Combat Aircraft Monthly - August 2013

AUGUST 2013 £4.20

European Edition Vol 14, No 8 | www.combataircraft.netTHE WORLD’S FAVOURITE MILITARY AVIATION MAGAZINE

PHANTOM BOWS OUT

THE COD FATHERS keeping the carriers supplied

F-35 FIRES FIRST AMRAAMVENEZUELAN ‘VIPERS’

SOUVENIR ISSUEGERMAN F-4 PHANTOM FAREWELL Su-27 ‘Flanker’

ANGEL THUNDERCombat Search and Rescue in action

B-52S ON EXERCISE

markING the end of F-4 PHANTOM

operations in Germany

EXCLUSIVE IMAGES

Su-27 ‘Flanker’FIGHTER FOCUS

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Swiss made / 26 jewel automatic movement / 38 hour power reserve / Balance wheel viewing window / Old radium SuperLuminovaTM hands and indices / Diameter: 44mm / Calibre: Sellita SW200-1

Swiss movement, English heart

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HEADLINE NEWS

US military sets operational dates for F-35, Typhoon E-Scan radar moves forward and highlights from Paris Air Show 2013

US NEWS

Boeing plans Next-Gen Super Hornet testing, Boeing EMARRS flies and Prowler fleet draws down

UK NEWS

RAF graduates first Hawk T2 students and Merlins withdraw from Afghanistan

EUROPE NEWS

French Mirage F1s in the Baltics, NATO Tiger specials plus latest Airbus Military news

WORLD NEWS

First Indian C-17 delivered, Iranian military parade plus Korean fighter competition decision expected

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PLUS: Special report on exercise ‘StarVega’ plus Robert F. Dorr’s Front Line column and all the latest military Losses

What’s insideVol 14, No 8 August 2013

34 FACT FILE: CHINA’S GIANT BIRD The first flight of the Y-20 heavy airlifter earlier this year marked not only yet another publicity coup, but also a major technological achievement for China’s aviation industry. Andreas Rupprecht reports

Phinal farewell — in this issue we bid a fond farewell to the Luftwa�e’s F-4F Phantom IIs. This image shows the specially-marked aircraft 37+01 during a photo shoot in May. Jamie Hunter

SUBSCRIBE AND SAVESubscribe to Combat Aircraft Monthly and make great savings on cover price. See pages 86 and 87 for details.

Phinal farewell — in this issue we bid a fond

40 PHANTOM PHAREWELL There are few aircraft types that draw the following of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. For the German Luftwaffe, this has been a 40-year love affair. As the type is finally retired by its last Luftwaffe unit, Jamie Hunter and Rich Cooper detail the end of the German Phantoms

44 GLORY DAYS: BACKBONE OF THE LUFTWAFFE It is hard to underestimate the contribution the F-4 Phantom II has made to the modern Luftwaffe over the course of more than 40 years. Ben Dunnell talks to former F-4F and RF-4E pilots for this salute to the ‘Rhino’s’ history in Germany

52 THE PHINAL CHAPTER With exclusive images, Jamie Hunter and Rich Cooper report from Wittmund, the last home of the Luftwaffe’s Phantoms

60 VENEZUELAN VIPERS Venezuela was the first Latin American operator of the F-16 Fighting Falcon and one of the first outside NATO. Santiago Rivas details Venezuela’s ‘Vipers’ — still on the front line of the Aviación Militar Bolivariana Venezolana

72 EXERCISE REPORT: ANGEL THUNDER Marnix Sap and Christiaan Sap head to the US for Exercise ‘Angel Thunder’ at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona

78 FIGHTER FOCUS: ‘FLANKER’ ASCENDANT PART 1 In the first of a two-part series, Alexander Mladenov profiles the original Su-27 and its developments, including the upgraded Su-27SM and carrier-based Su-33

88 EXERCISE REPORT: COPE NORTH To give credibility to the Obama administration’s ‘pivot’ towards Asia, the B-52 is often out in front during exercises aimed at preparing for a real-world crisis. Robert F. Dorr details ‘Cope North’, mounted from the US territory of Guam last February

96 CUTTING EDGE Combat Aircraft’s monthly column reporting from the front line of aerospace technology, by David Axe

66 Cods of WarNeil Pearson joins the ‘Rawhides’ of VRC-40 to gain insight into the vital carrier on-board delivery role, and sees the mission spectrum of the venerable C-2A Greyhound expanding to meet new requirements. US Navy

58 PORTUGAL’S LAST ALPHA JETS The Alpha Jet is something of an endangered species in Portuguese skies. Paulo Mata visits Esquadra 103 ‘Caracóis’ at Beja air base

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Combat EdgePHANTOM PHAREWELL

DURING THEIR LAST year of operations, the Luftwaffe F-4F Phantom IIs were primarily occupied, as they have been throughout their careers, by the NATO Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) mission. Indeed, for

the Luftwaffe, the transition to the Eurofighter is dominated by the need to maintain a round-the-clock alert, balancing training and exercise commitments against the operational imperative of both northern and southern QRA sites.

QRA remains one of the bulletproof areas of defence that cannot be touched by cutbacks. Like an insurance policy, it is vital when you really need it. Few seriously expect the handful of annual Russian incursions to result in serious international incidents, but the security of one’s airspace remains a vital mission.

Amazingly, as the Luftwaffe is saying goodbye to the F-4, many nations are gearing up to bid farewell to the far newer F-16! The big question is: how will these F-16s be replaced?

Clearly, QRA is an important core task for air forces in Europe. However, many will question whether it could not be covered comfortably by a type far cheaper to procure and operate than an F-35 for example. After all, how often do nations such as these think they will need a ‘first day of war’ stealthy fighter?

More importantly, what do politicians realistically think will be expected of their expensive new fighters? Many European nations such as Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have played leading roles in combat operations in recent times, so clearly a credible fighter force will need to be maintained.credible fighter force will need to be maintained.

Jamie Hunter, EditorE-mail: [email protected]

European air policing

In this issue we pay tribute to the Luftwa�e F-4F — with exclusive images and reporting — as we say goodbye to a Combat Aircraft classic! Jamie Hunter

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THIS MONTHCombat Edge

CONTRIBUTOR PROFILE

BEN DUNNELL

ALWAYS KEEN TO gather recollections of Cold War-era military aviation, for this

month’s German F-4 coverage Combat Aircraft’s deputy editor Ben Dunnell travelled across Germany, from Wittmund up north to Augsburg down south, to meet a selection of former Luftwaffe Phantom pilots. Retired high-ranking officers all, their memories of the type’s heyday were well worth the

trip. Aside from those interviewed, he thanks Klaus Kropf and Nigel Walpole for their assistance. Ben’s enthusiasm for older, more charismatic military aircraft furthermore sees him contributing to our sister magazine FlyPast, while he is also a commentator at events such as the Royal International Air Tattoo, the RAF Waddington International Air Show, the NATO Tiger Airshow and the IWM Duxford airshows.

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News

PARIS AIR SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

THE US AIR Force has announced that it is setting its F-35A Lightning II initial operational capability (IOC) date at between August and December 2016. According

to the report, released the day before the 1 June deadline, IOC will be determined as occurring when the first operational squadron of 12-24 F-35As (probably with Block 3I software) and associated personnel are ‘trained, manned and equipped to conduct basic close air support (CAS), interdiction,

Typhoon E-Scan trials planned Eurofighter details radar plans • Meteor contract

BAE SYSTEMS IS carrying out the first trial installation of the Euroradar E-Scan antenna for the Eurofighter Typhoon. The company’s test aircraft IPA5 is undergoing modification at

Warton ahead of planned flight trials from early 2014.

Although the Euroradar effort (led by Selex ES) is still proceeding under industry funding, the company expects the four Eurofighter partner nations to commit to some funding for the final stages of development and production, possibly in 2014. While the partner nations have their own active electronically scanned array (AESA) requirements, this effort is clearly pitched towards the export campaign as a crucial factor in current and future sales efforts.

The Euroradar E-Scan effort is known as Project 40, and the radar will first be fielded under the so-called Export Interim Standard (EIS) to meet a projected fielding date of the first quarter of 2017 for potential export customers. Further development for the

partner nations is expected to result in the ‘Radar 1’ standard, with the potential for further progress at a later date.

Meanwhile, during a short ceremony at the Paris Air Show in June, ministers from the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain witnessed a contract being signed between Eurofighter and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) to integrate the MBDA Meteor advanced medium-range air-to-air missile on to the Typhoon. The integration contract for the Eurofighter has been a long time in coming, but this now paves the way for the missile to become part of the core capability and upgrade path for the type.

Speaking in Paris, the new CEO of Eurofighter GmbH Alberto Gutierrez said that he is overseeing a new effort to make the aircraft cheaper and to expedite the overly complicated NETMA decision-making and clearance process. One option might be to centralise export campaigns rather than the current practice of allocating them to one of the four major partner-nation companies.

Armed ArchangelThe Archangel armed surveillance aircraft, based on the Thrush 710P two-seat crop-duster, was revealed by US company IOMAX at the Paris Air Show. The aircraft was mistaken by many as being the AT-802U Air Tractor agricultural aircraft that was previously exhibited at Paris, but it is an all-new integration with a range of weapons. It builds on IOMAX’s work to integrate mission systems on 24 AT-802i aircraft for the United Arab Emirates. IOMAX can now incorporate its own modi�cations on the Thrush production line, which at the Paris show included Hell�re missiles and Roketsan Cirit laser-guided rockets. Jamie Hunter

Development Typhoon IPA5 undergoing a trial installation of the E-Scan radar at BAE Systems Warton. BAE Systems

Boeing details �ghter plans Next-generation Super Hornet to make �ight trials. See US News.

First Indian C-17 delivered Boeing hands over �rst new transport. See World News.

Baltic action French Mirages intercept Russian aircraft. See Europe News.

ALSO THIS MONTH...

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Headlines

PARIS AIR SHOW HIGHLIGHTS USAF could kill A-10 or B-1The USAF is taking a hard look at extreme measures to cut costs. This could include culling either the A-10 Thunderbolt II or B-1B Lancer fleets. USAF Chief of Staff Gen Mark Welsh said on 17 June: ‘It’s cheaper to cut fleets than it is to cut a few from a fleet: a lot cheaper.’

Welsh went on to stress that no decision has been made, but he said that single-mission aircraft are more vulnerable in the current financial climate than multi-role types such as the F-16. He has also said recently that the USAF may need to retire as many as 700 aircraft on current plans.

F-35A test aircraft AF-01 conducts its �rst live missile launch over the US Navy’s Paci�c Sea Range near Point Mugu, California, on 6 June.

The milestone AIM-120 launch took place during the aircraft’s 314th test �ight, and with USAF Lt Col George Schwartz at the controls.

Lockheed Martin

The Russians returnSukhoi’s Su-35S �ew impressively at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget in June with Sergey Bogdan at the controls, marking the �rst appearance at the event by a Russian �ghter since 1999. Also of note was Kamov’s Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter, �nally making its debut international air show appearance in a �ying display. Jamie Hunter

and limited suppression and destruction of enemy air defences (SEAD/DEAD) operations in a contested environment’.

The announcement was included in a joint report that detailed service-specific IOC requirements. The US Marine Corps F-35B is set to achieve IOC with 10-16 aircraft between July and December 2015 with Block 2B software, and the US Navy’s F-35C will follow with 10 aircraft equipped with Block 3F software between August 2018 and February 2019. Whereas the Block 2B/3I software provides a limited engagement

envelope and weapons package, the 3F software affords a far more extensive multi-role capability.

According to the Pentagon’s acquisition, technology and logistics chief, the programme has made ‘major advances’ over the last three years and is no longer a ‘problem’. Under-secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Frank Kendall now plans to approve increasing the F-35 production rate in September. As a result, production will jump from 44 aircraft in 2015 to 66 in 2016.

The USAF IOC date previously stipulated Block 3F software. However, it now notes that it requires the full Block 3F capability later. The US Navy has held firm on needing full Block 3F configuration for its IOC date.

The 3F software release, needed for international customers to declare IOC, appears to have slipped to 2019. With Lockheed Martin now stating an expected acquisition cost of the F-35B at $110 million, programme chiefs expect at least 100 aircraft to be cut from the original 730-aircraft international requirements.

US sets F-35 IOC datesNew targets set as Lightning II programme shapes up

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NewsNext-generation Super Hornet progressAdvanced F/A-18F �ight tests planned

BOEING ANNOUNCED ON 20 May that it plans to make progress with its work on the Advanced Super Hornet and embark on a flight test programme

in August. The so-called Advanced F/A-18F features dummy conformal

fuel tanks, an internal infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor and an enclosed weapons pod (EWP) that will support demonstrations of the aircraft’s flight characteristics and evaluations of the radar cross-section (RCS) reduction efforts. Testing will be conducted over the Atlantic Test Range

near NAS Patuxent River, Maryland and will comprise 15-20 flights using different configurations with the aerodynamic test modifications. The conformal tanks will allow the fighter to carry an additional 3,500lb (1,588kg) of fuel internally, and Boeing claims they will increase the Super

KC-46 basing alternatives announcedThe USAF has con�rmed its preferred alternative locations for the initial KC-46A training and main operating bases. Among the facilities are Altus AFB, Oklahoma and McConnell AFB, Kansas, which were respectively chosen to house the formal training unit (FTU) and the �rst main operating base (MOB). Fairchild AFB, Washington, and Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, were selected as the reasonable alternative locations.

The preferred alternative for the �rst Air National Guard KC-46A main operating base is Pease ANGB at Portsmouth International Airport, New Hampshire. Forbes Field Airport in Topeka, Kansas; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey; Pittsburgh International Airport, Pennsylvania; and Rickenbacker ANGB, Ohio, are preferred alternatives.

The USAF will make its �nal basing decisions once the Environmental Impact Analysis

Process, which began in April, is completed. The FTU and the �rst KC-46A MOB will begin receiving aircraft in Fiscal 2016. The second MOB will receive it �rst aircraft during Fiscal 2018. The USAF plans to acquire 179 KC-46As under the �rst stage of a three-phase e�ort to replace more than 400 KC-135s and 59 KC-10s that will run until 2028. The aircraft will be divided between 10 main operating bases.

USAF transport forced to landThe Indonesian Air Force directed a USAF C-146A transport that reportedly entered its airspace without the proper diplomatic clearances to land on 20 May. The Dornier 328 was reportedly in transit from the Maldives to Singapore via Sri Lanka when it was instructed to divert into Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport in Banda Aceh. Indonesian law requires that any military aircraft passing through its airspace must have two separate

clearances issued by the Foreign A�airs Ministry and the Indonesian Military headquarters respectively. C-146A serial 11-3075, operated by the US Air Force Special Operations Command’s 524th Special Operations Squadron, had been scheduled to land for fuel at the airport. It was inspected upon landing and the �ve crew members were interviewed by Indonesian Air Force personnel before being allowed to refuel the aircraft and depart for their intended destination.

C-17 deliveries nearly completeThe USAF received the second-to-last new C-17A from Boeing on 30 May when the 222nd Globemaster III was delivered to Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. Although assigned to the 437th Airlift Wing, it will be jointly operated and maintained by the Air Force Reserve Command’s 315th Airlift Wing. A single C-17A remains to be delivered to the USAF.

USAF


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United StatesAmong the items that will be

evaluated by the Advanced Super Hornet �ight test programme

are conformal fuel tanks, an internal infra-red search and

track installation and an enclosed weapons pod. Boeing

Sea Knights retireMarine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 (HMM-262) has begun phasing out its 12 CH-46E helicopters as it prepares to transition to the tilt-rotor MV-22B. The aircraft will be progressively �own from MCAS Futenma, Okinawa, to Camp Kinser where they will await �nal disposition. CH-46E BuNo 156458 departed Futenma for the last time on 20 May. USMC

C-12 tested in new roleA �ight crew assigned to the 374th Airlift Wing’s 459th Airlift Squadron from Yokota AB, Japan, recently supported testing that evaluated the C-12J for use in the aeromedical evacuation role. The testing was conducted in San Angelo, Texas, where serial 86-0081 had undergone maintenance. Currently the USAF uses the C-130 and KC-135 as the primary platforms for aeromedical evacuation in the Paci�c region but the C-12J, which is capable of carrying up to 19 passengers, is being evaluated as a less expensive alternative when a small number of patients require transportation.

Squadron adds new training missionThe USAF’s 451st Flying Training Squadron conducted the �rst electronic warfare student training �ight at NAS Pensacola, Florida, on 4 June. Carried out as part of the squadron’s

combat systems o�cer (CSO) training syllabus, the mission marked the �rst time that the undergraduate aviation programme had formally incorporated the fundamentals of electronic warfare.

In support of the CSO mission the squadron’s 21 T-1As were modi�ed for electronic warfare training and equipped with two student and instructor training stations in the cabin. Student stations are located in the co-pilot position and in the aft cabin, which receives �ight information from the aircraft’s avionics, global positioning system and �ight instruments. Two �ight instructor positions are capable of introducing simulated threats to provide a virtual threat environment to students. The modi�cation also includes a simulated synthetic radar with virtual targets and the capability to record and play back the �ight data for further evaluation and enhanced �ight debriefs.

Previously, the electronic warfare portion of CSO training was taught only in a simulator, and basic �ying skills in the aircraft. With the new modi�cation, the electronic warfare skills are now integrated into the �ying during which the concepts, taught exclusively in the simulator, are reinforced while airborne. The squadron has carried out the specialised Undergraduate Combat Systems O�cer training mission as part of the 479th Flying Training Group at Pensacola since 2009 and currently provides instruction to approximately 350 students each year. The system was designed by Camber Corporation’s Sensor Systems Division, which was selected to develop the CSO Airborne Trainer system in March 2009. The �rst modi�ed aircraft carried out its initial test �ight from Dayton International Airport, Ohio, on 9 April 2010 and Stevens Aviation completed modi�cations on the last of 21 T-1As in August 2012.

USAF

New capability for TalonM-1 Support Services, which maintains the USAF’s T-38A adversary aircraft, has begun modifying them to carry the AN/ALQ-188 electronic attack training pod. Installation will allow the Talon to better replicate an adversary during simulated combat exercises. T-38As are used as adversary aircraft in support of the F-22A �eet at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, Tyndall AFB, Florida and Langley AFB, Virginia. USAF

Hornet’s combat radius by 135nm (250km) while freeing up stores pylons for weapons carriage. The EWP provides the capability to carry a variety of stores including up to four AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles or six Small Diameter Bombs and two AIM-120s.


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News

EMARSS makes first flightBoeing’s latest product moves ahead

BOEING CARRIED OUT the first flight of its MC-12S Enhanced Medium-Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS) aircraft on 22

May. The contractor is currently producing four Engineering, Manufacturing and

Development (EMD) aircraft, based on the Beechcraft King Air 350ER, for the US Army. During the four-hour flight, which was carried out at Beechcraft’s facility in Wichita, Kansas, the aircraft completed a number of first flight test objectives, including evaluation of aerodynamic handling qualities, aircraft systems

performance and autopilot functions. The US Army plans to move forward with MC-12S production and has requested $142 million in the Fiscal 2014 defence request for the purchase of four low-rate initial production (LRIP) aircraft and the refurbishment of the EMD aircraft to the production configuration.

Newest Poseidon �iesThe last of seven P-8As ordered under the second Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) lot conducted its �rst �ight on 14 May when BuNo 168440 (c/n 4082/4366) departed Renton Municipal Airport, Washington. The aircraft landed a short time later at Boeing Field-King County International Airport in Seattle, where systems integration is carried out in the contractor’s Installation and Check-Out (ICO) facility.

Multi-year V-22 contractThe US Navy has converted its Lot 18 V-22 contract to a multi-year type procurement that will allow the service to procure as many as 99 of the tilt-rotor aircraft at a reduced cost over a period of �ve years from Fiscal 2013 to 2017. Valued at around $6.5 billion, the project provides for the purchase of 92 MV-22Bs for the US Marine Corps and seven CV-22Bs for the USAF and includes options for an additional 23 aircraft. According to the US Naval Air Systems Command the multi-year procurement will save the service around $1 billion compared with separate annual purchases. Since the MV-22B was �rst deployed in 2007 the Bell-

Boeing production team has delivered 214 Ospreys and the aircraft have �own nearly 190,000 hours in combat.

Chinooks orderedBoeing and the US Army have agreed to the terms of a $4-billion multi-year contract for 177 CH-47F helicopters. The contract, which will save the Army more than $800 million, includes options for an additional 38 Chinooks. Deliveries of the aircraft purchased under this agreement will begin in 2015. The Army has already accepted 241 CH-47Fs that are operational with 15 Army active-duty and National Guard units and planned procurement includes 464 aircraft. The latest version of the Chinook has logged more than 86,000 combat hours in Afghanistan.

‘Hueys’ soldier onOnce the US Army’s most numerous helicopter, the UH-1 has now been replaced operationally by both the UH-60 and UH-72. More than 5,000 UH-1s were acquired between 1958 and 1974, and as recently as 2006 around 179 were still in service. The �nal phase-out began in 2007 when Lakota deliveries got under way. Plans

had called for the aircraft to be completely divested by 2015 but the Army continues to employ a small number of ‘Hueys’ that are primarily assigned to support testing duties. Now considered to be a non-standard aircraft, just 19 UH-1s remain in service although a number are also held in �yable storage at various sites.

DOS Spartans retiredThe US Department of State Air Wing sent the last of its four C-27As to storage with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, on 20 May when N47892 departed Patrick AFB, Florida. Although based at Patrick AFB, the four C-27As normally operated from bases in Colombia. Formally known as the US Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement A�airs — O�ce of Aviation (INL/A), the air wing received �ve C-27As from the USAF and placed four of the Spartans in service. Although assigned US civil registrations the aircraft primarily operated in support of the Colombian National Police (CNP) Anti-Narcotics Division (DIRAN), and were also assigned local serial numbers.

IN BRIEF


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United States

‘Night Wings’ moveThe 9th Special Operations Squadron and the 1st Special Operations Maintenance Squadron re-located from Eglin AFB, Florida, to Hurlburt Field on 20 May. The move, which involved around 400 personnel and eight HC-130Ps, consolidated all of the 1st Special Operations Wing’s aircraft and personnel at a single site. The 9th SOS had been stationed at Eglin since March 1988.

Eagles re-locateBeginning in July, F-15Cs assigned to the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing will temporarily re-locate from Barnes Air National Guard Base in West�eld to other facilities in the state while runway work is carried out at the West�eld Barnes Airport. Whereas 12 of the �ghters will operate from Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, those Eagles that are assigned to the Aerospace Control Alert (ACA) mission will be stationed at Otis ANGB in Falmouth. Prior to their assignment to the 104th FW, the Eagles had been located at the Cape Cod base, which is located on Massachusetts Military Reservation. The runway work is expected to take four to six months to complete.

Spartan squadrons receive new aircraftThe Mississippi Air National Guard’s 186th Air Refueling Wing received the �rst of eight KC-135Rs when serial 57-1486 arrived at Key Field Air National Guard Base from Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Ohio on 10 June. The wing expects to receive a second KC-135R on 24 June and six additional aircraft will follow by September. Six of the

aircraft are being transferred from the Ohio ANG’s 121st ARW at Rickenbacker. The tankers are replacing the wing’s C-27Js, which are being removed from service.

The Ohio ANG’s 179th Airlift Wing at Mans�eld Lahm Regional Airport received a pair of C-130Hs on 24 May that were transferred from the Alaska ANG’s 176th Wing. The unit will receive six additional Hercules in exchange for its four C-27Js, which will be retired by the end of September. The full complement of C-130s is set to be delivered by June 2016.

‘Mad Ducks’ �y �nal missionThe Michigan Air National Guard’s 110th Airlift Wing carried out its ceremonial �nal �ight of the C-21A at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base on 15 June. Although the unit will continue to operate the aircraft until July, it held the event to coincide with a drill weekend. Flown by the wing commander, the Learjet was greeted by the spray from �re rescue units upon its return to the �ightline. The wing’s 172nd Airlift Squadron had �own the USAF’s version of the Learjet 35 since transitioning from the A-10A in 2008 and had been scheduled to transition to the C-27J Spartan until the USAF made the decision to retire its �eet of new tactical airlifters. Rather than converting to the Spartan the wing will take on a new mission �ying the remotely piloted MQ-9A. The unit will not, however, have any Reapers directly assigned and will operate aircraft at deployed locations. It will transition to the new mission beginning on 1 October, thus ending more than 66 years of manned aircraft operations.

UNIT NEWS

The �rst MC-130J Commando II for the 352nd SOG (serial 10-5714) arrives at RAF Mildenhall on 7 June. David MackeyThe �rst of four Engineering,

Manufacturing and Development (EMD) MC-12S Enhanced Medium-Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS) aircraft carried out its �rst �ight at Beech Field in Wichita, Kansas, on 22 May. Boeing

CH-53K Super Stallions addedOn 30 May, the Naval Air Systems Command awarded Sikorsky Aircraft a $435.3-million contract modification that funds the production of four System Demonstration Test Article (SDTA) CH-53K helicopters. The quartet will be built to the same configuration as the fourth flight-test aircraft, currently being assembled at the company’s Florida Assembly and Flight Operations facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, and will support the heavy-lift helicopter’s operational evaluation. Under the terms of the contract, Sikorsky will deliver the first SDTA aircraft in 39 months, and the final example will be accepted by the end of March 2017.

Development of the CH-53K began in 2006 when Sikorsky was awarded a System Development and Demonstration (SDD) contract. To date, it has delivered two of the seven SDD CH-53Ks comprising the Ground Test Vehicle and the Static Test Article. Four flight-test aircraft and the Fatigue Test Article are currently being assembled, and a first flight of the CH-53K prototype is expected to take place in late 2014.

Ospreys and Commando IIs for Mildenhall

As CA closed for press, the 352nd Special Operations Group at RAF Mildenhall, England, had started to receive the �rst of 10 CV-22Bs and 12 MC-130Js. The 21st Special Operations Squadron will initially take on two Ospreys, but by the end of 2014 it will have its full complement of the aircraft. Transition to the MC-130J will take

a bit longer as the last of those aircraft will not arrive until 2018. The Commando IIs will initially replace the MC-130Ps operated by the 67th SOS but will eventually be assigned to the 7th SOS as well. The latter squadron currently operates the MC-130H. The 352nd has not had a vertical-lift capability since 2007 when its MH-53M Pave Low III helicopters were retired and the 21st SOS was inactivated.


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NewsProwler farewellVX-9 ‘Vampires’ retire EA-6B

US NAVY AIR Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 (VX-9) ‘Vampires’, based at NAWS China Lake, California, retired its last EA-6B Prowler on 30 May. The squadron has operated the Prowler less frequently over recent

years as test duties have diminished. However, the last flight of ‘Vandy 510’ truly marked a turning point in the EA-6B’s career as the type is retired from US Navy service and centralised with the US Marine Corps.

As the US Navy prepares to retire its last EA-6Bs in 2015, its requirement for training future flight crews is diminishing. In fact, Electronic Attack Squadron 129 (VAQ-129) at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, which serves as the fleet readiness squadron for the Prowler and the EA-18G Growler, will phase out EA-6B training in 2014. The US Marine Corps, however, will retain its Prowlers until 2019 and Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1 (VMAQ-1) was selected to take on the new training role from 2014. As a result of that decision, the squadron, which is known as the ‘Banshees’, was re-designated as Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Training Squadron 1 (VMAQT-1) on 14 June. Based at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, VMAQT-1 is one of four Prowler squadrons assigned to Marine aircraft group MAG-14. Phase-out of the USMC Prowlers is scheduled to begin in 2016.

The last VX-9 ‘Vampires’ EA-6B Prowler makes one �nal low-level trip through the canyons near Death Valley. Richard VanderMeulen

Triton fliesNorthrop Grumman’s MQ-8C carried out its �rst �ight on 22 May, when the unmanned aircraft system took o� from Palmdale Regional Airport, California. The Triton returned to the airport, which is home to the company’s manufacturing facility, at the conclusion of the 1.5-hour sortie. Northrop Grumman

‘Digital’ CobraPassing through Arlington Airport, Texas, in June, Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773 (HMLA-773) AH-1W Cobra BuNo 165449 sports a revised ‘digital camou�age’. The helicopter was noted in 2011 with a similar scheme, but now this appears to have been revised with a smaller design pattern as well as being emblazoned with a number of new titles. Michael Keaveney

GAO rejects Beechcraft protest over LAS contractThe Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied Beechcraft Corporation’s protest of the US Air Force’s award of the Light Air Support (LAS) programme contract to Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and its partner Embraer Defense and Security. The 13 June

announcement clears the way for the team to deliver the first of 20 A-29B Super Tucanos to the USAF in mid-2014. The entire complement of 20 aircraft will eventually be delivered to the Afghan Air Force once training is complete.


8-13 US News C.indd 12 24/06/2013 10:18

United States

‘Nightmares’ complete final deploymentMarine Attack Squadron 513 (VMA-513) completed its final deployment to Japan on 24 May when six AV-8Bs departed MCAS Iwakuni. While deployed in support of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, the ‘Flying Nightmares’ flew more than 550 sorties and logged over 1,000 flight hours. The squadron will be de-activated at MCAS Yuma, Arizona, on

13 July, ending a history that spanned more than 69 years. VMA-513 flew its final sortie at MCAS Yuma on 9 June. The Harriers were flown to Kadena AB, Okinawa, where they were transferred to a detachment from VMA-214 ‘Black Sheep’, which subsequently assumed responsibility for supporting the unit deployment programme.

AV-8B BuNo 165580 assigned to Marine Attack Squadron 513 lands at Kadena Air Base, Japan at the end of a �ight from MCAS Iwakuni. The Harrier was subsequently transferred to VMA-214, which is currently deployed to Japan. USMC

Air Guard deployments• Six F-16Cs operated by the Colorado Air

National Guard’s 140th Wing and more than 60 support personnel departed Buckley AFB on 4 June en route to a multi-national military training exercise in Jordan. While deployed the unit participated in the multi-service exercise ‘Eager Lion’, which ran from 9-20 June. The US Secretary of Defense has subsequently approved a request from the Kingdom of Jordan for the detachment of F-15Cs to remain in the country at the conclusion of the exercise in response to concerns about the ongoing crisis in neighbouring Syria.

• A pair of KC-135Rs operated by the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 171st Air Refueling Wing and four A-10Cs from the Maryland Air National Guard’s 175th Wing arrived at Amari air base, Estonia, on 31 May for participation in Exercise ‘Saber Strike 2013’. The joint exercise, which ran from 3-14 June, was conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and included forces from 14 nations.

• The USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Carrier Strike Group entered the US 5th Fleet area of operations on 9 June. The ship deployed from its home port with Carrier Air Wing 11 (CVW-11) embarked on 19 April and had been operating in support of the US 7th Fleet. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) CSG departed the 5th Fleet AOR on 13 June. During its three months on station, aircraft from the ship’s embarked CVW-7 flew 1,362 sorties and more than 8,033 flight hours in support of Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ (OEF).

DEPLOYMENT NEWS


8-13 US News C.indd 13 24/06/2013 10:18

News United Kingdom

First pilots graduate on Hawk T2RAF marks training milestone at RAF Valley

THE FIRST FOUR student pilots have graduated from the UK’s new advanced fast jet training course on the BAE Systems Hawk T2 with No IV(R) Squadron. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir

Stephen Dalton, was present to praise the efforts of Advanced Fast Jet Training Course 001. Graduating were Flt Lt Victoria Lyle, Flt Lt Steven Moore, Fg Off Thomas Wallington and Fg Off David Wild, all of whom have been streamed to join the Typhoon Force.

