Air International 2013-11

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INTERNATIONAL

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Typhoon Special 60 PAGE

Weapons Integration Systems Operations & Technology

KC-130J

Multi-Mission Tanker

Merlin Mk2 Super Sub-Hunter

KC-46

Stratotanker II?

Inside

Part Two of our Tanker Rundown

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NOVEMBER 2013 Vol.85 No.5

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INTERNATIONAL

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News

04 BREAKING NEWS 06 GENERAL NEWS Proposed budget cuts force the US Air Force’s leadership to look at retiring whole fleets of aircraft, with the A-10 Thunderbolt II, MC-12W, KC-10A, B-1B and F-15C under scrutiny. AgustaWestland flies the first production AW189, Airbus Military celebrates the official delivery of the initial A400M Atlas, and the US Navy re-establishes VFA-101.

The RAF says ‘goodbye’ to the VC10, the Aurora Orion UAS flies, the QF-16 makes its first unmanned flight, Afghanistan becomes the latest C-130 Hercules operator while Belgium celebrates 40 years flying the type, Alitalia seeks aid, AgustaWestland delivers the 600th AW139, four Russians fly around the

world in R66s, Embraer marks 1,000 E-Jet deliveries, Airbus looks at a regional A330, Lufthansa says ‘yes’ to the 777-9X, Cessna puts wings on its Citation Latitude prototype and AIR International’s staff go to the cinema to watch Planes.

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Features

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TYPHOON SPECIAL

AIR International presents an overview of the current status, operators and weapons of the Typhoon as it fights to secure major orders in the Gulf.

Mark Broadbent reports on BAE Systems Regional Aircraft’s expanding and evolving business.

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MERLIN MARK TWO

As the Merlin Mk 2 enters service

Editor Mark Ayton [email protected] Sub Editors Sue Blunt, Carol Randall, Norman Wells

Designer Dave Robinson Production Manager Janet Watkins Production Controller Danielle Tempest Subscriptions/ Mail Order Manager Roz Condé

98 FRENCH OPEVAL

Henri-Pierre Grolleau looks at the work of the French Air Force’s CEAM.

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WORLD TANKERS PART TWO

108 Voyager 118 KDC-10 124 HC-130J 130 KC-46A 134 KC-130J

Marketing Manager Martin Steele

• ISSN 0306-5634 • is published monthly by:

Commercial Director Ann Saundry Managing Director & Publisher Adrian Cox Executive Chairman Richard Cox

142 GULF PATROL

The maritime patrol aircraft on offer to the Gulf, by Jim Dorschner.

BUDGET AIRLINE 146 DUBAI’S

AIR International completes its two-part series of the world’s tankers

News Editor David Willis [email protected] Marketing Assistants Shaun Binnington & Charlotte Davies

Jim Dorschner reports on the arms market in the Gulf region.

Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1XQ, UK T +44 (0)1780 755131 F +44 (0)1780 757261 The entire contents of AIR International is © copyright, and no

Dominik Sipinski looks at flydubai.

150 GULF SURVEILLANCE

Jim Dorschner investigates.

FRONT COVER: Typhoons line-up alongside the RAF’s new Voyager tanker. Geoff Lee LEFT INSET: Neil Dunridge MIDDLE INSET: Ian Harding RIGHT INSET: Boeing

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REGIONAL EVOLUTION

106 GULF STRIKE

with the Royal Navy, Ian Harding visits RNAS Culdrose to review its upgrades.

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Breaking News

First Production Atlas Handed Over

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NEWS BY NUMBERS

SWEDISH HERCULES STAYING AT HOME Sweden has decided to withhold the Lockheed TP84 Hercules transport and 70 personnel it had committed to the Mali Peacekeeping Force from October 1. Defence minister Karin Enström stated that the airfields in northern Mali, where the aircraft was to have been based, are not suitable for it. Sweden is now assessing whether the TP84 could carry out its mission from airfields in Uganda. David C Isby

A400M F-WWMS bathed in lights during the ceremony at Seville on September 30. Antonio Muñiz Zaragüetao

Airbus Military has marked the delivery of the first production A400M Atlas at the final assembly line at Seville. The initial aircraft (0007/F-RBAA, msn 007) was actually handed over to the Armée de l’air (French Air Force) on August 1 (see Atlas Delivered to French Air Force, September, p13). Standing in during the ceremony on September 30 in Spain was the third prototype A400M (F-WWMS, msn 003), which acted as a backdrop to the ceremony. On the same day the French Air Force held another ceremony – attended by the minister of defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian – to

ATD-X Funds

The development of a Japanese indigenous stealth fighter has gained momentum with a request by the the country’s ministry of defence for funding to build a prototype, which is due to fly in 2014. Mitsubishi, in conjunction with Japan’s Technical Research and Development Institute, is developing the Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD-X) Shinshin as a possible replacement for the Mitsubishi F-2s. Nigel Pittaway

mark the arrival of the transport at Orléans-Bricy. At the base 0007 is being used by the Multinational Entry into Service Team to prepare the transport for operational service with the European launch customers. Both 0007 and 0008/F-RBAB (msn 008, the second for France) have been produced to the Initial Operational Clearance standard, as has the first for Turkey (130009, msn 009). The fourth production A400M (msn 010, the third for France) will be completed to Standard Operating Clearance 1 with various upgrades, including the ability to air drop payloads and

Japan Considering Shooting Down UAVs The Japanese defence ministry is investigating policy and legal implications of shooting down foreign military UAVs penetrating its airspace. It follows an incident on September 16 when Japanese F-15J Eagles intercepted a Chinese Harbin BZK-005 in international airspace approximately 125 miles (200km) north of the disputed Senkaku islands. David C Isby

Production AW189 Flown

AgustaWestland has completed the maiden flight of a production AW189. The twin-engined helicopter (I-RAID, c/n 49007) flew at Vergiate in Italy on October 10 and is due to be delivered to Bristow Helicopters before the end of the year. Two more AW189s are being assembled at Vergiate, while a second production line is being created at Yeovil, Somerset. More than 80 AW189s have been ordered, most of which will serve in the offshore energy support role. AgustaWestland

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personnel. Further capabilities will be added as other standards are introduced. Also on September 30, an agreement was signed between the chiefs of the French and German air forces, General Denis Mercier and General Karl Müllner respectively, concerning the training of crews and support personnel for the Atlas. From the summer of 2015 both nations will train maintenance personnel at Wunstorf in Germany, while operational flight training will take place at Orléans-Bricy, starting next year for French students and 2018 for their German counterparts.

First F-35C Unit Established The US Navy re-established Strike Fighter Squadron One Zero One (VFA-101) ‘The Grim Reapers’, its first Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II unit, on October 2 at Eglin AFB, Florida. Two aircraft had been delivered to the unit at the time of the ceremony with a further four destined for ‘The Grim Reapers’ already at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. David C Isby

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SPARTANS FOR CHAD Final assembly of the first of two Alenia C-27J Spartans for Chad is under way at the manufacturer’s facility at Caselle in Turin, Italy. The transport is expected to be delivered in midDecember. The fuselage of the second is due to arrive at Caselle from Capodichino in Naples in the next few weeks. Training of aircrew for the transports is under way.

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HÜRKUS ¸ PURCHASE APPROVED FOR TURKISH AIR FORCE The Savunma Sanayii Müstes ¸arlıgı (Undersecretariat of Defence Industries) has approved plans to acquire 15 Turkish Aerospace Industries Hürkus ¸ B trainers for the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish Air Force). A contract is due to be signed within coming months that will make Turkey the aircraft launch customer. The prototype completed its maiden flight on August 29 (see Turkey’s Hürkus¸ Flown, October, p12).

Ghanaian C295M Ready for Delivery

Airbus Military C295M (c/n S-103), wearing United Nations titles, is one of two due to be delivered to Ghana under a recently announced lease-topurchase scheme. It is due to support the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (see Ghana to Acquire Additional C295s, October, p21). The transport is seen at Seville-San Pablo Airport in Spain on September 30. It was original destined for the Arab Republic of Egypt Air Force, but deliveries of military hardware to Egypt were suspended by Spain on August 28, allowing the C295M to be reassigned to Ghana. Antonio Muñiz Zaragüeta

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Breaking News

Cuts May Force US Air Force to Retire Whole Fleets

The A-10 Thunderbolt II may be sacrificed in response to potential cuts in the US Air Force’s budget. Other aircraft under threat are the KC-10A Extender tanker/ transport, MC-12W Liberty intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform, B-1B Lancer bomber, and the F-15C Eagle fighter. US Air Force/Staff Sgt Austin May (main image); KC-10A US Air Force/Denise Gould; MC-12W US Air Force/Senior Master Sgt Richard Davis; B-1B Jake Melampy; F-15C US Air Force photo/1st Lt Christopher Mesnard

Potential budget cuts are forcing the US Air Force to look at radical reductions in its force structure. “I have no idea how much money the Department of Defense will have in 2014, much less beyond” said Admiral James Winnefeld, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the 2013 annual Air Force Association convention. Looking at the impending cuts, he told the Washington assembly on September 18 that achieving “capability over capacity”, would be the objective for the remaining force. General Frank Grass, head of the National Guard Bureau, said on the same day that his forces were facing “the most devastating

budget I have seen. I don’t see any way around that”. In response, near-term ‘vertical’ cuts, removing all in-service examples of an aircraft type from the US Air Force’s inventory, along with its support infrastructure and training base, have emerged as the most likely way to achieve the deep cuts in force structure that appear increasingly likely. “We’ll be forced to divest entire fleets of aircraft”, said Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh, testifying before the House Armed Service Committee on September 17. “We can’t do it by cutting a few aircraft from each fleet,” he added. General Walsh estimated that 550 aircraft

Jetstar’s Initial Dreamliner Delivered Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner VH-VKA (c/n 36227) departing Everett, Washington, on October 7, on delivery to Jetstar of Australia. The aircraft touched down at Melbourne-Tullamarine Airport, Victoria, two days later, after transiting via Honolulu International Airport, Hawaii. The first of 14 787-8s ordered by the Qantas Group for the low-cost carrier; they are due to enter service by 2015. Boeing

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and 25,000 personnel would have to be cut under current planned funding levels. He later stressed that “nothing has been decided”, but that the emphasis would be on keeping multi-mission rather than single-role aircraft. The leading candidate for removal from service appears to be the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II. Also being considered are the Beechcraft MC-12W Liberty, McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender, Rockwell B-1B Lancer and Boeing F-15C Eagle. Of these, the latter two are considered less likely to be totally cut because of the shortage of bombers and air superiority fighters to carry out missions needed for

the US’s strategic ‘pivot’ towards the western Pacific. The Combat Rescue Helicopter programme has also been identified for potential cancellation. Those aircraft that evade the vertical cut may still have their numbers reduced. General Mike Hostage, commander of the Air Combat Command said of the F-15C on September 17 that while “I don’t have enough air superiority capability as it is...I’m not saying we wouldn’t get rid of some”. Other unofficial air force sources have identified that the US Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules force numbers are likely to drop from 340 to 300. David C Isby

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AIR International requires correspondents based in France, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, the United States and South America for regular newsbased projects. Please contact AIR International at [email protected]

AIR International is keen to hear from readers who have news stories, photos or features of modern civil and military aviation for inclusion in the magazine. Please contact AIR International at the following address [email protected]

AI.11.13

5

Military

Last Flight of the VC10

VC10 K3 ZA147/‘F’ touches down for the last time at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire, on September 25, ending the flying career of the iconic RAF tanker. Charles Cunliffe

The final VC10 tanker in RAF service arrived at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire, on September 25 at the end of the type’s last flight. ZA147/‘F’ (c/n 882, ex 5H-MMT) is due to be scrapped on the airfield along with several others already there. The day before, ZA150/‘J’ (c/n 885, ex 5H-MOG) departed its base at RAF Brize Norton,

Oxfordshire, for Dunsfold, Surrey, having been acquired by the Brooklands Museum. Both aircraft performed a final sortie in RAF service on September 20. Flown by No.101 Squadron personnel, ZA147 (as TARTAN 52) and ZA150 (TARTAN 51) taxied on to Runway 26 at Brize Norton just after 1,000 hours for a four-hour-long final

Orion Begins Flight Test Programme Aurora Flight Sciences says its Orion medium-altitude longendurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has successfully completed its first flight. The initial sortie was conducted on August 24 at an undisclosed test range in the western United States and lasted three hours and 31 minutes, during which the aircraft reached 8,000ft (4,333m) and a maximum speed of 60kts (111km/h). The Orion was designed to provide persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and act as a communications relay station. It was produced for an endurance of 120 hours at 20,000ft (6,096m) carrying a 1,000lb (453kg) payload, and is powered by a pair of 170hp (127kW) Austro Engine AE300 turbo-diesels. According to Aurora, the Orion is being developed for “an unnamed customer”, believed to be the US Air Force’s Big Safari programme office – which specialises in the management, acquisition and support of special-purpose weapons systems, and is most closely associated with the development of USAF electronic and visual reconnaissance programmes. The aircraft was selected in August 2010 by the US Air Force

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Research Laboratory (AFRL) for the Medium Altitude Global ISR and Communications (MAGIC) Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (see Orion to Reduce ISR Costs, January 2011, p17). MAGIC was launched in response to an urgent request from US Central Command for persistent ISR, carrying a pair of Raytheon MTS-B electro-optical turrets, with an option to use the Northrop Grumman Vader ground moving target indicator radar, a multi-camera wide area surveillance sensor and signal intelligence gathering systems. Carriage of air-to-surface munitions was also envisaged. The prototype Orion was rolled out at Columbus, Mississippi, on November 22, 2010, and was due to be followed by another pair under the original contract. The initial flight was due in mid-2011 with trials to be undertaken over three years. This timeline was abandoned and management of Orion passed from the AFRL to the ‘unnamed customer’ within the US Air Force, although the broad aims of MAGIC remain at the core of the project. The programme changes are the cause of the long delay to the first flight. Mark Broadbent, David C Isby and David Willis

sortie, during which both conducted flypasts over various civilian and RAF airfields as well as tanking Tornados and Typhoons. The itinerary took in Birmingham; Newcastle; Prestwick; Warton, Lancashire; RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire; RAF Marham, Norfolk; RAF Lossiemouth, Morayshire, and RAF Leuchars, Fife. Just after 1400hrs the pair reappeared over

Brize Norton to conduct one final pass before landing, concluding 47 years of service by the type in the RAF. ZA147 was the last to land. It was originally delivered to East African Airways as 5H-MMT on October 3, 1966, and served on its international routes, including flying to London Heathrow. After the airline’s demise the VC-10 was sold to the UK’s Ministry of Defence which converted it as a three-point tanker. Its first flight following modification was on August 9, 1985, the aircraft being delivered to No.101 Squadron on September 24. The prototype VC10 first flew on June 29, 1962, and 54 were built. A total of 14 VC10 C1s (13 of which later received refuelling pods as C1Ks), five K2s, four K3s and five K4s served with the RAF while a single Srs 1103 was used by the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Ian Harding and Rob Skinnis

Fifth Indonesian C295M

Airbus Military C295M EC-001, the fifth example for the Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Udara (Indonesian National Defence-Air Force), at Luqa Airport on Malta on October 1. It left the next day for Alexandria in Egypt on its journey to Indonesia. Nine C295Ms are on order for the air force, of which seven will be assembled in Seville, Spain, and two at Bandung, Indonesia, by IPTN. Paul Kyte

CN235 Delivered to Yemen

Airbus Military CN235-300 tactical transport 2211/BuNo. 168988 (msn 188) arrived at Luqa Airport in Malta on September 27 during its delivery flight from the manufacturer at Seville, Spain, to the Yemen Air and Air Defence Force. It departed for Crete the following day. The aircraft was supplied via the US Foreign Military Financing programme (hence the US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics serial number) to help the Yemeni Government combat al-Qaeda operatives in the country. The $38 million order was revealed by Airbus Military in its first quarter results for 2011 (see One CN235 for Yemen, July 2011, p23) and the aircraft was noted undergoing flight tests by midFebruary 2012. Charles Polidano/TouchTheSkies.com

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Military

US Air Force’s Top Priorities General Mark Welch, Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, identified the service’s top five priorities during the 2013 annual Air Force Association convention in Washington, DC on September 18. He said the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Boeing KC-46A tanker and Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) were his top priority programmes, which will be funded despite expected budget cuts. In fourth and fifth place he identified recapitalisation of the Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) mediumaltitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance force with new aircraft (rather than upgrading its current E-8Cs) – followed by the T-X (Trainer-Experimental) programme replacement for the Northrop T-38 Talon advanced trainer. Geneal Welch said the F-35 is “performing solidly on track. I am confident it will get there. Without it, we cannot operate against the air defence systems of the future.” He saw the KC-46A as a priority because “we have to recapitalise the tanker force”. For the bomber, he said the US Air Force “needs 80 to 100 LRS[-Bs], we have got to have that capability”. He added that, while the Joint STARS’ “intelligence has been phenomenally successful”, the air force cannot currently build a business case for transitioning the platform to a newer airframe, smaller twin-jet airframe, which studies have identified as the optimal platform. The T-X programme is not urgent because “the T-38 will not fall out of the sky tomorrow”, with 2023 suggested as a likely in-service date. David C Isby

QF-16 Flies Unmanned

Boeing QF-16A 83-0110, one of the six engineering and manufacturing development FSATs, making the type’s first flight without a pilot onboard off the coast of Florida on September 19. Boeing

The Boeing (Lockheed Martin) QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) flew for the first time without a pilot onboard on September 19. The 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron (ATRS) and the programme’s prime contractor, Boeing, conducted the flight from Tyndall AFB, Florida. A pilot performed all the pre-flight checks before the aircraft (QF-16A Block 15 83-0110/‘QF-004’) was handed over to Thomas Mudge, a pilot controller from the 82nd ATRS, to ‘fly’ . The QF-16 took off at 1500hrs for an hour-long

sortie during which it was put through a number of manoeuvres and reached supersonic speeds before returning to base. The first QF-16 (QF-16C Block 30 85-1569/‘QF-005’) was delivered to Tyndall on November 19, 2012, for operational and developmental testing (see QF-16 Delivered to Tyndall, January, p10). The QF-16 is being produced to replace the McDonnell Douglas QF-4 Phantom II, providing the US military with an FSAT that better reflects the manoeuvrability

Fencers in Sudan Sudan’s air force is using Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft, with at least three operating from the Wadi Seidna air base. Satellite and ground photographs revealed the aircraft were in service for the first time around March. It is understood Sudan received 12 Su-24s from Belarus, which were originally destined for Yemen. Prior to their

arrival Sudan used Antonov An24/26 freighters as crude bombers. The country’s air force has acquired a variety of new equipment over the past five years, mostly from Russia and Belarus. Fifteen Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoots were delivered by Belarus between 2008 and 2009 and 36 Mil Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters arrived from Russia between 2007

‘Vikings’ Head for the Middle East

Twelve US Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D Hornets arrived at Morón Air Base in Spain on September 27 during their deployment to a base within US Central Command’s area of responsibility, supporting ongoing operations in Afghanistan. All the aircraft belong to Marine Fighter Attack (All Weather) Squadron 225 (VMFA(AW)-225) ‘Vikings’ based at MCAS Miramar, California. While the other 11 have low-visibility markings, BuNo. 165411/‘CE-01’ has full-colour insignia and carries the unit’s unofficial ‘Victory or Valhalla’ motto on the strake above the intakes. Antonio Muñiz Zaragüeta

of current combat aircraft for aerial training and weapons development. “The emergence of US fifth-generation fighters, such as the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightening, means American forces need an advanced target similar to what they would actually find on the battlefield,” said Boeing. As part of the development programme the first QF-16 will relocate to Holloman AFB, New Mexico, to test its airto-ground control system before returning to Tyndall for operations with the 82nd ATRS. Mark Broadbent

and 2009. Reports from Moscow suggest that, in 2011, Russia sold 12 former air force Mi-24s and six Mi-8s to Sudan and this year concluded a deal for another 12 Mi-24s and between eight and 12 additional Mi-8s. Russia confirmed to the United Nations that it transferred four attack helicopters to Sudan in 2012. Guy Martin

Turkish Intelligence Service Seeking Strategic UAS The Turkish Milli Istihbarat Tes¸kilatı (National Intelligence Agency) has signed a contract with the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) to develop an unmanned aerial system (UAS) for strategic reconnaissance missions. Details of the order were revealed on September 24. The UAS required will be in the same class as the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk and will be capable of flying at high altitudes for more than 24 hours while carrying a payload of up to 500kg (1,102lb) to conduct audio and video surveillance. Arda Mevlütog˘lu

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14/10/2013 11:34

Military

Croatian Police EC135

Eurocopter España recently began crew training for the first Croatian Police pilots to be certified on its new Eurocopter EC135 (9A-HBA, c/n 689, ex EC-032). The helicopter is seen operating from Albacete on September 16. The Croatian internal affairs ministry issued a public tender for a new helicopter worth 29.2 million kuna (€3.9 million), plus tax, in July 2012, resulting in the order for the EC135 (see One EC135 for Croatian Interior Ministry, August, p37). Roberto Yáñez

Frecce Tricolori Turn on the HET

Italy will become the launch customer for the Alenia Aermacchi M-345 HET (High Efficiency Trainer). The aircraft will be delivered to the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) and replace Aermacchi MB339s in service. Mario Mauro, the Italian defence minister, announced the decision to order the new trainer on September 24, while he was attending an event at Udine-Rivolto marking the end of the display season for the Frecce Tricolori at their home base. The MB339PANs and A/PANs of 313° Gruppo, 2° Stormo, responsible for the Frecce Tricolori, will be replaced by M-345 HETs in 2017 when the initial aircraft are delivered. All on order are due in service by 2020. The M-345 HET was announced on June 18 at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, France, (see M-345 HET Development Revealed, August, p14). The manufacturer and Italy’s Secretariat General of Defence/National Armaments Directorate signed an agreement at the show to jointly define the operational requirements and collaborate on developing the aircraft. The basic trainer is being developed to offer continuity for pilots transitioning on to the company’s M-346 Master advanced trainer. Italy already has six M-346s (as the T-346A) on order (two delivered), with options for an additional nine. The number of M-345 HETs to be acquired has yet to be announced, but Italy has just under 100 MB339s in service.

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4th CAB Conducts SAR Operations in Colorado More than 100 personnel from the US Army’s 4th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), based in Fort Carson, Colorado, along with members of the Colorado and Wyoming National Guard have taken part in joint rescue operations following devastating floods in Colorado in September. Operating from Boulder Municipal Airport, six helicopters, including Boeing CH-47 Chinooks and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks from Fort Carson, conducted 2,378 aerial evacuations, accumulating more than 130 flight hours by September 19. US Army spokesman Lt Col Mitch Utterback said “it might have been

the first time since Hurricane Katrina that so many people needed to be airlifted to safety”. He added that the 4th CAB rescued 45 people on the first day of operations, flying well into the evening with the aid of night-vision goggles. The 4th CAB was created in 1957 and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Ft Lewis, Washington. It participated in multiple campaigns in South East Asia and later Iraq, where the unit was awarded two Meritorious Unit Citations. The brigade was deactivated in September 2011 at Ft Hood, Texas, and reactivated at Fort Carson on July 2 this year. Steve Crafa

Two Afghan Hercules Delivered

Transiting through RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, on the evening of September 24 was the first two Lockheed C-130H Hercules for the Afghan Air Force. C-130Hs 74-1675 (c/n 382-4640, seen here) and 74-1677 (c/n 382-4643) are among four former US Air Force examples that will enter service in Afghanistan, replacing the withdrawn Alenia C-27A/G222 fleet (see Hercules to Replace G222s in Afghanistan, March, p19). Of the two, only 74-1675 displayed the housings for self-defence countermeasures sensors above the cockpit and on the rear fuselage. The second pair of C-130Hs will be handed over to Afghanistan next year. Adrian Carver

Indian Navy Receives its First Hawk Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) delivered the first licence-built Hawk Mk 132 Advanced Jet Trainer to the Indian Navy in a ceremony at Bangalore on September 23. The Hawk is the first of an initial five for the Indian Navy, which has a total of 17 on order for delivery over the next three years. Four more are due to be delivered to the navy this year. The aircraft are part of a contract for 57 signed with BAE Systems in July 2010, 40 of which will be delivered to the air force (see India Signs for More Hawks, September 2010, p4). India currently has a requirement for 123 Hawks, of which more than 70 have been delivered; further orders are under consideration. “We have submitted our response to HAL’s request for proposal for a potential order to supply products and services for the manufacture of 20 additional Hawk aircraft to the [Indian Air Force], and are now looking forward to partnering with HAL in providing the Indian Air Force’s display team [the Surya Kiran] this fantastic aircraft,” said Guy Griffiths, BAE Systems’ Group Managing Director – International. Nigel Pittaway

PC-21s Offered to Australia Lockheed Martin and Pilatus announced their teaming arrangement for the Australian Defence Force’s Pilot Training System (Project AIR 5428) on October 3. Hawker Pacific will also play a supporting role in the bid. The consortium, known as ‘Team 21’, will offer the Pilatus PC21 for the requirement. Students are due to begin graduating from the new syllabus early 2017. The three companies forming Team 21 are currently seven years into a 20-year contract to provide the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s Basic Wings Course – also conducted in Australia – on the PC-21. Pilatus CEO Markus Bucher said: “It became very clear after a thorough review of potential partners that the existing alignment would deliver the best overall outcome, not only for the Australian Defence Force, but also for ongoing operational budgets and taxpayers, to deliver best value for money.” In September BAE Systems, CAE and Beechcraft announced a teaming arrangement based on the latter’s T-6C Texan II (see Texan Team Formed for RAAF Bid, October, p4). Nigel Pittaway

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02/10/2013 10:18

Military

ASMP-A Test Launch

A French strategic forces exercise included the live firing of a nuclearcapable Air-Sol de Moyenne Portée Amélioreé (ASMP-A, air-to-surface medium range – enhanced) missile over the Biscarosse test range on September 23. The unarmed weapon was launched from a Dassault Mirage 2000N of Escadron de Chasse (fighter squadron) 2/4 ‘La Fayette’ based at Avord. Before launching the missile, the Mirage flew a simulated nuclear delivery mission profile, including in-flight refuelling and low-altitude penetration. David C Isby

1

ORION DELIVERED TO TAIWAN The first Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion for the Republic of China Air Force (3303, c/n 5617 and ex BuNo. 159327) arrived at Pingtung Air Base on September 25. Taiwan is due to receive 12 ex US Navy P-3Cs, which were purchased in 2007 and are being upgraded by Lockheed Martin at Greenville, Texas (see Refurbished Orions For Pakistan and Taiwan, February 2010, p5). Three additional aircraft will be delivered this year and the final one is due to be handed over in 2015. Nigel Pittaway

1

Lockheed C-130H Hercules CH-13 (c/n 382-4047, ex CH-14, N130EV) sports a commemorative colour scheme to celebrate 40 years of service by the type with No.20 Squadron/15 Transport Wing of the Belgium Defence-Air Component. The first of 12 C-130Hs (CH-01 to CH-12) arrived at Melsbroek Air Base on July 25, 1972, and the last in April 1973. One (CH-06) was lost in a fatal accident on July 15, 1996, following multiple bird strikes while landing at Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands. A second Hercules was destroyed on May 5, 2006, in a hangar fire at Brussels Airport, where the aircraft was undergoing deep maintenance with SABENA Technics; CH-13, its replacement, was displayed at an open day at Melsbroek Air Base on September 21 and 22, held to celebrate 65 years of the formation of Nos. 20 and 21 Squadrons on May 1, 1948. Jos Schoofs

NEWS BY NUMBERS

– equipped with the UCAS-D’s navigation, command and control and vision processor hardware and software – flew autonomously behind an Omega Air Services Boeing 707 tanker during the trials. The tanker was equipped with a refuelling interface system and tanker operator station for the sorties. While the Learjet was equipped with a fixed refuelling probe, the X-47B is due to demonstrate compatibility with both the probe-and-drogue method used by the US Navy and the flying boom system employed by the US Air Force. Mark Broadbent

MI-17 LEASED BY COLOMBIAN NAVY The Colombian Navy had leased a single Mil Mi-17 helicopter (ARC-306) to Colombian company Vertical de Aviación for use as a medium transport. The helicopter is the heaviest in service with the navy, which also operates Bell 412 and UH-1Ns, Eurocopter Fennecs and BK117s. Santiago Rivas

2

CARAVANS FOR YEMEN The Yemen Air and Air Defence Force took delivery of two newproduction Cessna 208B Caravan ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) aircraft on September 16 at Sana’a-Al Dallami air base. Yemeni aircrew will be trained on the aircraft in situ. David C Isby

100

X-47B FLIGHTS Northrop Grumman’s two X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D) test vehicles have flown more than 100 test flights. The milestone was achieved by AV-2 (BuNo. 168064/‘NG-502’) on September 18. Meanwhile, flight tests of the software required for the X-47B’s autonomous air-to-air refuelling trials were conducted between August 28 and September 6. Calspan Aerospace’s Learjet 25B (N102VS) in-flight simulator

12

Forty Years of Belgian Hercules

AI.11.13

61

US UAV CAPS As of September, the US Air Force had the capability to maintain 61 continuous unmanned air vehicle (UAV) combat air patrols (CAPs). The service is in the process of increasing the number to 63 in the near term, with the aim of eventually having 65. David C Isby

4

E-11AS IN SERVICE Northrop Grumman has completed and handed over the fourth and final Bombardier E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node communication relay aircraft ordered by the US Air Force (further to Additional E-11A BACN for US Air Force, October 2012, p18). E-11A 12-9506 (c/n 9506, ex N9506G) was delivered to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron at Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan on September 20. David C Isby

1

AUSTRALIAN F-35 PROGRESSING Northrop Grumman delivered the centre fuselage structure for Australia’s first F-35A Lightning II to prime contractor Lockheed Martin on September 23. Brian Chappel, Northrop Grumman’s F-35 program vice president, said: “The

first Australian centre fuselage was inducted into our Integrated Assembly Line at Palmdale [California] last October and now we’ve delivered it, marking yet another milestone achievement for the F-35 programme.” The aircraft (A35-1, b/n AU01) is due to be delivered on July 1, 2014, followed a month later by A35-2 (b/n AU-2). Both will be delivered to the F-35 international partner training centre at Luke AFB, Arizona, in early 2015. Nigel Pittaway

21

UH-1HS STILL SOUGHT BY THE PHILIPPINES The Philippines’ Department of National Defence’s 1.26 billion peso (about $28 million) tender for 21 refurbished Bell UH-1H helicopters was withdrawn on September 6 after the only bidder, US-based Rice Aircraft Services, did not submit the required documentation. This is the third time the tender has failed to produce an acceptable bidder. David C Isby

2

MORE T-50IS DELIVERED The second pair of Korea Aerospace Industries T-50I Golden Eagle fighter trainers (TT-5001 and TT-5002) for the Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Udara (Indonesian National DefenceAir Force) arrived at Iswahjudi Air Base on September 25 after being ferried from Saechon. The aircraft routed via Kaohsiung in Taiwan, Cebu in the Philippines and Sepinggen Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, bringing the total now at Iswahjudi to four. The first pair arrived there on September 11 (see Initial Indonesian Golden Eagles Delivered, October, p19). Sixteen T-50Is are on order for use by Skadron Udara 15 ‘The Typhoons’. Nigel Pittaway

4

GROB 120TP-AS DELIVERED TO INDONESIA The first four Grob 120TP-A basic

trainers for the Tentara Nasional Indonesia-Angkatan Udara (TNIAU, Indonesian National DefenceAir Force) were handed over in a ceremony at Adisutjipto Air Base, Yogyakarta, on September 20. After delivery from Germany the four aircraft were reassembled at Adisutjipto and test flown on August 28 and 29. The TNI-AU ordered 16 Grobs for $72 million to replace the FFA AS-202 Bravo and Beech T-34C Turbo Mentor; they will be used by Skadron Pendidikan 101. The 12 outstanding will be delivered to Indonesia in batches, with the final example handed over before the end of 2014. Nigel Pittaway

6

ADDITIONAL HERCULES FOR INDIA An agreement for India to procure a follow-on batch of six Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules transports has been passed for approval to the Cabinet Committee on Security. The procurement, to be carried out on a government-to-government basis via a US Foreign Military Sale, was approved by the US in April (see Six Additional C-17As and C-130Js Sought by India, April, p14) and accepted by India’s Defence Acquisition Council, chaired by defence minister A K Antony, on September 13. The new aircraft will be housed at Pangarah air base in West Bengal. David C Isby

12

C-5MS REDELIVERED TO THE US AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin C-5M Super Galaxy 85-0003 (c/n 500-0089) was redelivered to the US Air Force on September 19 after modernisation from C-5B standard at Marietta, Georgia. The strategic transport was flown to Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, for internal painting before going to Dover AFB, Delaware. The C-5M is scheduled to achieve initial operational capability in the spring of 2014, when 16 will have been delivered. David C Isby

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BAE Systems F_P.indd 1

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Commercial

Alitalia Seeking Help The Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta recently met the senior management of Alitalia to discuss the future of the struggling Italian flag carrier. Reports in the business media said Alitalia’s chief executive officer Gabriele Del Torchio and chairman Roberto Colaninno, together with representatives from the airline’s creditors and suppliers, also attended the meeting. Alitalia posted a firsthalf net loss of €294 million and recently said its liquidity reserves had shrunk to €128 million. The airline is seeking a cash injection of at least €100 million. Its board and the Italian government are looking to the Air FranceKLM Group (which with a 25% stake is the largest corporate investor in Alitalia) to increase its involvement in the ailing carrier. State-owned railway group Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane has also been approached about buying a share in the airline. Air France-KLM chief executive Alexandre de Juniac told French newspaper Les Echos that the Group would be open to assisting Alitalia. He said: “we could supply [Alitalia’s] long-haul flights with passengers from Air France and KLM, and they could do the same for us.” He added that a full merger of Alitalia into Air FranceKLM was not out of the question, with the Italian flag carrier’s strength on long-haul routes to North Africa and North and Latin America complementing the networks of Air France and KLM. Mr de Juniac said the conditions for assistance “are very strict” however, although he declined to comment on what they are. Earlier this year Alitalia’s shareholders issued a €150 million loan to help keep Alitalia afloat. Any decision on investment from Air France-KLM is complicated by the fact that the group recently announced 2,800 jobs would be cut, on top of the 5,100 previously made public. (The cost-cutting measures being imposed on its own workforce make the case for investment in an airline outside its own core group more difficult.) Some Italian news outlets have identified Etihad Airways, which has an equity alliance of airlines worldwide, as a possible investor. Etihad’s chief executive James Hogan said, “we will consider more strategic partnerships if they add value”. Mark Broadbent

16

AI.11.13

AW139 Joins the Big Game

AgustaWestland AW139 ZS-EOS (c/n 31502) departing the ExCeL London Exhibition and Conference Centre after being display at Helitech 2013 between September 24 and 26. Rick Ingham

AgustaWestland has delivered the 600th production AW139 (c/n 31502). Registered ZS-EOS, the VIP-configured helicopter has been purchased by a private customer in South Africa and features an eyecatching exterior paint scheme that

echoes Southern African art and cultural tradition, with its primary focus on nature. The AW139 will be used for corporate and passenger transport, to monitor populations of wild animals in game reserves and, with a quick-conversion EMS pod,

Around the World by Robinson R66

Robinson R66 RA-06350 taken from RA-06345 during the Russia team’s recent round-the-world flight.

Two Robinson R66 Turbine helicopters landed at Bunkovo Heliport in Istra, Moscow, on September 15 after making a sixweek around-the-world flight. The venture was organised by Russian Robinson dealer Aviamarket, and a flying club whose members own the R66s. Team leader Michael Farikh and Alexander Kurylev were in RA-06345 (c/n 0323) and Dmitry Rakitsky (Aviamarket’s chief pilot) and Vadim Melnikov were flying RA-06350 (c/n 0164). They began their journey on August 2, heading first to Scandinavia, then around Europe to the tip of Africa, before circling back to Scotland.

They then crossed the Atlantic via the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland to Newfoundland in Canada, the final leg marking the longest day of the expedition with 12.5 hours in the air. Flying across Canada to Vancouver they set course for Alaska, on to Siberia, and finally back to Moscow. The two R66s logged 220 flight hours, averaging 620 miles (998km) each day in temperatures ranging from 40ºC in parts of Europe, down to 1ºC over Greenland and northern Canada. They crossed four continents and two oceans, and travelled a total distance of 24,512 miles (39,448km). Mike Jerram

for medical evacuation services. It replaces an earlier AW139 (also ZS-EOS, c/n 31051) also painted in a similar mesmerising scheme with a blue base, which was returned to AgustaWestland in September. Mike Jerram

AS350s to be Assembled in US Starting next year Eurocopter will upgrade its American Eurocopter plant in Columbus, Mississippi, to become a final assembly and test centre for AS350 Ecureuils (marketed as the Astar in North America). The facility is scheduled to start production in the fourth quarter of 2014, with further expansion in 2015, and is expected to produce up to 60 additional helicopters annually by 2016. The plan has been developed with two main objectives: it is a way to offset the impact of the reduction in production of UH-72A Lakotas for the US Army, and to boost sales in the US market, especially with government and law enforcement agencies. In addition to Lakota production, the Columbus plant currently undertakes partial assembly of AS350s from kits for certification flight tests before sending them to completion centres for installation of customer-specified interiors, instrumentation and special equipment. Mike Jerram

Please send all news correspondence [email protected]

Commercial

Regional A330 Variant Launched

Airbus has formally launched a new lower-weight and thrust version of the A330-300. The aircraft, known unofficially as the A330 Regional, is according to the company “optimised for use on domestic and regional routes in high growth markets and concentrated traffic flows”. The new variant was launched at Aviation Expo/China 2013 in Beijing, September 25 to 28, after the company previously indicated that it would launch the new version towards the end of the year (see 1,000 Up, October, p30). Compared to the standard A330-300, the latest variant will be configured to seat between 356 and 400 passengers on 3,000nm (5,556km) sectors. Airbus claims the reduced fuel consumption per seat and maintenance costs will result in 15% lower operating costs compared to the standard longrange A330-300. A number of innovations from the A380 and A350XWB families, including a dual head-up display, new navigation systems, slimline seats and Wi-Fi connectivity, will be incorporated in the A330 Regional derivative. Airbus has not revealed a launch order for the variant, but the company envisages demand for the aircraft will be high in Asia, especially China and India. It states that the aircraft’s unit cost will be similar to the A321ceo. Mark Broadbent

One Thousand E-Jets

Embraer has passed a major milestone in its E-Jet programme with the delivery of the 1,000th example of the airliner family. Embraer ERJ-175LR N407YX (c/n 17000370, ex PT-EBU) was delivered to Republic Airlines during a ceremony at the manufacturer’s facility at São José dos Campos in Brazil on September 13. Republic operates the airliner on behalf of American Eagle. It is part of the order for 47 ERJ-175s (plus options for a further 47) announced in January. Embraer

SIA and Tata to Launch Indian Carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) will launch a new full-service carrier in India in a joint venture with the Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate. The new airline will be based in New Delhi, but details of its name, branding or planned fleet and route network have yet to be announced. Tata will own 51% of the new airline, and SIA the remaining 49%. Foreign carriers are permitted to own up to 49% of an Indian airline after the national regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, authorised foreign direct investment in Indian carriers last year. SIA and Tata have applied to India’s Foreign Investment

Promotion Board for approval to establish the new airline. Tata said the two companies would invest $100 million in the joint venture, split in line with their respective stakes. Tata’s nominated chairman, Prasad R Menon, currently (among other roles) chairman of Tata Quality Management Services, said the joint venture would be a “worldclass full-service airline” and that it would exploit the predicted growth in Indian air travel. The carrier will be the second airline venture involving the Tata Group. Earlier this year, the company announced a partnership with AirAsia to set up an Indian unit

Dreamliner Dash 9 Tests Progressing

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner prototype N789EX landing back at King County International Airport/Boeing Field, Washington, at the conclusion of its second flight on September 19. Joe G Walker

Flutter tests of the Boeing 787-9 were due to begin as these words went to press. The tests on this, the second derivative of the Dreamliner, will concentrate on the aeroelastic characteristics of the airframe and will be followed by detailed evaluations of the primary

flight control system and stability. The prototype 787-9 (ZB001, N789EX, c/n 41988) carried out its maiden flight on September 17 from Snohomish County Airport/ Paine Field at Everett in Washington (further to Second Dreamliner Variant Rolled Out, October, p28).

Please send all news correspondence [email protected]

The aircraft was airborne for 5hr 15min, flying over the Pacific Ocean, before landing at King County International Airport/Boeing Field in Seattle. During the sortie it reached an altitude of 20,400ft (6,218m) and speed of 250kts (463km/h). The aircraft was flown by 787-9

of the Malaysia-based low-cost carrier (see Indian Subsidiary of AirAsia Proposed, April, p19). SIA has wanted to participate in the Indian market for a long time. It tried to set up a full-service carrier in the country in the 1990s and attempted to buy the country’s flag carrier, Air India, in 2000, but both plans were prevented by the foreign ownership rules in place at the time. The new airline is a way for SIA to diversify its business, seen as a necessary move by the carrier because the recession in Europe has reduced the profitability of its core longhaul services from that continent to Asia. Mark Broadbent

senior project pilot Mike Bryan and 787 chief pilot Randy Neville. They have conducted around 40 hours of flight testing in the first two weeks following the maiden sortie, undertaking the initial trials of the aircraft’s basic handling, stalling characteristics and flap settings, and have since been joined in the prototype by Boeing flight test engineers for the more evaluations. ZB001 is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, while the second due to join the programme (ZB002, N789FT, c/n 41989) will use General Electric GEnx powerplants. Boeing had 388 orders for the 787-9 at the time of the maiden flight. The company says it is “on track” to deliver the initial 7879 to the launch customer for the variant, Air New Zealand, in July 2014, following the completion of the test campaign and certification. Mark Broadbent

AI.11.13

17

Commercial

Citation Latitude Gets its Wings

The Cessna 680 Citation Latitude prototype soon after the addition of its wings at Wichita, Kansas. Cessna

On September 26 Cessna completed wing mating on the Citation Latitude business jet

prototype, which is expected to fly in the first quarter of 2014. The Latitude was announced in October

2011 at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kriya Shortt, Cessna Senior Vice President of Sales, commented, “We started with a clear vision for the Latitude: to make the widest Citation, engineered with performance, luxury and value...[that] will set a new standard for the mid-size category of business jets.” The Latitude will have the widest cabin of any Citation, with standup headroom and seating for up to nine passengers, and will be equipped with Cessna’s Clarity

COMMERCIAL ORDERS Airbus Customer BOC Aviation Leasing British Airways Japan Airlines Qingdao Airlines Lufthansa Texas Aviation Group VietJetAir

Vueling Zhejiang Loong Airlines ATR Customer Nordic Aviation Capital Boeing Customer Air Europa Air Lease Corporation

Alaska Airlines GECAS Lufthansa Unidentified (private customer) Westjet

Aircraft A320ceo/neo A321ceo/neo A350-1000 A350-900 A350-1000 A320ceo A320neo A350-900 A319 A320ceo A320neo A321ceo A320ceo A320neo A320ceo A320neo

Number 10 15 (total order of 25 includes 12 neo versions) 18 18 13, plus 25 options for either A350-900 or -1000 5, purchase agreement 18, purchase agreement 25 3 14, MoU 42, MoU, plus 30 purchase rights for A320neo/ceo family 6, MoU 30 (firms August 14 purchase agreement) 32 (firms August 14 purchase agreement) 11, MoU 9, MoU

September 25 September 26 September 26 September 25 September 25

Aircraft ATR 72-600

Number 15, plus 25 options

Date October 3

Aircraft 737-800 737 MAX 787-9 787-10 737-900ER 787-10 777-9X 737-700 BBJ 737 MAX 7 737 MAX 8

Number 8 4 3 (firms June 18 purchase agreement) 30 (firms June 18 purchase agreement) 5 (firms existing options) 10 (firms June 17 purchase agreement) 34 (subject to programme launch) 1 25 (firms August 29 LoI) 40 (firms August 29 LoI)

Date September 19 September 13 September 13 September 13 September 25 September 13 September 19 September 12 September 26 September 26

Number 1, plus 1 option

Date October 3

Number 1 2

Date October 3 October 3

Number 20, preliminary agreement

Date August

Number 5, plus 5 options

Date August 30

Bombardier Customer Aircraft Luxair Dash 8 Q400 Embraer Customer Aircraft Aurigny Air Services E195 Belavia E195 Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company Customer Aircraft Sberbank SSJ-100-95 Tupolev Customer Aircraft Ilyushin Finance Company (for Tu-204SM VIM Airlines)

Key: MoU – Memorandum of Understanding, LoI – Letter of Intent. Compiled by Mark Broadbent

18

AI.11.13

Date September 25 September 25 September 18 October 7 October 7 September 25 September 25 September 20 August 1 September 25 September 25

cabin management system. Performance predictions include a 23-minute time-to-climb to 43,000ft (13,106m) with a maximum operating altitude of 45,000ft (13,716m), maximum speed of 440kts (815km/h), and range of up to 2,500nm (4,630km), enabling it to fly nonstop between such city pairs as Los Angeles, California and New York; Houston, Texas and Bogotá, Colombia; Rome, Italy to Dubai, and Singapore to Beijing, China. Current list price is $16.25 million. Mike Jerram

FlySafair to Begin Operations South Africa will soon have another domestic airline, with FlySafair set to launch later this year. At the end of August the new carrier received approval to launch from the South African Air Service Licensing Council, and opened bookings in late September. It was due to begin operations on October 17 (after AIR International went to press), offering up to ten daily flights between Cape Town and Johannesburg using two Boeing 737-400s. FlySafair is being launched by Safair, a long-established South African aircraft leasing, charter, training and maintenance services company. It regularly operates airliners on behalf of other carriers. Safair’s chief executive officer, Dave Andrew, says, “although many people have commented that the airline industry is an unfavourable environment for new entrants at the moment, we would like to remind the public that we have been flying commercially for almost half a century already and we have no doubt that FlySafair will only serve to further grow the domestic market. The launch of FlySafair represents a natural evolution of our business.” Other entrants are also eyeing the South African market, with FastJet planning to start operations between Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Johannesburg in the coming months. South Africa-based Skywise plans to begin flights sometime around October using a Boeing 737-300. Guy Martin

Please send all news correspondence [email protected]

p019_AI_Nov13.indd 19

15/10/2013 10:12

Commercial

1

A340 RETURNED TO LIBYA

be working in partnership with Air Libya to develop air cargo solutions in the region. Freight forwarders and energy industry clients will benefit from this cooperation, which offers professional, reliable services between the country’s key hubs and more remote locations,” said Paul Drew, Chapman Freeborn’s project manager. “Given the limited air freight and sea freight options currently available, the news of this service has been very well received so far.” Guy Martin

NEWS BY NUMBERS

Airbus has returned a private jet formerly owned by Muammar Gaddafi to Libya following overhaul and repairs. The aircraft (5A-ONE, msn 151, ex HZ-WBT4) departed Europe for Libya at the beginning of September and will be operated by EACS, a company owned by Libya’s defence ministry, for use by the nation’s head of state. Gaddafi bought the Airbus A340-213 from Saudi prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud in 2003 for $120 million. It was used by the dictator as his private jet until captured by rebels at Tripoli International Airport in August 2011. Earlier this year it was ferried to Toulouse, France, to repair minor shrapnel damage inflicted during the revolution in Libya. Its reactivation follows the conclusion of a court case in July that resulted in the prince having to pay the sales agent $10 million in commission. Guy Martin

500

FALCON 2000S DELIVERED Dassault Aviation has delivered the 500th Falcon 2000 to the Little Rock Completion Center in Arkansas. The aircraft is a Falcon 2000S destined for a British operator. The business jet first flew on March 4, 1993, and the fleet has accumulated more than two million flight hours in service. Current versions offered are the 2000S, the first of which was delivered in April, and 2000LXS, which is due to enter service later this year.

