Work on a transportable ground system appears to have been halted. The original COBRA DANE ground radar, however, is not mobile, so the COBRA JUDY can work with COBRA BALL in much of the world. COBRA BALL cues the COBRA DANE ground radar and the COBRA JUDY ship-based radar. Due to its large aperture, it has significantly greater sensitivity and resolving power than the RTOS, but is otherwise similar. RTOS consists of an array of staring sensors encompassing a wide field of regard for target acquisition. It has electro-optical MASINT sensors that are ".two linked electro-optical sensors - the Real Time Optics System (RTOS) and the Large Aperture Tracker System (LATS).
It is air-transportable to deal with sudden monitoring contingencies.ĬOBRA BALL operates as part of a MASINT system, cooperating with COBRA DANE ground and COBRA JUDY sea-based radar. Where COBRA JUDY is built into a ship, this dual frequency (S- and X-band) radar is transportable, capable of operating on ships or on land, and optimized for monitoring medium range ballistic missiles and antimissile systems. DSP satellites have worldwide coverage, and detect intense heat sources such as rocket engine ignition.Īlong with sea-based and possibly ground-based sensors, the original COBRA mission can be adapted to observing long-range missiles, but is also appropriate for theater-level weapons, which may be addressed in regional arms limitation agreements, such as the Missile Technology Control Regime (MCTR). COBRA BALL could be cued to a target by a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite. Īm operational, rather than national intelligence collection, mission could be detecting and tracking theater ballistic missiles. This is part of the joint Air Force/Navy When the PONY EXPRESS operations, with a communications intelligence capability for backing up the RC-135 RIVET JOINT. This platform is evolving to meet new roles and missions, and now carries linguists proficient in many languages. In addition, the functions of the RIVET JOINT, COBRA BALL, and RC-135 COMBAT SENT could be complementary during actual fighting, and these three intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft further complement the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system (AWACS) and the E-8 Joint STARS ground surveillance radar aicraft.ĬOBRA BALL's primary mission had been created to track Soviet mission developments, but, with the change in geopolitics, the was primarily used as a traditional mission in the past against Russia, but now the United States has no named enemy.
This will allow a RIVET JOINT aircraft to be reconfigured as a COBRA BALL, and vice versa. With recent architectural changes, there is an increased commonality of parts with the RC-135V/W aircraft, which have a more signals intelligence with some MASINT capability.
They are based at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, but deploy worldwide. In an operational context, potentially could be used for warning and tracking of theater-level ballistic missile launches. RC-135S COBRA BALL aircraft are large aircraft, modified from transport aircraft, flown by United States Air Force crews of the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron, which are intended for collecting measurement and signature intelligence on foreign missile tests.
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