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Quick Reaction Alert
Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) is state of readiness and ''modus operandi'' of air defence maintained at all hours of the day by NATO air forces. The United States usually refers to Quick Reaction Alert as 'Airspace Control Alert'. Some non-NATO countries maintain a QRA, either full-time or part-time. Operation QRA in the United Kingdom There are two QRA stations in the United Kingdom, one at RAF Coningsby in the east of England, and the other at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. Pilots and engineers on QRA duty are at immediate readiness twenty-four hours a day. They are fully dressed in the Crew Ready Room, which are next to the hangars, a hardened aircraft shelter known informally as ''Q-sheds'', which houses the interceptor aircraft, since 2007 the Eurofighter Typhoon. Pilots are on QRA duty around once or twice a month, each a twenty-four-hour shift. Engineers are on QRA duty three or four times a year, each for a twenty-four-hour a day shift, for seven days at a time. Two Ty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combat Readiness
Combat readiness is a condition of the armed forces and their constituent units and formations, warships, aircraft, weapon systems or other military technology and equipment to perform during combat military operations, or functions consistent with the purpose for which they are organized or designed, or the managing of resources and personnel training in preparation for combat. Different armed forces maintain different levels of readiness for the troops to engage in combat, varying from minutes to months; economic considerations are a major factor in explaining the variation.Jordan, pp. 2–3 See also *Alert crew *Alert state *COGCON *DEFCON *Mobilization *Scrambling (military) *List of established military terms This is a list of established military terms which have been in use for at least 50 years. Since technology and doctrine have changed over time, not all of them are in current use, or they may have been superseded by more modern terms. However, th ... Reference ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lockheed TriStar (RAF)
The RAF Tristar is a retired air-to-air refuelling tanker and transport aircraft, formerly in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). All airframes were retro-converted civilian Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar airliners, previously operated by British Airways and Pan American World Airways, and entered service with the RAF in 1984. TriStar aircraft were purchased following the Falklands War as a result of satisfying an urgent operational requirement for four strategic tanker/transport/freighter aircraft had been identified. Of the nine that entered service, the first six were acquired from British Airways with analogue autopilot systems. Four of these were converted into KC1 variants that met the full requirement, with the remaining two converted to K1 standard without a cargo freight door in the front cabin area. The three ex-PanAm aircraft, all with digital autopilots, and after a period of storage, received modifications for military radios and performed a passenger-only rol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Saxa Vord
Remote Radar Head Saxa Vord or RRH Saxa Vord (aka RAF Saxa Vord), is a Royal Air Force radar station located on the island of Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. As of July 2019 it is once more a fully operational radar station, after closure in 2006. The station's motto ''Praemoneo de Periculis'' ('Premonition of Peril') reflects its role. RAF Saxa Vord is further north than Saint Petersburg in Russia, and on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. The station was named after Saxa Vord, which is the highest hill on Unst at . It holds the unofficial British record for wind speed, which in 1992 was recorded at — just before the measuring equipment blew away. History Early years The island of Unst has played an important part in the defence of the UK since the outbreak of the Second World War. By 1945, there were two radar sites on the island; one on Saxa Vord hill, and the other at Skaw, Unst, Skaw on the east coast. This latter is the older, being b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. The Outer Hebrides are considered to be the traditional heartland of the Gaelic language. The islands form one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, which since 1998 has used only the Gaelic form of its name, including in English language contexts. The council area is called Na h-Eileanan an Iar ('the Western Isles') and its council is ('Council of the Western Isles'). Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from ancient metamorphic rocks, and the climate is mild and oceanic. The 15 inhabited islands had a total population of in and there are more th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RRH Benbecula
Remote Radar Head Benbecula or RRH Benbecula, is an air defence radar station operated by the Royal Air Force. It is located at Cleitreabhal a'Deas, from Lochmaddy on the isle of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The radar site was previously known as RAF Benbecula, the name having previously been associated with an RAF airfield on the island of Benbecula (now known as Benbecula Airport) and a nearby weapons testing range (now known as MoD Hebrides). History Radar station Although Benbecula Airport is now a civilian airfield, a military presence remained and the RAF Benbecula name continued when a radar station was established. A control and reporting centre, part of the UK Air Surveillance And Control System (ASACS), was constructed at the airfield which linked it to RAF Buchan in Aberdeenshire. The station was downgraded in the late 1990s to a remote radar head and the RAF pulled-out of the main airfield site at Benbecula. Initially under the command and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Remote Radio Head