1

AN-26 FOR AIR LIBYA Air Libya is acquiring an Antonov An-26 freighter through an agreement with Chapman Freeborn Airchartering. Chapman Freeborn will supply and manage the aircraft, which will be based out of Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport on a longterm lease agreement, which came into effect at the end of August. The aircraft will be used for domestic and regional flights, including to the European Union. “We’re delighted to

3

AW139S TO SUPPORT STATOIL CONTRACT Tanzanian company Everett Aviation has been awarded a contract by Norwegian energy company Statoil to provide helicopter services in support of operations in Mozambique and Tanzania. At the beginning of September Everett announced that it will lease three new AgustaWestland AW139s, two of which will be used for crew transport and the third for search and rescue and other roles. “This is a significant win for Everett and a further step in the company’s business expansion and focus on the oil and gas industry offshore East Africa,” said Simon Everett, chief executive officer of Everett Aviation. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to provide services to Statoil and to continue our provision of offshore helicopter services in East Africa.” Guy Martin

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CUBAN COLTS TO BE RE-ENGINED The Cuban Aviation Corporation has signed an agreement with the Ukrainian state companies Antonov of Kiev and Motor Sich of Zaporozhye to upgrade approximately 140 Cuban Antonov An-2 utility biplanes. The aircraft will be upgraded to An-2-100 standard, powered by the Motor Sich MC-14 turboprop turning a Russianmade Aerosila AV-17 propeller. The prototype An-2-100 made its maiden flight on July 10 (see New Colt Takes to the Skies, August, p10). Details of the order were revealed on September 5. David C Isby

DHL ATR 72

ATR 72-202F freighter HB-AFH (msn 313, ex VT-FQA) of Farnair Switzerland on the apron at Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands on October 1. The aircraft is the first to be painted in DHL’s distinctive yellow scheme for operation on behalf of the package distribution company. It departed Eindhoven for EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg in France to begin operations for the freight company carrying mail for the Swiss postal service. Rene Köhler

Venezuelan DC-3TP at Opa Locka

Douglas DC-3TP YV2119 (c/n 14994/26439) was noted at Opa Locka in Florida in September. The aircraft has been present at the airfield for at least 12 months, but its current operator is unknown. It was built as C-47B-10-DK 43-49178 for the RAF but entered service with the South African Air Force (SAAF) as 6849 in November 1944. It had joined Africair Ltd by January 1955 and, after passing though a number of civil operators, was re-acquired by the SAAF as 6892 in the late 1980s. In 1995 its piston engines were replaced with turboprops as a C-47TP (DC-3TP being the civil equivalent), and was sold four years later to Dodson Aviation of South Africa before moving to the United States. It passed to a Venezuelan operator in February 2008, but was noted at Opa Locka in late 2012. Marcus Steidele

Mango Begins International Flights Low-cost carrier Mango has launched its first international flights outside South Africa, flying between Johannesburg and Zanzibar on September 1. Mango chief executive officer Nico Bezuidenhout said the scheduled international flights came after nearly eight months of charter operations. Guy Martin

Planes Takes to the Skies

Noted about to touch down at Runway 26 Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden at the conclusion of flight SK848 from Oslo-Gardermoen in Norway on October 4 was Boeing 737-833 LN-RCY (named Eylime Viking, c/n 28324, ex SE-DTT). SAS is one of several airlines that have painted aircraft to promote the Pixar Animation Studios film Planes – another being Luxair’s 737-8C9(WL) LX-LGU (c/n 41047) – with logos along the fuselage. Stefan Sjögren

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AI.11.13

777-9X For Lufthansa Lufthansa has become the first airline to formally and publicly commit to the Boeing 777-9X as it unveiled its long-awaited widebody fleet replacement plans on September 19. The German flag carrier has committed to 34 examples of the 777-9X, although neither side would say how many of the orders are firm or whether they include options. The Dash 9X will be one of two new variants of the best-selling 777 (the other being the 777-8X) that will form the next generation of the widebody twin-jet. The 777X is expected to be launched this year, possibly during the Dubai Airshow in November. The two 777X variants were formally offered to the airlines in the spring (see 777X Offered to Market, June, p22) and it is hoped other major network carriers will place commitments. Lufthansa also announced an order for 25 Airbus A350-900s on the same day. The A350s will start arriving from 2016, with the 777-9Xs following early in the next decade. Lufthansa said the new aircraft will replace its Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A340-300s, which will be phased out by 2025. Mark Broadbent

Please send all news correspondence [email protected]

ON THE BRINK

WEAPONS INTEGRATION • STORM SHADOW • PAVEWAY IV • METEOR TECHNOLOGY • OPERATIONS • EJ200 ENGINE

Raytheon F_P.indd 1

10/10/2013 10:30

Contents A Luftwaffe Eurofighter assigned to Taktische Luftwaffengruppe ‘Richthofen’ based at Wittmundhafen air base. Frank Crébas

NOWHERE OFFERS THE Eurofighter Typhoon as many potential opportunities for sales as the Gulf region. Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have fighter requirements with a combined total of over 150 aircraft. Each campaign is indirectly supported by the Royal Air Force, which has deployed the jet to most of the nations listed above. Most recently, the Royal Saudi Air Force deployed four of its Typhoons to RAF Coningsby for a joint training exercise. The RAF has reached its tenth anniversary of Typhoon operations, a decade in which the service has achieved significant success with the pan-european mount. Not least 24/7, 365/365 QRA in the UK

and the Falklands, and an impressive combat debut striking hundreds of targets around Libya in 2011. But what about a greater air-to-surface arsenal than that currently available? AIR International has been on the road visiting Typhoon squadrons and industry partners involved in weapons integration programmes for the Paveway IV precision-guided bomb, Meteor air-to-air missile and Storm Shadow conventionally armed stand-off missile. We report on what’s happened so far and what can be expected from bomber Typhoons on the brink of a very good year in 2014. Fly high, strike hard Typhoon!

Mark Ayton EDITOR

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PRECISION STRIKE FOR TYPHOON Paveway IV’s precision strike capability. Mark Ayton reports.

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STORM SHADOW Ian Harding describes the Storm Shadow missile.

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TYPHOON’S COMING OF AGE Mark Ayton brings the Typhoon weapons story up to date.

POWERING TYPHOON The high-performance EJ200 engine detailed by Chris Kjelgaard.

DHOFAR DESERT WIZARDS Mark Ayton details training undertaken by No.3(F) Squadron in Oman.

SPAIN’S LETHAL DEFENDERS Roberto Yáñez and Alex Rodríguez chronicle Spain’s Typhoons.

ELECTRONIC WARRIORS Ian Harding finds out about the Typhoon in Trial Mace.

SLAYER TYPHOON Typhoons at Red Flag, by Mark Ayton. ITALIAN STALLIONS Riccardo Niccoli details the F-2000 in Italian service.

FLY LOW, FLY HARD, FLY SAFE The Typhoon’s GPWS, explained by Mark Broadbent.

SUPERPLASTIC FANTASTIC Typhoon foreplane manufacture by Mark Broadbent.

RICHTHOFEN Kees van der Mark reports on JG 71 at Wittmund.

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Editor: Mark Ayton Deputy Editor: Dave Willis Designer: Dave Robinson Sub Editors: Sue Blunt, Carol Randall, Norman Wells Advertising Manager: Ian Maxwell Production Manager: Janet Watkins Commercial Director: Ann Saundry Executive Chairman: Richard Cox Managing Director & Publisher: Adrian Cox

Published by Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XQ, UK Telephone: +44 (0)1780 755131 Fax: +44 (0)1780 757261 Subscription: [email protected] Website: www.keypublishing.com

Coming of Age Typhoon’s

In a series of exclusive interviews with BAE Systems at Warton, AIR International’s Mark Ayton tells the story of Typhoon weapons integration trials

E

urofighter’s Typhoon is probably best known for its highperformance flight display routines seen by millions of people around world. The aircraft has been in service for over ten years and has participated in many of the world’s most demanding training events: Red Flag in the United States, Anatolian Eagle in Turkey, the Tactical Leadership Programme at Albacete in Spain and its equivalent staged by the United Arab Emirates Air Force at Al Dhafra. The training undertaken in those events tends to focus on the air-to-air role and less on air-to-surface missions. Then, in the spring of 2011, RAF Typhoons were deployed to Gioia del Colle AB in southern Italy to enforce a UN-mandated no-fly zone over Libya to support NATO’s Operation Unified Protector. Part of the way in to the air campaign, RAF pilots employed the jet in an operational air-to-surface

role for the first time. It was a good demonstration of Typhoon’s ability to conduct bombing missions in combat. The weapon employed throughout the campaign was the 1,000lb (454kg) Enhanced Paveway II laser-guided bomb, stablemate of the 1,000lb unguided bomb – the only two air-to-surface munitions currently in the RAF’s multi-role Typhoon arsenal. After ten years of service and an even greater length of time in development, Typhoon seems somewhat under equipped for ‘blowing stuff up’, but not for much longer. When the Phase 1 Enhancement (P1E) package is released to service next year RAF Typhoon FGR4s will gain a very smart weapon: the 500lb (227kg) Paveway IV dual-mode, precision-guided bomb.

Typhoon Standards

Typhoon was designed from the beginning as a single-seat swing-role aircraft 24

Clearance of air-to-surface weapons for the Typhoon is gathering pace, which will give the aircraft a formidable swing-role capability. All images BAE Systems unless stated

with a multi-role capability. Aircraft currently in service have a strong air-to-air capability, but only limited ‘austere’ air-to-surface capability. Eurofighter and the partner companies are working hard to introduce a simultaneous air-to-air and air-to-surface capability. This will be introduced to service with an upgrade package called the Phase 1 Enhancement.

display and the helmet. IRIS-T is not a UK requirement. Improvements to Rover, identification-friend or foe, forward lookinginfrared, chaff/flare and the Defensive Aids Sub-system ( DASS), with improved threat detection accuracy and enhanced countermeasures technologies, are also included in P1E. The Phase 1 Enhancement will be achieved via two separate software releases (P1EA and P1EB). First up is P1EA, which provides a precision air-to-surface capability. Weapons involved are Raytheon’s Paveway IV precision-guided bomb (UK only), the EGBU-16 laser/GPS-guided bomb and clearance to use the 27mm cannon against ground targets. The Litening 3 targeting pod will also receive better integration with P1EA.

Phase 1 Enhancement

The Phase 1 Enhancement (P1E) programme will give Tranche 2 Typhoons, what BAE Systems describes as seamless air-to-ground integration compared to that incorporated under the austere air-to-ground package. The P1E also provides full digital integration of the IRIS-T air-to-air missile (MBDA’s Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile has had a digital integration since Tranche 1 Block 5), with high off-bore sight targeting and firing via the head-up

Paveway IV Overview

The P1E test programme has encompassed a range of activities, involving a number of industry’s Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA). Alenia 25

Aermacchi’s IPA2 began flight trials with a 500-lb Paveway IV on October 24, 2008, and was subsequently joined by the Cassidian Germany-owned IPA7 which proved handling qualities and carefree handling with the 500lb Paveway IV weapon from 2009, and which also flew trials with the P1E standard Missile Approach Warner from May 2009. Between February and April 2009, Cassidian Spain’s IPA4 flew a number of sorties with the 1,000-lb Enhanced GBU-16, making five drops. BAE Systems’ IPA1 began release and jettison trials of the Paveway IV on 18th June 2009, making some fifteen Paveway IV releases over the Irish Sea. Flown by RAF and BAE Systems pilots, the aircraft dropped Paveway IVs in a number of store configurations to ensure safe separation and to verify that the bombs did not interfere with one another when released. The successful conclusion of release and jettison trials led to fully guided drops, carried out by a BAE/RAF Combined Test Team and using both IPA6 and BT017 - a UK Instrumented Series Production Aircraft usually resident at BAE’s Warton site. The first full avionic functional bomb release of a Paveway IV was carried out in February 2011 and by the beginning of 2012 the team was conducting testing of the full end-to-end autonomous designation capability. Introduction of P1EA is now under way at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Typhoon FGR4s currently being upgraded by a joint BAE Systems/RAF Typhoon Maintenance and Upgrade team will be deployed to RAF Leuchars, Fife, before the end of 2013 where they will be used to commence squadron training and familiarisation. P1EB will further improve Typhoon’s ability to undertake simultaneous air-to air and air-to-ground engagements. Ground and flight testing of P1EB is complete and qualification evidence will be submitted to NETMA before the end of 2013. It is expected to be formally released to service in the middle of 2014. Operational evaluation, including the Paveway IV bomb and Litening 3 targeting pod, by the UK’s Typhoon Combined Test Team is ongoing.

UK, EADS/Spain and EADS/Germany) and NETMA – the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency – the prime customer for the Eurofighter. The process starts with a design requirement based on the specific system requirements, from which a qualification programme plan is drawn up. This identifies the types of test: usually rig, equipment and flight testing with details of the latter fed into the flight test plan. Next in the process is qualification testing using the active cockpit rig (ACR). The results from which are then used by a team called the cockpit group to provide evidence to support a clearance. In this complex exercise the team has to gain an individual clearance for each subsystem that will be affected by the trial. There are 42 different subsystems on each development aircraft – each managed by a variety of teams across the four partner companies. The team completes its task and produces a preliminary system qualification statement from which an airworthiness flight limitations document is drawn up. It lists all limitations imposed on the trial by any number of teams managing the 42 subsystems and also defines the envelope to be used by the test pilot. The flight limitations document is entered into a certificate of design – the certificate of airworthiness for the NETMA-owned development aircraft to be used in the trial. The chief engineers of each partner company, and Eurofighter’s chief engineer, review the certificate of design. The Eurofighter chief then signs off the trial and it is sent to NETMA for distribution to its qualification and certification sub-group with all the supporting evidence for the trial. After discussions with Typhoon customers about their requirements, the trial work is distributed to the partner nation test authorities (QinetiQ/UK, INTA/Spain and WTD61/Germany) who each independently assess the evidence and issue an endorsement sheet. Each test authority can request restriction limitations on the trial, but only NETMA’s qualification group, comprising the airworthiness authorities of the four nations, can impose them. The qualification group agrees collectively on restrictions and limitations to be applied to the trial, and they are issued in the aircraft’s airworthiness document.

Above: Typhoon IPA 1 carrying a load of Paveway IVs on approach to BAE Warton, Lancashire. Neville Beckett Opposite top: A Paveway IV practice round loaded under the wing of a Typhoon. Opposite middle left: The Paveway IV uses a laser seeker attached to a 500lb bomb. Opposite middle right: A Paveway IV test article carried by a No.17(R) Squadron Typhoon.

Phase 2 Enhancement

All of the NETMA-owned development aircraft undertake trials with quadnational indemnity whereby all four nations take responsibility for the insurance of the aircraft. However, in the case of a UK trial, the airworthiness document is certified under a national flight certification agreement regulation issued by the UK Military Aviation Authority. The UK Defence Quality Assurance Field Force checks the build standard of the aircraft against the design requirement, and issues a certificate that allows the flight trial to go ahead.

Phase 2 Enhancement (P2E) will introduce yet more additional capability that includes the Taurus and Storm Shadow conventionally armed stand-off cruise missiles (CASOM), and the Meteor air-to-air missile. Under current plans, P2E will be delivered on two separate software releases P2EA by the end of 2015 and P2EB by the first quarter of 2017. Work to integrate Storm Shadow/Taurus CASOMs as part of P2EA is now under way with initial flight testing due before the end of the year. And what about other capabilities such as suppression/destruction of enemy air defences, anti-ship missiles, long-range glide bombs, reconnaissance and more advanced targeting pods? BAE Systems confirmed that studies and plans are ongoing.

Typhoon Flight Test Team

All Typhoon flight trials flown by BAE Systems are planned, conducted and reported on by the Typhoon Flight Test team based at Warton. The team remains busy with core programme trials to support UK activities and works closely with the RAF’s No.41(R) Test and Evaluation Squadron, the Typhoon operational evaluation unit based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. Three NETMA-owned development aircraft and one production series Tranche 2 Typhoon T2 (c/n BT017) built for the RAF are assigned to the flight test team and are also based at Warton. Aircraft BT017 is fitted with some instrumentation

Getting Clearance

All new systems and weapons used on Typhoon – from a washer to a 500lb precision-guided bomb – undergo a stringent clearance process. The clearance process followed by BAE Systems has been agreed with the four partner companies and nations (Alenia Aeronautica/Italy, BAE Systems/ 26

and is used by RAF aircrew to preview and evaluate the latest software drops. In the case of P1E, this happened approximately ten months earlier than a traditional release to the RAF for operational evaluation. This is an important change to UK weapon system development allows RAF pilots to determine and influence how the product (P1E software) will be used in front line service.

identification, navigation, displays and controls.

Human-Machine Interface

One of the first teams to start Paveway IV integration evaluation work was the cockpit group, which undertook some of the early avionics integration activities aimed at minimising pilot work load for the air-to-surface role. This involved designing the Paveway IV-specific symbology displayed on the cockpit screens and projected on the head-up display. An initial design was loaded on the ACR (active cockpit rig) to determine if changes were required. This included a detailed cockpit assessment undertaken with Typhoon pilots from all four nations who made separate reviews of the design. Comments were recorded and presented by BAE Systems to a multi-national forum to gain four nation agreements. After the final decision, documentation of the design began and partner companies, which design and manufacture subsystems affected, had to adopt that design. A lot of changes were required because P1E is intended mainly for the air-tosurface role. Everything that was new and specific to each new weapon included with P1E had to be designed into the displays. Most of the design work came from the LARs (launch acceptability regions) and associated menu commands. Examples of such commands are: inputting target constraints, releasing a weapon without a laser designator pod, inputting codes to the weapon, or selecting different attack profiles.

Integration of Paveway IV

BAE Systems’ weapons integration team at Warton started its work on Paveway IV by generating an ICD (interface control document) and documentation which defines the requirements and interface between the aircraft and the weapon. The ICD along with a statement of work and data requirements are placed as a contract onto the Paveway IV weapon supplier, Raytheon UK, to provide hardware, support and qualification data. Raytheon produces a range of Paveway IV ballistic, flutter, environmental, avionic, avionic safe separation and electro-magnetic capability test vehicles and rounds. They represent a live weapon in size, shape, weight and centre of gravity and are used for ground and flight trials to test and prove safe separation, gather environmental data, flutter effects, structural coupling, ground resonance, avionic interface, communications, physical interface, loads and strength. Weapon simulators (called PASIS) are also procured from Raytheon to mimic Paveway IV functionality. PASIS simulators are used in avionics rigs as part of the development of avionic subsystems; armament control system, attack and 27

Currently, a Typhoon cannot be loaded with a mixed air-to-surface weapon load configuration, so the design did not require a new menu subset. Everything required for the air-to-surface role is in its menu subset. However specific keys are used for the Paveway IV, EGBU-16, GBU-16 and GBU-10 and some automation is provided, for example formats automatically pop-up for the Litening 3 laser designator pod when Paveway IV is selected

The P1E software gives a much more robust human-machine interface compared with the previous SRP 4.3 standard, and is the baseline for future weapons which will be available to Typhoon once P2E is released. The avionic joint team, an international team based at Warton, generates the level three avionic design. This is used by the various sub-systems teams for designing the sub-avionics and the LAR symbology that gives the pilot a cue to

Clearances Required for Guided Test Telemetry Round Performance (of the aircraft): because of the additional weight of the store, and the change to the aircraft’s profile due to the store and the antenna. Cockpit: because of carriage of a new store and to ensure the HMI functioned correctly. Tempest (secure communications): to verify that the telemetry would not link secure data. EMC (electro-magnetic capability): conducted to measure potential spurious signals transmitted by the telemetry system that may affect other antennas or other systems on the aircraft. Avionics: to test interface transactions and weapon release modes. ACIS (armament carriage and installation system): to verify the physical interface with the pylons, ERUs, wiring looms, connectors, lanyards, bail lugs, sway braces are correct as well as ability to load and unload

the weapon. Weapons: both to verify all aspects of the GTTV as provided by Raytheon and that the new store communicates to the aircraft. Electrical Power: to clear the GTTV’s extra power consumption, which is more power than any previous store carried on Typhoon. Landing Gear System: to check that the weight and location of the store does not affect the landing gear system. Flight Control System: to verify the effects of additional weight, centre of gravity and moment of inertia on flight control laws and handling performance posed by the GTTV store. Flight in Icing: to evaluate the physical characteristics of a new store and ensure that the potential for ice build-up on the GTTV’s surfaces is limited and does not impact flight safety or performance. 28

Flutter Basic: to clear the ARTIS pod used to gather accurate GPS positioning data during the store’s release. The ARTIS pod is based on the fuselage design of an AMRAAM missile. Flutter External: uses STARS to predict and demonstrate that the GTTV could be safely released or jettisoned (selective or emergency) from the aircraft without endangering the aircraft, ie safe separation). The STARS modelling used the results of the SR&J flight trials data to fully validate the model. In this case to prove that the GTTV would not hit the Litening 3 pod and could be jettisoned safely. Non-common SR&J: to verify any aerodynamic affects of the GTTV on the flutter characteristics of the aircraft. Loads: to ensure the aircraft’s integrity for the release of the GTTV, because it is slightly heavier than a production series Paveway IV.

Right: Typhoon IPA 1 carrying a camera system on the centreline under fuselage stores station to monitor separation of munitions. Left: A Typhoon carrying a Litening 3 targeting pod and a Paveway IV test article during the clearance trials. Left inset: Launch of a Meteor missile from a Typhoon to check safe separation of the munition. Bottom left: A Meteor loaded on the rear starboard conformal weapons station. Each station has to be individually checked in flight and in conjunction with the others as part of the weapon clearance process. Bottom middle left: The Meteor will replace the AIM-120 AMRAAM in RAF service. Bottom right: A Meteor missile covered in calibration markings on the front port conformal weapons station. Bottom middle right: Ground crew carefully move a Meteor missile into position prior to a test at Warton.

release the store. Following the software design, extensive avionic rig testing using sub-system armament control system (ACS), attack and identification (A&I), active cockpit rigs and system integration (SI) are used to fully test the P1E software package and weapon interface.

Systems Paveway IV qualification and subsequently shared with Raytheon in support of its qualification of Paveway IV on Typhoon. A total of 16 Paveway IV safe separation trials were completed at different parts of the air-to-surface flight envelope. The results of the releases were recorded on the multi-purpose camera pods, captured at 400 frames per second, and used to validate the STARS (stores trajectory and release simulation) mathematical modelling.

Air Vehicle Integration

A series of 16 functional tests – called pit drop trials – follow to try out the lanyards and release system operation in conjunction with the bomb designed to demonstrate a drop from a rig over a pit. These involved an inert Paveway IV store with a fuse installed and the Typhoon-unique hard back (see Precision Strike for Typhoon p34-37) from the Advanced Heavy Ejector Release Unit and the Light Duty Ejector Release Unit. The pit releases tested the routings used for the lanyards (connecting to the bomb’s electronic control group at various settings), the connector installation: how it connects and disconnects, electrical interface disconnect, tail and nose lanyard release and the store pitch and yaw characteristics. Once the rig tests were complete a series of environmental data-gathering trials were conducted involving all air-to-air and air-to-surface load configurations with up to six Paveway IVs. Each flight measured vibration data on the bombs carried in different load configuration environments in respect of the flight envelope and neighbouring stores, which can influence the bomb’s carriage environment. Flutter qualification and aerodynamic data gathering – designed to confirm the aerodynamic effects of the bomb in all of the Typhoon’s load configurations – were also performed during this early phase of a Paveway IV’s development flying. The environmental data gained would later be used as part of the BAE

Release Procedure

The Typhoon’s store release procedure is interesting. Based on the readiness state of each weapon, the armament control system (ACS) selects the bomb(s) to be released. The pilot can select the number of bombs required, which should release in sequence, but the ACS steps over any bomb(s) that is/are not ready for release. The ACS protects the handling qualities of the aircraft, including carefree handling, by selecting a bomb release sequence. Once all of the bombs have been released, the FCS (flight control system) switches control laws to provide a full air-to-air flight envelope.

Flight Trial Complexities

There were two main aspects of Paveway IV that made the trial programme quite complex. The weapon’s LAR software is housed within the aircraft avionics and numerous load configurations had to be tested throughout the aircraft’s air-tosurface flight envelope during the SR&J trials. The SR&J test programme comprised 16 flights to clear release of single and multiple weapons, selective jettison of a single weapon in combination with other stores and emergency jettison of all stores. Each load configuration creates a different aerodynamic interference depending on the type of store (a fuel tank, 29

30

another bomb or nothing) carried next to a Paveway IV. There were no restrictions on the series of flights because Paveway IV is cleared for release throughout the aircraft’s air-to-surface flight envelope. The weapon is not, however, cleared for supersonic flight, which remains outside of the air-to-surface flight envelope. Avionic rounds were also flown in the different load configurations to verify the avionic interface between the aircraft and the weapon, and provide correct transfer alignment and GPS optimisation. Avionic safe separations flights also took place to ensure full transfer alignment and GPS acquisition and validate the correct functionality of the aircraft and the weapon. In addition there were a number of Paveway IV avionic flight trials to test P1E including the pilot weapon interface weapon selection, de-selections and avionics interface. Release trials included testing of a fully-functional Paveway IV with an inert warhead and telemetry unit fitted. The round is known as an avionic safe separation round or AVSS. Telemetry is transmitted as soon as the aircraft is airborne to a mobile ground station set up at Aberporth by Raytheon personnel who were able to view the telemetry down linked from the AVSS. The test pilot performed dry attacks before the final run to release the store. Telemetry data, range-based cameras and optical trackers provided real-time position data and predictive information about the trajectory before the store reached the target.

Main: A Typhoon of No.17(R) Squadron, the RAF’s former operational evaluation unit for the type. Bottom left: Typhoon T2 ZJ699 (IPA 1) is used for various trials and is based at BAE Warton. Neville Beckett Bottom right: ZJ699 carrying Paveway IV test articles taxiing along the runway at BAE Warton.

UK Clearance

Paveway IV is a UK-specific weapon so the clearance process followed by BAE Systems was a national process involving less documentation and quicker turnarounds for clearances. For such trials NETMA loans its development aircraft to the nation concerned, takes it off the NETMA contract and the nation (in this case the UK) takes the indemnity. A good example was last November’s end-to-end trial using P1EA Operational Fix Phase 2 standard software with a Paveway IV GTTV (guided test telemetry round) for avionics integration with the Litening laser-designator pod. The GTTV started transmitting telemetry as soon as the aircraft was airborne. The test pilot performed dry attacks before the final run to release the GTTV. The multi-purpose camera pods recorded at 400 frames per second to capture each movement and the GTTV’s proximity to the aircraft. This helped to verify that the separation was safe and met the conditions set for the release in the flight test plan and in real-time. The trial was flown with Tranche 2 production-series Typhoon BT017/ZK303, fitted with multi-purpose camera pods over the Aberporth range. The systems clearance statement for carriage and release of the GTTV from BT017 required 15 subsystem clearances for specific test conditions. Two aspects of the store requiring clearance were notable: an antenna used by the telemetry system and the additional power required by the transmission and recording equipment installed.

MBDA Meteor

the end of the mid-course phase of flight. Once the seeker has acquired the target the missile will pull incidence and also side slip to make it turn, increasing its agility and responsiveness. Meteor is designed to allow the pilot to establish a firing solution before the adversary can do so first, even with tight rules of engagement and because the missile’s kinematics are sustained for minutes rather than seconds. It is designed to operate in future battle space environments that contain severe clutter and electronic countermeasures. The missile incorporates a two-way data link to give networkcentric capabilities which allow the use of third party targeting. Though it was always intended that Typhoon would enter RAF service carrying the same AIM-120 AMRAAM and ASRAAM armament as the Tornado F3, the plan involved replacing AMRAAM with a new FMRAAM (future medium range air-to-air missile) which would become the primary missile. Even before the first Typhoon prototype made its maiden flight on March 27, 1994, the UK MoD had made a RFI (request for information) for a new advanced medium range air-to-air missile in February of the same year. This led to the UK MoD issuing requirement SR(A)1239, which in turn led to an Anglo-Swedish project definition and risk reduction (PDRR) programme. The resulting Meteor beyond visual range airto-air missile soon attracted interest from Germany, Italy, and Spain, and the weapon became the focus for consolidation of the European guided weapons industry. The French officially joined the programme in September 1999. Initial firings from a Swedish JAS 39 Gripen began in 2006, followed by UK Tornado F3 trials aircraft joining the programme from 2009. The first trial fit of a geometrically representative captive round was carried on a Eurofighter Typhoon in October 2003. Since then, there have been a number of captive carriage flight trials. The first was undertaken by the RAF’s No.17(R) Squadron, which flew with two training missiles on the forward under-fuselage stations to assess aircraft handling.

MBDA

MBDA’s Meteor air-to-air missile is supposed to replace the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM as the primary beyond visual range (BVR) weapon for Typhoon from about July 2015. Industry sources, however, suggest that no formal timeline has been set and only development and risk reduction activities are under way on Typhoon, rather than full integration work. The Meteor has a next-gen focal plane array seeker that is designed to defeat current and evolving missile jamming techniques. Meteor’s airframe is asymmetric and features a novel guidance and control system comprising an advanced Throttle control Ducted Rocket (TDR) ramjet motor, with an integrated nozzle-less launch booster. This gives the weapon long range, a high average speed and an operating envelope from sea level to high altitude. Meteor’s speed is sustained by the TDR while its battery life provides a flight time measured in minutes rather than seconds. The aft section houses a conventional oxygenated booster charge fuel, which accelerates the missile in the conventional way like a rocket. Once the booster charge is expended the air intakes open, as does a valve positioned at the missile fuselage mid-position. The valve allows the sustainment charge (mid section houses the non-oxygenated sustainment charge fuel) to flow into the aft chamber and mix with air to combust. The subsequent burn is a less intense flux than that of the booster charge, but powers the missile at many times the speed of sound. As a result, MBDA claims that a Meteor missile has three to six times greater kinematic performance compared with equivalent air-air missiles, and a ‘no escape zone’ at least three times greater than that of AMRAAM. During the mid-course phase of flight the missile has not acquired the target, but is being data linked by the launch aircraft and steered like an aircraft, rolling and pulling incidence to manage the propulsion system. This enables the missile to cover the range to the target and makes the most efficient use of the sustainment charge fuel. To minimise risk of illuminating itself to the target aircraft the seeker activates towards 31

Left: IPA 1 conducting a captive carriage flight of a Meteor. Neville Beckett Right top: The camera pods used for separation tests are modified fuel tanks. Right middle: Calibration markings are applied to both the weapon and pylon so that exact measurements of the separation’s trajectory can be recorded. Right bottom: At present the Typhoon cannot carry a mixed load of air-to-ground munitions. Below: This mixed load of Paveway IV, Litening 3 targeting pod, two fuel tanks, an ASRAAM missile and an ARTIS pod reflects the aircraft’s swing-role capabilities.

BAE Systems qualified each of the 15 subsystems using a SEP (suitablyqualified and experienced person). Company engineers provided evidence for each subsystem to support the trial and the chief engineer signed off the documentation clearing the system, in this case the GTTV. A similar trial will be flown using the enhancement subset package P1EB.

NETMA-owned development aircraft IPA 1/ZJ699, loaded with Tranche 1 Drop 2.2. Ground trials were conducted before the AV round was fired to demonstrate the fitting and functionality on Typhoon. Checks were run to verify the missile was receiving the required power including a sufficient supply for the telemetry section. The checks were also verified by MBDA and included the receive/ transmit functionality. There were three main objectives to the Meteor early firing trial: firstly, to demonstrate the aircraft could prime the weapon; secondly, that it could separate safely as per the SR&J calculations, and thirdly, that it could be guided to the target. Proving that a missile’s functionality is robust enough to meet the trial objectives can take as many as 100 simulated firings. The AV round carried on this trial allowed up to 12. Of the 42 subsystems on Typhoon that require clearance for a trial the propulsion system and structure were notable. A propulsion clearance was required to clear ingestion of the missile’s plume and the structure clearance involved a metal shim used to load the round to the aircraft. Verification was needed that if the shim peeled off when the missile separated, it would not damage the aircraft. Early firing F0 proved that Typhoon satisfied all trial objectives.

Paveway IV Certification

At the end of the clearance process a weapons declaration of design and performance (a certificate of design for the aircraft with Paveway IV) was issued. But that certificate does not give a release to service (RTS) declaration. In the UK an RTS is subsequently written by QinetiQ, which is under contract to the UK MoD. This generally takes between six and nine months to be issued.

Ongoing Work

BAE Systems has completed all flight evaluation trials for Paveway IV including avionics safe separation and store safe separation from Typhoon. The company used BT017 for the avionics trials, which included target transfer line and acquisition, controls, displays and LARs – all designed to reduce the pilot’s work load. BAE Systems undertook a series of clearances for an enhancement package subset called P1EA, which has been delivered. Further avionics integration work with subset P1EB, featuring the full interface between the aircraft and the weapon with increased GPS capability, is currently under way. P1EB might be delivered to NETMA at the end of this year for the full-up clearance.

Future Trials

BAE Systems is in the final phase of the P1E certification process. No.41(R) Test and Evaluation Squadron will conduct quick reaction alert trials and an end-toend release of a Paveway IV practice round during the last phase of the RAF’s operational evaluation of P1E. The upgrade is expected to be released to service in mid-2014. Next year the same squadron will release a live Paveway IV at NAWS China Lake, California, during the weapon’s operational evaluation.

Meteor

In 2011 Eurofighter conducted a series of environmental data gathering trials using one of the NETMA-owned development aircraft configured in different missile load-outs to provide missile manufacturer MBDA with evidence to qualify Meteor on Typhoon. The trials were flown in Spain and involved developmentstandard missiles.

Meteor Early Firing

Last October the flight test team demonstrated firing of a Meteor missile – the first from Typhoon – labelled F0. It was conducted as a pre-requisite to the award of the Meteor full integration contract with Eurofighter. The trial involved firing an avionic round (AV) capable of receiving information from the aircraft’s radar from 32

company will be involved with all of the aerodynamic disciplines: flutter, engine intake compatibility, flight performance (take off, landing and inflight), design and clearance control for the FCS, static and dynamic loads and structure coupling. And the UK aerospace company will also test Storm Shadow load configurations on Typhoon in its wind tunnel using 12th, 20th or 50th scale models. The company conducts two types of wind tunnel tests; six component testing for basic aerodynamic information and installed store loads testing. The latter uses a small strain gauge balance placed inside the model of the Storm Shadow to gather load data to determine the clearance limits of the store and to certify carriage on Typhoon. Two kinds of load will be determined, one when the missile is installed on the aircraft and the other in free air, and the aerodynamic influence of each will define the starting point for SR&J trials. Blending the two load types together allows the trajectory of a store release to be modelled.

Flight Trials

Under Contract

The Alenia weapons integration team based in Turin has already gained clearance for flutter, FCS and loads in preparation for air vehicle integration trials to be flown in Italy by the end of 2013. The flight test team will conduct a series of flutter, environmental gathering and aerodynamic data gathering flight trials to determine how carrying Storm Shadow affects the handling qualities of the aircraft and the handling characteristics felt by the pilot. The flutter characteristics of the aircraft will change because of the shape and size of the missile (Storm Shadow is 5.10m/16.8ft long, and weighs 1,300kg/2,866lb). The environmental effect experienced by Storm Shadow on Typhoon will also be tested using an instrumented test round to gather the data. MBDA uses that data to verify that the weapon will operate appropriately on the aircraft. Successful completion of the trials will ensure that Typhoon can be flown within its current envelope when loaded with Storm Shadow missiles. SR&J trials will follow during the first quarter of 2014. All Storm Shadow flight trials will involve two load configurations comprising one or two missiles carried on the centre wing pylons. The current Typhoon-Storm Shadow trial programme is due to start before the end of this year and run for 18 to 24 months. BAE Systems will lead on avionics integration and weapon system performance which occur in the latter stages of the Storm Shadow trials. A location for the end-to-end firing trials has yet to be decided, but because of the size of the weapon danger area needed, it is likely the Outer Hebrides range would be used if BAE Systems is selected to conduct the trials. Under the current plan, BAE Systems will conduct its first test flights in 2014.

BAE Systems is now under a workshare contract with Eurofighter to conduct some of the trials necessary to fully integrate Meteor on Typhoon. Initial certification work for Meteor integration with the P2E software includes a new series of environmental data gathering trials using production standard missiles. These are already under way in Spain and will be followed by two Meteor guided-firings (known as F1 and F2) at the Aberporth range. F1 and F2 will involve a Typhoon configured with a radar software upgrade and a design change of Meteor’s HMI. The new software drop will enable the radar’s track model to be verified with production-standard Meteor missiles. Track model refers to the priming, target acquisition and tracking functions between the aircraft and the missile. Typhoon must be able to prime the missile with a target position. Meteor must autonomously acquire the target via the aircraft or a third party (another aircraft). Typhoon must be able to communicate (using the radar) with the missile during its flight to the target to gain its position, its track and to feed it potential changes to the target. Both firings will exercise some of the functionality listed above in short-range engagements against a Mirach drone target using the following parameters. F1 Mach 0.9 at 3,000-6,000ft (914-1,828m) and 1g. F2 Mach 1.3 at an unconfirmed altitude and 1g. The missile’s seeker head will be activated for one of the firings as a check of its functionality. A further objective is to exercise air release using the ram jet MEL (Medium range air-to-air missile Eject Launcher) now modified to carry Meteor. The MEL uses an ejector release unit (ERU) with gas-powered yolks that push the missile off the launcher and modifications have strengthened the ERU. The trial must demonstrate that once the yokes are at the end of their stroke, the missile is disconnected, in free flight, and that the motor lights up and accelerates away. A further six firings (F3 to F8), each designed to increase the Meteor’s launch envelope from Typhoon, are scheduled over the next 18 months. A working group from No.41(R) Test and Evaluation Squadron will provide input that will be particularly important for the operationally representative firings at the end of the firing campaign.

Storm Shadow

Italian aerospace company Alenia Aeronautica is leading the integration of the Storm Shadow conventionally armed stand-off cruise missile (CASOM) on Typhoon. UK-based BAE Systems has a major workshare in the Typhoon-Storm Shadow integration programme and holds the ICDs (interface control documents) to support the requirements of its customers, including the RAF.

Work Share

As part of its workshare, BAE Systems has already started initial work for the integration trials of the Storm Shadow CASOM on the Typhoon. The 33

Precision Strike for Typhoon AIR International’s Mark Ayton provides a profile of the Raytheon Paveway IV precision-guided bomb Above: An RAF Typhoon T3 assigned to No.17(R) Squadron (the former Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit) loaded with four inert Paveway IV practice bombs. Jamie Hunter Main: This shot shows the Paveway IV’s ‘birdie head’ seeker, canards, hardback, lugs, and tail planes. Raytheon UK

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he Paveway I laser-guided bomb was first used in combat by the US during the Vietnam War. Paveway is derived from the term ‘precision avionics vectoring equipment’ (PAVE) the name used for systems that control the speed and direction of an aircraft. PAVE was adopted by the US Air Force as an identifier of various weapon systems including, what is probably, the most familiar name ever given to a type of bomb. Many variants of the Paveway family remain in service with the United States, the UK and other Allied nations. But guiding a bomb with a laser becomes ineffective when the target is obscured by cloud and sometimes dust. Those limitations have been overcome by installing a GPS-aided inertial navigation system (GAINS) on Paveway weapons to accurately determine the position of the weapon throughout the flight and hence provide an all-weather, day-night guidance capability. The GPS-feed allows corrections to be made to remove any drift out of the inertial measurement unit. GAINS was first installed on Raytheon’s 1,000lb (454kg) Enhanced Paveway II bomb which entered RAF service in 2001. This was the first bomb to be employed in combat by Typhoon FGR4s over Libya during Operation Ellamy in 2011. In 2003, the UK Ministry of Defence issued a systems requirement document for a bottoms-up weapon under a project called Precision Guided Bomb.

Raytheon won that competition with its 500lb (227kg) class Paveway IV, which was developed specifically for the MoD’s requirements. The RAF’s lead platform for Paveway IV was the Harrier GR9, when it entered frontline service in Afghanistan in November 2008. The Tornado GR4 followed in 2009 and work continues toward a release-toservice on the Typhoon FGR4 which is expected in 2014. Raytheon’s integration work culminated with a guideddrop from a Typhoon in December last year.

Paveway IV

Raytheon’s design had to deliver one standard weapon that could be carried on four aircraft types: Harrier GR9, Tornado GR4, Typhoon FGR4 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Using Paveway IV’s unique universal hardback enables the weapon to be loaded on all four aircraft types. Sway brace pads on the hardback provide a full interface with all designated aircraft types. Each Paveway IV is delivered with bale lugs and mace lugs, which enable RAF armourers to build and configure the weapon at the forward deployed base for carriage by either Tornado or Typhoon and in the future for the F-35. 34

n

n Components

Electronic Fuse

A Paveway IV weapon comprises various components, and from front to tail these are a laser detector, colloquially called the birdie head, which sits on two floating gimbals. The detector aligns to the wind which is the velocity vector of the weapon. When the weapon is falling, regardless of manoeuvre or angle of attack, the detector remains fixed upon the target. The next component aft of the detector is the cowling that fits over the GAINS, which is part of the ECCG (enhanced computer control group), and then there’s the CAS (control actuation system), a pneumatically driven system (powered by gas) that gets charged immediately after release from the aircraft. The system comprises two pairs of canards that steer the weapon through either full deflection or trail commands from the guidance system, often referred to as a bang-bang control. Solenoids pressurise the canards which bang into the required position. When the control command is complete the solenoid is closed and the canards return to their trail position. The moving canards displace and drive the pitch, at a given number of degrees per second, to steer the weapon as it works through the guidance loop. Because the CAS uses a minimum number of parts (a gas bottle, a couple of valves and piping) the weapon’s guidance is very reliable. Aft of the ECCG is the warhead, the main part of the weapon, which forms its primary structure. Developed specifically for Paveway IV, the warhead has two main features; the capability to penetrate hardened targets, such as bunkers, and is ‘insensitive’ to fire and bullets. In the event that the bomb ignites in an accident situation it will burn out and neither detonate or propel itself thanks to its insensitive munitions features, which include the ability to vent. Positioned immediately behind the warhead is the fuse made by Thales Missile Electronics in Basingstoke.

The fuse was designed to withstand the forces imposed upon the bomb when penetrating a hardened target, which is why it contains no mechanical moving parts. Consider the physics of a small firing pin and how it would become a big mass when suddenly subjected to high acceleration forces. So the design of the fuse allows it to survive the same penetration and force as the warhead. It continues to function throughout the delay used in post-impact detonation. Paveway IV is the first air-to-surface weapon on which the guidance section and the fuse have been fully integrated and the two communicate with each other throughout the bomb’s flight to the target. Without this ‘smart’ fuse the weapon’s different modes of operation can’t be selected and adjusted by the pilot.

Combat Air Control

Paveway IV was designed as a combat air control weapon. This means the bomb can be employed to suit the conditions of different targets during the mission. Target information can be updated at any time and transmitted to the weapon. What’s more, a Paveway IV can be employed using one of three detonation modes: • Height of burst, which allows the altitude at which the bomb detonates above the ground to be selected. • Point impact where the bomb detonates on impact. • Post-impact delay in which the bomb detonates a set time after it has penetrated the target. The pilot can select any of the modes while airborne. For example if he or she is directed to a target area and the forward air controller calls for a strike using height of burst, that’s the mode selected for releasing the weapon. In a strike using height of burst detonation, the guidance section knows the bomb’s exact orientation and speed throughout its flight to the target. Even flying a different trajectory than pre-planned, the guidance section corrects for that, the bomb comes through a set point, the antenna signals to the fuse with the time remaining, the fuse counts down and detonates on command. The pilot doesn’t have to worry about the timing because the weapon does that for him, all he selects is the preferred mode and the time in milliseconds required. Paveway IV is also capable of coming in to the target at a specified impact angle from 30 to 90° and on a particular impact heading. But the launch aircraft has to be in a given position in the sky, so Paveway IV automatically generates cuing information for the pilot via implementation of LARs (launch acceptability regions). The weapon uses its position and the target location, the target constraints input by the pilot, and the attack orientation to calculate an in-range LAR and an in-zone LAR. Both are projected in the HUD to show the pilot his or her position relative to the LARs and when he or she is in range to release and hit the target. The aircraft has to be within the in-range LAR for the weapon to reach the target. The release position can be from anywhere within the area for the 35

Bottom left & right: No.17(R) Squadron’s Typhoon T3 loaded with Paveway IV practice bombs during a photo sortie flown in November 2012. Jamie Hunter

weapon to strike the target but not necessarily to the constraints input by the pilot. If the bomb is released in the in-zone LAR the weapon will reach the target and achieve the constraints (impact angle and heading angle) input. For Typhoon, LAR algorithms have been incorporated into the aircraft which allow the pilot to train with Paveway IV without actually having weapons loaded on the aircraft.

Stability and Lift

One further component that warrants coverage is the tail plane or tail planes which provide stability and lift for the weapon. Each tail plane (of four) opens slowly to ensure that adjacent stores are safely cleared, and then swings open to a fixed position and locks.

flight, at least one of the antennas will always point to the sky to maintain the link.

Antennas

Laser, BWAM and SAASM

Paveway IV has two sets of antenna; one HOB (height of burst) and one GPS fitted to the ECCG. The antennas provide connectivity throughout the weapon’s flight time to the target. If the guidance system needs to roll the bomb in

The Paveway IV is always given GPS coordinates for the target, the position it heads to immediately after release, and seeks to fly the most energy-efficient route to that point throughout its guided mid-course flight. During the terminal phase, laser guidance takes precedence over a GPS coordinate. If the laser lock is lost, the weapon reverts back to GPS guidance and if a laser designator pod is not present, the bomb will continue to the GPS coordinate. But things can change at the target, which is why laserguidance takes precedence over GPS coordinates, even though the latter is the most efficient guidance mode. And to improve on capability, Raytheon has successfully designed the weapon’s laser guidance to manage any change at the target or target area. The Paveway also uses a unique pre-programmed ballistic weapon arming manoeuvre (BWAM) – the fuse has to get through different gates. Each gate shows that the weapon has achieved a specific release procedure: it has released from the aircraft, it is in free flight, and is under its own guidance before the final arming command is given two seconds from the target. This ensures that the munition remains safe in the event that it was released outside the LAR or will not get to the target and will hit the ground elsewhere. And what about the weapon’s ability to counter any spoofing or jamming threat? Thanks to a SAASM (selective availability anti-spoofing module) receiver, Paveway IV cannot be spoofed and Raytheon is currently working on an active antijamming capability. 36

All Paveway IV images Raytheon UK

Mark 2

Weapons integration onto a fighter aircraft, in this case the Typhoon FGR4, is a lengthy and very expensive process. Raytheon is striving to improve Paveway IV and is doing so with minimum modifications to ensure that the evidence previously gathered to qualify the weapon on Typhoon is not invalidated. And the company is able to apply that effort to a new version of the Paveway IV currently being produced for the MoD known as the Mk2. Feedback from RAF aircrew serving in Afghanistan and Libya showed the use they were gaining from the LAR, particularly at steep impact angles, and how they were being used all of the time. RAF aircrew also requested if the system could be enhanced to provide larger LARs. Using telemetry recorded from the rounds dropped during the weapon’s development, Raytheon’s engineers verified that the Paveway IV had additional manoeuvrability than originally thought. The extra manoeuvrability, combined with advanced mathematical techniques, were input into the design of updated algorithms which consequently generated larger LARs. Paveway IV Mk2 presents the pilot with ‘wider holes in the sky’ allowing him or her to release weapons with even more flexibility. The Mk2’s LAR takes account of two parameters, the flight parameters of the aircraft and those of the target, and continuously recalculates at a high rate to provide the pilot with a cue for impact in accordance with the constraints.

Smaller Warhead

Raytheon is already working on a smaller low-collateral warhead for Paveway IV as part of the UK MoD’s SPEAR (Selective Precision Effects at Range) Capability 1 weapons programme. Company engineers are seeking to optimise their design to be even more precise and have almost no kinetic effect in the area surrounding the aim point. The new warhead will have the same mass, centre of gravity and moments of inertia as the current 500lb warhead, and maintain the same interfaces as the baseline weapon thereby providing the RAF with seamless operability on its Tornado GR4 and Typhoon FGR4 aircraft. 37

Storm S

Ian Harding outlines the Storm Shadow conventionally armed stand-off cruise missile

information uploaded into the missile: the more detailed it is the more robust the guidance system will be. Mission planners will be mindful that the target’s

T

he Storm Shadow, built by MBDA and known in France as the SCALP EG (Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée – Emploi Général), is a conventionally armed stand-off cruise missile. Based on the French Apache AP anti-runway missile and developed primarily to meet UK and French requirements, it is currently cleared for carriage by Royal Air Force and Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI, Italian Air Force) Tornado GR4s and the Armée de L’Air’s (AdlA, French Air Force) Mirage 2000 and Rafale. Very soon it will join the Typhoon’s weapons arsenal. The missile was first used by RAF Tornado GR4s in March 2003 in the opening days of Operation Telic over Iraq to destroy high-value targets. Eight years later RAF/AMI Tornados and French Rafales used Storm Shadows and SCALP EGs respectively against targets in Libya as part of Operation Unified Protector. Storm Shadow features a powerful twostage warhead called BROACH (Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge), developed by a UK consortium comprising BAE Systems, Global Combat Systems Munitions, Thales Missiles Electronics and QinetiQ. The first stage cuts through armour, concrete and earth before the second stage of the warhead – called a follow-through bomb – detonates inside the target. The missile is therefore used against high-value strategic infrastructure including command centres buried underground, bunkers, airfields and bridges. It has the three most desirable requirements for such a weapon: accuracy, penetration and stand-off range. In addition, the missile possesses stealth, day/night capability, a range in excess of 250km (155 miles) and, from a pilot’s perspective, a true ‘fire-and-forget’ capability.

appearance could change during the time since the target data was uploaded to the missile. For this reason additional information – for example, details of roads, rivers and trees surrounding the target – can be uploaded which will enable the Storm Shadow to verify it’s flying to the correct target. Other mission planning information includes the prevailing conditions at the target location, the terrain from release to the target and any threats including ground-based air defence systems. An aim point and an approach angle are set and a decision is made on when and where the two-stage warhead should detonate once it penetrates its target. The timings required for the initial detonation and follow-through-bomb are determined according to the nature of the target and the missile’s angle of attack and speed on approach. Storm Shadow contains a target surface detector (TSD) to aid this process. The weapon is then loaded onto the aircraft. Pilots flying Tornado, Mirage, Rafale and, in the future, Typhoon aircraft undertake specialist training in a simulator to practise launching the missile, including contingency actions such as reallocating targets and routes while in the air, dealing with emergencies and – in the case of an aircraft toting two Storm Shadows – how to fly the jet with asymmetric weight problems if one missile fires and the other does not.

