US AWACS destroyed on ground in Saudi strike raises fresh questions over airbase protection
An American E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft has been destroyed on the ground in Saudi Arabia in a long-range Iranian strike, with several KC-135 refuelling tankers also damaged and US personnel injured.
The US Air Force has only 16 of the ageing airborne early warning aircraft left, with only around half flying at any one time, making the loss a big blow to the American air campaign.
Attention has quickly turned to the lack of visible protection around the aircraft, with no barriers or hardened shelter separating it from other jets.
Similar vulnerabilities have been seen in Ukraine, where long-range drones have struck airbases deep behind the frontline.
A report by Chatham House warned Nato needed to do more to harden its military bases and move towards more dispersed operations.
During the Cold War, Nato expected Soviet strikes on European airfields within minutes and built hardened aircraft shelters designed to withstand direct hits.
RAF Harriers also operated from makeshift runways and roads to reduce vulnerability. Today, there are just seven main RAF bases in the UK.
Aircraft are visible in the open at RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Lakenheath, while RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus has already been hit by an Iranian drone.
The RAF said it could not comment on specific protection measures for operational security reasons, but that it uses a combination of electronic warfare, and air defence systems such as Rapid Sentry.
The UK and US have also jointly adopted a system called Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, which is a tactic to disperse aircraft rather than concentrate them in hubs.
With Iran having access to Chinese and Russian satellites for precision targeting, it is useful to have an ACE up one's sleeve (or wing).
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