Info required.

[icebreaker]

Norman Brittain Islander currently circling O/H this location ( West Derby) FL100 (aprox. !)White/Grey livery with red stripes on ends of stabilizers.

Must be doing some photography as it been coming & going all afternoon - any one any ideas ?
Cheers,
icebreaker

[sawilson]

ZH537

Regards

Steve

[icebreaker]

That must be the regular at EGGP - I presume its training then, rather than reconnisance !
Cheers,
icy

[Biggles]

"Big Brother" Recon Flight. There was an article in a daily paper some time ago about these flights and supposed unknown reasons behind them. Alleged to be part of anti terror measures in which case carry on lads. COMINT and ELINT flights with these aircraft originate from RAF Northolt.
Plenty to find on the net relating to these aircraft and flights which is wonderfully secure isn`t it Probably not PC these days

[icebreaker]

Two of them where working the area today - I managed to video ZH536 taxiing onto the GA apron & at the same time, another Islander (ZH537 ? ), did a touch & go Bit confusing though as I didn't know which one to vid first - in the event I opted for 36, & most of it's travel was obscured by G- FIGA

[mybrico]

From the TIMES

MI5 is using a fleet of sophisticated surveillance aircraft to search for unidentified Britons who fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The manhunt has been ordered because it is feared the committed and highly trained fighters may have returned home to plot terror attacks in the UK.

Planes with eavesdropping equipment are now flying over British cities searching for returning Afghan fighters.

They are attempting to identify suspects using ‘voice prints’ of fighters with British accents picked up by RAF Nimrod spy planes monitoring Taliban battlefield radio signals.

The revelation comes after the former SAS commander in Afghanistan yesterday confirmed that British Muslim extremists were actively supporting Taliban and Al Qaeda attacks on British troops.

He said there was also evidence that these people were then returning home to plot further attacks in the UK.

Brigadier Ed Butler warned: ‘There is a link between Kandahar and urban conurbations in the UK. This is something the military understands but the British public does not.’

Whitehall sources have never officially confirmed that the three Britten-Norman Islander aircraft based at RAF Northolt in West London are being used for covert surveillance by MI5.


One of the Islander aircraft

Last year it was revealed that West Midlands Police had used the aircraft, which can monitor computer and mobile-phone communication and long-wave radios, to track suspects connected to the plot to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier.

And their long-term role with the Security Service was apparently confirmed by a photograph, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, of an MI5 surveillance officer, Steven Lanham, who died on duty in 1999, dressed in a flying suit alongside one of the aircraft.

The Islander aircraft regularly patrol the skies over Birmingham and Coventry, Leicester, West Yorkshire and the bordering Greater Manchester areas, flying at between 12,000ft and 15,000ft.

Their equipment and capabilities have never been officially disclosed but they are believed to be able to monitor mobile-phone calls. More recently they have been fitted with equipment capable of picking up signals from wi-fi computer networks.

‘Traffic’ intercepted by the equipment on board is analysed and processed, probably at the GCHQ spy centre in Cheltenham, searching for voice matches with those overheard in the Afghan war zone.

Voices heard in Afghanistan and the suspect voices in the UK are computer-analysed looking for a match. It is understood that, in some cases, it has been possible to determine the true identities of the Taliban fighters from the UK.

Last night Whitehall sources refused to discuss MI5 surveillance methods.

[icebreaker]

That's good, credible, information I wonder now whether the second arrival was the blocked flight plan tonyspeke mentioned yesterday ?
Also, under the circumstances - rather than publish the video, I think it would be prudent to keep it off the forum for the time being

[Deleted]

If this where the case, I would have thought it to be top secret. How have the Times got hold of it and more to the point why publish it.

It's a well known fact that many British service men lost their lives in the Falklands because of the British press. Lets hope their not about to make the same mistake again. This time it may not be far away service personnel in the firing line but our very own Joe public. Surely anyone with an SBS box could track theses aircraft movements and simply keep quiet whilst there in their area.

[spotter27]

Interesting. Are the anti-terror raids of today connected?

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2009 20:32:45 GMT 1 spotter27 said:

Interesting. Are the anti-terror raids of today connected?

Quite possibly. Heres the BBC report. Brings back some memories for me as I spent many hours as a JMU student in this library.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7990719.stm

[Biggles]

Secret ? If the head if the UK Counter Terror Branch can do what he did the information the Times Published is small fry. Plus there are numerous we site specific to Rendition flights and the secret or not so secret goings on. Just best not to direct people to them, or the Islander may ping one of us.
I was dishearted to learn after the blunder today that is was only a D Notice preventing the press publishing the said document that had been photographed going into No 10 which makes one wonder whos side the press are actually on.
Even some of the reporting tonight by Sky News I heard the reporter when questioning a resident trying her best to get the Asian Girl to admit the police had overreacted and that it was very scary for her. She didnt take the bait for a change.