Mission Planning

Storm Shadow’s capability is determined by the quality of the information programmed into it before launch. Mission planners input information about the target, which enables the missile’s intelligent systems to guide it to its target. Once launched the information cannot be changed. The main elements of this planning process include studying the target, consideration of the threats around it and those en route and determining how best to counter them. The information used to study the target could be as simple as a digital photograph or as high-tech as a three-dimensional satellite image. Storm Shadow’s success, however, is dependent on the quality of the target and route

Launch Sequence

After airborne release, the missile is powered-up electrically. Fins and wings on the top and the side of the weapon deploy soon after release and the jet engine is started to establish control quickly. 38

m Shadow A Storm Shadow finds its way to its target by using three internal systems: inertial navigation (INS), GPS and terrain referenced navigation (TRN), which are activated when the missile is released. If GPS jamming is present, guidance will be more reliant on the INS and TRN. While flying to the target (see diagram below), the Storm Shadow’s guidance system compares the INS, GPS and TRN data with the information stored in its memory. Meanwhile, in the approach to the terminal phase, the Storm Shadow’s imaging infrared seeker is cooled down. The optimisation of the seeker’s temperature is important – too hot and its ability to lock onto the target will be affected. On the final run-in to the target, the missile can execute a ‘bunt-up’ manoeuvre – the nose cone is jettisoned and a highresolution infrared sensor looks for and acquires the target based on the preloaded information and subsequently selects the impact point. The guidance systems will scene-match to determine if the target has changed in any way. If it has, the missile will support its target identification with the original INS, GPS and TRN data inputted at the mission planning stage. If the seeker opens and nothing matches the data input, the missile goes to an abort mode.

Shadows fitted to the Tornado include a Tornado Beam Adaptor which contains all the requisite lugs enabling it to be fitted to that aircraft. The front of the missile contains the infrared seeker. Behind that are the electronics associated with the seeker assembly (known in the US as the ‘control group’) which include the safety and arming units. Behind them is the warhead group, comprising the initial warhead and then the follow-through bomb. Located in the centre of the weapon is the actuator for the wings and the electronics which drive the on-board systems. Nearby is the fuel management system – the missile’s fuel, which is standard jet fuel with some additives, is stored around the missile in different locations rather than in one specific tank. Every Storm Shadow leaves the MBDA manufacturing facility fully laden with fuel – fuelling is not undertaken by the customer prior to a mission. Behind the centre sections is the air intake which is sealed with a cover. At a certain stage during the launch process this will come off, enabling air to enter and spool up the engine, which is located aft of the air intake at the back of the weapon. The Storm Shadow’s engine traces its heritage to that used in the sea skimming Sea Eagle anti-ship missile, developed by MBDA’s predecessor, British Aerospace Dynamics, for the RAF’s Buccaneer force. A separate internal structure holds the engine in place. The Storm Shadow’s actuator fins, located on top and side, provide stabilisation in-flight. They are tucked away and will deploy as part of the launch sequence. MBDA has examined upgrade options to support possible mid-life upgrades for the missile. There isn’t a missile variant ‘Block’ upgrade programme, as seen in the US, with upgrades instead taking place on a funded basis to meet specific customer requirements.

Missile Configuration

The missile is built to a standard configuration although it can be adapted to allow it to be fitted to specific aircraft. For example, Storm

Both images MBDA

39

W

ith more than a thousand Eurojet EJ200 engines now delivered and the highest-time examples now up at around 1,400 flight hours in service, Eurojet GmbH – which oversees EJ200 development, production, maintenance support and sales – reckons the design has achieved an excellent compromise between high performance and efficiency. A deceptively simple and small engine in terms of its architecture, dimensions and weight, the two-spool EJ200 nevertheless has a lot of sophisticated technology packed into its compact frame. It is just 740mm (29 inches) in diameter, 3.99m (13ft 1in) long and weighs only 1,000kg (2,205lb). But it offers 60kN (13,500lb) of dry thrust and around 90kN (20,230lb) of thrust with full reheat at SLS – and a 9.175-to-1 power-to-weight ratio with full afterburner. Although similar in diameter to, and only 380mm (15 inches) longer than, the Turbo-Union RB199 engine which powers the Panavia Tornado, the EJ200 is around 50% more powerful in terms of dry thrust. By making extensive use of integrated blade-and-disc (blisk) rotors in both its low-pressure compressor (LPC) and high-pressure compressor (HPC) modules, and because it has only one high-pressure turbine (HPT) stage and one low-pressure turbine (LPT) stage, the EJ200 uses far fewer parts than the RB199 – some 1,800 against 2,845.

destined for the LPC – a particularly important capability for low-speed flight, according to Sterr. Each LPC stage is a single-piece blisk, so there are no removable blades which have to be seated into the rotor hub. As a result the engine’s parts count is cut dramatically, easing the operator’s maintenance burden and reducing parts inventory costs. After the third LPC stage the air destined for the engine’s core flows through a set of movable inlet guide vanes (the only ones in the entire engine, another notable feature of the EJ200) into the high-speed compressor module. By the time the core air exits the LPC headed for the HPC, it has been compressed down by a factor of 4.2.

High-Pressure Compressor

Like each stage in the LPC, each of the first three in the five-stage HPC module is a single-piece blisk, again helping reduce parts count. Only the last two HPC stages – those subjected to the highest air pressures and temperatures and thus the most likely to suffer blade degradation – have traditional hub-and-seatedblade designs. This is because replacing a damaged individual blade is more economical than having to replace an expensive one-piece blisk. The HPC module compresses the air flowing through it by an additional factor of 6.2 – so by the time it exits the HPC to enter the EJ200’s annular combustor it has been compressed down to one twenty-sixth of its original volume. Sterr says that other, comparable engines only achieve this level of compression by employing nine or ten compressor stages rather than the EJ200’s eight. He credits the 3D-aerodynamic design of the blades in each EJ200 compressor stage for the LPC and HPC modules’ high compression efficiency.

Engine Performance

Since the Eurofighter Typhoon packs two of these compact furies into its airframe, the aircraft generates about 180kN (40,500lb) of thrust at full reheat. This is easily enough for the aircraft – currently the only type powered by the EJ200 – to achieve Mach 2-plus dashes at higher altitudes. So powerful are the twin EJ200s even at dry thrust settings that the Typhoon can comfortably

Annular Combustor

The highly compressed air exiting the HPC then enters the EJ200’s annular

A multinational effort like the Eurofighter Typhoon itself, the Eurojet EJ200 turbofan engine which powers the fighter – two per aircraft – is an intriguing feat of design and engineering. Chris Kjelgaard reports combustor. This features a series of fuel nozzles which spray fuel into the combustion chamber along with air injected into the combustor. There the fuel and air are mixed into a ‘microspray’ by means of what Sterr calls ‘preferential fuelling’. Such thorough mixing of the air and fuel entering the combustor into a microspray before combustion takes place lets the fuel in the mixture burn more completely. This aids fuel efficiency and the combustion of the thoroughly mixed microspray produces no visible emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) – another important benefit. Although military operators of aircraft are probably less worried about environmental concerns than civilian operators, they do not want their aircraft producing visible smoke trails from their exhaust nozzles, which could make an otherwise stealthy aircraft easy for opponents on the ground and in the air to target. The maximum temperature of the core air leaving the combustor and entering the EJ200’s single high-pressure turbine stage is classified, according to Sterr, but it is generally reported as being about 1,800° Kelvin (1,527°C/2,780°F). At this temperature, the engine runs hotter than most. Eurojet has had to build sophisticated cooling technology into the engine’s hot section, which in addition to the combustor contains a single high-pressure turbine stage of stators and blades and a single low-pressure turbine-blade stage.

supercruise (cruise at greater than supersonic speeds) without the pilot needing to use reheat. If the aircraft is nearly empty, it can achieve a thrust-to-weight ratio above 1 at maximum dry thrust and the pilot can accelerate it even when flying vertically upwards. Wolfgang Sterr, deputy technical director for Eurojet GmbH – a multinational consortium including (in order of their development and production shares) the UK’s Rolls-Royce, Germany’s MTU, Italy’s Avio Aero and Spain’s ITP– says the development parameters for the engine called for good subsonic performance and fuel efficiency. At the same time, however, the developers of the Eurofighter Typhoon wanted high dry thrust to ensure good supersonic performance as well as a sophisticated reheat system that would offer Typhoon pilots very quick but also very smooth acceleration. The designers also wanted an engine that would be reliable in service, easy to maintain, easy to change out and – as the icing on the cake – competitive with other engines in its class (the General Electric F414 is one) in terms of service life. To achieve good subsonic fuel efficiency the aircraft’s designers and customers wanted, the Eurojet design team decided the EJ200 would have a higher ratio of bypass air – cold air flowing round, rather than through, the engine core after passing through the engine’s fan section – than was usual in turbofan fighter engines. Instead of operating with a bypass ratio of around 0.1 to 1, a typical figure for fighter turbofans, the EJ200 was designed to offer a ratio of 0.4 to 1, according to Sterr. Even though this is still very low by the standards of commercial aircraft turbofan engines – the Pratt & Whitney PW1521G powering the now-flying Bombardier CS100 has a bypass ratio of 12 to 1 – the extra bypass flow helps improve the EJ200’s subsonic fuel efficiency. It also provides a substantial secondary flow of air that can be employed to provide additional reheat thrust when needed. (The EJ200’s three-stage reheat system is just one of a number of innovative technologies employed in the engine.) The specific fuel consumption of the EJ200 is 47-49g/kNs (grams per kilonewton per second) using full reheat and a measly 21-23g/kNs with the engine producing only dry thrust.

High-Pressure Turbine

Sterr confirms the EJ200 does not contain any ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) – some of which are more heat-resistant than any metal alloys and are now making their way into the latest-generation fighter and airliner turbofan engine designs as materials for turbine blades and combustor linings. But the EJ200 does have single-crystal metal alloy HPT blades (Sterr is not allowed to confirm what the alloy is made of) and employs sophisticated coolingair pathway geometries inside its HPT and LPT blades. In modern engines, HPT blades are almost invariably etched with internal pathways and surface holes for cooling air to pass through, but they are less common in LPT stages. The cooling pathways and holes create thin films of relatively cool air over the surfaces of the turbine blades, preventing them from degrading in the intensely hot airflow exiting the combustor. The cooling air for the turbine blades is bled from the HPC, so it is actually at a temperature of several hundred degrees Celsius, but it is still cool enough to reduce metal temperatures of hot gas-path parts to prevent deterioration. Additionally, says Sterr, the stators in the HPT stator row have a proprietary thermal barrier coating, which helps protect them against the temperature of the combustor exit airflow. Sterr says the HPT module also has a feature that does away with the problem of ‘thrust drop’. This transient effect occurs when a pilot suddenly commands

Low-Pressure Compressor

Unlike commercial turbofans, the EJ200 does not have a ‘fan’ stage as such. Instead, it has a three-stage low-pressure compressor module – so Eurojet prefers to say the EJ200 has an LPC module rather than a fan. Each LPC stage has wide-chord, 3D-aerodynamic compressor blades which compress the air that comes in through the engine’s ‘varicowl’ inlet – part of the design of the aircraft rather than the engine itself – and then flow it on to the next stage. The varicowl is adjustable, so it can gather and optimally direct the flow of the air 40

th

Geoff Lee

Powering the Eurofighter Typhoon

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engine’s casing; in turn each box has two separate channels to allow redundancy of engine control. The EJ200’s DECMU represents the biggest upgrade the engine has seen since the first production EJ200 was delivered in 2001, according to Sterr. It replaces in one unit both the engine’s full authority digital engine control (FADEC) unit and the original engine health monitoring system (EHMS) delivered with the 363 original ‘Tranche 1’ production engines. DECMU entered service in early 2007, when deliveries began of the 519 engines ordered under ‘Tranche 2’ of the production programme. Eurojet designed the EJ200 for a service life of 6,000 flying hours for the cold parts – 30 years of flying, assuming the usual fighter-flying rate of about 200 hours a year. However, Sterr explains that because each engine’s DECMU monitors so many of the EJ200’s operating parameters – temperatures, pressures and other measurements in various parts of the engine – it can use this data to perform a function that Eurojet calls ‘executive lifing’. This assesses how much remaining operating life the engine components actually have, compared with the wear and tear accumulated during assumed average missions totalling 6,000 hours. Together with the ground support system, the DECMU calculates what Eurojet calls a ‘beta factor’, the ratio of the engine’s design life to its reallife usage, as measured by the parameters recorded and gathered by

considerable additional thrust for acceleration at take-off and internal component-efficiency losses result from increased gaps between rotors and casing. In cooler temperatures, a gap opens between the tips of the HPT blades and the lining of the turbine casing, reducing the efficiency of the engine because the HPT blades are not receiving and pushing onwards the entire airflow coming from the combustor. Accordingly, when more thrust is suddenly required, the pilot can’t always get it from the engine. The thrustdrop problem only goes away after the engine has been running hotter for a while and the casing material expands, closing the gap. According to Sterr, Eurojet has mitigated the problem by designing “a very sophisticated system” that offers passive blade-tip clearance control to maintain a tight fit between the turbine-blade tips of rotors and the lining of the casings in any operating condition. This system involves “a specific selection of materials”. Although Sterr doesn’t elaborate, it appears likely the casing and/or its lining contain different materials that contract and expand at different rates or different temperatures, helping maintain a constant tight fit between the blade tips and the casing lining. After the core air exits the low-pressure turbine, it passes into the exhaust duct. This contains two stages of the EJ200’s innovative three-stage augmentor, which produces reheat when the pilot commands it. The first stage comprises a radial series of burners and their associated flame cups. The second stage is downstream of the radial burners and involves a series of ‘primary vaporisers’. These presumably create fine sprays of fuel, which are burned almost completely when mixed with the very hot exhaust air. The third augmentor stage, the most innovative of all, comprises fuel injectors near the back of the bypass-air duct that create combustion in the well-oxygenated stream of cold, previously unburned air passing through the duct.

the unit. The DECMU totals the parameters for the calculation of the beta factor for the aircraft after every mission and from that derives how much real operating life the engine has remaining. This means that for a more benign average mission usage (compared to the design mission), the engine life will exceed 6,000 hours. The DECMU’s health monitoring capability goes well beyond ‘executive lifing’: it is also closely involved with the EJ200’s automated engine testability system. This provides the maintenance technician with a decision tree offering various pathways to solve any suspected engine issue. It identifies parts malfunctions or failures in descending order of likelihood; and if an operational reason prevents use of a particular pathway towards resolving the issue, other choices are offered. Overall, the DECMU allows a high degree of ‘on-condition’ maintenance: overhauls and replacements are only carried out when necessary rather than at fixed flying-time intervals. According to Eurojet, the fleet of EJ200s is achieving low engine removal rates – less than 1 in 1,000 flying hours (the basic unplanned rejection rate) –

Digital Engine Control

Each augmentor stage is activated independently and only begins operating at certain throttle levels commanded by the pilot. Each of the stages is activated and controlled automatically by the EJ200’s digital engine control and monitoring unit (DECMU), so the transition to and from each additional stage of reheat isn’t visible to the pilot other than as rapidly changing airspeed indicator numbers. Each of the Eurofighter Typhoon’s two EJ200s has its own DECMU box, attached to the

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and high mean times: more than 1,000 flying hours between engine-core defects. This high level of reliability and availability results from the engine design concept and the health monitoring functionality offered by the DECMU. The highesttime EJ200s are now at the 1,300-1,400 hours ‘on wing’ level and the RAF is accumulating more flying hours on its engines, on average, than other operators, Sterr says.

Left: Two Typhoons perform a demonstration display using the EJ200’s reheat to good effect. Geoff Lee Main: This cutaway diagram shows all 15 modules of the EJ200 engine. All images Eurojet GmbH unless stated Opposite top: An EJ200 on a test rig in full reheat. Bottom (from left): the low-pressure compressor; low-pressure turbine; high-pressure compressor; combustion system; afterburner; external gearbox, and the digital engine control and monitoring unit.

Maintenance

When an EJ200 does need repairing, it is a quick, simple and relatively painless process. The Eurofighter Typhoon has been designed with many maintenance access panels to the engines and the EJ200s themselves offer extensive

accessible from directly underneath the aircraft. Ingenious mounting designs enable engines to be decoupled easily. Using winches and cables, an EJ200 can be quickly removed vertically through the bottom of the aircraft’s fuselage and another inserted up into the aircraft through the same space, then coupled to its mountings. The EJ200 has 15 separate modules. In order, these are the: • Low-pressure compressor; • Bearing support; • Intermediate casing; • Variable inlet guide vanes; • High-pressure compressor; • Combustion casing; • Combustor; • High-pressure turbine; • Accessory gearbox; • Bypass duct; • Low-pressure turbine stator; • Low-pressure turbine rotor; • Exhaust duct; • Afterburner system; • Variable exhaust nozzle; and • The EJ200’s variable convergent-divergent exhaust nozzle which has 24 pairs of petals which only open fully when the engine is operating with maximum reheat.

borescope access. Their modular nature means a faulty module can often be replaced quickly while the engine is still on-wing (actually, it is inside the aircraft’s fuselage). Installation of a spare module makes the engine immediately service-ready again and the faulty module is taken away for repair at the operator’s convenience. This gives low turnaround times and therefore a high availability rate. This makes for easy maintainability and also for a high degree of reliability, both for the aircraft and its engines. Sterr says that when a Eurofighter needs an entire engine change, it can be accomplished in less than 45 minutes. The Eurofighter Typhoon is designed so that its two engines are

EJ2x0

Eurojet delivered its 1,000th EJ200 engine in May 2013. Total orders for the EJ200 stand at over 1,500, all for Eurofighter Typhoons. However, Eurojet continues to compete for new business. One competitive factor in the company’s favour is that the EJ200 offers plenty of growth potential. The company has studied an EJ2x0, which would offer 20% dry-thrust growth to 72kN (16,200lb) along with a 103kN (23,100lb) reheat capability. It has also studied an even more powerful derivative offering 78kN (17,500lb) of dry thrust (30% more than the basic EJ200) and 120kN (27,000lb) of maximum reheat power. While Sterr says “we can do them, no doubt”, he stresses that “they are only studies”. Perhaps this may change.

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o.3(F) Squadron had not deployed as a unit for over two years. That all changed in January when the squadron went to Thumrait AB in Oman to take part in Exercise Magic Carpet. ‘Agile’, ‘Adaptable’ and ‘Flexible’ are the RAF’s three big buzzwords. Over a two-week period, 78 engineers, five mission support officers and 16 pilots proved themselves more than capable at all three. Conducting a deployment and working with the host nation were two key aims of the Omani adventure. Establishing a mindset for multirole air-to-surface operations among all 99 personnel was also at the top of the agenda. Since the squadron was involved in Operation Ellamy some pilots and ground crew have been posted away, leaving the unit with much less experience in the air-to-surface role.

Launching ten serials each day, the squadron’s Typhoon FGR4s held up well to the busy flight schedule giving “well over” 90% availability rate, a true testament to the aircraft. But No.3(F) was not the only UK unit involved: a Sentry AEW1 from No.8 Squadron based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire provided command and control, while a team of electronic warfare specialists from RAF Spadeadam in Northumbria helped ‘spice up’ the threat levels faced by the Typhoon pilots during the daily missions. For more information on the electronic warfare threats and Typhoon’s ability to counter them see Electronic Warriors p72-75. Forward air control was a vital element of the close air support (CAS) training for the pilots. This was provided by a group of Royal Marines who worked with the Typhoons each day out on the range about 150 miles (240km) north of Thumrait in the Dhofar desert. No.3(F) undertook CAS on the first wave flown each day during which the focus was on what the individual pilots needed to accomplish and the how they employed the weapons.

Not to be Missed

For OC 3(F), Wg Cdr Cab Townsend, an experienced Harrier pilot and recent convert to Typhoon, it was a good opportunity for the squadron to help plan and take part in large force COMAO (composite air operation) missions. But it was even better for the pilots to be able to hone their skills at dropping laser-guided Paveway II and GPS-guided Enhanced Paveway II bombs. “We released a mix of both weapons and dropped them in a variety of profiles using either the laser or GPS. The difficulties associated with both employment techniques was really at the core of the training,” he enthused.

Mission Planning

The second wave involved air interdiction and employing weapons as part of a larger COMAO. Pilots were able to plan strikes in detail using information on their assigned targets, and to consider how far the weapon could penetrate into certain types of structure and what the effect would be. “That’s a whole element of mission planning using computer-based planning tools that pilots need to experience,” said the squadron boss.

Dhofar Dese AIR International’s Mark Ayton visited RAF Coningsby to speak with Officer Commanding No.3(F) Squadron about the air-to-surface training conducted on a range in the Dhofar desert

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But the planning was not limited to the target type and the effect of the weapon upon it. When using GPS-guided Enhanced Paveway II bombs, consideration was also given to the accuracy of the satellite information, which dictates what a weapon can see at any stage of its flight to the target. Pilots also had to give consideration to the atmospheric conditions of the day, so that they could determine how good the laser’s return was going to be. Wg Cdr Townsend explained: “Understanding environmental conditions is an essential element of the air-to-surface weapons employment. A met team from the RAF’s Mobile Met Unit deployed with us to provide detailed weather information.” This is an important aspect of the training. Without proper consideration of the weather, the pilot will be ill-prepared to decide between laser or GPS employment in any given scenario, or judge whether the accuracy of the coordinates is good enough to release the weapon using GPS or not. Understanding the detail at the planning stage is vital. Who supplied the GPS coordinates? Were they generated by a forward air controller and how? During Magic Carpet the pilots were able to talk through their mission with the forward air controller in person each day. The mindset is important because the two current weapons carried by Typhoon are not that difficult to employ. Future bombs and air-to-ground missiles will be more complicated. Wg Cdr Townsend provided more insight: “Without a fundamental understanding of the air-to-surface environment pilots won’t be able to quickly improve once new air-to-surface weapon systems come on line.”

Above: RAF armourers assigned to No.3(F) Squadron assemble Paveway II laser-guided bombs at Thumrait air base in Oman. All images SAC Graham Taylor/RAF Coningsby photo section Main: No.3(F) Squadron Typhoon FGR4 ZJ918/’QO-L’ showing the signs of heavy use during this year’s Middle East deployment.

sert Wizards

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One other capability exercised in Oman was some dry air-to-surface strafing. Typhoon can only do dry runs and lacks a clearance to strafe with live rounds. Since the Oman exercise all of the squadron’s pilots have fired the cannnon at ground targets on ranges in the UK using dry runs.

you’ve entered into the weapon are the coordinates given to you by the forward air controller. We carefully read back the coordinates to confirm them with the FAC. “Familiarity with that procedure requires regular training, so at least one pair of aircraft launched by No.3(F) Squadron each day from Coningsby now conducts an air-to-surface related event.”

Employing Paveway

Essential for Success

Unlike its Paveway IV stablemate, which has yet to be released to RAF Typhoon service, the Paveway II and Enhanced Paveway II, do not generate an LAR (launch acceptable region). Instead the Typhoon displays a distance to the target and during mission planning the pilot identifies where he or she wishes to release the weapon. Townsend explained: “We also have a point in that envelope where we want to release the weapon from, to meet the right impact conditions in terms of velocity and impact angle, which determine the effect when it hits the target. We note the distances and we see the distance left to run to the target on the display, so we can decide whether we can release. The ability to plan and understand what is required is crucial for the pilot’s training. “That’s more easily done in a planned release because you are flying towards a target, probably on a set line of attack, and the numbers are intuitive. It’s a little bit more difficult in a close air support scenario when you don’t know where the target is to begin with and you’ve have to follow a set of procedures to make sure that the coordinates

The Royal Marine forward air controllers were integral to the success of the releases we made during Magic Carpet. Such success is not possible without the work of the ground crew who had to transport live weapons from the bomb dump to the aircraft, load them, ensure the lanyards were in the right place and connected to the right points on the pylons. Loading live weapons onto an aircraft dictates the number of jets that can be parked in the same place due to the risk of sympathetic detonations caused by the shock wave of a nearby unexpected detonation. The armourers also conduct electronic tests of each weapon to ensure it is loaded with the correct GPS information and the right laser code. The Litening 3 targeting pod will not guide the bomb in if an incorrect code is loaded in the weapons. The groundcrew play an essential part in successful weapons employment. “We dropped 24 bombs, a 50:50 split of Paveway II and Enhanced Paveway IIs,

Top left and right: RAF armourers lift a Paveway II off a munitions trailer using a manually-operated lift truck. Opposite top left, top right and middle right: Yellow rings denote live weapons, in this case Paveway IIs loaded on Typhoon aircraft, and on a munitions trailer. Opposite middle left and right: RAF armourers assembled all weapons in workshops at the Thumrait air base bomb dump which is located a couple of miles from where the aircraft were loaded. Opposite bottom: Typhoon’s targeting capability is provided by the Litening 3 adavnced targeting pod.

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and they all hit the desired target. That shows what a collective effort can achieve,” said the squadron boss, enthusing about the air-to-surface wizardry involved. “The range has 30 wooden ISO container-sized targets laid out over a square kilometre. We had the coordinates for each target which allowed us to release using GPS coordinates if we chose to, though the CAS serials flown on the first wave each day tended to involve a mix of self-designated cooperative attacks using laser-guided employment techniques. To add to the complexity of training each pilot was given a target pack showing, for example, a two-storey building, 30ft (10m) high and of a specified type of construction. He would plan for that kind of target and present his proposed attack plan to the squadron’s weapon instructor for signing off. The wooden target is what it is, but the employment technique and handling of the laser remain the same for any type of target. “The technique used by forward air controllers when providing a talk-on to one of 30 targets that all look the same, and the questions that the pilots had to ask to ensure they had the correct desired point of impact was really good training.”

Swing Role

The COMAO missions tended to involve air interdiction using GPS to guide the bombs onto the target. This enabled the Typhoons to adopt a true swing role. “Having to think about the air-to-air aspects on the first stage of the sortie, 47

switching into the air-to-surface mindset and swinging back to a fighter to fight our way out, is really challenging but makes Typhoon what it is. The situational awareness displayed by this aircraft is just astounding. Pilots coming to a Typhoon squadron from the Hawk T2 have the flying skills, but they also need to be information masters. The information is all there to allow them to make transitions between air-to-air and air-to-surface quickly. Managing information is key to success in Typhoon,” opined Wg Cdr Townsend. “To have 24 bombs all hit the target exactly where they were supposed using a mix of laser and GPS techniques was absolutely superb.” Generating target coordinates and knowing that the bomb will hit it, builds so much confidence, particularly if the pilot has never done that procedure before. All of the pilots currently on No.3(F) Squadron have done just that, some during Magic Carpet, others more recently in the UK. Pilots who had arrived on the squadron after the Oman detachment were given the chance to drop bombs on the Aberporth range over a five-day period in late August. Sorties were flown from RAF Coningsby; 12 bombs were released and all of them hit the target using laser guidance. Some are former Tornado GR4 pilots with operational experience of employing the Paveway IV precision-guided bomb, the Brimstone air-to-surface missile and the cannon. When considering the current and medium-term development of the RAF Typhoon force Wg Cdr Townsend concluded: “They are good people to have around as we continue to build our multi-role capability, and that’s exactly what a Typhoon squadron needs right now.”

Above: One of No.3(F) Squadron’s pilots gets the ‘thumbs up’ from the groundcrew as he leaves the parking spot. The aircraft is loaded with two live Paveway II laser-guided bombs. Above right (from top): Paveway II bombs, dropped by No.3(F) Squadron Typhoon FGR4s, detonate on targets on the range in the Dhofar desert (third from top); No.3(F) Squadron dropped 24 Paveway IIs during exercise Magic Carpet. All of the 1,000lb bombs hit their targets exactly.

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assing a place called Coyote at 30,000ft (9,144m) , ‘Johno’, a fighter pilot, and his wingmen were pretty pumped up about their mission. Six pilots, six aircraft, six different targets: what could possibly go wrong? Getting shot down for one. Johno’s target set was 180 miles (290km) to the north. Minutes flying time away. But he faced trouble. The battlespace between Coyote and the target set was laced with highly capable surface-to-air missile systems and awash with enemy fighters ready for the fight. The pilots were about to enter the toughest fight of their flying careers to date, an air war they could easily lose. Their aircraft were Typhoon FGR4s of No.XI Squadron based at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. Today, however, Johno and his squadron colleagues were not flying in the UK but over the US state of Nevada, participating in exercise Red Flag, the toughest large-force exercise Typhoons had ever taken part in. So why were six Typhoons hurtling towards a desert outpost with the intent of

dropping bombs on a target before getting jumped by more enemy fighters on their way home for a cup of tea? To provide the answer to that question we must look at some prior training undertaken by the RAF jets in Virginia.

Virginian Warm-up

No.XI Squadron arrived at Nellis AFB, home of exercise Red Flag, not from the UK but from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. Nine aircraft, 21 pilots and 110 personnel had deployed to Langley two weeks earlier to train with the F-22 Raptors assigned to the resident 27th Fighter Squadron (FS). The RAF contingent was embedded within the 27th FS, enabling personnel, particularly the Typhoons’ pilots, to gain access and insight into the low-observable fifth-generation F-22 fighter. Not to be outdone, the RAF provided their US hosts with plenty of opportunities to see the capabilities of Typhoon. The product of the training was joint Raptor-Typhoon tactics. Some Raptor-Typhoon tactics were already in place after previous exercises between the two air forces – in particular

Slayer Typhoon 50

that undertaken by the RAF’s No.41 Test and Evaluation Squadron and its counterpart, the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, based at Nellis AFB. So was there a need for such high-end training? You bet there was. Once their joint training had concluded at Langley both the 27th FS and No.XI Squadron went to Nellis to participate alongside one another at exercise Red Flag. Explaining the reason for the training, Wg Cdr Rich Wells, Officer Commanding No.XI Squadron at the time, told me: “We had an idea of what we wanted to look at and prove with the tactics. The training at Langley was really about getting some exposure to fifth-generation fighter integration and actually doing it more broadly on the front line.” I asked the squadron boss which aspects the RAF wanted to prove with Typhoon in such new scenarios. “You can talk about something for hours and hours but until you actually go and fly it and see how the aircraft will perform, listen to the communications, fly the tactics and experience the situational awareness available when operating with a low-observable platform, which may

or may not show up on your radar depending on the range, understanding where he will be at different points of the flow, is a very flexible feast and understanding it can only come with experience because it rarely ends up looking like it would on paper because the enemy doesn’t quite do what you expect him to do.” In the scenarios flown from Langley the Typhoons were not just flying with the F-22s but against a variety of fourth-generation fighters including F-16C Fighting Falcons, F/A-18 Hornets and AESA-equipped F/A-18 Super Hornets, maximising the integration opportunities presented by the Langley detachment with different types of fighter aircraft. But knowing how to work with the fifth-generation F-22 was the most important objective because the type is limited in number, so to make joint operations viable in theoretical worst case threat scenarios the RAF Typhoon Force has to be able to operate with F-22s. And there was another important reason for the training: to help lay the foundation for the RAF’s concept of operations for its forthcoming F-35B Lightning II. “In simple terms it informs the growth of the F-35 and how we might Paul Ridgway

The RAF Typhoon force made its debut in exercise Red Flag at Nellis Air Force Base Nevada this year. The three-week deployment tested man and machine against the toughest threats a fighter pilot can face. AIR International’s Mark Ayton spoke to officers from No.XI Squadron

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want to utilise and integrate it to RAF service,” said Wg Cdr Wells. “But equally, taking Typhoon to Red Flag and gaining a look at it [fifth-generation capability], we were able to compare how we performed with its current configuration when testing it against the absolute worst case scenarios in the best training environment available in the world. Based on our deployment, it appears we’re going in the right direction.” At the end of the two-week Langley detachment the F-22 and Typhoon squadrons took part in Razor Talon, a regular Air Combat Command-organised large-force exercise designed to prepare squadrons for Red Flag. The Razor Talon event organised for the 27th FS and XI Squadron involved up to 70 blue air aircraft opposed by 20-plus red air jets, comprising F-15Cs, F-16Cs and F/A-18s – all of which were allowed to regenerate (rejoin the fight if shot down), meaning the blue force faced up to 60-plus aggressors in a single mission. To maximise the level of joint Raptor-Typhoon operations, the two types operated together as part of the blue air force, using different formations which were split at different altitudes and in different numbers. The author was keen to know how well the Typhoons performed in the air-toair role, their current primary tasking in RAF service. “It’s always a very interesting question,” mused the XI Squadron boss. “If we consider close-in fighting [within visual range], such a judgement can be based purely on the performance of which jet can get to which place. But that depends on so many things. In beyond visual range scenarios red air fighters operated with performance limitations to their missiles and radar to accurately simulate the perceived threats of the future. And a lot of the types we were fighting against were clean and didn’t have extra stores they might typically carry on an operational sortie. Typhoon on the other hand flew in its standard fit which is very close to the drag of an operational fit. So in terms of pure performance I have not seen Typhoon lacking in any area against jets like the Hornet and Super Hornet, even the F-22, and if you have a 9g fighter with excess thrust [which Typhoon has] then you have options. So do we have any concerns about killing the opposing aircraft in a within-visual-range scenario? Absolutely not.”

Necessity and Achievement

Apart from flying Typhoon with all types of aircraft throughout its operational envelope with the freedom to fly supersonic and at all altitudes at Red Flag, what else did the RAF achieve from the deployment? Sqn Ldr Pieter Severein, No.XI Squadron’s Senior Engineering Officer (SENGO) at the time, explained from an engineering perspective: “There’s only one way to find out what you need to take with you and how to support Typhoon on a trail of that length, and that’s to actually fly it. The same is true when operating from different airfields. Everything is geared around how you operate Typhoon, so operating from another base presents new challenges and you learn more about how to operate as a force. “From an engineering perspective that’s essential because you can work your way through all of the maths of what you need, but until you actually do it, faced with the pressures that a deployment brings, you just don’t know.” One of the first challenges of any deployment is the logistics involved in the trail to the destination. This one, which involved taking nine aircraft across the north Atlantic via Lajes, Bermuda and into Langley, was no exception. Sqn Ldr Severein cited an example: “Weather created problems that prevented us from flying over the ocean between Lajes and Bermuda because of the sea state and compliance with peacetime operating limits. If the sea state is above a certain height we’re not permitted to fly over it. “On the final hop from Bermuda half the aircraft made it to Langley, but the second half ended up in Gander, Canada, because the winds were out of limits at Langley. The team was split, which presented logistical challenges.” I asked the SENGO if the different environmental conditions at Langley and Nellis presented any challenges. “The jets worked well at Langley in cold snowy conditions, rainstorms and warm temperatures. But the aircraft performs best when it’s hot and dry and we certainly saw an improvement in serviceability at Nellis in the desert environment encountered there.”

the Typhoons remained high throughout the American deployment. I wondered if there was a particular reason. Wg Cdr Wells explained: “The jet behaved very well which I think came down to a couple of factors – at Langley we flew the aircraft hard and learnt the nuances of each one, which gave the technicians ownership of the issues, so that once we arrived at Nellis we had the most capable aircraft we possibly could.”

Aircraft Configuration

No XI Squadron deployed with eight single-seat Typhoon FGR4s configured to exactly the same standard and one two-seat Typhoon T3, which had some slight differences. The aircraft were running SRP 4.3 Drop 2 software (the latest standard for Tranche 1 aircraft) and loaded with the R2Q radar processor upgrade – which was planned in accordance with the aircraft’s overall development programme and was not loaded specifically for the American deployment.

Outstanding

According to the statistics shown to me by No.XI Squadron, the serviceability of

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Above: Wearing the markings of No.XI Squadron, Typhoon T3 ZJ808/’DW’ departs Nellis AFB, Nevada, for another Red Flag sortie. All images Paul Ridgway unless noted Below left: Three Typhoon FGR4s on the end-of-runway ramp awaiting departure clearance at Nellis AFB. Below right: The Litening 3 pod, carried on the centreline station, was used by the Typhoon pilots to designate targets on Red Flag missions. Opposite bottom: Ground crew ensure an ACMI pod is securely attached to the outer pylon of a Typhoon FGR4. Jamie Hunter

Drop 2 provides better display functionality in the air-to-air and air-to-surface domains by delivering more pertinent information at a more appropriate time. Information fed by the radar is one example. Another involves the display of clear circles around those aircraft tagged as co-operative friendly assets within the battlespace fed by the data link and shown by the HEA (head equipment assembly). The pertinence of the displayed symbology gives the pilot much greater situational awareness and minimises the number of inputs he or she has to make into the jet. The amount of work involved loading the Drop 2 and R2Q software and the time required for fitting each pilot with the helmet meant some jets were not configured for the HEA and some pilots did not have it fitted. “We probably had the most capable HEA-configured jets we could because of the work put in before we deployed and the two field service reps [FSRs, one from BAE Systems and one from Selex] on hand,” said Wg Cdr Wells, who described the HEA as a “capacity generator” for the pilot.

“We tested the radar with the R2Q upgrade, which proved to be good. And with the FSRs on hand to speak to the pilots after each mission, they could pick up on the faults and help with the diagnosis. Being able to glean a deeper level of information during operations was really useful to the RAF technicians because it allowed them to see how the aircraft’s systems, particularly the radar and the DASS, were performing.”

Red Flag Concept and Results

The initial concept behind the Typhoons’ participation in Red Flag was to use the exercise to progress training and develop pilot experience levels in large-force day and night-time missions exercises in the severest training environment available. Wg Cdr Wells explained: “During our final planning meeting at Nellis the decision was made to take the training opportunities offered by the exercise, rather than match people with the exercise requirements. We took two mission commanders and several fighter and air-to-surface package leads to put us in the mix and

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demonstrate our understanding of the jet’s capability, but more importantly it made sure the pilots gained a lot of experience in the planning perspective and an understanding of the wider aspects of the exercise. “It was a real tester for us to stand in front of F-15C pilots – who have well in excess of 3,000 hours in air defence – and F-22 guys who have all the situational awareness in the world, present a plan and ultimately run the air-to-air or the airto-surface war in the threat environment presented by Red Flag.” And what about Typhoon’s air-to-surface role in Red Flag: how did that go? “We were flying swing role, fitted with a Litening 3 targeting pod, and simulated the carriage and release of four Enhanced Paveway II munitions.” The challenge for the Typhoons at Red Flag, when conducting an air-to-surface mission, was the fierce air-to-air battle going on all around. This meant a lot of aircraft were tasked to sweep through and pin down red air, and were engaged in an aggressive fight against multiple red air fighters, the capability of which went ‘through the roof’ as the three-week exercise progressed. The exercise directors increase red air’s capability. Once a strike was complete it was critical

the Typhoons got involved in the air-to-air battle to help pin down the red air aircraft and protect others going in against time-sensitive targets or helicopters undertaking combat search and rescue. “The scenarios were very demanding and fully flexed the whole ability of the jet,” admitted Wg Cdr Wells. In a worst case scenario a Typhoon pilot spends 95% of their time fighting to get to the target and back, and just 5% to conduct the strike. “How good a pilot needs to be currently lies in his or her air-to-air skill set. This is why we focused much more on fifth-generation fighter integration and took part in strike packages involving in excess of 70 aircraft, including B-2s and F-22s.”

Leading Air Strikes

No.XI Squadron pilots led four air-to-surface strike packages, all conducted with much higher threat levels and complexity than any UK-based event such as the Combined Qualified Weapons Instructor course. “The really interesting aspect was the integration of the kinetic and the non-kinetic elements of the strike package. Understanding primary, secondary and tertiary effects so that releasing weapons

Right: Typhoon FGR4 ZJ932/’DB’ lits off with a Litening 3 targeting pod carried on its centreline station. While most of the Typhoon sorties flown at Nellis were dedicated to the air-to-air role, the aircraft’s air-to-surface capabilities were also demonstrated. All images Paul Ridgway Below Right: A No.XI Squadron Typhoon FGR4 taxiing back after a sortie, with a B-2 Spirit - another type taking part in the exercise - in the background. Below: Eight Tranche 1 Typhoons deployed to Nellis including one two-seat T3.

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Above: Four Typhoons configured for the air-to-air role run in for the break over runway 21R at Nellis AFB. Paul Ridgway Right Top: The head equipment assembly is highly rated by RAF Typhoon pilots. Paul Ridgway Right Bottom: Final cockpit checks before another Red Flag sortie. Jamie Hunter Opposite Top: No.XI Squadron deployed 141 people to the United States for the two exercises. Jamie Hunter

and de-conflicting aircraft in the enormous package going to different targets, and how they are interlinked, was their big challenge,” observed Wg Cdr Wells. The pilot must try to understand how they might influence an enemy through kinetic and non-kinetic means and remove the need to put aircraft in harm’s way. “The point of the air-to-surface package lead is to make sure that all the players are in the right place at the right time for those critical moments; and when a new threat pops up, that you have the flexibility in the plan to deal with it and still achieve the mission,” Wells concluded. The squadron’s daily wave structure comprised six-ships – generally a four-ship configured for air-to-air and two as swing role self-escort jets. The structure was however dependent on the threat scenario of each mission and, during some, the swing-role (air-to-surface capable) aircraft were switched into the air-to-air fight because more aircraft carrying missiles were required. Missions lasted for up to an hour and 50 minutes, including the fighting, and did not require air-refuelling, which demonstrates the endurance of the Typhoon. This is even more notable considering the airspace between Nellis and the range

is tightly controlled and the airspeed restrictions in place do not allow the aircraft to be flown most efficiently. Wg Cdr Wells highlighted Typhoon as being like any other jet once it’s in reheat: “You get the performance but use fuel rapidly. The fact we don’t need to be locked in reheat to get to and sustain our speed and energy is a good thing.” The lack of any bombs on the Typhoons during Red Flag was deliberate, according to the squadron boss: “If you’re carrying live weapons you’re completely focused on that. For me that would have been an unnecessary distraction. I wanted the junior pilots thinking about all the other aspects of the exercise and maximising them to the hilt.” The air-to-air role was one aspect that the Typhoons excelled in at Red Flag. “I lost count of the number of aircraft we shot down,” said the Typhoon pilot. “During the air-to-air debrief of one mission, the squadron’s weapons instructor got a standing ovation for killing six out of six in approximately one-and-a-half minutes. Each shot was validated in the shot evaluation. The pilot got the nick name ‘Slayer’. But we didn’t go up every time and shoot down six out of six.”

Outstanding System

Typhoons are equipped with some very capable sub-systems and I wondered which of them proved to be most outstanding to the RAF pilots in their first Red Flag bout. “For me the DASS was right up there because we took the mission data set guys from 41 Test and Evaluation Squadron out with us,” said Wg Cdr Wells. “These are the experts who can manipulate how the data fed from the aircraft’s sensors is displayed for the pilot. They were able to adjust what we were seeing and when we were seeing it. We received regular updates for the DASS that hugely impacted our situational awareness.” The squadron boss also highlighted the aircraft’s agility and performance. “Where you’re able to get to in the sky allows you to increase the kinematics of the missiles so our stick remains significantly longer than the enemy’s. Being able to do that time after time, but ultimately understand how close you can push that capability to make a robust missile shot by using the DASS, and the upgrades to the display, was an outstanding aspect of Typhoon during Red Flag.” The aircraft were flown hard throughout the entire American deployment and the EJ200 engines gave exemplary service. Just two had to be changed.

Red Flag Gains

The capability the Typhoons gained at Red Flag was a surprise and exceeded the expectations of Wg Cdr Wells in terms of how efficient the pilots were at implementing tactics in their Red Flag missions. “That underlines the training environment provided by Red Flag and how important it is to attend. And it also highlighted how Typhoon has developed in the right direction. “Frustrating aspects of operating the aircraft in a very stressful environment are in hand. That meant we were able to complete our missions throughout the deployment and not return home with any big, outstanding issues that are required to be effective which was very reassuring. The growth available on Typhoon isn’t even close to where it can be.” 55

Stallion Italian

Riccardo Niccoli reports on how the Typhoon is used in the Italian Air Force

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I

taly, one of the four partners in the Eurofighter consortium, has been part of the Typhoon programme since it began. The Italian partner in the consortium, Alenia Aermacchi builds 19.5% of Typhoons, including the left wing and rear fuselage among other sections. Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI, or Italian Air Force) Typhoons are now well-established in service. In AMI service the Typhoon is designated the Eurofighter F-2000A (the twoseater TF-2000A). Italy’s Tranche 1 production contract included 18 singleplus ten two-seaters, of four different production ‘blocks’. The first Tranche 1 aircraft (TF-2000A MM.55092) was delivered to the AMI by Alenia Aermacchi on February 19, 2004, and the last (TF-2000A MM.55130) on February 14, 2008. Alenia Aermacchi is currently delivering aircraft from the Tranche 2 production contract, which comprises 44 F-2000A and three TF-2000As. The first Tranche 2 machine, F-2000A MM.7289, was delivered to the AMI in November 2008. According to the contract, all the Typhoons of Tranche 1 were to be upgraded to the Block 5 standard (which has been designated as Full Operational Capability

- FOC), thanks to the R2 retrofit programme. The first Tranche 1 aircraft to undergo the two-month retrofit at the Alenia Aermacchi plant at Caselle Airport in Turin was MM.7285, which was returned to the AMI in June 2007. By September 2012, all Tranche 1 aircraft had undergone the upgrade. The company is now delivering Tranche 2 aircraft to Block 11 standard, central to which is the EOC-1 (Enhanced Operational Capability 1) software, enabling the use of air-to-ground weapons such as Paveway III/IV laser-guided bombs (LGBs) in conjunction with the Litening III targeting pod. The last Tranche 2 aircraft will be delivered in spring 2014 when IS063 is handed over. The next aircraft (IS064), to be delivered in May 2014, will be the first from Tranche 3A, the contract for which was signed in July 2009. It comprises 21 F-2000As.

Squadrons

At the time of writing, the AMI had received more than 70 Typhoons operated by five Gruppi (squadrons) which are controlled by three Stormi (wings). Not all Main: Two F-2000As of 4° Stormo, one of three wings to currently operate the multi-role fighter in the Italian Air Force. Both images Troupe Azzurra/Italian Air Force Below: Italy’s Typhoons are used for air defence. This example carries a centreline fuel tank and two short-range AAMs.

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are assigned to the frontline squadrons all the time. Aircraft undergo scheduled maintenance checks at the 1° Reparto Manutenzione Velivoli (1° RMV, or 1st air force depot) or at the Gruppo Efficienza Aeromobili (GEA, or aircraft maintenance squadron) within 36° Stormo. One aircraft assigned to the Reparto Sperimentale Volo (RSV, test wing) at Pratica di Mare Air Base for trials and display duties. The first wing to be equipped with the F-2000A was 4° Stormo at Grosseto AB in Tuscany, which began operations with the aircraft on March 16, 2004. This unit controls 9° Gruppo; and 20° Gruppo, which is the operational conversion unit, or OCU, responsible for training new F-2000A pilots. The second wing to switch to the aircraft was 36° Stormo at Gioia del Colle AB near Bari in Puglia, which received its first four aircraft on July 1, 2007. This wing’s two squadrons are 12° Gruppo and 10° Gruppo. The latter stood up on July 1, 2010, after transferring from Trapani-Birgi AB on Sicily where, alongside 18° Gruppo, it previously formed part of 37° Stormo and operated ex-US Air National Guard Lockheed Martin F-16A ADFs. Leased from the USA under the ‘Peace Caesar’ contract signed in 2001, they served as Italy’s interim air defence fighter in the 2000s, bridging the gap between the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and the F-2000A. The AMI initially planned to have six squadrons in three Stormi (4°, 36° and 37°) operating the F-2000A. But major cuts to the defence budget later led the Air Force General Staff to build up four frontline squadrons in two wings. Operation Unified Protector over Libya in 2011, however, forced a revised assessment of the political and military situation in the Mediterranean, and the AMI realised it was important to maintain a fighter presence in Sicily given the island’s strategic importance in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. So the decision was made to establish a fifth F-2000A squadron at Trapani to maintain the quick reaction alert (QRA) capability the F-16s had previously provided. After the last F-16A ADFs were returned to the USAF in May 2012, F-2000s from 4° and 36° Stormos deployed in turns to Trapani to maintain QRA before 18° Gruppo was reactivated on the F-2000A in October 2012. The 18° Gruppo, part of 37° Stormo, now provides QRA for the strategically important ‘boot’ of the Italian peninsula. Its mission complements the QRA cover for the rest of southern Italy provided by 36° Stormo and that for central and northern Italy provided by 4° Stormo. In addition, 4° and 36° Stormo provide air defence cover for Slovenia and Albania, respectively.