A remote radio head (RRH), also called a remote radio unit (RRU) in wireless networks, is a remote radio transceiver that connects to an operator radio control panel via electrical or wireless interface. When used to describe aircraft radio cockpit radio systems, the control panel is often called the radio head. In wireless system technologies such as GSM, CDMA, UMTS, LTE, 5G NR this radio equipment is remote to baseband units such as BTS/NodeB/ eNodeB/ gNodeB or gNB. This equipment is used to extend the coverage of a baseband unit in challenging environments such as rural areas or tunnels. RRHs are generally connected to the baseband unit or base station which can be an x86 server on the ground near a cell tower, via a fiber optic cable using Common Public Radio Interface protocols. RRHs have become one of the most important subsystems of today's new distributed base stations. The RRH contains RF circuitry plus analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters and up/down convert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth is an inlet on the west coast of Great Britain, forming part of the border between England and Scotland. The firth (a Scottish term for an inlet of the sea) divides Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) from Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very near to the firth. The firth comprises part of the Irish Sea. The firth's coastline is characterised by lowland hills and small mountains. It is a mainly rural area, with mostly small villages and settlements (such as Powfoot). Fishing, hill farming, and some arable farming play a large part in the local economy, although tourism is increasing. The northern part of the English coast of the Solway Firth was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, known as the Solway Coast, in 1964. Construction of the Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the firth began in 2007. Within the firth, there are some Salt marsh, salt marshes and mud flats that can be dangerous, due to their frequently shifting patches of quicksa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flight Information Region
In aviation, a flight information region (FIR) is a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service, an alerting service (ALRS), and an area control centre are provided. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) delegates which country is responsible for the operational control of a given FIR. FIRs are the largest regular division of airspace in use in the world today, and have existed at least since 1947. Smaller countries' airspace is encompassed by a single FIR; larger countries' airspace is subdivided into a number of regional FIRs. Some FIRs encompass the territorial airspace of several countries. Oceanic airspace is divided into oceanic information regions and delegated to a controlling authority bordering that region. The division among authorities is done by international agreement through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). There is no standard size for FIRs. Some are merely vertical extensions of their respective countr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prestwick
Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small village of Monkton to the north. It had a population of 14,901 at the 2011 census. Glasgow Prestwick Airport is on the town's outskirts, providing passenger flights to European and historically, transatlantic destinations, as well as international cargo flights. The town was the first home of the Open Golf Championship, which was played on the Prestwick Old Course from 1860 to 1872. History Prestwick's name comes from the Old English for, ''priest's farm'': ''preost'' meaning "priest" and ''wic'' meaning "farm". The town was originally an outlying farm of a religious house. George T. Flom suggested that the name was of Old Norse origin. In this case, it would mean "priest's bay". From Robert the Bruce is reputed to have been cure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF West Drayton
RAF West Drayton was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in West Drayton, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, which served as the main centre for military air traffic control in the United Kingdom. It was co-located with the civilian London Air Traffic Control Centre to provide a vital link between civil and military flying and airspace requirements. Following the departure of the remaining civil and military air traffic control systems by 2008, the site was closed and demolished for a new residential development. History RNAS/RAF Construction Depot * In January 1918 three hundred Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) personnel were stationed at Stockley in the Yiewsley Urban District. * The RNAS West Drayton depot was established as the main base for the RNAS Air Construction Corps (ACC), having a Repair Shop, two Stores, Packing and Receiving Rooms, Officers' Mess and Quarters, Executive Office, Sergeants' Mess and Quarters for the men. * The Corps was renamed the Air ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Terminal Control Centre
The London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC) was an air traffic control centre based in West Drayton, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, approximately north of London Heathrow Airport. Operated by National Air Traffic Services (NATS) it provided air traffic control services to aircraft arriving and departing from six London airports, one Royal Air Force station, plus en-route services to other aircraft that entered its airspace. Internally within NATS it is usually known by the initials ''TC''. The civilian part of the West Drayton site closed in November 2007, when its functions moved to Swanwick, Hampshire. 'TC' and 'AC' ( London Area Control Centre) remain separate organisations but now share the same site. Unlike New York TRACON, LTCC uses Class A airspace. Therefore, VFR operation is prohibited. History The centre was opened as RAF West Drayton, a military air traffic control facility, located roughly midway between the then London airport (now London Heat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Area Control Centre
The London Area Control Centre (LACC) is an air traffic control centre based at Swanwick near Fareham in Hampshire, southern England. It is operated by National Air Traffic Services (NATS), starting operations on 27 January 2002, and handles aircraft over much of England and Wales. The Swanwick facility replaces that of the former site at West Drayton. LACC shares the Swanwick site with the London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC), which moved there in 2007. AC-based controllers provide air traffic services mainly within the London Flight Information Region (FIR). This airspace is split into five ''Local Area Groups'' (LAGs) which relate to the position of the airspace sector groups within the FIR. All sectors have the R/T callsign "London Control". Also within the AC Operations room sit the FIR Flight Information Service Officers (FISOs) who provide an information service to aircraft operating within the London FIR as a whole using the callsign "London Information". 'Swanwick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