The new syllabus at RAF Valley makes extensive use of ‘synthetic’ training, using a range of simulators. It means that each student covers a wider syllabus than before, providing a more proficient fast jet pilot to the front-line operational conversion units. The course lasts about 11 months with around 120 hours of live flying and a similar number of synthetic hours,

culminating in a final check ride that includes evading airborne and surface-to-air threats at medium and low level. The students then have to fly a Paveway IV bomb attack against a designated target whilst trying to evade a low-level airborne threat, before leading their wingman home in a simulated emergency.

In a statement, the four students said: ‘Being on the first T2 course has proved to be an exciting and rewarding opportunity. Whilst there have undoubtedly been both pros and cons to being the T2 ‘Test Pilots’, we have been privileged to have the chance to be the very first students to receive this world-leading training.’

RAF Valley Station Commander Gp Capt Adrian Hill said: ‘This is the first graduation under the newly developed UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS)’. The next Hawk T2 course, with two Royal Navy and four Royal Air Force pilots, will graduate in August.

‘Dambusters’ deploy to the Middle EastFollowing the cancellation of the ‘Red Flag Alaska’ exercise in June, No 617 Squadron ‘Dambusters’ turned its attention to participating in another exercise, instead deploying under the 906th Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW) to the Middle East for ‘Shaheen Star 4’, conducted in the United Arab Emirates during May 2013. It saw the squadron operating alongside US Air Force and French Air Force air assets, while also being supported by a ground element from the Australian Defence Force.

Merlins from Nos 28 (AC) and 78 Squadrons have been heavily involved in combat operations in Helmand Province for the past four years. Crown Copyright

Merlins withdraw from AfghanistanThe RAF has wound up Merlin HC3 helicopter operations in Afghanistan, after nearly four years of continuous support to British forces on the front line. The Merlin Force has notched up over 18,000 hours in Helmand Province, having supported the Chinook Force in theatre since 2009.

As the UK starts to wind down operations in Afghanistan, the UK Ministry of Defence says that the overall requirement for helicopters in theatre has fallen by around 40 per cent in the past three years, and as a result the Merlin fleet

and its crews can now be returned to the UK to prepare for future roles.

Gp Capt Frazer Nicholson, Commander of the Joint Aviation Group based in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, said: ‘The Merlin helicopters have proven to be capable air asset that have tirelessly moved personnel and equipment in a really demanding environment. In 2010, we required more than 2,300 helicopter hours a month and now that number has dropped by around 40 per cent. Sqn Ldr Kevin Harris, Officer Commanding 1419 Flight, Merlin

Detachment, Camp Bastion, added: ‘The aircrew will return to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire where they will take some well-earned leave and the engineers will remain in Afghanistan to dismantle the aircraft for their onward transportation back to the UK.’

The next major focus for the Merlin Force will be the planned transition to Joint Helicopter Command’s Royal Navy Commando Helicopter Force, as the Merlin replaces the Sea King HC4 in the maritime role from 2015.


14 UK News C.indd 14 19/06/2013 09:21

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483 AFM UK Latest MK2.indd 15 20/06/2013 16:44


News

Mirage F1s meet ‘Flankers’French Air Force intercepts Russians during air policing

THE FOUR MIRAGE F1CRs of the French Air Force’s Escadron de Reconnaissance 2/33 ‘Savoie’ assumed the Baltic Air Policing role at

Šiauliai in Lithuania on 30 April. They will undertake the mission for a four-month period before handing over to

the Belgian Air Component at the end of August.

The Mirage contingent flew its first live intercept on 3 June, when a patrol escorted a Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-20 over the Baltic, before handing over to Swedish Air Force JAS 39 Gripens. The Mirages have since been kept busy, scrambling to intercept

Russian Air Force aircraft transiting to Kaliningrad. On 8 June these included two Sukhoi Su-24MRs and two Su-27s, and a Beriev A-50 and two Su-27s. On 11 June the French fighters scrambled to intercept two Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers accompanied by a pair of Su-27 escort fighters, together with a single Il-20.

Croatia to refurbish MiGs and MilsFaced with a shortage of funds to acquire a new combat type, the Croatian government has decided to refurbish part of its current MiG-21 fleet and add five more examples of the type. The Croatian Defence Ministry has short-listed offers from the Ukrainian SE Odessa Aircraft Plant and Romanian Aerostar, including the overhaul of seven and additional purchase of five aircraft.

Additional documentation was requested from the Ukrainian plant to prove the

ownership of aircraft left from a partly cancelled Yemeni order. Out of 28 MiG-21s ordered, Yemen has apparently taken delivery of only 20 examples. Ukraine’s ambassador to Croatia, Alexander Lavachenko, states that the ‘aircraft are owned by Ukraine […] as due to financial issues the buyer has cancelled delivery of eight remaining aircraft’. Croatian media reported that the Aerostar offer totalled €18.6 million, compared to €13.9 million for that from the Odessa Aircraft Plant.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian overhaul facilities in Sevastopol and Motor Sich of Zaporozhye have been selected as sub-contractors to the Croatian ZTC for the overhaul of six Mil Mi-8/17 helicopters, in a deal forged through Ukroboronprom. The Ukrainian offer was chosen over bids from Russia, Belarus and the Czech Republic. A first overhauled helicopter resulting from the programme is expected to enter service in October. Igor Salinger

The Armée de l’Air is participating in Baltic Air Policing for the fourth time, relieving a Royal Danish Air Force detachment that had been at Šiauliai since January. On 11 June the French �ghters scrambled to intercept two Tu-22M3 bombers accompanied by two Su-27 escort �ghters. EMA/Armée de l’Air

p016_p020_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 16 21/06/2013 10:08


Europe

MC-27J �ring trialsATK and Alenia Aermacchi have successfully completed the initial testing of the MC-27J multi-mission gunship. The Phase 1 tests involved a validation of the performance and functionality of the Roll-On/Roll-O� (RORO) gun system pallet and included live-�re, ground and �ight tests. The test events were conducted by ATK and Alenia personnel at Eglin AFB, Florida, having been designed and certi�ed by the US Air Force under the guidance of Air Force Special Operations Command. The RORO pallet carries a 30mm ATK GAU-23 cannon in a side-�ring con�guration.

C-295W and beyondOn 29 May Airbus Military unveiled an improved version of the C-295W (W for winglets). The winglets, �own previously on the C-295 AEW testbed, increase lift/drag ratio, while uprated engines further improve ‘hot and high’ performance. They also bring an improvement in fuel consumption. The more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127 engines also result in a payload increase of 1.5 tonnes at 25,000ft. For the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, the changes increase endurance by 30-60 minutes and increase operating altitude by up to 2,000ft. The C-295W will be the baseline standard from the fourth quarter of 2014.

Airbus Military has begun drafting plans for a future medium-lift transport, smaller than the A400M and the C-130. The new aircraft may emerge with a payload of around 9 tonnes, similar to the C-295, or between 16-18 tonnes, putting it on a par with the KC-390.

Second production A400M �iesAirbus Military has �own the second production A400M. Destined for the French Air Force, MSN8 wore French markings and a temporary French civil registration for its �rst �ight from Seville on 7 June. It will arrive with the French Air Force in the third quarter of the year.

MSN7, which �ew for the �rst time in March, was due to be delivered to the French Air Force in late June or early July. Production acceptance tests were completed with MSN7 at Seville in May. A �rst �ight for MSN9, the initial Turkish Air Force A400M, was planned before the end of June, with delivery scheduled for late September. The third French example, MSN10, should take to the air in late September, for delivery in December. MSN10 will be completed to the SOC1 software standard, providing for initial aerial delivery and self-protection equipment.

In May, test aircraft ‘Grizzly 2’ deployed a refuelling hose for an EC725 helicopter following at speeds of 105-130kt. In September it is planned to �y the A400M as a receiver behind a Transall airlifter.

AIRBUS MILITARY NEWS

End of the line for Spanish Mirage F1After more than 35 years in service with the Ejército del Aire, the operational service of the Mirage F1 has come to an end, marked with an open day at Albacete air base on 23 June. For many years the backbone of the Spanish Air Force, �own by Ala 11 at Manises (Valencia), Ala 14 at Albacete and Ala 46 at Gando (Gran Canaria), the Mirage will be replaced by the Euro�ghter Typhoon. Negotiations are ongoing with the Argentine government concerning a possible sale of Spanish F1s to replace the ageing Mirage �eet of the Argentine Air Force. Bob Fischer

Spain to cut Typhoons, A400MsIn e�orts to reduce military spending, Spain’s Defence Ministry has scrapped orders for 27 �xed-wing aircraft: 14 Euro�ghter Typhoons and 13 A400Ms. In addition, six Tigres are to be sold and Spanish Army orders for the NH90 will be cut from 45 to 22 helicopters. The cuts will help reduce a bill for defence modernisation from €33.34 billion to €29.49 billion up to 2030, a cut of some 11.5 per cent. The reductions come after a four-month period of negotiations with industry. An order for 15 Euro�ghters due for delivery between 2012 and 2014 had already been put on hold until at least 2015. Spain had previously indicated a requirement for a total of 27 A400Ms and 87 Typhoons.

Spain

Hand in handCelebrating 55 years of JbG 31 ‘Boelcke’ at Nörvenich and also

marking the current co-operation with JG 71 'Richthofen', Luftwa�e Euro�ghter serial 31+00 has received these special markings.

Dr. Andreas Zeitler

p016_p020_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 17 21/06/2013 12:32


News

‘Arctic Tigers’Dutch and German units prepare for Tiger Meet

THE LATEST ‘TIGER’ scheme prepared by the Luftwaffe’s Aufklärungsgeschwader 51 is seen flying near the wing’s Jagel base prior to the 2013 NATO Tiger Meet at Ørland

Main Air Station in Norway. Formerly operated by Jagdbombergeschwader 32 at Lechfeld, Tornado ECR 46+57 was one

of six aircraft deployed to Norway by the ‘Immelmann’ wing.

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16AM J-196 was painted for the Tiger Meet by 313 Squadron at Volkel. It is the same aircraft that received a different special scheme for the 2012 Meet. In a repeat of last year’s event, the latest edition of the Tiger Meet was hosted by 338 Skvadron, and ran from 17-28 June.

First Tigre HAD deliveredThe French Army took delivery of the �rst Tigre HAD (Hélicoptère d’Appui Destruction) on 29 May. The helicopter was delivered to the French Army Aviation base at Le Cannet-des-Maures, in the Var district of south-east France. The �rst front-line Tigre HADs will be deployed by the 1er Régiment d’Hélicoptères de Combat (1er RHC), based at Phalsbourg, beginning in 2014.

France chooses ReaperAfter evaluating the Israel Aerospace Industries Heron TP and MQ-9 Reaper, France has apparently selected the US product to ful�l an urgent requirement for a medium-altitude long-endurance UAV. The US Department of Defense has already approved the sale of two MQ-9s to France, but the deal awaits Congressional approval. France hopes to receive the drones before the end of the year and may ultimately require between �ve and seven Reapers, worth $385 million. The French Air Force is hopeful of deploying two of the new drones on Operation ‘Serval’ before the end of the year, supplanting the two ‘interim’ Harfang UAVs. In response, IAI revised its bid, o�ering immediate deliveries of two Heron 1s for use in Mali, followed by two larger, SATCOM-equipped Heron TPs to be supplied in less than four years. Longer-term, it has been reported that the French Air Force requires 12 new UAV systems, to achieve initial operational capability before 2017.

E-3F upgrade moves forwardThe �rst two French Air Force E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft are due to begin a sensor upgrade programme with Boeing within the next couple of months. The US company expects to complete work on all four aircraft by around 2016. The latest upgrade follows previous work that addressed the communications, mission computers and operator displays.

France orders more NH90sThe French Defence Ministry has awarded a contract for the supply of 34 NH90 Tactical Transport Helicopters (TTH) for the French Army. Con�rmed in late May, the follow-on order is valued at just under €1 billion. Once expected in 2010, and then scheduled again for early 2012, the deal has been repeatedly delayed. Previous French orders cover another 34 NH90 TTHs and 27 NATO Frigate Helicopter (NFH) versions.

Airbus awaits French MRTT dealAirbus Military o�cials have con�rmed that they expect a contract to be signed before the end of the year for the supply of A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft to the French Air Force. The company’s proposal involves the sale of 12-14 A330 MRTT aircraft, and a related risk-reduction exercise was carried out in 2012.

France

Reaper for Luftwaffe?Reports in the German media indicate that Berlin may favour the Israel Aerospace Industries Heron over the MQ-9 Reaper UAV. According to Der Spiegel, the Israeli drone is considered more ‘technologically advanced’. The German Defence Ministry met Israeli military officials in November 2012 and February 2013 regarding a purchase, and the chief of the Luftwaffe has attended a

demonstration of the armed Heron TP in Israel. The German Defence Minister has called for the introduction to the Luftwaffe of armed UAVs, but other German parties oppose this move. Currently, the Bundeswehr leases three Heron UAVs for reconnaissance in Afghanistan. Germany has already requested three MQ-9s. A final decision will not be made before the country’s federal election in September.

Bulgaria delays fighter buyBulgaria is to delay the announcement of a new fighter, with a decision perhaps only in 2014. While Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev announced a requirement for nine or 10 new fighters in May, the delay to the programme was announced by incoming

Defence Minister Angel Naydenov. It has previously been reported that options considered included nine former Portuguese Air Force F-16 Block 15s valued at $464 million, new Gripens, or second-hand Italian Eurofighters.

p016_p020_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 18 21/06/2013 10:08


Europe

Go-ahead for MiG UCAVIn mid-May the Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG received a contract for the research and development programme leading to an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) based on its Skat technology demonstrator. Under the contract, signed with the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry, RAC MiG will prepare a mock-up for a future strike UCAV aimed at the Russian military.

First Yak-130 deliveries of 2013In May it was announced that the Irkutsk Aviation Plant had delivered the three latest Yak-130 trainers to the Russian Air Force at Borisoglebsk. The �rst batch of Yak-130s delivered to Russia in 2013 comprises Bort

numbers 46-48. The Irkut Corporation is scheduled to deliver a total of 55 Yak-130s to the Russian Air Force by 2015. Another 15 jets are scheduled for delivery in 2013. The Air Force now operates 29 Yak-130s: 11 built by Sokol under a 2010 contract and 18 built by Irkut.

Sukhoi has also delivered the �rst Su-34 of the year to the Russian Air Force after a 6 May hand-over at Novosibirsk.

Upgrade for Russian Navy ‘May’ �eetIn May the Russian Defence Ministry awarded a contract for the modernisation of the Russian Navy’s �eet of Ilyushin Il-38 ‘May’ maritime patrol aircraft. An unspeci�ed number of Northern Fleet aircraft will be

equipped with the Novella mission system, bringing them up to Il-38N standard. Approximately 18 Il-38s remain in service with the Russian Navy. Ilyushin and Myasishchev will carry out the upgrade work at Zhukovsky. An initial Il-38N development aircraft (Bort number 15) began operational trials in 2011 and was declared operational in January 2013.

Looking further ahead, Russia plans to develop a successor to the Tu-142M in the anti-submarine warfare role. Development of the new type was con�rmed by Russian Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Viktor Chirkov. The C-in-C also indicated the Navy’s plans to acquire the Sukhoi Su-30SM multi-role �ghter.

Russia

Right top to bottom: Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16AM

J-196 of 313 Squadron at Volkel. Frank Crébas

Euro�ghter 30+29 of JG 74 at Neuburg, in its new markings for

the ‘Bavarian Tiger squadron’. JG 74’s 742 Sta�el has assumed

the heritage of the former NATO Tiger Association member unit

321 Sta�el from Lechfeld, which disbanded earlier this year.

Mathias Grägel

Ale

xand

er G

olz

p016_p020_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 19 21/06/2013 10:08


NewsNew Finnish JASSM contractLockheed Martin has received an additional $34-million contract related to the integration of the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) on to Finnish Air Force F-18C/D aircraft. The Foreign Military Sales contract from the US Air Force includes test missiles, software development and engineering documentation. A 2012 contract initiated the six-year integration, production and sustainment effort for the Finnish JASSM.

Russian military orders Be-200sIn May the Russian Defence Ministry signed a contract with the Beriev Aircraft Company for the purchase of six Be-200 amphibians. Handled by United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the deal is worth $268 million. While the first two aircraft will be basic Be-200ChS firefighting versions, the following four will be the Be-200PS variant without firefighting equipment. The order is the first of its kind for the Russian military, which may place a follow-on order for eight more aircraft in the future.

Super Galeb upgradeThe Serbian Air Force is in the process of selecting a provider for avionics upgrade packages for its revived G-4MD Super Galeb (Modernised Digitalised) project. This project will ensure that up to 15 of the advanced jet trainers remain in service up to at least 2030. EADS/Cassidian and Thales are among the contenders. Igor Salinger

(K)DC-10 upgrades completeFokker Services has completed a Cockpit Upgrade Programme (CUP) for a second Royal Netherlands Air Force (K)DC-10 tanker. The work was conducted according to a 2005 agreement with the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), and which covered modification of a DC-10 transport and two (K)DC-10 tankers for the RNLAF. The first aircraft (a DC-10) was re-delivered in April 2011. The CUP avionics were developed by Fokker and Boeing and the two remaining (tanker) aircraft were re-delivered within a period of 18 months.

JSM internal fit check on F-35Kongsberg has successfully completed a fit check of its Joint Strike Missile (JSM) in the internal weapons bay of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The latest test comes a month after a JSM fit check was conducted on the F-35’s external pylons. The JSM was specifically tailored for internal carriage in the F-35A and F-35C variants in order for the aircraft to maintain its stealth characteristics.

L-159 out of Polish trainer bidAero Vodochody has withdrawn from the tender to provide lead-in �ghter trainers for the Polish Air Force. The Czech company had o�ered its L-159 in the eight-aircraft competition and the type successfully undertook an international exercise in Poland in March. Aero said it came to its decision as a result of ‘chaotic proceeding from the awarding authority [sic] and ambiguities in the tender speci�cations’. Aero also participated in a previous tender for Polish trainers, cancelled in December 2011. The move leaves three companies in the process, after Alenia Aermacchi (M-346), BAE Systems (Hawk AJT) and Lockheed Martin UK (T-50) tabled bids in June.

Poland seeks VIP transportsThe Polish Defence Ministry’s Defence Armament Inspectorate has launched a process to charter four transport aircraft for VIP missions. Under consideration are two medium-range 65- to 90-seat airliners, and two long-range 15- to 19-seat business jets. The aircraft will replace the Polish Air Force’s remaining Tu-154M and four Yak-40s.

In related news, the Polish Air Force has received a second W-3WA Sokol (serial 1015) in VIP con�guration. The helicopter was delivered in accordance with a 2011 contract for �ve aircraft. The �rst W-3WA (1014) was handed over in January and the remaining examples are scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year.

Poland

Dutch anniversariesOn 12 June, the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s 322 Squadron celebrated its 70th anniversary, being the oldest �ghter squadron in the service. It was formed on 12 June 1943 at RAF Woodvale �ying Spit�res, hence the new markings on F-16AM serial J-006 (pictured). On 8 May, 323 Squadron marked its 65th anniversary, with F-16AM J-002 also receiving special markings. Cristian Schrik

Hungary seeks helos, interim transportsAfter over two years of direct negotiations to buy used ex-US Marine Corps Bell UH-1Ns or AgustaWestland AW139s from Italy under government-to-government deals, the Hungarian cabinet announced at the end of May that it will instead launch a tender to acquire its future military rotary-wing capability. The process will probably start in early 2014, and bids are due before the election in late spring, allowing the newly formed government to decide upon a winner as quickly as possible. Overall funds available for the deal amount to around $440 million.

Requirements have not been frozen, but officials intend to build a force equivalent to 15 Mi-17s. Meanwhile, it seems the Defence Ministry no longer wants to have a dedicated combat helicopter to replace the Mi-24. Therefore it is thought that the new type will be required to provide fire support and anti-tank capabilities beyond its primary role of multi-role transport.

Companies involved in recent presentations in Hungary include AgustaWestland, with the AW139M plus the AW119 for training; Eurocopter, offering both new and used Cougars, Super Pumas, and the EC645 for the light utility/armed roles; and Sikorsky with the Polish-manufactured S-70i, which may be supplemented by a light helicopter type from Bell.

A tender has already been issued to acquire a ‘State Airlift Fleet’. An interim solution is required for approximately five years, not to replace the An-26s currently in service but to provide range and speed capabilities beyond this type, as required for tasks including personnel rotations in Afghanistan. The Defence Ministry has drawn up two proposals, both requiring three aircraft: the first including a single cargo transport and two passenger aircraft, the second two passenger aircraft and one cargo. Due to limited funds, it is thought that the tender is virtually tailored for used BAe 146s. Zord Gábor László

p016_p020_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 20 21/06/2013 10:09

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24 Aviation News incorporating Classic Aircraft June 2013

The Classic Air Force (CAF) collection of more than 30 aircraft, many of them owned by the Classic Aircraft Trust, a registered charity since

2012, and others by Air Atlantique Ltd, are starting to � ll Newquay Cornwall Airport’s massive 63,000sq ft (19,202m2) Hangar 404, the largest building in Cornwall. It previously

housed RAF BAe Nimrods and ironically, the trust’s own Nimrod MR2 is stranded at Coventry due to the excessive cost of moving it by road.

The collection is the vision of one man, Michael Collett, who began acquiring classic British-built aircraft in 1970, and building his Air Atlantique Group, using the Douglas

DC-3 Dakota and DC-6, and Lockheed Electra, at Coventry, from 1985. After a � eet modernisation, Collett decided to break up the businesses through management buyouts, enabling him to devote more time to restoring his aircraft to � y.

It is easy to understand the decision to move to Newquay, given the impressive

CLASSIC AIR FORCE MOVES TO CORNWALL

Classic Air Force has recently moved to Newquay Cornwall Airport. Philip Stevens was there for the opening of its new base.

Above: Tim Skeet is Chairman of the Classic Aircraft Trust.

Left: Anson C.21 G-VROE looks on as visitors crowd CAF’s hangar at Newquay for its grand opening event on March 29.

24-26_cornwall.mn.mfDC.mfDC.mfDC.mfDC.mf.indd 24 01/05/2013 14:43

25www.aviation-news.co.uk

facilities on offer. David Blackburn, Classic Aircraft Trust trustee, has known Mike Collett since they learned to � y in their teens: “Mike had already decided that Coventry was not the right place [for CAF] before he was persuaded to move to the Cornwall Aerohub Enterprise Zone. The rent is signi� cantly less and we have no rates to pay in the � rst year.”

Richard Spencer-Breeze, General Manager of the new Newquay base, has been delighted with the response from local people: “We held a meet-and-greet in January and almost 50 people turned up. A further 60 volunteers have since registered and it’s all been by word of mouth.” The volunteers have a passion for classic aircraft and provide a wide range of skills. Some are ex-servicemen, but many others are simply aircraft enthusiasts who are willing to do simple tasks, including painting, washing and general administration.

THE MOVE SOUTHSince the beginning of 2013, the aircraft have been � own down from Coventry when good weather and serviceability have allowed. First to arrive was Auster J/1

Autocrat G-JAYI on January 5, taking three hours. Over the following weeks some of de Havilland’s � nest migrated south, including DH.89A Dragon Rapides G-AIDL/TX310 and G-AGTM, Vampire T.55 G-HELV/‘XJ771’, Venom FB.50 G-DHVM/‘WR470’ and Chipmunk T.10 G-APLO. Avro 652A Anson C.21 G-VROE/WD413, Hunting Jet Provost T.3A G-BWDS/XM424 and DC-3 Dakota G-AMRA were also � own down by CAF Chief Pilot Jon Corley who has one of the most varied piloting jobs in the vintage aircraft � ying fraternity. Gloster Meteor T.7 G-BWMF/WA591, the oldest airworthy British jet in the world, failed to make the grand opening despite several attempts, all aborted due to less than ideal weather. It eventually arrived in Newquay on April 30.

Corley was at the controls of immaculately restored Percival Proctor G-AKIU, which took to the air for the � rst time in more than 20 years last September. When permission is received from the CAA it will be made available for pleasure � ying. It will be used alongside the Rapides, Prentice, Chipmunk, and the Dakota, if discussions with the CAA prove fruitful. CAF also offer the chance to

experience aerobatics in the Chipmunk.Non-airworthy aircraft transported by road

were de Havilland Sea Devon C.20 G-SDEV/XK895, Hawker Sea Hawk WV798 and two Hawker Hunters, T.8C G-BWGN/WT722 and GA.11 WV256, which will be painted scarlet to represent Neville Duke’s world air speed record jet from 1953 and pole-mounted at the museum’s entrance. A recent addition to the collection is Vickers Varsity T.1 G-BEDV/WJ945, which arrived by road from Duxford.

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIPThe trust works in tandem with Air Atlantique which, through a formal service agreement, maintains and operates the � yable aircraft. Tim Skeet, trust Chairman, explains: “Mike Collett wants to retire and hand over the collection, but it has to stand on its own two feet. Ongoing costs and expenses incurred, including the development of this site, are currently funded by Air Atlantique from its resources, on friendly credit terms. This means repaying any loans, covering its costs and building a fund for future expansion of the � eet. As a charity, the idea is not to make a pro� t, but to invest in the future.”

Top: Another Percival type, Prentice VR259, registered G-APJB, is already available for visitors to � y in.

Above: There are several non-� ying aircraft in the collection, including this de Havilland Sea Devon C.20, G-SDEV/XK895.

Main photo: Dragon Rapide G-AGTM is available for pleasure trips from CAF’s Newquay base. Passengers experience all the joys of � ying in a vintage airliner, and get to see Cornwall’s spectacular coastline from the air. All photos Philip Stevens unless stated

24-26_cornwall.mn.mfDC.mfDC.mfDC.mfDC.mf.indd 25 01/05/2013 14:45

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Clive Bennett visited Dover AFB to hear about C-5M Galaxy operations

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Now incorporating the best of Classic Aircraft magazine and with articles covering subjects from World War Two, through the Cold War years to present day.

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Alan Kenny had exclusive access to the military ramp at the Angolan

capital’s airport

440/13

B U C C A N E E R B O S S

Graham Pitchfork was the first navigator to command an RAF strike/

attack squadron

440 AN Latest FP.indd 21 20/06/2013 15:03

A �ne aerial study of a new 37° Stormo ‘Cesare Toschi’ Euro�ghter Typhoon. A single squadron, 18° Gruppo, is based at Trapani.

20132013STAR VEGAFrom 13-24 May the front-line units of Italy’s Aeronautica Militare joined forces to train against modern asymmetric threats, in what was the air arm’s most important exercise of the year.

report and photos: Giovanni Colla


EXERCISE REPORT

p022_p023_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 22 19/06/2013 09:20

EXERCISE ‘STAR VEGA 2013’ was organised in order to train Italian Air Force personnel in the planning and management of a complex air campaign. The exercise scenario involved

a simulated international crisis to which Italian forces were tasked to respond under a United Nations mandate. It aimed to replicate all the contingencies typical of a complex operation, such as that encountered in Libya in 2011.

In attempting to reduce costs, ‘Star Vega 2013’ involved all the operational units of the Italian Air Force in a single exercise, the units taking part for the entire duration from five air bases. Reconnaissance, electronic warfare and attack squadrons operated from Decimomannu in Sardinia, where types comprised the Tornado IDS from 6° Stormo at Ghedi, AB212 from 9° Stormo at Grazzanise, Gulfstream III Dragon Star (see Cutting Edge in this issue) from 14° Stormo at Pratica di Mare, HH-3F from 15° Stormo at Cervia, AMX from 32° Stormo at Amendola and 51° Stormo at Istrana, Tornado ECR from 50° Stormo at Piacenza, NH500 from 72° Stormo at Frosinone and C-27J from 46a Brigata Aerea at Pisa. Air defence components were concentrated at Trapani in Sicily, with Eurofighter Typhoons from the locally-based 37° Stormo, 4° Stormo at Grosseto and 36° Stormo at Gioia del Colle. Meanwhile, KC-767A tankers operated from Pratica di Mare, transport squadrons with C-130s and C-27s from Pisa, and the Predator unmanned aerial vehicles of 28° Gruppo from Amendola. In addition, a joint

component, specialised in intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance and electronic warfare also took part in the exercise.

Optimised trainingAnother specific goal was to optimise the training impact on a logistical and organisational level. With this in mind, a significant proportion of the personnel did not need to re-locate in order to participate.

Both weeks of ‘Star Vega’ saw two missions being flown each day. Morning waves usually kicked off around 10.00hrs and afternoon departures began at 15.00hrs. The end result was more than 400 sorties for a total of over 800 flying hours.

Since the training activities did not use any live weaponry, the Italian Air Force employed modern simulation technologies including the Autonomous Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation (AACMI) system. Combined air operations (COMAO)

missions were carried out within restricted NOTAM working areas, all of which were over the sea to the east or west of Sardinia. These were accessible via corridors that only allowed military aircraft to pass through.

The results were very satisfactory for all participating units. The Italian Air Force pilots were particularly pleased, since they were able to increase their professional training through the exchange of ideas, tactics and experience. A particular benefit was the possibility for Blue Forces and Red Forces to brief and debrief missions together and from different air bases, thanks to a dedicated video conference system that allowed communication in real time.

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank Capt Testa and Tenente Antonetti of the SMA in Rome, and Capt Cristian Angelillo and M.llo Roberto Meloni at Trapani air base.


p022_p023_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 23 19/06/2013 09:20

News

New Delhi lines up dealsThe Indian Air Force chief, ACM N. A. K. Browne, has outlined major deals that he hopes will be sealed this �scal year. Valued at a combined $25 billion, the big-ticket items include 126 Dassault Rafales, three special-operations C-130Js (as a follow-on order), 22 AH-64E Apache Longbows, 15 CH-47F Chinooks and six A330 MRTTs. Under discussion is a follow-on order for a further six C-130Js, and a potential 10 additional C-17As. Also earmarked are a further 59 Mi-17V-5s, to join 80 already under contract.

New ‘Flanker’ unitAs part of its measures to reinforce military capabilities in the Indian Ocean, the Indian Air Force has inaugurated a new �ghter base at

Thanjavur in Southern Command’s Tamil Nadu. Commissioned on 27 May, the base will receive a squadron of 16-18 Su-30MKIs by 2018. To date, over 170 of the 272 Su-30MKIs under contract from Russia have been delivered. Existing bases are at Pune and Bareilly (two squadrons each), plus single squadrons at Tezpur, Chabua, Halwara and Jodhpur. Another squadron is due to be stood up at Sirsa, after which Tezpur, Chabua, Jodhpur and Halwara should receive their second squadrons.

India examines US-2India and Japan are to establish a joint working group to study co-operation on the ShinMaywa US-2 amphibian. The scope of the programme could eventually include joint production, operation and training. The Indian

Air Force and Navy previously issued a request for information for the purchase of amphibious aircraft, to which Beriev, Bombardier and ShinMaywa responded. India plans to station its new amphibians in the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Indian Ocean.

IAF PC-7 in serviceThe Indian Air Force has inducted the Pilatus PC-7 MkII as its latest basic trainer. The turboprop was o�cially inducted with the Air Force Academy during a 31 May ceremony at Dundigal in Hyderabad. The PC-7 will provide basic training to all Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and Coast Guard pilots, superseding the HJT-16 Kiran in this role. A �rst batch of �ight cadets will begin training on the PC-7 from July.