Below: F-2000A ‘37-01’ is the flagship of 18° Gruppo, and is the only example to display the unit’s famous black checkers on the rudder. All images Riccardo Niccoli Opposite middle: Two F-2000As taxiing back to the appron. Both aircraft are devoid of under wing stores, expect for two external fuel tanks. Opposite right: A 4° Stormo F-2000A inside a hangar at Grosseto AB.

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Main: A line of 36° Stormo F-2000s on the apron at Trapani, during exercise Star Vega 2013. Riccardo Niccoli Opposite Top: F-2000A MM.7272/‘36-03’ was the fourth Italian single-seat Typhoon (IS004). Troupe Azzurra/Italian Air Force

A few weeks later, Italian F-2000As took part in the NATO air campaign over Libya against Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan forces. Four aircraft from 4° Stormo were deployed to Trapani to provide QRA defending Italian airspace from possible incursions by Libyan Arab Air Force aircraft during the first days of the operations. On March 28, 2011, the F-2000As switched to flying combat air patrol (CAP) missions in the no-fly zone and escort missions for AMI Tornado IDS flying suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) and attack missions. Three days later, on the day NATO took control of the missions and the operation become known as Unified Protector, the AMI established the Task Group Air ‘Birgi’ at Trapani, which controlled all AMI assets assigned to the air war. On April 7, four more F-2000As from 36° Stormo were added to the fighter

Busy Times

Life in the F-2000 community has been very busy in recent years, even though the remaining Tranche 2 and all the Tranche 3A deliveries are still to come. In February 2011 two aircraft participated in the Aero India airshow at Bangalore. Four pilots, drawn from 4° and 36° Stormos, ferried the aircraft to and from India. The return trips comprised five legs, each lasting two-and-a-half to three hours. Major Raffaele Beltrame, the AMI’s F-2000A display pilot, performed in one of the F-2000As twice a day for four days at the show. The commitment was completed with no technical problems, demonstrating excellent levels of aircraft reliability and availability and the skills of the air and ground crews deployed.

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Main: F-2000A ‘37-10’ carries a basic rendering of 18° Gruppo’s emblem under the cockpit. The squadron has a smaller number of Typhoons than other Italian units and was activated to provide air defence for Sicily and southern Italy. Riccardo Niccoli Left: Italian Typhoon pilots - like all modern fighter pilots - spend a considerable amount of time using ground training aids, such as the Enhanced Aircrew Cockpit Procedure Trainer. Troupe Azzurra/Italian Air Force Bottom: Pilots preparing to depart in a TF-2000A for a training mission. Riccardo Niccoli

force at Trapani. The Italian Eurofighters were equipped with four AIM-2000 IRIS-T infraredguided air-to-air missiles, four radar-guided AIM-120C-5 Advanced MediumRange Air-to-Air Missiles and two 1,000-litre (219 Imp gallon) underwing fuel tanks. Missions were initially of limited endurance but lengthened as operations progressed, and included up to two in-flight refuellings. The F-2000As were assigned to Unified Protector until mid-July 2011 when the air defence threat from the Libyan Arab Air Force was considered to have been destroyed. Before the involvement ended, the AMI’s F-2000As also participated in exercise Northern Viking 2011, hosted at Keflavik Airport in Iceland from June 2 to 10, 2011. The air force sent four aircraft plus a KC-130J Hercules and a KC-767A tanker/ transport in support, a contingent of about 140 personnel from various units. The exercise – also attended by aircraft and ships from Iceland, the US, Norway, Finland and Denmark – incorporated realistic scenarios designed to improve the integration of air and naval assets on complex operations. Flying included combined air operations, offensive/defensive counter air operations, anti-surface force air operations and air-to-air refuelling in a region that posed challenges in terms of weather.

Italy-Israel Exercises

The F-2000As have also been involved in exercises with Israel. Known as Star Vega and Desert Dusk, they derive from bilateral agreements between the defence ministries of the two countries. Between October 24 and 28, 2011, F-2000As plus a contingent of Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-16C/Ds and a Gulfstream G550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning aircraft deployed to Decimomannu in Sardinia for Star Vega 2011. The Italians then visited Israel between December 5 and 15, sending F-2000s and Tornado ECRs to Ovda AB for Desert Dusk 2011 to join IAF F-15Is and F-16A/C/Ds. Support to the Italian contingent was

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provided by C-130J and KC-767A transports. The exercises were important in enabling the participants to exchange procedures and experience different ways of operating. Desert Dusk, for example, included a first phase of familiarisation with the area of operations by the Italian aircraft. The second phase saw the F-2000s fly against the Israeli aircraft and the aggressors provided by the F-16As of the Israeli Air Force’s 115 Squadron; and the third phase involved combined operations with Italian and Israeli fighters flying together against the aggressors. According to the Italian pilots, the training was intense and provided useful lessons to be fed into the continued development of the F-2000A’s capabilities. The Israelis were equally interested to see the F-2000 in their country for the first time The exercises have kept on coming for the F-2000s, helping in the continued development of operational tactics and the building of AMI pilots’ experience and competence. Six F-2000As from 4° and 36° Stormos took part in the Turkish Air Force’s Anatolian Eagle 2012-2 exercise in June 2012 alongside fighters from Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE. In 2013, Italian F-2000As were committed between May 13-24 to Star Vega 2013 as well as taking part in the NATO Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) at Albacete AB in Spain in July and September, and using the MAEWTF Polygone Electronic Warfare Range in Germany. A planned deployment in July 2013 to Nellis AFB, Nevada, to join a Red Flag exercise for the first time had to be cancelled due to sequestration cuts to the USAF budget. But the same month, AMI F-2000s were committed to the NATO Icelandic Air Policing, providing protection to Iceland’s airspace. Six aircraft, supported by 150 personnel, two KC-767As and a C-130J, deployed to Keflavik. The 2013 Typhoons commitments were completed by the participation to the Advanced Tactical Leadership Program exercise at Al Dhafra air base, United Arab Emirates, in November and December.

The syllabus for the F-2000A is well established today and the full course, for junior pilots coming directly from the AMI’s flying training system, includes some 70 flying hours in 60 missions over a period of six months. The course incorporates substantial classroom time and simulator sessions in the Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids (ASTA) facility. Pilots posted to the F-2000A from other AMI fast jets undergo half of the full course. Combat-ready pilots coming from other air defence aircraft (including those pilots from the F-16) take around 30% of the full course, consisting of about 18 missions. In 2012, 20° Gruppo, the OCU, trained and qualified 18 pilots on the F-2000A. Some were from 37° Stormo while it worked up to begin operating the aircraft.

Procedures

The OCU’s mission goes beyond training new pilots. It has two other important tasks: the standardisation of the F-2000A community’s operational procedures; and a contribution to the development of the F-2000A’s weapons system. Accordingly 20° Gruppo is staffed by experienced instructor pilots (IPs) who each have a minimum of 1,500 hours on the AMI’s air defence aircraft – in April 2012, one was the first Italian pilot to reach 1,000 hours on the Typhoon. There is a regular exchange of experiences between the IPs and the pilots from the frontline squadrons. The instructors also work with the RSV on operational test and evaluation activities and can therefore develop tactics and best uses of the aircraft’s mission equipment and weapons. A possible future aim (funding permitting) is to establish a weapons instructor course within 20° Gruppo, which could include not only the F-2000 community but also pilots of other AMI fast jet types.

Maturity

The Italian F-2000A has reached an advanced level of maturity in air operations as well as with its maintenance and logistics support. Under a five-year contract signed in March 2012, maintenance and logistics are provided to the AMI by Alenia Aermacchi as part of a broader agreement between Eurofighter and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency, which looks after requirements from the customer nations.

Training

The F-16’s phase-out from AMI service in 2012 and the decision to base an F-2000A squadron at Trapani meant a full batch of pilots from 37° Stormo had to be trained to fly the F-2000A in a relatively short time. Conversion for the F-16 pilots started in 2009 at 20° Gruppo, the OCU, at Grosseto, and was completed in 2012. 61

All the systems and equipment on the aircraft are operational (at the current capability standard) and used by the pilots, including the Defensive Aids Sub System (DASS) and the infrared search and track/forward-looking infrared (IRST/ FLIR) sensors. Early in 2012 the squadrons received the new head equipment assembly (HEA), which includes a helmet-mounted sight. Fleet availability is good – in 2012, the AMI’s Typhoon fleet flew the same amount of flying hours as the previous year. Only 4° Stormo can be considered fully-equipped and established, including the upgrading of its buildings and facilities, while 36° Stormo is near to completing its full build-up.

Ground Attack

The AMI only operates the F-2000A in the air defence role but in the future the aircraft could also be deployed into the ground-attack role. The Rafael Litening III laser-designating and targeting pod (currently operated by the AMX aircraft and now being integrated into the Tornado fleet) is likely to be qualified for the Italian F-2000As – given that Tranche 2 and Tranche 3A aircraft will have the EOC-1 software necessary for them to deliver air-to-ground munitions. Thus it’s possible the F-2000A units will, in the future, start undergoing air-to-ground weapons training. Playing into the development of the F-2000A’s air-to-ground capabilities is Italy’s change of plan regarding its acquisition of the Joint Strike Fighter, or F-35. Originally the Italian Government planned to buy 131 F-35s – 109 for the AMI and 22 for the Italian Navy. But the order was reduced in March 2012 to 90 aircraft, leaving the AMI with 75: that’s no more than four squadrons of the new fighterbomber to replace the current eight squadrons of Tornados and AMXs. This means the F-2000A’s ground-attack capabilities could be expanded.

Above: F-2000As ‘4-13’ and ‘4-11’ during a training sortie over the Mediterranean. The need to maintain air control over the sea resulted in the formation of a fifth Italian Typhoon squadron. Troupe Azzurra/Italian Air Force Top: F-2000A MM.7324/36-41 is one of the latest to be delivered to the Italian Air Force. Riccardo Niccoli Right: A rare full afterburner take-off by a F-2000A of 36° Stormo, which wears the markings of 10° Gruppo. Riccardo Niccoli

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In addition to former F-16 pilots who had undergone training at the OCU, the pool of F-2000A crews at Trapani included experienced pilots from 4° and 36° Stormo reassigned to 37° Stormo to form a solid foundation for the type’s operations at the base.

Maintenance

Hosting other F-2000 units for the ACMI exercise at Decimomannu in October 2012 also helped 18° Gruppo maintenance personnel in their transition to the aircraft. There have been significant changes in this area at Trapani. The previous Gruppo Efficienza Aeromobili was disbanded and its personnel were split into two new units: the Sezione Tecnica Rinforzata (STR, or technical section) of the 18° Gruppo and the Gruppo Mobile Supporto Aeromobili (GMSA, or mobile aircraft support squadron). The latter, the first in the AMI, is intended to provide technical and logistics support to other AMI units and aircraft when deployed. Trapani retains its status as a deployment base for other AMI assets’ training activities and for supporting international exercises. One of the most important part of the transition from the F-16 to the F-2000A was the change in logistics and maintenance philosophy. With the F-16, Trapani was the main operating base of a small fleet which was managed by 37° Stormo; with the F-2000A it has now become a forward operating base (FOB), meaning 37° Stormo has had to adapt its logistics and maintenance procedures. Trapani personnel now only carry out ‘Maintenance Level 1’ activities which, besides the daily flight operations on the line, include small activities such as the replacement of on-board batteries and the winding-up of the parachute brake, and other controls. More in-depth maintenance is now assigned to the other F-2000A units at Grosseto and Gioia del Colle. So the base has undergone huge changes in a period of few months. How have its personnel reacted? “Thirty-seven is a very dynamic wing which is used to such changes,” says Col Lorenzo De Stefano, the commander of 37° Stormo. “This is possible thanks to the great willingness and enthusiasm of the personnel. That was the key of the success which, together with the co-operation of the other Eurofighter wings and bodies, allowed us to carry out such a transition in a very short time.” Personnel are impressed by the F-2000A. A technical officer from 18° Gruppo, whose name cannot be identified for security reasons, told AIR International: “The availability rate of the F-2000 is very good, thanks to its high reliability, but also to its innovative auto-diagnostic capability – which provides us exact information on the single parts that suffer a failure. It also allows us to detect the downgrading of components before they fail. It’s this feature that makes the maintenance on the Typhoon superior of that on the F-16: it allows us to drastically reduce the time dedicated to [trace] the failures.”

Combat Readiness

Preparation to achieve combat readiness was completed in just a few weeks and 18° Gruppo conducted its first QRA mission with the F-2000A on December 11, 2012, after attaining initial operational capability (IOC) status. Achieving it was demanding but made easier by the fact that the ex-F-16 pilots were already combat-ready and the experienced F-2000A pilots transferred from other units had flown the aircraft operationally on QRA for the other stormo and over Libya. In the following months 18° Gruppo took part in exercise Winter Hide 2013 at Grosseto in conjunction 4° Stormo and with Royal Danish Air Force F-16s. In March 2013 it participated in an ACMI campaign with the two other AMI F-2000 wings at Decimomannu. Two months later it was involved in Star Vega 2013 and, in June and July, a training exercise in Iceland. Although the AMI’s Eurofighter inventory, with four fighter squadrons plus the OCU, is smaller than originally envisaged back in the 1990s, it is tailored to the current resources Italy allocates to its air force. And, more importantly, it’s proving to be an outstanding asset in exercises, overseas deployments and in protecting Italy’s airspace. As part of Eurofighter’s work on enhancements for all Typhoon customer nations to turn the aircraft into a multirole platform, the Phase 1 Enhancement (P1E) upgrade programme for the AMI’s aircraft should begin in 2014. Future upgrades, according to the Eurofighter development programme, could include an active electronic scanned array (AESA) radar and an enhanced DASS plus the integration of Paveway III and IV laser-guided bombs and advanced stand-off airto-ground munitions such as the Storm Shadow and Meteor.

Change at Trapani

Trapani, in Sicily, has had an eventful past ten years. It was where the AMI’s first F-16s entered service in 2003, replacing some of the last F-104s, and where, on May 28, 2012, they were retired. It had been planned that, after the Peace Caesar programme ended, Trapani would be dedicated to supporting deployments of AMI contingents from other fighter bases. But the realisation by the Italian defence ministry of its strategic value – after the 2011 Libyan operations – and the subsequent decision to retain 37° Stormo at the base and have 18° Gruppo convert to the F-2000A have given Trapani a new lease of life. The first F-2000 for 18° Gruppo (MM.7319) landed at Trapani on September 19, 2012. It was transferred from Gioia del Colle and was later recoded ‘37-05’. In October 2012, F-2000As from 4° and 36° Stormos operated from Trapani for an air combat manoeuvring instrumentation (ACMI) exercise at Decimomannu. At the end of the exercise some remained at Trapani and on October 18, 2012, they were officially reassigned to 37° Stormo. One aircraft became the wing’s flagship (‘37-01’) and wears a chequered design on its rudder, the historic symbol of the squadron. In the following six weeks 18° Gruppo received eight aircraft from 4° and 36° Stormo. 63

Scott Rathbone

Superp Fanta The six details are each machined in this way before undergoing super-cleaning to remove any impurities from their surfaces. First they are washed in soapy water, then dipped in an alkaline solution and finally in an acid etch. The acid is then removed by spray rinsing using ultra-pure deionised water, manufactured on site at Salmesbury. “The surface is now in what we call an ultra-clean condition,” Price said. “The skins and cores then go into a printing room where a silk screen printing process will be applied to lay down a stop-off compound of yttria that will subsequently prevent diffusion bonding where the stop-off is applied and allow diffusion bonding where it isn’t. The skins and cores are then assembled together to form a pack of four sheets. The doublers are placed on the top and underneath. The whole assembly is then tacked welded together as one in preparation for diffusion bonding.”

Diffusion Bonding

The pack is now ready for diffusion bonding, by applying very high pressure at high temperature to the pack to join the constituent details together. Price explained: “Diffusion bonding is a characteristic of this particular alloy where clean surfaces held together for long enough at high enough pressure will fuse – the atoms from one side will migrate from one side to the other side, and vice-versa, forming a solid state diffusion bond. There is no melting. The joint is so good that it can only be discerned metallurgically, and at high magnification, if there is a variation in the grain structure of the individual sheets in the stack. The joint is as strong as the parent metal. The diffusion bonding process involves placing the tack-welded pack into a cold tool. A metal diaphragm is placed over the top and the tool is closed through the use of a heavy lid which will later provide the gas seal. The whole assembly is then put into a hot press and purged with high purity argon to displace the air. “High-pressure gas is applied to the diaphragm, which then presses down onto the pack. The temperature is in excess of 900°C [1,652°F] and the pressure is over 300psi, but we can’t say what the exact pressures and temperatures are or how long the process takes. “At the end of that process the foreplane details are bonded together except where the stop-off had been applied. The tool containing the now bonded pack and diaphragm is removed from the press and allowed to cool. Around 12 hours or so later the bonded assembly is removed from the tool and sent for nondestructive testing by unltrasonic c-scan.” Ultrasonic c-scanning checks that the diffusion bonding has succeeded. “Principally we’re looking for anomalies at each bond-line interface which would

How are the Typhoon’s distinctive foreplanes made? Mark Broadbent finds out

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he Typhoon’s lightweight titanium foreplanes are one of the most distinctive features of the aircraft. They also play an important role in the jet’s aerodynamic capabilities. The onboard computers make rapid adjustments to the foreplanes – their position is adjusted 50 times per second – enabling Typhoon pilots to turn sharply. The foreplanes are made by BAE Systems at its Salmesbury facility near Preston in Lancashire. The manufacturing process combines two elements at the cutting edge of aircraft component manufacture – diffusion bonding and superplastic forming. Six details form the foreplane – the upper skin, lower skin, upper core, lower core, and the upper and lower skin local reinforcing doublers. The forming process produces an internally reinforced structure of a type known as four-sheet x-core (see photo). The completed foreplane is attached to the fuselage on a spigot bearing.

Machining

The first stage of making the foreplanes involves machining rolled sheets of titanium alloy. Howard Price, Technical Manager for Fabrications at BAE Systems Salmesbury, explained to AIR International: “We take a flat sheet [of titanium] and it goes through a three-axis machining process to produce the required thickness contours and achieve the surface finish we need for diffusion bonding – it needs to be neither too smooth nor too rough. We have special cutters that are graded to give us the exact surface finish we want.”

Above: Cross section of a Typhoon foreplane showing the multi-layered lattice x-core internal structure. All images BAE Systems

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rplastic ntastic be a failure of the stop-off or unexpected no-bonds,” Price added. “We’ll see the areas where the stop-off compound has been applied because the ultrasound is unable to penetrate those areas. We scan it from both sides because we can’t get through the stop-off interfaces and so a single-sided scan would be blind to potential defects hidden below layers of stop-off.”

of the SPF tool and extend the individual elements of the internal structure to produce the x-cores. The joints formed by the diffusion bonding process are as strong as the titanium itself and so we create an extremely strong, multi-layered lattice internal structure. We use extremely pure argon gas for the inflation of the structure and this is injected (through gas spouts previously attached to the flat pack). The process is quite lengthy because the strain rate has to be very carefully controlled and takes about seven hours. If the process was any faster the titanium would lose its superplasticity and localised thinning (‘necking’) would occur.

Superplastic Forming

The diffusion-bonded pack is now ready for superplastic forming (SPF). For this, gas spouts are welded to the pack to allow argon gas to be injected into the pack and it’s placed into a press containing a heated split-die tool weighing 10 tonnes. The tool will impart the external shape of the foreplane and allow the internal surface to form as the bonded flat pack is inflated to the tool surfaces. All of this happens with the pack subjected to very high temperatures and tool closure forces. Price describes the process: “The SPF tool, comprising upper and lower halves, is pre-heated in the SPF press to temperatures of approximately 900oC. The press doors are opened and the upper tool half, which is connected to the moving upper press platen, is raised. The pack is placed inside the press and lowered onto the lower part of the tool which is sat on the bed of the press. The upper platen, with the other tool half attached, is then lowered onto the lower tool sandwiching the pack between the two halves. The tool grips the pack around its edge forming what is termed a ‘pie crust’. There’s then a period of time to heat the part up to the superplastic forming temperature before we clamp the pack between the tools using hundreds of tonnes of hydraulic force and start the SPF process.” When metals are heated to very high temperatures and pressures they become softer and more ductile enabling much higher levels of strain to be developed before fracturing. However, the increase in ductility tends to be limited by a process known as ‘necking’ when small localised reductions in thickness result in concentrations of strain and premature fracture. The titanium used for the Typhoon’s foreplanes doesn’t have this tendency if formed at the correct temperature and strain rate. “The material can then be drawn out to a huge length without thinning,” Price said. “That characteristic is absolutely fundamental to SPF. Coupled with the prior application of selective diffusion bonding it gives us the ability to form an internal structure where there’s over a 100% increase in the length of the vane of the x-core as the foreplane is inflated to the tool without any localised thinning.” So when the material becomes superplastically ductile in the press, we can use the internally applied argon gas pressure to inflate the flat pack to the shape

Scanning

After forming, the part is removed from the press and cooled. The shape is checked using a co-ordinate measurement machine (CMM). Hundreds of thousands of measurements are made of the part. The CMM compares the part against the design to determine if the shape is correct and within all permitted tolerances. If it isn’t, it will undergo a shape correction procedure. Further scans follow. An ultrasonic c-scan is run to verify the bonding has worked correctly and x-ray examination is undertaken to check the internal structure. “We have a certain tolerance level to achieve in terms of the ratio of the length of key internal x-core features,” Price said. “We have to show the internal geometry is correct.”

Chemical Etching and 5-Axis Machining

The diffusion bonding and SPF processes result in an external surface contamination due to the reaction of air with hot titanium. This is called an ‘alpha case’, a very hard and brittle layer that would otherwise massively degrade the fatigue life of the foreplane. This has to be removed. “The thickness of the skin also has to be a certain level, so we chemically remove - or etch - the external surface thereby removing the alpha case and meeting the final thinkness requirements of the product,” said Price. The solution used for the chemical etching is a mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acid, the concentration and temperature of which is very tightly controlled. The foreplane is dipped in the solution to remove the alpha case. This is a multi-step procedure. Before and after each dip the thickness is assessed at strategic locations using an ultrasonic probe. This allows the etch rate to be determined and the exact duration of the next immersion to be calculated. The acid etching reaction generates hydrogen and test pieces built into the off-part surplus on the foreplane allow the level to be subsequently checked. Price continues: “The foreplane will then go for five-axis numerically controlled maching which will machine the final features into the foreplane including the leading edge feature. The leading edge feature is machined from the ‘pie crust’ formed when the foreplane was clamped together in the SPF tool. It then goes into the asembly process where the spigot is fitted.” The whole foreplane manufacturing process at Salmesbury ensures perfection of this critical aerodynamic feature of the Typhoon.

Above: This photo shows components used for manufacturing a Typhoon foreplane at five different stages; machined titanium alloy sheets (far left) to a completed foreplane (far right).

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Lethal Spain’s

Roberto Yáñez and Alex Rodríguez explain how the Spanish Air Force is using its Typhoons

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he Ejército del Aire (EdA, Spanish Air Force) accepted its first Typhoon on October 9, 2003, at the manufacturer’s Getafe facility near Madrid, before the first pilots and ground crews start training at Morón Air Base, east of Seville. After nearly eight months of training these personnel formed the EdA’s first operational Typhoon squadron. After nearly ten years of service the Typhoon – designated the C16 in the EdA (with the two-seater designated the CE16) – has shown itself to be the best combat aircraft ever operated by Spain. It has exceeded all expectations and is now well on its way to becoming the backbone of the country’s air power for the next four or five decades.

€9.2 billion (£7.7 billion, US$12.4 billion). The purchase was divided into three tranches. Twenty aircraft would make up Tranche 1 and 33 would form Tranche 2. Tranche 3 would consist of 34 aircraft, divided into 20 in Tranche 3A and 14 in Tranche 3B. The last aircraft in Tranche 1 (two-seat ST008) was handed over in August 2007. Tranche 2 deliveries started on October 24, 2008 with the delivery of single-seat SS012. To date 41 Typhoons have been delivered to the EdA. Eighteen, rather than 20 aircraft, ended up being delivered in Tranche 1 (comprising 10 single-seaters and eight two-seaters) because two Tranche 1 machines from the initial tranche were diverted from the Spanish order for other purposes – one sent to Austria as part of its Typhoon order and another became ISPA4 (Instrumented Series Production Aircraft 4) for use by Cassidian. An additional single-seater was added to Tranche 2 in lieu of the Tranche 1 aircraft being diverted. All Tranche 1 Typhoons were subsequently brought up to the latest Block 5 software configuration.

Acquisition

The EdA initially acquired 87 aircraft from the Eurofighter consortium at a cost of 66

al Defender

Alll images Roberto Yáñez unless noted

Cutbacks

Ala 11

So far, 23 aircraft from Tranche 2 have been handed over (comprising 20 singleseaters and three two-seaters). Another ten have been built and are ready for hand-over, but an amended contract signed between the Spanish defence ministry and Eurofighter in July 2012 has delayed delivery until 2015. This isn’t the only effect of Spain’s austerity cuts on the Typhoon programme. In May 2013 defence secretary Pedro Morenés stated that, “Spain did not see a necessity in the undertaking of the Tranche 3B” order. Although his country is committed to Tranche 3A’s 20 Typhoons, it appears likely that the commitment for the 14 machines in Tranche 3B will be cancelled. If this occurred, it would not have a major impact on the EdA’s operational capabilities. Once Tranche 3A deliveries are complete Spain will have 72 Typhoons – enough to fulfill the long-time plan to equip two fighter wings.

The first of two wings to re-equip with the Typhoon was Morón-based Ala 11, which had previously operated the F/A-18A Hornet and CASA C-101 Aviojet. Improvements to the base’s infrastructure were made to support the new type before it arrived. Original plans called for Ala 11 to consist of two front line squadrons (111 and 112 Escuadróns) and an operational conversion unit (OCU), 113 Escuadrón. The latter was the first EdA Typhoon unit to activate on October 16, 2003. Currently equipped with 11 two-seaters, its mission is to train all future EdA Typhoon pilots, both recent graduates from the Fighter and Attack School in Talavera la Real in western Spain and pilots converting from the EdA’s other fast-jet aircraft, the Mirage F1 and F/A-18A. The EdA built the Typhoon training centre at Morón as part of 113 Escuadrón. It houses a range of modern synthetic training facilities including a cockpit trainer/interactive pilot station, a pilot full mission simulator 67

and ground crew training aids. To maximise the return on investment the training centre’s facilities are available to any other Typhoon operator that requests it and in 2010 two Royal Saudi Air Force pilots trained there before receiving their first UK-built Typhoons. Of the 11 aircraft in the charge of 113 Escuadrón, one is used for development testing by the manufacturer. Like the ISPA4 the aircraft is an Instrumented Series Production Aircraft (known as ISPA3) and forms part of Cassidian’s Eurofighter test fleet alongside ISPA4 and Instrumented Production Aircraft 7 (IPA7). Built to a similar standard as the rest of the EdA Typhoons, the ISPA3 also has special instrumentation and a data recording functionality to develop and integrate future systems and undertake post-flight analysis.

the same capabilities. After several years of Typhoon operations, 111 Escuadrón has reached a high level of maturity. It has taken part in all the training exercises organised by MACOM (Mando Aéreo de Combate, Spain’s air combat command) and numerous overseas exercises. The squadron’s capabilities were reflected on March 28, 2012, when one of the unit’s aircraft undertook the EdA’s first operations launch of a Paveway II laser-guided bomb during a deployment to Zaragoza AB in northern Spain for exercise Tormenta. Since then, it has also been assigned an air-to-ground capability and has developed training and tactics for its pilots to carry out the role. The EdA initially planned to actívate Morón’s second Typhoon unit, 112 Escuadron, before establishing the second Typhoon wing, Ala 14, at Albacete AB in eastern Spain. However, with Ala 14 retiring the Mirage F1M in June 2013 and the re-organisation of the Typhoon delivery schedule, events have changed and Ala 14’s first unit, 142 Escuadrón, has started operations before 112 Escuadrón.

Front Line

111 Escuadrón was the first frontline Typhoon squadron in the EdA. Commissioned on May 4, 2004, after the first pilots and ground crews completed their training at the OCU, it built its fleet, pool of pilots and tactics before in July 2008 it started quick reaction alert (QRA) missions to help defend Spanish airspace and NATO’s southern flank, a duty which remains its primary role today. The squadron is also charged with developing tactics for all EdA Typhoon units leading on all aspects of implementing and using the new aircraft’s systems and weapons. Currently, it is equipped with around 20 single-seaters that have undergone a retrofit programme designed to give aircraft from Tranches 1 and 2

Systems Self-Sufficiency

The Centro Logístico de Armamento y Experimentación (CLAEX, or Test and Armament Logistics Centre) based at Torrejón de Ardoz, outside Madrid, provides support to new software and new weapons integration to all EdA aircraft. As happened with the Mirage F1 and the F/A-18, the CLAEX has worked in collaboration with the manufacturer to achieve a certain level of self-sufficiency in

Above: A Typhoon of 11 Grupo based at Morón Air Base. The unit accumulated 10,000 hours on the typhoon in February 2010. Ejército del Aire Below left: The pilots of 111 Escadrón were the first to receive helmet-mounted sights, giving them an advantage during visual combat when combined with the IRIS-T missile. Below right: Spanish Typhoon pilots brief before a sortie. Pilots from the two Ejército del Aire Typhoon wings frequently conduct joint missions.

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Above left: A Typhoon pilot of Ala 11 is cleared to depart for another sortie at Morón, as the ground crew look on. Above right: Since 2013 Ala 14 has had a modern cockpit simulator to allow its pilots to gain experience using the Typhoon’s systems. Ejército del Aire Below: Two-seat Typhoon CE16-10 carrying an underwing telemetry pod during weapon separation trials of the Paveway IV precision-guided bomb.

142 Escuadrón

managing the Typhoon’s systems. Since January 2011 the CLAEX has held Typhoon Tranche 1 software integration equipment, enabling the EdA to write its own software code for 14 avionics computers. Thanks to this capability, the CLAEX developed its own software for Tranche 1 Typhoons, making mission software changes to six of the ten on-board computers under the OFP-01E (Operational Flight Program). These changes stemmed directly from requests by the EdA’s Typhoon units. Test flights supporting the development and evaluation of these changes began in June 2012, marking the first time any Typhoon customer nation had undertaken its own independent software changes to the aircraft. Similar equipment is expected to arrive at the CLAEX soon to support Tranche 2 and Tranche 3A Typhoons, which will allow the centre’s staff to produce their own nationally-developed software for those aircraft and continue to give the Tifón new capabilities. During the middle of July 2013 the CLAEX received ISPA3, which will be operated from Torrejón to evaluate, verify and validate CALEX-developed software for Tranche 2 and Tranche 3A, and conduct test flights to integrate new armaments. Meanwhile, CLAEX personnel training in software analysis and development for the Tifón continues, as does providing technical documentation needed to develop and test the code. Another milestone recently reached by the CLAEX has been the successful ground and air test of the first software modification totally designed by the facility – the code for the MIU (MIDS Interface Unit) upgrade of Tranche 1 Typhoons. These modifications had been solicited by the UK and Germany, as well as Spain, as part of the Drop 3 programme, which aims to implement solutions to software problems detected by aircraft users during their first years of service.

In April 2012 Ala 14 became the second Typhoon wing in Spain, when 142 Escuadrón transitioned onto the aircraft after phasing-out its Mirage F1Ms (the last EdA Mirage F1M unit, 141 Escuadrón, retired the type in June of this year). As at Morón, the process of bringing the Typhoon to Albacete began with making important infrastructure improvements to the base for operations by the new aircraft. One of the principal changes was an upgraded electrical supply system since the existing systems used for the Mirage would be unusable by the Typhoon. There was also a need to modify the engine test facility because the existing anchor points for the Snecma Atar 9K-50 of the Mirage were inadequate for the Typhoon’s Eurojet EJ200s. Finally, work was carried out to build cockpit trainer/interactive pilot station facilities and a full mission simulator to eliminate the dependence on Ala 11 for this type of training and enable Albacete’s pilots to achieve the required qualifications and maintain currency in a fast, easy and inexpensive manner. The CT/IPS significantly contributes to flight safety, enabling pilots to train in emergency procedures and abnormal situations without having to travel to Morón. Meanwhile, pilots and ground crews from 142 Escuadrón underwent training with the OCU. Virtually all of the squadron’s pilots transferred to the Typhoon from the Mirage F1M, although it is now beginning to receive pilots direct from the EdA’s Fighter and Attack School.

Training

Pilots assigned to fly the Typhoon arrive at the OCU at Morón where they undertake an extensive Plan of Instruction. Initially, pilots attend classes to learn

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Right: The majority of the Typhoon pilots currently assigned to Ala 14 previously flew the Mirage F1M. As additional aircraft deliveries take place, new pilots coming from the Fighter and Attack School at Talavera are expected to join 142 Escuadrón. Escuadrón 142 Left (from top): Typhoon C16-10002 landing at Albacete on January 25 after a 30 minute flight from Getafe. It was one of the first four aircraft delivered to Ala 14 in January direct from the factory, (second from top) Typhoon CE16-14/10015 is the last of six two-seaters from Tranche 2 delivered to the Spanish Air Force, (third from top) The first drops of the GBU-16 from the Typhoon were undertaken using IPA4 in May 2006. The aircraft is seen operating from Morón in 2005 during the test programme. Bottom Left: A Typhoon of 142 Escadrón in a hardened aircraft shelter at Albacete. Bottom Right: In September Ala 14 participated in a Tactical Leadership Program course for the first time. It resulted in two of its pilots graduating from the programme.

the theory of various aircraft systems and emergency procedures. The flying phase follows and is divided into two parts – P-1 is basic aircraft handling while P-2 covers the employment of the Typhoon in both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The whole course takes around seven months to complete and the average number of pilots on each course is around six. At the end of the flying phase the students graduate with a Limited Combat Ready (LCR) qualification. Once qualified as LCR, the pilot is posted to their front line squadron, be it 142 at Albacete or 111 at Morón. A LCR pilot is trained for a basic series of missions but once at their operational unit, they begin their Basic Training Plan to incrementally build their skills. The plan is divided into three phases and on completion the pilot achieves a higher degree of combat readiness, with the ultimate qualification of CR-3. The pilot has to progress from a two-ship leader to four-aircraft formation and then mission commander to increase a qualification level. Training must be constantly modified to keep pace with the new capabilities added to the aircraft as systems evolve and at different tranche deliveries. Although the majority of Typhoon operations are in the air-to-air role, the development air-to-ground capabilities means missions are now divided 50/50 between the two and training is changing to reflect that. In the case of Ala 14 and 142 Escuadrón this has already started to happen, with a dual air-to-air to and air-to-ground capability integrated into the unit from its establishment with the Typhoon.

Weapons

The Spanish Typhoons can launch a large part of the air-to-air armament currently in the EdA inventory, including the infrared guided Sidewinder and IRIS-T missiles or the radar guided Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile. In the future it will also be capable of launching the Meteor stand-off missile, currently in the integration phase. Air-to-ground weapons comprise the cannon, 150lb (68kg) to 500lb (226kg) free-fall bombs and the GBU-10 and GBU-16 Paveway II laser-guided bombs. Integration of the EGBU-16 bomb as well as the capability to self-designate via use of the Litening and infrared search and track is under way. This work, and various other improvements including communications, navigation, defensive aids and the flight control system, is due for completion by the end of this year. Air-to-ground equipment training of personnel is run by MACOM periodically in gunnery exercises at the Bardenas range in Zaragoza. The air-to-air equivalent is carried out at the El Arenosillo range in Huelva, south-west Spain. At the end of 2013, 142 Escuadrón will undertake its first gunnery campaign against towed aerial targets.

Readiness

Despite having operated the Typhoon for only 18 months, 142 Escuadrón has rapidly mastered its new aircraft. The unit is now part of the recently-created Air Operations and Defense Command, rotating with Ala’s 11, 12 and 15, providing QRA for the Iberian Peninsula. To achieve the high level of readiness required for the role, the squadron conducted dissimilar air combat training (DACT) 70

and participated in a large-scale national air defence exercise called SIRIO. It also participated, along with 111 Escuadrón, in squadron exchanges – each lasting a few days – with other European Typhoon operators as part of the Euofight programme, an initiative of the European Air Group (EAG) to promote co-operation, co-ordination and standardisation of air defence forces, with a

particular focus on air combat and air interception training. Two aircraft and pilots from 142 Escuadrón in September also took part for the first time in the NATO Tactical Leadership Program. Reflecting its high tempo of operations since receiving the Typhoon, 142 Escuadrón on April 11, 2013, reached its first 1,000 flight hours during a mission that was part of a DACT exercise. Since then, the unit has already added more than 600 flying hours to its aircraft.

Commonality

All of the Albacete-based Typhoons are from the same tranche to create fleet commonality and ease of operation and maintenance. Ala 14 ground crews are able to undertake first-line maintenance for the Typhoon’s systems. There are plans for Ala 14 engineers to also undertake second line work (deeper maintenance on certain systems), although most of this will be carried out at the co-located Maestranza Aérea de Albacete (MAESAL, Albacete Air Depot). The Maestranza Aérea de Sevilla (MAESE, Seville Air Depot) already undertakes second-line work on Typhoons from Ala 11, with the manufacturer carrying out more significant structural work at its Getafe plant. Currently, 142 Escuadrón operates 14 Typhoons, with numbers progressively increasing to the 18 that will make up the complete squadron as soon as deliveries of new aircraft resume and additional pilots are assigned. The last ten Tranche 2 jets awaiting delivery from 2015 are stored at Albacete, receiving a specific maintenance programme to keep them up to date until they join Spain’s Typhoon force. 71

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ocated close to RAF Spadeadam, in Cumbria, RAF Leeming is one of the world’s leading electronic warfare training facilities (EWTFs). Following the success of Exercise Trial Mace XIV in October 2012, attended by personnel and aircraft from Poland and Turkey, Leeming hosted the latest edition in this EW series, Trial Mace XV, for two weeks ending in July. First staged in 1978 to develop chaff (a technique originally developed during the Second World War to decoy radar systems by ‘masking’ aircraft) and held on an ad-hoc basis subsequently, Trial Mace XV aimed to extend the development of Radio Frequency Countermeasures (RFCM) and tactics to enhance the survivability of NATO aircraft in RF threat environments. Aircrew from Belgium, Poland, Spain and the UK took part. Based at Leeming, they made the short flight to Spadeadam’s EWTF where they could test themselves and their aircraft against a variety of simulated threats and targets.

A Spanish Air Force Typhoon parked on the apron in front of a hardened aircraft shelter at RAF Leeming during Trial Mace XV in July 2013. All images Ian Harding

Objectives

Techniques to mask aircraft have progressed significantly to counter the increasingly complex and challenging threats encountered during recent global conflicts. Trial Mace XV’s main objective was to further the development of selfprotection systems for the exercise’s participants and ensure defensive systems are advancing in step with the threats they encounter. Flight Lieutenant Peter Nankivell is a Trials Scientific Officer from the RAF’s Air Platform Protection Test and Evaluation Squadron (APP TES), part of the Air Warfare Centre (AWC) based at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. During Trial Mace XV it was his responsibility to liaise with the detachments and personnel at Leeming, the Trial Manager plus other APP TES personnel detached to Spadeadam for the exercise, to ensure the aims and objectives were met. This role involved passing aircraft data post mission to the analytical team at Spadeadam as well as providing feedback and information to the detachment commanders and their engineering personnel. “Our mission is to provide expert air platform protection and survivability advice to the war fighters of all three services through continuous operational test and evaluation,” explained Flt Lt Nankivell as the exercise was ongoing. “To achieve this, the squadron performs two main functions, developing self-protection EW tactics and countermeasures (CM) and providing up-to-date advice on the use of tactics and ECM in an operational context. Trials like Trial Mace XV very much support this because they allow us, in collaboration with other NATO countries, to further enhance aircraft capability to operate in hostile environments against legacy and emerging threats. “The aircraft trials themselves this week have all taken place over Spadeadam’s EWTF.”

Threat Systems

Spadeadam is one of only two EWTF in central Europe, the other being the Polygone on the French-German border, but the UK facility has a number of unique features which place it at the vanguard of EW training and trials provision. Wg Cdr Matt Lawrence, RAF Spadeadam’s Station Commander provided AIR International with further details on the range’s capabilities: “RAF Spadeadam has a wide range of threat systems ranging from real surface-to-air missile (SAM) radar systems to radar emulators and simulators to operate against,” said Wg Cdr Lawrence. Radar emulators, such as the T1 which comprises two threat radars producing medium to high level SAM threats SA-2 ‘codenamed FAN SONG’ and low to medium level threat SA-3 ‘codenamed LONG BLOW’, are designed to mimic specific threat radars and will provide the operator an idea of how well aircraft manoeuvre, chaff and jamming are on the real radar system. But

Electronic W

Ian Harding reports on Typhoon’s involvement in the latest electronic warfare training the rec it does not offer the fidelity of using a real air defence radar system. “Simulator systems are the simplest form of emitter as they transmit RF signals mimicking the fire control radar signal of a threat radar,” Wg Cdr Lawrence continued. “However these systems do not react to jamming and normally provide a training [rather than trials] capability only. The real SA-6, SA-8 and ZSU-23-4 systems offer users the ability to test tactics, chaff and electronic countermeasures against real radars that are used across the globe today. “Spadeadam has recently upgraded the aging SA-6s, to overcome obsolescence issues, and the SA-8s are due for upgrade over the next two years following which these systems will represent the cutting edge of legacy SAM

capability, remaining in service for years to come.” “We deploy threat systems on and off range to facilitate EW training for all parts of defence aviation. This training can vary from radar guided threat systems against the Typhoon and Tornado at the main site at Spadeadam to providing infrared MANPADS training for helicopter units at their home base.

Trial Mace Build-up

Ultimately, the scenarios of each exercise dictate what is required in the air and on the ground. For Trial Mace XV exercise planners determined, during the buildup to the exercise, what threats were needed to meet the exercise’s aims and 72

c Warriors the recent Trial Mace exercise held at RAF Spadeadam objectives. “Spadeadam engineers [both military and contractors from CarillionEnterprise] sought to ensure all the required threat systems were serviceable and available for the duration and it was their responsibility to deploy them to the required operating area,” explained Wg Cdr Lawrence. “Our engineers also operate the threats so they will conduct any last-minute training to ensure they are ready to provide a good level of service. Once the exercise is under way, Spadeadam has an air traffic control (ATC) section that provides safety monitoring of all range and range-associated activity. It facilitates handovers to, and from, military radar agencies for aircraft returning directly to Leeming, once their range slot is complete. Lastly, the range controller provides the threat overview,

allocating threats to engage various elements of the incoming formations, acting in effect like an enemy air defence sector master controller and orchestrating threat systems to best test the incoming aircraft. “For an EW trial, the engineering and ATC roles remain the same whilst the range controller acts as the liaison between the aircraft conducting the trial and the team on the ground. Elsewhere, participating countries deploy analysts to Spadeadam to support activities on the ground. This multinational analytical team looks at results and re-tasks aircraft on subsequent missions. In addition, supporting countries also usually deploy an aircrew representative to provide a liaison role between the threat operators, trials managers and analysts at 73

provides a great opportunity for us to test our DASS software. We pay a lot of attention to the EW side and the latest software version is the most capable one, so we decided to bring this aircraft to Trial Mace. We brought three jets and six pilots, including one from Ala 14 [currently in the process of transitioning from the Mirage F1 to the Typhoon] as an observer. Each pilot will have two to three sorties during the week, not every day, each lasting around an hour.” Each sortie comprised two aircraft and, at the end of the exercise, 16 missions had been completed. Capt Neira described the aircraft serviceability, at 94%, as “great”, scored the exercise “8 out of 10” and said the Spanish Air Force would be very happy to return.

Typhoon carries two expendable towed radar decoys in the right hand wing tip pod.

Defensive Aids Sub-System

Eurofighter’s defensive aids sub-system (DASS) was created specifically for the Typhoon. DASS is an integrated internal electronic warfare suite which provides comprehensive protection against infrared missile and threat radars using a set of self-defence sensors and countermeasures systems positioned at different locations around the aircraft (see below). DASS is integrated with all of the other avionics subsystems and the cockpit display which has a dedicated format giving a plan view of the battle space showing the pilot any threats around the aircraft. The system is data driven and automated. It reduces the pilot’s work load by displaying what threats are in the battle space, how much of a risk each one poses to his or her aircraft and provides automated cues for countermeasures. Mission data uploaded into DASS adapts the system’s behaviour in response to particular threat systems predicted to be in the battle space and also adapts to any modifications made to those threat systems. It is logical to assume that DASS also records threat data but no confirmation of this was forthcoming from BAE Systems.

Capabilities

The system provides spherical 360° coverage, detecting and evaluating single or multiple threats at maximum range. Threat location is gained using a highaccuracy direction-finding system which calculates and displays the zones of lethality and then automatically activates appropriate countermeasures. DASS thereby makes a vital contribution to the pilot’s situational awareness. The overall system is controlled by a dedicated defensive aids computer (DAC) and interfaces with other avionic sub-systems providing a fully-automated capability to detect, analyse and respond to any threat, even in environments with the highest threat density. The DAC is housed in the avionics bay. DASS is fully user-programmable. At national level this ensures complete control of the electronic warfare (EW) software library content, and the best exploitation of mission data. This will facilitate future growth and promises to keep Typhoon viable throughout its service life. Differences in mission data make a massive difference to the capability of Typhoons operated by different nations.

Spadeadam and the aircrew based at Leeming. One non-standard foreign deployment for [a previous] Trial Mace was the German Air Force SA-8 SAM system from Polygone. Spadeadam SA-8s have not yet been digitally upgraded and the German version is far better equipped to conduct trails activity. Thus NATO invited them to deploy it to Spadeadam for the two-week period.”

Sorties

Sensors and Countermeasures

Trial Mace XV participating nations requested a number of hour-long slots on the range in addition to specific threat systems to test their equipment or aircraft manoeuvres. Missions were conducted both to meet shared NATO requirements and specific national aims and objectives. Wg Cdr Lawrence explained how the exercise sorties work: “Initially aircraft contact Spadeadam ATC for clearance into the range and then follow an agreed mission profile, from either low or high level. This can see the aircraft using manoeuvres alone, electronic jamming or chaff at low level to try to defeat the threat systems. The Spadeadam range controller and trials manager provides updates to the aircraft and control the threat systems to ensure they achieve the most out of their range slot. Spadeadam threats can be used against more than one target at a time but the training is not COMAO in nature, as it is all scripted, and often aircraft will operate in a non-standard fashion to test one element of their defensive systems. The scientists and analysts monitor the effectiveness of aircraft defensive actions and will use this data to refine or develop new countermeasures to threats for future testing or, potentially, for operational employment.”

DASS has electronic surveillance measures (ESM) antennas rated for high pulsedensity environments and electronic countermeasure (ECM) jammers housed in the wing tip pods together with forward and aft-staring compact high-sensitivity laser warning and an active missile approach warning (MAW) system. The MAW uses pulse-Doppler technology and is based around three MAW sensors, one in each wing root to give forward coverage and one in the rear fuselage. Because The Typhoon DASS has electronic surveillance measure antennas rated for high pulse-density environments and electronic countermeasure jammers housed in the wing tip pods.

Spanish Typhoons

The Spanish Air Force and Ala 11 were attending the EW exercise with Eurofighter Typhoons for the first. AIR International spoke with Captain David Neira, Ala 11’s Operations and EW officer, at the end of the exercise. “Our main objectives were to evaluate our DASS [Defensive Aids Sub System, see below] on our Typhoon and EW performance of the CASA 295 which is from another squadron [Ala 35],” he said. “We tested our jamming capabilities first, which consisted of both technical and tactical flights against various SAM systems. “Technical flights try to evaluate the EW warning system and jamming capabilities against ground radars. The tactical flights consist of simulated attacks over the SAM sites in order to evaluate how the combination of EW, plus defensive manoeuvres, helps the survival of the aircraft/formation. From a pilot’s perspective, this exercise provides us with better knowledge of the defensive system and also more confidence when flying in a ground threat scenario. “Results achieved at the end of the week were better than we expected and showed the Typhoon has a high level of self-protection. While we undertake EW exercises in Spain, these depend on the availability of SAM systems. We try to fly where these are deployed, but we do not have a specific EW range with all the instruments and devices found at Spadeadam. We have had the Typhoon since 2006 and the latest system software, 3.73, [which has optimised and increased the speed of system operations] for approximately 20 months. This exercise 74

Typhoon C.16-40/’11-20’ seen on short finals to RAF Leeming following a sortie to the RAF Spadeadam electronic warfare range in Northumbria during exercise Trial Mace XV.

