#1567 Watchkeeper
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1567 - WK040, Watchkeeper, 47th Regiment Royal Artillery.
47th Regiment Royal Artillery was formed in 1947 when 4th Coast Training Regiment Royal Artillery was renamed 47th Coast Training Regiment Royal Artillery. From this time, until the end of the Cold War, the Regiment served in several theatres including Aden, Northern Ireland, and the Falklands. It operated a variety of equipment including the MGM-5 Corporal nuclear-armed tactical ground-to-ground missile, the 105mm Pack Howitzer and the 105mm Light Gun. In 1991, elements of the Regiment deployed to the Middle East on Op GRANBY, and in 1995 deployed to Bosnia as part of the Op JOINT ENDEAVOUR peace implementation force. Between 2002 and 2014, the Regiment deployed multiple times on Op HERRICK and Op TELIC providing airborne ISTAR, operating both the Desert Hawk 3 Mini Unmanned Air System and the Hermes 450 Tactical Unmanned Air System. Throughout operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq, Hermes 450 achieved over 100,000 flying hours. The Regiment is now equipped with Watchkeeper, a Tactical Unmanned Air System capable of 16 hours airborne endurance, which is equipped with an Electro-Optical Infra-Red sensor, a Synthetic Aperture Radar, Ground Moving Target Indication, and a laser sub-system. It delivers imagery intelligence in the Land environment to provide battlefield understanding, aid the targeting of adversaries and assist with tactical decision making. It is a scalable platform, capable of supporting a span of commitments up to and including warfighting as part of the 3rd (UK) Division. In 2016, the Regiment resubordinated to the Joint Helicopter Command.