India

Indian C-17A deliveredFirst Globemaster III for IAF

THE INDIAN AIR Force’s first C-17A departed for its new home at Air Force Station Hindon near New Delhi on 11 June. Although accepted by India on 22

January, the Globemaster III subsequently underwent a flight test programme

at Edwards AFB, California that was completed recently. Boeing is scheduled to deliver four more C-17s to the IAF this year including two that will follow over the next six weeks. No 81 Squadron at Hindon will hold a formal induction ceremony for the first lot of three C-17As in August. Five additional C-17As will

be delivered to India by late 2014. While the second IAF C-17 underwent flight tests at Long Beach, Boeing officials said they were hopeful of further Globemaster III sales to both existing customers and potential new clients, likely to include Kuwait, Algeria and Saudi Arabia. Tom Kaminski


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World

Afghan ‘Hinds’ get their gunsOn 31 May it was revealed that Afghan Air Force Mi-35s have begun firing rounds from their newly-mounted twin-barrel 23mm GSh-23 guns. The first trials with the weapon took place on 15 May and were conducted by the 377th Rotary-Wing Squadron of the Kabul Air Wing, firing 725 rounds. The two-ship formation tested the weapon after over two months had been spent co-ordinating weapons and ammunition availability, firing range openings and live-fire training permissions. The crew consisted of both Afghan pilots and Czech instructors.

Algerian MiG-29 case closedThe final defendant in a criminal case relating to the supply of low-quality equipment for MiG-29 fighters to Algeria has received a four-year suspended sentence in Moscow. After receiving 15 jets, Algeria reneged on a $1.3-billion contract for 28 MiG-29SMT fighters and six two-seat MiG-29UBs in May 2007, citing manufacturing quality concerns. The final defendant was the former general director of a company that sold RAC MiG outdated equipment using forged certificates. Three Russian businessmen involved in the fraud were convicted in May 2012.

Iraqi arms deal moves forwardReports from Moscow suggest that Russia has begun to fulfil arms exports to Iraq after a first receipt of payment from Baghdad. A $4.2-billion deal agreed between the two countries in October 2012 includes the supply of 30 Mi-28NE attack helicopters. Deliveries are intended to begin this summer, now that an Iraqi corruption investigation has been closed.

The 254th C-17 to be delivered, C-17A serial CB-8001 departs Long

Beach Airport, California, at the start of its delivery �ight to India

on 11 June. The aircraft is the �rst of 10 ordered for the Indian Air

Force. Boeing

Australia selects HATS contendersAustralia’s Ministers for Defence and Defence Materiel announced on 30 May that they had down-selected three tenders for the country’s AIR 9000 Phase 7 Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS). The three tenders chosen were received from Australian Aerospace Ltd (a subsidiary of Eurocopter), Boeing Defence Australia (in a bid undertaken with Thales Australia), and Raytheon Australia Ltd (in a teaming agreement with Bell Helicopter). The new joint training aircraft will replace the Army’s �eet of 40 Kiowas and 13 Navy Squirrels and will be based at Nowra, New South Wales beginning in 2016-17. A request for tender was issued in early 2012 and a winner may be announced around mid-2014. The three proposals are centred around the Eurocopter EC135, which has been proposed by both Australian Aerospace and Boeing Defence Australia, and the Bell 429, which is o�ered by Raytheon Australia. Tom Kaminski

Australia Japan may re-think F-35 scheduleReports from Japan suggest that economic pressures may force Tokyo to slow down its acquisition of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. Japan plans to acquire 42 F-35As, but the timeline for deliveries is likely to be re-structured, pushing back the fulfilment date for all deliveries from 2021 to 2023. Japan has committed to purchase four Lighting IIs for delivery in 2017, at a unit cost of around $124 million. A consortium led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will assemble the remaining aircraft locally.

Libya requests C-130JsOn 10 June the US Congress was notified by the Defense Security Co-operation Agency of a possible sale to Libya of two C-130J-30 transports. The Foreign Military Sale would include a total of 10 AE2100D3 engines, associated equipment, training and logistical support, and is valued at $588 million. The announcement indicated that Libya intends to use its new Hercules primarily for in-country airlift, including border security and interdiction of terrorists.


p024_p029_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 25 19/06/2013 16:30

NewsUntil being replaced by the J-10, Chengdu J-7EH serial 83341 was in service with the PLANAF’s 12th Air Regiment, part of the 4th Naval Aviation Division. via Chinese internet

South Korean patrol plansReports in the Korean media indicate that Seoul is preparing to buy 20 maritime surveillance aircraft. The acquisition for the Republic of Korean Navy (RoKN) has apparently been approved by the Joint Chiefs of Sta� and the new aircraft are intended to supplement the �eet of 16 P-3C Orions. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration is likely to acquire them via an overseas purchase programme worth an estimated $889 million. Potential platforms for the requirement include the Airbus Military C-295 MPA, Boeing P-8 and Lockheed Martin SC-130J.

In a separate programme, Korean Air has contracted L-3 Mission Integration to upgrade eight RoKN P-3Cs. The Orions will receive modernised radar and sensor systems by 2016. The upgrade will bring the eight remaining Lot 1 aircraft to the same Lot 2 standard as the rest of the �eet. L-3 will design and develop the upgrades, which will be installed in South Korea by Korean Air.

F-X contenders line up o�ersWith bidding for Seoul’s F-X Phase III �ghter programme under way in June, rivals in the competition have been putting together �nal o�ers to Korean industry. In the running for the 60-aircraft deal are the Boeing F-15SE, Lockheed Martin F-35 and the Euro�ghter Typhoon Tranche 3. As this magazine went to press, a �nal selection was due by the end of June. The numbers in US DoD noti�cations looked like shaping up roughly as $10 billion for the F-35, against $6 billion for the F-15SE. Many predict that this may tip the balance in favour of a further Slam Eagle buy, whereas the F-35 was looking to be a dead certainty two years ago.

• Should the Typhoon be selected, EADS is o�ering to invest $2 billion for joint development of the follow-on KF-X programme (although the status of this

remains uncertain). Euro�ghter has said that 53 Typhoons will be built or assembled in Korea. EADS would also build a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility and an aerospace software centre and help market Korean-made combat aircraft. As an o�set, Spain may be willing to buy up to 20 Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 trainers.

• The Lockheed Martin package involves assistance in pitching the T-50 for the US Air Force’s T-X procurement, perhaps including the purchase of an initial two aircraft. The company would also o�er advanced manufacturing work for KAI in the F-35 programme.

• Finally, Boeing has indicated that it will establish a local avionics MRO facility in Yeongcheon, while KAI will be o�ered a greater stake in the F-15 production programme.

Due to delays in the selection process, the planned �rst delivery of �ghters has been pushed back from December 2016 to August 2017. The US Department of Defense has noti�ed Congress about the potential sale of weapons for the F-15SE Silent Eagle and F-35 Lightning II, should either of these be selected for South Korea’s 60-aircraft F-X Phase III requirement. The Foreign Military Sale weapons package for the F-15SE will cost $823 million, to include 274 AIM-120C-7 AMRAAMs, 542 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), 362 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits for the BLU-109 (GBU-31), 780 JDAM tail kits for the Mk82 (GBU-38), 170 JDAM tail kits for the Mk84 (BLU-117), 170 2,000lb BLU-117 bombs, 362 2,000lb BLU-109 bombs, and 154 AIM-9X-2 Sidewinders.

The weapons package for the F-35 will cost $793 million and will include 274 AIM-120C-7s, 542 SDBs, 530 JDAM tail kits for the BLU-109 (GBU-31), 530 BLU-109s, 780 GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and 154 AIM-9X-2s.

South Korea

Targeting pod for China’s J-10A new image clearly shows that the J-10 fighter has begun to receive a targeting pod capability, perhaps in the form of the K/JDC-01 as used on the JH-7A. The J-10A shown here is

a factory-owned aircraft that wears a new style of serial: while the meaning of ‘95’ is unclear, the remaining digits indicate that this is the 13th aircraft from production Block 6.

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Malaysia looks at Gripen leaseAccording to a statement by the chief of the Royal Malaysian Air Force, the air arm may opt to lease second-hand Saab Gripens from Sweden. The RMAF requires a replacement for its MiG-29N fleet, but may face a funding shortfall. If this is the case, argues RMAF chief Gen Rodzali Daud, a leasing deal for the Gripen may be the best option. The statement came as the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) competition suffers delays while the RMAF awaits clarification of the availability of funding.

Philippines finalises FA-50 buyThe Philippine Department of National Defence (DND) is preparing to put the finishing touches to a deal under which it will acquire 12 FA-50 light attack aircraft from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). The contract will be worth around $300 million. Although plans for the purchase were announced in August 2012, the Philippines Air Force notes that local discussions are still under way, with the aim of clarifying the terms of reference for the buy.

AFTER THE HAND-OVER of the final 12 F-7BGI fighters for the Bangladesh Air Force, CAC reportedly closed down the J-7

line at Chengdu, marking the end of a production run stretching over 50 years.

The first MiG-21s were built in the USSR beginning in 1959,


p024_p029_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 26 19/06/2013 16:30

World

while in China the history of the J-7 started in 1961, following a series of negotiations and signature of a licence manufacturing agreement to cover the MiG-21F-13 and its R-11F-300 engine. However, the rift between the two communist states saw delivery of the contracted items being suspended. This left the Chinese with incomplete paperwork and Shenyang initiated

an intensive reverse-engineering programme in 1962.

Construction of a J-7 prototype and its WP-7 engine began in 1964 and the first Chinese-built MiG-21 made its maiden flight on 17 January 1966, piloted by Ge Wenrong. In 1965 J-7 production had been re-located to Chengdu’s Aircraft Factory 132, where it has now finally ended.

The first true serial-production J-7A took off in June 1973. From this date onwards, the J-7 was manufactured in several different versions for nearly 40 years. It is said that in PLAAF service the remaining J-7B and J-7D early models will soon be retired and replaced by the J-10, while the later J-7E and J-7G are set to soldier on for a few more years to come. Andreas Rupprecht

Team Spartan aims for FWSARA new industrial partnership has been established to o�er the C-27J Spartan for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Fixed-Wing Search and Rescue Replacement (FWSAR) programme. The airlifter will be o�ered by a team comprising Alenia Aermacchi, General Dynamics Canada, and DRS Technologies Canada Ltd. Alenia Aermacchi will serve as prime contractor and will provide the aircraft in ‘green’ condition, plus engineering support and avionics. General Dynamics Canada will carry out mission modi�cations and DRS TCL will provide long-term training support.

Gripen leaves Canadian competitionSaab has withdrawn its Gripen from the Canadian �ghter competition, at least for the time being. A company statement dated 3 June noted that, based on discussions in Canada, ‘conditions were not yet ripe for us to act’. Although it will not participate in the market analysis, Saab may well re-enter the competition at a later date. Some observers have taken the move by the European company as an indication that the competition remains unfairly weighted in favour of the F-35.

Canada CF-188 demonstration jet

On 19 May the 2013 Royal Canadian Air Force CF-188 demonstration team jet (serial 188797) made an overnight stop at London, Ontario. The Hornet was on its way to Moose Jaw, �own by the 2012 demo pilot, Capt Patrick ‘Paco’ Gobeil. This year’s theme is ‘The Common Thread’, which features the bilingual lyrics to the Canadian National Anthem as well as

numerous icons that represent all aspects of Canadian culture across the spine and tail, as well as a stylised Canadian Flag on the spine framed by the provincial and territorial �ags. Commemorative markings on the port LEX fence commemorate 30 years of CF-188 aerial demonstrations. The 2013 demo pilot is Capt Patrick ‘Flocho’ Pollen of 425 Squadron at 3 Wing, CFB Bagotville, Quebec. Andrew H. Cline

‘Fishbed’ production concludes in ChinaEnd of an era at Chengdu


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News

AS IN PAST years, flypasts by Iranian armed forces aircraft took place over southern Tehran during Iran’s Military Day parade. Twenty-four jets took part

on the morning of 18 April, together with 38 Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation helicopters of different types, comprising AH-1Js, Bell 214As, CH-47Cs and AB206Bs. The biggest surprise was the flypast of three Mirage F1s, although IRIAA AB205A-1s were absent from this year’s display.

From 10 April, participating aircraft and helicopters were re-located to Tehran,

where they began preparations soon after. According to the initial plan, the parade was to include 21 fighters and bombers, consisting of F-5s, Saeghes, MiG-29s, Su-24s, F-14s and F-4s. At the last moment, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force commander-in-chief approved the participation of the Mirage. The various aircraft were flown in quintuple (diamond) and triple (arrow) formations.

Nine IRIAF Tactical Fighter Bases together with two Army Aviation Air Bases were engaged in the air parade. The 31 fighters and bombers (some of them provided as spares during the parade) came from the

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th TFBs, and were stationed at TFB.1 Lashgari to participate in the parade. Some 49 helicopters from the 4th Assault Support Base and the Vatan-Poor Training Centre (ex-Prince Reza Pahlavi) gathered at Dushaan-Tappeh airfield in Tehran. IRIAF participation in the display itself consisted of three F-5Fs, three F-5E Saeghes, three MiG-29UBs, three Mirage F1EQ/BQs, five F-4Es, five F-14As and two Su-24MKs. Ten minutes later they were followed by the 38 IRIAA helicopters flown in 13 ‘arrow’ formations over the parade station. Babak Taghvaee

Iranian 707s retiredThe Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force-operated Saha Airlines has ceased operations with its fleet of Boeing 707s. On 22 April the Iranian Department of Civil Aviation announced that the operating licence for the type had been withdrawn. Saha Airlines had flown the type since 1980, and the last two examples in service were 707-3J9Cs EP-SHU (5-8310) and EP-SHV (5-8309).

During the second joint practice prior to the parade, IRIAF Su-24MK 3-6810 equipped with the UPAZ-1A buddy refuelling pod taxies towards the runway at TFB.1 while two F-4Es prepare for take-o�. Babak Taghvaee

Apache Guardians for Saudi ArabiaBoeing has received two separate Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contracts associated with the production of the Block III AH-64E for Saudi Arabia. Although the specific number of aircraft has not been confirmed, the contractor received a $69.2-million contract modification for the production of Block III airframes. Boeing also received a $14.3-million modification to another contract associated with the purchase of

12 new AH-64Es for the Saudi Arabia National Guard. Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin has received a $90-million contract for the supply of Longbow radar systems for Saudi Apaches. The contract will provide an undisclosed number of Longbow Fire Control Radars (FCRs) for the Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Command and for the Saudi Arabia National Guard. Tom Kaminski

Iran’s Military Day air paradeIranian air power showcased over Tehran


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World

Argentina orders Bell 412After much delay, the Argentine government has approved the purchase from its Canadian counterpart of a new-build Bell 412 for $10 million, and a second-hand aircraft for $7 million. The helicopters will be delivered to the Argentine Air Force to reinforce the existing Bell 212 �eet and to begin replacement of helicopters operated by VII Brigada Aérea, located at José C. Paz, near Buenos Aires. The unit also operates the Mi-171 and Hughes 500. Santiago Rivas

Argentina approves AB206 orderAfter over four years of negotiations, the Argentine government has approved a contract for the purchase of 20 AB206 helicopters from the Italian government. The former Carabinieri aircraft will be transferred to the Argentine Army. In exchange, the force will return three decommissioned G222s and pay AgustaWestland $2.6 million for the overhaul of the helicopters. The contract was signed between the Argentine and Italian Defence Ministries. The new AB206s will be used for scout missions by the Escuadrón de Aviación des Exploración y Ataque 602 at Campo de Mayo air�eld in Buenos Aires and di�erent Aviation Sections across the country. Santiago Rivas

Argentina receives GrobOn 10 June four Grob TP120s were handed over to the FAdeA aircraft factory after an agreement was reached between the two manufacturers to promote the model and the IA-63 Pampa II. A batch of 10 TP120s will be leased by FAdeA to the Argentine Air Force for use by the Military Aviation School, replacing the retired Beech B-45 Mentor basic trainers. Two aircraft were already in Argentina for assembly, but o�cial delivery took place once a total of six aircraft had arrived in Argentina. The aircraft were purchased for €20 million, including spares and training. The agreement includes provision for Grob to re-purchase the aircraft after �ve years, when it is hoped that the IA-73 Unasur I trainer will be available. The latter is currently under development by FAdeA. Santiago Rivas

Stakes raised in FX-2 biddingCompanies battling to win Brazil’s much-delayed FX-2 �ghter competition have made

e�orts to raise the stakes for the $4-billion, 36-aircraft bid in recent weeks. US Vice-President Joe Biden briefed President Dilma Rousse� in Brasilia on the Boeing F/A-18E/F, issuing an assurance that US Congress will agree to transfer sensitive technology. Also in the running are the Dassault Rafale and Saab Gripen. Saab has upgraded its o�er for FX-2, pitching the Sea Gripen concept to the Brazilian Navy, and arranging a related test �ight of the JAS 39D. An outsider in the bidding, Rosoboronexport has pitched the Su-35 to Brazil as part of a wider arms package outside the framework of the tender. The Sukhoi �ghter was originally removed from the shortlist in 2009.

Uruguay o�ered Y-12China has o�ered the Uruguayan government a donation of two Y-12 light transports with

the aim of demonstrating the model to Latin American countries, after an o�er to sell eight examples to the Venezuelan air arm failed. The Uruguayan Air Force is interested in using the type to equip the Escuadrilla de Enlace of Brigada Aérea II based at Durazno, and currently equipped with four Cessna 206s. Santiago Rivas

Venezuela negotiating DorniersThe Venezuelan government is in negotiations with RUAG Aviation for the purchase of eight Dornier Do228NGs after it ruled out the purchase of the Chinese Harbin Y-12. The aircraft will mainly be used for liaison, but it is possible that some will be equipped for special missions, such as ELINT/SIGINT or maritime surveillance. Negotiations are expected to be completed before the end of the year, leading to a contract signature. Santiago Rivas

South AmericaSerial 040, a single-seat MiG-29SMP upgrade, is seen last year at Las Palmas air base. Under a new contract, the remaining MiG-29s in the Peruvian inventory may now be brought up to the same standard. Note also the new two-tone light grey camou�age colours. Sergio de la Puente

Peruvian ‘Fulcrum’ upgradeRussian news agencies reported on 20 May that Russia and Peru are to sign a contract for the upgrade of Peruvian Air Force MiG-29 �ghters. The news was based on a statement from Konstantin Biryulin, deputy head of Russia’s Federal Military-Technical Co-operation Service. Previously, under a 2008 contract, RAC MiG was contracted to upgrade eight of Peru’s MiG-29s (six

MiG-29S and two MiG-29UB) to MiG-29SMP standard. Work was suspended for a period, but was reportedly completed in 2012. It is as yet unclear what the new upgrade will constitute, or how many aircraft will be addressed. The original Peruvian MiG-29 �eet (16 MiG-29S and two MiG-29UB) was acquired second-hand from Belarus in 1996 and was bolstered by four MiG-29S acquired from Russia in 1998-99.

MiG-35 for Syria?Reports from Russia suggest that Syria may wish to revive a contract for the supply of MiG-35s. With an EU arms embargo set to expire, Damascus may seek to receive at least some of the 24 aircraft (MiG-29M/M2s) originally covered under

a $1-billion contract from 2007. RAC MiG representatives have revealed that a Syrian delegation has visited Moscow to discuss a possible renewed contract. Russian officials say that Syria is interested in an order for ‘more than 10 aircraft.’

First Turkmenistani AW101AgustaWestland has delivered the first AW101 VVIP helicopter to the government of Turkmenistan. The contract for two AW101 VVIP helicopters was signed in 2010 and the aircraft were assembled at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility

in England. AgustaWestland has also provided pilot and maintainer training and a spares package. The aircraft departed Yeovil on 29 March, for a five-day ferry flight to Ashgabat, via stopovers in Germany, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan.


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News Losses• An Indonesian Army Hughes 300C helicopter crashed on a taxiway at the Ahmad Yani Army Air Base in Semarang, central Java, after it lost power on 11 June. Both the student pilot and flight instructor were injured in the mishap. • An Indian Air Force MiG-21 crashed near Sodiyar village in the Barmer district of Rajasthan during a routine training mission on 7 June. The pilot ejected safely before the aircraft went down.• Both pilots aboard a Sudanese Air Force Mi-24 were killed when the attack helicopter struck a power transmission tower and crashed near Ad Damazin Airport in the Republic of Sudan’s southern Blue Nile state during a training mission on 6 June.• An unmanned K-MAX helicopter, operating in support of the US Marine Corps, crashed in Afghanistan on 5 June. The accident occurred at a landing zone just north-east of Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province. The aircraft was in autonomous mode and was delivering cargo to a pre-determined location when it went down. Deployed to Afghanistan since November 2011, the K-MAX has been operated in theatre

by Lockheed Martin personnel and Marines.• A French Air Force Mirage 2000-5F crashed near the village of Montcourt in Haute-Saône after suffering a bird strike on 5 June. The pilot ejected safely before the fighter came down in a field approximately 18.5 miles (30km) west of BA116 Luxeuil. The Mirage was returning to Luxeuil after a training flight flown by a pilot from EC 1/2 ‘Cigognes’.• An identified Sudanese helicopter crashed near Abu Karshula in South Kordofan state following an apparent mechanical failure on 31 May. The Sudanese Revolutionary Front claims to have shot it down. A total of nine personnel were killed in the crash.• A Harbin SH-5 (ShuiHong-5) operated by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army — Naval Air Force crashed in Jiaozhou Bay near the eastern port city of Qingdao in Shandong Province on 30 May. One of four examples operated by the North Sea Fleet, the four-engine amphibious maritime patrol aircraft was conducting a training mission when the mishap occurred.• A Russian Air Force Mi-8T crashed around 3.1 miles (5km) from the village of Ivanovskoje in the Saratov region during a

training mission on 28 May. The student and instructor pilots reportedly parachuted from the helicopter (c/n 98947161), which had been assigned to the Syzran branch of the Gagarin Air Force Academy’s training centre, after it developed a violent vibration and the main rotor blades struck the tail rotor. The flight engineer was killed in the mishap.• The pilot of a US Air Force F-15C assigned to the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan, ejected safely before the Eagle went down in the Pacific Ocean around 70 miles (113km) east of Okinawa on 27 May. The crew of a Japan Air Self-Defense Force rescue helicopter recovered the pilot.• KC-137E (707-342C c/n 19870/702) serial FAB 2404, operated by the Brazilian Air Force, ran off the runway during take-off at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 26 May. None of the 12 crew and 121 passengers were injured, although the aircraft was written off. The passengers were part of the Brazilian peacekeeping mission in Haiti.• Three personnel aboard a Cessna T303 serial EP-820, operated by the Peruvian Army’s Batallón de Asalto y Transporte

811, were injured when the Crusader made an emergency landing at Capitán FAP Renán Elías Olivera Airport, Pisco, Ica, on 25 May.• US Marine Corps UH-1Y BuNo 168041 operated by Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 (HMLA-167) suffered a hard landing at a forward operating base in Afghanistan on 24 May. • A Mirage 2000-5 operated by the Republic of China Air Force crashed into the sea west of Hsinchu Air Base on 20 May. Both pilots ejected safely before the fighter went down in the Taiwan Strait; they were recovered by the crew of an S-70C rescue helicopter.• US Air Force C-130J serial 03-3144 suffered a hard landing at Forward Operating Base Shank in Logar Province, around 37 miles (60km) south of Kabul in eastern Afghanistan, on 19 May. The Hercules, which was attached to the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing’s 772nd Airlift Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, was conducting a medical evacuation when the incident occurred. Normally based at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas and assigned to the 19th Airlift Wing’s 41st Airlift Squadron, the Hercules was scrapped on site.

Compiled by Tom Kaminski

Marco Rossi


Brazilian Air Force KC-137E serial FAB 2404 at Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The aircraft su�ered an engine failure on take-o� while returning to Brazil with 143 military personnel (131 Brazilian Army and 12 crew) on board. After an engine �re, the pilot aborted, but lost control and the aircraft departed the runway. via Santiago Rivas

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RAF Salute: Dambusters pays homage to the crews, engineers and tacticians who made the 1943 Dambusters raid possible. It examines the key personalities, the Upkeep ‘bouncing bomb’, the Lancaster aircraft and the mission itself, placing them in the context of the war situation in early 1943. This 100-page special publication is a must-read for all enthusiasts of military aviation and World War II history. FEATURES INCLUDE:

THE LEADERDescribed by Sir Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris as a ‘warrior’, Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Sqn on the dams raid, winning a Victoria Cross in the process. THE DAMS RAIDWhy were dams in Germany’s industrial heartland chosen as targets, how was the audacious raid against them planned and how did the crews deliver their ‘bouncing bombs’? DAMBUSTERS TODAYIn its 70th anniversary year, 617 Sqn is at the front line of the RAF’s Tornado Force.

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RAF Salute: Dambusters homage to the crews, engineers and tacticians who made the 1943 Dambusters raid possible. It examines the key personalities, the Upkeep ‘bouncing bomb’, the Lancaster aircraft and the mission itself, placing them in the context of the war situation in early 1943. This 100-page special publication is a must-read for all enthusiasts of military aviation and World War II history.

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OR

212 RAF Dam Carrier.indd 64 11/04/2013 11:06

IT’S A BLOOD-CURDLING scenario, played out so far only in a novel by thriller-writer Stephen Hunter.

Terrorists seize an ICBM site.Can’t happen, can it? Everyone says

it can’t. America’s intercontinental ballistic missiles lie protected beneath giant slabs of concrete. An ICBM site is completely buttoned-up and constantly guarded.

But never say never. In 1999, I wrote that no-one would ever intentionally fly an aircraft into a tall building.

Lt Gen James Kowalski can’t afford to take the chance. The boss at the US Air Force’s Global Strike Command — itself created in recent years because of safety and security issues — Kowalski has a formidable counter-terrorist weapon consisting of troops belonging to Security Forces, or SF. Formerly known as the Security Police, they got a new name because they’re more than cops. They defend US Air Force bases.

Global Strike’s crisis plan calls for rushing a 17-member SF team to the trouble spot within a specified period, although the exact amount of time hasn’t been published. The key to SF’s response to an attack is Global Strike’s fleet of 25 UH-1N Iroquois helicopters — better known as the ‘Twin Huey’ — of which just 19 were in full readiness at press time.

The weary, 1960s-vintage UH-1N is the weak link in the defence plan for ICBM silos. One officer calls the UH-1N fleet ‘decrepit’. A source told me that the Twin Hueys are almost useless in ‘hot and high’ conditions, like those in summer at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, which stands at 6,062ft of elevation.

Kowalski has looked at plenty of proposed solutions. He rejects a service life extension programme, or SLEP, for the existing Twin Huey: in April, Kowalski told the Senate, ‘The UH-1N’s deficiencies in range, speed and payload can only be remedied through replacement with a new platform.’

He added the obvious, that a UH-1N replacement ‘is currently unfunded.’

One idea, a new-build helicopter almost identical to the US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom, would cost at least $30 million. Another, to grab up UH-60M Black Hawks from an existing production line, would cost even more. Global Strike would like a $20-million helicopter.

Enter the UH-72 Lakota.

‘Not an obvious choice’‘It may not be the first candidate that comes to mind’, John Pruitt, an analyst with the Ralston Institute, told Combat Aircraft. ‘It should be. There is a real logic behind the UH-72.’

The light utility helicopter from EADS North America, a military version of the Eurocopter EC145, is assembled at a plant in Columbus, Mississippi. The US Army has taken delivery of 252 Lakotas at cost and on schedule. None has ever been involved in a serious mishap. One version comes with a Security and Support Battalion Mission Equipment Package and is informally dubbed the UH-72 S&S.

The basics on the UH-72 are easy to look up: two 770shp (541kW) Turbomeca Arriel 1E2 gas turbine engines driving 36ft (11m) four-bladed rotors. Cruising speed is listed as 133kt (246km/h) or almost 30 per cent faster than a UH-1N. Its maker claims it’s the quietest helicopter in its class. Its high-set main and tail rotors are viewed as adding safety to exactly the kind of busy, short-notice air-ground missions Global Strike has in mind.

In addition to the standard UH-72/EC145, the manufacturer is also developing its ‘next-generation’ EC145T2 with a slightly larger version of the Arriel engines and a ‘fenestron’ shrouded tail rotor. The T2 is expected to receive Federal Aviation Administration certification by the end of this year and to evolve into a candidate for duty as an aerial scout.

EADS North America officials say the UH-72 would be ideal for Kowalski’s ICBM security mission. Their case is persuasive, but it comes at an awkward time. Unless something changes, the US Army will curtail UH-72 purchases prematurely and the Columbus plant will have to shut down by the end of next year.

Although the US Army UH-72 programme has been a model of efficiency, budget realities are forcing the service to buy 31 fewer Lakotas than it once planned (314 instead of 345). The US Air Force has long needed a replacement not just for Global Strike’s helicopters but for 37 other UH-1Ns used in several locations.

Solutions involving the mix of helicopters employed by the US Air Force and Army are made more complicated by the fact that the UH-72 is not deployable. It met a US Army

A ‘REAL LOGIC’ BEHIND UH-72 AS A TWIN HUEY REPLACEMENT

The UH-72 Lakota has enjoyed huge success in the US, and many expect more gains for the European helicopter. EADS North America

requirement to operate in a permissive environment. Modifications, including armour and possible armament to make it deployable, could be added for less than the cost of purchasing a new UH-60M, the manufacturer says. Moreover, Black Hawks currently perform routine Stateside missions that could be handled by UH-72s, a situation the manufacturer calls uneconomical.

‘Best course of action’A statement from EADS North America, prepared at this columnist’s request, makes the company’s case for assembling more of the helicopters for American soldiers: ‘The Army’s best fiscal and long-term course of action would be to

32

Combat Aircraft’s regular column — taking a look behind the headlines

by Robert F. DorrContact the author at [email protected]

FRONT

p032_p033_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 32 19/06/2013 16:30

stick with the original rationale behind the Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) programme’ — under which the UH-72 was purchased — ‘and its previous acquisition plans and to use lower-cost UH-72s to perform those missions where it brings the right capability in a cost-effective manner.

‘In fact’, the statement continues, ‘given the original intent of the LUH programme, the Army should consider expanding the use of the UH-72 to replace the ageing and increasingly expensive to operate OH-58A/C Kiowa helicopters. This would complete divestiture of the OH-58A/C fleet, improve the quality of training [at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where

Kiowas train new pilots], and reduce the number of type model series aircraft in Army inventory.’

As for the Air Force and its ICBM security mission, Kowalski took a demonstration flight in a UH-72 on 26 April. Retired Lt Gen Charles Coolidge, the EADS North America vice president for Air Force programmes, accompanied him. Coolidge told me the current UH-1N platform is ‘unsustainable’, and, referring to Global Strike: ‘We gotta have a new helo.’

To haul 17 troops to an ICBM site, Global Strike would currently need at least two UH-1Ns, possibly more. Industry officials acknowledge that it might take three UH-72s to do the same job but see nothing significant in that. Unintentionally, and to

the consternation of everyone associated with the Lakota programme, the cabin floor space of the UH-72 is 50.77 square feet while the UH-1N’s interior is 51.00 square feet. Coolidge carries around a piece of cardboard just less than one foot square in size to make the point that the difference is inconsequential.

Unlike some writers in this field, I don’t consult with or accept reimbursement from aerospace companies. My opinion that the UH-72 would make a good replacement for the UH-1N was not arrived at easily and is almost certainly an imperfect solution.

So long as the lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to keep the US government in budget gridlock, imperfect solutions may be the best we can hope for.

