USA USAr 204th MI Bn C 12 91 00516 KIWA 19May19 Ramon Berk 640Guardrails in Lithuania

From 2019, the United States Army actively deploys the Beech RC-12X Guardrail to Lithuania where they conduct Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions along the border with Belarus and Kaliningrad on a near daily basis.Kaliningrad is an Oblast federal subject and exclave of Russia located on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

The Guardrails are operated by Company D/204th Military Intelligence Battalion Vigilant Hunters. The home base of this unit is at El Paso/Biggs AAF (TX), also known as Fort Bliss. In Lithuania the aircraft operate from Siauliai Air Base.

The RC-12X, also known as Guardrail Common Sensor (GRCS), is a Special Electronic Mission Aircraft that provides Aerial Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AISR) capability. The systems are designed to provide the timely, accurate and tactical signal intelligence, or SIGINT, to commanders. Intelligence gathered during missions is sent back to analysts operating in ground stations mostly outside hostile areas.

According to Scramble Magazine, the detachment at Šiauliai has two RC-12Xs active since December 2019 plus a C-12U-3 Huron for liaison flights. In March and April 2021 two additional Guardrails were flown from Fort Bliss (TX) to Lithuania.

The detachment at Šiauliai has the following aircraft:

RC-12X
88-00325 (c/n FE-10) arrived 12 April 2021
91-00516 (c/n FE-23) arrived 17 March 2021
92-13120 (c/n FE-26) arrived December 2019
93-00701 (c/n FE-36) arrived December 2019
C-12U-3
84-00170 (c/n BL-100) arrived in March 2021 (84-00181 c/n BL-111 returned to US in March 2021)

Photo by Ramon Berk (Scramble Archive)

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