IMO0005

                                                     

Written evidence submitted by James A Cowan MBE, Squadron Leader, Royal Air Force (Ret’d)

OPERATION ISOTROPE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


                                                               INTRODUCTION


1.   In December 2018 the former British Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP declared a ‘major incident’ following a significant rise in the number of migrants entering the UK, from France, by crossing the English Channel in small, often overloaded, inflatable boats powered by an outboard engine.  The official figure for the number of migrants who made the crossing in 2018 is 299, although others believe that the true total may have been in excess of 500.  This new route for entering the UK without permission, by crossing the English Channel in a small boat, is, most probably, the result of enhanced security at the Channel ports of Calais and Dunkirk where migrants would secrete themselves in lorries boarding ferries bound for the UK, or board those lorries driven onto the trains passing through the Channel Tunnel.

 

Since 2018 there has been a significant rise in the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in inflatable boats which are often overloaded.  Many of these large, purpose built boats carry a ‘token’ family, often with a babe in arms, and up to 30 young, single men.

 

2.   Despite the best efforts of the UK Border Force, supported by Her Majesty’s Coastguard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, in 2019 the number of migrants arriving in the UK in small boats increased to 1,840.   The new Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, who was appointed in July 2019, has, on many occasions, expressed a determination to stop migrants risking their lives and the lives of their children by making the very dangerous cross-Channel route unviable.  In August 2020 she appointed Mr Dan O’Mahoney, a career civil servant and former Royal Marine, to the new position of Clandestine Channel Threat Commander to coordinate the UK response in cooperation with the French authorities.   

3.   Nevertheless, throughout 2020 the numbers of migrants crossing the English Channel  increased month on month, apart from a small dip in June.   The September total of 1,963 migrants exceeded the total for the whole of 2019.  The annual total of some  8,450 in 2020 is over four times the total for the previous year!    Several migrants are known to have lost their lives.  On the 27 October 2020 a migrant boat capsized near Dunkirk with the loss of a family of 5, a man, a woman, 2 children aged 6 and 9 years and a 15 month old infant, together with 2 adults who were reported as missing.   Out of a total of 22  there were 15 survivors.   On the 24 November 2021 a large inflatable boat, described by the National Crime Agency as a ‘death trap’ and carrying around 30 migrants deflated shortly after setting sail from Calais.  Twenty seven migrants are known to have perished and, miraculously, there were 2 survivors.  The total number of migrants who landed in Kent and Sussex in 2021 is believed to be in the order of 28,400.   In January 2022 the total is well over 1,000 with a forecast, for the year, of 65,000.   However, the Home Office may have now decided to delay any confirmation of the true figures until the end of each quarter.

Number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats has increased year on year from 2019 to 2021 with another significant increase forecast for 2022.  

 

                         THE UNITED KINGDOM’S MAIN LINE OF DEFENCE

 

4.   At sea the main line of defence, to protect the UK against illegal immigration and illegal imports, is the Border Force.   In the English Channel there are, to my knowledge, three cutters, HMC Searcher, HMC Seeker and HMC Vigilant based at Dover and Ramsgate, together with BF Hurricane based at Ramsgate and three smaller coastal patrol vessels.   The Border Force also deploys a number of rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) and a small number of jet-skis.  These Border Force vessels are supported by the lifeboats of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, in particular the lifeboats based at Dover, Dungeness and Ramsgate.   Coordination, for what has become the UK’s longest running peacetime search and rescue operation, is, to say the least, complicated.  In addition to the joint Anglo-French Intelligence Centre at Calais and the Coastguard Operations Centre at Dover there are three other intelligence centres In the UK: the Border Force National Maritime Intelligence Bureau, the Joint Maritime Coordination Centre and the National Maritime Information Centre, all at Portsmouth.

 

HMC Seeker, one of three UK Border Force cutters based at Dover to patrol the English Channel to intercept migrants attempting to enter the UK in small boats.