‘EADS officials say the UH-72 would be ideal for the ICBM security mission. Their case is persuasive, but it comes at an awkward time. Unless something changes, the US Army will curtail UH-72 purchases prematurely’

33

p032_p033_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 33 19/06/2013 16:30

THE LATEST MAJOR feat for the Chinese aviation industry was the 26 January 2013 first flight of the Xi’an Aircraft Corporation (XAC) Y-20 airlifter. The prototype Y-20 (or Yun-20,

‘Yun’ meaning simply ‘transport’) lifted off at 14.00hrs (Beijing time) for its maiden flight and, after exactly one hour, landed successfully back at the China Flight Test Establishment (CFTE)’s home base at Xi’an-Yanliang.

The Y-20 is named ‘Kunpeng’ after a giant bird of Chinese mythology. It is not only by far the largest indigenously developed Chinese aircraft, but it is also China’s first domestically developed heavy transport. As such the Y-20 represents a giant leap towards the country’s goal of developing true strategic air power and is an important milestone for the Chinese aviation industry at large.

The appearance of the Y-20 did not generate the same level of interest as the maiden flight of the J-20 fighter in early 2011, but its unveiling immediately before Christmas 2012 was perhaps even more important for China’s aviation industry and the future People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). After all, the lack of suitable long-range heavy-lift transports is — besides a lack of adequate powerplants — arguably the most significant weakness for China’s air arm.

Supply problemsThe roots of the Y-20’s development are — not entirely by accident — closely connected with the acquisition of several Ilyushin Il-76MD transports in early 1991, and especially by political developments in early 2006. Between 1991 and 1996 a total of 14 Il-76MDs were built and delivered to China by the Tashkent Chkalov Aircraft Production Company (TAPOiCH), the now-defunct Uzbek aircraft maker. At about the same time it is believed that the first studies were initiated in China with the aim of developing an indigenous strategic military transport. In the meantime several more Il-76MDs and Il-78 tankers were planned to be purchased and a contract for 34 Il-76MDs and four Il-78Ms worth a total of $1.045 billion was signed between Rosoboronexport and China’s National Defence Ministry in September 2005. This deal, which would have been highly significant for the PLAAF transport fleet, ultimately never materialised.

One reason was that the Uzbek company began to play for time and tried to renegotiate the terms of the contract. After the break-up of the former Soviet Union around 95 per cent of the aircraft’s components now had to be ‘imported’ from Russia, which meant the price rose dramatically. Besides that, the Tashkent-based company was simply unable to resume production, since most specialists had left the firm. Altogether, TAPOiCH was only able to guarantee the delivery of 16 aircraft, and in March 2006 the contract fell through. As a consequence, in 2006 the design of a ‘200-ton military aircraft’ — as the Y-20 was unofficially referred to in Chinese sources at the time — was listed in a national mid- and long-term technological development plan as a high-priority project. Chinese sources note that another reason for this step was that the unreliable supply of Il-76MDs from Russia

‘The Y-20 follows the latest trend in which Chinese aircraft are no longer pure clones or copies, but a successful combination of trusted and established solutions as found in multiple foreign airframes, as well as modern design elements’

One of the many images of the maiden �ight of the Y-20 on 26 January 2013. All images via Chinese Internet


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China's Giant BirdXI’AN Y-20 TAKES TO THE AIRThe �rst �ight of the Y-20 heavy airlifter earlier this year marked not only yet

another publicity coup, but also a major technological achievement for China’s aviation industry. With the arrival of the ‘Kunpeng’, the

People’s Liberation Army will make another large step towards its emergence as a true power-projector.

report: Andreas Rupprecht

www.combataircraft.net August 2013 35

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severely constrained procurement of the KJ-2000 ‘Mainring’ airborne early warning aircraft, which was based on modified Ilyushin airframes.

Antonov joinsSince such a complex aircraft was a highly demanding effort for local aviation industry, as early as April 2006 representatives from Beijing approached the Ukrainian ANTK Antonov in order to assist in the development of the new strategic transport. Antonov had previously established relations with China, co-operating since 2000 on development of the Y-9 medium transport and ARJ-21 regional airliner. Officially, however, Antonov was merely contracted to provide consultation to the Chinese design team led by Chief Designer Tang Changhong at XAC’s Institute No 603. Tang was also responsible for design of the JH-7A fighter-bomber. The Ukrainian company agreed to the proposal, and was spurred on by Russia’s April 2006 announcement of its complete withdrawal from the An-70 project. The latter, according to the then chief of the Russian Air Force Vladimir S. Mikhaylov, had allegedly grown too heavy and expensive. In reality, the most likely reason was the Russian military’s desire to purchase the updated Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A (Il-476), as, following the ‘Orange Revolution’ in Kiev in late 2004 and Ukraine’s overtures to the NATO and EU, all political will for the project had evaporated.

According to a well-documented report published by Sergey Goncharov at the

Moscow Defence Brief, Antonov originally offered China the An-70, but this proposal was turned down allegedly due to an insufficient range and maximum payload, as well as differing requirements for operating from short and unprepared landing strips. A major problem was the An-70’s range with maximum payload of 1,350km, whereas the PLAAF demanded at least 3,650km or even 4,000km. Perhaps the biggest concern was the An-70’s maximum load of 47 tonnes — clearly insufficient since the PLA’s Type 98 main battle tank weighs 48 tonnes empty or almost 50 tonnes when fully equipped. Yet another reason was the D-27 propfan engine, which was deemed unreliable and too complex to be built in China. As a consequence the Chinese partners asked to use the tried and tested Russian D-30KP-2 engine as an interim powerplant, this engine already undergoing local development as the WS-18.

ANTK Antonov agreed to the Chinese proposal and by early 2007 a Heavy Transport Aircraft working group had been established. For the following three years reports vary to some degree, and Antonov allegedly submitted a revised proposal based around the An-77, a cancelled jet-powered version of the An-70, which had its take-off weight increased from 132 tonnes to 187 tonnes, as well as a higher payload of up to 50 tonnes, making the new design broadly comparable to the Il-76 it was to replace.

Other sources even state that in this period, and in common with several previous Chinese

projects, requirements were once again adjusted since the PLAAF’s new strategic transport was expected to be able to carry even the heaviest tanks in service with the Chinese Army. This required a further increased maximum take-off weight and dramatically higher payload, since the PLA’s latest MBT, the Type 99A2 (also known as the ZTZ-99) has a weight of approximately 58 tonnes. As a result, significant changes to the design were necessary and the whole project reportedly switched to a substantially larger and heavier Antonov proposal, the An-170, which was originally a rival to the Ilyushin Il-106. The new type had a take-off weight of 230 tonnes and a maximum payload of 60 tonnes. However, the most important change was the use of a new supercritical wing profile.

In this form, work on the design, now known as the Y-XX, continued for three years, and in late December 2009 the Y-20 designation was revealed for the first time in Chinese sources. China’s Xinhua news agency even announced that one-third of the initial $9.6-billion investment for both high-priority ‘large aircraft programmes’ — namely the Y-20 and the COMAC C919 airliner — would be assigned for the military transport.

Interestingly, at around the same time the first concept drawings appeared on the internet indicating that only the prototypes and early series aircraft were to be powered by Russian D-30KP-2 engines, whereas production versions of the Y-20 would use the WS-18 or a modified version known as the WS-118, until a

‘Some critics strongly doubt that the PLAAF will put the Y-20 into operational use — other than for test and evaluation purposes — before the new engines are fitted’

August 2013 www.combataircraft.net36

p034_p038_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 36 11/06/2013 16:24

Far left: Photographed in March, the now-painted Y-20 prototype.

Left top to bottom: Many have drawn comparisons with the C-17, but the Y-20 is broadly comparable in size to the Il-76.

The Y-20’s wing features a supercritical aerofoil section with a slightly higher aspect ratio and reduced sweep on the trailing section in comparison to the Il-76.

One of the biggest weaknesses of the Y-20 is its current lack of a modern high-bypass ratio turbofan engine, which ultimately limits performance.

new high-bypass turbofan was ready. The latter, designated as the WS-20 ‘Huanghe’ (Yellow River), would be developed from the WS-10 as used in the J-10B and J-11B fighters. It was also mentioned that the first prototype was to perform its maiden flight by the end of 2012 or early 2013.

In the meantime China was able to acquire a few more — some sources say a total of 10 — second-hand Il-76MD and TD aircraft from Russia and other ex-Soviet states. These will be refurbished in order to bolster the PLAAF transport fleet as a stop-gap measure until the Y-20 enters service.

Prototype constructionA full-scale metal mock-up of the aircraft’s front section had been constructed by 2008 and on 20 August 2009 the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) reportedly began to build the rear fuselage of the first prototype. It was reported in April 2010 that the full-scale mock-up had been completed early that year and by January 2012 rumours on different blogs and forums stated that the airframe of the first prototype had been finished.

Lin Zuoming, Chairman and CEO of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), was shown congratulating workers and officials at Xi’an-Yanliang at the completion of an unnamed ‘major project’, and in line with this event the name ‘Kunpeng’ was first mentioned. Allegedly, the event was the hand-over of the first Y-20 fuselage structure to be fitted with avionics and engines. To date, two prototypes

(01 and 02) have been constructed. In May 2012 XAC confidently promised in a press release (later removed from the company’s website) that the aircraft would perform its maiden flight before the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012, but sadly nothing happened — at least not in public.

Why the deadline for the maiden flight or at least the roll-out was pushed back remains unknown, but a wave of internet rumours continued to indicate that development of the Y-20 was nearing completion and a first glimpse of the new aircraft was fast approaching. The Y-20 was finally ‘presented’ on 24 December 2012 when the prototype numbered ‘20001’ was captured during taxi tests in a small, grainy and blurred image. Based on eyewitness reports, taxi trials began on 21 December at Xi’an-Yanliang.

Better photos of the Y-20 began to circulate on Chinese military websites on 4 January 2013, when satellite images, acquired by the GeoEye 1 and IKONOS spacecraft, confirmed its general layout and allowed initial estimations of the aircraft’s dimensions. Soon after these events, Yang Yujun, spokesman for the Chinese Defence Ministry, confirmed at a news conference that China was indeed ‘developing a large transport aircraft on our own to improve the capability of air transport.’

Finally, the long-awaited first flight was completed successfully on 26 January 2013. The Y-20 prototype, still unpainted and wearing yellow-green zinc-chromate anti-

corrosive primer, took off, escorted by a J-11BS fighter. It remained airborne for one hour, and again, according to the latest news policy of selective transparency — both to boost pride at home and credibility abroad — the Chinese state-run media were quick to report on the event. Military aviation enthusiasts and experts eagerly received high-resolution images, which were published with little delay. Since then, they have been the subject of much analysis and some controversial discussion.

The Y-20 performed its second flight as expected on 20 April and a third sortie was conducted the following day. Following the usual Chinese New Year holidays, the Y-20 was spotted again on 2 March, now having received a new grey military colour scheme.

Technical descriptionThe Y-20 follows the latest trend in which Chinese aircraft are no longer pure clones or copies, but represent a successful combination of trusted and established solutions as found in multiple foreign airframes, as well as modern design elements, indigenously improved and domestically manufactured. The J-20 and J-31 were the first two Chinese-made aircraft to make this leap, and now the Y-20 follows the same path.

Unsurprisingly, the Y-20 follows the typical military transport layout, but it is a clearly unique and impressive-looking addition to the family of heavy transports in terms of fuselage shape, undercarriage, empennage and wing design. A comparison with its

www.combataircraft.net August 2013 37

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direct competitor, the Il-76, is informative. Chinese commentators were quick to argue that ‘compared to the Russian airplane, the Y-20 is much more technically advanced in almost all areas, but due to the comparatively conservative aerodynamic design and the lack of a domestically developed engine, it still cannot rival the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III’. Although one should not be too quick to judge, it is likely that the given specifications will only be attained by the definitive Y-20 with the final powerplant.

Overall, the Y-20 is broadly comparable in size to the Il-76. The Chinese aircraft is actually 2-3m shorter than the Il-76, with a wingspan roughly the same, at around 50m. However, the two biggest differences relate to the wider fuselage and the wing. Compared to 4.8m on the Il-76, the Y-20 fuselage is both wider at 5.5m, and taller. This offers a more versatile cargo hold of greater volume and able to carry large-sized cargo — one of the main requirements of the PLA. While the larger fuselage cross-section will incur a certain drag penalty, the Y-20 reportedly incorporates a higher proportion of modern materials and deletes a large quantity of the Il-76’s bulky analogue avionics as well as the heavy, pressurised glass nose. The Y-20 has a smaller crew of only three in a cockpit section reminiscent of its An-70 ancestor. Taken together, these factors could lead to an approximately similar empty weight.

The second important feature is the wing, which employs a modern supercritical aerofoil section. This features a slightly higher aspect ratio and reduced sweep on the trailing section in comparison to the Il-76. This may provide the aircraft with improved fuel economy and extended range. The Y-20’s high-lift devices along the leading and trailing edges of the wing are surprisingly elaborate, featuring a heavier triple-slotted flap, more akin to the Il-76 than to the C-17. This might indicate that the Chinese prefer the use of proven technology over innovation — one must consider that this is the first Chinese-built wing of this size — or is possibly due to the lower bypass ratio of the D-30 engines, which make the exhaust too hot to use for external blowing. Noteworthy is also the complex landing gear featuring independent suspension for each pair of wheels, which is a clear sign of unprepared-field capabilities. Reports quote

the Y-20 as having a maximum payload of 66 tonnes and a maximum take-off weight of more than 200 tonnes; other sources state an expected payload of 50-55 tonnes and MTOW of 180-200 tonnes, depending on the exact type of engine powering the aircraft.

The powerplant problemOn paper the Y-20’s capabilities are said to be close to those of Russia’s Il-476, with one major exception: the D-30KP-2 engines currently used lack the thrust and efficiency of the Il-476’s PS-90A-76 turbofans or of more modern Western powerplants. With the lack of an indigenous powerplant, the Y-20 project has only been able to progress this far thanks to the Russian engine. Despite its age, the engine, which was originally initiated in 1963, has remained in production in its present D-30KP-2 form since 1982.

According to the Russian media a first contract between Rosoboronexport and China was signed in April 2009, covering 55 engines, all to be delivered by 2012. The first arrived in November 2009 and three more batches followed between March and October 2010, with the fifth and final batch coming in March 2011. Interestingly, though these engines were sufficient to re-fit almost the entire PLAAF Il-76 fleet, China signed an even larger order with NPO Saturn in late 2011, this covering an additional 184 D-30KP-2s, to be delivered over four years. Although it has not been disclosed which aircraft they will be used for, it seems clear that most if not all will be installed on the Y-20 as well as the latest H-6K bomber.

However, for the time being the biggest weakness of the Y-20 in its current form — and a factor common to nearly all Chinese aircraft projects — is the lack of a modern high-bypass ratio turbofan engine. This will significantly limit the Y-20’s performance until the ‘definitive’ powerplant appears. This new engine is the WS-20 ‘Huanghe’, which is allegedly based on the WS-10 ‘Taihang’ core.

Since it uses the same engines as the Il-76, and bearing in mind the estimated empty weight, a similar payload capability to the Russian transport can be assumed in its initial form. The result gives the PLAAF an aircraft it has long desired and eagerly needs. However, critics argue that a comparison of the Y-20’s estimated fuselage volume and wing area

with the ratio of operational empty weight to MTOW of other representative aircraft suggests that reported range performance with similar loads is questionable. These critics strongly doubt that the PLAAF will put the Y-20 into operational use — other than for test and evaluation purposes — before the new engines are fitted.

Conclusion and futureEven if the Y-20 is currently limited, once powered by its definitive WS-20 engines,it should easily match or even surpass the Il-476’s performance. However, in the words of the state-run English-language China Daily, ‘the only concern for military fans is when can the Y-20 use our domestically developed engine and enter into service’. As such, this project still faces many potential hurdles.

PLA experts cited by the People’s Daily believe that ‘if everything goes well, the Y-20 will have to undergo a minimum three-year-long flight test and a minimum five-year-long comprehensive test period’. And while the Y-20 is currently a point of national pride and a substantial breakthrough for China’s large aircraft programmes, ‘2017 is the earliest date by which the PLAAF will have home-made large transport aircraft’. More realistic is service entry sometime between 2017 and 2020, by which time the Y-20 should have proved its reliability and effectiveness under real-world conditions. The route to this milestone may yet be tortuous, taking into account the fact that China’s aviation industry so far lacks any significant experience in developing large aircraft — it is worthwhile recalling the unmitigated disaster that has involved bringing the ARJ-21 airliner into service.

As such, talk of competition for sales between the Y-20 and Il-476 on the international market seems much too premature. First of all, the aircraft has to be tested, certified and prepared for service entry. It will be a huge success alone if the Y-20 fulfils PLAAF and other domestic demands at first, and if the chosen design truly offers greater mission flexibility than its competitor. Whether it subsequently evolves as a true competitor to the Il-476 on the export scene remains to be seen, but if successful it offers an airframe that could provide the basis for the development of additional specialised versions, such as airborne early warning aircraft and tankers capable of supporting future PLAAF missions.

A three-year �ight test plan is widely expected before service entry towards the end of this decade.

p034_p038_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 38 11/06/2013 16:24

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112 Mighty Eighth FP.indd 39 19/06/2013 12:32

Photographed on 22 May 2013, all four ‘special scheme’ F-4Fs from JG 71 join up for a unique photo session high above northern Germany. Jamie Hunter


p040_p043_CAM_AUG_13 revC.indd 40 24/06/2013 09:36

There are few aircraft types that evoke the pride, the fanatical support and devotion of the cherished McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. For the German air arm, this has been a 40-year love a�air. As the type is retired by its last Luftwa�e unit, Combat Aircraft brings you a farewell special souvenir issue.

Jamie Hunter/Rich Cooper

report: Jamie Hunter and Rich Cooper

www.combataircraft.net August 2013


Clockwise from below: Every single Luftwa�e pilot to have �own the type will look back on their time in the F-4 with great pride. Jamie Hunter

A sharp four-ship of grey Luftwa�e ‘Rhinos’ from JG 71 formates on a KC-135R boom window during the last months of operations. Rich Cooper

The ‘special one’ — 37+01 was the Luftwa�e’s �rst F-4F and the obvious choice for the tribute ‘Pharewell’ colour scheme. It is �own here by Hauptmann Sebastian Becker with Oberst Gerhard Roubal in the back seat. Jamie Hunter



IF ONE TREND is apparent when talking with pilots, engineers and aviation enthusiasts alike, it’s a true respect and affection for the slab-sided F-4 Phantom II. The ‘Rhino’, ‘Double Ugly’ or ‘Spook’ as it is

widely known, is a dying breed — one of those fighters that has touched many lives, and provided sterling service for many air arms.

This made 29 June 2013 a significant date on the calendar, marking as it did the last day of F-4 operations by the German Luftwaffe. The ‘Phantom Pharewell’ open house held by Jagdgeschwader 71 ‘Richthofen’ at Wittmund, northern Germany, on this day was quite simply the end of an era. Sadly, the charismatic F-4F Phantom II has become obsolete in a modern Luftwaffe that is turning its attention to the Eurofighter. In fact, many consider it remarkable that the F-4 has remained in service in Germany until now. However, with a heavy heart, the Phantom has finally made way for its replacement, ending a wonderful 40-year Luftwaffe relationship.

The first unit to receive the F-4F was JG 71 ‘Richthofen’, with the very first aircraft, serial 37+01, being the last to bid farewell in June in its special blue and gold colours.

Smoke trailsCertain aircraft have left an indelible mark on history, and few can deny that this thoroughbred from the famous McDonnell Douglas factory in St Louis, Missouri, is one of the finest jets ever produced. It’s a brute of an aircraft, seemingly chiselled from a lump of iron, and readily identified by the jangling sound on taxi and the twin trails of smoke that spew from its J79 engines, the dihedral on the outer wings, and the twin-cranked canopies.

Production of the F-4 ended in 1979 with a total of 5,195 Phantom IIs built. A total of 5,057 were completed on the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) production line in St Louis. Mitsubishi in Japan built the last 138 under license. Of the 5,057 built in the US, the US Air Force took delivery of 2,874 aircraft, the US Navy and Marine Corps 1,264, and international customers a combined total of 919.

Phantom flyers around the world continue to diminish. Alongside Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force, Turkey’s Türk Hava Kuvvetleri, the Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia of Greece, the RoKAF in South Korea, Egypt’s Al Quwwat Al Jawwiya Il Misriya, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, Phantoms also still perform the Full-Scale Aerial Target role with the USAF

For the Luftwaffe, the retirement of the F-4F is a hugely significant event that has attracted interest wordwide. In typical style, JG 71 has done the ‘Rhino’ proud, with a remarkable send-off .

• Glory Days German F-4 and RF-4 memories

• The final days of the German F-4F



It is hard to underestimate the contribution the F-4 Phantom II has made to the modern Luftwa�e. In the run-up to the type’s retirement, Combat Aircraft heard insights from former F-4F and RF-4E pilots for this salute to the ‘Rhino’s’ history in German service

report: Ben Dunnell

AS STOPGAPS GO, it’s not done badly. When the Luftwaffe decided to procure the F-4F Phantom II, it did so as an interim measure, bridging the divide between

F-104 Starfighter obsolescence and Multi-Role Combat Aircraft availability. That was in August 1971, a few months after the RF-4E reconnaissance version entered the Luftwaffe inventory. Some 42 years of uninterrupted German Phantom service later, no wonder its retirement is mourned.

As these words were written, the remaining handful of F-4Fs on the strength of Jagdgeschwader 71 ‘Richthofen’ at Wittmund were in their final fortnight of duty. What a contrast to the days when Phantoms ruled the German skies, and J79 engine smoke hung heavy indeed. Tales of those times are legion, but mere nostalgia by no means does the story justice. In many ways, say the men who flew it during its heyday, the ‘Rhino’ was the aircraft that made the modern Luftwaffe.

Enter the PhantomTo recall why West Germany bought the Phantom, one has to appreciate the situation in which the Luftwaffe found itself during the late 1960s. By then, of course, the F-104G Starfighter formed the backbone of its combat aircraft force, fulfilling the air defence, nuclear and conventional strike and reconnaissance roles. As a recce platform the Starfighter was at its weakest, so initial Luftwaffe efforts focused on finding a successor to its RF-104Gs, then serving with two wings: Aufklärungsgeschwader 51 ‘Immelmann’ at Bremgarten and AG 52 at Leck. Confirmation of an order for 88 RF-4Es came on 13 May 1968, and details of offset agreements with West German industry soon afterwards.

As a two-crew combat aircraft, the RF-4E marked a new departure for the air arm, and the training of back-seaters was set in motion. This and pilot training were both undertaken in the USA, conversion courses taking place with the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Shaw AFB, South Carolina for the recce

‘The chiefs were looking for a reliable aircraft, and the Phantom came into their view’Maj Gen Günter Lange

This photo: Two F-4Fs from JG 71 patrolling above the clouds in 1991. Dr Stefan Petersen

Left: The end of a mission for a new Bremgarten-based RF-4E. BMVg via Thomas Newdick


44-49 Pharwell Special (Glory days) C.indd 44 21/06/2013 12:22



wings and later the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing (soon re-designated as the 35th TFW) at George AFB, California for their fighter and fighter-bomber counterparts. The Luftwaffe’s initial RF-4E, serial 35+01, was received at McDonnell Douglas’ St Louis works on 22 October 1970. It and three others completed their delivery flights to Bremgarten on 20 January 1971, whereupon AG 51 commenced re-equipment. AG 52 entered the Phantom era on 17 September that year.

Thoughts had meanwhile turned to the rest of the Luftwaffe’s combat inventory. Earlier hopes of Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) service entry during 1975 proved overly ambitious, and the need for an interim fighter-bomber was clear. Several types came into consideration, but with the RF-4E performing well the Phantom again looked attractive.

Bear in mind also some context. It was not a decade since the shock of the early F-104 losses and the public, media and political scandal that erupted. Maj Gen Gunter Lange says: ‘The ‘Starfighter crisis’ played a role, I think — the experience with a single-engined, single-cockpit aircraft. The chiefs were especially looking for a reliable aircraft that was not new, and without a lot of teething problems. The Phantom came into their view. It was available right there.’

This did not stop West Germany from selecting a unique variant, the single-seat F-4E(F), when it placed an order for 175 examples in August 1971. The change to a standard two-seater was not long in coming, though even then the resulting F-4F was a bespoke derivative, lighter than the F-4E on which it was based, with reduced fuel tankage, a less advanced version of the AN/APQ-120 radar and no AIM-7 Sparrow missile capability.

F-4F serial 37+01, the first of the breed, got air under its wheels at St Louis on 18 May

1973. Deliveries for technical instruction purposes started on 5 September, while a small number went to George AFB to train aircrews. JG 71 ‘Richthofen’ was earmarked as the first operational F-4F unit, and the touch-down of its initial pair of jets at Wittmund on 4 March 1974 saw re-equipment starting apace.

Oberst Gerhard Ballhausen was among the first group of regular JG 71 crews to begin training. How did he find the transition from F-104 to F-4? ‘If you want to hear the truth, we thought it was awful’, he says. ‘We didn’t think it was a big step forward, and it was also the aversion of the proud single-seat fighter pilot to suddenly having to fly this ‘elephant’.’

The negativity didn’t last. ‘Later on, of course, we learned to love the Phantom too’, Gerhard continues. ‘It was more manoeuvrable, and if we were flying at night and low level it became apparent what a good weapons systems operator could do for the pilot.’

Gunter Lange had piloted Canadair Sabres and Fiat G91s prior to the F-4F, and found the transition challenging in some respects. ‘I was really a day fighter man — I had more

than 1,000 hours on the Sabre, pulling G all the time, and I found it hard to convert to an aircraft that required energy management’. But, again, the Phantom’s advantages won through. ‘This aircraft could do everything, whereas the ones I’d flown before were limited. We could switch roles as we liked, or as the threat dictated.’

Tactical �ghtersThis drove the tactical fighter concept the Luftwaffe explored with its F-4Fs. Two fighter-bomber wings started the process when they converted in 1975, ex-Starfighter unit Jagdbombergeschwader 36 ‘Westfalen’ at Hopsten and then JaboG 35 (a re-designation of G91 operator Leichtes Kampfgeschwader 42) at Pferdsfeld. Former G91 pilot Brig Gen Eckart Wienß was one of JaboG 35’s first Phantom men, though he had type experience from an exchange with the USAF’s 363rd TRW on the RF-4C. He recalls: ‘When we got the F-4 we concentrated initially on the air-to-ground role. However, the air-to-air role was quickly also introduced, sped up by the active engagement

A pair of F-4Fs (37+90 and 38+30) from JaboG 35 air-to-air over Germany. The Norm

72 colours were those in which the jets were delivered.

Robbie Shaw via Adrian M. Balch collection

Some very low-level �ying was possible on deployments to Goose Bay, Canada, as demonstrated by this AG 51 RF-4E. via Eckart Wienß



LUFTWAFFE F-4 FLYING UNITSUnit Name Base Period of F-4 operation

AG 51 ‘Immelmann’ Bremgarten January 1971 to March 1993

AG 52 Leck September 1971 to March 1993

JG 71 ‘Richthofen’ Wittmund March 1974 to June 2013

JG 74 1 ‘Mölders’ Neuburg July 1974 to June 2008

JaboG 35 Pferdsfeld April 1975 to December 1994

JaboG 36 ‘Westfalen’ Rheine-Hopsten February 1975 to January 1991

JG 72 2 ‘Westfalen’ Rheine-Hopsten January 1991 to January 2002

JG 73 ‘Steinho�’ Pferdsfeld, Laage October 1994 to March 2002

Fluglehrzentrum F-4F 2

Rheine-Hopsten January 2002 to December 2005

Notes:1. ‘Mölders’ title removed June 2005.2. FLZ existed as 2./JG 72 before becoming a unit in its own right once wing de-activated.

we could fly as low as we dared — officially, 100ft, but really we were down in the weeds at 600kt’. Succeeded by Wienß, Gunter Lange was the original project officer for the deployments: ‘A detachment from Hopsten was the first to go there on a trial basis in the fall of 1980. Neuburg followed in 1981, when we were the first to deploy using air refuelling and started the whole phase of GAFTIC, German Air Force Training In Canada.’

Low and fast in CanadaAsked to name the highlights of their time on the Phantom, many Luftwaffe pilots would agree with Gerhard Ballhausen: ‘The extreme low-level flights out of Goose Bay. Looking out of the front cockpit, you had to make sure you didn’t hit any trees; there were also dead trees, which were difficult to see. We had a few contacts with trees, and sometimes people came back with a bit of pine stuck on the wing. They wouldn’t even have realised it.’

Gunter Lange says: ‘We had one line pilot who went into trees and brought a piece back on his aircraft. The commanding officer was

upset, and was about to take disciplinary measures. A few weeks later he came to Canada, and on his first or second mission he brought a piece of tree back himself. Suddenly they thought again about disciplinary measures…’

Of course it had a serious purpose, as Lange continues. ‘It was a challenge for everybody to fly at those low levels, and not just on the fighter-bomber missions but also for the fighters. The fighter sweeps went low-level; we had CAPs at 100ft waiting for the fighter-bombers to come through. Everybody learned much more about the reality of war.

‘For me, the first missions in Canada were the most memorable, flying low and experiencing that you were able to stay at 100ft flying a CAP, see someone crossing the horizon line or a mountain ridge and jump on him. You follow him, he’s flying at 100ft, you’re flying at 100ft, and you have to establish a pattern to shoot at him. You must go up a little bit to get your aiming point at him. If he sees you, he accelerates up to 620kt and you follow. That was breathtaking.’

Defenders of the skiesIn the air-to-air role, those adversaries would not have included Warsaw Pact aircraft entering West German airspace across the border with the German Democratic Republic. In one of the vagaries of the Cold War, that task was assumed from 1945 to 1990 by air defence assets of West Germany’s NATO allies.

‘Goose Bay was tremendous… we could fly as low as we dared’Brig Gen Eckart Wienß

of former F-86 pilots in the Pferdsfeld wing who were interested in doing that.’

Gunter Lange was one, and paints a picture of the difficulty in making each unit truly multi-role. ‘Why were the roles accepted and approached differently? Background. The difference was, let’s say, in the attitude of the wings. Pferdsfeld adapted, or tried to adapt, to the two different roles, whereas Hopsten with a straight air-to-ground background had neither fighter experience nor fighter spirit. They didn’t adapt easily to the air-to-air role.’

Eckart Wienß adds: ‘The switch from air-to-ground to air-to-air, in my opinion, was a bit more easily done. As a ‘mud-mover’ you always had to face an air-to-air threat, so at least you were defensively-orientated if you were engaged by a fighter. The next switch is to become offensive. It was a totally different ball game to convert straightforward fighter pilots to an air-to-ground role.’

Upgrades implemented under the Peace Rhine programme from 1980-83 enhanced the F-4F’s multi-role credentials. It integrated AIM-9L Sidewinders (supplanting the earlier AIM-9B) and AGM-65 Mavericks, while also fitting a new weapons computer, better ECM equipment and enhanced cockpit displays. At no time, incidentally, were the F-4Fs nuclear-capable, this task continuing to fall to the F-104s stationed at Büchel and Nörvenich until the Tornado entered service.

Now the F-4F-equipped Jagdgeschwader were expected to take on air-to-ground missions. Gerhard Ballhausen, who piloted the type with JG 71 from 1974-76 (when he left for an exchange tour with the RAF, flying the Phantom FGR2 with No 56 Squadron) and 1978-85, latterly as 1. Staffel commander, says: ‘There was an internal aversion to the tactical fighter role. It never truly got off the ground.’