Ground crew from Ala 11 based at Moron air base in southern Spain work through pre-flight checks with the pilots prior to a sortie. The main objective of the Spanish Typhoon’s participation in exercise Trial Mace XV was to evaluate the aircraft's defensive aids sub-system.

these are active systems they can detect passive weapons such as infraredguided short-range missiles as well as radar-guided missiles. Proven clutterrejection techniques are used by the MAW system to ensure an exceptionally low false-alarm rate. The laser warning system is a national fit item and one that has been selected by the RAF. DASS incorporates an RWR (radar warning receiver) system with Super Heterodyne (SuperHet)-based wideband receivers. These are located in the port wingtip pod (front and rear) and within the fuselage, giving full 360° coverage in azimuth and elevation. The electronic countermeasures (ECM) system displays threat information on the cockpit displays and controls a range of coherent and non-coherent RF jamming and expendable options. The system can automatically actuate the most suitable on or off board response to the given threat, and can be manually overridden by the pilot. The ECM system includes onboard phased array active jammers, and an innovative active off board countermeasures sub-system including two expendable towed radar decoys (TRD) which sit in the right hand wing tip pod. The ECM jammer works in conjunction with the ESM to jam a large spectrum of different airborne and set radars but has no electronic attack capability. TRDs have been successfully deployed at both subsonic and supersonic speeds and can be operated throughout the Typhoon’s flight envelope. The TRD in use with RAF Typhoon FGR4s deploys from the wingtip pod on a Kevlar cable containing a fibre-optic link and a separate power distribution line. The amount of cable deployed is performance related and is understood to be up to 100m (300ft) long. The DASS’s techniques generator sends commands to the decoy’s RF emitter down the fibre-optic cable. Passive countermeasures include SAAB Technologies’ BOL-500 integrated chaff dispensers housed in the weapon pylons, and integrated flare dispensers housed in the actuator fairings underneath the wing. These can be activated manually by the pilot, automatically by the DAC or by the MAW sensors.

Operating Modes

DASS operates in three different modes: fully automated, pilot selectable preprogrammes and fully manual. The level of autonomy will depend on what kinds of responses are programmed in for particular threat systems which are based on the information provided by the intelligence community. The pilot has the ability to configure how automated responses work, for example he or she can force a particular type of response, conserve resources or invoke a different one to what is programmed. If, for example, the pilot wants to combine expendable chaff and flares with an electronic countermeasure, the system will automatically assess the resources available on board and select accordingly. Alternatively the pilot can also cancel any automated response.

Computers for the Future

Typhoon has eight main computers (most of which are housed in the aircraft’s avionics bay), six main boxes and 30 other LRIs associated with DASS, making it the biggest of all the aircraft’s avionics subsystems. All of the computers and the processors were recently upgraded and currently provide a lot of spare computing power for future upgrades. One such Typhoon upgrade already under way is integration of the e-scan (active electronically scanned antenna or AESA) radar. The interoperability between DASS and the e-scan radar will function in a very similar way to how the system works with the current radar. Therefore the DASS will not require any modification to keep it working or to allow the radar to function properly when DASS is jamming. However, the introduction of the AESA radar will enable some DASS functions to use the radar’s antenna, opening up new missions to Typhoon, particularly jamming, and based on the amount of power generated by the aircraft, perhaps limited electronic attack. 75

Fly Low, Fly H Mark Broadbent looks at the Typhoon’s ground proximity warning system

F

lying a modern military fast jet low to the ground at high speed is demanding work. Pilots have to fly close to terrain whilst managing their aircraft’s complex systems and doing so under the pressure of complex operations involving numerous aircraft. And that’s before you take into account poor weather or enemy activity. The pilots of advanced combat jets have for decades stayed out of danger near the ground by using their aircraft’s ground proximity warning system (GPWS). In the Typhoon, this is the UTC Aerospace Systems TERPROM Digital Terrain System (TERPROM standing for Terrain Profile Matching). The GPWS works by constantly monitoring the aircraft’s position given by the inertial navigation system (INS) and the radar altimeter (RADALT) and attempts to predict if the aircraft will come dangerously close to the terrain.

TERPROM therefore removes the inconsistencies of a GPWS that solely uses potentially drifting INS data, instead using a constantly-updated stream of information to provide what UTC Aerospace System’s Marketing Director Alison Fenn calls “a clear and unequivocal picture of where the aircraft sits relative to the world around it at any point in time”. Furthermore, although TERPROM can use GPS, its operation is not reliant upon it because it uses the terrain database. Martin Parker, a Software Engineer at UTAS explained: “If there is a situation where there is no GPS for whatever reason, that’s not going to faze TERPROM in the slightest. TERPROM provides an accurate navigation solution in GPS-denied environments”.

Ground Collision Warning

But the strength of blending all this information doesn’t just end with improving the navigation solution. “If you know where you are to a very high degree of accuracy, which we do because of the TRN function, and you know your surroundings from the terrain database, you can effectively look ahead in time,” Parker said. So the database gives TERPROM another key feature – a predictive ground collision avoidance system (PGCAS) which allows the aircraft’s systems to generate visual and audio warnings if the trajectory will take the aircraft too close to the ground. The pilot has full control over the altitude at which TERPROM considers too low, via the selection of a set warning height (SWH). Parker said that warning systems were traditionally based “on a very simplistic model that would have no kind of knowledge of the terrain – they looked at the RADALT and they see how the aircraft is descending relative to the ground below them. They assume a flat earth which of course is never the case and they do some simple calculations and predict when the aircraft is going to hit flat earth, which will invariably fail because the earth isn’t flat.”

Terrain Database

So how does TERPROM achieve this? At the core of TERPROM is a terrain referenced navigation (TRN) function which provides a highly accurate, drift-free free navigation solution to other TERPROM functions as well as to other systems on the aircraft. TRN works by integrating the INS inputs, RADALT inputs and the digital terrain database which is loaded into the TERPROM unit. The INS provides the necessary position, velocity and attitude details, whereas the RADALT is used to build a picture of the terrain as the aircraft passes over it. TRN blends the information from these sources together using a Kalman Filter. Kalman Filters are complicated mathematical algorithms, used widely in the aerospace and spaceflight industries for guidance, navigation, control and data integration applications. 76

Hard, Fly Safe

Paul Ridgway

TERPROM’s PGCAS is different because it provides warnings stemming not from flat earth predictions, but instead from constant scanning of the terrain ahead of the aircraft using the information in the terrain databases. It is able to observe if there’s a potential collision – either with terrain or a man-made obstruction – in the area the aircraft will shortly fly through. Parker explained: “It knows exactly what the terrain is along the aircraft’s direction of travel. It’s constantly looking ahead of the aircraft 25 times every second and at the aircraft’s state – that’s roll, pitch, heading, velocities and turn rate, effectively a snapshot in time. It will look at what the aircraft is currently doing and assumes that the aircraft has to pull out of the manoeuvre”. He continued: “The PGCAS looks for any instances where the aircraft would intercept the selected SWH. It interrogates the terrain database along the aircraft’s trajectory and builds a profile of the upcoming terrain. The width of the profile depends on the accuracy of the navigation solution, and the length ahead of the aircraft is a function of the aircraft’s speed: the faster the aircraft is travelling, the further ahead PGCAS looks. The system considers aircraft performance – for example the g it can pull and what power it has. It allows for a pilot’s reaction time and also for the orientation of the aircraft. For example, if the aircraft is inverted it allows time for it to roll to wings level. If the pilot reacts promptly to the warning the aircraft will avoid the impending collision.” Closely related to PGCAS is the obstruction warning and cueing (OWC) function. OWC gives advanced cues of upcoming obstructions such as radio masts, sufficiently far in advance that the pilot can fly around them rather than over them, thus maintaining low-level flight. If the pilot continues to fly at an obstruction it will eventually trigger a PGCAS warning. Simpler systems which don’t have TEPROM’s accurate navigation solution and terrain database have been known to produce nuisance warnings to the extent

that the pilot switches the system off. TERPROM makes accurate predictions and therefore does not produce nuisance warnings. It’s important to note that the PGCAS and OWC functions within TERPROM don’t themselves generate the warnings to the pilot. “The data from our system goes out on the aircraft databus as a message,” Parker explained. “The system that will look at that message is the CSG [computer symbol generator] which is responsible for generating the symbology on the head up display. The CSG will look at [the message] and generate the warning symbology that will appear on the head up. The audio warning system also picks up the TERPROM message from the databus and generates the ‘Pull up! Pull up!’ and ‘Obstruction! Obstruction!’ audio cues”.

Air-to-Ground Support

Another difference between TERPROM and other systems is that it can utilise its navigation capability together with its terrain database to assist other functions on the aircraft. TERPROM has a set of ranging capabilities which allow the terrain database to be interrogated to return data about specific points on the ground, including the location, height and range to a point on the ground observed from the aircraft, or, whether or not there is line-of-sight to a point of interest from the aircraft. These can be used for applications such as weapon aiming, sensor steering and combat search and rescue. In the case of Typhoon, these functions are used to assist the air-to-ground weapon aiming capabilities in more accurately determining target locations. Simply, as Fenn puts it, “we share TERPROM’s knowledge of the terrain in the database with the other systems.” In short, TERPROM plays a vital role in the Typhoon’s navigation, ground collision avoidance and, weapons aiming, helping the aircraft to operate effectively and safely at low-level. 77

Richth

Frank Crébas

78

thofen T

Kees van der Mark reports on Luftwaffe Eurofighter operations from Wittmundhafen Air Base

he reform plans unfolded by the German ministry of defence in October 2011 led to the most drastic restructuring of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) since its establishment in November 1955. As for Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Eurofighter operations, the plans clarified two things: the final batch of 37 Tranche 3B jets would not be ordered, and therefore the Bundeswehr would not get 180 Eurofighters to equip five wings as previously planned. In addition, Wittmundhafen Air Base (AB) in northwest Germany – home to Jagdgeschwader 71 ‘Richthofen’ (JG 71, Fighter Wing 71), the last operational wing flying the F-4F Phantom II – would be retained as the last of four air bases to convert to the Eurofighter once the F-4F retired in June 2013. With the Luftwaffe forced to reduce the number of fast jet wings from seven to five in the restructuring plans, Tornado-equipped Jagdbombergeschwader 32 (JaBoG 32, Fighter Bomber Wing 32) at Lechfeld AB was decommissioned on March 31, 2013, while JG 71 lost its wing status and instead became the Taktische Luftwaffengruppe ‘Richthofen’ (TaktLwGrp ‘R’, Tactical Air Force Group) on October 1, 2013. ‘Richthofen’ now reports to the Eurofighter wing at Nörvenich AB, nowadays called Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 31 ‘Boelcke’ (TaktLwG ‘B’, Tactical Air Force Wing 31). In Germany, the Eurofighter – the Luftwaffe never refers to the aircraft as Typhoon, but simply calls it Eurofighter – replaced the MiG-29G/MiG-29GT, F-4F and part of the Tornado fleet within three wings between 2004 and 2013. Delivery of the final Tranche 2 jet is expected next spring, with the 31 Tranche 3A aircraft scheduled to follow until early 2018. First to receive its Eurofighters, on April 26, 2004, was Laage-based JG 73 ‘Steinhoff’, followed by JG 74 at Neuburg AB on July 25, 2006, and JaBoG 31 ‘Boelcke’ at Nörvenich AB on December 16, 2009. Each of the three wings has between 28 and 35 aircraft assigned, while plans call for 15-20 Eurofighters to be based permanently at Holloman AFB in New Mexico, for tactical training in the future. Holloman is already home to the Fliegerische Ausbildungszentrum der Luftwaffe (FlgAusbZLw, German Air Force Flying Training Centre or GAFFTC), operating Tornados. A final decision on whether Luftwaffe Eurofighter training will relocate from Laage

to Holloman AFB, is expected towards the end of this year. Three Eurofighters are permanently used by the Bundeswehr for tests and trials, which leaves 140 aircraft for the Luftwaffe by 2018.

Transition

At the end of their 40-year career, the F-4Fs of JG 71 were primarily tasked with quick reaction alert (QRA) missions over northern Germany, including parts of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, that fall under German responsibility. To allow a smooth transition from the Phantom to the Eurofighter, enabling the new jet to take over QRA duties on July 1, the aircraft started arriving at Wittmundhafen in early spring. The first Eurofighter (serial 30+66) touched down at the base on April 8 wearing the ‘Boelcke’ badge on its tail, but also Richthofen’s emblem on the forward fuselage. By May the number of Eurofighters at Wittmundhafen, all drawn from JaBoG 31’s inventory, had grown to seven. Lt Col Timo Heimbach, the commanding officer of TaktLwGrp ‘R’ said: “In April, we focussed on letting the technicians get used to handling the new aircraft here at Wittmundhafen, using the first two jets. Meanwhile, we trained pilots at Nörvenich in carrying out QRA missions. In May, we held a so-called stress test. The goal was to let four jets fly missions twice a day to see if the technicians could handle the pressure of increased operations. It also enabled the pilots who had never flown here to become familiar with the air base and the airspace over the North Sea. Finally, we developed and improved QRA procedures during this period. Next, in June, was the shadow QRA. When the F-4s got a call to scramble, we sent two Eurofighter into the air as well. They took off 15 minutes later, to avoid them getting in the way of the F-4s. Eurofighters officially took over the QRA duties on July 1. But with the Phantom Farewell events planned for the last days of June, we wanted the QRA aircraft operating away from Wittmundhafen. Therefore, the Eurofighters effectively took over QRA operations a week earlier, temporarily operating from Nörvenich.” Lt Col Heimbach accumulated some 2,000 flying hours as a pilot within the Luftwaffe, including 250 hours in the Eurofighter. He flew F-4Fs with JG 71 between 1997 and 2007, followed by postings at Luftwaffe Command and as JaBoG 31’s Flying Group commander at Nörvenich. He took over from JG 71’s commanding officer, 79

year, we plan to fly two training scrambles with two jets every day, which comes down to about 90 flying hours a month, or 1,000 a year. In addition, we expect to fly 400 hours for local training missions in 2014. As more pilots and new infrastructure become available, the number of jets will gradually increase to 20 in 2018. Eventually, we plan to fly 4,000 hours a year.”

All Change

Before ‘Richthofen’ can operate 20 Eurofighters entirely on its own, there is still a lot to be done with personnel and infrastructure. Like other wings, JG 71 employed about 1,300 people, including civilian support personnel. Dictated by the reform plans, Luftwaffe wing size will be reduced to 980 people, while TaktLwGrp ‘R’ goes down to 750, based on the number of aircraft it will operate. “We are still in the middle of the reduction process and currently have around 880 people here,” said Lt Col Heimbach. He added: “Technically, we can already operate the jets on our own. The QRA aircraft have to be turned around in one hour. To be able to do that, technicians need to be familiar with the aircraft. That is why we sent them to the Eurofighter wings at Laage, Neuburg or Nörvenich first, after they finished their conversion training.”

Col Gerhard Roubal, on July 1, 2013, as acting wing commander of JG 71 until it was formally disbanded on September 30, to become TaktLwGrp ‘R’ the next day. Day-to-day flying at Wittmundhafen will increase in the coming months, as Lt Col Heimbach explained: “For the next two to three years, our core task will be to fly QRA missions in the northern region. For that, we need between seven and nine jets here at Wittmundhafen. Four will be on alert 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including two at 15-minute notice and another two as spares. Next

The CO continued: “To carry out the QRA task over a longer period, we need 15 pilots. Currently, my deputy and I are the only pilots within ‘Richthofen’, so we still rely heavily on pilots from the 31st and 74th wings. Two guys have finished their Eurofighter conversion at Laage and are now at Neuburg to train QRA missions before coming to Wittmundhafen – JG 74 has operated Eurofighters to cover QRA for the southern region for many years now, so that’s why our pilots gain this specific proficiency there. Two other pilots are currently going through their conversion. At the end of this year we will have six pilots available, increasing to ten by the end of next year, and 15 in the course of 2015. We also hope to have an IP [instructor pilot] here by April 2014, so we can train pilots within our group to become element leads.” To operate Eurofighters from Wittmundhafen, the ten hardened aircraft shelters (HAS) in the eastern loop on the base have been adapted to accommodate the new jet, including installation of an IT network and changes to the electrical system. The QRA site from the F-4 era is closed and will be torn down. “A lot of the old buildings will need to be replaced by new ones. We project no less than 250 on the base, requiring an investment of some 150 million euros. They include new QRA facilities, a large maintenance hall, a hush house for engine tests and a new control tower. If we get the financial go-ahead early next year, construction can start in the second half of 2015 and be finished by 2018.” The Bundeswehr created the tactical air force group at Wittmundhafen with the intention to let it grow into a full wing again once the Tornado is retired around 2025. “If that is the case, we plan to upgrade the ten shelters in the western loop as well, enabling us to accommodate two squadrons again.”

Simulator

According to NATO rules, German Eurofighter pilots need to fly 180 hours annually. Of these, 140 are flying hours for fully operational pilots – and 90 80

for staff pilots – while the remaining 40 are flown in a simulator. Like the other Eurofighter home bases, Wittmundhafen has its own ASTA (Aircrew Synthetic Training Aids) to simulate complex procedural and operational scenarios. The ASTA is a full fidelity simulator. When a pilot flies the simulator the hours accumulated count as technical flying hours, but cannot contribute to licence hours for qualification. The ASTA consists of two training devices that can be linked or operated independently: a full mission simulator (FMS) with a 360° view, and a cockpit trainer (CT). It will be available for training from January 1, 2014, operated by German company GFD. The ‘Richthofen’ commander explained: “We start off with two CIs [civil instructors], which is the minimum if we want to do more than procedural training. One CI will man the operating station, the other can fly in the CT to fly BFM [basic fighter manoeuvres] against us, or we can fly 2 v X missions. Plans to interlink the ASTA simulators at different air bases have not materialised so far, due to the high quantity of data that needs to be transmitted and related security issues. It would be nice though, to be able to fly 4 v X missions in linked simulators,”.

Above: Eurofighter 30+92 (c/n GS070) was one of seven aircraft used by TaktLwGrp ‘Richthofen’for the stress test at Wittmundhafen in May. Kees van der Mark Main: Wittmundhafen-based Eurofighters usually carry a ‘Richthofen’ sticker on the forward fuselage, in addition to TaktLwG 31’s badge on the tail. Frank Crébas Opposite top: For the next few years, the Wittmundhafen-based Eurofighters will primarily be tasked with quick reaction alert coverage of Germany’s northern region. Frank Crébas Opposite bottom: Close-up of the specially decorated tail of Eurofighter 31+00 emphasising the link between the TaktLwG 31 ‘Boelcke’ and TaktLwGrp ‘Richthofen’. Kees van der Mark Bottom: Eurofighter 31+00 was the 100th delivered to the Luftwaffe. Kees van der Mark

World of Difference

AB, Sardinia, in September. Earlier-built aircraft have a limited air-to-ground capability, while Tranche 2 and 3 have the capability to release dual-mode precision-guided bombs like the GBU-48 Enhanced Paveway 2 acquired by the Luftwaffe. Following TaktLwG 31, the other wings should be able to operate their Eurofighters as multi-role weapon platforms as well by 2018. Meanwhile, ‘Richthofen’ has another two years to go before operating Eurofighters independently of support provided by other Luftwaffe wings. The group will remain dependent on its parent wing at Nörvenich for the foreseeable future, since the jets flown from Wittmundhafen are officially assigned to TaktLwG 31 and maintenance is carried out mainly at Nörvenich. By 2018, Wittmundhafen will be fully equipped for Eurofighter operations, possibly becoming home to a wing again after 2025.

Comparing the Eurofighter and Phantom, Lt Col Heimbach smiled, saying: “When talking about their flying capabilities, the new jet is at least two galaxies away from the old one. The power of the engines is incredible. And the jet supports the pilot very much. It is carefree, you cannot exceed the limits of the airframe. So you hardly need your brain to fly the aircraft, which is good because the tactical part of the mission is much more complex than it used to be in the Phantom. Operating a tactical jet on your own is a totally different ball game when compared to the early days, when we had a WSO [weapons system operator] in the back providing an extra pair of eyes and a second brain. Now we are on our own, which requires more planning and preparation in advance. You need a certain comfort level to do everything more or less automatically, especially when you get a scramble call in the middle of the night. I would like our pilots – also the more experienced former F-4 guys – to have flown at least 50 hours in the Eurofighter after finishing their conversion and QRA proficiency, to reach that comfort level before we send them out on QRA missions as a wing man. We also want to train four specific types of QRA missions, based on experience from scrambles flown from Wittmundhafen in the past. Since we do not have the flying hours or the IPs yet to conduct this training and with the wings at Laage and Nörvenich already busy training pilots, this will likely be done at Neuburg as well.”

Into the Future

So far, Luftwaffe Eurofighter operations continue to be mainly focussed on air defence, with air-to-air missiles in Luftwaffe service including the AIM-2000 IRIS-T and the AIM-120B AMRAAM, with the latter scheduled for replacement by the MBDA Meteor within a few years. The ‘Boelcke’ wing is currently working up to reach initial air-to-ground capability around 2015. Its pilots have practised strafing ground targets during their annual deployment to Decimomannu 81

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AE Systems Regional Aircraft has an aviation heritage spanning over 100 years and while it continues to provide worldleading engineering services and support to the large number of aircraft manufactured by the company, it has firmly moved into providing fully integrated solutions to operators, OEMs and MROs on

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all other aircraft types. Building on its own credentials, the company now offers an extensive range of integrated support and engineering services for aircraft from any OEM, following the company’s European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) approval in May 2013 to undertake EASA Part 21 G in addition to its existing Part 21 J approval. This is

recognition that Regional Aircraft can now not only offer design work for different aircraft types, but design and arrange the manufacture and supply of parts.

Business Areas So what capabilities does Regional Aircraft have? The key areas are: interiors, avionics,

l Evolution BAE Systems Regional Aircraft is expanding and evolving its business. Mark Broadbent reports

airframes and nose to tail aircraft conversions, all optimised through its premier supply chain and extensive OEM in-service experience. The full spectrum of services includes design, changes, upgrades, repairs, conversions, supply chain and support. The big change to the company’s services is that it can now offer these competencies to the wider global aviation marketplace.

Neil Campbell, Head of Engineering Business at BAE Systems Regional Aircraft, told AIR International: “Our business is evolving. We’re enhancing our services and making them available to a wider portfolio of aircraft, and we’re looking at developing key relationships with suppliers to support a range of products across the market.”

New Capabilities EASA Part 21 G and J approvals mean that Regional Aircraft can now produce a range of non-OEM aircraft parts and specified appliances for third-party companies under EASA. The company now has the capability to design, repair and source parts, arrange their manufacture and obtain

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their certification. The approvals cover all ATA chapters. Regional Aircraft is also now approved to design and supply cabin interiors, including galley equipment, cargo pallets and containers, and passenger and crew seats. These approvals allow Regional Aircraft to undertake a variety of conversions and modifications including equipment upgrades, the supply of replacement parts, interior configuration changes and full aircraft conversions.

Conversions 1 BAE Systems Regional Aircraft undertook the major conversion of two BAe 146 CC3s for the Royal Air Force. Ian Harding 2 Regional Aircraft converted a BAe 146-301 large Atmospheric Research Aircraft for the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements, a UK scientific research organisation based at Cranfield. 3 Flexible cabin stowage on an RAF BAe 146 CC3 transport aircraft. Ian Harding 4 Regional Aircraft offer a cabin design and conversion service that can include the installation of special role workstations. 5&6 Regional Aircraft offer a range of options for cabin upgrades for any aircraft (top) and upgrades and conversions for any aircraft (bottom). All images BAE Systems Regional Aircraft unless noted

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One of Regional Aircraft’s niche core business areas concerns conversions. Neil Campbell explained: “We can support a number of conversions including surveillance and reconnaissance, coastguard, search and rescue, atmospheric research aircraft and waterbombers. We can also do passenger-freight combi conversions and VIP conversion work.” Regional Aircraft has in recent years worked on several projects converting its own aircraft for new uses. These have included the Avro Business Jet which saw an Avro RJ fitted with a VIP interior and a BAE 146-300 into the UK’s Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurement (FAAM) platform, which is equipped with sophisticated sensors for atmospheric and weather research missions. Most recently, the company converted two ex-TNT Airways BAE 146s into Quick Change (QC) passenger/cargo versions for the Royal Air Force under an Urgent Operational Requirement. This work was completed in just ten months, with the first aircraft being handed over to the RAF in March 2013 after Regional Aircraft was

awarded the contract in June 2012. Regional Aircraft’s message is that with the EASA approvals it can now apply its expertise, built through the breadth of the conversions to its own aircraft, into any project. “Conversions fall into the sweet spot of our capability. Because we’re an OEM there aren’t many jobs that faze us, we have the capability to manage the different demands,” said Campbell. Although identities could not be disclosed for commercial reasons, Graham Smith Head of Business Development said that Regional Aircraft is “talking to several parties” about undertaking conversions on non-BAE 1 aircraft. He added: “Being an OEM helps with requirements management for contracts. Working with customers to understand their needs, eliciting their specific requirements and developing responses to those requirements, is one of our key specialisms. We then have the whole-aircraft integration capabilities.”

Modifications Alongside the full-aircraft conversions is Regional Aircraft’s modifications capability. “We can undertake a modification desired by a customer, or use one developed previously for another customer, and provide the modifications to meet requirements laid down by EASA or other authorities,” Smith explained. Again, this is not a new capability to Regional Aircraft as such – the company has of course undertaken modifications on its own products in response to both customer demands and ADs from regulators. But the widening of the EASA approvals means it can now apply that competency to any aircraft. The company says “dialogue is under way with various parties on a variety of programme possibilities,” including major/minor structural and systems modifications. It’s targeting midlife aircraft such as the Boeing 737 Classic, the A320 family, the Bombardier CRJ700/900 and the Embraer ERJ-135/145. Campbell added that business aircraft are another target market. Regional Aircraft sees particular opportunities in interiors. “Airlines are starting to look at broadband connectivity as part of IFE and we’re reacting to that,” Campbell said. “We’re looking at additional connectivity to create extra IFE revenue opportunities and to create other functions within the aircraft, like electronic flight bag capabilities. Introducing Wi-Fi means you take out wiring, which means you take out a 4

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COMMERCIAL BAE SYSTEMS REGIONAL AIRCRAFT engineering aspect of Regional Aircraft’s business. “We provide consultancy, including requirements development, certification and specific design and engineering services,” said Campbell. The company has provided these services to the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company to aid the development of the forthcoming MRJ regional jet, and Campbell said Regional Aircraft is targeting other opportunities with what it terms ‘emerging OEMs’.

Rate Per Flight Hour (RPFH) In addition to using its experience to move into new market areas, Regional Aircraft continues to provide support for its own types through its well-established RPFHs. The RPFH programme for the 146 and RJ is called JetSpares, and that for the Jetstream and ATP is named MACRO (Material and Component Repair and Overhaul). In both programmes Regional Aircraft takes care of the rotable parts inventory, logistics and repairs. The aims are 1 to enable airlines to plan flight operations 1 BAE Systems Regional Aircraft is EASA approved to Part 21 sub-parts J & M to undertake repair with confidence and help them to manage and design activities on all small and large aircraft. 2 A Regional Aircraft supply chain team reviewing cash-flow. “We manage the repair and rotables stock optimisation. 3 Regional Aircraft engineers discuss narrow body structures during a overhaul of units and the reliability of the design and analysis meeting. 4 Regional Aircraft offers a wide range of products and services across all parts, so if we’re seeing faults, we tackle the aircraft types including the Airbus A320. All images BAE Systems Regional Aircraft vendors,” Smith explained. Aircraft says its USP is that it offers a lot of weight and create fuel savings. We’re JetSpares and MACRO currently carry out complete service. Smith said: “We’ll provide considering mid-life, mixed-fleet environments 4,000-4,500 repairs a year and are supported you with a one-stop shop for the whole and operators who, for example, have a mix by dedicated AOG teams, available 24/7. project instead of you going out to get of 737s and A320s and therefore a mixture Smith added: “We also pass on best practice an STC house, managing all the vendors, of interiors and upgrades that enable them to operators, if one has a problem with a the logistics and the after-market support to standardise their configuration – seats, particular part we share that with others yourself and project-managing everything. carpets, mood lighting – and create consistent so they can catch something and the part We do all that, and we’ll also give you the branding as well as cost savings.” doesn’t need to be removed.” technical publications to go with it. Because of our relationship with the vendors we’re One-stop Shop Spares able to provide a value-added service.” Whether customers are interested in Spares for Regional Aircraft’s legacy fleet are Complementing the conversions and conversions or modifications, Regional provided under a programme called Parts modifications capabilities is the design Plus. This guarantees fixed prices on over 2 2,000 spares and delivery within five days. Again the purpose is to help customers manage costs by only buying parts when necessary rather than them having to keep them on the shelf in case they are needed. Regional Aircraft has a parts distribution centre strategically located in Weybridge, Surrey, close to both Heathrow and Gatwick. “We can reach every capital city in the world – there isn’t a delay in getting parts to where they are needed,” Smith said. Regional Aircraft also holds spares stocks for its own types in Australia and South Africa, programmes managed in partnership with Cobham and Airlink respectively. “If we identify regions where there are significant amounts of aircraft, we will look at placing stock in those regions,” Smith revealed. “We also work with operators individually to do something bespoke with them.” An important aspect of Regional Aircraft’s business is assisting customers’ retiring aircraft with stock management and retirement costs. Smith explained: “The inventory management allows operators to cease using our aircraft types costeffectively. We take on management of their stocks. If they’ve surplus stock we’ll help them with the disposal of it. We’ve come to agreements that when they hand their last aircraft back to their lessor they won’t have any stock left because it’s all

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BAE SYSTEMS REGIONAL AIRCRAFT COMMERCIAL been taken on by us.” Regional Aircraft will also manage this stock for new operators. It provides guarantees to them “to keep the aircraft in service as well as quality assurance, availability and the ability to plan ahead,” said Campbell. Complementing the supply chain is the support the company provides through its technical publications, which are compliant with the latest S1000D standards.

Integrated Solutions Operators of Regional Aircraft’s legacy types have benefitted from the company’s RPFH, spares, inventory management and technical support programmes and could only benefit from this service since they became customers, but Regional Aircraft says it now has a more integrated approach to these services. Reflecting the trend in mature markets towards consolidation in MRO as operators seek cost savings, the company has developed a Total Support Package (TSP) proposition that enables customers to bundle these services together. Several operators of BAE aircraft have signed TSP contracts. Ireland’s CityJet, part of the Air France-KLM Group, is now part way through a five-year Total Support contract which includes JetSpares and technical services (including technical publications) support for its 20 Avro RJ85s. Regional Aircraft also has three-year contracts with Braathens Technical AB to support Malmo Aviation’s fleet of 12 Avro RJs, Sweden’s West Atlantic for its 42-strong fleet of ATPs and UK regional carrier Eastern Airways for its 16 Jetstream 41s. But the TSP philosophy also complements the newer aspects of the business. Regional 3 Aircraft offers its integrated after-sales spares, important in working with emerging repairs and technical publications support suppliers. “We can support the new product services for all customers. Its approach with a complete range of support services is to fully support whatever conversion, outside the supplier’s home market,” Smith modification or parts replacement work is pointed out. undertakes for a customer. Campbell said: “We can look after the whole process right the way Tailored Approach through, taking on the project Regional Aircraft says another differentiator management and taking it from is its customised approach, working with project requirements through each individual client on their specific the development, certification, needs. “If you want to use us as a onesupply and support. The more stop shop, then we’re here,” Campbell integrated the solutions are, the better it is.” The company regards integrated support as especially

said, but he added that if a customer wants something more specific, then Regional Aircraft will respond to those demands too. “It’s really up to the customer to determine what they want to do,” he said. Smith concluded: “We tailor our solutions for each market, whether it’s airlines for modifications and reverse-engineering of parts, or MROs for conversions and OEMs. Perhaps sometimes people think we’re trying to be everything to everybody, but we’re not. What we’re about is talking to each individual customer, understanding what their needs are and delivering their specific solution. Our broad capability allows us to develop solutions that will work for them.”

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All images Ian Harding and Nick Martin

MILITARY MERLIN HM2

Ian Harding visits Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall to find out about the Merlin Mk2 multi-mission helicopter 88

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n the face of it, the Royal Navy’s AgustaWestland Merlin HM2 looks almost identical to the original variant. Even the keenest aviation enthusiast would struggle to spot the external differences that distinguish the new-generation Merlin HM2 (Mk2) from its predecessor, the HM1 (Mk1) – an extra pitot tube, a tail-mounted GPS antenna, a new light above the cargo door for fast roping, a new access panel for the relocated radar processor, and

Mark Two

MILITARY MERLIN HM2 two SARLS (search and rescue location system) aerials under the nose. So while the Mk2 looks the same, has the same engines and fundamentally flies in the same way as the Mk1, that’s where the similarities end, as revealed at the Mk2’s press launch at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose, Cornwall, on July 23. Commodore Andy Lison, responsible for the Merlin, Lynx, Wildcat and Sea King teams at the MoD’s Defence, Equipment and Support Organisation (DE&S), said: “It’s inside the aircraft where the real hard work has been done.” Ray Edwards, Managing Director of AgustaWestland UK at the company’s Somerset headquarters, also recently said the Mk2 Merlin is “the most technologically capable helicopter that has been built and delivered out of the Yeovil facility.” Almost 15 years after the first Royal Navy Merlin HM1 entered service in December 1998, a new era of Merlin operations beckons following delivery of the first five Mk2 aircraft to No 824 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) at Culdrose. So far, DE&S has delivered to time and cost.

More than a decade of design and system testing by a Combined Test Team (CTT) has transformed the inside of the maritime Merlin and elevated the helicopter’s operational capabilities to new heights. “It’s now such a highly flexible aircraft that it gives the force commanders the equivalent of a Swiss Army knife to do whatever they want on any given day,” said Jeff Streznetcky, Managing Director Helicopter Programmes for Lockheed Martin UK, which led the upgrade project.

Evolution Inside the Mk2 is like an Aladdin’s cave, fitted with modern digital systems addressing every aspect of the aircraft’s avionics and tactical mission systems. The Merlin was already a world-class maritime platform, but the Mk2 has further improved the type’s capabilities, as Cdr Lison noted at the launch. “The Merlin Mk2 represents the culmination of a decade of concept, design, integration and test. A considerable amount of effort has converted the highly capable Mk1 to the Mk2 standard to provide the Royal Navy with the world’s

most technically advanced anti-submarine and maritime helicopter.” Inside the Mk2, you are presented with a state-of-theart glass cockpit, an improved aircrew console and the very latest in tactical mission systems design. Critically, this design was led by Merlin operators rather than system specialists and will provide the Royal Navy with a truly world-class Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW), Command and Control platform up to its notional Out of Service Date (OSD) of 2029. Incorporating modern open architecture systems was a key part of the Mk2’s internal design, as this offers greater flexibility, making it relatively easy and more cost-effective to add additional role equipment in the future, such as night vision goggles (NVGs) and enhanced electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors. With the latest tactical systems and hardware available to them, the Mk2’s two rear crew members now have the ability to operate independently, process information at substantially greater speeds, attack multiple targets above and below the surface, disseminate information

quickly, and present it in a more user-friendly fashion via Link 11 datalinks immediately. Central to these enhancements is a vastly improved Human Machine Interface (HMI) incorporating large flat touch screen panel unit (TSU) displays as well as significant improvements in the radar and sonar systems. The redesigned rear mission consoles offer an impressively modern layout. They are also modular. So should the Merlin be required for any of its secondary roles, these consoles can be divided or dismantled quickly, in approximately two and a half hours. This enables the cabin to be re-configured and the aircraft made available efficiently. The Mk2 builds on the Mk1’s inherent flexibility to carry out an impressive array of secondary roles including transport of up to 16 fully equipped combat troops, vertical replenishment, search and rescue, casualty evacuation of up to 12 stretchers, force protection (when fitted with a M3M machine gun), and a 10,000lb (4,535kg) under-slung lift capability. Developing the Mk2 presented significant

1 Cornwall’s iconic St Michael’s Mount in Mount’s Bay forms a great backdrop for the world class Merlin Mk2. 2 Externally the Merlin Mk2 may look like the original Mk1, but internally the upgraded helicopter is jampacked with advanced systems for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare. 1

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challenges to the CTT, which comprises Lockheed Martin UK Integrated Systems (LMUK IS), AgustaWestland (AW), DE&S, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Royal Navy, but a shared sense of responsibility and teamwork has ensured participants have remained focused throughout and there have been no ‘show stoppers’. With further major system and engineering upgrades scheduled before and after Full Operational Capability (FOC) is achieved at the end of 2014, this teamwork remains important.

Capability Sustainment Originally procured to operate from Type 23 frigates and aircraft carriers, and to replace the Sea King Mk6 in the ASW role, the Mk1 Merlin quickly evolved as a multi-role platform keeping pace with the UK’s complex defensive demands. Whilst the Mk1 and its specialist crew fulfilled a role akin to an airborne frigate, the reality was that its tactical mission and avionics systems were left behind relatively soon after it entered service because of the rate of technological change. With no simple, costeffective solution to this issue available, it was not long before programmes to upgrade the

Mk1’s systems commenced. In June 2003, LMUK IS was selected by the MoD as the prime contractor for a twoyear programme assessing potential upgrades to the Mk1. November 2004 saw LMUK IS and AW submit a proposal to the MoD to address the Mk1’s capability, performance and through-life costs. In December 2005 the MoD awarded LMUK IS a £750 million contract to upgrade 30 Merlin Mk1s to Mk2 standard. This led to the Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme (MCSP), whose objectives were to sustain capability, resolve obsolescence issues, introduce open architecture systems and facilitate future capability upgrades. An option for a further eight aircraft, hasn’t so far been taken up. In March 2006 AW was awarded a 25-year Integrated Merlin Operational Support (IMOS) contract by the MoD, valued at £450 million for the first five years. The support work covered by the IMOS contract is undertaken at RNAS Culdrose. IMOS provides comprehensive support to the Royal Navy’s Merlin fleet (as well as the Royal Air Force’s Merlin HC3/ HC3As). AW in turn contracted LMUK IS to provide support for the tactical and avionics

systems and provide the Merlin Training Facility (MTF) located at Culdrose. The MCSP provoked much discussion, not just about the technical challenges involved in upgrading the Mk1s to Mk2s but also about the question of whether it might have been simpler to acquire a new helicopter. However, although the upgrade required a large financial outlay and investment, LMUK IS estimates that over the long term the MCSP will ultimately generate cost savings of around £500 million ($770 million) through the avoidance of obsolescence, as well as annual support cost savings of £15million ($23 million). This ultimately proved a compelling argument for the investment.

the Blue Kestrel surveillance radar incorporating a new digital signal processor with new Synthetic Aperture Radar/ Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR/ISAR) modes along with more robust track-whilescan performance and a new acoustics suite with a sonics processing suite featuring new detection and tracking algorithms embedded within a new Common Acoustic Processor. • New solid state mass storage and recording system • Upgraded data link capability (Link 11) • New ground preparation facilities • New tactical Ethernet which has been ‘ruggedised’ for aircraft use.

Systems Changes

Avionics changes comprise: • A new flat panel multifunction cockpit display based on five NVG compatible displays and touch screen panel units (TSUs) to provide balance between ‘touch’ and ‘stick’ control • Modified navigation suite including a new Attitude and Heading reference System (AHRS), new embedded GPS/ inertial navigation system (EGI), and new Air Data Unit (ADU) • Enhanced communication system comprising SATURN

The key tactical mission system and avionics changes included in the MCSP, subject to future upgrades, are as follows: • An open architecture system featuring a vastly improved HMI provided by new tactical consoles in the rear of the aircraft with new 24in (600mm) primary tactical display monitors • A new digital map system comprising four independent map channels • An upgraded version of

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MILITARY MERLIN HM2 V/UHF radios, new High Frequency (HF) Radio and Intercom system • New Avionics Full Duplex Ethernet (AFDX) Aircraft Data Network (a data network for safety-critical applications)

Systems Re-design

1 1 New flat panel multi-function displays and touch screen units provide balance between touch and stick control in the Merlin Mk2’s glass cockpit. 2 New primary tactical display monitors and touch screen units are the centrepiece of the Mk2’s re-designed tactical consoles. 3 Open architecture and improved HMI integrated on the Merlin Mk2 is designed to ease the crew transition.

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The Royal Navy deemed it critical that crews had direct input into the process of design, development and implementation of the Mk2’s tactical mission systems and avionics. Consequently, experienced Mk1 operators were embedded into the CTT from the outset. A key design goal laid down by these operators was that the new systems should be familiar enough to enable crews to make the transition relatively easily. Alongside this, two major issues with the Mk1’s systems were identified. First, systems operators constantly struggled with the size and resolution of the tactical picture, which was an old 12in (300mm) cathode ray tube which progressed to a liquid crystal display (LCD). The viewing area was a mere 6sq in (3,870mm2), which made things extremely cluttered. Operators could zoom out and see where everything was, or zoom in to see the detail, but they could not do both at the same time, at least not easily.“ Get too engrossed in the detail of fighting the battle and operators lost the big picture,” one operator noted. The second major issue involved the Common Control Unit (CCU), which consisted of a keypad and screen containing ten multi-function keys and menus. Each individual key press had to be taught because the menu structure was so complex. The operator would first select the system needed and then would be offered the multi-function keys. When these were selected they would often take them somewhere else, down several levels of the menu, in order to complete the action. It was simply too complicated. In essence, crews often had to fight the system’s HMI to achieve a task – a tough ask during a complex event.

Re-designed HMI From the outset in designing the new system, rear crew operators provided input on how they wanted HMI menu sequences and displays to function. This ultimately inspired confidence that the new system

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would enable tactical functions to be completed and also that operators could learn to manipulate the system quickly. Much is Windows-based, with a graphical user interface which leads the user along a path to perform a particular task. With the new TSU, operators now rarely go down more than two levels of menu. It has 40 keys allowing them to complete a task, operate the radar system, and release information to the data link, among other functions. The HMI was basically designed around a workflow which orders tasks in battle – A, B, C. When the operator returns to them, the HMI displays them in that order. One of the aims of devising this more intuitive HMI system was that operators should hopefully find it easier to retain the tactical system ‘workflow’ memory and not suffer from what was termed operator ‘skill fade’ on the Mk1’s systems. Having converted to the Mk2 systems, Qualified Helicopter Instructors (QHIs), Observer Instructors (QOIs) and Aircrewman Instructors (QAIs) from 824 NAS confirm how much easier it is to operate compared to the Mk1. Operators now have the capacity to do more. The new radar system in the Mk2 has significantly increased their ability to track multiple targets, and to filter, assimilate and sort information in a manner which keeps this process manageable. This was confirmed when AIR International met 824 NAS

instructors recently. QAI Lieutenant Commander Simon Laurence said: “Whilst I had a radar, sonar system, standalone GPS unit, etc, in the Mk1, these systems weren’t truly integrated so it took time to process information. Now the software takes care of the routine tasks, giving me time to think, position the aircraft and deliver final tactics. I’m no longer fighting the equipment, my mission output is much greater and many of my routine processes are completed by a simple ‘right click’ on my TSD.” Management of the acoustic systems within the Mk1 was considered a particularly arduous task as QAI Leading. Aircrewman Lee ‘Bungy’ Williams explained: “The Mk1 was an excellent helicopter which impressed many American Captains during recent operations in the Gulf. That said, comparing the systems in the Mk1 with those in the Mk2 is like comparing an early edition laptop with one available now. It’s not just the improved technology but the capability increase. In the Mk1 you felt like you were fighting the system. Now, with the improved HMI and processing speeds, you can concentrate on using the hardware. “Comparing data input ‘clicks’ on the old system, the HMI on the Mk2 is so much better. For example, updating the system with a full mission load of sonobuoys aboard the Mk1 would take a significant number

of individual button presses for each one. We now basically copy and paste our data inputs, the number of which has reduced ten-fold. This process has also been made easier and less time consuming by the fact we can now data prepare our mission on the ground, inputting virtually everything on to one of our data bricks and then uploading it into the aircraft while it’s ground running. “The ‘picture’ presented to us in the Mk2 is also much clearer, making it is easier for us to disseminate information and determine what contacts are there, and therefore what action we need to take. We now have a main picture with all the sonar displays running and with one click on the TSU we can display other tactical overlays. Plus we have a radar picture overlaid on the second TSD. In the Mk1 we had separate displays for each sonar providing a large amount of information, but this could not be overlaid or retained in the same manner. The operator’s decisionmaking process in the Mk1 was effectively: ‘I’m going to look for potential contacts in a particular area, decide if any contacts are present and move on.’ Now the picture presented tells us exactly what contacts are there. The large 24in multi-colour displays are excellent and have helped us improve the prosecution of targets. “I have been using the system for the last eight months and it is phenomenal operating it. The

radar is fantastic, as is the datalink and the other systems. With the ADS (Active Dipping Sonar), the hardware hasn’t changed a great deal, but the processing speeds have and that enables us to use it to its full potential.” Instructors who spoke to AIR International were also very positive about the systems’ open architecture, which will ultimately make it relatively simpler to upgrade them. One such system that aircrew were looking forward to receiving on the Mk2 was the Wescam MX-15 EO/IR capability which is on the Mk1 and which had been used so successfully during anti-piracy operations and as part of the UK military security force for the 2012 Olympic Games. “The ability of the camera to see images over 20 miles away and transmit the picture back to the Captain aboard the frigate enabling them to take realtime decisions was incredible,” explained Aircrewman Williams. “The potential for the navy, with the Mk2 operating alongside Type 23 and 45 frigates, is amazing.”

Crowsnest A number of additional system and engineering upgrades are in the pipeline, some of which will be in place before FOC for the Mk2 Merlin is achieved. One of the most important of these is to give the Merlin an Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASaC) capability ahead

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MILITARY MERLIN HM2 of the planned OSD of the Sea King Airborne Surveillance and Control (SKASaC) Mk7 in 2016. Replacing the sterling service of the SKASaC7 with the Merlin will not prove easy, but the process is under way with a high-priority programme known as Crowsnest. Cmdre Lison explained: “Leveraging off the open architecture mission system, the development of ASaC capability is in its assessment phase and making good progress. Having an airborne surveillance capability will arguably stretch the multi-role concept far beyond any other military helicopter in the world, maximising operational flexibility and value for the taxpayers’ investment. Achieving military advantage in defence equipment relies not only on pushing technology and programme complexity, but also on balancing the ability to deliver on time and cost. The highly integrated nature of this aircraft serves to illustrate my point, with over one million lines of software code in the tactical processor alone, all of which require functional test validation and acceptance by the customer.” Jeff Streznetcky from LMUK IS, which is overseeing Crowsnest, provided AIR International with more detail on the programme’s progress. He said: “Crowsnest represents the next step up in capability for the Mk2. At the moment we are running a competition in conjunction with the MoD to role fit the aircraft with a mission system to provide ASaC capability when the Sea King Mk7s leave service. Two mission systems have been tendered [Thales and LM] to provide this capability. At the moment, 2020 is the date it is due for delivery to the Navy but we are striving to pull that forward two years to 2018.” So, we will have to wait a while longer to determine what the final Mk2 AEW solution might look like.

