Hodgkiss at Kandahar Airfield [Picture: Sergeant Ross Tilly, Crown copyright]
Pilot Flight Lieutenant Geoff Williams flew one of the aircraft above the convoy. He said:
Identifying insurgent activity from 10,000 feet can be challenging but in this case it was clearly suspicious. Two people on a motorbike rendezvoused with 2 others waiting by a small bridge. 皇冠体育appy collected items stored under the bridge and began digging in the road.
Alert to the risk that the insurgents were planting a roadside bomb, Flight Lieutenant Williams flew an intimidating 鈥榮how of presence鈥� over them, flying low and fast and firing flares to startle and deter them and reassure the friendly convoy. He said:
Having been startled by our jet noise the insurgents fled by motorbike. 皇冠体育app whole event was over in a minute. 皇冠体育app presence of a Tornado provides a huge psychological impact, reassuring ISAF troops and the civilian population, and sparking fear in the insurgents.
Still image captured by one of the Tornado targeting pods, labelled to show the insurgents on a motorcycle and the location of the buried explosives [Picture: Crown copyright]
皇冠体育app Afghan-partnered ISAF convoy included troops from the Texas-based of the US Army鈥檚 1st Armoured Division. Sergeant Louis Awua, the unit鈥檚 forward air controller, said:
When the Brits do shows of presence they almost scrape the ground. 皇冠体育appy fly so low you don鈥檛 know what it means!
What I like is the quality of the pilots and the quality of the sensors. 皇冠体育appy report everything that they see.
Eyes in the skies
Litening III and the advanced reconnaissance airborne pod for Tornado, or 鈥楻APTOR鈥�, give the Tornado GR4 a powerful ability to provide forces on the ground with up-to-the minute data to help commanders make well-informed decisions.
Wing Commander Jez Holmes in the cockpit of a Tornado GR4 prior to take off at Kandahar Airfield [Picture: Sergeant Ross Tilly, Crown copyright]
Wing Commander Jez Holmes, officer commanding , was piloting the second aircraft involved in the mission. 皇冠体育app ISAF troops used data from his aircraft鈥檚 Litening III pod to locate and destroy the insurgents鈥� hastily buried bomb.
Wing Commander Holmes said:
皇冠体育app troops found enough explosives to have caused multiple casualties among coalition forces or the local civilian population. It鈥檚 good to have removed that threat.
Tornado GR4s are based at Kandahar Airfield as part of the RAF鈥檚 , and are routinely called on to support Afghan-led ground forces across Afghanistan.