Efforts were made to spread experience between different wings, but to limited effect. As Gunter Lange outlines, ‘It helped, but the other requirements couldn’t keep up — flying hours, mainly. To bring an experienced fighter pilot to an equal level as a fighter-bomber pilot takes a lot of extra flying hours, and they couldn’t supply them. You need the ranges, and all the wings fought every month over the range slots. It just was not enough.’

The number of Warsaw Pact radars that would in war have been ranged against NATO assets forced an emphasis on low-level flying. This the Luftwaffe had an opportunity to practice at Goose Bay in Canada. ‘It was a tremendous experience’, says Eckart Wienß, who became a squadron commander and commander flying at JaboG 35, ‘because there

Deployed to Bremgarten under exercise ‘Reforger — Crested Cap II’ in August 1982, a pair of F-15As from the 33rd TFW at Eglin AFB �y with an AG 51 RF-4E. USAF



For JG 71 in particular there were occasional QRA ‘scrambles’ against Soviet bombers approaching West German airspace over the North Sea. But, for the most part, the Phantom wings spent their time training for the fight. Much flying was done at Decimomannu, Sardinia, against the ‘dart’, a target towed initially by F-4s themselves before Tracor Flight Systems’ F-100 Super Sabres, also home-based at Wittmund, assumed the task. ‘At Decimomannu’, Gunter Lange remembers, ‘we had what we called the ‘full mission’, in which we flew about 20 minutes’ air-to-ground, then went up and did air-to-air firing against the dart. I tell you, this was a sweaty mission. In German we called it the ‘sardischer Fünfkampf’, the ‘Sardinian Pentathlon’.’

Even before the ICE upgrade, the F-4F, if operated effectively, could hold its own — a source of satisfaction for the likes of Gerhard Ballhausen. ‘When the F-15 was the backbone of the USAF fighter force in Germany, sometimes we had them as an adversary at Decimomannu, and the two-man crew

concept would work well against them. Our methods were no great revelation; we just refined them to employ the aircraft and its weapons as best we could. There they were with a highly-equipped modern aircraft, and we would beat them. It didn’t happen very often, I must admit!’

Cold War recceAll the while, the RF-4E wings were fulfilling a role that went closer to harm’s way. From being vice-commander of JG 74, Eckart Wienß was posted in 1985 to become commander of AG 51 at Bremgarten, making use of his earlier RF-4 experience. ‘We did border missions flying along the Inner German Border within the ADIZ [Air Defence Identification Zone], shadowed by MiGs, sometimes with our wings going slightly over the other side and generating a few political issues…’

The RF-4Es operated day and night, their standard recce fit comprising nose-mounted KS-87B and low-pan KS-56D cameras, the Goodyear SLAR (Side-Looking Airborne

A mid-life update for the F-4F took account of the need to beef up its air defence attributes. The Improved Combat E�ectiveness (ICE) upgrade entered full-scale development in December 1986 and planned dramatically to enhance the Phantom’s look-down/shoot-down capability against multiple targets. ICE was built around the replacement of the original Westinghouse AN/APQ-120 radar with the new multi-mode Raytheon AN/APG-65 and the addition of the AIM-120 AMRAAM beyond visual range air-to-air missile.

Two development aircraft were �ying by 1990, and the maiden �ight of the �rst fully-modi�ed ICE jet came on 2 May that year. With the 110-aircraft programme completed by October 1996, some airframes were also life-extended to 10,000 hours.

When the F-4F ICE came on the scene the combination of APG-65 and AMRAAM opened a few eyes, especially among those who thought the Phantom was becoming outmoded. In truth, the Luftwa�e could have taken things further and followed the Greek Peace Icarus project, which essentially built upon the German upgrade but also added new cockpit displays, head-up display and radios. The F-4F’s cockpit has changed little since 1973. The HUD is still a rudimentary gunsight

with no �ight reference data and just a ‘pipper’, while the advent of helmet-mounted sights and close-range agile dog�ght weapons has rendered the Phantom useless in a turning �ght. But the F-4F ICE was all about striking a lethal blow from range. Jamie Hunter

ICE COOL Radar) which acted as the aircraft’s only true all-weather sensor, and the AN/AAS-18A infra-red line-scan. Wienß says, ‘The SLAR was limited in terms of resolution and so on but you could easily detect Warsaw Pact divisions lined up in long queues, ready to move. That was the intention of the border missions: to survey the area east of us from north to south. Aircraft from Leck flew south and eastbound over the Baltic Sea, we flew northbound. The political issue was critical, so you had to plan and execute the missions very carefully, co-ordinating with the CAOCs [Combined Air Operations Centres], the radar sites and the overall air defence structure.’

The RF-4Es were given a secondary air-to-ground tasking in the 1980s, while tactics more central to their primary role were, Wienß recounts, sometimes the subject of debate. ‘We would have been the first to go to war — that was understood by everybody. I was not very happy because the taceval [NATO tactical evaluation] schedulers tasked one aircraft with reconnoitring an East German airfield… You cannot by any means rely on one aircraft to reconnoitre an airfield which is heavily defended, and which size-wise is a big area. You must task three or four in a combined mission or in close sequencing to provide for attrition, to provide for sensor coverage… those reconnaissance results would have been given to the fighter-bomber units to allow them to do their job. That was a challenge — to, first of all, convert the aircrews themselves to a different way of doing things, because they had been used to the role of ‘alone, unarmed and scared to… something’, and to the NATO taskers.’

Changing timesIn 1988 the RF-4Es had their secondary attack mission removed, at around the same time as the tactical fighter concept was finally abandoned within the F-4F force. As Gunter Lange, JG 74’s commander from 1984-86, outlines, ‘the resources decreased because the Tornado came in, and the Tornados needed a lot of range slots. There were protests about noise and so on. So it was clear that some of the F-4 wings would not come up to a sufficient level as tactical fighter units.’

This photo: F-4Fs of Bundeswehr test unit WTD 61 (pictured is 37+15) bore the brunt of ICE upgrade tests. Six AMRAAMs were �red during the campaign at NAS Point Mugu in 1992. WTD 61 via Dr Andreas Zeitler

Inset: Phantom crew members, like these with JG 74 in 2006, appreciated the ICE enhancements. Jamie Hunter



Founded recently by Eckart Wienß and Gunter Lange, the Deutsche Phantomsta�el aims to bring together all German F-4/RF-4 crew members in order to preserve the memories and the traditions of the type’s service.

• Find out more at www.phantomstaffel.de

DEUTSCHE PHANTOMSTAFFEL

What far-reaching changes followed. The Luftwaffe in October 1990 assumed sovereignty of re-unified Germany’s airspace, the RF-4Es were retired in favour of recce Tornados, and the F-4F ICE upgrade represented a transformation. While serving as Luftwaffe commander in the USA, overseeing all the air force’s Stateside training efforts (the subject of a future CA article) and deployments there, Eckart Wienß experienced its benefits on a ‘Red Flag’ exercise: ‘You could see the advantage in the ICE aircraft in the air-to-air environment due to the enormous beyond visual range capability of modern radars. I remember the back-seater crying, ‘Shot!’ I shot, but I never saw the target… The ACMI [Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation] range acknowledged the kill later on.’

Gerhard Ballhausen went to JG 74 as commander from 1995-98. ‘Beyond visual range combat opened up a new dimension’, he comments. ‘With the ICE upgrade we became part of the game again’. Now, alas, the game is over. Make no mistake, though, about the scale of the veteran fighter’s contribution. ‘I think the Phantom really brought the efficiency to the Luftwaffe that was required’, says Eckart Wienß. ‘It deserves a big, big send-off.’

‘I couldn’t agree more’, chimes in Gunter Lange. ‘With the Phantom, we gained a completely different standing with our NATO partners because of our performance with this aircraft… It was a big step forward. All the crews flying Phantoms in Germany realised sooner or later that they were really part of the backbone of the Luftwaffe. This is a special feeling of pride, and the reason we have the saying ‘Phantom Phlyers Phorever’.’

A 1990 view of ‘lizard’-camou�aged RF-4E 37+10, on the strength of AG 52 at Leck.

Dr Stefan Petersen

In 2001, F-4Fs 38+37 from JG 72, 38+31 from JG 73 and and JG 74’s 38+39 were painted for the 40th anniversaries of their squadrons. JG 73’s other celebratory jet, MiG-29 29+20, joins them. BMVg via Thomas Newdick

To mark its 25th anniversary in 1984, JG 71 painted F-4F 38+47 in this stunning scheme reminiscent of Manfred von Richthofen’s Fokker DrI. At a Wittmund open day it was displayed by Gerhard Ballhausen and Hauptmann Uli Hübsch. via Gerhard Ballhausen

Carrying red markings to denote involvement in non-dissimilar combat training, F-4F 37+38 from JG 73 — its black radome showing it was yet to go through the ICE upgrade — gets airborne in 1995. Ben Dunnell



The four specially-painted Luftwa�e McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantom IIs from JG 71 ‘Richthofen’ that marked the retirement of the type in service in June 2013. Photo Jamie Hunter

50-51 Centerspread.indd 50 18/06/2013 14:38

50-51 Centerspread.indd 51 18/06/2013 14:38

THE VERY LAST official landing by a Luftwaffe F-4F was due to be made at the 29 June event by pilot Oberstleutnant Alex Berk with JG 71 wing commander Oberst Gerhard

Roubal in the rear seat. Ironically, this came 20 years to the month since Oberstleutnant Berk first took the controls of the F-4, during his training at Holloman AFB, New Mexico with the Luftwaffe F-4 training squadron, the 20th Fighter Squadron ‘Silver Lobos’. Now, with over 2,000 flying hours under his belt in the type, he is one of the most experienced Phantom pilots in the world.

Speaking to Combat Aircraft in late May, Berk enthused: ‘It’s been a trusted aircraft for the last 40 years — the F-4 is great to fly and it has been an extremely reliable jet. On the other hand it’s good that we are transitioning to the Eurofighter so that we can compete with other nations. The fact remains that the Phantom is old, and, although we caught up with the ICE upgrade of the 1990s, without a datalink we really show our age.’

While the ICE upgrade was a quantum leap for the F-4, the jet was running into a changing world, ICE having been based on Cold War requirements. Oberstleutnant Werner Theisen, deputy wing commander at JG 71, explained further: ‘Nowadays training is more geared towards being able to integrate seamlessly into a joint campaign and how to best employ air power in a limited war against an adversary that cannot challenge you at the highest levels of air combat performance. With the current digitalisation and networking datalinks that we see today, the F-4F would need a major upgrade to meet modern standards. However, it’s still a Phantom — yes, it is still a lovely aeroplane, but it is nowhere near a modern fighter.’

Having commanded 711 Staffel within JG 71, Oberstleutnant Berk spent his last years on the F-4 as the deputy flying group commander at Wittmund, overseeing flying and operations including the important NATO Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) mission for northern Germany. ‘In 2010 it was decided to put a limitation on flying hours for the last three years of F-4 operations, reduced from our 8,000 hours annually. The draw-down equated to 3,000 flight hours in 2011, 1,800 in 2012 and just 700 hours in 2013. The only thing we could do is to cut back our aircrews, so as we end operations we have around 10 crews plus some staff crews and 10 aircraft. That’s not

This photo: The �nal four — a sharp break by F-4F 38+10 from the other specially-marked jets. Note that it carries live AIM-9L Sidewinders, due to the fact that this aircraft was on QRA duty at the time. Jamie Hunter

Below left: Phantom man — Oberstleutnant Alex Berk. Jamie Hunter


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‘It’s been a trusted

aircraft for the last 40

years — the F-4 is great to fly and it

has been an extremely

reliable jet’

Oberstleutnant Alex Berk



During the final year of operations at Wittmund the QRA task took up most of the focus for the wing aside from continuation training, with vastly fewer flying hours available. The last deployed assignments for the F-4s were from March to May 2012 to protect Iceland (flying from Keflavík) and the Baltic states (operating out of Lithuania). The simultaneous NATO Air Policing detachments were a huge effort for JG 71, the wing essentially having been reduced to a size equivalent to a single squadron, but strong engineering and logistical support meant the wing was able to conduct both operations abroad.

By the end of 2012, however, operations had slowed to solely providing QRA from Wittmund. Each day the wing still launched two QRA Tango (training) scrambles to help train the German air defence system and the pilots, thus remaining very much an operational unit.

Phond PharewellMaj Olaf ‘MC’ Ring, the deputy operations commander at JG 71, gave CA some insight

into the last days of the F-4s at Wittmund. ‘As the jets are retired to the base at nearby Jever, they are being cannibalised for parts that are hard to come by to keep the remaining jets running as smoothly as possible. There are not many operational flights now due to the fact that we are sending pilots to train on the Eurofighter. We only train for our core remaining task, that of NATO QRA over northern Germany — that entails two-by-two missions a day on the flightline plus up to two actual QRA waves. They are on NATO-standard alert times and we still keep two crews on alert, on a 24-hour shift, from 07.00hrs to 07.00hrs — a turn runs for about a week.

‘Over the last year, we’ve had 10 ‘live alert’ QRA intercepts. Most of those were for radio issues/malfunctions. It’s like, ‘I forgot to turn the switch on… but when I saw two loaded Phantoms I remembered!’ We do also see probing Russian ‘Bears’ and ‘Coots’ on patrol too. We have continued to fly training missions right to the end of operations due to currency requirements — our crews have to train and fly the missions needed (such as

many people to cover our QRA task, which runs right to the end of the F-4’s career. We have two crews on a 24-hour shift on a weekly turn, which is four crews for the week.

‘The last ever F-4 QRA launch for the Luftwaffe will be on the morning of Wednesday 26 June. We will temporarily re-locate the QRA to Nörvenich for the remainder of that week and over the weekend of our ‘Phantom Pharewell’, before the QRA alert returns here at Wittmund on Monday 1 July with the new Eurofighters.’

The Special OnesThe two retro F-4Fs, serials 38+10 in Norm 72 (left) and 38+33 in Norm 81 (right), plus 37+01 in its special markings (centre) to signify the end of Luftwa�e F-4F operations. Jamie Hunter

Farewell, old friend. Twin licks of ‘burner from the J79 engines propel the F-4s o� into the darkness. Rich Cooper




check flights and emergency procedures), all the stuff you can’t train with an armed jet. We, as a unit, are still on a high tempo — we have fewer crews and about the same number of tasks, so the workload has actually increased even if we are flying less.’

The ‘Phantom Pharewell’ was a clear highlight of the 2013 aviation calendar. In usual Luftwaffe tradition, this included specially-painted aircraft to bid farewell. Oberstleutnant Berk commented: ‘Our four special jets were an idea from Col Roubal, because we want to say goodbye to the F-4 from the whole Luftwaffe, not just the ‘Richthofen’ wing.’

It was decided to apply stunning ‘retro’ colour schemes to two aircraft in order to chart the career of the F-4 in Luftwaffe service. Aircraft serial 38+10 received the original Norm 72 green and grey camouflage, with 38+33 being given the ‘toned-down’ Norm 81 scheme, and 37+22 being painted in a fresh Norm 90 scheme, the standard camouflage for the last 23 years. However, of arguably greatest significance was 37+01, the Luftwaffe’s first F-4F and also the commander’s jet right up to



KEEPING IT SHARP

Because of the importance of the Luftwa�e Phantom’s QRA role, one of the most vital skills for the pilots right until the end of operations was aerial refuelling. The image above was taken during one such training mission, with four jets receiving fuel from KC-135R serial 63-8008 of the USAF’s 100th Air Refueling Wing, �ying out of RAF Mildenhall in Su�olk. During this mission 20,000lb of fuel was o�oaded at 22,000ft in tanker track Rosy (an area 30nm long and 12nm wide overhead Münster, Germany), with the Phantoms using call signs ‘Laser 1-4’.

The age range of the crew-to-machine interface involved was an interesting dynamic of this sortie. The jets guzzling gas were built in the 1970s, while the student boomer guiding the boom into the F-4F’s ‘co�ee can’ receptacle wasn’t even born until the jets had already seen some two decades of service, and the combined age of the formation over Germany was over 200 years! Ten times younger and lying prone in the back of the tanker, boom in hand, was 20-year-old Airman Anthony Ellsworth. ‘I thought the AAR went great’, enthused Ellsworth. ‘It was the �rst time I’d ever refuelled jets, and was one of the highlights of my �rst year in the air force. They got their gas! From our point of view, the F-4s were handled really smoothly, with accurate movements… It was quite a complex mission and only my third �own out of RAF Mildenhall. I was surprised how well it went.’

‘The F-4 is a unique aircraft to refuel in many aspects’, says TSgt Taylor, an experienced boomer with 2,800 hours in the KC-135. ‘For one, due to the characteristic smoke trail of the F-4 it is easy to pick out when forming up for AR. Surprisingly, the F-4 is a very stable aircraft to refuel but this may have more to do with the great skill the German pilots seem to have �ying the old beast… but I know calling the F-4 ‘old’ is a bit ironic coming from a KC-135R boomer whose newest aircraft is from 1963! A stable F-4 is essential due to the lack of refuelling receptacle slipway. Most boom receiver aircraft have a signi�cant slipway to help guide the boom nozzle into the receptacle. You can look at pictures of F-15/F-16 slipways and see how much ‘wiggle room’ we have. The F-4’s receptacle is like a co�ee can. There is zero slipway and zero room for error.’

the last day. A stunning electric blue and gold scheme and the inscription ‘First in — last out’ signified the final Luftwaffe tribute to the mighty F-4. Following its last flight this aircraft was due to remain at Wittmund to watch proudly over the main gate.

Even as the Phantoms flew their last months of operations, the new boys were already in town. During May, the Eurofighters had started arriving at Wittmund, conducting evaluation sorties for their QRA commitment. Eurofighter operations here will be conducted initially under a Fliegende Gruppe (Flying Group), reporting to Jagdbombergeschwader 31 ‘Boelcke’ at Nörvenich.

The new Eurofighter-equipped Fliegende Gruppe is led by Oberstleutnant Timo

Heimbach and will come under the command of the ‘Boelcke’ wing. However, the remit of the Wittmund operation will be much more than just a detachment, the maintenance and infrastructure reflecting its elevated status. Conversion to full wing status will depend upon whether plans to establish a Eurofighter training wing at Holloman AFB come to fruition. Nine Eurofighters will initially be allocated to Fliegergruppe 71 ‘Richthofen’, working up to 20 aircraft by 2018 and hopefully the return to full wing status.

Regardless of the outcome, the proud traditions of the ‘Richthofen’ wing will prevail, but not before it has sent the Phantom off in proper style. The unit wants to thank the local population for their support over the last 40 years, but also to mark the end of an era of fast jet flying in Germany.

As one important chapter closes, another begins. But few will ever forget the Phantom era. A few tears were expected at Wittmund as we closed for press. For many, it is the end of their career, as well as a time to say a fond farewell to an old friend for the last time. ‘Phantoms Phorever!’

Acknowledgements: Jamie Hunter would like to thank Oberst Gerhard Roubal, Frank Graefe, Oberstleutnants Werner Theisen and Alex Berk, Maj Olaf Ring and Hauptmann Sebastian Becker and all at JG 71.

Oberst Gerhard Roubal, the last ever Luftwa�e F-4 wing commander.

Rich Cooper

Rich

Coo

per

A fabulous touchdown shot from Wittmund in early June. Smoke pours from the mainwheels as the rubber smacks down on the runway. Alexander Golz




Norm 81-schemed 38+33 emerges from its hardened aircraft shelter at Wittmund during May 2013. Jamie Hunter



PORTUGAL RECEIVED 50 Alpha Jet As from Germany in 1993 as part-payment for the usage of Beja by the Luftwaffe, an arrangement that ended the same year. From the initial

fleet, only 40 aircraft were intended to fly, with the remaining 10 being used for spares.

Within Esquadra 103 the Alpha Jet was expected to supersede the T-33, used as an advanced pilot trainer for almost four decades until its withdrawal in 1991, and the T-38 Talon, acquired in the late 1970s with the aim of transitioning pilots to F-5 fighters that were in the event never received. In the ground attack role, the African war-veteran Fiat G91s of Esquadra 301 ‘Jaguares’ also required replacement.

Flying an aircraft able to carry armament saw the Esquadra 103 syllabus changing

accordingly, henceforth taking in operational conversion. Five new

programmes were included, among them air-to-ground

gunnery and air defence missions. The squadron’s

structure was altered to accommodate an

Operations Officer

plus

Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Armament Sections.

The first six instructor pilots received training at Fürstenfeldbruck in Germany during 1993. The squadron became ready to fulfil its mission that same year, the first Alpha Jet course beginning in November.

Esquadra 301The Alpha Jet inherited the missions previously flown by the ‘Gina’, including close air support, battlefield interdiction and tactical reconnaissance. These could now be carried out using electronic warfare equipment in the rear cockpit of the Alpha Jet.

In order to integrate Esquadra 301 within the NATO Augmentation Force for the Mediterranean area, the ‘Jaguares’ participated in several international exercises: ‘Dynamic Mix ’97’ (Italy), ‘Strong Resolve ’98’ (Portugal), ‘Dynamic Mix ’98’ (Turkey), ‘Central Enterprise’ (Germany) in 1999, ‘Linked Seas’ (Portugal), ‘Dynamic Mix’ (Greece) and ‘Eolo’ (Spain) in 2000, and ‘Clean Hunter 2001’ (Germany). The ‘Jaguares’ twice hosted the NATO Tiger Meet at Beja, in 1996 and 2002.

Before converting to the F-16 MLU, the squadron reached 20,000 hours on the Alpha Jet in 2005, and a last operational flight with the type occurred on 20 November that year. It then moved to Monte Real, leaving

On 19 September last year the

Portuguese Alpha Jet �eet reached

the landmark of 50,000 �ight

hours. Today, however, the type

is something of an endangered

species in Portuguese skies, with only a single

unit, Esquadra 103 ‘Caracóis’

(snails) at Beja air base, operating

six survivors.

report: Paulo Mata


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Esquadra 103 as the sole Portuguese Alpha Jet operator.

Esquadra 103 re-formed the Asas de Portugal display team in 1997, but demonstrations only took place within Portugal, the aircraft wearing their normal camouflage. In preparation for the 50th anniversary of the Air Force in 2002, a new team was established as the Parelha da Cruz de Cristo (Cross of Christ Team) in 2001, with two Alpha Jets. The Asas de Portugal was officially re-activated on 1 July 2004 and performed on a regular basis nationally and internationally until 2009, with the last season in 2010 involving only a solo jet.

MaintenanceIn common with the initial pilots, the first technicians also received instruction on their new aircraft in Germany. The Alpha Jet A was German-built and intended to be supported by German industry. From the start this led to some difficulties regarding the logistic supply chain for parts. These difficulties had to be overcome in order to counter constant delays in parts supply and the exorbitant price of some components.

The Portuguese Air Force joined the French and Belgian air arms, creating a working group intended to exchange technical data, experiences and solutions for common problems for their Alpha Jet fleets. The original canopy emergency fracturing system was exchanged for a new system adopted by the other operators. The ejection seats also began to be revised at Beja, so that the aircraft could be operated safely and at reasonable costs.

An engine test bench was installed at Beja, and subsequently modernised, providing services not only to the Portuguese but also to QinetiQ of the UK, which uses the Alpha Jet A and German engines.

Several other components, such as the cannon, had their periodic overhauls completed locally, which reduced costs while increasing domestic capabilities and know-how.

New equipment was fitted, including the SPS-1000 radar warning receiver, AN/ALE-40 chaff/flare launcher, KN-4071 Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) integrated INS/GPS platform, and the smoke system for the Asas de Portugal team.

Since the aircraft were acquired with a reasonable amount of flight hours, some needed to undergo a first Depot Inspection (DI) from 1995 onwards. These have since been completed by OGMA near Lisbon. In the process, 15 aircraft were withdrawn from service, leaving 25 fit to fly by the turn of the century. This number remained stable until 2006, when the second DI began. The fleet of operational aircraft was reduced to 10, and subsequently to the six remaining today, as certain critical components reached the end of their life cycle.

Only one accident occurred during the 50,000 flight hours, involving two aircraft in a mid-air collision. One aircraft returned to base

and landed, while the other crashed after the pilot ejected safely.

The futureThe six-strong Alpha Jet fleet is capable of flying up to 2018, if no additional investment is made in it. However, should the decision be taken, a considerable number of aircraft could be re-activated after the necessary inspections and repairs.

Meanwhile, their remains the possibility of Beja accommodating a South Korean pilot training centre, equipped with the T-50 Golden Eagle. This would also train Portuguese pilots, with local instructors and trainees using shared aircraft, dictating an earlier retirement of the Alpha Jets.

Acknowledgments: Portuguese Air Force Public A�airs, Lt Col Eugenio Rocha, Maj Afonso Gaiolas, Lt Silva Ferreira, and Esquadra 103.

Above: The Asas de Portugal, re-formed by Esquadra 103 in 1997, started appearing in this colour scheme during 2005. Paulo Mata

Left: Alpha Jet 15236, manned by 2nd Lt Gonçalves and 1st Lt Fernandes, was the aircraft that passed the landmark of 50,000 �ight hours in 2012. The aircraft later received special markings. Lt Silva Ferreira


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Venezuela was the �rst Latin American operator of the F-16 Fighting Falcon and one of the �rst outside NATO. Currently, despite the US ban on arms sales to the country, Venezuela’s ‘Vipers’ are still operational — together with the Su-30MK2, they form the front line of the Aviación Militar Bolivariana Venezolana.

report: Santiago Rivas

Toting a Python IV missile, a Venezuelan F-16A Block 15 �ares for landing at El Libertador. Sergio Padron


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BEING THE MOST important oil producer in Latin America and the closest such state to the United States in geographical terms, Venezuela enjoyed US support for many years. This

extended to the provision of weapons, and a major development occurred in the late 1970s after the oil crisis and the possibility of the US losing access to Arab oil. This, coupled with the existence of communist guerrillas in Latin America and the delivery of MiG-23 fighters to Cuba, led to the decision by the US government to authorise the sale of the new F-16 Fighting Falcon to the Venezuelan Air Force (Fuerzas Aéreas Venezolanas – FAV).

Reports were spread in 1980 indicating the presence of six Cuban MiG-23s in Guyana were spread, these jets being considered a serious threat to the oil fields. At the same time, a violation of Venezuelan airspace by these aircraft was reported. By then the FAV was equipped with the Dassault Mirage III, Mirage 5 and Canadair VF-5 Freedom Fighter, but only the Mirage III could adequately face off the Cuban jets, and the search for a modern fighter began. The aim was to purchase 72 aircraft to replace all the other models, providing three fighter groups with two squadrons of 12 aircraft each. The Mirage 50, F-16, IAI Kfir C7, Mirage

2000 and Saab JA 37 Viggen were all studied, but the Viggen and Kfir were soon discounted, paving the way for extensive tests of the remaining three.

The US government provided authorisation for the sale of the F-16, the fighter being considered far superior to the MiG-23 (Cuba initial received MiG-23BN ground-attack versions, with minimal air-to-air capability). An agreement was signed with General Dynamics in 1981 for the sale of the aircraft for a total of $1.5 billion, although the US government only approved the sale of 48 examples.

Initially, the F-16/79 was offered with the General Electric J79-GE-17X engine, a derivative of that used by the F-4 Phantom II. This version was rejected by Venezuela, which preferred the F-16A/B Block 15.

In May 1982 a Foreign Military Sales contract for 18 F-16A Block 15 and six F-16B Block 15 aircraft was finally signed under the Peace Delta programme. The plan at this time was to buy a second batch of 24 aircraft in the future, before budget restrictions forced the abandonment of the idea. Venezuela’s F-16s were equipped with the F100-PW-200 turbofan, AN/APG-66 radar and brake parachute.

In January 1983 a group from the FAV of six pilots and 54 technicians were sent to the US to be trained with the US Air Force’s 311th

Fighter Training Squadron ‘Snakes’ at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. Aircraft deliveries to Grupo Aéreo de Caza No 16, created on 31 August 1983 to operate the Fighting Falcon under the command of Lt Col Maglio Montiel, in the US that September. The unit was part of the Comando Aéreo de Defensa, also equipped with radars and anti-aircraft artillery units. The group consisted of Escuadrón Aéreo de Caza 161 ‘Caribes’, Escuadrón Aéreo de Caza 162 ‘Gavilanes’ and Escuadrón de Mantenimiento 167.

Once the first three F-16As and three F-16Bs had been accepted, on 14 November 1983 they made the ferry flight from Fort Worth, Texas, to El Libertador air base in Palo Negro, near the city of Maracay, from where they have operated ever since. The sortie was made non-stop, with refuelling from a USAF KC-135. On their arrival the Venezuelan president, Dr Luis Herrera Campíns, welcomed them.

During 1984 the unit undertook training, and it attained full combat capability in 1985. Meanwhile, delivery of the remaining 18 aircraft was being completed, with the second ferry flight arriving on 9 April 1985, the third on 11 June, the fourth on 20 August and the last on 19 November. The serials of the new aircraft followed the ‘scrambled’ series employed by the FAV, with four-digit numbers.


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This photo: F-16B serial 1715 of Grupo Aéreo de Caza No 16 carrying a mixed missile load of a single Python IV and an AIM-9M. Cees-Jan van der Ende


The weapons delivered initially included AIM-9P-3 Sidewinder missiles, 500lb Mk82 bombs, SUU-30/B cluster bombs, BDU-33 practice bombs and 19-round LAU-61 launchers for 70mm rockets. To increase the unit’s capabilities, two Boeing 707s were purchased and modified to refuel the F-16 as well as the Mirage 50 and F-5.

Incident with ColombiaOn the morning of 9 August 1987, the Colombian corvette ARC Caldas entered Venezuelan waters to establish a presence on three islands claimed by Colombia. Immediately afterwards, at 06.00hrs, the order was given by the Venezuelan government to scramble two F-16s, which, after making contact with the Venezuelan Navy patrol vessel Libertad, located the corvette. The jets flew over the vessel for 15 minutes, but did not receive the order to attack. They remained at higher altitude waiting for orders until they returned to their base to refuel. While the incident was being resolved peacefully, the F-16s remained on alert and were deployed to other bases. During this period they conducted patrol flights over the border. The crisis was sorted out a few days later, with the intervention of the Argentine government and the Organization of American States.

By the end of the 1980s, Grupo 16 had begun to participate in different international

exercises, receiving a visit by the F-16A/Bs of the 429th and the 430th Tactical Fighter Squadrons from their base at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Shortly after, the Venezuelan unit deployed to Puerto Rico to train with the A-7D Corsair IIs of the 156th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the Air National Guard, marking their first operation outside the country. In 1987 they operated with the air wing of the USS Eisenhower, including simulated air combat with US Navy F-14 Tomcats.

Eight F-15A/B Eagles of the USAF’s 8th Tactical Fighter Squadron from Holloman AFB, New Mexico visited El Libertador during 1991 to train with the unit, and a year later Grupo 16 was invited to participate in the ‘Red Flag’ exercise, becoming the first Latin American air arm to do so. On 18 June 1992 five F-16s and one of the Boeing 707 tankers were deployed together to Nellis AFB for ‘Red Flag’, where they flew with USAF aircraft and French Air Force Mirage 2000Ns, undertaking interdiction training missions.

