RAF surveillance planes grounded

A fleet of RAF surveillance planes has been grounded after a technical fault was discovered on one of the craft, the Ministry of Defence said.

Six Boeing Sentry E3D aircraft are temporarily out of service as a precautionary measure after the fault was discovered on a routine inspection at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said: "A routine inspection on an E3D aircraft at RAF Waddington has revealed a technical issue with one of the in-service aircraft.

"Routine E3D operations have been temporarily suspended pending further engineering investigation.

"There is no loss of operational capability."

The spokeswoman stressed that the Sentry is one of a range of aircraft capable of conducting surveillance and other options, including five Sentinel R1 aircraft, are being utilised.