Pay Attention 007 - The Importance of 'QRA'...

 

Its been a busy few weeks for both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. Activity by Russian forces near UK waters and airspace has been at an extremely high level compared to previous years, and this has seen more activations than usual to monitor them. It is perhaps worth asking ‘why do this’?

The British armed forces maintain responsibility for monitoring activity across a significant amount of airspace and the high seas. This fits into wider international obligations, particularly under NATO to help track what is going on, where appropriate monitor it, and if needs be render assistance or take action as necessary.

From an aviation perspective, the main challenge is that posed by long range Russian aircraft which are flying down from the northern cape. These cold war veterans, usually ‘Bears’ are extremely long legged and can stay airborne for a very long time. The Russian missions usually cover maritime surveillance, monitoring NATO exercises, or possibly supporting / communicating with deployed Russian units, including surface ships and submarines.

Image by Ministry of Defence; © Crown copyright

One of the challenges posed is that Russian aircraft are, to put it mildly, a potential aviation hazard. They don’t communicate via normal ATC channels, or engage with other aircraft. They fly near international commercial aviation lanes, and particularly if they are engaged in communicating with submarines will be trailing a very long (miles long) antenna. This will be deployed in a way that both restricts the aircrafts movements, and can see it flying in unusual patterns.

The risk if this isn’t monitored is that there could be a potential risk to aviation safety, so it makes a lot of sense to escort and keep a visual eye on what is going on. This also makes sense to cover the reconnaissance flights, and to maintain a wary return eye on the Russian presence in general.

The Russian surface ship challenge is subtly different. These ships are escorted when in UK areas of interest for several reasons. Firstly, there is a desire to monitor their activity and ensure they behave appropriately – Russia is a power with a track record of conducting aggressive acts against the UK, for example the Skripal poisoning, so it makes sense to monitor their actions.

Secondly, they may be operating with a view to trying to track our own assets, such as other ships and submarines. It makes sense to monitor this at an appropriate distance and understand what they are doing, and help build an understanding of their activity. If needs be, an escort can be used to monitor, track and potentially disrupt activity.

There is also a need to monitor these ships to make sure they adhere to maritime laws and don’t pose a threat to shipping, or break environmental regulations. Much like the airspace challenge requires monitoring of flights, there is a need to make sure Russian ships act safely and in accordance with the Rules of the Road, particularly in crowded waters like the Dover Straits.

There is also a need to monitor to make sure rubbish (gash) isn’t ditched at sea inappropriately. There is a track record of Russian vessels depositing waste overboard, particularly off the coast of Scotland. This is in breach of international regulations, and needs to be monitored and tracked.

There is no suggestion that these ships or aircraft off our coastline pose a direct aggressive military threat to the UK. While the Russian fleet may have attacked Hull fishermen in the 1900s, there is unlikely to be a similar case of outright violence or sneak attacks in the same way these days.

Rather it is better to view this sort of mission as a precaution to understand what they are up to, and ensure it causes minimum disruption to wider activities. Sadly due to the Russian unwillingness to engage with recognised norms means that there is a need to monitor their activities to prevent an accident occurring.

The act of escorting or launching QRA is something that is perhaps taken a little for granted here in the UK. We don’t really think much about what this means, or why it matters, but it is worth reflecting on.

For the aircraft mission, it is actually a substantial and significant operation that requires a large team dedicated to getting the Typhoon force airborne at any time, 365 days per year. That mission starts with the extensive range of radar and surveillance systems in place around the UK, from RAF Saxa Vord (on the island of Unst, the most northerly island in the UK), through to southern Cornwall.

These provide a constant picture of what is going on in the airspace around the UK – and due to long standing and highly effective links, is shared with wider NATO partners to provide a constant understanding of the air picture. To deliver this requires an extensive network of sites, staffed round the clock by RAF personnel, often working long shifts underground at sites like RAF Boulmer.

Meanwhile at RAF Conningsby and Lossiemouth, there are Typhoon aircraft maintained on constant high readiness to launch as required. To ensure this is possible means that a significant team of engineers, weapons handlers and other groundcrew are working or on call, again around the clock, to ensure that when the word is given, the pilots can launch at very short notice.

The system requires significant redundancy built into it to ensure that not only can aircraft get immediately airborne, but others are brought forward to ensure that there is no gap in the QRA, and that if needs be, they can be replaced on task.

At the same time there is wider support needed from the Voyager AAR force based at RAF Brize Norton to keep jets thirsty for fuel airborne, again necessitating a lot of ground based work to keep a tanker ready to support when required.

Even once the jets are airborne this is not the end of the matter. There is still a need to track activities, and feed information back to UK military authorities, as well as ensuring that in the most serious of cases (such as an aircraft taken over by terrorists), that there are reliable communications able to reach the most senior decision makers at any time. This command and control aspect requires people able to keep the systems up at all times, and with the assurance that when needed, they will work as planned.

The totality of the QRA piece is not just a pair of pilots in an aircraft, it is when mapped out a very complex operation that involves dozens, if not hundreds of people working long hours on a constant basis. It is a mission that cannot fail or have a ‘down day’ and it requires a lengthy chain to work right first time and every time.

In a similar way the Royal Navy approach also requires significant support to ensure that it can respond as required. The RN uses a variety of ships worked up to a high level of readiness to take on these escorting roles – for example the ‘Fleet Ready Escort’ or the duty ASW patrol ship.

These tasks require a lot of support to ensure that ships are generated and at high readiness for operations, and able to respond as required to tasks. This includes dockyard workers, engineering support and training to ensure that the ships are ready to go, and fully trained in every respect for operations. When they sail on an operation like this, they sail at a level of readiness that is the same as if going to war.

When on station their work requires long hours at sea, supported by the RAF with maritime patrol and surveillance, and the work of the RFA to provide replenishment at sea for fuel and essential spare parts. Again, there is a need to ensure that the ships can keep working, even in the toughest of conditions.

The North Atlantic is an unforgiving and difficult environment to work in, requiring the highest levels of training and support to not just float, but also operate and be ready to fight if needs be.  For the Royal Navy the escort mission is one that requires the maintenance of supply chains and the ability to keep ships on task, often in horrendous weather, for a long period of time doing unglamorous work, but ensuring that they can monitor potential risks to the UK.

Both the RN and RAF missions are ones that require a constant level of readiness, and a lengthy support chain to deliver effectively. The people that do this will be on call throughout December, and many will be on duty or at sea on Christmas Day, separated from family and loved ones in order to be on duty and do a job that needs to be done.

This mission is also not done exclusively at home either. For the RAF QRA is also maintained in the Falkland Islands, and on a regular basis by detachments in the Baltic, Black Sea or Iceland to provide air defence to fellow NATO partners.

We would do well to remember that there will be no ‘mission accomplished’ banner for these ships and squadrons, and that the QRA and escort task will persist far into the future. It may not attract much glory or medals, but without the efforts of all those involved, the UK would be in a far less safe position, and we owe thanks to all those service personnel, civil servants and contractors who will sacrifice their Christmas, so that we can have ours in relative peace and security.