 

                                                          AIR SUPPORT

 

5.   Although the distance between France and the UK Is not much more than 21 miles, between Calais and Dover, the sea area in a box with Dungeness, Ramsgate, Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer at each corner is some 1,700 square miles, a very large area when searching for a small boat, particularly at night and in poor visibility.   Air support with the proverbial ‘eye in the sky’ provides the crew of a surface vessel with an enormous advantage.  In this respect the UK government is to be applauded for the number and range of aircraft that have been tasked to provide the Border Force, together the lifeboats of the RNLI, with air support.   The aircraft, to patrol the English Channel when the weather favours a crossing in a small boat, often large numbers of boats, are provided by the Ministry of Defence and HM Coastguard.

6.   Those aircraft provided by the MoD have included the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, the Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft and the Beechcraft Shadow R1 surveillance aircraft, all flown by the RAF, together with a Thales Watchkeeper unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) which is flown by the British Army.  Of these four quite different aircraft the P-8 Poseidon is, without doubt, the most capable, but with a quoted operating cost of £35,000 per flying hour it can be likened to using ‘a hammer to crack a walnut’ and, moreover, it’s a very expensive hammer!    The deployment of a very large transport aircraft, the Airbus A400M Atlas, to carry a pair of binoculars to conduct a visual search of the Channel for boats carrying migrants simply beggars belief!

Using the large Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft to conduct a visual search for boats carrying migrants, with a pair of binoculars, simply beggars belief!

7.   Of the three manned aircraft, the Shadow R1 with its X-band surveillance radar and Wescam MX-15 electro-optical camera turret is probably the most suitable for the role, although it’s still a hammer being used to crack a walnut, albeit a somewhat less expensive hammer than the Boeing P-8 Poseidon sub-hunter.

8.   In addition to those aircraft that may be seconded by the Ministry of Defence to the Home Office, to provide ‘Military Assistance to the Civilian Authority’, to support the Border Force with aerial surveillance, HM Coastguard also has a small fleet of fixed-wing aircraft for search and rescue duties based centrally at Doncaster.  These aircraft, two Beechcraft King Air’s and a Piper Navajo which, like the RAF Shadow R1 have radar and an electro-optical camera turret, fly regular patrols of the English Channel

Her Majesty’s Coastguard has two King Air’s and a Piper Navajo, closest to the camera, based centrally at Doncaster for search and rescue duties.  Also used to patrol the English Channel to locate boats carrying migrants.

10.  Also, as well as using manned aircraft to direct surface vessels to those migrants who have willingly placed themselves in danger and now need ‘rescuing’, the ongoing operation in the English Channel has proved to be an excellent opportunity to test the utility of two fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called drones.  On the UK side of the median line, half-way between England and France, the Border Force is supported by a contractor with a Tekever AR5 and a Tekever AR3 drone.  The first drone is flown from Lydd from where the AR5 makes regular patrols of up to 6 hours, spotting small boats containing migrants and reporting their positions to a control room located at Lydd.   The Tekever AR3 drone is flown occasionally from Dover.

Patrols of the English Channel with manned aircraft have been supported with the diminutive Tekever AR5 drone flying from the airfield at Lydd.

11.  A typical day, in good weather, will see a Coastguard King Air patrol aircraft arriving on task, over the Channel at around 01:00 hrs to fly a barrier patrol for some 3 hours.  This aircraft will be relieved by a second Coastguard aircraft, to continue the patrol, before being relieved by the Tekever AR5 drone.  Exceptionally, on Sunday, 23 January 2022, the first air patrol arrived ‘on task’ just after midnight.  This aircraft, a Coastguard King Air completed 2 sorties, refuelling at Southend, before being relieved by the AR5 and AR3 drones.   The King Air returned later the day and remained ‘on task’ until 17:30 hours.   In total, the aircraft were ‘on task’ for over 17 hours with one manned aircraft using the forward operating base at Southend, to refuel, and 2 drones flying locally from Dover and Lydd.  In the addition, up to four UK Border Force cutters and patrol boats were at sea, together with the RNLI Dover lifeboat in support.

