Raytheon Sentinel

what is it?

The Raytheon Sentinel is a retired airborne battlefield and ground surveillance aircraft formerly operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). While based on the Bombardier Global Express ultra long-range business jet, the prime contractor for the Sentinel was the American defence firm Raytheon, which supplied most of the mission systems and performed the integration work. Originally known as the ASTOR (Airborne STand-Off Radar) programme, procurement of the type started during 1999.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 28.5 m wingspan

base stats

• range 9,249 kmwithout refuelling
• size 42.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 5made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 22 years ago, in 2004.
• 🚗Wingspan of 28.5 m: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 7 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 9,249 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

2004-05-26

introduced

2008

retired

2021

status

retired

number built

5

role

airborne battlefield and ground surveillance aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Raytheon

engines

2× Rolls-Royce BR710

crew

5

length

30.3 m

wingspan

28.5 m

height

8.2 m

max take-off weight

42.4 t

top speed

—

range

9,249 km

ceiling

14,935 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family