Vast array of intelligence collection is the coalition's edge in future conflict

The United States has a vast array of tried-and-tested air-based intelligence collection platforms in US Central Command's area of responsibility, some of which have been proving their worth for more than three decades.

The RC-135 Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft provides "near real-time on-scene intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination capabilities", according to the US Air Force.

The 763rd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron (ERS) has been using the aircraft continuously and successfully for 32 years.

"The Rivet Joint is the world's premier intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] aircraft," Capt. James Francis, 763rd ERS mission planning cell team chief, said on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the aircraft's operations. "Our crew's ability to process and disseminate signals intelligence is unmatched."

The Rivet Joint's mission in the Middle East began in August 1990 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Over the following 30 years, the aircraft -- colloquially known as the "RJ" -- and its crews have conducted 12,963 missions, been in theatre 10,958 days and completed 141,358 flying hours, the US Air Force reported in 2020.

It has operated out of both Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

"The RJ provides accurate and timely ISR of target forces to support coalition operations and to the intelligence community as a whole enabling decision makers at various levels to take informed action throughout the Global War on Terrorism," Staff Sgt. Robert Null, 763rd ERS data link operator, said in 2020.

In 2010, the British Ministry of Defence announced it had reached an agreement with the US government to purchase three RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft, and the following year Royal Air Force crews started training alongside their US Air Force colleagues.

This past year, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a US Air Force RJ aircraft was deployed numerous times to conduct reconnaissance missions around Poland, along the border with Belarus and over the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, according to radar data from Flightradar24 and FlightAware.

Eyes in the sky

The E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) and the E2-D Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft have also provided unparalleled intelligence and communications capabilities for decades.

The E-3 Sentry provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications for the US Air Force, NATO, the French Air and Space Force, the Royal Saudi Air Force and the Chilean Air Force.

The first US Air Force E-3 was delivered in 1977, and over the following seven years, a total of 34 aircraft were manufactured. Since then, the Air Force has upgraded the aircraft's capabilities many times.

In addition to detecting aircraft in flight, the E-3 can track aircraft flying low over the ground and distinguish between enemy and allied aircraft. It can detect radar waves from an enemy aircraft, identify it and locate it precisely.

It serves as an air command post by centralising information from multiple units involved in an operation.

For its part, the E-2 Hawkeye was designed in the late 1950s-early 1960s for the US Navy to act as the electronic "eyes of the fleet".

A total of 372 Hawkeyes have been produced since 1960, giving it the longest production run of any carrier-based aircraft. The fourth generation -- the E-2D -- first flew in 2007.

The Hawkeye is a crucial component of all US Navy carrier air wings -- with each carrier equipped with four or five aircraft -- and Hawkeye squadrons have played a critical role in air operations around the world.

Under the Foreign Military Sales programme, the US government has sold a number of E-2 Hawkeyes to the air forces of Egypt, France, Israel, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. Variants of the E-2C Hawkeye are also flown by the Mexican and French navies.

Fifth-generation capabilities

In addition to the more specialised aircraft, the United States and its allies are leading the way to further extend and improve data collection and processing using fifth generation F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor fighters.

With their stealth capabilities, these aircraft can operate as a mini-AWACS providing battle management by surreptitiously approaching the enemy and gathering information from its sensors and other sources.

They can then use onboard computers to fuse the data into a coherent picture and then transmit them to co-ordinate efforts with fourth-generation aircraft, such as the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Eurofighter Typhoon, making them deadlier in the process and supplementing the capabilities of other AWACs aircraft.

"In the F-35, we're the quarterback of the battlefield -- our job is to make everyone around us better," Maj. Justin "Hasard" Lee, a US Air Force F-35 pilot instructor, told Popular Mechanics in April.

"Fourth-gen fighters like the F-16 and F-15 will be with us until at least the late 2040s. Because there are so many more of them than us, our job is to use our unique assets to shape the battlefield and make it more survivable for them."