[Video] RAF Sentinel spyplane operations in Mali

The following footage shows a Royal Air Force Sentinel aircraft deployed in Senegal, supporting French and African forces operating in Northern Mali.

The ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) platform flew more than 60 successful missions giving a 360 degree view of vast tracts of land.

The RAF Sentinel R1 spyplane have provided important data about ground movements in West Africa, helping planners to choose among those targets detected by its onboard sensors. A mission similar to that conducted in Northern Africa, during 2011’s Libya Air War, when highly skilled sensor operators on board the aircraft analyzed data and imagery to try to gain insights into what was going on on the ground and detect suspicious activities.

Image credit: RAF / Crown Copyright

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About David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.