12.  In November 2021 the European Union agreed to use their Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to combat those migrants launching inflatable boats, bound for England, from the beaches of Belgium and northern French. A Bombardier CL-604 Challenger patrol aircraft, a modified ‘bizjet’ of the Royal Danish Aircraft (RDAF) was deployed to Lille, in France on the 1 December 2021.

 

 

To support the Belgium and French border police a Bombardier CL-604 Challenger patrol aircraft of the RDAF was deployed to Lille, in France in December 2021.

 

                                               COMMAND AND CONTROL

 

13.  All multi-agency operations require command and control (C2) and the ongoing operation in the English Channel is no exception.   However, for 3 years, since 2018, the principal control has been the weather; migrants cross the Channel when an anti-cyclone (high pressure) is in charge of the weather, with light winds and calm seas.  Command comes from the criminal gangs who arrange the sailings with, according to an ITV investigation, payment made to an intermediary in London.   The payment of thousands of pounds is held in an account in the UK until the journey has been completed, giving the whole operation an impression of legitimacy.   

14.  After four years of illegal immigration with numbers increasing, year on year, the current UK strategy with ships at sea and aircraft in the air, generally on the UK side of the median line, has proved to be futile!   Recently, on the 11 November 2021, 1,185 migrants arrived in 33 boats.  The following week, on the 16 November, a further 1,131 migrants arrived in 28 boats.  Moreover, although there have been many reports of the French being complicit, permitting the migrants to leave the beaches of northern France, between Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer, this isn’t always true.  In one weekend in October 2020 there was a report of 550 migrants being detained by the French whilst a further 220 were ‘rescued’ by the UK Border Force and the RNLI on the same day.

 

                                                           A NEW STRATEGY

 

15.  The significant increase in the number of migrants entering the UK across the English Channel brings into question the current UK strategy of ‘rescuing’ rather than detaining the migrants at sea.  If this highly dangerous route is to be closed down, then a new strategy will be required in 2022, after the anticipated winter weather respite.  Nevertheless, there are reports of a further 1,000 migrants landing in the UK this month, in January!   Many will agree that the answer lies on the beaches of northern France and not in the middle of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.   In a report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt stated, ‘The key to tackling the small boat threat is prevention: stopping the boats from setting off from the beaches and ports in northern France.’   The report also highlights the fact that, unlike larger vessels, the small boats used by the migrants do not carry transponders and are too small to register on radar.

16.  A further piece of advice is, ‘Don’t reinvent the wheel.   Better to ‘borrow’ someone else's wheel and paint it in your own colours’!    In this case, part of the answer, that part that involves the provision of air support, may be found on the other side of the Atlantic, in the USA.  Formed in 1941, to mobilise the nation’s civilian aviation resources, the US Civil Air Patrol, now an Auxiliary of the US Air Force, has a fleet of 550 light aircraft, mostly Cessna 172’s and 182’s, flown by volunteers.  These aircraft, together with their volunteer crews, account for some 80% of all overland search and rescue missions on behalf of the USAF, as well as responding to major incidents in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and flying patrols on behalf of the US Department of Homeland Security.   A complimentary organisation, also in the USA, is the US Coast Guard Auxiliary (Air) which recruits volunteers, those with their own light aircraft, fo fly Coast Guard and Homeland Security missions, along the coast and offshore between Florida and Cuba.  To use an American expression, ‘a lot of bang for your buck’!

The US Civil Air Patrol has a fleet of 550 light aircraft, mostly Cessna 172’s and 182’s flown by volunteers for SAR missions and to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the US Department of Homeland Security.