Production and Deliveries The first Mk2 (MCSP01-RN06 based on its original Mk1 production number) made its maiden flight on September 30, 2010 from AW Yeovil. The conversion of Mk1s into Mk2s at AW Yeovil takes approximately nine months and new aircraft arrive for conversion approximately every six weeks. At the time of writing, five Mk2s had been delivered to Culdrose with three continuing trials at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. In all, 22 of the 30 Mk1s selected have entered the conversion

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On completion of ground training, Merlin students move to 824 Naval Air Squadron to begin their airborne syllabus. AIR International spoke with Commander Ben Franklin about this and the wider plans regarding the Mk2 in Royal Navy service. Cdr Franklin has extensive Merlin experience, having been part of 700M Squadron which undertook the Mk1’s initial flight trials. He was later a Senior Observer on 814 Naval Air Squadron before commanding the Merlin Training Facility and 829 Naval Air Squadron. “In terms of personnel, 824 have a core group of 14 qualified Mk2 crews,” he said. “Some commenced Mk2 ground school training during 2012 but in terms of their flight training phase, this was completed between January and May 2013 at AgustaWestland, Yeovil. A full QHI complement for 824 is around 18 but we do tolerate gaps here rather than having them in the frontline squadrons. For 824, training QHIs is a rolling process and the reality is we will never be at 100% manning on a second line squadron; it’s closer to 90-95%. Looking forward to legacy conversion to the Mk2, we have trained 14 of approximately 50 crews we have within the Merlin Force. It is therefore a big challenge for 824. “The first operational squadron to convert will be 820, with their first course starting at the beginning of September (2013). They have 11 crews conversion will be short and sweet as they commence build up towards service in Queen Elizabeth [the aircraft carrier]. Following them in November 2013 will be 829, but training will be slightly protracted because of their specific tasks, which include a UK High Readiness role. Around June 2014, 829 will have completed conversion. “The final squadron to convert will be 814 whose timeline is again complicated by operational duties. They are on operations in the Gulf and the likelihood is they’ll start around October 2014 and finish early 2015. Our current plans are that ab-intio Mk2 training will commence around December 2013. NVG training will be bespoke training as required but we are aiming to have an IOC NVG for 820 when they embark aboard

HMS Illustrious during 2014.” Managing the Mk2 delivery cycle, especially the in-service retrofit (ISR) programme, presents many challenges to Commander Franklin and the wider Merlin Force especially during such a critical training and operational phase. “The Mk1 OSD is end 2014 and Mk2 FOC remains January 1, 2015,” he said. “However, this will now be extended slightly due to some UORs and the addition of extra equipment for four aircraft. This is not a programme slip but it will mean I will not have my full aircraft complement (30 Mk2s) until mid-2015 now. First of these upgraded aircraft will be received around March 2015 and the last by June 2015. “ISRs are a constant challenge as they remove aircraft from the forward fleet. On January 31, 2013, 824 received their first Mk2 and currently have five aircraft, all at SR4.1 standard. However, these aircraft need to enter the ISR programme to get them to SR6. In fact, the first aircraft entered this on Monday August 5. This ISR for all five aircraft will be complete by the end of October 2013. August 23, 2013, will be when 824 receive the second ‘production’ SR6 standard Mk2. This will effectively be their sixth and final aircraft. By the end of 2013 we expect to have 14 Mk2s all at SR6 and 820 will only train on these aircraft.” The sight of five Mk2s on the 824 ramp at Culdrose during July 23, 2013 confirmed that this complex programme is progressing well and to plan. As Franklin commented: “My Direction and Guidance for Merlin Helicopter and Mk2 for 2013 year end was: to have recommenced Mk2 engineering ab-intio training (we’ll do that in September 2013); to have converted 820 to Mk2 (we’ll start this in September 2013); to start converting 829 squadron; and to embark Merlin Mk2s (820 and 824 Squadrons) aboard RFA Argus (and we are on track to do that). “Standing back and observing the programme from a Command perspective, I am very satisfied with our progress. Our challenge in 2014 is to make sure the Merlin Mk2 is able to deliver front-line capability in order to relieve the rapidly diminishing numbers of Mk1 airframes which are currently working their socks off!” 2

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1 Royal Navy Merlin Force conversion plans start with 820 and 829 Naval Air Squadrons this year followed by 814 NAS next year. 2 Ground crew oversee pre-flight procedures as two Mk2s prepare for a mission.

programme, leaving only eight outstanding. The expectation is that 14 Mk2s will be delivered to 824 NAS by the end of 2013. Initially, the full production cycle was scheduled to take approximately three years starting in January 2012 and ending in December 2014, but this will now be extended until March 2015 to meet recent Urgent Operational Requirements (UOR) which will impact on four aircraft. Scott Ewens, Merlin Mk2 programme manager for AW, confirmed the current production status: “The first five aircraft delivered to 824 squadron were aircraft MCSP0509 (based on their production numbers) and these are at the current mission system standard: System Release (SR) 4.1. The next three aircraft to be delivered will be MCSP10-12 at SR6 standard which has a RTS (Release to Service) date of August 5, 2013. Once SR6 is cleared, aircraft 10 (RN10) will go to Boscombe Down and will be the trials cab for the current system standard. “This is quite a novel change as it means taking a front-line cab into development and then building from it. From August onwards, the first five aircraft will be re-delivered up to SR6 configuration in an In-Service Retrofit (ISR) programme. We then have another incremental uplift in the software, adding to

capability and role fit, scheduled to run from January 14, 2014. With regard to NVGs, the wiring is in place but a small modification will be needed first to lift it again. “In the main most of the trials work has been completed: Electro Magnetic Capability (EMC), M3M Gun, lighting and chamber work, for instance. We are basically in good shape. The reason for the small programme extension to March 2015 is due to incremental contract additions involving DAS, full motion video, and EO/IR which are scheduled for four aircraft. Plus what we call a ‘survivability package’, ie ballistic protection.”

Flight Test Programme By January 2011, four test aircraft had already flown more than 100 sorties, and around 75% of the major functionality of the aircraft’s avionics system had been successfully completed. Tactical system testing was also progressing well but the challenges for 2012 loomed large for the programme, which was then focused on specific areas. Trials aircraft 1 and 3 were fully instrumented to test any element as required. Aircraft 2 was un-instrumented and set to focus on EMC testing at Boscombe Down, while aircraft 4 was also fully instrumented

and set to focus on initial pilot and aircrew factory training. An important milestone for the flight trials programme was the start of the Royal Navy’s training on the Mk2 in the third quarter 2012. This training workload was shared between personnel from AW, ATEC/QinetiQ (Aircraft Test and Evaluation Centre at Boscombe Down), LMUK IS, and the MoD’s own naval operators, structured as a CTT. While specific trials were underway, AW’s Full Systems Integration Rig (FSIR) at Yeovil was used alongside trials aircraft to enable legacy Merlin and ATEC aircrew to get to know the Mk2. Legacy aircrews confirm that the Merlin has not fundamentally changed from a flying perspective. Following a short ‘differences’ course at Culdrose lasting between four and six weeks, they quickly feel at ease with the aircraft. In terms of aircraft handling and mechanics the engine and aircraft limits are roughly the same. While basic flight information has not changed either, what has is its presentation (via the glass cockpit) and the speed with which it is processed.

Conversion Facility To gain a better understanding of what training involves and the facilities available at Culdrose,

AIR International met Senior Pilot trainer Steve Gibson for a tour around the extremely impressive Merlin Training Facility (MTF). The MTF is one of the most advanced in world and one of the first to encompass pilot, observer, aircrewman and engineering training all under one roof. Here students use a range of computer-based simulation, which enables them to be given detailed instruction in aircraft systems, communications, navigation, radar and electronic displays without leaving the ground. While much of the focus is understandably on the Mk2 itself, one should not underestimate the important part played by the MTF in the overall success of the MCSP programme to date. The MTF’s development and the Mk2 training syllabus have always been considered key components of the MCSP, and have been developed in parallel with the aircraft itself. Commander Ben Franklin, Merlin Force Commander summed this up perfectly when he told AIR International: “The secret to the success of an introductory programme like this is the training line. Everyone naturally focuses on the actual aircraft, but if you get the training right, everything else falls into place. In the past, aircraft have been delivered with an immature training programme.

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This time people with significant Merlin experience have been in place at the right time and everyone has focussed on doing what needs to be done. We were all determined to give 824 a clear six months to safely introduce the Mk2 into service and thoroughly prepare Instructors, prior to aircrew and student training recommencing in the fourth quarter of 2013.”

Initial Training During 2012, initial training for a sub-set of rear crew, maintainers and pilots was completed at AW’s Yeovil facility ahead of the system training milestone set for March 2013. During the first half of 2012, Canadian company CAE delivered and installed the Mk2s dynamic simulators into the MTF. The plan was to ensure these were fully operational by February 2013, which was the Mk2 ‘ready for training date’ (RFT). When 824 Squadron completed its final Mk1 legacy course in May 2012, currency training for Mk1 pilots was temporarily conducted on the RAF’s Merlins at RAF Benson, Oxfordshire, but the Mk1 rear crew simulator remained. Although installation challenges existed, these have been largely overcome and now that it is in full operation, the Mk2 MTF comprises a cockpit dynamic simulator (CDS), a cockpit procedural trainer (CPT), two upgraded rear crew trainers (RCT), a multi-purpose trainer (MPT) which is basically an HMI trainer, and a computer-based trainer (CBT). For engineers who commenced their factory training during June/July 2012, there is a weapons system trainer (WST), which is basically a mock-up of the torpedo launcher and loading points. There is also a mechanical system trainer (MST), a mock-up of a Mk2 located within the MTF. The CDS and RCTs are some of the most advanced simulators ever built,

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providing aircrew with state-ofthe-art graphics and allowing them to practise malfunctions and emergency procedures in a safe and controlled environment. The CDS can also be linked into the RCT for real time multi-threat operational training. The majority of engineering training is carried out in the MST where trainees learn how to change engines and rotor blades, while instructors inject malfunctions for the trainees to detect. The WST has fully functional landing gear, hydraulics, deck lock (a hydraulic arm which grabs hold of a grid on the ship’s deck once the aircraft has landed), sonobuoy dispenser and ADS. Trainees can also practice loading and unloading weapons in a realistic environment.

Training Course Commander Ben Franklin explained: “Basically Merlin [training] works on a 2/3:1/3 (simulation: airborne) split and that applies across all aircrew training including ab-intio students. This is one of Merlin’s major successes. The process is entirely interactive and all the training is modulised. To make ourselves efficient we simulate as much as we can. Defence Guidance (DG) for training is that everyone should be moving towards a 50:50 split, so we are already working above this level.” The MTF is a very impressive facility. “It’s a one-stop shop in terms of engineers and aircrew trainers,” explained Senior Pilot trainer Gibson. “We train everybody coming through the Merlin pipeline which is now expanding with the advent of the Mk3/Mk4 transition (ie marinisation of RAF Merlin Mk3/3A’s). We now have two procedural devices for each of the front and back seats and three RCTs, one of which is configured to the Mk1. Pilots leaving Shawbury will come here

2 1 The 0.5 calibre M3M machine gun provides a hefty punch for the Mk2’s force protection role. 2 More than a decade of design and testing has increased the operational capability of the maritime variant of the Merlin helicopter.

to us. In very simple terms, the presentation of the Mk2 standard in the back is driven by two primary tactical displays and we can provide students with all the tactical information they need, for example warfare or basic flight envelope information. We can run sorties from here. “The TSUs are the nerve centre. There are four in the aircraft: two in the front and two in the rear. In the back they also have some IDUs (Integrated Display Units), which are basically multi-function computers in their own right. These display the flight data so, effectively, rear crew have all the flight instruments in the back, too, which helps SA (Situation Awareness).” “The Mk2 HMI is smarter and quicker in general terms than the Mk1. “At the moment we are still implementing and developing and there continues to be is a lot of work to do but

with the software guys working hard and 824 NAS having their aircraft, we have just opened for business. It has taken a bit longer than 12 months to get ready but in September we opened up for 820 conversion training, trickling through with 829 and finally 814 who will be the very last to convert. We are well under way.” Legacy Mk1 flight conversion is going well and clearly senior personnel within the MTF do not want to overcomplicate things, as Gibson confirmed. ”Our approach is that it’s not a ‘type’ change but a ‘mark’ change. Although the interface is completely different, the thing everyone has to get their heads around is that fundamentally it’s still a Merlin. There may be changes in the future which affect this, like a new articulated tail rotor hub for example, but now it’s really no different from flying the Mk1. Our full motion simulator vibrates

and moves, and being part of the ‘playstation’ generation, our guys are all over it”. With regard to future Mk2 upgrades and Crowsnest in particular, Gibson provided his thoughts on potential crew structure: “We are talking constantly about how best we can run the aircraft, post Crowsnest. Whether an AEW re-role requires a change in personnel remains to be seen. There are a number of options and it will depend on who wins the bid. For now, the current crewing system and structure works perfectly well.” ‘Mark’ conversion, as Steve Gibson referred to it, is clearly in very good hands at Culdrose within its exceptional training facility. It’s not hard to imagine the Culdrose MTF having a more expansive role to play going forward, especially with the current rationalisation process

underway across the wider UK Merlin fleet. Cost and value for money are such important drivers and amalgamation must be a distinct possibility, especially given that the RAF’s Merlin HC3s/3As are set to be transferred to the Royal Navy’s Commando Helicopter Force, becoming Mk4s to replace the Sea King HC4s, meaning a further impact on training activities at Culdrose. The Merlin Mk2 and the MTF represent the cutting edge of the UK’s ASW capabilities. One of the programme’s tenets has been the close collaboration and shared vision of the CTT partners which has thus far ensured the programme is on time and in budget. As important as delivering this world-class helicopter to the Royal Navy has been, ensuring that simulators, training and spares have also been

delivered on time and to the same configuration as the aircraft itself has also been vital. Crucially, the Royal Navy and its operators have been fully involved from the re-design of the aircraft’s HMI through to implementation. Over the next 18 months or so, the Mk2 will develop further via ‘Crowsnest’, and the addition of an AEW

role will fulfil the words of Commodore Andy Lison when he said it would: “stretch the multi-role concept far beyond any other military helicopter in the world”. The Mk2 is a helicopter for the future and, in an increasingly uncertain world, it offers the Royal Navy choice, flexibility and above all else, military advantage.

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Opeval What’s involved in the evaluation of new aircraft and systems in France? Henri-Pierre Grolleau visits the French Air Force’s CEAM to find out

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All images Henri-Pierre Grolleau

ince the Centre d’Expériences Aériennes Militaires (CEAM), the French Air Force’s (Armée de l’Air – AdlA) operational evaluation centre, was established in 1933, its missions have remained the same: evaluate new aircraft and systems, train personnel and support ongoing operations. The organisation, which celebrated its 80th anniversary at its Mont-de-Marsan headquarters on June 3, 2013, comes under the direct command of the AdlA’s higher command. It is responsible for the operational testing and evaluation of all equipment entering AdlA service – from new aircraft types to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); from radars to command and control systems; from air-defence systems to pilots’ flying kit; and from datalinks to special forces equipment. It is involved in all aspects of a programme, from the initial research work before the first request for proposals is submitted to industry right up to introduction into service. The first aircrews and maintainers for new systems are usually trained at Mont-de-Marsan by CEAM specialists. Colonel Laurent Drouilhet, the CEAM’s Director of Evaluations, explains: “Here we’re preparing for tomorrow’s air force today, and we’re already very active in numerous future programmes, including the Multi-Role Tanker Transporter which has now become a key priority for the Armée de l’Air to replace ageing C-135FR and KC-135 tankers. In March 2013, we completed the operational evaluation of the Rafales’s F3.3’ standards and [that for] the A400M Atlas is now under way.”

Modular Structure The CEAM is currently split into seven squadrons and 23

project teams spread over eight bases. Its structure is constantly adapted to match the needs of the AdlA, and dedicated project teams tasked with overseeing development and evaluating new equipment and systems are created or disbanded as required. For example, the team in charge of the ASMP-A (Air-Sol Moyenne Portée-Amélioré, or improved air-to-surface medium range) ramjet-propelled nuclear missile disbanded in 2009 at the end of the operational evaluation and once the operating manuals had been written and validated. The CEAM has been based in Mont-de-Marsan since 1945, but some of its specialists and dedicated units are permanently attached to other bases: Avord for UAVs, Orléans for the A400M, Satory for tactical radios and Istres for tankers. CEAM staffing levels have been cut in recent years. They were at 640 in February 2013, down from 1,200 personnel in 2002, but the figure has since increased to 820 because of the entry into service of the A400M Atlas at Orléans. The Atlas MEST (Multinational Entry into Service Team) now numbers 272 officers, NCOs and airmen although this will come down to only 40 once the first operational A400M squadron is created.

Operational Evaluation CEAM’s key role is the evaluation of aircraft, avionics, weapons and associated systems. Evaluation is always conducted by highly experienced frontline personnel on secondment to the unit. The CEAM works in close liaison with defence manufacturers and the research and procurement experts of the Defence Armament Agency, from the very first studies through to programme launch and up until the frontline units achieve full operational capability. At Mont-de-Marsan all aspects

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of the operation of a new system are tested, including maintenance and support procedures. CEAM personnel verify system performance, determine its reliability, evaluate capability and limitations, identify potential deficiencies and, if needed, recommend remedial actions. In-flight evaluation begins with relatively simple sorties, but aircrews rapidly switch to more complex mission profiles in a fully representative threat environment. CEAM engineers test all maintenance procedures to make certain all systems are debugged before deliveries to frontline squadrons begin. For the AdlA, the maintenance and logistics aspects are as important as operational performance. At the end of the evaluation,

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the CEAM presents the frontline squadrons with a fully operational system, an operating manual and an initial cadre of trained aircrews and maintainers. Without the CEAM, squadrons would end up using unproven systems which would require months, or even years, of fine-tuning.

‘Côte d’Argent’ The Escadron de Chasse et d’Expérimentation (ECE) 5/330 ‘Côte d’Argent’ operates a fleet of five Rafale B/C omnirole fighters, four Mirage 2000D strike fighters, one Mirage 2000C, three Mirage 2000-5F air-defence fighters and three Alpha Jet trainers. In addition the unit flies two TBM700 light transport aircraft, although one is shared with the DGA (Direction

générale de l’armement’s (the French defence procurement agency) Essais en Vol (flight test centre) at Istres, formerly the Centre d’Essais en Vol. One of the Rafales spends around nine months a year flying with the DGA EV. For that mission, it is fitted with light, removable flight test instrumentation. “We support all the experiments that require the use of fighters,” explains LieutenantColonel Olivier Kaladjian, the CO of ‘Côte d’Argent’. “About 50 pilots and navigators fly with us and we have the capability to carry out the whole spectrum of fast jet missions, from reconnaissance to air-defence. The squadron remains current in all missions and we can very rapidly answer any operational requirement.”

ECE 5/330 adopted the traditions of two prestigious flights dating back to World War One when, on July 1, 2013, Escadrilles BR 127 ‘Tigre’ and 128 ‘Scarabée’ (beetle) were both reactivated. Most CEAM units participate in major national and international exercises to maintain currency and to test new equipment in a dense operational environment. ECE 5/330 is a member of the NATO Tiger Association and participates in all Tiger Meets, engaging the latest standard of French fighters against, and with, other NATO fighters. At Tiger Meet 2006 at Albacete in Spain, CEAM Rafales became the first examples of the French aircraft to take part in a multinational exercise. More recently the CEAM checked the

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4 5 1 A Wescam MX-15 multi-sensor, multi-spectral imaging system turret mounted on the door of a special forces Transall. 2 The first mobile PAR NG-D (Selex type PAR 2090 CM) radar during the operational evaluation of the system at Mont-de-Marsan in April 2013. 3 The CEAM operates a varied fleet of fast jets. Here Rafale C137, the first production example fited with an AESA radar, flies in formation with a Mirage 2000-5F. 4 Escadron de Transport 3/61 ‘Poitou’ is a regular CEAM customer for special forces equipment. 5 Like all other Armée de l’Air aircraft, the EC725 Caracal was thoroughly tested by CEAM experts.

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interoperability of the Link 16 datalink fitted to the Mirage 2000-5F and Mirage 2000D during the 2010 and 2011 Tiger Meets, held at Volkel in the Netherlands and at Cambrai in France respectively.

Ongoing Programmes The CEAM is currently active on programmes including the introduction into service of the A400M airlifter and of new, upgraded versions of the Rafale. It is also still busy introducing refinements to the Mirage 2000-5F/2000D fleets. For instance, approval was recently granted to use the GBU-16 500kg (1,102lb) class Paveway II laser-guided bomb on the Mirage 2000D. Until this clearance it was restricted to the Mirage

F1CR fleet in AdlA service, but with the faithful ‘recce bird’ due to be withdrawn in 2014, it was decided to transfer the capability to the 2000D. A similar move will soon be made with the ASTAC (Analyseur de Signaux Tactiques, tactical signals analyser), a powerful electronic intelligence pod used to build and update a general intelligence picture, determine an enemy’s electronic air defence systems and ensure that friendly aircraft can either evade or destroy surface-to-air missiles. Before the mission, the ASTAC is programmed to start listening automatically to battlefield radar emissions when overflying predetermined waypoints. It can detect and accurately localise a wide variety of surveillance, acquisition and fire control radars

MAMBA’S VENOM With their SAMP/T (Sol-Air Moyenne Portée/Terrestre, surface-to-air medium-range, ground-based) system, the AdlA and the Italian army are taking a leading role in Europe with longrange air-defence and ballistic missile defence. Known as the Mamba in AdlA service, SAMP/T is optimised for area air defence against fast jets, helicopters, UAVs and short-range ballistic missiles and, according to a MBDA brochure, its Aster 30 missiles are credited with a range of 100km (62 miles). The first SAMP/T system was delivered to the CEAM in 2007, and since then CEAM specialists have taken part in all key events of the programme, including firing trials against supersonic targets simulating ballistic missiles.

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MILITARY CENTRE D’EXPERIENCES AERIENNES MILITAIRE which can be instantly identified thanks to its threat library system. Even the latest frequencyhopping radars can be detected. Compared to more complex and heavier stand-off systems fitted, for example, to the RC-135 electronic intelligence aircraft, the ASTAC/Mirage F1CR pairing can be utilised to penetrate hostile air defences, forcing enemy operators to switch to their ‘war frequencies’. The enemy does not know if the fighter is equipped with an ASTAC or with

missiles, and has to react accordingly. Additionally, the Mirage F1CR boasts significant self-defence capabilities and, if intercepted, can aggressively manoeuvre and fire back to avoid destruction. “The transfer of the ASTAC from the F1CR to the 2000D has now been launched,” explains Colonel Drouilhet. “We’ll have to integrate additional black boxes onto the 2000D, but without modifying the fighter’s navigation and attack system. We aim to keep costs down by adopting commercial off-theshelf technology; all data will be displayed on a hardened laptop and two ASTAC-equipped aircraft will be able to co-operate to very precisely geo-localise a hostile radar emitter.”

Atlas The CEAM received the first production A400M Atlas airlifter in July 2013. The MEST was set up within the CEAM well in advance of the first delivery to handle the operational evaluation of the new type. Stationed in Orléans-Bricy, the MEST is in

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charge of conducting all tests leading to the official acceptance into service. The first CEAM air and ground crews began training on the new aircraft using Airbus Military’s facilities at Seville, Spain, and Toulouse in early 2013. At the time of writing, it was expected that three aircraft would be operational at Orléans by early 2014. By this stage, an initial operational capability will have been achieved, with full operational capability

to be reached with six aircraft by late 2014. The MEST will then be split into several entities: the first transport squadron, the A400M training flight, the maintenance centre, the mission planning centre and the navigability cell in charge of all legal, certification and aircraft registration issues.

Rafale Since the AdlA received its first Rafale in December 2004, the CEAM has always been the first within the air force to try out the fighter’s latest standards. Evaluation of the F3.3 and F3.3’ standards is now over and CEAM aircrews are in the final stages of appraising the new active electronically scanned array (AESA) for the RBE2 radar. The CEAM took the AESA array to the latest Tiger Meet in Ørland, Norway, in June 2013. “The first AESA-equipped Rafale, single-seater C137, was

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3 1 The operational evaluation of Link 16 was the last major task undertaken by CEAM personnel on the Mirage 2000-5F. 2&3 The KEOPS (Kit OPéations Spéciales, or special forces energy kit), used to tranform the Transall’s 115V/400Hz current into 230V/50Hz required by the special forces, was developed in-house by the CEAM.

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delivered to us in October 2012 and we soon began flying it to assess the capabilities of the radar,”, says Lieutenant-Colonel Laurent Royer, the officer in charge of the Rafale evaluation team at Montde-Marsan. “For us, the aircraft became priority number one, and we flew it as often as we could in a wide variety of scenarios against a wide range of threats to make sure the array behaved as expected and to ensure the promised reliability was there. The least I can say is that we were not disappointed: detection and tracking ranges are outstanding, resistance to jamming is excellent and maintainability and reliability are beyond expectations.” The CEAM is already working on other refinements that will further boost the Rafale’s capabilities. “Improvements for the Pod Reco NG recce pod and for the Damoclès targeting pod are on their way,” reveals Colonel Drouilhet. “In the longer term, in 2016, we will start evaluating the new-generation laser designation pod that will replace the Atlis and Damoclès currently in use with the Mirage 2000D and the Rafale.”

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Radars The AdlA is in the middle of a major effort to replace ageing command and control (C2)

systems, and CEAM personnel are taking an active role inducting new-generation surveillance and approach radars into service. Among the various projects it handles is the PAR NG-D (precision approach radar new generation-deployable) programme, a follow-on procurement of a mobile system that can be deployed anywhere in the world in just hours. Three PAR NG-D systems have been ordered to supplement fixed systems as part of a wider renewal of all ground-controlled approach radars in AdlA service: 14 Selex PAR 2090 CF radars had previously been ordered, including two for the Aviation Légère de l’Armée de Terre (ALAT, the French army’s air arm). Seven of these systems have been delivered and deliveries are continuing. Meanwhile procurement of four more has been approved. The first mobile PAR NG-D (Selex type PAR 2090 CM) was expected to have entered operational service by the time these words are read. Capitaine French Sérès, in charge of all radars programmes within the CEAM, notes: “We did a lot of work to make sure that the end product was fully compliant

with the requirements of the front line. After aero-transportability and road transportation trials, detection performance checks and climatic tests by the DGA, we launched a series of controls to ensure that the PAR NG-D reliability was as specified, that it could easily

be maintained and that the maintenance documentation had been correctly amended after we discovered a number of translation problems.” The CEAM is actively participating in the introduction into service of the new Thales Raytheon Systems GM406 longrange surveillance radar close to the Kourou space centre, in French Guiana. A transportable GM403T and two fixed GM406s have also been ordered to replace earlier-generation Ares, Palmier and Centaur radars at Nice Mont-Agel and Lyon MontVerdun radar centres. The AdlA is meanwhile busy evaluating co-operative radars that use existing civilian waveforms to detect and track targets passively. The CEAM leads comprehensive studies in this field and, after the successful Thales Homeland Alerter 100 (HA100) demonstrator which relied on the MF radio band, efforts are now focused on more advanced systems. The 6D2M (Développement et Déploiement

d’un Démonstrateur 3D Multiréceptions Multi-bandes – development and fielding of a 3D, multi-reception, multi-band demonstrator) project, capable of using signals emitted by antennas normally used for MF radios, mobile phones and digital TV, is extremely promising and the

(AWACS), see on a computer screen the position of every aircraft and every army or special forces combat unit fitted with a Link 16 terminal. Over the vast expanses of the Sahara desert, this helps to accelerate the OODA (observe, orient, decide and act) time as it becomes much easier and quicker to assign a new target to fighters, or to divert them to support troops in contact

the Section Technique de l’Armée de Terre (STAT, or army technical branch) to ensure air force and army systems’ compatibility. Combat operations in Mali highlighted a number of shortcomings in interoperability. One of these resulted in urgent trials to make sure that Luftwaffe A310 Multi-Role Tanker-Transport (MRTT) and Italian KC-767A tankers were fully compatible with Mirage F1CR, Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighters, Colonel Laurent Drouilhet recalling: “In an extremely short period we had to

CEAM helps the radar industry by providing its operational expertise.

Supporting Combat The events in Libya and in Mali have shown that French armed forces can be engaged in combat operations at extremely short notice. As a result, the CEAM is responding to an increasing number of urgent operational requirements, and during the early stages of operations in Mali its personnel contributed to the introduction of new capabilities and systems which proved extremely useful. Radio terminals fully compatible with those in use with the French Army were deployed in the field to ensure very long-range communications between command and control centres on the ground and aircraft in flight. As a result duty officers can now, without radar or an airborne warning and control system

(TIC). Even in the middle of North Africa, aircrews can now receive digital data showing precisely where friendlies and hostiles are located, even though they might still be 150nm (277km) away from the TIC – a crucial advantage for close air support missions. To develop this tool in time for the Malian crisis, the CEAM intensified its collaboration with

ensure there were not any compatibility issues between the various probes and baskets and that the different pressures and fuel flows didn’t create any unwanted effects.” DGA EV very rapidly conducted studies

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MILITARY CENTRE D’EXPERIENCES AERIENNES MILITAIRE and the CEAM flew trial sorties. “Everyone involved, from the DGA, the Armée de l’Air, the Luftwaffe and the Aeronautica Militare, was extremely reactive and the whole programme took only about a week for each tanker type, including the amount of time needed to develop tanking procedures with aircraft that were not very well known in France.”

AASM Laser The beginning of the conflict in Mali forced AdlA decision-makers to accelerate the introduction into service of the laser-guided variant of the Sagem-manufactured Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM, or modular air-to-surface armament). Also known as the SBU-54 HAMMER (for highlyagile and manoeuvrable munition extended range), this new AASM variant offers outstanding capabilities against fast and 1 mobile targets used by terrorists in Northern Mali. 1 Numerous missions were flown during the operational evaluation of the Rafale’s RBE2 AESA radar system. According to pilots, the level of performance of the AESA is outstanding. 2 ASTAC reconaissance pods will be “The SBU-54’s operational transferred to Mirage 2000D squadrons once the Mirage F1CR is withdrawn. 3 The Rafale’s weapons inventory is evaluation was considered an expanding. This aircraft is seen with a MBDA SCALP EG cruise missile, GBU-22 and GBU-24 laser-guide bombs, urgent operational requirement,” AASM precision-guided munition and Mica air-to-air missiles. 4 The MBDA Meteor missile will enter service on the testifies Lieutenant-Colonel Rafale in 2018. 5 The AASM has proven to be an accurate and flexible weapon system. Laurent Royer, the officer in experts had to use disused the inventory. The prototype charge of the Rafale’s evaluation complex scenarios and, thanks operating modes and tactics and, was developed, produced and within the CEAM. “In late to that methodology, we were at the time of writing, it had been validated by the EEST, and February and early March 2013, able to quickly declare an initial officially confirmed that Mk 82s production was carried out by the two test firings were performed operational capability that left fitted with DSU-33s had been Atelier de Réparation de l’Armée by CEAM aircrews. The purpose the option to use the weapon in used operationally in Mali by de l’Air (ARAA, or French Air of these tests was to validate Mali open.” Mirage 2000Ds. Force repair facility) in Bordeaux. extremely simple firing tactics The similarity in the delivery and procedures that would techniques between all variants guarantee the destruction of a of the AASM was a decisive Special Forces Electronic Warfare speeding target, even after an factor that helped expedite Requirement The CEAM’s Escadron de extremely short training course the SBU-54’s entry into service. French special forces also had a Programmation et d’Instruction for the aircrews. We thought “The AASM is a very flexible, requirement for a multi-purpose à la Guerre Électronique 07.330 it would initially prove countereasy-to-use weapon that offers electrical charger that could be (EPIGE, or electronic warfare productive to focus on extremely a wide range of firing options used to support systems including programming and training and modes,” says Lieutenantlaptops, medical equipment and squadron) plays a central Colonel Royer. “For instance, the battery packs. The Escadron role in the field of electronic weapon manages its energy by FIRING EXPERTS d’Expérimentation et de Soutien warfare (EW) in France. The itself, depending on the required The Centre d’Expertise de Technique 03.330 (EEST, or unit is tasked with generating engagement range. For close l’Armement Embarqué (CEAE, experiment and technical support the threat libraries used to air support, the pilot can decide or air weapons expertise squadron, see Design Expertise programme all the electronic to shoot it with its rocket engine centre) is a CEAM unit jointly p105) came up with a device that warfare and self-defence suites off if the threat level is low and if staffed by air force and navy turns the current provided by that now equip French combat he can close in on his target. On personnel (soon to be joined a Transall into the current used aircraft, helicopters and tactical the Rafale, everything was done by ALAT specialists) which is responsible for devising by the various special forces airlifters. These advanced to make sure aircrew workload new tactics, conducting electrical systems. The resulting jamming and decoying systems would remain extremely low, and experiments in air-to-air KEOPS (Kit Energie Opérations include long-range surveillance the AASM is remarkably intuitive and air-to-surface firing and Spéciales, or special forces energy radars, tracking and fire control to use. Its growth potential is training personnel drawn from kit) can transform the Transall’s radars, airborne radars and, outstanding too, and I expect frontline units. Its personnel 115V/400Hz current into the ultimately, surface-to-air and new variants to enter service at are constantly studying new 230V/50Hz type required by the air-to-air missile seekers. some stage in the future.” delivery profiles and attack commandos. Detected signals are analysed For the crisis in Mali, a tactics to increase the accuracy A deployable loading system and compared to the data requirement appeared for the of cannon shells, bombs and for the EC725 Caracal helicopter stored in the threat libraries integration of a DSU-33 airburst missiles. Until recently, that was another special forces and an appropriate response is proximity fuse on Mk 82 ‘slick’ expertise was spread across requirement: the project was triggered: jamming, decoying or bombs carried by AdlA Mirage the three branches of the significantly expanded under a combination of both. 2000D and F1CR strike fighters. French armed forces, but the supervision of the CEAM The EPIGE plays a crucial role This airburst fuse proves very the decision was made to and the bench was modified to in the development of future EW useful in the desert where, for concentrate all the specialists be able to maintain all types of suites and experimenting with maximum combat effectiveness, at Cazaux within one centre, aircraft batteries (for both fixednew systems. Its experts spend ammunition has to be triggered part of the CEAM. wing aircraft and helicopters) in a lot of time refining the Rafale’s above the ground. CEAM

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AI.11.13

SPECTRA (Système de Protection et d’Évitement des Conduites de Tir du Rafale, or Self-Protection Equipment Countering Threats of Rafale Aircraft) EW suite and the associated SPBS (Système de Programmation de la Bibliothèque SPECTRA, or SPECTRA threat library programming system). The EPIGE is currently testing the X33X variant of SPECTRA. Similarly, the A400M’s self-protection suite and the associated programming tools are to be extensively tested before frontline use is approved. Helicopters too are covered by the EW effort and the Système de Programmation de Guerre Electronique, (SPGE, or EW programming system) will become the only tool used to programme the EW threat libraries for French military helicopters, including the Tigre, EC725, NH90, Cougar, Puma, Gazelle and Panther Standard 2. The SPGE is already in service, but new functionalities will soon be introduced. A new generation of flares offering better performance against the latest generation of IR-guided short-range surface-to-air missiles has recently been extensively tested too. The EPIGE also participates in trials of various advanced systems such as DIRCMs (directional infra-red counter-measures) and its specialists are engaged in all NATO EW exercises such as Trial Mace and Embow. During every major exercise or combat deployment, an EPIGE specialist is integrated within the detachment to optimise and adapt the threat libraries. Their content needs to be continuously modified and uniquely tailored to the latest data on friendly and hostile electronic orders of battle. Specific parameters – including frequency, pulse width, pulse repetition interval, antenna scan type and scan speed – are used to distinguish one radar type from another and recent technological advances make classification easier, with an obvious positive impact on jamming efficiency. The process of generating EW threat libraries is labourintensive and time-consuming, and requires highly trained individuals. Each library is checked by EPIGE specialists at the DGA at Bruz in Brittany, using sophisticated simulations that accurately replicate any electromagnetic signal. The reactions of real EW suites are tested to ensure they behave as expected when faced with

specific waveforms. The conflict in Libya in 2010 was a major operation for the EPIGE, and its specialists deployed to every base and ship from which helicopters and aircraft were launched: Saint-Dizier, Nancy, Solenzara, Suda Bay, Sigonella, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and landing ships Mistral and Tonnerre. During Opération Harmattan, the libraries of the Mirage F1s, Mirage 2000s, Rafales and the various tactical airlifters and helicopters were updated several times to match the tactical situation – for instance, when Swedish Gripens arrived in theatre, French pilots needed to know, without any ambiguity, which type of radar they were using.

2

Design Expertise CEAM has an in-house design expertise that has proved extremely useful to the AdlA. EEST is a key unit capable of designing systems that would prove too costly to develop in the private sector, either because of too small production runs or too short delays. “The EEST is a very reactive outfit, fully capable of creating innovative technical solutions to meet a specific requirement,” explains Colonel Jean-Noël Buffereau, in charge of design and initial support within the CEAM. “The squadron has officers and NCOs who specialise in computer-aided design, electronics and printed circuit boards. They design and produce various types of electrical and mechanical products for a wide selection of Armée de l’Air units. We limit ourselves, however, to minor modifications that do not affect the aerodynamics of the aircraft. We wouldn’t be allowed to add an antenna to a fighter without consulting Dassault and the DGA – we’d reach the limit of our knowhow and industry would have to take over.” One recent example of systems design work directly linked to French special forces is the integration of Wescam MX-15 and MX-20 multi-sensor, multispectral imaging system turrets onto Transall and Hercules tactical airlifters flown by Escadron de Transport 3/61 ‘Poitou’ in direct support of ongoing operations abroad. These imaging systems, which offer outstanding surveillance capabilities, are installed on a special mount

3

4

5

enabling them to be deployed out of a Transall or Hercules side door to enlarge their field of vision significantly. For the MX-15, the EEST designed and produced the tubular frame fixed to the airlifter’s floor which holds the mount. For the MX-20, they went even further and developed and fabricated the whole mount, a project which took six months to validate all technical calculations. The programme had been started as a consequence of the Afghan and Libyan crises: the beginning

of the operations in Mali forced the EEST to speed up the work. With a constant stream of new systems, and new standards of existing equipment, to enter AdlA service in the next few years, the CEAM will be kept busy for the foreseeable future. In the short term, the priority remains the A400M and the progress made by the MEST will be closely monitored by the CEAM, the AdlA, the French defence ministry and the foreign partners who are part of the programme.

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MILITARY GULF STRIKE

Air-to-Surface The American defence giant Raytheon is arguably the world’s foremost producer of PGMs, many are in service with Gulf air forces, with additional sales projected. The UAE has reportedly placed a $118 million order with Raytheon for additional 500lb (227kg) GBU12 and 250lb (112kg) GBU-58 Paveway precision-guided bomb kits to supplement its current inventory. Separately, the UAE plans to obtain locally produced Al-Tariq modular bomb wing and guidance kits for standard Mk81, Mk82, and Mk83 bombs from Tawazun Dynamics, a joint venture with South African defence company Denel. In 2011 Saudi Arabia signed a contract with Raytheon for around $0.5 billion of PGMs, with 2000lb (907kg) GBU-24 Paveway IIIs and GBU-31B(V)3 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) thought to be on

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Lockheed Martin

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he Gulf States continue to build-up inventories of advanced multirole fighters and attack aircraft types, including helicopters, all of which require a range of all-weather precision-guided munitions (PGM) and sensors. These facilitate networked ‘sensor-to-shooter’ fusion to support multi-national operations such as the 2011 NATO-led Libya air campaign. The Libyan air campaign involved six Qatari Mirage 2000 fighters and six F-16 Desert Falcons from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In any future conflict in the Gulf region, Networked ‘sensor-toshooter’ fusion would be even more important in any future regional scenario, from limited strikes to all out war. An example of regional procurement is the ongoing fighter competition to replace the UAEAF’s Mirage 2000s. BAE Systems’ recently submitted a bid to supply 60 Eurofighter Typhoons. Dassault is offering the Rafale. The winning type will complement a growing force of highly advanced Desert Falcons that will ultimately exceed 100. The UAE Air Force (UAEAF) also operates 28 AH-64D Apache attack helicopters now undergoing an upgrade, and at least 10 Airtractor AT-802U fixed-wing gunships and surveillance aircraft. Saudi Arabia has an even more ambitious programme built around what will eventually be some 150 F-15SA Strike Eagles, at least 72 Typhoons – with additional orders possible – and more than 85 modernised Tornados IDS bombers.

Gulf Strike Jim Dorschner looks at the procurement of weapons in the Gulf region

the list. Since then, negotiations have reportedly ensued for large numbers of Raytheon’s 500lb (227kg) Paveway IV dual-mode PGMs with INS/GPS and laser guidance (see Precision Strike for Typhoon p34-37). American companies are not alone in offering PGMs to the Gulf nations. There has been a lot of work undertaken in the UK to integrate MBDA’s Storm Shadow conventionally armed standoff cruise missile, Brimstone anti-armour missile and ALARM anti-radiation missile on upgraded Saudi Tornados. These weapons will eventually be integrated onto the Typhoon as part of the Phase 2 Enhancement (P2E) programme. France is promoting Sagem’s formidable AASM (Armement AirSol Modulaire or modular air-tosurface armament). While Sagem has yet to win an order for its AASM weapon in the Gulf region, Qatar is a prime candidate, particularly if Dassault is selected to replace Qatar’s Mirage 2000-5s with up to 72 Rafale multi-role fighters. The AASM is a stand-off weapon similar to the American JDAM, with a range exceeding 50km (30 miles). It proved highly successful when employed by French Rafales in Libya. In a post-campaign account one pilot described being able to ripple off as many as six AASMs with the target coordinates automatically uploaded – via Link 16 data link – direct from an AWACs surveillance aircraft. The AASM kits can be married

to 125kg (275lb), 250kg (550lb), 500kg (1,100lb), and 1,000kg (2,200lb) bombs with a choice of guidance options: INS/GPS, INS/ GPS/infrared and INS/GPS/laser. The infrared option uses imagery for terminal guidance, while the laser option can strike mobile targets, including ships.

Targeting For its upgraded Tornado IDS and Typhoon fleets, the RSAF has chosen third generation, multi-function, long-range Thales Damocles pods, built under licence in Saudi Arabia by the Advanced Electronics Company (AEC). Damocles features a staring array detector, the latest robust tracking systems, superior image processing, 3D location and laser spot detection. A powerful laser and high-resolution imagery provide long-range standoff that significantly enhances aircraft survivability. UAEAF Mirage 20009s successfully employed Thales Damocles targeting pods in conjunction with MBDA Hakeem PGM 500 standoff weapons during strikes on Libya in 2012.

Hellfire and DAGR With more than 100 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters due in service among four of the five Gulf States over the next few years, latest versions of the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missile are the precision weapon of choice. Saudi Arabia

alone has ordered 500 AGM114R3 Hellfire IIs and support services for around $65 million. In September 2013 Lockheed Martin executed a $248.7 million contract with the US for 3,318 Hellfire IIs on behalf of the US Army, Navy, and Air Force that will also supply Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as FMS customers. Meanwhile, the UAE previously placed an $8.2 million order for Hellfire IIs, and in 2012 the US concluded an FMS sale with Kuwait for 300 AGM-114R3s with an estimated value of $49 million. In addition to Hellfire, Gulf Apache users are expected to order large quantities of Lockheed Martin’s Direct Attack Guided Rocket (DAGR see photo), a lowcost 2.75-inch (70mm) precisionguided rocket compatible with Hellfire II sensor and launchers already in service. DAGR is designed to use components from the Hydra 70 rocket already in service with Kuwaiti Apaches and possibly with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. According to Lockheed Martin, DAGR uses sensors compatible with the AGM-114 Hellfire to provide lock-on-afterlaunch (LOAL) and lock-onbefore-launch (LOBL) capability, target handoff, enhanced built-in testing on the rail, and laser coding from the cockpit. The result is a laser-guided missile that offers ‘plug-and-play’ Hellfire II compatibility allowing aircrews to mix missile load-outs between Hellfire and DAGR on the same launcher.

TANKERS

The Missions...The Systems...The Specifications PART TWO KC-46A • KC-130J • Voyager • KDC-10 • HC-130J

Voyager On Her Majesty’s Service Following an exclusive visit to AirTanker at Brize Norton, Ian Harding details the RAF’s brand new Voyager tanker

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r

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he impression you get when you arrive at the largest and shiniest building currently built at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, is that money is being spent in UK defence. The massive four-storey building is finished in lilac and looks incredibly corporate for a Royal Air Force

station. It should do, the building described above is the headquarters for AirTanker Services Ltd, part of AirTanker Ltd, the company that won the £13 billion UK Ministry of Defence Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) contract in March 2008. AirTanker provides the RAF with an air transport and air-to-air refuelling

capability over a 27-year period, using the Voyager aircraft (A330 MRTTs) and associated support services. AirTanker Services Ltd is a consortium of Babcock, Cobham, EADS, Rolls-Royce and Thales This year, AirTanker Services has managed to achieve all of the major targets within the FSTA programme and is

confident that it will achieve Voyager’s air-to-air refuelling into service date (AAR ISD) by mid-2014 as planned. Until the AAR ISD declaration, Voyagers are conducting day-to-day air transport and air-toair refuelling for the RAF supporting frontline operations in the UK and overseas.

Ramp-up at No.10

The shiny new building located on the eastern side of RAF Brize Norton is also the new home for No.10 and No.101 Squadrons. “Two years ago when I became Officer Commanding 10 Squadron, we had no aircraft and were in a simulator training phase,” said Wg Cdr Geoff Lee

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

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Dan James. “Now, six aircraft sit on the ramp at Brize, 13 crews have been trained, and the squadron is operating to a variety of destinations in Africa, Europe, the Far East and North America. “We have also been providing air lift support to Operation Herrick during the last nine months by flying to Minhad [in the UAE] which is where our passengers and freight are transferred to C-17

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aircraft for the onward journey to Afghanistan. Things have moved forward quickly and the story of success does not stop there. “In May [2013] we received release to service approval to commence air-to-air refuelling (AAR) on Tornado GR4, and in August this was achieved for Typhoon. We have commenced our AAR programme and currently,

No.10 Squadron has seven crews AAR-qualified,” James added. All this has been achieved with good support from AirTanker which has facilitated the initial training phases by providing sponsored reservist (SR) pilots. This includes experienced commercial A330 pilots, and one former military tanker pilot with substantial AAR experience which has delivered significant

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

Main: No.10 Squadron commenced regular North Sea tow line operations with Tornado GR4s in May 2013. Geoff Lee Opposite left top: Voyager’s camera system improves the situational awareness for the mission systems operator. Paul Ridgway Opposite left middle and bottom: The Cobham 805E FRU can dispense fuel at a rate of 1,800kg/min, and installed on Voyager KC3s to refuel large receiver aircraft. Paul Ridgway Bottom: The MSO console has been installed on Voyager to facilitate the air-to-air refuelling role including management of the aircraft’s fuel systems. Paul Ridgway

benefits to No.10 Squadron during the last few months. In his exclusive interview with AIR International, Wg Cdr James confirmed details of some recent ops: “We are flying regular tow lines over the North Sea which facilitates further training to the tanker crews and provides service to the RAF’s fast jets. During one recent sortie we dispensed just over 70 tonnes of fuel, which I believe is the highest offload for any RAF tanker to date. We have also completed two trails deploying four Tornado GR4s to Afghanistan. We ‘trailed’ them to Cyprus, night stopped, and then continued the deployment to Minhad the next day. The Tornado GR4s completed the last leg into the operational theatre alone. Though much of the attention is on the Voyager platform itself, what has made the FSTA programme so unique is the composition of the service team which comprises RAF personnel, sponsored reservists and civilian staff. It represents a new model for the procurement of military equipment and the services to support them. Although the FSTA programme was

always likely to face scrutiny, there is little doubt that the RAF recognises the benefits of marrying commercial airline experience with the RAF’s abundance of operational experience. Wg Cdr James confirms this: “We are well along the path of combining the significant commercial experience we now have on A330 - flying, maintenance, and instructional – with the operational expertise of the people on 10 Squadron and with the soon to be reformed 101 Squadron. Our goal is to deliver a world-beating product, and if you come back in two years’ time, I am confident both will be viewed as worldclass tanking and air mobility squadrons.”

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

Taking the Hits

Voyager’s service introduction has not been as smooth as AirTanker and the RAF would have liked, because of the kinds of technical challenges not uncommon in projects of this size or complexity. In the main, the technical challenges encountered during the Voyager’s flight trials were contact problems with the drogues which extend from the wing air refuelling pods, which involved spinning, tipping and fuel leakage. The problems were encountered during Voyager’s flight trials with Tornado GR4 and Typhoon FGR4 fighters flown by UK test pilots. The operating envelope of the hose and drogue used during

the trials was deemed by the test pilots to be outside the RAF’s standard air-to-air refuelling envelope. This led to the change of the drogue to the one that is now in use. Another considerable challenge in this Public Finance Initiative (PFI) programme has involved the development of an operational framework to achieve common goals that embraces the cultural differences between commercial players and their military colleagues. News in mid-2012 that Voyager conversion work would move from Cobham’s facility at Bournemouth in the UK to Airbus Military’s facility at Getafe in Spain, and concerns about cost overruns

and delivery of air-to-air refuelling capability made in the National Audit Office’s (NAO) Major Projects Report 2012 presented further questions about the FSTA programme. AirTanker’s CEO Phill Blundell strongly rebuked the NAO claims, stating that: “The FSTA programme has met all contractual obligations and milestones to date.” He added that the programme “is on time and under budget”. To judge that more definitively we need to look at the operational achievements this year.

