Fact file: EC-130E Commando Solo

Fact file: EC-130E Commando Solo

The EC-130E Commando Solo is one part of an airborne battlefield command and control centre, designed not only to disrupt enemy communications but also to act as a flying radio and television station.

The converted Hercules aircraft plays a "psychological operations" role of disrupting radio and television broadcasts by dominating local frequencies from high altitudes.

Once this has been achieved, it can then broadcast its own material on either military or civilian frequencies.

In theory, this means that the aircraft not only psychologically prepares the ground for a military operation to come but it can then follow up with, for example, broadcasts aimed at fomenting unrest and civil disobedience.

In the second instance, the aircraft can be used to combat a hostile electronic environment by blocking enemy military communications or attempts to disrupt US radio frequencies.

The Commando Solo does not always have a combat role: It can theoretically be used as a powerful transmitter of information to disaster-hit areas by taking over radio and television airwaves at the same time.

On 16 October 2001 the BBC's world media monitoring service detected a new pro-US radio station was broadcasting in Afghanistan - almost certainly emanating from the Commando Solo.

During the Bosnia conflict the US used the Commando Solo to jam Bosnian Serb broadcasts deemed to be inciting the conflict.