Holy cow! Still flying those, are they? They have to be the oldest jets still on active duty.
-ccm
Posted on 03/23/2002 3:13:22 AM PST by knighthawk
Britain last night widened its role in the campaign against international terrorism by deploying two spy planes to overfly Somalia in the search for suspected al-Qaida cells.
Two RAF Canberra reconnaissance aircraft with sophisticated photographic equipment landed last night at the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
A Russian Antonov transport aircraft, hired by the RAF to carry military equipment and 140 personnel, also landed at Moi International airport in Mombasa yesterday, British defence officials said.
US and German reconnaissance aircraft are already patrolling the skies and coast of Somalia. One hundred and sixty German navy personnel are based in Mombasa.
Since late November, French and German spy planes have been overflying the largely ungoverned swath of east Africa, while a German naval flotilla, based in nearby Djoubouti, has been patrolling its shoreline.
Britain was asked by the US to help step up the patrols. However, defence officials said last night the move was not prompted by new evidence of al-Qaida activity in Somalia.
Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary, visited Nairobi in December to seek Kenya's permission to base spy planes there for overflight missions.
A British warship is expected to arrive in Mombasa to support the RAF contingent early next month. The RAF also has special Nimrod aircraft for electronic intelligence-gathering and picking up ground communications. There was no indication last night they were flying out to Kenya.
The US suspects that groups with al-Qaida links have established themselves in Somalia for some time.
Somalia's possible terrorist links have been the source of intense speculation since a Somali Islamic group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, was listed by Washington as an international terrorist organisation shortly after September 11.
America, which had largely ignored Somalia since its peacekeepers retreated from its murderous capital in 1994, has sent several intelligence missions to the al-Itihaad militia's former strongholds.
"We are concerned that there could be a real connection between al-Itihad and al-Qaida. We have research and data which point to a connection," Walter Kansteiner, the US assistant secretary of state for Africa said recently.
Somalia's fragile, UN-sponsored government denies there is any such link. It has called on America and its allies to send troops to Somalia to see for themselves. "There might be some people in some mosque who support bin Laden. But there are no terrorist groups in Somalia. We have invited America to come and look for itself. It would be good if they would be a bit more cooperative," Somali President Abdiquassim Salad Hassan told the Guardian by phone from Mogadishu.
Al-Itihaad emerged as one of many militias fighting for control of Somalia after the overthrow of long-time dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. While the others were essentially tribal armies, battling for territory, its objective was to found an Islamic state.
After isolated successes, al-Itihaad was routed in a series of Ethiopian invasions of Somalia in 1997. It has since disbanded its militia, and now pursues its Islamist agenda through a network of welfare and education projects.
Bin Laden has received popular support in Mogadishu, where up to 1,000 Somalis were killed by American peacekeepers in 1993 during a disastrous mission to capture a hostile warlord.
Holy cow! Still flying those, are they? They have to be the oldest jets still on active duty.
-ccm
Holy cow! Still flying those, are they? They have to be the oldest jets still on active duty.
-ccm
Yes, I think the SR-71 belongs in service too, but I also believe we have something better now.
By the way, if you ever want to get up close and personal with an SR-71, go to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. They have one parked outside near Wilford Hall hospital. You can walk right up and pat the titanium fuselage, peer into the wheel wells etc. Many other excellent aircraft are displayed nearby.
Quite a difference from the first time I saw and SR-71 at an air show in the 80's: guards armed with M-16s, leading Alsatian dogs behind a 60-foot perimeter line, with signs notifying that deadly force was authorized to prevent people crossing the barrier.
-ccm
Not the Russians, but the Ukrainians. Antonov aircraft are of Ukrainian design. The Antonov 124 and the Antonov 225 (The largest transport aircraft in the world) are marketed in a joint UK/Ukraine venture. Even the US military has chartered the one and only An-225 for Enduring Freedom operations. The following is the An-225 being marshalled at an undisclosed Enduring Freedom base.
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