17.  Compared to the deployment of  ‘high tech’ aircraft such as the P-8 Poseidon and Shadow R1, together with those aircraft belonging to HM Coastguard, the alternative, the deployment of a ‘low tech’ light observation aircraft. will require some lateral thinking by the newly appointed coordinator for operations in the English Channel,  Rear Admiral Mike Utley CB OBE, together with his colleagues at the MoD and at the Home Office.   Nevertheless, with the cooperation of the French Police Aux Frontieres (Border Police), who fly occasional coastal patrols with a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, a joint operation to patrol of the beaches of northern France, between Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer, would prove to be just as effective as those similar patrols that take place in the USA.  Patrols that are flown by the volunteers of the US Civil Air Patrol and the US Coast Guard Auxiliary (Air).

18.   More, targeted patrols on land, at sea and in the air at the point of departure, in Belgium and in northern France, together with purpose built, safe and secure reception centres in the UK for those migrants who still arrive without permission, is the way forward, it may be agreed.   The current UK strategy of ‘rescuing’ rather than detaining migrants and then accommodating them in hotels has, quite correctly, being described by the French as a ‘pull factor’!    The pending legislation, ‘The Nationality and Borders Bill’ will also make a difference, providing a mechanism to increase fairness for those seeking asylum, deter illegal entry and remove more easily those who have no right to be here.  Every person, including a migrant, should be treated fairly and with respect, irrespective of nationality, race or gender.  Nevertheless, wishing to live in another country for a better life should not be confused with seeking asylum, or being a refugee.

Rather than the deployment of the Bombardier Challenger patrol aircraft to Lille the Saab T-17 Supporter, a light training and air observation aircraft, also flown by the RDAF, would provide greater utility.

 

                                                        CONCLUSION

 

19.  The recommended strategy is one of ‘deter and detect’ with overt, persistent air patrols, with light observation aircraft flying at low level along the coast of Belgium and northern France.   These patrols would deter those migrants who are gathering on secluded beaches whilst, at the same time, detecting those who are seen to be deploying inflatable boats.   The light observation aircraft, flown by police, military and voluntary sector pilots, would patrol during daylight hours, most probably using the same binoculars carried by the A400M Atlas transport aircraft!   Also at night with night vision goggles (NVG’s).  Drones, for example the Tekever AR5 with its camera and thermal imager, would continue the patrol also, if required.  This combination of a light observation aircraft and drones would be extremely cost effective compared to a multi-million pound strategy with large, military aircraft in the air and warships at sea.  A strategy which is known to have failed.    Moreover, the airborne response would be proportional to the threat.   The recommended ‘persistent’ patrolling in good weather, the same weather that favours the people smugglers, would, most probably, remain within budget.

20.  If the recommended joint Anglo-French operation, with police, military and voluntary aircrew flying light observation aircraft, proved to be a success then, sensibly, the UK Government would be persuaded to form Coastguard Auxiliary (Air).  To join the 3,500 volunteers of HM Coastguard Rescue Service, together with the 5,600 volunteer crew members of the RNLI lifeboats, to patrol the UK’s 11,000 miles of coastline.  Moreover, this initiative, with joint land, sea and air patrols, on and above the coast of Belgium and northern France, should be promoted at the earliest opportunity if a further surge of migrants, crossing the English Channel, is to be prevented in 2022.

 

James A Cowan MBE BA CF FRIN

Squadron Leader

Royal Air Force (Ret’d)

24 January  2022

 

Note:

The author is a former RAF Nimrod captain who, with Crew 7, No 201 Squadron, flew the longest operational maritime patrol sortie of over 19 hours during the Falklands conflict.   He was also the leader of RAF ‘Exercise Northern Venture’ which completed a circumnavigation of the Northern Hemisphere with two DHC1 Chipmunk light training aircraft, flying across Europe, Russia, North America and the North Atlantic, before returning to the UK.   After retiring from the RAF he was employed as a police pilot with the North East Air Support Unit and also as an air ambulance pilot with the Scottish Air Ambulance Service, flying the ubiquitous BN Islander transport aircraft.   Before joining the RAF he was a member of the crew of the RNLI inshore lifeboat at Hartlepool and he holds an RYA Certificate of Competence as a Yachtmaster Offshore.  A Winston Churchill Fellowship took him to the USA where he was hosted by the US Civil Air Patrol.