Operational Achievements

This summer there was a flurry of activity focussed on

Top: Voyager’s flight deck and glass cockpit. Paul Ridgway Below: Voyager is available to the RAF around the clock. In August 2013, No.10 Squadron held UK Quick Reaction Alert for the first time. RAF Brize Norton

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developing the Voyager’s airrefuelling capability and further aircrew training. In May, the Voyager gained RTS for refuelling the Tornado GR4, after which No.10 Squadron and AirTanker used its most experienced crews to form the Voyager Test and Evaluation flight. The first air-refuelling sortie involving Typhoon took place on June 11 as did qualification of the first Voyager instructors. They are now training aircrew,

Wg Cdr James confirmed that Voyager’s air-refuelling equipment “is not 100% reliable yet” but the teething problems hadn’t affected the first Tornado trails to Akrotiri and Minhad, as previously mentioned, which were completed successfully with no delays. “As the squadron boss I was pleased with their execution and there weren’t any significant difficulties reported. We’ve still some way to go to fully develop our

including Mission System Operators (MSO). The formal RTS for Typhoon was given on August 15. Voyager’s air-refuelling certification process for both the Tornado GR4 and the Typhoon FGR4 had already been completed before No.10 Squadron commenced airrefuelling sorties. “We have used a phased AAR capability development plan with three main phases,” said Wg Cdr James. “First, check the aircraft worked as expected, next allow trainers to train themselves and thirdly, start routine aircrew training.”

capability but we certainly have the right foundations to build upon. We have procedures in place to feed back any problems, or faults recorded, to the design authority when a mission is completed. The simulator has also been extremely useful in the development of AAR capability, and its location at Brize has proved a massive benefit in helping establish our standard operating procedures [SOPs] quickly, and to learn how to orchestrate a three-man flight deck with the new MSO role. However, the simulator

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doesn’t quite replicate the behaviour of the aircraft during AAR. Whilst pilots of legacy aircraft have had quite a steep learning curve getting to grips with a glass cockpit Voyager, we haven’t had anyone who has struggled with the AAR conversion yet.” The A330 airline has many plaudits which are primarily down to its longrange passenger carrying

in western Canada, but the longest flight thus far has been over 11 hours from Brize to MCAS Yuma in Arizona. Increasing the fleet to six aircraft, and fulfilling maintenance and undertaking modifications as well as tasking requirements, have presented AirTanker and No.10 Squadron with challenges that are only to be expected. In addition to Voyager’s operational transition, No.2 Group and

for a 24-hour period, which really marked the arrival of Voyager in an operational sense, rather than just supporting fast jet training in the North Sea tow-lines.” AIR International understands that no official date has been set for a Voyager to be stationed permanently at Mount Pleasant airfield (MPA) in the Falklands to fulfil the critical air-refuelling task undertaken by No.1312 Flight in support

capability. Voyager was likely to receive similar acclaim as a military transporter and so it has proved. As Wg Cdr James reflected: “Voyager is fantastic because it’s reliable, comfortable, has in-flight passenger entertainment, and effectively airconditioned throughout [unlike the VC10 and TriStar]. The aircraft has materially enhanced the overall passenger experience.” Since commencing air transport tasking, No.10 Squadron has completed a number of flights to Calgary

RAF Brize Norton have been preparing for the withdrawal of the VC10 and the forthcoming retirement of the TriStar. VC10 K3 ZA147, made the type’s final flight on September 25. “The pace of life on No.10 Squadron has been brisk, and from September we are going to be working hard to keep up with all our air-refuelling and air transport tasking, but that is actually a good thing,” said Wg Cdr James. “In terms of milestones, we supported the UK’s Quick Reaction Alert [held by the Typhoon force] in early August

of the Typhoons assigned to No.1435 Flight at MPA. Other roles flown in support of the UK’s Falklands garrison such as air transportation and medical evacuation can be undertaken by other operators. One thing is sure, Voyager’s maiden deployment to No.1312 Flight at MPA will occur within the next seven months, at which point the final TriStar will be retired from service. Over the next eight months, No.10 Squadron will maximise the utility offered by Voyager to achieve the necessary

Operational Transition

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

training for personnel and operations. Wg Cdr James confirmed that an exercise to test Voyager’s deployment capabilities would be a good thing, although the type’s first formal deployment is unlikely to take place before the spring of 2014. He added: “We need a broad range of flying to qualify our personnel more quickly which is important as AAR ISD approaches”. AirTanker expects to receive the

seventh aircraft in February 2014 and have nine in service by May.

Future Operational Role

Wg Cdr James was very clear on Voyager’s future role, as he explained the step change in capability likely to be delivered by the type. “Looking at the way the MoD is preparing for the future, it’s all about being able to deploy both the personnel

and material force over global distances, quickly and efficiently. To do so you need a capable and reliable aircraft like Voyager. “In terms of the tanker itself, feedback from the fast jet pilots I’ve refuelled over the North Sea recently is good. They like tanking off the platform, it’s stable and smooth, and from a tanking perspective, it carries an enormous amount of fuel.” James provided some

Alongside improved operational reliability and serviceability, which is currently estimated at around 98%, Voyager’s ‘working environment’ represents another huge step change that benefits both crew and the receiver aircraft it serves. Wg Cdr James described flying an A330, as part of a two-man crew with a glass cockpit, as tremendously rewarding. “The way we’ve organised ourselves on the

Voyager Creation

interesting statistics: “If you don’t have many passengers or much freight aboard, you can carry the maximum fuel load of around 111 tonnes [244,700lb], which is huge. This means you can be airborne for around six to seven hours dispensing around 70 tonnes [154,300lb] of fuel. That is a fantastic force enabler. Voyager can get from Brize to Cyprus carrying 40 tonnes [88,185lb] of passengers and freight on around 30 tonnes [66,100lb] of fuel; it’s a significant step change in capability from what a legacy tanker can do.”

flight deck for AR sorties with our SOPs allows us to provide receivers with a really good service. Now the crew’s workload is divided up equally between the two pilots and MSO. On legacy aircraft like the VC10, the operating pilot managed a greater share of the workload. “Voyager is also equipped with a comprehensive camera system which helps minimise fight deck commentary. Less internal ‘cockpit’ chat enhances our situational awareness, making air-refuelling safer and more efficient.”

Tanker Aircraft specification known as a Voyager. Overseeing the entire conversion process for AirTanker is Geoff Winterbottom, the company’s aircraft Capability Development Manager. During AIR International’s visit to AirTanker’s facility at RAF Brize Norton he outlined the process, provided an update of the programme and explained the main system’s fitted to a Voyager. The FSTA programme comprises 14 aircraft, seven of which are two-point tankers (Voyager KC2s)

When a green, unpainted Airbus A330-243, fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-60 engines, departs the Airbus production plant at Toulouse on its delivery flight, it is flown to the Airbus Military conversion centre at Getafe, outside Madrid in Spain. Over a 10- to 11-month period the aircraft is converted into an A330 MRTT FSTA (Multi-Role Tanker Transport) configured to the UK’s Future Strategic

Geoff Lee

CURRENT VOYAGER FLEET Serial

Fleet No

Variant

Delivery date

ZZ330

Voyager 01

KC2

December 2011

G-VYGG

Voyager 02

KC2

December 6, 2012

ZZ331

Voyager 03

KC2

December 19, 2012

ZZ332

Voyager 04

KC3

April 26, 2013

ZZ333

Voyager 05

KC3

May 29, 2013

ZZ335

Voyager 06

KC3

June 29, 2013

Voyager 06 was the final delivery for 2013. Voyager serial number ZZ334/EC-335 is currently flying with Airbus Military to conduct ongoing air-refuelling trials. The next three aircraft due to be delivered to AirTanker are currently at the Airbus Military conversion facility at Getafe. AirTanker is on schedule to achieve its core fleet of nine aircraft by May 2014.

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capable of carrying two wing-mounted air-refuelling pods, and seven three-point tankers (Voyager KC3s) also capable of carrying two wing pods plus a centreline fuselage refuelling unit (FRU). Winterbottom elaborated on one interesting fact about the aircraft: “All the modifications applied are role-removable so we can operate on the military register as an air transport or tanker aircraft. And if required, we can remove the military role equipment and revert back to a commercial configuration so we can operate on the civilian register in the UK as an air transport aircraft. AirTanker will always have one civilian-registered aircraft to enable military charter operations, as we currently undertake with Voyager 02.” There are five military and one civilian-registered Voyagers currently based at Brize. The military aircraft comprise two Voyager KC2s and three KC3s, all of which are currently used for air transport and air-refuelling with wing pods only. Winterbottom explained the technical features of the pods, integration details and the problems encountered during air-refuelling. ”The beauty of the A330-200 series is that it can carry 111 tonnes [244,700lb] of fuel, so no additional fuel tanks are required for the tanker role. Airbus Military installs new fuel pipes that run inside the wing and the fuselage to the centre tank. These pipes take the fuel from the aircraft’s standard fuel system and feed it into the AAR systems. On a two-point aircraft that’s to both wing pods, and on a three-point it’s via an additional pipe fuel line that runs inside the fuselage to the FRU. “Both the A330 and the A340 share a common wing shape

and structural design, so Airbus Military has modified the wing to accommodate the pod in approximately the same position as the outboard engine and that gives us a an advantage. The wing is designed to have a structural load at that point, so aerodynamically, the integration of the pod is much simpler compared to a two-engined airliner that does not have this inherent design feature.” Further explaining the modifications, Winterbottom said: “Adding the wing pod requires structural reinforcement inside the wing and to the skin underneath. A pylon is fixed to the wing structure using three large bolts allowing the pod to hang off the pylon. The refuelling pipes feed up through the ribs of the wing from the fuel tank and appear at the forward point of the pylon. It then feeds into the top of the pod. The refuelling pod is a stand-alone device with its own fuel pump and electrical supply. “Fitting the fuselage refuelling unit (FRU) in the floor of the aft bulk cargo compartment is more complex. Extensive structural modifications are required to accommodate the FRU’s faring and allow the hoses to exit the aircraft. These modifications include fuselage frame and skin reinforcements. There are fundamental differences to the fuel line plumbing between a two- and a threepoint tanker. The wing pods and refuelling galley are common to both variants, but in the centre tank of a three-point tanker there’s an additional fuel line that feeds from the refuelling galley. This additional pipe comes out of the top of the tank, goes over the top of the wing area, underneath

the floor section, down the rear fuselage section to the left-hand side of the cargo compartment and into the bulk cargo compartment where it connects to the FRU. The refuelling galley is isolated at both ends by a shut off valve which is purged once air-refuelling is complete to remove all remaining fuel from the pipe.”

Air-Refuelling Units

The Voyager’s air-refuelling units are all designed and produced by Cobham: two 905E (electric) under-wing refuelling pods and an 805E centreline FRU. The 905E pod is designed to transfer up to 1,200kg/ min at a maximum pressure of 50psi, although the offload rate varies depending on the type of receiver. For example, a Tornado GR4 guzzles 700-750kg/min (1,540-1,650lb/min), while a Typhoon FGR4 sips at a more genteel rate of 350kg/ min (770lb/min) because of its thinner fuel lines. By comparison, the 805E FRU can transfer a maximum of 1,800kg/min because of the large hose diameter which is designed for larger receivers (see panels for details). Flight trials undertaken in late 2011 identified two main problems with the Cobham-designed HighSpeed Variable Drag Drogues (HSVDD) fitted to the hose. This resulted in that drogue (basket) being replaced by the Sargent Fletcher Industries (SFI) version as used by the RAF’s TriStars. The HSVDD is designed to refuel aircraft at airspeeds between 180 and 325 knots (330 and 595km/h). This is a much wider airspeed range than previous drogue systems used by the RAF. During the initial trials, the RAF identified two behavioural problems with

Cobham 905E Wing Air-Refuelling Pod The 905E under-wing air-refuelling pod is digitally controlled from the mission systems operator console located in the flight deck and uses an electrically operated hose drum unit. The pair of under-wing pods fitted to a Voyager allows simultaneous hose and drogue refuelling at a wide range of air speeds. Fuel comes into the pod from the pumps onboard the aircraft through the fuel inlet at approximately 20psi (137kPa) and into a centrifugal pump driven by a ram air turbine. Variable blades within the turbine ramp up power to meet the fuel demand of the receiver aircraft. Rated at 50hp, the pump is able to generate a colossal amount of energy and boost the pressure up to 150psi (1,034kPa) forcing the fuel through a series of valves and into the centre of the drum. Because of space limitations, the hose is housed in three layers upon the drum and fed on and off by an Archimedean shaft synchronised by a secondary drive chain. Torque is taken by a main drive chain which also drives the drum. Cobham’s 905E pod can offload fuel up to a rate of 1,200kg (2,645lb) per minute at 50psi (345kPa) nominal pressure. Hose length is 90ft (28m) of which 87ft (26.5m) is extended. The pod has a weight of 532kg (1,172lb) and holds 70kg (154lb) of fuel. A small wind turbine (or air-driven generator) housed in the front of the pod powers the lights used for night-time refuelling.

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Main: A Voyager KC2 parked on the flight line at RAF Brize Norton during a snowy day in January 2013. RAF Brize Norton Opposite top: Voyager’s release to service for air refuelling the Typhoon was issued in August 2013. Geoff Lee Opposite middle top: A pilot’s view of the Sargent Fletcher hose and drogue extended from a 905E wing air refuelling pod. Geoff Lee Opposite middle and bottom: Two views of the 905E wing air refuelling pod. Paul Ridgway

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the HSVDD. Winterbottom provided details: “We have a 90 foot [28m] hose with a standard MA4 coupling on the end to which we attach the drogue. The HSVDD is fully certified and used by other air forces, but the UK test pilots were unhappy with some of its characteristics. These were the behaviours of the hose and drogue in contact (oscillation) and the drogue tipping. All drogues tip, and when the receiver touches the end in free flight it’s going to move, but there are differences. During trials the RAF was more comfortable with the characteristics of the alternative SFI and so opted for it. “In terms of AAR clearance, Voyager is already refuelling both Tornado and Typhoon. In terms of RTS on Typhoon, we are looking at supporting Typhoons on UK Quick Reaction Alert [QRA] soon”. AIR International understands QRA trials have already taken place as part of the development programme to test capability. With regard to the HSVDD, we also understand it may yet have a part to play in future RAF air-refuelling. The RAF currently has clearance to re-fuel RAF Tornado GR4s and Typhoon FGR4s from the wing pods only, but Winterbottom confirmed that the long-term plan for Voyager is to have compatibility with all receivers as have been cleared on VC10s and TriStars, including types from Allied nations.

Status of the FRU

AirTanker confirmed that it is contractually obliged to introduce the FRU into service by May 2014 and that the work to achieve that goal is on track. Significant testing and development with Voyager test aircraft (EC-335/ MRTT016) has already taken place. A further series of upgrades to the FRU and testing will take place before the end of 2013. Airrefuelling trials of the FRU commenced with Hercules, Tornado GR4 and Typhoon FGR4 in late 2012. Those trials are nearly complete. Eventually, Voyager will obtain clearance to re-fuel all UK probe-equipped aircraft and plans currently include the Sentry AEW1 and, in the future, the Airbus A400M and F-35B Lightning II.

System Requirements Other changes necessary to convert an A330-243 into a Voyager tanker involve

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the aircraft’s support, mission and communication systems, and the integration of Northrop Grumman’s AN/AAQ-24(V) Directional Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) defensive aids system (DAS). Communication system changes are straightforward, involving the removal of civilian radios and installation and integration of a military system providing clear and secure communication. Voyager also has a Link 16 tactical data link which enables the aircraft to operate in a battle space with other aircraft using secure communications. AirTanker and the RAF were unwilling to provide much information on the aircraft’s DAS but confirmed that Voyagers delivered thus far have two turrets installed, as initially contracted. The MoD has subsequently re-evaluated its requirements and is modifying each aircraft with a third turret. The upgrade programme is presently underway with AirTanker at Brize Norton. One of the most impressive items installed on Voyager is a camera system which enhances air-refuelling operations in terms of efficiency and safety through improved situational awareness as Winterbottom explained: “The system is comprised of three fixed cameras staring aft, to provide the MSO with a permanent and clear wingtip-to-wing-tip view of the receiver around the aircraft. They can see exactly what’s going on, which improves SA enormously. It’s vastly superior to what is available on the TriStar, and in my experience is one of the most comprehensive camera suites fitted on any tanker flying in the world today. “We’ve also got two steerable pan and tilt cameras which enable the MSO to move the camera to inspect the receiver, the hose and the drogue closely during AAR. All of the cameras are both day and night-capable and all video is recorded onto a solid-state recorder throughout the duration of the sortie. These can be reviewed during the postflight debrief or for training purposes.” AirTanker confirmed that Voyager is expected to be cleared for MEDEVAC by early 2014 and to facilitate the role, seating will be removed and a bespoke stretcher system installed which has been designed

specifically for the type. This system will facilitate up to 40 stretchers and three critical care patients.

MSO Console

Inside Voyager, the most significant visual modifications that have been made to the cabin involve the galley and flight deck area. Inside a commercial A330 the flight deck is quite small and normally contains two pilot seats, a third supernumerary seat (used by an observer) and a fold down one. On Voyager, the forward galley area and all of the stowage around it have been removed, and the bulkhead separating the flight deck from the cabin is moved back to accommodate an MSO console and two seats: one for the MSO, the other for crew training. The floor has received a structural modification and a completely new set of stowages on the flight deck, including a safe for secure material. Master Aircrew Phill Chappell moved to No.10 Squadron after 25 years as an RAF Flight Engineer on C-130K Hercules and latterly on the TriStar. In his new job he helped develop the concept of the MSO which is a new crew function specific to the Voyager, and the training course. The A330 was designed to be flown by two pilots, so the MSO position has been added to facilitate the AAR role including management of the aircraft’s fuel systems which is one of the main responsibilities of the flight engineer aboard TriStar. Due to the gradual run down of the legacy tanker fleet and the cessation of flight engineer/navigator training some years ago, the RAF had to develop the new role of MSO. Chappell provides an insight into the MSO role and the benefits of the new systems during towline and trails. “The procedure for AAR remains the same irrespective of the aircraft,” he said. “Receivers move around the aircraft, refuel and depart in a coordinated fashion. On legacy tankers the pilot controls the receiver formation around the tanker. Aboard Voyager, this responsibility is delegated to the MSO as they have the best situational awareness, aided by the camera. The MSO communicates with the receivers via the boom radio and an external pod lightning system. Knowing

when to speak and how much to say is an important aspect of being on the flight deck.” On September 30, AirTanker released its first set of statistics for Voyager air-refuelling operations to date. Over 70 air-toair refuelling sorties have been flown, with in excess of 2,300 tonnes of fuel

offloaded. The sorties included 350 contacts and the offload of 840 tonnes (1,851,850lb) of fuel to Typhoons. Next month, in part-two of Voyager:On Her Majesty’s Service, AIR International will cover the role of the MSO, crew and pilot training, maintenance and mixed manning.

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

Geoff Lee

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Global Reach, D

Kees van der Mark reports from Eindhoven Air Base on the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s KDC-10 tanker/transport operations

I

n the early 1980s it became apparent that the transport fleet of the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force – RNLAF), comprising 12 of the then 20-year-old Fokker F27s of Soesterbergbased 334 Squadron, no longer fitted the changing needs of the Dutch armed forces. A defence white paper in 1984 first suggested the idea of replacing the ageing Fokkers with a mix of different types. The following year the late Maj Gen Willem Breeschoten, at the time working at RNLAF Headquarters on long-term policy, came up with the idea of including strategic transport and air-to-air refuelling (AAR) capabilities within the future fleet concept laid out in the white paper. Initially there were doubts in the Dutch Government about whether a relatively small air force, such as the RNLAF could afford,

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or would even need, such capabilities. However, by the end of the 1980s there was a recognition in both the military and government that two or three strategic transports and tankers could significantly enhance operational capability – not only the RNLAF’s but other Dutch forces’ and the country’s allies. At the time, the RNLAF was dependent on the US Air Force and civil companies for providing AAR and strategic airlift capacity: for instance, when ferrying Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcons, personnel and cargo to and from the permanent detachment at CFB Goose Bay, Canada, established in 1986 for low-flying training. A 1991 defence white paper reaffirmed the need for strategic tanker/transports, and in February 1992 the Dutch Parliament gave the go-ahead for the acquisition of two aircraft. Another factor in the politicians’ decision

was that tankers would enable F-16s to refuel during their missions over the North Sea, reducing the number of take-offs and landings – which would save flying time and, more importantly, reduce safety risks and noise pollution in the vicinity of RNLAF air bases.

Acquisition

Aircraft types considered in the selection process included second-hand Boeing KC-135s, converted civil Boeing 707s, McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and MD-11s. The cargo capacity of the KC-135 and 707 was judged to be insufficient and the MD-11 too expensive. However, the acquisition and conversion costs of used DC-10s fitted the available budget, so in the spring of 1992, the Dutch defence ministry decided to acquire DC-10-30CFs, the convertible freighter variant of the late-1960s tri-jet design the USAF’s KC-10A Extender

tanker/transport was based on. Two DC-10-30CFs were acquired by the RNLAF from the Dutch airline Martinair in a contract signed on June 30, 1992. Both were leased back to the airline until their conversion could begin, giving the RNLAF time to negotiate – via the USAF – a tanker conversion contract with McDonnell Douglas and arrange training of air crews and technicians. In expectation of the arrival of the DC-10s, 334 Squadron relocated from Soesterberg to Eindhoven AB in May 1992 – because, co-located with an international airport, it offered more facilities for handling cargo and passengers on intercontinental flights. Meanwhile, the defence ministry ordered two Lockheed C-130H-30 Hercules, two Fokker 50 passenger aircraft, four Fokker 60 Utility transports and a single Gulfstream

IV VIP jet for use by 334 Squadron to complement the DC-10s in replacing the F27s. These other types arrived on the squadron in 1994-1996 – although the C-130H-30s have been operated by 336 Squadron since October 2007 and the Fokker 50s and 60s were withdrawn between 2006 and 2012. On December 21, 1992, one of the DC-10s (1975-built PH-MBN, c/n 46924 and l/n 218, destined to become T-218 in RNLAF service) was destroyed in a crash at Faro airport, Portugal, which claimed the lives of 56 of the 340 on board. In accordance with the contract, Martinair – which still had a third such aircraft in service – offered the newer, 1978-built PHMBT (c/n 46985 and l/n 264, becoming T-264 in RNLAF service) as a replacement.

Conversion

Initial plans intended the first aircraft to enter service with

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, Dutch Style

Above: T-235, the oldest KDC-10, was built in 1976 and had flown over 80,600 hours by mid-2013. All images author unless stated Below: The KDC-10 has a maximum take-off weight of 565,000lb, including up to 245,566lb of fuel. Bottom: T-264 seen at Eindhoven as the fog clears on a winter morning.

334 Squadron at Eindhoven AB in the course of 1994, but lengthy negotiations with McDonnell Douglas and unforeseen price increases led to delays. In the end, conversion to KDC-10 tanker/transport standard of the first aircraft (T-264) commenced in October 1994; work on the second (T-235, c/n 46956 and l/n 235, ex PH-MBP) began in February 1995. The modifications were carried out by KLM Engineering & Maintenance at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport on behalf of McDonnell Douglas. They included fitting an advanced airrefuelling boom system and pilot director lights under the fuselage; installing a remote aerial refuelling operator (RARO) station immediately behind the cockpit; changes to fuel, electric and hydraulic systems as well as navigation and communication equipment; and fitting a camera system housed in a

fairing immediately forward of the boom. The KDC-10s also had anti-collision lights applied to the fuselage and tail. To reduce costs, plans to include a secondary hose and drogue refuelling system and a fixed partition between the cargo and passenger compartments were abandoned.

Delivery

T-264 made its first flight after conversion on July 31, 1995, several months behind schedule due to production delays. After a series of test flights by the USAF, the KDC-10 was officially handed over to the RNLAF in a ceremony at Eindhoven AB on September 29, 1995, in which it was christened Prins Bernhard by HRH Prince Bernhard, the husband of the former Dutch monarch Queen Juliana, and RNLAF commander Lt Gen Ben Droste. Aircrew training began shortly afterwards and by October 30, T-264 had

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made its first intercontinental flight to Goose Bay. The second KDC-10 arrived at Eindhoven on December 29, 1995, and was named Jan Scheffer on April 16, 1996. The aircraft were delivered in a colour scheme similar to that of USAF KC-10As in their early years: white upper surface and tail, light grey lower fuselage and wings and a blue cheatline. When undergoing maintenance in 2004-2005, both were repainted in a more militarystyle light grey scheme, with white lettering, itself replaced by black lettering in 20102012. In 1993-1994, training of the first four aircrews – each consisting of a captain, co-pilot, flight engineer and boom operator/loadmaster – was conducted by the USAF at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, and Martinair. The USAF continued to assist 334 Squadron personnel in getting used to KDC-10 operations during the type’s

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developed by Dutch industry together with TNO (the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Research), and KLM installed it on the aircraft in late 2009 and early 2010. The KDC-10s are fitted with three General Electric CF6-50C2 engines delivering 52,500lb (233.5kN) of thrust each. Since they were built as convertible freighters, the aircraft already had a large cargo door – measuring 140in by 102in (3.56m by 2.59m) – on the left side of the forward fuselage. Unlike the KC-10, the KDC-10 does not have additional fuel tanks in the lower cargo compartment. These were considered unnecessary since the KDC-10s would mainly be used to refuel jets like the F-16, which take small quantities of fuel compared to the larger aircraft that USAF tankers regularly replenish. As such, the lower compartment can be used for cargo. The KDC-10 is itself unable to receive fuel in flight as it lacks the receptacle fitted to the KC-10.

Mixed configuration

Top: The KDC-10 flight deck now features multi-functional displays following the recent cockpit upgrade. Above left: The analogue flight deck of T-264, seen in April 2012 prior to its upgrade. Above right: Unlike the KDC-10s, 334 Squadron’s DC-10-30CF does not have a passenger compartment in its spacious cabin. Left: The pilot director lights underneath the fuselage indicate the movement required to correctly position the receiver aircraft for contact with the boom. Bottom left: RNLAF personnel board KDC-10 Jan Scheffer for their flight to Afghanistan.

first few years in service. By 1999, the number of aircrews had risen to six to meet the demand for KDC-10 missions – until then, the availability of aircrew was the limiting factor in KDC-10 operations rather than their serviceability.

RARO

In contrast to the USAF’s KC-10A, which has an aerial refuelling operator station and window at the back of the aircraft, the RNLAF opted for a RARO system to reduce the complexity of airframe modifications. The RARO station has two rear-facing seats in the front of the aircraft. The boom operator sits on the left side while the right seat can be used by an

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instructor or observer. Five TV screens display images from the cameras mounted in the fairing under the tail. The upper three screens show what is happening on the port and starboard sides and behind the aircraft. The lower two display stereoscopic images of the deployed boom and receiving aircraft. Boom operators wear special 3D glasses during refuelling operations. The boom is operated via joysticks with a digital fly-bywire steering mechanism. The original camera set-up was replaced by the Tanker Remote Vision System (TRVS), which has much improved image resolution and better contrast. It was

Although they are convertible, the KDC-10s usually fly in a mixed cargo/passenger configuration, with passenger seats located in the rear part of the cabin, and until now have operated in full cargo configuration on only a few occasions. The aircraft initially had 165 passenger seats but, since new interiors were fitted, this has been reduced to 152 due to changed evacuation requirements. For additional aircrew members, a further nine seats are available immediately behind the cockpit, next to the RARO station. The upper cargo compartment can accommodate up to ten standard 88in by 108in (2.24m by 2.76m) pallets. LD3 and LD6 containers fit in the lower cargo holds.

Third aircraft

In 2004, the Dutch defence ministry announced a plan to acquire a third DC-10. The additional aircraft would not be modified to tanker configuration but used purely for passenger and cargo transport. This enabled the KDC-10s to concentrate on their AAR task, since they were mainly used for transport due to the increasing involvement of Dutch forces in international operations such as their contribution to NATO operations in Afghanistan.

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

The third aircraft was a former United Airlines DC-10-30CF (T-255, c/n 46987 and l/n 255, ex N1858U). It arrived at Eindhoven on October 25, 2004, and was initially stored in anticipation of a major overhaul between September 2005 and May 2006. The original plans envisaged it entering service in January 2007 but it was not until the following autumn that the aircraft relocated to Woensdrecht AB for a cockpit upgrade programme (CUP) carried out by Fokker Air Services in co-operation with Boeing. The aircraft made the first of a series of test flights after the completion of the CUP on July 22, 2008. Development of the new digital cockpit and arrangement of the documentation necessary for certification by the Netherlands Military Aviation Authority took longer than expected and it was not until April 8, 2011, that T-255 was delivered to 334 Squadron. The aircraft subsequently entered an operational test and evaluation (OT&E) programme completed in December 2011.

Above: KDC-10s are used to air refuel fighters on deployment, and have supported trans-Atlantic deliveries of surplus RNLAF F-16AMs sold to Chile, including these examples in August 2011. Bottom: The KDC-10s and DC-10 operated by 334 Squadron are the largest aircraft in RNLAF service.

The RNLAF initially wanted to fit all three aircraft with a palletised interior system (PIS) to make it easier to switch between all-passenger and all-cargo configurations, or a combination of both. However, it turned out that the cargo floor structure of the third aircraft was unsuitable, and too expensive to modify. The

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next plan was to fit out the DC-10 with a fixed all-passenger interior comprising 250 seats. But on the very day T-255 was delivered to 334 Squadron, the defence ministry announced it would retire the aircraft in December 2013 as part of budget cuts. Consequently, it will remain in an all-cargo configuration until its

withdrawal from service at the end of this year.

Cockpit upgrade

The CUP was necessary to enable the KDC-10s and DC-10 to continue worldwide operations – but it also standardised the cockpits of the three aircraft. It comprises large digital multi-function display screens showing flight control, engine

control and navigation information. The modified aircraft also feature a Link16 datalink system, more accurate navigation and GPS systems plus secure voice and satellite communication (satcom) equipment. Once DC-10 T-255 had finished the OT&E programme, KDC-10 T-235 entered the CUP on December 23, 2011. It

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returned on November 1, 2012, to conduct an additional, limited tankerspecific certification programme. KDC-10 T-264 arrived at Woensdrecht on November 23, 2012, and returned to Eindhoven three months ahead of schedule on May 31, 2013. It was officially handed back to 334 Squadron in a ceremony on June 6, 2013.

Air taskings

The current commanding officer of 334 Squadron is Lt Col Howard Colson, who joined the RNLAF in 1981 and flew Northrop NF-5 Freedom Fighters and F-16s, followed by tours in the US, before converting to the Fokker 50 in 2008. He currently flies the Gulfstream. He told AIR International: “We have around 2,000 flying hours annually for our KDC-10s and DC-10. Until recently, we had no more than two aircraft available due to the CUP. But with the final aircraft redelivered, we now have all three aircraft operational for the first time. There’s a shortage of strategic air transport capacity in Europe, so it would be good if we could at least hold on to the third DC-10 until its next heavy maintenance visit, due in November 2016. The EATC [European Air Transport Command], located here at Eindhoven AB, arranges the planning, tasking and control of our transport aircraft and most of Belgium, France and Germany. “The EATC would certainly benefit from a revision of the decision to retire the aircraft early and the outcome of a business case on this subject is expected shortly. If retirement goes ahead as previously planned, we’ll

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probably have the DC-10 dismantled and use the spare parts for our KDC10s, as it seems unlikely that the aircraft – being that old and with its unique cockpit configuration – will be sold.” Asked whether the KDC-10 has any disadvantages, Lt Col Colson said: “The KDC-10 is an ageing airframe. The need for maintenance increases as it gets older, and it becomes more difficult to get spare parts. But, on the other hand, the aircraft definitely has its advantages. Being a widebody it offers a lot of capacity. When compared to the current generation MRTTs [multi-role tanker transports], it was ahead of its time. This aircraft enables us to carry personnel and equipment, including jet engines, on the same flight, and at the same time take along F-16s – as many as six on transatlantic flights. And with its upgraded cockpit, including Link-16 and satcom, we can use it any time of the day and anywhere around the world for a wide variety of missions for at least another decade.”

Operations

“We have four KDC-10 flights within our squadron,” continued Lt Col Colson. “The three operational flights comprise ten aircrews but this will be down to eight after completion of a major reorganisation of our armed forces. The fourth flight – with two pilots, two flight engineers and two boom operators/loadmasters – is responsible for crew training, live checks and the aircraft captain course. Due to the dynamic world we operate in and the high demand for strategic transport, both the operational aircrews and technicians work in shifts

nowadays, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.” Boom operator/loadmaster Sgt Maj Louis Martin Ruzette explained: “The KDC-10s most frequently refuel F-16s, E-3s (A and D models) and C-17As, but they are also certified to refuel the A-10, F-4, F-15, C-130, KC-10A and KC/ RC-135. We can deploy the boom at speeds between 180 and 350kts [333 and 648km/h], but the handling characteristics are optimal at 300kts [556km/h]. The altitude at which we operate varies too, depending on the circumstances. Over the North Sea, for example, we typically fly patterns at flight level 250 to 260 [25,000ft/7,620m to 26,000ft/7,924m]. “On average, we offload 4,000lb [1816kg] of fuel per minute to the receivers, which join the tanker on the lefthand side. After confirmation from the captain, I tell the pilot to position behind the tanker. The pilot uses the yellow line and the pilot director lights underneath the fuselage to get into position for refuelling. We try to limit radio transmitting to the bare minimum to allow the pilot to concentrate fully on the job. If there’s time, we may include dry contacts for training purposes. Each aircraft type has to stay within its own envelope for safe operations. If needed, I – or another crew member of the tanker – can give a breakaway call. “The KDC-10 is a nice aircraft to work with, but we have to take a lot of limits into account: for instance, on weight and balance. This requires a lot of calculations, and for this I work closely together with the flight engineer, both before and

during the flight.” The squadron has its own cabin attendants, two of whom join the crew as soon as there are any passengers on board. Their number may increase, depending on the quantity of passengers.

Deployments

Throughout the past 18 years, the KDC-10s and DC-10 have participated in international operations, both NATO and UN-led as well as civil missions. Between late 1996 and 2001, the two KDC-10s provided AAR support to NATO jets flying over the Balkans enforcing the no-fly zones set up over Bosnia and Herzegovina after the conflicts there in the 1990s. A KDC-10 operated from Al Udeid AB, Qatar, for three months in early 2002 providing AAR support in Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan – and again for six months in 2002/2003 and seven weeks in 2004, on the last occasion operating from Manas AB in Kyrgyzstan. The aircraft also flew transport missions in support of Dutch forces deployed to Eritrea and Djibouti (2000/2001), Kyrgyzstan (2002/2003 and 2004), Iraq (2003-2005) and Afghanistan (2002-present); and to Mali in early 2013 in support of French troops. Between March 24 and April 4, 2011, a KDC-10 supplied AAR support to RNLAF F-16s and allied aircraft operating over Libya as part of Operation Unified Protector. The KDC-10s were also called on to deliver a batch of former RNLAF F-16s to Chile. Six ferry flights in 2006/2007 and 2010/2011 transported 36 F-16s to South America without serious problems.

KDC-10 support is also vital to the regular deployments of F-16s and personnel to the US and Canada for exercises and the tankers are frequently used to enable F-16 pilots to regain their AAR currency. These may be pilots from the socalled European Participating Air Forces (EPAF – Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal) which operate F-16s or other allies including Greece and Poland. Operating at the request of the Dutch Government or in support of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like the UN, International Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, KDC-10s have conducted humanitarian aid, disaster relief and medical evacuation flights on many occasions. Missions have been carried out in Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and several countries in Europe and Africa.

Aircrew training

Most KDC-10/DC-10 pilots are former F-16 pilots, while others are ex-airline first officers and captains. “Experienced pilots with a lot of tactical knowhow are important to both our transport squadrons,” says 334 Squadron boss Lt Col Colson. “But nowadays we tend to search for a mixed pool of experienced and younger pilots. We train transport pilots ab initio for the first time this year – two people in the class of pilots who commenced their initial military training in February are destined to fly the C-130 or KDC-10. It’s yet to be determined whether they’ll continue their training in the US or the Netherlands.” For type-specific and refresher training of pilots

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Right: T-264 refuels an F-16AM from 311 Squadron over northern Afghanistan in November 2004, while deployed to Manas AB in Kyrgyzstan. RNLAF via author Below middle: The RARO station is located immediately behind the cockpit, from where the boom is operated by the boomer with joysticks. Bottom middle: A fairing under the aft fuselage houses the five TRVS cameras. Bottom right: The aerial refuelling boom fitted to the KDC-10 can extend to a maximum length of 15m (49ft).

and flight engineers, 334 Squadron uses the KDC-10 CUP simulator in Hoofddorp. It is one of two RNLAFowned, uniquely configured level-D simulators (the other is a C-130H CUP simulator) operated by CAE for the RNLAF and others, including the Royal New Zealand Air Force which also flies glass cockpit-equipped C-130Hs. Boom operator/ loadmasters undergo six months’ initial training at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, before returning to 334 Squadron to finish their instruction with 10 to 12 flights in both the AAR and transport roles and an exam before becoming operational. Refresher training is carried out in a refuelling simulator at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, since there is no such facility in the Netherlands. Flight engineers go through a training programme lasting around two years, including seven months at Lackland AFB, Texas, and McGuire.

Maintenance

By mid-July 2013, the KDC-10s had amassed more than 31,200 flying hours and 10,560 cycles since entering RNLAF service. The DC-10 had flown 1,076 hours with 548 cycles since April 2011. The technical specialists on 334 Squadron take care of maintenance, servicing and repair on a daily basis. One of them, avionics specialist Sgt Marcel Gooijer, said: “We also do some inspections, including borescope inspection of the engines. Base maintenance is done by commercial parties. This includes fast inspections Alpha – required every three months or 600hrs, whichever comes first – and Charlie, required every 18 months. Both are carried out by Sabena Technics in Nîmes, southern France. The aircraft

are subject to D-checks every 60 months, which were recently taken care of by SASCO [ST Aerospace Services Co] in Singapore. Maintenance of the refuelling system is carried out by AAR Aircraft Component Services on behalf of the USAF. “The KDC-10 is a relatively old aircraft that lacks a maintenance computer, which many current-day types in RNLAF service have. That makes troubleshooting more challenging for us. The upgraded cockpit has not changed that, since much of the technology behind it is still the same. Due to their age, problems pop up more frequently and the aircraft are sensitive to corrosion. Then again, it’s easier to replace a single module in the KDC-10/ DC-10 compared to most modern aircraft.”

What next?

Replacement of the KDC10s is currently foreseen for 2020-2024. But it seems unlikely the country will buy its own new tankers after that: the Netherlands is lead nation in a task group within the European Defence Agency (EDA) considering operating a shared pool of strategic transport/tanker aircraft in the future – in a similar way that the three C-17As of the 12-nation Heavy Airlift Wing at Papa

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AB in Hungary currently operate. Meanwhile, the KDC-10s soldier on. During the past 18 years, the aircraft have proven to be extremely valuable assets not only for the RNLAF but also the other Dutch forces and their allies – as well as NGOs receiving support from the Dutch airlifters during worldwide humanitarian missions. This intense usage for military and civil operations alike shows the visionaries of the 1980s within the RNLAF, led by Maj Gen Breeschoten, were proved right.

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Rescue

TANKER

David C Isby looks at the HC-130J Combat King II in service with the US Air Force’s Air Combat Command

A

US Air Force (USAF) crew, airborne within minutes of the mission order arriving at the alert shack, flies its Lockheed Martin HC-130J Combat King II into the night sky. The HC-130J is the USAF’s only fixed-wing personnel recovery aircraft, specifically designed for combat search and rescue (CSAR) missions. It heads towards the reported location of survivors down in hostile territory. With its crew performing low-level contour flying, using night vision goggles (NVGs), the HC-130J navigates through mountainous terrain, using ridge lines for masking to stay below enemy radar. Sometimes a rescue combat air patrol will be established, for instance by a flight of A-10 Thunderbolts,

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which will orbit the survivors and provide protection and radio relay. But if these aircraft are not required or available, the HC-130J may be the first on the scene. The HC-130J aircrew monitor the location of the survivors on a moving map display. Once in range, they cue their infrared sensor, zooming in to provide an incockpit view that guides their final approach. The HC-130J slows and the crew open the aircraft’s rear fuselage ramp. At the point determined by the computerised navigation and mission system the aircraft is over the drop zone selected by the crew and the HC-130J drops its load to the survivors. Over a desert, that load may be a 4x4 all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and, over water, a modified Zodiac boat or an MA-1/2 raft. After the load has been dropped, pararesucemen – called Guardian Angels by the USAF – jump out of the HC130J. The Guardian Angels have a wide range of skills: they can rescue wounded servicemen from wreckage, keep them alive through

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medical care and resist any enemy interference. The pararescuemen load the survivors aboard an ATV or Zodiac and head to a rendezvous point for pick-up.

Helicopter Refuelling

Pick-up is the specialty of the USAF’s HH-60G Pave Hawk CSAR helicopter. But they cannot fly as fast or as far as a HC-130J and must rely on helicopter air-to-air refuelling (HAAR) to fly into hostile airspace and complete their mission. This is where the Combat King II has a vital secondary role in CSAR operations. Operating as low as 500ft (152.4m) and at a speed of up to 120 kts (138mph/222km/h), HC-130J crews can refuel helicopters without using radio, relying on an NVG-compatible infrared (IR) beacon for initial rendezvous and signal lights for the refuelling. The next stage is to carry out a successful contact between the helicopter’s refuelling probe and the tanker’s lowspeed drogue. Once fuel transfer begins, the HC-130J and the

HH-60G must hold position in both level flight and turn. The helicopter’s rotor tips are just 25ft (7m) from the HC-130J’s tail. The HC130J loadmaster watches, ready to call “breakaway, breakaway, breakaway!” once refuelling is complete, or signal if the connection between the tanker and helicopter is lost. It’s a high-stress environment. To qualify and stay current in the skills needed to carry out a successful rendezvous, contact and refuelling requires extensive training. With refuelling complete, the HH-60G follows the HC-130J to the pick-up site. Its crew use its hoist or land the helicopter, depending on the terrain, to recover the survivors, using the Guardian Angels and the helicopter’s on-board armament for any necessary defence. The HC-130J meanwhile acts as on-scene commander. Both the Combat King II and the HH-60G then recover to a forward base, with wounded survivors transferred from the helicopter and flown onwards to medical care.

Ageing Combat Shadow

The HC-130J Combat King II provides the USAF’s Air Combat Command (ACC) CSAR units with a combined tanker and air-drop capability (the US Coast Guard also operates nine HC-130Js with the same designation, but no tanker capability and different sensors). HC-130Js are replacing the HC-130N/P Combat Shadows, which date back to the 1960s and are among the oldest aircraft in the USAF – some have more than 10,000 flight hours logged from Vietnam through to Afghanistan. Between March 2010 and July 2011 alone, HC-130N/Ps flew 1,045 combat recovery missions in Afghanistan. This high operational tempo compounded reliability problems in the ageing aircraft, increasing the cost of HC-130N/P flight hours. Availability fell to 54% in 2011, with a mission capable rate of 68.7%, and the mean time between failures of the refuelling equipment also increased. The aircraft’s reliability became the biggest challenge to HC-130N/P

operations, said Captain Matthew McCants, a pilot in the 79th Rescue Squadron (RQS) at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona: “Sometimes it took two or three aircraft to ensure we could have one to carry out our mission. It was difficult for us to be reliable with a time-sensitive mission.” The USAF was aware it needed new rescue tankers as far back as the 1990s. The Combat Rescue Mission Area Plan, drafted in 1996, called for 115 tanker versions of the C-130J Super Hercules to start entering service by 2005. But it was not until the following year that the Combat Rescue Tanker (CRT) competition started evaluating a tanker version of the C-130J along with the Alenia C-27 Spartan and multiple EADS/ Airbus Military designs.

Replacement

In 2008, faced with urgent operational requirements and the ageing HC-130N/Ps, the USAF ordered new tankers based on Lockheed Martin’s KC-130J Block 6.5. The Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had issued a

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carried out its first in-flight refuelling from a boomequipped USAF tanker on September 24, 2011 and was delivered to the 79th RQS (part of the 563rd Rescue Wing) following a ferry mission flown by thenUSAF Chief of Staff, General Norton Schwartz. He said: “The capability of the HC-130 Combat King II is an order of magnitude greater than any of its predecessors, and it’s certainly better than any ‘Herc’ of any variety that I have ever flown.” Initially used for crew training, the aircraft was joined in 2012 by two other HC-130Js to carry out initial operational testing and evaluation (IOT&E). This comprised 60 sorties and 253 flight hours at DavisMonthan and Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, Arctic testing at Eielson AFB in Alaska, maritime environment testing at Hurlburt Field, Florida, and participation in a Combat Search and Rescue Exercise (CSAREX) at Nellis AFB,

Nevada. In October 2012, the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) certified the HC130J as “effective, suitable and mission capable”.

First Deployment

On April 25, 2013, the HC-130J achieved initial operational capability (IOC), allowing it to be used for deployments. It followed successful participation in the biennial large-scale coalition exercise Angel Thunder earlier that month. “Angel Thunder was our litmus test as to whether we were ready to go forward and be a combatmission, ready unit,” said Capt McCants. By then, nine HC130Js had been delivered. The first unit to take the HC-130J on deployment was the 79th, which received its full strength of six aircraft by the middle of 2013. The unit replaced an HC-130N/P detachment in Italy in July and will rotate aircraft and personnel there over the next 20 months “in support

Above: HC-130J 09-0109 was the 200th C-130J Hercules to be delivered by Lockheed Martin . All images Jim Haseltine Opposite: The HC-130J is equipped with a non-retracting AN/ AAS-52 forward looking infrared sensor under the nose to improve visibility in poor weather conditions. Bottom left: A pilot of the ‘Nightstalkers’ (415th Special Operations Squadron) keeping formation with a second HC-130J. Bottom right: The combat systems operator sits behind the pilots, and is repsonsible for monitoring fuel and navigation, as well as controlling refuelling operations. Below: Like all members of the C-130J family, the HC-130J has a digital cockpit with five primary displays, all NVG compatible.

requirement for 78 aircraft the previous year, but in 2012 the USAF set the numbers at 37 HC-130Js, replacing HC-130N/Ps on a one-forone basis. As part of the HC-130/MC-130 Recapitalization Program, the aircraft would be built alongside 94 MC-130J Combat Shadow IIs ordered separately to equip Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSCOC). Both aircraft share the same airframe and HAAR capability, but have some different systems (HC-130Js do not have terrain-following radar) and missions (MC-130Js refuel SOCOM helicopters and Boeing MV-22B Ospreys). Lockheed Martin modified the KC-130J in 200810 to meet the USAF’s requirements. This included a reinforced wing centre section, intended to absorb the stresses of low-level operations yet still provide a planned 35-year service life. The first HC-130J Combat King II (08-8108) flew at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Georgia factory on July 29, 2010, and was used for developmental testing. It

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of contingency operations”, according to the USAF. Capt McCants said: “One of the challenges for the 79th has been getting our people combat ready on the HC-130J in such a short period of time. It was a combination of learning to fly a new airplane and how to employ a new weapons system.” Among the challenges was adapting to the new flight deck and less crew – unlike the HC-130N/P, the ‘J does not have a navigator, flight engineer and radio operator.

Diplomatic Response

One likely site for future deployments of the HC-130J is the US Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa at Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti. This provides an embassy response force to rescue endangered US diplomatic personnel in the region. Its

The HC-130J Combat King II is an integral part of the US Air Force’s personnel recovery mission, providing airborne command and control and support to rescue forces, as well as refuelling the rescue helicopters so they can reach the area of operations.

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establishment was a reaction to the September 2012 storming of the consulate in Benghazi. Two HC-130N/Ps and three crews provide the force’s mobility, one crewed HC-130N/P is kept on alert with another as back up. In the meantime, HC-130Js have been delivered to a second frontline unit, the 71st Rescue Squadron of the 347th Rescue Wing at Moody AFB, Georgia, replacing the unit’s HC-130Ps. The first arrived on July 19 and the second on August 14 this year. The unit will achieve IOC after it is operational with three HC-130Js and will eventually receive nine HC-130Js. Pilots and systems operators attend the USAF C-130 Aircrew Training Center (ATS) at Little Rock AFB in Arkansas to transition onto the C-130J before going to the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland for specialised training in operating the Combat King II’s systems. Ground crew

go through an intensive 15day training course given by a field training detachment. Technical Sergeant David Poe, who instructed at Moody AFB in 2013, told AIR International that one of the aims of the training is to operate the HC-130J’s digital MIL-STD-1553 databus and systems, and putting on and powering up antennas.

The Systems

So how does the HC-130J achieve General Schwartz’s, “order of magnitude” improvement over its predecessor? The aircraft’s four Rolls-Royce AE 2100D3 turboprop engines, turning six-bladed Dowty propellers, provide a 20%-plus boost in power over earlier versions. This has improved performance in the hot-andhigh conditions that have characterised operations in Afghanistan, yet the engines consume less fuel – 880 US gallons (3,331 litres) per hour, compared to 960 US gallons (3,634 litres in the HC-130N/P) and are quieter. Capt McCants found the HC-130J, “handles well at

lower speeds with the bigger engines. It has enough power to get you out of an unfavourable position”. The HC-130J’s most important on-board systems are two under-wing digital control refuelling pods, capable of being fitted with either low-speed or highspeed drogues to refuel helicopters, tilt-rotor Ospreys (although HC-130J crews have yet to be trained to do so) or probe-equipped fixed-wing aircraft. The pods transfer fuel to receiving aircraft at a rate of 150-360 US gallons (567-1,362 litres) per minute. The normal fuel load is 9,760 US gallons (36,945 litres) including two 1,360 US gallon (5,148 litre) under-wing external fuel tanks. The HC-130J’s Universal Aerial Refuelling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI), above the cockpit, allows it to be refuelled by boom-equipped tankers – a facility lacking in HC-130N/Ps. The HC-130J has upgraded navigation (fullyintegrated inertial and global positioning system), threat detection (radar and missile warning) and countermeasure (AN/ ALE-47 chaff and flare dispenser) systems. Interior and

exterior lighting is NVG compatible; a single switch configures all lights. Sensors include a turret-mounted AN/AAS-52 forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and AN/APN241 weather and ground mapping radar. What Capt McCants calls “a robust communications suite” includes HF (high frequency), VHF (very high frequency) and UHF (ultra-high frequency) radios plus dual ARC-231 satellite communications (SATCOM), secure Have Quick radios and a data burst capability for voice and data systems. The special air mission suite – enhanced situational awareness (SAMS-ESA) provides some connectivity to multiple tactical datalinks.