In combatFollowing a failed coup d’état launched by Lt Col Hugo Chávez Frías on 4 February 1992, his followers within the Venezuelan armed forces began to organise a new attempt. In order to deploy aircraft close to Caracas the plotters decided to use the pretext of a deployment to El Libertador air base for the

Air Force Day parade in November. By the end of October three OV-10E and three OV-10A Broncos of Grupo Aéreo de Operaciones Especiales 15 had arrived at the Palo Negro base, where they joined 16 Mirage IIIs and 50s of Grupo Aéreo de Combate 11, five C-130Hs, six G222s and the two Boeing 707s of Grupo Aéreo de Transporte 6, six Super Pumas and 12 Bell UH-1Hs of Grupo Aéreo de Operaciones Especiales 10, together with the 24 F-16s.

A battalion of the 42nd Airborne Brigade captured El Libertador air base at 03.30hrs on 27 November, while another force took control of Mariscal Sucre air base where the Military Aviation School was based, equipped with Tucanos and T-2D Buckeyes among other assets.

From the cockpits of their F-16s, Capt Helimenas Labarca and Lt Beltrán Vielma, who were on alert, saw the attack. They decided to take off and fly to Lt Vicente Landaeta air base at Barquisimeto, which was still in the hands of loyalist forces and where the F-5As were based together with a number of additional T-2s.

The rebels did not manage to convince any F-16 crews to join them, but from 06.15hrs they began to attack loyalist positions with a single Mirage, followed by one T-2D and between 10 and 12 Broncos and Tucanos.

At the same time, the two F-16 pilots took off from Barquisimeto and headed to Caracas to

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Above: An impressive line-up of F-16As

alongside Su-30MK2 ‘Flankers’. Note that

one of the ‘Vipers’ carries a Litening pod.

Ivan Peña

This photo: Venezuela’s original plan was for an order of up to 72 aircraft, but budget limitations lowered

that number to 24 jets. AMB


defend the government, starting their patrol over the city at 07.00hrs. Since they did not see any other air activity they went to Palo Negro and strafed the base, but to no effect. While they were over Palo Negro, two Mirages and a number of Broncos and Tucanos attacked Barquisimeto, destroying two F-5As and damaging other aircraft. The F-16 pilots were informed of this development and moved to confront the rebel aircraft. After the attackers were located, Lt Vielma used his 20mm cannon to down OV-10Es serials FAV 0073 and 1863 — one of the rebel pilots ejected and the other was killed. They intercepted another Bronco over Palo Negro soon after, forcing Lt Mictil to eject.

The two aircraft returned immediately to Barquisimeto. Labarca took off again to fly over Caracas, but the rebels were now retreating as loyalist forces regained control of the occupied areas. The rebels launched another attack against the Presidential palace, but Labarca managed to see the aircraft responsible and pursued them at over Mach 1. He intercepted the rebel Broncos and Tucanos, but he was now flying too fast within the valley in which Caracas is located, and at low altitude over built-up areas. Labarca fired at a Tucano, seriously damaging it, but its pilots managed to land (other sources report the aircraft as being destroyed). He then attempted to intercept a Mirage, but the fighter also managed to escape

p060_p065_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 63 19/06/2013 16:39

August 2013 www.combataircraft.net64

and Danish fighters, conducting escort and interception missions under the guidance of USAF E-3 Sentries. Although exercise participation was planned for 2000, Venezuela’s political change of course after Hugo Chávez became President in 1998 saw a deterioration of relations with Washington and the invitation was cancelled.

By then, Rafael Litening pods and Lizard laser-guidance kits for the Mk82 bombs had been added to the inventory. The F-16s also received Matra Durandal II runway-penetration bombs and Natak flares for night illumination.

From 8 February 1998, French Air Force Mirage 2000Ns, en route to ‘Red Flag 98-2’, made a stop in Venezuela and took part in an exercise with FAV F-16s and Mirage 50Vs. The jets flew fighter and attack missions from El Libertador, in what was called Exercise ‘Miranda ’98’. F-16s FAV 0678 and 9068 flew to Santiago de Chile soon afterwards to take

part in the FIDAE 1998 aerospace trade fair.By the end of the 1990s the Fighting Falcons were beginning to show their

age and a modernisation plan was developed. This was to equip them

with more powerful F100-PW-220E engines and other systems, as part of a Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU). Two additional

low and very fast. He subsequently returned to Barquisimeto to refuel, despite the rebel aircraft continuing to press their attacks. Labarca and Vielma soon returned to Caracas, but, after seeing no enemy aircraft, at 13.10hrs they attacked La Carlota air base at Caracas. Having refuelled, at 15.00hrs they strafed Mariscal Sucre and El Libertador, causing little damage. However, their presence and their aerial victories did enough to impede rebel aircraft from taking off. By the time night fell the rebellion had failed. Some rebels escaped from the country and others surrendered, the F-16s having made a significant contribution to the regime’s survival.

Exercises and upgradesAfter the action against the coup plotters, activity returned to normal and an improvement for the F-16 fleet came with the replacement of the AIM-9P missiles with AIM-9Ls. Unfortunately, on 20 April 1994 the first accident took place, when F-16B FAV 9581 ingested a bird — both pilots were forced to eject. A second F-16B, FAV 2179, was lost during an aerobatic demonstration at El Libertador on 22 November 1995, killing both pilots.

The international exercises continued with renewed involvement in ‘Red Flag’ in 1996, where the Venezuelans flew with US, Belgian

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Venezuelan F-16s are equipped with drag ‘chutes in the extended �n fairing.

Despite restrictions, the aircraft have managed to

stay operational in decent numbers. Cees-Jan van der Ende


two-seaters were also to be acquired to replace the lost jets. The contract was approved in 1997 and upgrade work began during 1999, but soon the US government decided to cancel the programme as part of a ban on arms sales imposed as a result of the Chávez administration’s posture against the US. Only four aircraft were fully modernised, but all the fleet received the new engine.

On 27 September 2002 another loss occurred when F-16A FAV 6611 ingested a bird on approach to Barcelona, forcing the pilot, Col Héctor D’Armaz Dugarte, commander of Grupo Aéreo de Caza No 16, to eject.

Since the new millennium, restrictions imposed by the US have led to the deterioration of the operational status of the F-16s, but the newly styled Aviación Militar Bolivariana Venezolana (AMBV, Bolivarian Venezuelan Military Aviation) has managed to find spares via other countries and is still keeping a proportion of the fighters operational.

During 2002 negotiations took place with SABCA of Belgium with a view to

modernising the aircraft to Falcon UP standard, extending their service lives from 5,500 to 8,000 hours, but US pressure put an end to the plan. The same fate befell a plan to bring the jets

to Falcon ACE (Avionics Capabilities Enhancement) standard with IAI of Israel. The project included a full ‘glass’ cockpit, new fire-control radar and the option of a wide-angle head-up display or a helmet-mounted display.

Between 3 and 20 November 2004, six F-16s, together with three Mirage 50EV/DVs, a Boeing 707 and two Super Pumas, deployed to Natal air base in Brazil to take part in the second ‘Cruzeiro do Sul’ (CRUZEX) exercise, together with Brazilian, Argentine, French and Chilean aircraft. Venezuelan ‘Vipers’ also took part in the third edition of the exercise, held between 13 August and 1 September 2006, at Anápolis in Brazil, this time with the addition of the Uruguayan Air Force. Venezuela sent three F-16s, three Mirage 50EV/DVs, three VF-5As and a single Boeing 707.

An interesting exercise took place on 21 March 2007, when the AMBV deployed to the José Antonio Páez highway for what was called Operation ‘Cívico-Militar Resistencia 01-07’. An F-16A and two F-16Bs took part, together with a VF-5A, a VF-5B, two Mirage 50s and a number of Broncos, as well as examples of the C-130H, Super Puma and liaison aircraft. These undertook various operations from the road to train pilots in this type of deployment.

Venezuela’s third and final involvement in CRUZEX took place from 1 to 14 November 2008, with assets from the same countries again deploying to Natal. On this occasion, Venezuela only sent F-16s.

Current statusThe restrictions imposed by the US government led to Venezuela purchasing Russian and Chinese equipment, including 24 Su-30MK2s in 2006. These multi-role fighters have since become the AMBV’s primary combat assets, but the F-16s remain on the front line. Following the retirement of the Mirages and F-5As, the two models constitute the only fighters within the air arm. To increase the air-to-air prowess of the F-16s, Rafael Python 4 missiles were received from 1999.

Despite the problems in obtaining spares, the Fighting Falcons are still operational. In some flypasts Venezuela has demonstrated 10 or more of the 21 survivors simultaneously. Rumours in 2012 suggested the delivery of a Venezuelan F-16 to Iran, but in fact Iranian Air Force officers visited El Libertador and inspected the fighter, no aircraft being sent to the Islamic Republic. Although plans have been identified to replace the F-16s with Su-35s, no such orders have yet been placed.

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IN HOTSPOTS AROUND the world, the flight decks of US Navy aircraft carriers bustle with activity from dawn until dusk, and often beyond. After the jet noise has died down between the relentless launch cycles, the more

unusual drone of turboprops can be heard in the distance. This sound comes from the carrier on-board delivery (COD) aircraft, an unsung hero that represents a welcome sight for everyone on board the ship.

Fleet Logistics Support Squadron FOUR ZERO (VRC-40), the ‘Rawhides’, is one of two squadrons operating the twin-turboprop Grumman C-2A Greyhound, the US Navy’s medium-lift/long-range logistics support aircraft, home-ported at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. With 400 personnel, the ‘Rawhides’ operate a fleet of 12 C-2As. Their mission is to facilitate the movement of high-priority cargo, mail and passengers between Atlantic Fleet Carrier Strike Groups and forward logistics sites.

Flown by a pilot and co-pilot, the crew is completed by two aircrewmen who supervise the loading of cargo, computing the weight and balance, and deal with any passengers. A large ramp at the rear of the aircraft and a powered winch facilitate straight-in loading and unloading of cargo for fast turn-arounds.

An empty, fully-fuelled Greyhound weighs 50,000lb and, with a maximum take-off weight of 60,000lb, is capable is carrying a combined payload of 10,000lb. That maximum is rarely reached, however, as the aircraft will normally ‘cube-out’ before reaching the weight limit. The squadron takes a wide variety of high-priority cargo to the carrier, ranging from aircraft engines to parts for the ship’s catapult launch system. The payload could also include up to 26 passengers including military personnel, foreign dignitaries and other VIPs. The Greyhound can also carry medical evacuation (medevac) casualties in Stokes litter baskets and connected to intravenous drips. Unlike conventional airliners, passengers sit in rear-facing seats to better withstand the brutal carrier landing, more

Combat Aircraft joins the ‘Rawhides’ of VRC-40 to gain insights into the vital carrier on-board delivery role, and sees the mission spectrum of the venerable C-2A Greyhound expanding to meet new requirements.

report and photos: Neil Pearson

CARRIER ON-BOARD DELIVERY (COD) WITH VRC-40 ‘RAWHIDES’

A �ne head-on view of a VRC-40 C-2A on a mission from its home station at NS Norfolk, Virginia.


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‘We’re not fun to watch, we’re big and slow, but from a pilot’s perspective it’s very rewarding to do this job every day’ LT Dave Pilko


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commonly known as the ‘trap’. Once on deck, the aircraft has an unusual ‘twist and fold’ mechanism to fold the wings, reducing the wingspan by over 50ft, making the Greyhound easier to manoeuvre and reducing the amount of precious deck space that it occupies.

First flown in 1964, the C-2, a derivative of the E-2 Hawkeye, has a range of around 1,000nm. The aircraft may be fitted with up to six internal fuel tanks which can double its range. Of course, carriage of internal tanks greatly reduces the space and weight available for cargo and passengers. As such, the tanks are most often used on long-range missions, such as when ferrying aircraft across the Atlantic for a deployment.

Global deploymentUnlike most other US Navy squadrons, the ‘Rawhides’ do not deploy as a unit; instead, a two-aircraft, self-sustaining detachment is assigned to each deploying Carrier Strike Group (CSG). Operating from the aircraft carrier or from land-based sites, they are

an integral part of the carrier air wing. Each detachment is made up of around 50 personnel, including six pilots and a maintenance officer, and the squadron can support up to five detachments at any one time. A civilian cargo carrier such as FedEx usually flies mail and cargo to the land base. The ‘beach det’ then has to get it through customs before it is loaded on to the C-2 to be flown to the ship. An on-board auxiliary power unit allows the Greyhound to start its own engines and operate its electrical systems without outside assistance.

‘As a COD detachment, we’re typically land-based and I guess we only spend about 10 per cent of our time operating from the ship’, said LT Dave Pilko, talking about his first deployment with CSG-12 in the US Fifth and Sixth Fleet areas of responsibility. ‘We’ll try to move our airplanes and maintainers to a site where we can best support the ship. The ship gives us approximate dates that they expect to be operating in a certain area, but let’s just say they don’t always stick to that schedule through no fault of their own!

‘In six months, we flew a total of 780 hours and made 159 traps on the Enterprise. We carried 2,352 passengers, 332 DVs [Distinguished Visitors], 15 medevacs, 558,353lb of cargo and 88,905lb of mail. Our highest-priority mission is carrying critical parts for the ship. When they need something, the ship can do a RAS [Replenishment at Sea] using a supply ship but that can be slow, so, for high-priority cargo, we’re a very important asset. We did get to do some more unusual missions which I’d love to tell you all about, but I’ll limit myself by just saying that we flew a bunch of missions out of Djibouti in support of counter-piracy operations for two weeks. We also flew to the UAE to pick up commandos to bring out to the ship to deal with another pirate hijacking on a UAE ship.’

A carrier-qualified Greyhound pilot will have made around 14 carrier landings in the T-45 Goshawk and an additional 10 traps in the C-2 at Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 120 (VAW-120), the E-2/C-2 Fleet Replacement Squadron. ‘Once you get to the

Left: Up front in the cramped C-2 cockpit. Navigating around vast expanses of open water and slamming these sizeable aircraft down on carriers represents a seriously rewarding job for Greyhound pilots.

Below: A ‘shooter’ signals for the launch of a ‘Rawhides’ C-2A from the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). US Navy/MCSS Lorenzo J. Burleson

Below right: The Greyhound is capable of carrying a combined payload of 10,000lb, which usually comprises important cargo and up to 26 passengers who sit facing rearwards.


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fleet squadron, they want you to have some more experience before they send you on deployment. I probably had 30 or so [carrier landings] before I deployed’, said LT Pilko. ‘Traps are actually hard for us to come by compared to pilots of the jets. They’re getting a trap every time they fly, because there’s only one pilot, and they’re landing back at the carrier every time.

‘Fully loaded, we’re the heaviest and one of the widest aircraft on the carrier so it’s a difficult aircraft to bring aboard the boat. We have very good power response, so compared to the jets we have less chance of striking the back of the ship, but the LA [Landing Area] is 100ft wide and our wingspan is 80.5ft so there’s not a lot of ‘wiggle-room’. If we pick up any left or right drift, we can go off the side of the ship or hit something on the deck, but the more often you trap the easier, or rather the more comfortable, it gets. We fly a constant glideslope and drive it straight into the deck. Our gear is beefy enough to take that. On land, we’ll pad the landing to be gentler on the airframe.’

LT Pilko told Combat Aircraft that deployments allow VRC-40’s junior officers to gain a lot of experience. ‘Before this deployment, most of my flying was off the [US] East Coast, so flying internationally, dealing with different airspaces and controllers, was pretty eye-opening, as well as coping with sandstorms and other bad weather. You’d be in one spot for two days and then you’ve got to have your bags packed, ready to go, and be alert enough to fly for hours to transit to a new spot. Once you’re there, the officers are in charge of setting up hotels, making sure we’re meeting force-protection requirements.

‘On the way home at the end of the deployment, one of our aircraft had a problem so I was stuck with another pilot in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. We needed an engine change and we had to wait to get it shipped. The boat left us behind because they didn’t want to delay their homecoming for the sake of one bird. I was then in charge of co-ordinating all the country clearances at short notice for the three-day northern route home through

Ireland, Greenland and Newfoundland, Canada. Things like country clearances are usually left to the senior officers on the Det and this was my first cruise!

‘We’re not fun to watch, we’re big and slow, but from a pilot’s perspective it’s very rewarding to do this job every day.’

More than a one-trick ponyWhile providing support to the carrier is the unit’s primary mission, VRC-40 employs the C-2 in a variety of other disciplines, emphasising the ever-increasing role it plays in supporting the fleet. The Greyhound’s in-flight ramp-opening capability allows the air-drop of supplies and personnel. Cargo drops can include packages varying in size from 4lb to 2,500lb. They can be delivered manually by an aircrewman, or released using a roller rail system. Each package has its own parachute, deployed via a static line.

As an approved special warfare asset, the C-2A is capable of dropping up to 14 combat-loaded personnel (or 20 without combat gear) using either the static line or

At sea on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) supporting CVW-7. VRC-40’s 12 C-2As move cargo, mail and passengers between Atlantic Fleet Carrier Strike Groups and forward logistics sites.


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Hook down and coming aboard. A ‘Rawhides’ Greyhound on short �nals to ‘the boat’.

With a wide wingspan of 80ft, the C-2 is a challenge to land aboard the carrier’s 100ft-wide deck! US Navy/MCSC Nathan Laird


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free-fall method. The squadron also trains to air-drop a US Navy SEAL platoon’s inflatable combat rubber raiding craft (CRRC) from the open ramp, deploying the platoon after its release. Known as a ‘duck drop’, this enables the SEALs to operate in close proximity to enemy shores. A similar capability allows the Greyhound to be used as a viable search and rescue platform, air-dropping life rafts and provisions to people in danger at sea.

Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, relief supplies were offered from all over the world but, with the seaports being inaccessible, the airport at Port-au-Prince was the only way in. Having a single runway and limited parking space, a large transport aircraft such as a C-17 would circle repeatedly while it waited for its turn to land and offload. Under Operation ‘Unified Response’, VRC-40 deployed six aircraft and a small maintenance team to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba within 48 hours. Stopping in less than 4,000ft of the 10,000ft Port-au-Prince runway, the C-2s would fold their wings and park behind the larger aircraft already on the ramp. After offloading, they would taxi back to the mid-point, unfold their wings and take off in the remaining runway length to return to Cuba for another load. Working 12-hour shifts between 15.00hrs and 03.00hrs, most aircrew flew at least five trips per day into Haiti. During the 379 flights of the three-week deployment, VRC-40 moved over a million pounds of lifesaving supplies and transferred over 800 passengers including doctors and search and rescue teams.

In June 2011 the ‘Rawhides’ deployed two C-2s to the French Navy base of Hyères in southern France for two weeks. The detachment provided logistics support to the French Navy aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle deployed off the Libyan coast during Operation ‘Harmattan’, the French participation in the international military commitment to protect the Libyan population against attacks by pro-Gaddafi forces. As the French carrier had no true COD capability, the C-2s were able to bring vital spare parts to the carrier battle group, delivering parts to frigates in two days that would have otherwise taken 12. Personnel were transferred quickly rather than relying on helicopters operating between Crete or Malta and the Charles de Gaulle.

Past, present and future CODVRC-40, then known as Fleet Tactical Support Squadron FORTY, was commissioned on 1 July 1960 and flew the piston-engined Grumman C-1A Trader in the COD role before transitioning to the C-2A in 1986. The Greyhound had been in service with other US Navy squadrons since 1966 and the fleet began to undergo a Service Life Extension Programme (SLEP) in 1973. However, with only 12 of the original 17 C-2As remaining, the unusual decision was made to put the type back into production with an order for 39 new-build aircraft. This was made easier by the fact that the E-2 Hawkeye production line was still open and the two types shared a common wing, powerplant and empennage. VRC-40 received the first re-procured C-2A(R) in March 1987 and retired the last SLEP C-2A in June of that year. Production of the C-2A(R) ended in 1989, each aircraft having

an expected service life of up to 10,000 flight hours or 15,020 carrier landings.

With the landing limit rapidly approaching, the ‘new’ Greyhounds have recently been through a SLEP that will increase their service lives to 15,000 flight hours or 36,000 carrier landings. The SLEP involved structural modifications, requiring the removal of the centre wing box, to extend the working life of the airframe. At the same time, the aircraft was completely re-wired to replace the 23 miles of potentially hazardous Kapton wiring.

The fleet has undergone avionics improvements including a limited ‘glass’ cockpit for enhanced situational awareness and the Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) system. This features dual ARC-210 radios that expand the aircraft’s communications capability by increasing the number of usable radio frequencies. As part of the navigation upgrade, the AN/ASN-139 CAINS II (Carrier Aircraft Inertial Navigation System) has been integrated to provide accurate GPS positioning and velocity, allowing flight crews to perform precise landing approaches, along with a ground proximity warning system (GPWS). To comply with a Congress mandate for carrying passengers, the aircraft were also fitted with a Traffic Collision-Avoidance System (TCAS) and a Terrain-Awareness Warning System (TAWS). The original four-bladed propellers have been replaced with eight-bladed NP2000 propellers. In addition to being quieter and causing less vibration, the new propellers offer maintenance advantages because a damaged blade can now be removed individually, rather than having to take off the entire propeller.

These modifications will extend the Greyhound’s service life until its expected replacement date of 2026. Replacement options are still being analysed, but realistically the candidates are a new-production derivative of the Greyhound (a ‘C-2B’), or the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, for which the US Marine Corps is lobbying hard. Currently, the US Navy uses a ‘hub and spoke’ system to re-supply at sea, in which C-2As deliver cargo to the carrier and the MH-60S then takes supplies to other ships. An Osprey would be able to land directly on other decks and could perform search and rescue, medevac and special operations missions to a greater extent than the current Greyhound. As part of the evaluation of the feasibility of replacing the Greyhound, USMC MV-22Bs have been operating from aircraft carriers as part of their flight-deck certification process. A combination of budget constraints and a requirement for airframes to fulfil multiple missions could point to the Osprey being the eventual winner, but a question mark exists over how well the V-22 will fit in with the high-tempo deck cycles of strike operations.

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank CDR Sean McDermott, CDR Mark Nicholson, LCDR Todd D’Antonio, LT Dave Pilko, LT Steve Chan, LT Greg Raelson and Mr Mike Maus for their exceptional support for this feature.


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EXERCISE REPORT

THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense (DoD) has established how the military executes so-called Personnel Recovery (PR) operations, clearly defining PR as ‘One of the

highest priorities of the Department of Defense’, and a discipline that needs to be rehearsed as an integral part of operational planning, training and exercise programmes.

The success of any given PR is dependent upon rigorous training at all levels, including initial qualification training, mission qualification, currency requirements, upgrade training, proficiency,

specialised mission certification training, threat training and specialised training.

The US Air Force is tasked with establishing policy for a global co-ordinated PR programme, and the Department of the Air Force has the primary responsibility for recovering Air Force personnel who become isolated in an uncertain or hostile environment. Meanwhile, the Operational Concept for Personnel Recovery, signed by the Chief of Staff, not only acknowledges that the sister services routinely call upon the Air Force to recover their personnel, but also expands PR tasks beyond the typical combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission to

include civil and military search and rescue, medical/casualty evacuation, non-combatant evacuation operations, disaster response, mass rescue operations, humanitarian relief operations, theatre security co-operation, specialised air and ground mobility, and re-integration of recovered individuals.

‘Angel Thunder’ is currently the only DoD exercise to cover the full spectrum of PR training and has grown to become the largest and most complex exercise of its type. ‘Angel Thunder’ is one of the few elite Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) accredited and certified exercise programmes and is sponsored by Air Combat


A UH-60L gets down low over the rapids during ‘Angel Thunder’. The geography of the exercise area was intended to mirror the diverse operating conditions faced by US forces today.

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Throughout history, America’s armed forces have maintained a �rm commitment to the safe and rapid recovery of the country’s citizens and US government personnel from hostile or uncertain environments and denied areas. In order to keep this national promise, US and allied forces practise their Personnel Recovery (PR) skills during Exercise ‘Angel Thunder’ at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.

report and photos: Marnix Sap and Christiaan Sap

Command (ACC)’s Exercise Division, with execution taking place under the leadership of the USAF’s 563rd Rescue Group (RQG) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. It was first held in July 2006 as a base-specific exercise at Davis-Monthan, where the 563rd RQG is located as a geographically separated unit of the 23rd Wing.

Until 2006, however, no dedicated Air Force CSAR exercise existed to provide realistic CSAR task force or PR training.

Founder of the exercise and current Exercise Director and Technical Manager, Brett Hartnett, explains: ‘At that time, Personnel Recovery units were unable to

organise realistic composite-force training on a regular basis due to [their] high ops tempo. When Personnel Recovery units were able to organise events they were limited in scope, not always standardised, and had many notional assets involved.’

Hartnett continues: ‘In addition, fighter units were tasked to conduct Personnel Recovery on Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) rotations and contingency deployments but didn’t have regularly scheduled opportunities nor standardised training programmes. Due to these factors, the training didn’t cover the full spectrum of Personnel Recovery events from notification to recovery, and never

exercised the real-world flow of information through command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C2ISR) assets and the C4 structure.’

It was around that time that Air Force Chief of Staff Gen T. Michael Moseley tasked Air Combat Command’s exercise division to create a CSAR exercise programme, and what started out as a five-day, local event with barely 200 participants in 2006 became a nationwide exercise when ACC offered official sponsorship in 2007.

THE WORLD’S PREMIER PERSONNEL RECOVERY EXERCISE



Bottom up‘Angel Thunder 2013’ was an exercise of a very different magnitude, involving some 3,017 players and 109 aircraft. This made it by far the largest and most complex personnel recovery exercise in the world.

The latest edition ran from 7-20 April and included personnel from US Southern Command, US Africa Command, the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, the USAF and Army active duty, Guard and Reserve, Marines, the Navy and Coast Guard, as well as various US Federal inter-agency teams. In total some 1,749 flying hours were logged during 30 scenarios in which approximately 282 people were ‘rescued’.

Eighteen other countries took part in the exercise, with forces and hardware from Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, the European Air Group (Netherlands), France, Germany, Ireland, Pakistan, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom. All were involved as actual players working alongside American forces throughout each phase of the exercise, while representatives from India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and Turkey came to observe.

‘The unique part about this particular exercise is that it’s planned from the bottom up’, said Brett Hartnett. ‘Units that had expressed their interest to participate in this year’s event got together at the planning conference for the 2013 edition that took place between 15 and 19 October 2012 at Davis-Monthan AFB, where they told us what they wanted to practice. We then translated

this into objectives whereby the leadership did not dictate what the training should be, the participants did. From that point onwards the weapons and tactics officers together with me built the game, translating and integrating the objectives into the scenarios for the participants to accomplish. With the training being tailored to meet the participants’ needs, the combat rescue community is doing the planning and execution of the exercise themselves, maximising the joint/combined force integration.

‘When the planning was complete, the ‘Angel Thunder 2013’ exercise scenario was built around the main four objectives: exercise and validate emerging deployment and employment concepts across the joint environment, execute and validate Air Force Personnel Recovery capabilities across the spectrum of conflict, execute and validate Personnel Recovery support functions, and expand global influence through support to Combatant Command (COCOM) Theater Security Co-operation Plan (TSCP) initiatives.’

For the duration of the exercise, an impressive collection of HH-60G Pave Hawks was gathered at Davis-Monthan from across the various active-duty, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard squadrons, together with an equally impressive number of HC-130P King and HC-130J Combat King II aircraft from the different rescue units across the US. The HC-130 is the premier Personnel Recovery Operation (PRO) fixed-wing platform, its primary role being to extend the operational range of the Pave Hawk helicopters. The depth

of the battlespace and the location of isolated personnel (IP) may require that helicopter refuelling is conducted in a non-permissive environment. Besides aerial refuelling, these Hercules are capable of airdropping or air-landing recovery teams and/or equipment to assist and/or recover isolated personnel. Additionally, the King has an expanded communications capability, making it a natural communications relay platform, and its extended range allows movement of recovered IP over longer distances.

A local resident at Davis-Monthan, the 41st Electronic Combat Squadron provided an EC-130H Compass Call, while the US Army deployed nine AH-64 Apache Longbows from B Company, 1-149th Aviation Regiment, Texas Army National Guard; five CH-47D Chinooks operated by 7-158th Aviation Regiment, Army Reserve from Gardner, Kansas; eight UH-60L Black Hawks from A Company, 2-238 Aviation Regiment, Army Reserve at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, California and three HH-60M medevac Black Hawks belonging to F Company, 1-214th Aviation Regiment (Air Ambulance).

The Republic of Singapore Air Force sent three of its CH-47Ds attached to the Peace Prairie detachment normally based at Redmond Taylor Army Heliport near Dallas, Texas.

Further international hardware consisted of a single C-130B ‘Super B’ operated by the Colombian Air Force’s Escuadrón de Transporte 811, as well as one Brazilian C-130M from the Força Aérea Brasileira’s 1°/1°GT at Rio de Janeiro-Galeão.


AH-64D Longbow Apaches speed into action during ‘Angel Thunder’. The exercise was tailored for many units as pre-deployment training, allowing organisers to circumnavigate the sequestration cuts that have hit hard this year.


Operating out of bases in the US were two E-3 Sentries, two E-8C Joint STARS and five Arizona Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotankers, as well as a single MQ-1 Predator operated by the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing, California Air National Guard. The US Navy (COMNAVAIRPAC) participated for the first time with six MH-60S and three MH-60R Seahawks and a single E-2 Hawkeye operating from NAS North Island, California. Air Force Special Operations Command contributed a single MQ-1 and an AC-130U operated by the 27th Special Operations Wing, flying from their home base at Cannon AFB, New Mexico.

Finally, 10 A-10C Thunderbolt IIs belonging to the 107th Fighter Squadron from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan deployed to Davis-Monthan for the duration of the exercise to provide airborne rescue escort (RESCORT) to the Pave Hawks. RESCORT is an integral part of the CSAR task force, providing navigation assistance, route sanitisation and armed escort for the recovery. In an increased-threat environment, this assistance improves significantly the chances of a successful recovery. RESCORT aircrews therefore need to be proficient in rendezvous procedures, escort tactics at medium and low altitudes and defence of the rescue vehicles during mission execution.

Apart from providing RESCORT, A-10s also fulfil another critical role during PRO and CSAR missions, known as ‘Sandy One’. During the majority of sorties, one of the

A-10s present typically re-roles to become the on-scene Rescue Mission Commander (RMC), taking over command of the mission from the On-Scene Commander (OSC). The OSC is the individual who initiates the rescue efforts in the objective area until rescue forces arrive. Initially, the OSC may be any aircraft in the vicinity, including the wingman of a downed aircraft. The OSC’s initial actions are to attempt to establish communication, locate and authenticate the IP, and pass essential information to the RMC. The OSC role will be transferred to the RMC or lead recovery vehicle upon arrival. After transferring OSC duties to the RMC, the original OSC may remain on station in a supporting role.

The RMC is a distinct qualification for airmen specifically trained in CSAR tactics, techniques and procedures. Responsibilities include establishing communications, locating and authenticating the IP, and protecting the IP until recovery assets arrive. They control all assets assigned to the PR effort, including, but not limited to, rescue combat air patrol (RESCAP), suppression of enemy air defences, additional strike aircraft and required aerial refuelling. It comes as no surprise that only the most competent and most capable pilots are selected and trained to perform the ‘Sandy’ mission.

DM — the obvious choiceAlthough ‘Angel Thunder’ originated at Davis-Monthan, continuing with the exercise out of this base was an obvious choice since

the facility has the required infrastructure and the related costs are favourable. The majority of the primary training audience is based at Davis-Monthan and is therefore able to operate from its home station, utilising local facilities with a minimum impact on deployed ops.

The training area around Davis-Monthan includes the Sells, Ruby, Fuzzy, Jackal and Tombstone Military Operations Areas (MOA), Barry Goldwater Range Training Complex, Camp Navajo, Southern California Offshore Range (SCORE) Naval Complex, White Sands Missile Range, Fort Huachuca, Flagstaff and Bisbee-Douglas International Airports and the Playas Urban Training Facility.

