A US Air Force weapons systems officer, who had been ejected over hostile Iranian territory after his F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down. He survived a two-day manhunt and was successfully extracted in a massive joint military-CIA operation, with a Boeing-manufactured device at the centre of the rescue. The officer, who had a broken ankle and was hiding from Iranian forces, was rescued by SEAL Team 6. His name has not been publicly disclosed.
An armada of helicopters, other aircraft, and commandos rescued the Air Force airmen from Iran. They employed a standard-issue Boeing communications device to notify their comrades and, in order to signal their positions, according to a report published by The Spokesman-Review. President Donald Trump affirmed the device at a press conference in the White House, describing it as a very sophisticated beeper-like device and saying it saved his life. The equipment: The Combat Survivor Evader Locator, or CSEL, is a device that Boeing has been delivering as a matter-of-course to the US Air Force and Navy for over 15 years.
The central component of the system is a small satellite-based communication gadget of about 800 grams, which is referred to as CSEL. Manufactured by Boeing, it looks like a rugged military radio with a handheld computer. It is attached to the survival vest that the pilot is wearing, does not detach upon ejection, is capable of withstanding the high forces of ejection, and instantly starts to transmit encrypted information.
The evader locator offers secure two-way over-the-horizon, near real-time data communications, accurate military GPS, and more radio frequencies and modes of communications than the current radios. The stranded personnel can transmit a data message through the satellite to a central rescue centre, which transmits the same to the rescue forces as per the reports of The Spokesman-Review
The battery in the CSEL can remain in standby for up to 21 days, and it can operate after being submerged in water up to 10 metres. To overcome the electronic warfare systems of Iran, which are said to be provided by China and Russia, the device employs ultra-short burst transmissions and fast frequency hopping, causing the signals to sound like background noise when intercepted by the enemy's systems.
To locate the lost F-15E weapons systems officer, the US deployed more than 150 planes to outrun the Iranian troops in the race, as reported by CBS News. The beacon the weapons officer was carrying gave the US officials an approximate location of the man about 14 hours after the jet was struck. The CIA was also conducting a disinformation campaign at the same time, feeding Iranian troops with fake intelligence that the airman was already being transported by sea, which bought them the much-needed time to extract him, according to The War Zone.
As of 2011, the most recent public Air Force accounting, over 50,000 CSEL units had already been delivered since the device was fully operational in 2009. The Joint Personnel Recovery Centre at the Pentagon was in charge of the overall rescue operation.
Retired US Air Force Brigadier General Mark Zanini, a former Combat Search and Rescue commander, has described the system as
"transformative for isolated personnel recovery, noting that pre-CSEL, downed aircrew relied on line-of-sight voice radios that enemies could triangulate within minutes."— SAID BY Retired US Air Force Brigadier General Mark Zanini.
The Jerusalem Post noted that devices such as Boeing's CSEL give off homing signals that allow rescue helicopters to zero in on the aviator, who can then communicate via voice once the aircraft comes within range, a layered rescue architecture that proved decisive in this case.
This rescue is living proof of Boeing's two-decade investment in personnel recovery technology. In the recent operation, the navigator relied on preloaded safe zones and transmitted encrypted updates every few hours to avoid detection. Only when rescue helicopters approached did the CSEL switch to a mode that allowed the aircraft to lock onto his precise location. With over 50,000 units fielded and a per-unit cost that defence procurement experts place well under $10,000, the CSEL's return on investment in this single operation, averting a potential prisoner-of-war crisis and the geopolitical fallout that would follow, is incalculable. In an era of contested airspace and near-peer electronic warfare, the 800-gram device in a pilot's vest may be the most consequential piece of kit that Boeing manufactures.
Join the conversation