http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article1066507.ece
May the Royal Air Force be with you
THE RAF blitz on the Taliban was last night joined by souped-up Harrier jump jets – boasting the call sign "Jedi".
Top guns piloting the futuristic fighters got the moniker because new night vision goggles make them look like something straight out of Star Wars.
As eight Harriers bristling with hi-tech weaponry arrived in Afghanistan, Squadron Leader Dave Kane, 34, warned: "No one can deny we have the `Force'."
The dad of two said: "We earned the call sign `Jedi' after we were the first to trial night vision goggles enabling us to operate fully at night and creep up on the enemy."
Each pilot also has a number after the call sign, eg, "Jedi 3".
The state-of-the-art war-planes belong to the RAF's oldest squadron – Number 1 – which is based at Cottesmore, Leics.
They are light years ahead of anything available when the RAF was formed in 1918.
The jets boast missiles guided by GPS and laser, ground attack rockets and bombs.
A pod underneath each jet, fitted with cameras, provides reconnaissance of the target and battle areas.
At night, forward-looking infrared systems are used with the pilot's all-seeing goggles.
Dave said: "The infrared beam is similar to the Jedi lightsaber – and what with the goggles, someone compared us to something out of Star Wars.
"The Jedi name stuck and now we've adopted it as our call sign."
But he stressed: "Like the Jedi, we are guardians of peace – because we support efforts to bring stability and peace to war-ravaged Afghanistan.
"We don't seek to rule, but serve others who do – in our case the elected government of the country."