The Playas Urban Training Facility is part of New Mexico Tech’s Playas Training and Research Center (PTRC). Playas became a virtual ghost town when the Phelps Dodge copper smelter was shut down in 1999. New Mexico Tech then converted the town into a training and research facility for its first-responders and anti-terrorism programmes, making use of a complete suburban setting in a 640-acre town-site. This realistic combat environment includes a full range of facilities, among them 250 single-family homes and one 25-unit apartment complex, a medical clinic (with helicopter pad), fire station, community centre, grocery store, post office, fitness centre, churches and other infrastructure, as well as a 5,000ft paved runway suitable for light aircraft.

This training environment also includes several replicas of Afghan villages, and for the duration of the exercise it is fully


‘With no budget, we built the world’s largest and most dynamic rescue exercise in our spare time. In turn, the Department of Defense recognised our success and made us their official personnel recovery exercise’ Brett Hartnett

HH-60G Pave Hawks from across the various active duty, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard squadrons gathered for the exercise, with an A-10C here providing top cover.


stocked with a very robust Opposition Force (OPFOR) including role-players, livestock and markets. An additional 1,200 acres surrounding the town site is also available for a range of activities in support of Homeland Security efforts.

ScenariosPersonnel recovery operations require a precise mix of ground and air forces to aid in successful rescues. During ‘Angel Thunder 2013’, combat aircrew forces, Guardian Angel — the USAF’s non-aircraft, equipment-based weapon system employed by Combat Rescue Officers (CROs) — plus Pararescuemen (PJs), Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) specialists, intelligence personnel, Air Battle Managers, and Joint Search and Rescue Center personnel from different organisations and units were integrated to form rescue packages, each contributing their particular assets and skills.

The exercise was designed to facilitate interoperability, and the cross-culture sharing of tactics and procedures to replicate the full spectrum of operational environments common to USAF rescue force employment: CSAR, irregular warfare, contested degraded operations, Air-Sea Battle, disaster response, and a robust non-conventional assisted recovery (NAR) certified programme.

It focused on prioritised PR training for all operational capabilities and included combat air forces (CAF), special operations forces (SOF), US Army Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) and USAF Special Tactics Squadron (STS) integration, RESCORT/strike integration (A-10/AH-64), Lightning Bolt validation (a CSAR rapid-response concept), international PR engagement and Rescue Operation Center (ROC), as well as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) concepts.

Contrary to previous editions, this year there was no gradual build-up in complexity, such as might see scenarios progressing from relatively low-key humanitarian to complex tactical operations. Each day three scenarios were exercised, these running either during the daytime or at night and covering a wide range of situations, including high-angle (mountain) rescues, dealing with natural disasters with mass evacuations, transporting wounded patients to a safe haven for further treatment, combat and hostage rescues, and conducting infiltration and exfiltration missions.

To further enhance joint operations, the exercise incorporated the Joint Air-Sea Battle (ASB) concept, which saw the US Navy’s first participation.

‘This exercise is like putting on an elaborate theatrical production’, said Brett Hartnett, a retired combat rescue pilot with more than 4,000 flight hours and 91 lives saved. And the stage is enormous: a 40,000-square-mile swathe of territory encompassing Arizona, New Mexico and southern California all the way to 60 miles off the coast of San Diego. The ‘cast members’ included Irish SERE specialists, Brazilian pilots, British Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) personnel, Colombian PJs and US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and State Department Diplomatic Security Federal Agents, to name just a few. Those deploying to the exercise were told only to be ready for any contingency. For a week, they ran round-the-clock missions and caught naps in some of the base’s two-dozen tan Quonset hut-shaped tents. If personnel forgot to bring a critical piece of equipment or were unfamiliar with the skill sets of the other agencies in their coalition, too bad. Learning how to troubleshoot on the fly is the whole point.

‘You know it’s going to be a pick-up game’, said Col Jason Hanover, commander of the 563rd Rescue Group and commander of the fictional PR task force deployed, ‘but you hope it will be a team of guys you’ve played with before and you’re not just standing on the playground looking at each other.’


The Fuerza Aérea Colombiana participated for the �rst time deploying a single C-130B ‘Super B’ Hercules with aircrews, paramedics, PJs and command authorities.

Left: Republic of Singapore Air Force CH-47Ds clatter into action, forward-deployed from Redmond Taylor Army Heliport near Dallas, Texas.


The future‘Angel Thunder’ is surely bound to build on its success and grow even further in size and depth. Ever more sister, inter-agency and international units specialised in PR and CSAR are eager to participate. US national policy and strategy documents indicate clearly that future PR success requires an integrated DoD/inter-agency team, while good co-operation with allied nations has proven vital for joint rescue operations in countries such as Afghanistan.

Brett Hartnett: ‘This is a David and Goliath story of an exercise being founded by rescue airmen in the trenches because what we needed was not in the system. Air Combat Command sponsorship and support over the years paved the way for Joint National Training Capability (JNTC) certification on 30 November 2012. With no budget, we built the world’s largest and most dynamic rescue exercise in our spare time. In turn, the Department of Defense recognised our success and made us their official personnel recovery exercise’. JNTC credentials affirm that the exercise offers a consistent standard of quality training each cycle and also validate the training areas used.

With no end in sight for overseas security missions and operations, the exercise will

continue to build on the lessons learned in real life. Results documented in the after-action report from the 2013 exercise will influence doctrine, organisation, training, materiel, leadership, education, personnel, facilities and policy requirements to ensure US and allied PR continues to succeed in the current environment. These results will also contribute to development of tactics, techniques and procedures for defeating specific anti-access/area-denial systems, and enabling PR airmen to adapt to the ever-changing operating environment.

One thing is for sure: those able to participate in the exercise will be better prepared when the call comes for them to return isolated personnel to safety. ‘Angel Thunder’ will continue to be a unique programme, built by the PR and CSAR community from the grass-roots level, incorporating the lessons collectively learned from their experiences, and offering exercise scenarios that are very realistic representations of real-world conflicts and operations. It will remain the only exercise realised by the whole of government across the full spectrum of rescue operations.

US national and defence policies do not stipulate the point at which saving a human life is not worth the cost in terms

of resources expended. However, ‘Angel Thunder’ provides a low-cost hub in a fiscally limited environment into which other joint, interagency and coalition partners can plug their own individually funded spokes. It therefore provides the biggest ‘bang for the buck’ when it comes to the spending of training dollars. Costing less than $2.5 million, ‘Angel Thunder’ clearly deserves permanent funding to ensure its mission.

As one of the strongest and most outspoken supporters of ‘Angel Thunder’, retired US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords said of the exercise: ‘This time, these aid workers were not in distress and these Green Berets were not under fire. But the next time, when an aid worker is in danger or service member under fire, rescue operations are likely to be faster, smoother and safer — because of what has been learned at Exercise ‘Angel Thunder’.’

Put simply, ‘Angel Thunder’ saves lives.

Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank Col Jason Hanover, Brett Hartnett, Maj Sarah Schwennesen, Lt Sarah Godfrey, MSgt Luke Johnson, SSgt Sarah Pullen and Melanie DiAntonio.


A CH-47D Chinook operated by the Army Reserve’s 7-158th Aviation

Regiment from Gardner, Kansas settles onto a tight rocky outcrop to pick up

ground forces.


FIGHTER FOCUSFOCUS

A heavy �ghter with origins dating back to the early 1970s, the Su-27 and Su-30 family (NATO codename ‘Flanker’) recorded remarkable export success in the 1990s and 2000s, becoming the indisputable mainstay of Russia’s defence and aerospace industry. In the �rst of a two-part series, we pro�le the original Su-27 and its developments, including the upgraded Su-27SM and carrier-based Su-33.

report: Alexander Mladenov

Su-27 AND Su-33 VARIANTS

THE SINGLE-SEAT SU-27SK, together with the Su-30MK family of two-seaters, built at two production plants in Russia, has recorded great export success in the post-

Soviet era. At least 180 examples have been sold to China (plus local assembly and production), 272 to India, 44 to Algeria and 28 to Vietnam, while four other courtiers — Malaysia, Uganda, Venezuela and Indonesia — also procured either newly-built two-seaters or a combination of single- and two-seaters (as was the case with Indonesia), totalling no fewer than 58 examples.

In addition, the Russian Air Force eventually elected to commence a mid-life upgrade programme for a modest proportion of its ‘vanilla’ Su-27s, bringing these to Su-27SM standard, and later opted to continue fleet modernisation with a small batch of newly-built Su-27SM3s and two-seat Su-30M2s. In 2011-12, the service began taking on strength the most advanced ‘Flanker’ family members to date: the thrust-vectoring single-seat Su-35S and the two-seat Su-30SM, with the first 10 examples (both types) delivered by the end of 2012.

Full-rate production of the advanced single-seat and two-seat versions of the ‘Flanker’ for domestic and export use — in the form of the Su-35S, Su-30MK2, Su-30MKI and Su-30SM — as well as the production of its non-licensed single- and two-seat Chinese copies at the Shenyang plant, currently continues apace. These

This photo: An Indonesian Su-27SKM (serial 2703) from Skadron Udara 11 at Ujung Pandang/Hasanuddin that deployed to Australia for the six-nation ‘Pitch Black 2012’ exercise in July 2012. Australian Defence Force

Left: By early 2013, the Su-27 served with 10 front-line and two training squadrons, one display team and a small test and evaluation unit of the Russian Air Force. The number of non-upgraded ‘Flankers’ in active service is dwindling; before long all will be replaced by the vastly improved Su-27SM, Su-30SM and Su-35S. Andrey Zinchuk


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advanced derivatives of the powerful ‘Flanker’ are set to retain their commercial appeal for years to come.

Development story The Su-27 traces its origins back to 1969 when the Soviet Air Force outlined its initial set of technical and tactical requirements for developing a new-generation air superiority fighter, viewed as a counter to the US Air Force F-X programme that eventually resulted in the development of the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle. The main objective of the Soviet new-generation fighter programme was to develop a capable heavyweight fighter, well-suited to tight manoeuvring, with huge internal volume and a large number of long- and short-range air-to-air missiles; its overall air superiority performance was required to be at least 10 per cent better that that of the F-15. The first prototype, designated as the T10-1, made its maiden flight on 20 May 1977, and was followed by three more examples. Early in the flight test programme, however, it became clear that the T10 was a flawed design, with notably inferior aerodynamic performance when pitted against its US rival and designer’s benchmark, the F-15.

As a consequence, the leadership of the Sukhoi Design Bureau undertook the bold step of radically re-designing the under-performing T10 in an effort to cure its most serious aerodynamic shortcomings. The end result of this enormous effort was the virtually all-new T10S production configuration,

the first prototype of which took to the air for the first time on 20 April 1981. Amid a compressed and rather troublesome flight test and evaluation programme, the T10S entered series production at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur KnAAPO plant during 1982, under the in-service designation Su-27 (NATO ‘Flanker-B’).

The ‘Flanker-B’ entered front-line regimental service in late 1984, lagging behind its US F-15A and F-16A rivals by eight and five years respectively. But its formal acceptance in Soviet Air Forces (VVS) and Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) service as a fully combat-capable weapons system did not take place until August 1990, following completion of the type’s exhaustive testing and evaluation programme. From mid-1989, PVO regiments began taking on strength the Su-27P (T10P), a ‘sanitised’ derivative stripped of its capability to employ air-to-ground weapons. This measure was deliberately undertaken by the Soviet military in a bid for the PVO ‘Flankers’ to be excluded from the number of ground-attack aircraft falling under the limits of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty; a proportion of the Su-27s built before 1989 were similarly modified during their major overhauls.

The Su-27UB (NATO ‘Flanker-C’) fully combat-capable two-seater, also built in prototype form at Komsomolsk-on-Amur, took to the air for the first time in March 1985, followed by a small batch of pre-series aircraft for testing and

evaluation. It entered serial production at the aircraft factory in Irkutsk (now known as the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, part of the Irkut Corporation) the year after, with the first production example taking to the air in September 1986. The ‘Flanker-C’ retained most of the single-seater’s design and systems unchanged, with insertion of the second cockpit only reducing fuel capacity.

The agile, fast-climbing, well-armed and long-legged fighter was initially taken on strength with PVO regiments, and the VVS (Frontal Aviation) arm followed suit several years later. By the end of the Cold War, and just before the Soviet Union broke up in late 1991, the combined ‘Flanker-B/C’ inventory in Soviet service (both PVO and VVS arms) numbered just over 400 examples, including some 100 two-seaters. These equipped no fewer than 17 PVO fighter-interceptor regiments, four VVS front-line fighter regiments, two combat training and aircrew conversion centres and one air display squadron.

The type’s production for domestic use ended in 1992, with the exception of a batch of eight newly-built single-seaters, which were handed over to the Russian Air Force in 1998. By 2001 the Russian air arm had in excess of 300 airframes on strength, while in early 2013 some 180 of these remained in active service

with 10 front-line and two training squadrons, one display team and a small test and evaluation unit. The days of the vast majority of non-upgraded ‘Flanker-Bs’ in front-line


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Russian service seem to be numbered, as the type is set gradually to be superseded by both the Su-30SM and Su-35S in the foreseeable future.

After the break-up of the Soviet Union, the ‘Flanker-B/C’ was also taken on strength by the newly-created Ukrainian Air Force, which inherited 67 examples, while 23 more Su-27P/UBs were inherited by Belarus (the last survivors of which were withdrawn from use in December 2012), and 31 by Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan received 26 ex-Russian ‘Flankers’ between 1996 and 2001, exchanged for Tu-95MS strategic bombers.

First-generation exports The Su-27SK is the baseline export derivative of the ‘Flanker-B’, provided with enhanced air-to-ground capabilities and developed in 1991-92 for China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). It features a strengthened fuselage and undercarriage to allow a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 72,750lb (33,000kg), an increase of some 11,020lb (5,000kg). The Su-27SK is therefore able to operate with a full fuel load and maximum weapons load. The export ‘Flanker-B’ derivative was provided with 12 instead of 10 hardpoints for up to 17,537lb (8,000kg) of weapons, including free-fall bombs, rockets and gun pods, while the wiring and panels enabling the use of nuclear bombs were stripped out. The aircraft also has downgraded radar (N001E), communication suite, datalink, electronic countermeasures system (Gardenya instead of Sorbtsiya jamming pods) and a modified IFF system. The air-to-air weapons sold with the aircraft initially included the export-standard R-27R1 and R-27T1 (AA-10 ‘Alamo’) beyond visual

range (BVR) missiles — using semi-active radar and infra-red (IR) homing respectively — as well as the R-73E (AA-11 ‘Archer’) within visual range IR-homing missiles. Later, the Chinese ‘Flanker-B/C’ fleet received the extended-range, export-standard R-27ER1 and R-27ET1 BVR missiles.

There were two export contracts for delivery of Su-27SK/UBKs to the PLAAF — the first batch, comprising 20 Su-27SKs and six UBKs, was taken on strength from June to November 1992, while the second, comprising 18 single-seaters and six two-seaters, followed during 1996. In December 1998, another contract, this time covering 28 Su-27UBKs, was signed, and all of these export-standard two-seaters were delivered between 2000 and 2002.

In total, therefore, as many as 78 Russian-built Su-27SK/UBKs were delivered to China between 1992 and 2002, plus a reported pair of Su-27SK attrition replacements. In addition, it was originally agreed that Shenyang Aircraft Industry Corporation (SAC) would build 200 more single-seat ‘Flankers’ under license (designated as J-11). The respective contract was signed in February 1996, with aircraft parts, engines and avionics to be delivered from Russia. The first Chinese-assembled ‘Flanker-B’ assembled from a knock-down kit took to the air in December 1998, though series production did not commence until 2000. In the event, 95 knock-down Su-27SK kits, produced at KnAAPO, were delivered to China by November 2004, instead of the originally planned 200, since the Chinese military rejected the delivery of the remaining 105. As a result, a number of already manufactured but non-delivered airframes and assemblies, originally intended for export to China, were left unused at KnAAPO in the

early 1990s. The parts were eventually utilised in the assembly of 15 single-seat enhanced ‘Flankers’ destined for both export customers and the Russian Air Force.

Vietnam was the second customer for the type, ordering a first batch of six ‘Flankers’ (including one two-seater), priced at $150 million and delivered in 1995, while the second batch of six — comprising two Su-27SKs and four Su-27UBKs — priced at $120 million, was delivered in 1998. Also in 1998, Ethiopia purchased 10 second-hand ex-Russian ‘Flanker-B/Cs’, upgraded to Su-27SK/UBK export standard, while in 2003-05 another batch of six ex-Russian Air Force aircraft followed suit. The Indonesian Air Force, which acquired two Su-27SKs in 2003, became the first and only customer for the improved Su-27SKM single-seater, taking on strength three of these enhanced-capability ‘Flanker-Bs’ in September 2010.

‘Flanker-B/C’ exports also included four ex-Ukrainian aircraft sold to Eritrea in 2002 and three more to Ethiopia in the mid-2000s, while Angola is known to have received two ‘Flankers’ in 1999 from a still undisclosed source. Companies from Ukraine, Belarus and Uzbekistan were touted as the most likely sellers or re-exporters. In addition, one Belarusian Su-27 was exported to the UK in 2000 and two demilitarised ex-Ukrainian Su-27UBs were sold to a civilian customer in the US in 2009.

Mid-life upgrade for RussiaThe Su-27SM is the mid-life upgrade of the basic ‘Flanker-B’, developed by Sukhoi for the Russian Air Force fleet and also offered in new-build form for export. This enhanced configuration utilises the basic architecture

This photo: The landing roll out of the ‘Flanker’ on snow and ice is aided by the twin braking parachutes. Andrey Zinchuk

Far right: As many as 40 Su-27UBK two-seaters were taken on strength by the PLAAF between 1992 and 2002. via Chinese internet


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The basic Su-27 was provided with a total of 10 hardpoints for missile carriage, while the Su-27SK built for export has 12. Two of the hardpoints, located on the wingtips, are typically occupied by the two-pod ECM system or alternatively can carry the R-73 missile. The remaining eight on the Su-27/P/UB and 10 on the Su-27SK can be used in various combinations, but most often accommodate four R-73 WVR combat missiles and up to four R-27R/ER or R-27T/ET BVR combat missiles.

The basic BVR weapons in the 1980s were the SARH R-27R and IR-homing R-27T (R-27R1 and R-27T1 derivatives cleared for use by export ‘Flankers’), while in 1987 they were complemented by the extended-range R-27ER and R-27ET (R-27ER1 and R-27ET1 derivatives cleared for used by export ‘Flankers’).

The baseline R-27R, using inertial guidance with datalink correction after launch and then switching to SARH, was often described as being a short-legged BVR weapon that does not allow the full use of the Su-27’s radar detection/acquisition range, especially in high-level, head-on engagements. Soviet air combat manuals describe its high-level range as being limited to 23nm (42.5km) when �red against �ghter aircraft in head-on encounters. The R-27R weighs 556lb (253kg) and is described as being capable of destroying targets travelling at a maximum speed of 1,891kt (3,500km/h), �ying at altitudes from 66 to 88,560ft (20 to 20,000m), while the maximum altitude separation between the launch platform and the target is 32,800ft (10,000m). The warhead — used in all ‘Alamo’ versions — is of the expanding rod

type, weighs 72lb (39kg), and is detonated using either radar or contact fuse. The R-27T is a lock-on before launch weapon with IR seeker, described as having shorter maximum range than the R-27R.

The R-27ER/ET derivatives, introduced in 1987 (export versions were sold to China in the mid-1990s), feature the same SARH and IR seekers as the baseline versions but are powered by a larger rocket motor that renders the missiles longer-legged and, more importantly, notably faster in the end-game phase. The R-27ER’s maximum range when �red against �ghter-type targets at high altitude is 36.3nm (65.5km), while that of the R-27ET is 28.4nm (52.5km).

It is noteworthy that the availability of the R-27T and its boosted R-27ET derivative provided the ‘Flanker’ pilot with a useful advantage in BVR scenarios in the pre-AMRAAM era, and when attacking other SARH-armed opponents armed with the AIM-7 Sparrow or the MATRA R530. It was a genuine ‘�re and forget’ weapon, albeit limited to VMC use, enabling the Su-27 to initiate missile-evading manoeuvring immediately after launch.

In contrast, following R-27R/ER launch, the ‘Flanker’ pilot is permitted to change course by up to 60° (optimum turn angle is 40°), by executing the so-called ‘tactical turn’, since the target is required to be kept within the radar’s gimbal limits and lock-on maintained until impact. Russian air combat analysts assert that in duel situations the ‘tactical turn’ would reduce the enemy’s BVR missile range by 30-40 per cent when both �ghters �re at each other simultaneously, but its usefulness

against AMRAAM-equipped opponents is doubtful.

The R-73 is an all-aspect WVR missile employing a compact IR seeker that makes use of digital signal processing for better ECM resistance, and has a detector cooled by liquid nitrogen. Its o�-boresight capability, up to 45° in all directions, is considerably better than that of the previous generation of Soviet WVR missiles and it boasts an impressive 60° per second line-of-sight tracking rate. The missile’s combined aerodynamic/thrust vector control makes it remarkably agile: the maximum g-force of the launch aircraft is 9 and it can engage targets manoeuvring at up to 12g. The weapon weighs 231lb (105kg) and combines a radar proximity fuse with an expanding-rod warhead weighing 16.3lb (7.4kg) and providing a lethal radius of 22ft (3.5m). The R-73’s maximum range in tail-on engagements at low level is 1.2nm (2.2km), while at high level this increases to 6.5nm (12km); in head-on encounters at high altitude, maximum range can reach 16.1nm (30km).

The Su-27’s GSh-301 30mm cannon is built into the starboard side of the forward fuselage, with the end of the barrel next to the pilot’s cockpit. The gun is provided with 150 rounds. It provides �ve to six seconds of continuous �ring of highly destructive 13oz (390g) projectiles at a rate of �re of 25-30 rounds per second. It is recommended that in order to achieve a su�ciently high probability of a hit, the gun should be �red at the shortest minimum distance possible, said to be between 160 and 600ft (50-200m), while the maximum useful distance is 1,900ft (600m).

‘FLANKER’ WEAPONS

‘Sukhoi claims that the Su-27SM3 boasts an air-to-air combat capability improved by a factor of three, while in the air-to-ground role it is advertised as offering twice the combat effectiveness of its Su-27 predecessor’


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of a new avionics suite, installed in the late 1990s and early 2000s on the Su-30MKK and Su-30MK2 export two-seaters. The Su-27SM prototype, taken from one of the last Su-27P production batches, was upgraded at KnAAPO and test-flown for the first time in December 2002.

The first production-upgraded ‘Flankers’ were taken on strength by the Russian Air Force’s 4th Centre for Combat Training and Aircrew Conversion (4th TsBP i PLS) at Lipetsk in December 2003, while the initial front-line unit, the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (23rd IAP), stationed at Dzemgi near Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia’s Far East, took its first six Su-27SMs on strength in December 2004. The last of 24 upgraded ‘Flanker-Bs’ to fully equip the two fighter squadrons of the regiment (now known as the 5th Aviation Group of the 6983rd Air Base) were delivered in September 2006. The second front-line unit to receive the Su-27SM was the two-squadron 22nd Guards IAP (now known as the 4th Aviation Group of the 6983rd Air Base) at Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airfield, also in Russia’s Far East, not far from the major port city of Vladivostok. It took a batch of 12 aircraft in 2007-08, and the last examples from its second batch of 12 Su-27SMs were handed over in September 2009. A further batch of 12 newly-built aircraft with improved avionics and mission equipment, designated as the Su-27SM3, were ordered in 2009 together with four Su-30M2s with similar equipment and avionics. These enhanced-capability ‘Flankers’ were delivered in 2011 to the 1st Aviation Group of the 6972nd Air Base, stationed at Krymsk in southern Russia.

The Su-27SM avionics standard for the existing ‘Flanker-B’ fleet — developed using experience gained from development work on the Su-30MK2 two-seater for the Chinese naval air arm — introduced the SUV-27E upgraded weapons control system with improved radar and the 52Sh infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor, installed

Eritrean Air Force AF Su-27 serial 608 was one of only two single-seat interceptors that Eritrea purchased from Russia via Ukraine in 2003. Of interest is the ‘fake cockpit’ applied below the forward fuselage. Mark Lepko via Tom Cooper

A rare view of the only Su-27UB delivered to Angola. Although of poor quality, the image reveals the serial I100 applied in a crude manner using a brush under the cockpit. Petermann Collection via Tom Cooper

Kazakhstan operates approximately 38 ‘Flankers’, with a mixed �eet of Su-27Ps and two-seat UBs. Some of these

aircraft have been modi�ed in Belarus. Alexander Golz

Ukrainian Su-27s are being modestly upgraded, and this camou�age pattern replaced by a new ‘pixellated’ scheme.

Jamie Hunter


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The basic Su-27/UB and its Su-27SK/UBK export derivatives were equipped with the Tikhomirov-NIIP N001 and N001E Myech radar respectively. It uses a twist-Cassegrain antenna and can detect large and small-size �ghters in head-on, high-altitude engagements at 60-65nm (110-120km) and 43-54nm (80-100km) for the Russian Air Force and export versions respectively, while tracking is conducted at 43-48.5nm (80-90km) and 35-46nm (65-85km) respectively.

The second on-board targeting system is the OEPS-27, integrating an infra-red search and track (IRST) sensor and a laser range�nder slaved to the radar. The OEPS-27 has a claimed high-altitude detection range of 27nm (50km) against a receding target (in tail-on attack) with engine at military power; head-on detection range against a high-altitude target with afterburner is between 48-54nm (90-100km), while the system’s tracking range is around 70 per cent of the maximum detection range. The OEPS-27 is advertised as being particularly useful for emission-free (stealthy) head-on and tail-on intercepts, enabling the employment of both the R-73 or R-27T/ET infra-red homing missiles. However, the system is restricted to employment in visual meteorological conditions (VMC) only.

The third targeting system is represented by the Shchel-3UM helmet-mounted sight, slaved to the radar/IRST and R-73 missile seeker heads for accelerated cueing and to achieve a faster �ring solution. Its angular coverage is 60° left and right, 60° up and 14° down.

The Su-27’s self-protection suite includes the SPO-15LM radar warning receiver (RWR), the L005 Sorbtsiya (L203/L204 Gardenya on the export ‘Flanker-B/C’) two-pod electronic countermeasures (ECM) system, and APP-50 cha�/�are dispensers. The RWR, utilising sensor antennae on the sides of the air intakes and the tail boom, features 360° horizontal coverage and 30° up and down in elevation. Its accuracy in providing information about the direction of enemy radars ‘painting’ the aircraft is claimed to be within 10° in the forward hemisphere and 45° in the rear hemisphere. A 1970s-vintage device, the RWR has often been described by pilots as non-�exible and somewhat over-sensitive in a dense emitting environment, and incapable of full operation in certain complex situations. For instance, the RWR cannot operate properly when the radar and the on-board jammer are employed at the same time. The SPO-15LM is further characterised as being ill-equipped to issue warnings of a lock-on by enemy �ghter radars operating in the track-while-scan mode.

SENSOR SUITE

offset to starboard and described as being capable of lasing ground targets for precision weapons at up to 5.4nm (10km); the IRST also boasts extended operational range in the air-to-air mode. The man-machine interface is considerably improved and the aircraft can employ the R-77 (RVV-AE; AA-12 ‘Adder’) active-radar BVR air-to-air missile and a plethora of TV- and laser-guided air-to-surface weapons.

The jet boasts a completely re-designed cockpit with three LCD displays (two 7 x 5in MFI-9s and a smaller display between them) and a small number of back-up instruments, as well as the new SILS-27 head-up display, the Berkut-1 video recording system and a mission planning and flight management system. The variant received a new communications suite and its navigation system is enhanced by integration of the A737-010 GLONASS/GPS satellite-positioning receiver.

The upgraded N001V radar of the Su-27SM, with vastly increased computing power compared to the original version, is claimed to have introduced a new air-to-air mode to support the simultaneous engagement of two targets, and its maximum detection range against a large-size fighter target is increased to 81nm (150km), while small fighters can be detected at up to 59nm (110km). It is also provided with new air-to-surface modes such as surface search, real-beam ground mapping, Doppler sharpening and moving target indicator, thanks to an add-on signal-processing channel. The new air-to-surface modes of the N001V and its export derivatives allow the use of the Kh-31A (AS-17 ‘Krypton’) and Kh-35U (AS-20 ‘Kayak’) anti-ship missiles and the radar is also capable of providing initial cueing of TV-guided weapons (launched by the pilot after visual target acquisition and identification using the TV seeker), these including the Kh-29T missile (AS-14 ‘Kedge’) and KAB-500Kr and KAB-1500Kr bombs. The radar enables bombing against radio-contrast surface targets at night and in poor weather, without visual aiming, using the newly introduced

rangefinding mode. The Su-27SM is also advertised as being capable of employing the Kh-59M (AS-18 ‘Kazoo’) long-range air-to-surface missile.

The L150 Pastel radar homing and warning system replaces the SPO-15LM radar warning receiver and endows the upgraded ‘Flanker’ with a suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) capability, by permitting targeting for the Kh-31P high-speed anti-radiation missile and its improved derivative, the Kh-31PD.

The Su-27SM also introduces an improved datalink for inter-aircraft tactical information exchange in group operations, something also useful for the exchange of information with airborne and ground-based command and control centres.

The Su-27SM2 is an enhanced derivative of the Su-27SM intended to be equipped with a derivative of the NIIP Irbis passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar, originally developed for the new Su-35S. Due to the high price of integration of

A small number of non-upgraded Su-27s survive with the Russian Air Force. One of the

few remaining units �ying them is the Aviation Group of the 7000th Air Base, stationed at

Besovets (Petrozavodsk) near St Petersburg. Andrey Zinchuk


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the new radar, this upgrade was promptly abandoned and instead the more affordable SM3 standard was adopted for the last batch of 12 aircraft handed over to the Air Force in 2011. It introduced a further improved cockpit (with four LCD displays and no back-up analogue instruments) and an upgraded N001V radar with extended detection and tracking ranges and added datalink to support mid-course guidance of the R-77M extended-range, active-radar missile (also known as the RVV-SD or izdeliye 180). The radar is capable of guiding two missiles against two targets, and the SM3 also includes an improved electronic countermeasures (ECM) system and an all-new communication system.

Take-off weight of the Su-27SM3 is increased by some 6,612lb (3,000kg) compared to the Russian Air Force’s ‘vanilla’ ‘Flanker-B’, there are 12 hardpoints for carrying ordnance and ECM pods, and the fighter is powered by increased-thrust AL-31F-M1 engines, rated at

29,180lb (129.80kN) at maximum afterburner or 18.320lb (81.49kN) in military power. It is noteworthy that this uprated engine was first used to power a batch of upgraded Su-27SMs delivered to Russia in 2008. The Su-27SM3 is also endowed with the capability to use the new KAB-500S 500kg (1,102lb) satellite/INS-guided bomb.

Sukhoi claims that the Su-27SM3 boasts an air-to-air combat capability improved by a factor of three, while in the air-to-ground role it is advertised as offering twice the combat effectiveness of its Su-27 predecessor.

To date, no Russian Air Force Su-27SM/SM3s have been seen carrying RVV-AE or RVV-SD air-to-air missiles, and training missions with captive rounds or live guided bombs and missiles remain a rarity. Until now, guided weapons and training rounds have been observed only on upgraded ‘Flankers’ operated by the Lipetsk-based combat training centre and the Akhtubinsk flight test centre.

