Advertisement

UK To Send Extra Plane To Fight Islamic State

The UK is set to announce further military support to the fight against Islamic State.

The Defence Secretary will confirm later that a second Airseeker Rivet Joint spy plane will take part in the coalition campaign.

It is expected to join the operation within weeks.

The UK contribution to the fight against Islamic State includes eight RAF Tornado fighter jets, 10 Reaper drones, a Voyager refuelling aircraft and a Sentinel intelligence gathering plane.

The Rivet Joint is an American military-developed plane.

The RAF has bought two aircraft, the second of which will be delivered this summer, seven months ahead of schedule.

It is one of the most advanced air intelligence platforms in the world.

It can listen, identify and locate enemy communications including mobile phone conversations and text messages.

The Americans know it as Rivet Joint but the Prime Minister has requested that the UK version be renamed Airseeker.

The first of the two British Airseeker planes has been flying surveillance missions over Syria and Iraq for six months.