The export Su-27SKM has a similar avionics and equipment fit as its Russian Air Force counterpart, but introduces an in-flight refuelling capability and new navigation system with Western-style VOR/ILS radio navigation aids. Initially the Su-27SKM was offered as an upgrade package, targeted at the existing Chinese ‘Flanker-B’ fleet, but in the event the PLAAF had no interest in upgrading its single-seaters with Russian-made mission avionics. Ultimately only three newly-built Su-27SKMs were produced at Komsomolsk-on-Amur, for delivery to the Indonesian air arm.

Carrier-borne �ghter The Su-33 (Su-27K and T10K, NATO ‘Flanker-D’) is a carrier-borne air superiority and air defence fighter. Its development started in the early 1980s and the first prototype, T10K-1, made its maiden flight on 17 August 1987. The flight test and evaluation programme involved two prototypes and seven pre-series aircraft, and the type’s state acceptance trials were completed in October 1994. However, commissioning of the ‘Flanker-D’ did not take place until 1998.

The Su-33 features many design alterations such as an arrester hook under the tailboom (no brake parachute); all-moving canards (with symmetrical deflection only); a folding tail ‘sting’, considerably shorter than that of the Su-27; folding wings and tailplane; twin nosewheels; modified flight control system (with fly-by-wire introduced for the flaperons); double-slotted trailing-edge flaps and drooping ailerons; increased-area fin with reduced angle on the tips; retractable refuelling probe on the port side of the nose; re-located chaff/flare dispensers and extensive corrosion protection.

Furthermore, the ‘Flanker-D’ was equipped with a purpose-developed carrier deck landing system and was made capable of carrying the UPAZ-A buddy refuelling pod under the

Top: This ‘Flanker’ (Bort 55) is a Su-27SM3.

A dozen new Su-27SM3s were ordered in 2009 together

with four Su-30M2s with similar equipment and avionics. These

‘Flankers’ now serve with the 1st Aviation Group of the 6972nd Air Base, stationed at

Krymsk in southern Russia. Piotr Butowski

This photo: The Lipetsk-based combat training and aircrew conversion centre took delivery of its �rst

upgraded Su-27SMs in December 2003. Piotr Butowski

Right: The Su-33 serves with the two squadrons of Russian naval aviation’s sole �ghter unit, the 297th

OKIAP (Independent Carrier-borne Fighter Aviation Regiment), based at Severomorsk-3. Some 20 examples

remain in service. Andrey Zinchuk


p078_p085_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 84 19/06/2013 09:28

fuselage. In order to improve deck take-off and landing safety (deemed useful in cases of forced go-around or missed approach), the Su-33’s AL-31F Series 3 engines introduced an emergency afterburning mode, developing 28,211lb (125.568kN) of thrust; they also featured corrosion protection for prolonged operation in a salty environment.

The weapons control system is similar to that of the baseline ‘Flanker-B’, built around the N001K radar and OEPS-27K IRST (installed offset to starboard). The maximum weapons load is 15,531lb (7,045kg), and, in addition to the baseline R-27R/T BVR missiles, the Su-33’s arsenal also includes the R-27EM semi-active radar-homing (SARH) missile featuring a seeker optimised for use over the sea against air targets at low and ultra-low altitude. The Su-33’s close-in weapons include the R-73 missile and the GSh-301 30mm single-barrel cannon. At least in theory, the fighter was made capable of employing the entire range of unguided rockets and bombs of its land-based predecessor, but in fact no air-to-ground ordnance has been cleared for deck operations on the ‘Flanker-D’.

Series production at KnAAPO commenced in the early 1990s and in 1993 the first batch of four Su-33s joined the 279th Independent Carrier-borne Fighter Aviation Regiment (279th OKIAP), based at Severomorsk-3 airfield not far from the Barents Sea. As many as 24 ‘Flanker-Ds’ were received by the Russian naval aviation service until 1998, and four have been lost in accidents.

Both the small carrier-based fighter unit and the solitary Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov — officially known in Russia as a ‘heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser’ — are assigned to the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet and are considered to have more ‘flag-waving’ and training roles than real-world operational value. The primary mission of the regiment’s

‘Flanker-Ds’, which lack any surface attack capabilities when operating from the ship, is the long-range air defence of the carrier group. This capability, according to the Russian Navy’s current concept of operations, is essential for naval strike groups operating in a blue-water environment, well outside the umbrella of shore-based long-range surface-to-air missile systems. The Su-33 is also intended for airspace control over the designated patrol areas of Russian ballistic missile-armed submarines, which could otherwise be exposed to the threat posed by enemy long-range anti-submarine aircraft.

The small-scale fleet upgrade programme for the ‘Flanker-D’ initiated in the mid-2000s was aimed at improving self-protection capabilities. As such, it replaces the SPO-15LM Beryoza radar warning receiver with the new L150 Pastel (already installed on a handful of aircraft during 2004), as well as integrating the A737-01 GPS/GLONASS satellite navigation system, upgrading the cockpit display and introducing the increased-thrust AL-31F-M1 engines (as used on the Su-27SM3). The first batch of six Su-33s was upgraded in 2009-10. The contract was priced at around $51 million and also included airframe refurbishment, in order to extended service life by 700 flight hours or 1,500 landings, for up to 26 years.

The Su-27KUB is a two-seat improved derivative of the ‘Flanker-D’. It features a side-by-side cockpit (with access via the nosewheel bay) and a considerably re-designed airframe with larger wings, and extended canards, tailplane and rudders in a bid to provide improved control authority. Meanwhile, the modified high-lift devices on the trailing edges are configured automatically according to the flight regime in an effort to improve lift and reduce drag (and therefore increase range), especially in cruise flight and during combat manoeuvring.

Country VariantAngola Su-27/UBChina Su-27SK/UBKEritrea Su-27/UBEthiopia Su-27/UBIndonesia Su-27SK/SKMKazakhstan Su-27P/UBRussia Su-27P/UB/SM/SM3Ukraine Su-27P/UBUzbekistan Su-27P/UBVietnam Su-27SK/UBK

Note: A complete list of all Su-27 and Su-30 operators will appear in Part 2 of this feature.

Su-27 OPERATORS AT A GLANCE

Su-27KUB development started in the late 1980s. The sole prototype (using the single-seat T10K-4 prototype airframe) was built in 1999, fitted with lighter, new-generation avionics; take-off and landing weight remained the same as that of the single-seat Su-33.

The variant made its maiden flight on 29 April 1999 and the first deck operations were reported in October that year. During 2002, the Su-27KUB was used to test the new Phazotron-NIIR N010 Zhuk and later the Zhuk-MS radars. In the early 2000s it was envisaged that the Su-27KUB would be developed as a ship-borne training aircraft, as well as a multi-role platform for strike and reconnaissance missions. In the event, it remained in prototype form only, failing to attract interest and the requisite funding to complete development and enter series production.


p078_p085_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 85 19/06/2013 09:28

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THE BIG, GRUFF Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is getting new visibility as the United States and its allies flex their muscles in the Western Pacific.

A massive, multi-national war rehearsal, ‘Cope North’ was planned before North Korea began making provocative statements, which included naming Guam as a potential missile target. With the B-52 the largest and most menacing of dozens of Allied warplanes involved, ‘Cope North’ continued an ongoing process of signalling to North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to back down — and, at press time, it appears the enigmatic leader in Pyongyang was doing exactly that.

‘Every morning that a potential adversary gets up and goes, ‘You know what, I’m not going to mess with America today’ — that’s a good morning’, Pacific Air Forces, or PACAF, commander Gen Herbert ‘Hawk’ Carlisle told the Associated Press, referring to demonstrations of force like ‘Cope North’. ‘We need all those mornings to keep coming’. When these words were written, it appeared that Washington was emulating Pyongyang in toning down rhetoric that had approached fever pitch.

‘Cope North’ is a periodic exercise hosted by Carlisle’s PACAF and aimed at improving ways in which the air forces of three countries with high stakes in the region — the United States, Australia and Japan — can work together. Large-force employment operations involving fighter, refuelling, bomber and tanker operations ran throughout the two-week exercise from 4-15 February, which began not with an all-out war scenario but with a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operation on Guam and the nearby island of Tinian. During the second week of ‘Cope North’, the allies practiced air combat, flying 15 aircraft types together against F-16C Fighting Falcons of the 18th Aggressor Squadron deployed from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.

EXERCISE REPORT

This photo: A �ne study of some of the main players from ‘Cope North’. A 2nd Bomb Wing B-52H Stratofortress leads participants from the 18th Wing at Kadena AB (F-15C) and the 18th AGRS at Eielson AFB (F-16C) plus a US Navy EA-18G Growler from VAQ-141 ‘Shadowhawks’ from NAF Atsugi. Flanking them on the left are an F-15J from the JASDF’s 83 Kokutai at Naha, an F-2A from 3 Hikotai at Misawa and a Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18A from 3 Squadron at RAAFB Williamtown. Jim Haseltine

Left: On the prowl — a pilot from the 18th Aggressor Squadron at Eielson AFB, Alaska, deployed to Andersen AFB. Jim Haseltine


p088_p095_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 88 19/06/2013 16:31

To give credibility to the Obama administration’s ‘pivot’ towards Asia, the B-52 is often out in front during exercises aimed at preparing for a real-world crisis. One such was ‘Cope North’, mounted from the US territory of Guam last February.

report: Robert F. Dorr

EXERCISES IN WESTERN PACIFIC TEST ALLIES’ AIR READINESS

EXCLUSIVE IMAGES


p088_p095_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 89 19/06/2013 16:31

Aircraft types included:USAF: B-52H Stratofortress, F-16C/D

Fighting Falcon, F-15C/D Eagle, E-3C Sentry, C-130J Hercules and KC-135R Stratotanker.

US Navy: four EA-18G Growlers from Electronic Attack Squadron 141 (VAQ-141) ‘Shadowhawks’ deployed from Atsugi, Japan. ‘Cope North’ is a US Air Force event, not a joint exercise, but the Growler — dubbed ‘the Plastic Bug’ by some — participated because the US Navy is responsible for this electronic warfare mission.

Royal Australian Air Force: seven F/A-18A Hornets, an E-7A Wedgetail airborne control aircraft, a KC-30A tanker, and a C-130J Hercules.

Japan Air Self Defense-Force: F-15J Eagle, F-2 fighters, C-130 Hercules, KC-767 tanker and E-2C Hawkeye.

‘Cope North’ included 1,000 participants from the US Air Force, 450 from the JASDF and 230 from the RAAF. Among other ‘firsts’, it was the first time all three partners brought to the drill tanker aircraft capable of both delivering and receiving. The Australian KC-30 and Japanese KC-767, interestingly, were versions of the two aircraft that competed in the USAF’s KC-X programme, with the latter winning the competition. Meaningfully, in terms of the politics of the region, it was the first of the ‘Cope North’ exercises — held regularly since 1978, when it began as a US-Japanese exercise — in which South Korean observers were present.

It’s important to remember that we’re looking at this exercise as an example of the activities that influence the region. The ‘forward bomber presence’ at Guam is a relatively new US policy loosely linked to the exercise. With all of these aircraft flying around, the only ones Pyongyang commented on were the B-52 plus a couple of B-2 Spirits that appeared briefly for a separate exercise in Korea. A five-minute video from the North Korean News Agency this year shows North Korean missile men looking at a recognition chart of a B-52D (a model no longer in service) and destroying a Stratofortress with SA-2 ‘Guideline’ surface-to-air missiles. The final scene is of graves in an American military cemetery, payback for using the Stratofortress to challenge the People’s Paradise.

For all that, none of the US exercises held in the region are explicitly aimed at any specific country.

What it’s aboutSpeaking of ‘Cope North’, Col Peter Milohnic, the US exercise director and Commander of the 18th Operations Group at Kadena Air Base in Japan, told reporters: ‘President Obama has asked us to re-balance our forces to the Pacific region of operations, so we can ensure we are geographically distributed as well as politically sustainable and operationally resilient. ‘Cope North’ gives us an excellent chance to practice our strategy of collaboration at a very personal level with our Pacific allies, so that when something happens and we all need to work together, it isn’t the first time we’re working together.’

The humanitarian phase of ‘Cope North’ focused on a mock typhoon that devastated

Above: Royal Australian Air Force Hornet pilot Flt Lt Edwin Borrman prepares for a ‘Cope North’ mission. ADF

Above right: An AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-o� Missile (JASSM) is prepared for loading on to a B-52H for a ‘Cope North’ sortie. The B-52H and F-16C/D Block 50 are the so-called integration threshold aircraft for the weapon. Jim Haseltine

This photo: A rare formation of an F-15J from 83 Kokutai leading an F-2A from 3 Hikotai at Misawa and a Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18A from 3 Squadron at RAAFB Williamtown. Jim Haseltine


p088_p095_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 90 19/06/2013 16:31

the fictional island nation of ‘Guastralia’. The three Pacific allies teamed up to open ‘Novotonia Air Base’, a bare base for delivery of relief supplies by C-130s. As part of the scenario, political tensions on Guastralia were flaring up and the people were hungry and restive.

The allies prepared 11 C-130 chalks (cargo loads) to go to the fictional island. The coalition set up a functioning camp, operations centre, and aerial port. C-130s, using tactical landing, take-off and airdrop procedures, immediately began delivering relief pallets. The simulated US Embassy country team, higher headquarters, and host nation all combined to inject further problem-solving scenarios. Not to be forgotten, neighbouring ‘Taipan’, located in the vicinity of real-life Tinian, which needed help, too. The team forward-deployed an element to assist there, as well, receiving C-130s and relief pallets and living on the airport grounds.

While the humanitarian exercise was under way — with warplanes providing cover — the coalition team prepared for the warfighting part of ‘Cope North’. At one point, two RAAF F/A-18As from No 3 Squadron at Williamtown taxied past a B-52H from the 2nd Bomb Wing deployed from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. In the background was an E-7A of RAAF No 2 Squadron, also from Williamtown. MSgt Steven Mayne told Combat Aircraft: ‘We’ve seen some of these aircraft before, but seeing so much variety in one place is a real treat on the eyes.’

For E-3C crews of the 962nd Airborne Air Control Squadron, deployed from Joint Base Elmendorf, Alaska, the job was to be aware of air-to-air threats and to ‘maintain a clear picture with all of the friendly forces’, said E-3C navigator Capt Walter Goss.

Each day of the exercise saw morning and afternoon rounds of aerial operations involving fighter, refuelling and command and control aircraft from the three nations. Officials said this offered an optimal training environment to develop multilateral co-operation in air superiority, interdiction, electronic warfare, tactical airlift and aerial refuelling.

Unlike the humanitarian phase, officials did not release a detailed scenario for the warfighting parts of ‘Cope North’ that followed. It involved a range of missions from engaging hostile electronic systems to

‘With all of these aircraft flying around, the only ones Pyongyang commented on were the B-52 plus a couple of B-2 Spirits that appeared briefly for a separate exercise in Korea’


p088_p095_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 91 19/06/2013 16:31

attacking fictional airfields — the foe being represented by the Eielson F-16s — and above all it involved working together, testing the interoperability of systems aboard the Wedgetail, Growler, Stratofortress and Eagle. One official made a special point of mentioning that while the American F-15C and Japanese F-15J look identical on the outside, they have different avionics, communications and datalink capabilities.

Again, the exercises did not involve a specific country. Indeed, much of the framework for ‘Cope North’ was in place before North Korea began making headlines with its bellicosity.

Bombing in the ‘Bu�’Yes, they still call it the ‘Big Ugly Fat Fellow’, or ‘BUFF’, although they sometimes use a different F-word, and yes, even in a sea of glamorous aerial machines the B-52 Stratofortress always stands out. CA talked about today’s much-improved ‘BUFF’ with Barksdale crew members Capt Bandy ‘Spike’ Jeffrey, a pilot; Capt Christopher ‘Jonah’ Weir, an instructor radar navigator or RN, the term for the bombardier; and Capt Joshua ‘Dime’

Riker, an electronic warfare officer, also called the EWO or ‘e-dub’.

Jeffrey pointed out that advancing from co-pilot to command pilot in the BUFF is no piece of cake: ‘The cross-check is horrendous when you first transfer from the right seat to the left. The B-52 has pilot controls that are in mirror image, unlike the B-1B Lancer where the two sets of controls are identical.’

While the ‘BUFF’ has dozens of recent improvements under the skin, including integration of the AN/AAQ-28 Litening II advanced targeting pod that is now essential to B-52 operations, not everything aboard the bomber is the newest or the latest. ‘We have two MFDs [multi-functional displays] that are not in colour’, said Jeffrey. Some instruments still look more like gauges in a steam room than miracles of the digital age. But no-one has ever said an unkind word about flying in the B-52. Said Jeffrey: ‘The best part of my week is flying the B-52. It’s a learning experience all the time. We try to fly with hard crews but it doesn’t always work out’. To the greatest extent possible, when deployed to Guam, ‘BUFFs’ fly with ‘hard’ crews, meaning that the same five airmen sit in the same five seats, every time.

Said Weir: ‘A lot of money that’s gone into the B-52 has been focused on keeping us relevant. The Litening pod gives us co-ordinates for the target and the area around it. The primary crew member is the RN. A lot of our targeting pod scenarios involve work by the EWO as well. We’re about to field a new mod that will enable the display to be seen by the pilot, co-pilot and the EWO.’

Added Weir: ‘One of our strengths is that we carry both stand-off and dropped munitions. We can put the greatest variety of weapons on the most targets’ — meaning more than the B-1B or B-2. ‘The key is mission planning. For training, we know 24 hours in advance what type of scenario we’ll be doing tomorrow. We do a weather brief, an Intel brief, and a weapons and tactics brief. As a crew we get together and review the different training requirements we have. The pilot works on weights and balance and gross weight. We talk about the weather. A targeting pod mission is planned around the weather. We ask ourselves, ‘What am I going to do? How am I going to get there?’’

Said Riker: ‘I am the defence officer on the jet. We have newer equipment. A lot of it is

‘Unlike the humanitarian phase, officials did not release a detailed scenario for the warfighting parts of ‘Cope North’ that followed. It involved a range of missions from engaging hostile electronic systems to attacking fictional airfields’

Top left: Engine start for a 3 Squadron F/A-18A as a JASDF F-15J blasts out of Andersen AFB. ADF

Left: An F-15J pilot and crew chief prepare for engine start — note the two KC-767s and an E-2C in the background. ADF

This photo: The B-52H remains a potent deterrent despite its age. The sinister bomber is still receiving a host of upgrades. Jim Haseltine


p088_p095_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 92 19/06/2013 16:31

pretty automatic. The ‘e-dub’ is the subject-matter expert on everything related to defence. This is a complicated aircraft with five people. Most airplanes today have an automatic system to do my [EWO] job, but having a person back there really helps.’

Commander commentsLt Gen Hinonaka Masayuki, the JASDF on-scene commander, told reporters that realistic exercises in the Western Pacific ‘test our interoperability and flexibility in a region where one of the challenges is the simple tyranny of distance’. Without discussing specifics of warfighting missions undertaken in ‘Cope North’, leaders on the scene acknowledged that they practiced engaging mock enemy forces with advanced fighters and ‘double-digit SAMS’, those modern, surface-to-air missiles and their associated systems that a ‘near peer’ nation would be most likely to have. Fill in the word ‘China’ and the intent becomes clear.

A recurring theme about exercises in the Pacific is the usual policy by military commanders of not naming any country their mock warfighting is aimed at. In a rare

departure from that policy, PACAF boss Carlisle said:

‘I think the PRC [People’s Republic of China] has a tendency to look at things in a different light than we do. I think they may take this exercise as something different than it is intended. Its intention is that the PRC is a rising power and that peace, security and stability are beneficial to them as they are to us. The message we are trying to send is that we’re continuing to expand the ability of all nations of this part of the world. How they actually see ‘Cope North’, I would probably be out of my league to try to guess, except they may take it in a different light and to be honest it probably wouldn’t be fair for me to speculate.’

Even with today’s GPS navigation and high-tech instruments and sensors, war in the Western Pacific still involves distance and still places demands on airmanship. Missions launched from Guam are long, over-water flights with no navigation aids and no infrastructure underneath — a very different kind of flying than that in, say, Western Europe.

PACAF boss Carlisle said the second portion of ‘Cope North’ consisted of

‘large-force employment exercises that deal with the combat capability of the three air forces in employing combat-type roles in a higher-end kinetic engagement’. Hewing to the company line and avoiding the C-word (China) or any reference to North Korea, Carlisle said the practice warfighting was ‘not aimed at any particular individual threat. It’s just interoperability and the capability to work in a high-end environment together if we were ever faced with that. It’s just aimed at the capabilities that all our air forces bring to do high-end Large-Force Employment (LFE) exercises and engagement if we ever needed to.’

Selecting for these operations the island of Guam — solid US territory with a large air base located relatively close to China and North Korea — is such an obvious choice that it requires no explanation. Hinonaka provided one from his point of view anyway: ‘It’s close to Japan and it’s easy to get here. Japan has a very restricted airspace where complicated operations are particularly difficult to replicate. It is easy to conduct operations in Guam.’

Air Commodore Anthony Grady, head of the diverse RAAF contingent, added that Guam is


p088_p095_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 93 19/06/2013 16:32

‘easy for Australia to get to particularly with our new tanker capability [the KC-30A] and there is always great advantage in taking our forces into Guam and operating from a unique and different environment. We learn a lot from it.’

Hinonaka cited three objectives — to develop attack capability, to enhance interoperability, and to foster military understanding among countries. He broke away from the script long enough to admit: ‘Also, we [Japanese] are paying high attention to concerns of the future in China, North Korea and Russia. This is our concern that we are still maintaining.’

Linking and connectingMore than ever in modern warfare, connectivity and interoperability are crucial. ‘Cope North’ tested this. Net-centric capability is incredibly important’, said Carlisle. ‘It allows a common operating picture, it allows that interoperability, it allows the passing of data and information between platforms so you have a better understanding of what is in front of you and what is going on around you with friends and potential foe alike.’

Added Carlisle: ‘Here we are demonstrating with Link 16, for example, and putting all three nations’ aeroplanes up in the same Link architecture so we’re seeing each other and we’re operating with… interoperability.

‘We all have Link 16, we all try to get on the network, but the actual devil is in the details

— in making it happen, what we call an ‘op task link’, or the ability to dictate the parameters on that Link architecture. The same with surveillance, reconnaissance and air control: [we’re practicing] how you pass data between platforms. So this is a great opportunity here in Guam to practice that and do it ‘hands on’.’

Air-sea battleClosely tied to warfighting exercises in the Western Pacific is the ‘Air-Sea Battle’, which some call a doctrine but the Pentagon calls ‘an operating concept’. ‘Air-Sea Battle is a set of agreed-upon ideas and actions to create the [US] joint force needed for operations in contested and denied environments and what that force needs to be able to do’, according to a statement from the Air-Sea Battle office.

‘A critical element in the concept is to identify alternate airfields all over Asia that Air Force and Navy aircraft might operate from one day’, wrote Richard Halloran in Air Force magazine. ‘US aircraft can be dispersed there, making life hard for a potential enemy such as China to select targets. Dispersed bases simultaneously would make it easier for an American pilot needing an emergency landing site to find one if his home base had been bombed.’

Air-Sea Battle looks to prepare the US and its allies to deter or defeat China’s rising military power. It envisions operations of USAF fighters, bombers and missiles

‘Some instruments still look more like gauges in a steam room than miracles of the digital age. But no one has ever said an unkind word about flying in the B-52’

Below: A rare airborne photo of a JASDF E-2C Hawkeye from Hiko Keikai Kanshitai at Misawa.Jim Haseltine

Left, top to bottom: Two Boeing stablemates, albeit separated by a quarter of a century in terms of production — a ‘Shadowhawks’ Growler leads a Kadena-based F-15C during ‘Cope North’. Jim Haseltine

A gaggle of F-15Js join a KC-767 for a ‘pre-strike’ top-up prior to the start of a large combined air operation (COMAO). Jim Haseltine


p088_p095_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 94 19/06/2013 16:32

co-ordinated with US Navy aircraft flown from carriers and land bases, plus missiles launched from submarines and surface ships. Nuclear war plans will also be folded into the Air-Sea Battle operation.

In a rambling quote with better intentions than grammar, Carlisle gave his take on the Air-Sea Battle concept:

‘Air-Sea Battle and one of the tenets of US focus on the Pacific is the ability to focus on the different forces — US Navy, Marines and Army, including our friends and partners: RAAF, Royal Australian Navy, the JASDF, [the Japan] Maritime Air Self-Defense Force — that ability to be integrated’. Air-Sea Battle, Carlisle added, ‘really talks about the cross-domain ability within that integration. The term used often is ‘network integrated attack ability’. For example, if you have two stealth platforms, say

a submarine and an F-35 [Lightning II], and they need to get into denied airspace, a

cross-domain solution is that the F-35 will find a target, the submarine

shoots the weapon and the F-35 guides the weapon to the target.

Those are types of things that are cross-domain — the

ability to use space and cyber as a cross-domain

solution.’Carlisle did not really mean to

say that a submarine

would

occupy airspace, but readers will presumably get his intent.

‘Cope North’ commanders Carlisle, Hinonaka and Grady talked while ‘BUFFs’, ‘Hercs’, Eagles, Fighting Falcons, Hornets and ‘Plastic Bugs’ launched from Guam on long, complex and difficult missions where navigation and airmanship were every bit as important as an adversary’s arsenal. As they spoke, three themes kept surfacing — the potential adversaries in the region, Air-Sea Battle, and the rarely mentioned but overhanging menace of US budget cuts, the process called sequestration.

About adversaries: at press time, both North Korea and the United States seemed to be taking a step back from the brink. Kim Jong-un’s forces stood down from preparations for an apparent ballistic missile test. The Obama administration retreated from what it called the ‘playbook’, a scheme of measured, show-of-force actions that included flying B-2s and B-52s over South Korea and deploying F-22 Raptors there. Both sides seemed to understand that it was time to ratchet down the rhetoric. As for China, the PRC rarely rattles its sabres but the Chinese are building and expanding their forces, especially their blue-water navy, so what Carlisle calls ‘watchful vigilance’ is in order.

About the Air-Sea Battle: in addition to ‘Cope North’, PACAF routinely holds exercises in Indonesia (‘Cope West’), South Korea (‘Foal Eagle’) and Alaska (‘Red Flag Alaska’) although the last-named was

postponed this year because of sequestration. These exercises always emphasise the air and naval co-operation Carlisle cited.

About sequestration: ‘I’m very concerned, I will tell you that’, said Carlisle. ‘The US economy is an element of national power and we’ve got to get that right and fix it. The deficit and the spending as well as the revenue needs to be worked out and I personally believe that the statesmen within the US government are going to rise to the occasion and solve that problem. But that’s an element of national power. Having said that, given what we’ve asked to do here in the Pacific, if we don’t solve some of these problems fairly quickly within the government some of the cuts that are currently laid in the Budget Control Act law’ — the sequester — ‘will be very, very difficult. For the Pacific Command, we are expressing to our leadership back within the Beltway’ — the circular highway around Washington DC — ‘that in order to maintain the support in this part of the world, we need to continue sharpening our readiness and testing ourselves and our ability to co-operate.’

Added the PACAF chief: ‘We need to look hard at how this budget rolls out; it’s going to be a challenge.’

The airmen who rehearse in Pacific skies are accustomed to challenge, but most would prefer the kind that involves hands on stick and throttle. Politics aside, the Western Pacific is the place where, for the foreseeable future, the United States and its allies will continue rehearsing how to fly and fight.


p088_p095_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 95 19/06/2013 16:32

BY DAVID AXE

ARECENT ITALIAN MILITARY air exercise gave US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin an opportunity to show off some of the latest technology and concepts for

airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

‘Star Vega 2013’, held from 13-24 May at five airfields across Italy, involved fighters, tankers, helicopters, drones and support aircraft from the Italian Air Force, Navy and Army and NATO. Lockheed’s Airborne Multi-intelligence Laboratory, a modified Gulfstream III business jet fitted with a wide range of sensors and datalinks, participated from its new home at Pratica di Mare air base south of Rome. The AML — or Dragon Star, as it is known — apparently helped spot simulated targets for Eurofighter Typhoons and other warplanes.

Lockheed and the Italian defence ministry are one year into a two-year lease for the Dragon Star aircraft and related personnel and systems. Rome gets access to the modified Gulfstream and three ground stations plus flight crews and maintenance personnel for an

undisclosed sum likely to run into hundreds of millions of dollars. The contract allows Italy to deploy the aircraft in a war zone.

Dragon Star is arguably the most sophisticated example of a new concept called ‘ISR as a Service’. Instead of developing, building and operating their own spyplanes, air arms can now simply lease ready-for-war ISR platforms.

‘The AML is equipped with a full suite of collection systems as well as wideband and narrowband datalinks’, according to Lockheed’s website. ‘Built-in on-board processing and analysis provide rapid data correlation.’

The Dragon Star’s customer can pick and choose from a menu of sensors for installation aboard the leased aircraft. ‘The AML is re-configurable so that we can tailor the system to meet specific customer needs’, Lockheed stated. ‘An open software and hardware architecture permits rapid, affordable technology insertion. Ample rack space and large, flexible, payload bays enable different equipment, sensors, processors, and communications equipment to be rapidly exchanged.’

Photos provided by Lockheed depict the spacious interior of the AML’s rear cabin, fitted with four forward-facing banks of operator consoles — each bank featuring two large displays.

Equipment fitted to the AML at one time or another includes infra-red and daylight

ITALY PIONEERS LEASED SPYPLANES

The Dragon Star Airborne Multi-Intelligence

Laboratory aboard a Lockheed Martin-converted

Gulfstream III is now working for the Italian Air

Force. Lockheed Martin

‘Instead of developing, building and operating their own spyplanes, air arms can now simply lease ready-for-war ISR platforms’

cameras built by FLIR Systems, L-3 wideband datalinks and unspecified new sensors built by DRS — most likely radio-signal receivers. Combining all this hardware with the Dragon Star’s on-board processing could allow the aircraft to sense radio emissions from military targets, zero in on them with cameras and then pass targeting information to strike aircraft or other ‘shooters’.

‘ISR as a Service’ is preferred by air forces struggling to meet explosive demand for intel in conflict zones such as Afghanistan, but which cannot spare the time and expense of acquiring custom-made aircraft. Civilian-registered King Airs and Gulfstreams festooned with antennae — the most visible aspect of ‘ISR as a Service’ — can be seen at airfields across Afghanistan, where they perform surveillance duties for the US and allied countries, and increasingly in Africa.

Dragon Star apparently expands the concept into more intensive air-combat scenarios, such as those explored in the ‘Star Vega’ exercise.

Rome’s Dragon Star lease starting last year was reportedly motivated by the looming obsolescence of the Italian Air Force’s single, specialised G222VS, a cargo aircraft fitted with signals intelligence (SIGINT) sensors and in service since the early 1980s also at Pratica di Mare. ‘The use of the ISR service has given Italy the possibility to retire its G222VS SIGINT aircraft while keeping an effective (niche) intelligence capability alive with the Air Force’, wrote David Cenciotti, an Italian aviation expert.

With many countries’ Cold War-vintage spyplanes ageing, leased ISR could become even more popular even as operations in Afghanistan wind down. Dragon Star might be only the beginning of a new era in airborne intelligence.

Lockheed Martin


Dispatches from the

front line of aerospace

technology

p096_CAM_AUG_13 C.indd 96 19/06/2013 09:26

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