Glass Cockpit

The HC-130J’s glass cockpit includes two holographic head-up displays (HUDs) and five multi-function displays (MFDs). With the navigator and flight engineer positions not part of the HC-130J, the combat systems operator (CSO), whose crew station has three MFDs, has to monitor fuel and navigation as well as control refuelling and mission systems. Capt McCants found he was busier, as losing two crew positions increased the workload. “But the aircraft’s tools and displays

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give an unprecedented level of situational awareness. Pilots and the CSO can focus more on the tactical employment. We are training all pilots and CSOs to be able to be rescue mission commanders,” he said. The first three HC-130Js to carry out the IOT&E in 201112 were built to a baseline configuration, without the CSO station. The next ten, delivered in 2012-13, were built to Increment 1 configuration, intended to be deployable with an expanded intercom system, additional on-board power generators, lightweight ballistic protection, two additional AN/ALE-47 dispensers (bringing it in line with the MC-130J), and enhanced cargo compartment load handling capability. Increment 1 includes improved hydraulic systems for high-altitude ramp and door operations and High-Speed, Low-Level Aerial Delivery System sling attachment points and buffer boards. They enable the HC-130J’s tail ramp to open at speeds of up to 250 kts, as opposed to 180 kts on older versions, allowing airdrops at higher speeds. The Enhanced Cargo Handling System allows rapid repositioning of airdrop loads, making use of improved airdrop accuracy made possible by embedded GPS/

INS systems. The cargo bay configuration can be quickly altered to meet mission requirements.

Evolution

Deliveries started with the 14th HC-130J in 2013 and have been to Increment 2 configuration. This features increased on-board power generation, a fully equipped loadmaster/scanner position by the fuselage paratrooper door (and provision for installation of the Large Aircraft IR Countermeasures (LAIRCM) suite. The USAF intends to eventually bring all HC-130Js to a common baseline configuration. Lockheed Martin is carrying out independent development for further upgrades in future production. The USAF has also identified potential HC-130J upgrades including the installation of a full Link 16 datalink, connectivity to the classified SIPRNet and a capability to receive real-time video feed (useful to check on crash sites and survivors). Some features of the HC-130N/Ps currently omitted from the HC-130J, including large forward scanner windows and flare tubes, may also be retrofitted. The USAF may arm HC-130Js with an armament package based on that used by the marines’ KC-130J Harvest Hawk, allowing them to supplement

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the HH-60G’s firepower and support Guardian Angels on the ground. While earlier HC-130s operated alone, the HC-130J’s AN/APN-243(V) station-keeping equipment makes multi-ship missions and formation flight tactical options possible.

Maintenance

Improved maintenance, better reliability, less downtime and fewer failures, especially of the refuelling system – was intrinsic to the decision to procure the HC-130J. Staff Sergeant Derek Ruud, a crew chief, described how the arrival of the HC-130J changed operations: “The previous C-130s were from the 1960s, so we would have problems with them breaking. We won’t have that issue now. We’ll be able to launch the aircraft quicker.” For those used to the HC-130N/P with its mixture of 1960s technology and incremental upgrades, the HC-130J represents a new experience. Technical Sergeant Jason Schlauderaff, a loadmaster, said: “The new features of this aircraft are great and will definitely make life easier for anyone who works with them. One thing extremely notable is the improved diagnostics system and how computers are now used to find out what is wrong much more quickly. Before,

it was having one thing go wrong with four or five possible solutions now it is much quicker to find out what is wrong and maintenance needed between flights [has decreased] sharply from 30 hours to eight hours.” Maximising commonality within the C-130J series increases the HC-130J’s economies of scale. ACC assessed the cost of each HC-130J flight hour in fiscal year (FY) 2011 at $3,585. To meet its requirements, through next year, the HC-130J will have to achieve 76% availability and 86% mission capable rates. Sgt Ruud said: “This aircraft allows us to update our personnel rescue force. We’ll have better capabilities, which will allow us to get our mission done more quickly and more effectively. We’ll be able to deploy anytime, anywhere and provide 24-hour coverage.” Compared with its HC-130N/P predecessors, the HC-130J’s greater reliability is matched by its ability to carry more fuel, especially in hot and high conditions, and to operate from shorter airfields.

The Future

The US Department of Defense’s proposal for the procurement in FYs 2014-18 of 79 C-130J series aircraft includes 13 more HC-130Js.

It is a $50 million cut in HC-130J procurement for FY 2014 and effectively moves the purchase of one airplane into the post-2018 period. HC-130J deliveries may dip as low as one per year before surging to deliver 37 airplanes by FY 2025. Ageing HC130N/Ps will remain in service until the mid-2020s. Turning around the continued decline in their availability rate – about 1 to 1.5% annually – is likely to prove expensive. The capabilities of the J-series airframe have reduced the differences between the HC-130 and MC-130Js. Both are capable of refuelling Ospreys and their aircrew are trained together by the 58th at Kirtland. In the future, AFSOC may reclaim the CSAR mission from ACC as it did – including the HC-130s – in 200306, but it was not a happy arrangement. The special operations leadership, for whom meticulous planning is a matter of life and death, found it hard to accept the CSAR commitment to “launch immediately upon receipt of a nine-line order and brief in the air”. But the HC-130J is intended to operate as part of the same units as rescue helicopters and it has the capability to enhance the response so vital to personnel recovery missions.

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Boeing

T

he solution to the US Air Force KC-X tanker programme is labelled the KC-46, official nomenclature for a Boeing 767-200ER series airliner, heavily modified with military equipment, and due to roll off Boeing’s Everett production line in 2014. Originally designed in the 1970s, the prototype Boeing 767-200, N767BA (c/n 22233/1), made its maiden flight from Everett, Washington on September 26, 1981. The date of the 767’s maiden flight underlines the age of the design. The KC-46 is an old aeroplane. Boeing hopes to put the first aircraft built for the KC-46 programme into the air in 2015. A specific date is yet to be defined. Should that target be achieved, eight years will have passed since the

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US Department of Defense issued its KC-X request for proposal.

Description

The KC-46 is a short-body tanker, featuring a 767200ER series fuselage, and components from its 300ER and the 400 series stable mates. An all-digital flight-deck features 15-inch (375mm), advanced diagonal crystal displays (similar to those in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner), a tactical situational awareness system (TSAC), T3CAS (which includes TCAS II, Class A TAWS, Mode S transponder and ADS-B functions), Link 16 datalink and a multi-mode receiver. Boeing describes the KC-46 defensive system as ‘robust’ and claims the aircraft will have the ability to ‘detect, avoid, defeat and survive threats using multiple

layers of protection allowing it to operate safely in mediumthreat environments.’ To counter the threat from small arms fire the crew is protected with a cockpit armour system.

Certification

The design changes included on the KC-46 tanker are such that the aircraft requires an inventive type certification and the military specific components – wing airrefuelling pods (WARPs), a centreline drogue system (CDS) and a fly-by-wire refuelling boom – will also require supplemental type certification from the FAA. Components of the first aircraft to be produced for the tanker programme, a 767-2C built for FAA specific certification testing, are already in production. The second aeroplane will

be built as a fully-configured KC-46, the third as a 2C and the forth a KC-46. Both of the 2Cs will remain in clean configuration throughout the flight-test programme and will be sent to Boeing’s finishing centre to be fully configured as KC-46s ready for the IOT&E (initial operational test and evaluation). According to Dave King, Engineering Lead with the Edwards AFB-based 773rd Test Squadron, the 767-2C is scheduled to make its maiden flight in the early summer of 2014 followed by the first fully-configured KC46 in January 2015. So what’s the significance of the 2C? It will allow a lot of the FAA-specific testing to be completed before the first full-up KC-46, fitted with all of the air-refuelling systems, is available. The air force will leverage some of its initial flight-testing by

maximising the amount of specification verification it can conduct during FAA certification testing with the 767-2C.

Flight-Test

The test philosophy adopted by the US Air Force for the KC-46 differs to the legacy process. Usually, FAA certification testing is carried out independently, prior to military certification testing and specification compliance. But the legacy process creates duplication and the data produced during FAA certification is not typically available to the government because it remains the manufacturer’s proprietary information. In a bid to conduct a single test and share the data collected for the military test effort, the 773rd Test Squadron undertook a programme of work to

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KC-46

America’s Mobility Game Changer?

AIR International’s Mark Ayton visited the 773rd Test Squadron and 418th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, California to discuss the KC-46A tanker determine which military specification verification tests can be accomplished during FAA certification. Each of the test requirements is categorised and placed into classifications known as ‘buckets’, of which there are six, five classed as primary and one for airrefuelling. 1 – FAA certification testing. 2 – FAA specification compliance verification. 3 – FAA specification compliance verification that requires a letter of functionality. A certain amount of testing has to be completed to show that a component is working as designed. This covers components for which the FAA does not have a standard by which to evaluate, and requires a third party to perform the evaluation

and provide confirmation documentation. The FAA evaluates how the component is installed on the aeroplane and its implications for safety. 4 – Military specification compliance verification. 5 – Military certification testing. 6 – Air-refuelling certification testing. Bucket categorisation is meant to allow the different test organisations to provide oversight and share data to accelerate the test schedule. Figuring out how to accomplish the bucket categorisation was a key task in which the 773rd Test Squadron played a major part. The squadron has also undertaken work with Boeing and the FAA to develop the final technical test plan, part of which went through the KC-46 technical review process.

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Test Phases

The KC-46 is currently in phase one of its threephase development. Phase one covers everything on the programme up to the milestone C – the point at which low-rate initial production is decided; phase two runs between milestone C and the start of IOT&E. See below for details of phase three. Most of the KC-46’s developmental testing will be undertaken from Boeing Field in Seattle except for selected tests when KC46 aircraft are scheduled to deploy to Edwards AFB for two week-long detachments for highrisk test events using the military ranges. Conducting flight-test from Boeing Field in Seattle, some 1,100 miles (1,770km) to the north of Edwards AFB, means personnel assigned

to the Air Force Test Centre will need to re-locate to the Pacific northwest. But before moving personnel assigned to the Edwardsbased 418th Flight Test Squadron to Boeing Field, Air Force Materiel Command completed a cost analysis of establishing a detachment in Seattle. According to Dave King, it showed that up to $4 million could be saved by setting up a detachment in Seattle compared with undertaking the flight-test programme at Edwards AFB. The detachment will comprise 37 people, ten of whom will be engineers destined to fly on all of the mission-specific test flights. “They will have access to the data, validate that it’s correct and send it to Edwards for analysis by our engineering staff who will verify that the aircraft’s specifications are

met, consider the type’s military utility and write the reports,” said Dave King. Developmental testing starts immediately after the 2015 maiden flight and will last through the first quarter of calendar year 2016. IOT&E begins in mid-2016. One interesting fact about the KC-46 IOT&E is that it will be conducted by an Air Mobility Command evaluation squadron from McConnell AFB in Kansas, home of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, the world’s largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit. Once IOT&E has concluded, the 773rd Test Squadron will conduct phase three which will involve air-refuelling certification of NATO and allied receiver types not previously conducted during the first two phases. Phase three will also involve validation of the KC-46 simulator.

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Air-Refuelling Pods

Three air-refuelling pods – two removable WARPS built by UK company Cobham at its Iowa facility and a permanent CDS – all have an offload flow rate of 400 US gallons/min (1,514 litres/ min). The KC-46 three-pod configuration will provide users with greater refuelling flexibility than offered by the majority of KC-135Rs which are not fitted with the wing-mounted MPRS. Most KC-135Rs are only have a drogue hanging from the end of the boom, known as the ‘iron maiden’, a system that is not all that popular with US and allied pilots.

Aerial Refuelling Boom

The KC-46 will be equipped with a fly-by-wire refuelling boom, which is modelled on

SIDE & PLAN VIEW OF THE KC-46

the type fitted to the KC-10 Extender but differs internally and has a larger geometric envelope with a roll capability. The KC-46 boom uses an automated process to control the fuel offload flow rate and pressure; fuel can be transferred up to a maximum rate of 1,200 US gallons/min (4,542 litres/min). The new boom’s pumps come on when the receiver aircraft makes contact, but the transfer of fuel starts only when a minimum pressure, set for a required flow rate, is achieved. The required flow rate is maintained only when the pressure remains between a minimum and maximum threshold. If the pressure builds up, the rate of flow starts to slow, and once it reaches the upper threshold it will disconnect. This safety mechanism is designed to prevent fuel hoses from rupturing.

Air-Refuelling Operator System

The KC-46 crew will comprise a pilot, a co-pilot and a boom operator who is seated at the air-refuelling operator system (AROS) located immediately aft of the cockpit. The position of the AROS in the KC-46 is a major change to the concept of operations for the US Air Force which operates KC-10 and KC-135 tankers with the boom operator located close to the boom position in the aft of the aircraft. I asked where the 773rd Test Squadron sought experience of that method of air-refuelling. “Our people participated in the Japanese and Italian KC-767 tanker programmes, and also in

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Australian KC-30 tanker tests during 2012,” said Dave King. The AROS has two operator stations with independent control sticks, 24-inch (600mm) displays with a three-dimensional viewing system that provides vision of the WARPS, CDS and boom fed by a remote vision system (RVS). The RVS comprises a series of cameras mounted on the fuselage that provide a 185º field of view, and a camera on the boom that captures three-dimensional video. The system allows the boom operator to refuel receiver aircraft from the boom and simultaneous multi-point refuelling from the WARPS.

to transport 58 patients, 24 litters and 34 ambulatory.

Military Specific Testing

Most of the classic flight-test events will be carried out during FAA certification – one example being flutter testing of the WARPS. Military specific testing of avionics and defensive systems or those involving tanker-receiver contact using the boom, WARPS or CDS, will be

passenger and aeromedical loads to ensure each mission-specific load configuration can be set up and removed within the required timeline. And what authority does the 412th Test Wing and its test squadrons (the 418th FLTS and 773rd TS) hold in the

the entire flight-test programme. That may sound straightforward, but requires each test plan to be run through the 412th’s safety office, not for formal safety review, but a safety check. Once it is complete the wing’s commanders will

Loads

Fitted with a cargo door, the KC-46 will be certified in several configurations for aeromedical evacuation, all cargo and combined cargo-passenger loads. According to Dave King, the aircraft will provide the air force with quite a bit more cargo capability than the KC-135. The KC-46 has the capacity to carry 18 463L cargo pallets (the same as the C-17A Globemaster) and 58 passengers during peacetime operations and up to 114 passengers during contingency ops. In the aeromedical evacuation role a KC-46 is designed

undertaken by the 412th Test Wing which has the technical expertise to gather the data necessary to certify different types of aircraft to fly behind the tanker. The KC-46 will also be certified as a receiver. The 412th will also conduct ground-based testing of cargo, cargoAbove: Rear-right and front-right views of a KC-46 with the aerial refuelling boom extended. Boeing Left and below left: The first KC46 boom under construction at the tanker boom assembly center at Boeing Field, Seattle. Below right: On June 26 Boeing workers loaded the first wing spar for a KC-46 into the jig at Everett. All images Boeing

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

test plan? “That depends,” replied Dave King, “for those tests that are strictly FAA or FAA certification they [the FAA] is the lead and also undertakes the technical analysis and safety planning. Our folks [773rd TS] will fly as an interested third party and gather data. But those tests that are unique to the military role will go through our technical and safety process, for which we have responsibility.” Air force crews will fly in the 2C and KC-46configured aircraft throughout

sign the necessary documentation to give the air force pilots and test engineers permission to fly in the tests. So when and where will the air force pilots learn how to fly a Boeing 767 and a KC-46? “The plan is to get our pilots type certified in the simulator at Boeing Flight Services’ facility in Miami, Florida. This will be followed by a second course taken in Seattle, on which they will learn how the KC-46 differs to the 767. That lasts several weeks,” replied Dave King.

Numbers, Dates and Deliveries

Boeing is marketing the KC-46 as an aeroplane with a 99% dispatch rate. Nobody has ever operated a large fleet of aeroplanes that can achieve that rate – not even Boeing. The company’s sales brochure lists the KC-46 with greater mission effectiveness and unprecedented (not just better, but unprecedented) availability that allows the aircraft to meet more mission requirements with fewer tankers – amazing claims for an aircraft that has yet to make its maiden flight. In mid-October last year, Boeing started assembling the first KC-46 boom at its dedicated centre at Boeing Field, marking a shift from design to production. One month earlier the company opened the first System Integration Laboratory (SIL) for testing commercial avionics and software for integration into the KC-46A. Four more labs are due to be opened by the end of this year, three at Boeing Field and one at Everett. Assembly of the first aircraft began in late June 2013 followed by the second in August when the aircraft’s wing spar measuring 82 feet, 5 inches was lifted into an automated spar assembly tool. Boeing plans to roll-out the first aircraft from the factory in January 2014 and the second in March. Boeing expects to build 179 KC-46s for the US Air Force, following a contract awarded to the company on February 24, 2011. The first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to the training squadron at Altus AFB, Oklahoma in 2016.

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Tanker Multi- Mission

The US Marine Corps’ KC-130Js have an important tanking role – but that’s not all they do. Lon Nordeen reports

L

ockheed Martin has delivered more than 2,200 C-130 transports to 65 air arms around the world. While most have flown in the transport role to support military and civil missions, a small number have been modified with additional wingmounted and internal fuel tanks with drogue systems for aerial refuelling. The C-130 has proven to be a very capable tactical airlifter and tanker due to its ability to perform multiple missions with the same platform. The US Marine Corps (USMC) has long been a proponent of the C-130’s multi-mission performance. The Hercules entered USMC service in 1960 – it was originally known as the GV-1 before being re-designated the KC-130F. Forty-six KC-130F aircraft served with the USMC from 1962. The Marines also flew 28 KC-130T tankers, some newly built and others supplied by the US Air Force. A number of them still equip two reserve squadrons. The US Navy (USN) also flies a mix of KC-130F and newer KC-130J tankers to support testing operations.

New-Generation Hercules

Following the sales success of the C-130, Lockheed used company funds to develop a more capable, followon tanker-transport, from 1992. The goal for the new aircraft was to add systems and updates to expand performance as well as enhance reliability and reduce the cost of ownership. Many air arms showed interest in this new variant to replace older versions of the Hercules. It was also designed to meet commercial and FAA certification standards, requiring extensive development, testing and flight demonstrations. The C-130J has a length of 97.9ft (29.7m), wing span of 132.6ft (39.7m), height of 38.9ft (11.4m), a cargo volume of 4,850cu ft (450.5m3), a maximum gross take-off weight of 175,000lbs (79,380kg) and payload of 42,000lb (19,090kg). It was designed to have the same dimensions as the earlier C-130H and C-130H-30 and has more than 50% structural commonality with older C-130s. It is powered by four Rolls-Royce AE2100D3 turboprop engines, rated at 4,637shp (3,458kW), driving

AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles hanging under the wing of a Marine Corps KC-130J Hercules, already adorned with an impressive scoreboard of strikes on its front fuselage. Neil Dunridge

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TANKERS Essential to the Fight

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

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Above: A KC-130J of VMGR-252 equipped for the air-to-air refuelling role with both outboard pods. Cpl Michael Petersheim/US Marine Corps Opposite top left: An AN/AAQ-30 Target Sight System, designed for the AH-1Z Viper, can be mounted on the rear of a KC-130J’s external fuel tank to allow the aircraft to undertake surveillance and designation of targets. Neil Dunridge Opposite top right: A French Air Force Mirage 2000-5 refuelling from a KC-130J. TSgt Joseph McKee/US Air Force

Dowty R391 composite sixbladed propellers. One of the major advances in the C-130J was to replace ‘steam gauge’ flight and other instruments with electronic displays. The new glass cockpit, Flight Dynamics head-up displays, BAE mission computers,

Northrop Grumman Radar Modar 4000 colour weather and navigation radar, digital flight management systems and other enhancements and displays afford significant automation, flexibility and improved reliability and a reduced flight crew of just two.

KC-130J Arrives

C-130J orders from the US Department of Defense (DoD) included KC-130J tanker-transport versions of the aircraft to replace the USMC’s ageing KC-130Fs. The first USMC order for three KC-130Js was placed with Lockheed in July 1997

with two more aircraft added in December. Six months later a series of contracts was placed to install refuelling systems and for follow-on testing. The first USMC KC-130J flew at the Lockheed Martin facility at Marietta, Georgia, on June 14, 2000. Marine Aerial

Refueler Transport Training Squadron 253 (VMGRT-253) at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, was the first unit to receive the type, starting in 2001; this aircraft was then sent to the US Navy Air Test Center at Patuxent River, Maryland, for Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 20 (VX-

Combat Missions From the Cockpit Major Michael Valenti, assistant operations officer for VMGR-252, MCAS Cherry Point, explains: “My call-sign is ‘Mario’. I have [had] two combat deployments to Iraq in the KC-130J – the first in 2006, and then 2009 – and I also went to Afghanistan in 2010-11 and 2013. I was the operations officer for the detachment for the most recent deployment and worked closely with the Harriers at Camp Bastion. We are a jack-of-all-trades and master of many. We do everything under the sun. For example, when I was in Afghanistan on deployment for the first time in 2011, we were told we needed to swap out a group of MV-22s from in country and put them on an L-class ship to support the Marine Expeditionary Unit [MEU] and possible Libyan operations. We got the call to move six MV-22s from Afghanistan to Souda Bay, Greece, to meet up with the 26th MEU on the USS Kearsarge. That was a pretty monumental task, but we were able to do this within the Marine Air-Ground Task Force [or MAGTAF] using only organic assets. We didn’t have to work with the US Air Force, other services or higher command levels to make this happen. The USMC prides itself as the ‘911 force’ that can perform assigned tasks in an efficient manner within the aviation combat element. “It took about three weeks to get all the clearances and plan and we completed the mission. We took off, stopped in Kuwait for gas and then went straight to Souda Bay; and we did this twice with three MV-22s on each run. Within four days we’d completed the mission of moving an entire MEU detachment of MV-22s from Afghanistan to Greece and also carried all of their support equipment and manpower by ourselves. “This illustrated the flexibility of USMC KC-130Js. A few weeks ago we ferried a large group of MV-22s across the Atlantic to provide a crisis response force. I can’t get into the details [for security reasons] but you

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get the point. The MAGTAF has an organic capability to extend their reach to meet a wide variety of operational situations and not relay on other assets. Ships can extend their reach when they have MV-22s on board. The MV-22s can refuel from KC-130Js and therefore impact on things ashore from rescuing people to carrying out a strike. “As far as tanking in Iraq and Afghanistan goes, we can perform missions the USAF and coalition tankers cannot do. If there’s a flight of strike aircraft, be it Harrier or Hornet responding to a troops in contact [TIC] situation, we can go right over the fight if the scenario is right and supply gas. We call this yo-yo tanking, to allow one jet to stay in the fight doing ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconaissance] or a strike and supply gas to his wingman and then switch to make sure the ground troops receive the most effective air support. This allows the forward air controller and ground forces to remain covered without a break as the jets run low on fuel. “A good example of the real impact of this is when I was in Iraq near Ramadi. We refuelled a pair of Hornets that were chasing a dump truck filled with explosives. They got low on gas so I was tanking the wingman whose pilot was ‘lasing’ the truck with his laser targeting pod so the lead could deliver a laser-guided bomb as it went down a road. That’s how Marines operate. We’re part of the same team so we do everything we can to help our guys on the ground in combat. “The air commander controls the tankers and strike aircraft and we usually operate from the same base. For example if we need to go to higher authority for tanking we would have to put in a request several days in advance, and Combined Air Operations Centre in the Middle East would have to ask the USAF to get gas from one of their tankers. [The USAF] has a stack of priorities

and they may say your request is not as important as another event. Or they may say, ‘okay, we can give you gas but we’ll be orbiting over here, perhaps 100 miles [161km] away, and will have so much of gas available’. “Right before we launch, I call the Harrier squadron on the phone and we discuss where we’ll meet up. We’re very flexible. We have a probe and drogue refuelling system so we can service Harriers, Hornets, RAF Tornados and French Mirages, two at a time. The KC-130J is more fuel-efficient so I can stay up a little longer and I can pass that gas faster than the older, legacy KC-130F tanker, since we have pod pumps which deliver fuel at a higher pressure. “The bottom line in the KC-130J is that I can take off from the same airfield as the fighters, at Kandahar or Bastion. We can climb up and we’re ready to go to deliver fuel right away to the fighters to extend their time on station. The USAF has to take off hours and hours away, often from the Middle East, and can only be available in a pre-planned window. I will let the jets take off and tank them so they can deal with the weather and stay on station for many hours. “In Iraq we were very heavy on air refuelling since we were supporting Harriers, Hornet and Prowlers, and we had six KC-130Js ready to go. In Afghanistan during my 2010 deployment, we did a lot of refuelling for both Hornets and, later, Harriers. We would do five air refuelling cycles a day and also deliver a lot of cargo. The Hornets could stay on station a bit longer and carried the same ordnance, except the Harrier’s gun was bigger. That’s where we came in, as we’d provide aerial refuelling for the VMA-513 Harriers when they came in to replace the Hornets and make up the difference in time on station for the ground troops. “What would typically happen is that the east and west coast KC-130J squadrons share the detachment, or det, responsibilities. One squadron would have

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

20) to conduct the required test and certification phases. Challenges in the test programme led to a number of modifications, including the addition of an improved Sargent Fletcher/Cobham podded refuelling system. Testing and evaluation flights continued until April 2004,

when the changes were approved. Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Training Squadron 252 (VMGR-252) at MCAS Cherry Point was the first operational unit to convert to the KC-130J. It deployed to Iraq in 2005. Later, VMGR-352 also converted to the KC-130J

and both units supported detachments in Iraq. In 2006 a detachment from VMGR-252 flew in the Mediterranean in support of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). This unit developed operational concepts to support the refuelling of Bell-Boeing

MV-22B Ospreys. And since 2008, KC-130Js from VMGR-252, VMGR-352 and VMGR-152 have provided air refuelling and transport for operations in Afghanistan, deployed in the Horn of Africa, flown relief flights in Pakistan and rescue missions in Operation Odyssey Dawn

The KC-130J is equipped with an electronic flight deck, allowing a significant reduction in the number of crew members. LCpl Ian McMahon/US Marine Corps

the flag for a year and send six KC-130Js to Iraq or Afghanistan. That det would have a major as an officer in charge. It’s almost like an independent squadron as we have our own maintenance, pilots, etcetera. My first deployment was to Kandahar and my second was to Camp Bastion. When all aircraft are in one place it’s a lot better. “Very recently I was in Afghanistan as the ops officer for a detachment. Things are starting to slow down [there] with the withdrawal and most of the US and coalition forces are now moving into forward operating bases and turning day-to-day patrolling over to the Afghan forces. Close air support is [a] low [priority] for VMA-311, which is at Camp Bastion now, but they still

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

do a lot of ISR work. “We worked a lot with special operations forces and provided support for the forward operating bases. Now nearly everything we do is in co-operation with the Afghans. I’ve never spoken with an Afghan on the radio but we have joint forward air controllers [JFACs] in with them for joint operations. Our job is to help US and coalition forces. We can fly different profiles. We usually take off a half-hour after the jets and we can support them – we call this a ‘close air support-tankclose air support’. One of our KC-130Js can take care of one or two sections [of aircraft] easily. We can pass about 16,000lbs [7,258kg] for a section of jets and pass more than 45,000lbs [20,412kg] close to the base.

over Libya. In addition, KC-130Js flew more than 5,000 hours over Afghanistan during 2011 and 2012. The USMC assigned a crew of six to earlier KC-130 tanker transport versions consisting of a pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer, loadmaster and flight mechanic. By contrast

“Our KC-130Js are more like the USAF special operations forces C-130Js. We always fly with the refuelling pods except when we are on a cargo mission at maximum loads. The other big difference is we equipped a number of aircraft with the Harvest Hawk kits which provide ISR as well as strike capabilities. [In the Harvest Hawk role] we put Hellfires under the left wing and one refuelling pod. In Afghanistan one time, we helped a Harrier when we had a problem on the runway [preventing landing] so the wingman refuelled it so it didn’t have to divert. “The MAGTAF commander wants to have a wide variety of capabilities under his control. We can provide a Harvest Hawk platform over Afghanistan with more than nine hours of loiter time, a low audible signature compared to a jet [and] armed with multiple weapons - Hellfires and Griffin missiles. We also have a lot of people on the aircraft with laptops which can review Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver, or ROVER, feeds from jets, Predator unmanned aircraft and other platforms so we could co-ordinate ISR and strike operations [ROVER feeds are real-time video streams showing JTACs what aircraft are seeing]. We can provide a major air battle management platform that gives ground commanders a lot of situation awareness and the ability to manage a stack of strike aircraft and their sensors. We have fire controls for mortars and other weapons, however most of our efforts are to support sensors to enhance situation awareness. We are not like a drone; we have face-to-face meetings with the ground force commander and forward air controllers and then support them day and night and in all weathers. For example, on a helicopter raid, since we could stay up for hours, we could support the entire cycle of a typical ground operation. It’s a lot of fun and very gratifying to fly a Harvest Hawk mission.”

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Above: An armourer makes the final preparations to four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles mounted on a weapons station. The addition of air-to-surface weapons greatly increased the KC-130J’s flexibility, increasing the number of options available to support troops on the ground. Neil Dunridge Left: An F/A-18C Hornet taking fuel from the port drogue unit deployed by a KC-130J. Tactical refuelling operations are only one aspect of Marine KC130J operations. Scott Dworkin

Sargent Fletcher/Cobham 48” Series Wing Air Refueling Pod

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Sargent Fletcher/Cobham

The US Marine Corps’ KC130Js are equipped with a Sargent Fletcher/Cobham Refuelling System. Each station consists of a Sargent Fletcher/Cobham 48-000-6 refuelling pod, 93ft (28.5m) of hose, either a MA-3 or MA-3-1 reception coupling and a 27in (0.67m) diameter high-speed hose to refuel high-speed aircraft, or a 54in (1.3m) diameter low-speed helicopter paradrogue. Performance of the pods is improved by the use of a boost pump. Either hose or both can be extended for refuelling operations. The pods are equipped with a ‘traffic light’ system to inform the receiver of the status of each. The lights are located on the end of the pod. During day time contacts an amber light means the tanker is ready, green that fuel is flowing, and a red before contact that the pod is not ready; at other points a steady red means the pod has low hydraulic pressure and a receiver should disconnect. At night a different LED display is used, consisting of a ‘Y’ shape (tanker ready), circle (fuel flowing) and ‘Y’ within a circle (not ready/ hydraulic failure).

(926km). The older USMC KC-130F could only deliver 3,600 US gals (13,627 lit) at the same range.

the KC-130J, designed using airline and commercial concepts, was initially assigned just a pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster – but crews of five are used by the USMC for refuelling operations.

Missions

Refuelling System

Combat commanders can task the KC-130J to support forward movement to a combat area for the delivery of fuel and combat personnel and materiel. In the transport role, the KC-130J can carry up to 92 personnel, medical evacuation suites or up to six pallets or cargo to a maximum payload of 47,000lbs (23,500kg). In the air drop role it can carry 64 paratroopers and dispatch a variety of cargo via parachute using the side paratroop door and rear cargo ramp/ door. The aircraft is capable of air-to-air refuelling fixedwing, tilt-rotor and rotary aircraft equipped with drogue refuelling systems and ground-refuelling vehicles and storage tanks. A primary design feature is its capability to carry a sizeable payload of personnel and cargo while also aerial refuelling. Using only internal fuel and the podded refuelling system, the KC-130J can offload 8,455 US gal (32,005 lit) of fuel at a range of 500nm

Two Sargent Fletcher/ Cobham-manufactured hose and drogue air refuelling pods form the KC-130J’s refuelling system, which includes two electrically-driven fuel drum units and an electronic controller. There are ram air turbine boost pumps in each under-wing pod to improve fuel flow and delivery. The computerised system can control fuel flow to accommodate various aircraft and refuelling probe combinations and can deliver 270-325 US gal (1,022-1,230 lit) of fuel per minute at 50lb/ psi providing greater mission flexibility over earlier KC130s. When maximum fuel is required a 3,600 US gal (13,627 lit) fuselage fuel tank can be fitted; but it affects cargo and range/payload.

Harvest Hawk

The need for real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data at short notice is ever-expanding. As a result of positive experiences using ISR data to support combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya,

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

KC-130J OPERATORS US Marine Corps VMGR-152 Sumos MCAS Futenma, Japan VMGR-234 Ranger MCAS NAS Fort Worth, Texas VMGR-252 Otis MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina VMGR-352 Raiders MCAS Miramar, California (first unit to deploy Harvest Hawk) VMGR-452 Yankees Stewart ANGB, New York, KC-130T International Six of the Italian Air Force’s 21 C-130Js have refuelling kits. The Kuwait Air Force has three KC-130Js on order and the Royal Saudi Air Force has ordered five.

sensor operating station in the cargo compartment. The aircraft began flight test sorties in 2009 and the first Harvest Hawk kits were deployed to Afghanistan with VMGR-352 in 2010. A key aspect of the system was its capability to fly over the battlefield for hours at a time while fire control officers (either pilots or weapons systems officers) monitor activities on the ground and served as a link between ground units, command centres and supporting fire.

Strike Capability

political leaders and military commanders nearly always call for round-the-clock ISR capability in conflict or potential conflict areas. Advances in sensors, computer processing, networking and communications have brought about a revolution in technology – and the ability to collect, assess and disseminate intelligence to a highly detailed level has fundamentally changed operations. ISR collection platforms include a multitude of systems from satellites to UAVs, fighter aircraft sensors and cargo/tanker aircraft equipped with sensor pods networked together. This data flow is processed and distributed to the intelligence community and military to support operations. The real-time feeds of information

showing activity on the ground is available to battle commanders to monitor hostile activity from above and improve situation awareness. Reacting to this requirement from the lessons learnt in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, the USMC funded the development, testing and operational use of expanded ISR capabilities for its KC-130Js. In the quest for improved situation awareness and persistent ISR the Marine Corps contracted Lockheed Martin to modify a group of KC-130Js in a programme known as Harvest Hawk. The modifications consist of the AN/AAQ-30 targeting sensor mounted in the back of a wing fuel tank. This feeds forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and colour visual imagery to the displays at the targeting

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

The USAF AC-130, the heavily-armed gunship version of the Hercules, has proved to be one of the most effective night close air support platforms in Iraq and Afghanistan. After positive reports on its precision strike capability and firepower from ground units in Iraq, the USMC began exploring how to add such a capability to its KC-130Js as part of the Harvest Hawk programme. Subsequent modifications included a variety of strike systems including an internal side-firing 30mm cannon, four AGM-114P2A Hellfire laser-guided missiles mounted on a weapons station (bolted to a wing pylon) and up to ten AGM176 Griffin or GBU-44 Viper Strike air-to-ground munitions on the ramp. KC-130Js are also now fitted with a BAE Systemsmanufactured self-defence suite which incorporates the AN/ALR-56M radar warning receiver, AN/ALE-47 countermeasures dispenser, ATK AN/AAR-47 missile warning system and the NGC AN/AAQ-24 directional

Above & Top: The Raytheon AGM-176 Griffin was designed with a small warhead for irregular warfare, including strikes in urban areas. Containers with ten missiles are attached to the rear ramp of the KC-130J Harvest Hawk. Neil Dunridge Left top: The US Marines have 45 KC-130Js in service, with three more on order. LCpl Andrea Dickerson/US Marine Corps Left bottom: Refuelling the refueller - topping up the tanks of a KC130J Hercules. LCpl Gage Karwick/US Marine Corps Bottom: The modular Harvest Hawk control station installed inside a KC-130J Hercules . Cpl Isaac Lamberth/US Marine Corps

infrared countermeasures. This platform has been roaming the skies over Afghanistan since late 2010, operating mostly at night, with a primary mission of ground surveillance in support of USMC and coalition forward-operating units. Once ground targets have been spotted they can be engaged by ground forces, artillery, other aircraft or the Harvest Hawk armed aircraft. In November 2010 crews from VMGR-352

made their first successful strike using a Hellfire. A key point of Harvest Hawk is that it is modular, and elements of the package can be carried depending upon the mission assignments – ISR/refuelling, ISR/light strike or the full set if the gunship role is desired. The platform can therefore retain its multi-role capability; on station the Harvest Hawk can still act as an air refuelling platform if needed and then go back to its surveillance role.

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KDC-10

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Specifications for World Tanker Rundown Part Two

Wing Span

165ft 4in (50.40m)

Length Overall

181ft 7in (55.35m)

Height Overall

58ft 1in (17.70m)

Tail plane span

71ft 2on (21.69m)

Wheel track

35ft (10.67m)

Cabin length

121ft (36.80m)

Cabin width

19ft 9in (6.02m)

Cabin height

8ft (2.44m)

Cabin volume

13,116ft3 (371m3)

Cargo hold volume

4,618ft3 (137.7m3)

Wing area

3,647ft2 (338.8m2)

Operating weight (empty)

265,000lb (120,202kg)

Max payload

120,000lb (54,431kg)

Max fuel weight

245,566lb (111,388kg)

Max take-off weight

565,000lb (256,284kg)

Power

3 x GE CF6-50C2s; 52,500lb (233.5kN) each

Normal crusing speed

Mach 0.72 (480kts/890km/h)

Max crusing speed

Mach 0.78 (519kts/962km/h)

Service ceiling

42,000ft (12,802m)

Range with max payload

5,270nm (9,760km)

Fuel offload at 1,000 nm

112,400lb (51,048kg)

Fuel offload at 2,000 nm

36,610lb (16,621kg)

Fuel offload at 3,000 nm

Not available

KC-130J HERCULES

VOYAGER

Wing Span

132ft 7in (40.40m)

Wing Span

60.30m (197ft 10in)

Length Overall

97ft 9in (29.57m)

Length Overall

58.82m (192ft 11in)

Height Overall

38ft 9in (11.58m)

Height Overall

17.39m (57ft 1in)

Tail plane span

52ft 8in (16.05m)

Tail plane span

19.40m (63ft 8in)

Wheel track

14ft 3in (4.34m)

Wheel track

10.69m (35ft 1in)

Cabin length

40ft (12.19m) excluding ramp

Cabin length

45.00m (147ft 7in)

Cabin width

10ft 3in (3.12m) maximum

Cabin width

5.28m (17ft 3in) maximum

Cabin height

9ft (2.74m)

Cabin height

2.50m (8ft 2in)

Cabin volume

4,550ft³ (128.8m³)

Cabin volume

Not available

Cargo hold volume

136.0m³ (450ft³)

Cargo hold volume

136m3 (2,640ft3)

Wing area

1,745ft² (161.1m²)

Wing area

361.6m2 (3,050ft2)

Operating weight (empty)

89,000lb (40,369kg)

Operating weight (empty)

170,000kg (374,782lb)

Max payload

47,000lb (21,319kg)

Max payload

40,000kg (88,184lb)

Max fuel weight

Not available

Max fuel weight

111,000kg (244,710lb)

Max take-off weight

164,000lb (74,389kg)

Max take-off weight

233,000kg (513,672lb)

Power

4 x RR AE2100D3s; 4,637shp (3,458kW) each

Power

2 x RR Trent 772B-60s 71,100 lb (316 kN) each

Normal crusing speed

300kts (555km/h)

Normal crusing speed

Mach 0.82 (542kts/1,003km/h)

Max crusing speed

345kts (639km/h)

Max crusing speed

Mach 0.86 (568kts/1,051km/h)

Service ceiling

33,000ft (10,000m)

Service ceiling

41,000ft (12,497m)

Range with max payload

Not available

Range with max fuel payload

7,500nm (13,890km)

Fuel offload at 500 nm

57,500lb (26,081kg)

Fuel offload at 1,000 nm

68,000kg (149,912lb)

Fuel offload at 1,000 nm

Not applicable

Fuel offload at 2,000 nm

45,000kg (99,207lb)

Fuel offload at 1,500 nm

Not applicable

Fuel offload at 3,000 nm

22,000kg (48,501lb)

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TANKERS Essential to the Fight

KC-46A

HC-130J HERCULES

Wing Span

156ft 1in (47.57m)

Wing Span

132ft 7in (40.40m)

Length Overall

165ft 6in (50.44m)

Length Overall

97ft 9in (29.57m)

Height Overall

52ft 10in (16.10m)

Height Overall

38ft 9in (11.58m)

Tail plane span

Not available

Tail plane span

52ft 8in (16.05m)

Wheel track

Not available

Wheel track

14ft 3in (4.34m)

Cabin length

Not available

Cabin length

40ft (12.19m) excluding ramp

Cabin width

Not available

Cabin width

10ft 3in (3.12m) maximum

Cabin height

Not available

Cabin height

9ft (2.74m)

Cabin volume

Not available

Cabin volume

4,550ft³ (128.8m³)

Cargo hold volume

Not available

Cargo hold volume

136.0m³ (450ft³)

Wing area

Not available

Wing area

1,745ft² (161.1m²)

Operating weight (empty)

Not available

Operating weight (empty)

89,000lb (40,369kg)

Max payload

Not available

Max payload

35,000lb (15,875kg)

Max fuel weight

212,299lb (96,298kg)

Max fuel weight

Not available

Max take-off weight

415,000lb (188,242kg)

Max take-off weight

164,000lb (74,389kg)

Power

2 x P&W 4062s; 62,000lb (275.7kN) each

Power

4 x RR AE2100D3s; 4,637shp (3,458kW) each

Normal crusing speed

Not available

Normal crusing speed

300kts (555km/h)

Max crusing speed

Mach 0.86 (568kts/1,051km/h)

Max crusing speed

345kts (639km/h)

Service ceiling

43,000ft (13,106m)

Service ceiling

33,000ft (10,000m)

Range with max payload

Not available

Range with max payload

3,478nm (6,441km)

Fuel offload at 1,000 nm

Not available

Fuel offload at 250 nm

45,000lb (20,411kg)

Fuel offload at 2,000 nm

Not available

Fuel offload at 1,000 nm

Not applicable

Fuel offload at 3,000 nm

Not available

Fuel offload at 1,500 nm

Not applicable

TANKERS Essential to the Fight

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Gulf Patrol Jim Dorschner looks at the procurement of maritime surveillance, patrol and strike aircraft in the Gulf region

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uch of the economically vital oil produced by Persian Gulf nations is exported aboard tankers that traverse the confined waters of the Gulf to pass through the even narrower 100km (60 miles) wide Strait of Hormuz and finally into the Gulf of Oman. Not surprising

maritime threats. These range from submarines and warships to ad hoc pirate/terrorist mother ships and ‘swarms’ of light attack craft armed with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and missiles, or packed with explosives for suicide attacks. This translates into a number of specific types – fixed wing maritime surveillance aircraft

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therefore that maritime surveillance, patrol and strike platforms, employing a broad range of sensors and weapons are an important component of airpower capabilities across the region. For those nations along the Western littoral of the Gulf the list of requirements for maritime air include the ability to detect, monitor and target potential

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(MSA) and maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) and maritime helicopters – each with appropriate sensor suites and, in some cases, effective weapons. A number of Western manufacturers and integrators, with the support of their governments, are eager to provide these capabilities in what amounts to an emerging regional market.

GULF PATROL MILITARY

SAAB PERFORMANCE DATA Saab 2000MPA

Saab 340MSA

Endurance:

9.5 hours

6.5 hours

Range:

2,000nm (3,700km)

1,325nm (2,455km)

Max cruise:

350kts (600km/h)

265kts (490km/h)

Patrol speed:

160kts (295km/h)

140kts (260km/h)

Service ceiling:

31,000ft (9,448m)

25,000ft (7,620m)

Maritime Patrol and Maritime Strike Aircraft The defining difference between MPAs and MSAs is that the former generally have the sensors and weapons to conduct anti-submarine warfare (ASW), while the latter are unarmed and equipped with less capable sensors focused on detecting

and monitoring surface targets. Obviously this distinction is not ironclad and there is a lot of capability merging across types. The Gulf States are increasingly concerned with ASW in that their principal potential adversary, Iran, has a submarine force of three Russian-built Kilo-class (4,000 ton) diesel-electric boats, one 350-400 ton Nahang-class, and is building up a force of around

1 All of the maritime surveillance Dash 8s currently in service are based on the Q200 or Q300. Several companies are now offering special versions based on the Q400 for a variety of roles, including the airframe’s manufacturer. Bombardier 2 Saab is offering to modify existing Saab 340 and Saab 2000 (see main image) regional airliners as maritime patrol or surveillance aircraft equipped to the customer’s specification. Saab 3 Chile’s Airbus Military C295MPAs are equipped with the Fully Integrated Tactical System and can undertake over-the-horizon targeting. Airbus Military

12 150-ton Ghadir-class midget submarines. That said, given the operational environment, none of the Gulf States are likely to pursue a long-range MPA, such as the new Boeing P-8A Poseidon, when smaller, less capable platforms are sufficient. Likewise, keeping track of surface threats and the mass of commercial shipping in the Gulf can be handled just as well by smaller, unarmed MSAs. The UAE was the first Gulf State to procure a fixed wing maritime surveillance capability in the form of two Bombardier Dash-8 Q300 MPAs modified by Canada’s Provincial Aerospace Ltd (PAL). System integration was undertaken by Thales under a 2009 contract reportedly worth around $290 million. While sensors include an ASW acoustic system, these Q300 MPAs cannot carry any weapons. Both were delivered in March 2013, with the prospect of two more conversions likely in the near 3 future.

Surveillance capability aboard the UAE’s MPAs is built around the proven Thales Amascos modular maritime surveillance suite, featuring the advanced Ocean Master 400 360° search radar, a communications/ identification system and the TMS2000 acoustics processor, a FLIR Systems optronics turret, electronics support measures (ESM) able to intercept and classify electronic emissions and an Elettronica self-protection system. Prior to systems integration PAL modified the airframes to carry additional fuel permitting eight-hour patrols, and added an airdrop door (which can be opened in flight) for SAR equipment and a floor-mounted launch tube for sonobuoys and flares. Up to 50 of these can be carried in the cabin. Building on the success of MPA and MSA conversions of Dash-8 aircraft for multiple users around the world in recent years, several firms now offer

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similar conversions of the higher performance Bombardier Q400 regional airliner. These include the manufacturer Bombardier, which has teamed with the Elta Systems division of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on a Q400 MPA, though the Israeli connection prohibits any sales of this configuration in the Gulf. Two other Canadian firms with proven track records producing maritime patrol platforms based on Bombardier aircraft, LPA and Field Aviation, also offer Q400 conversions with non-Israeli systems. Among the features on offer for the Q400 are additional fuel tanks in blisters along the outside of the fuselage that would significantly increase range with little or no impact on performance. Meanwhile, echoing their approach in the ISR arena, Saab is energetically promoting the Saab 340MSA and the Saab 2000MPA in the Gulf region. Without specifying exactly which systems manufacturers they might team with depending on customer preferences, Saab indicates that both aircraft would have 360° maritime surveillance

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radar, an EO/IR turret that would lower from the rear fuselage, SATCOM, a mission system with multiple workstations and an inflight-operable airdrop door. The Saab 2000MPA adds an automatic identification system (AIS), electronic support measures (ESM), a self-protection suite (SPS) and data links. For ASW missions 2000MPA sensors could include an acoustic system and sonobuoy drop capability, as found on the UAE’s Dash-8s, though it too would be unarmed.

The 2000MPA would also be able to employ systems identified for the 2000 AIRTRACER Airborne SIGINT System. The Saab 340MSA on the other hand is offered as a simpler, less capable and less expensive alternative strictly for surveillance in a non-hostile

environment, making it ideal for monitoring ship traffic in Gulf waters, from small local dhows to supertankers. As with Saab’s ISR options discussed elsewhere, the 340MSA and the 2000MPA would be converted from existing airframes originally built as regional airliners. 6

Another contender is Airbus Military with new-build C295 and CN235 MPAs. CN235 MPAs have been in service with users around the world for over a decade and are in production for the US Coast Guard and the Indonesian Navy, with deliveries recently completed to the Mexican and Colombian navies. In October 2013 the first of three locally-built CN235-300 MPAs on order was delivered

to the Indonesian Navy by PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI). USCG and Mexican models are built by Airbus Military in Spain. Powered by two General Electric GE CT7-9CE turboprop engines, rated at 1,750shp (1,305kW), the CN235MPA has an endurance of up to 11 hours. Mission management is via the FITS mission system. The CN235 can be equipped with either the BAE Systems Seaspray 4000 maritime radar, the AN/ APS-134 from Raytheon or the Ocean Master 100 from Thales, along with a selection of multi-spectral imaging systems, ESM, self-protection suites and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) systems. It can be armed with two under wing Mk 46 ASW torpedoes, or for surface strikes, Exocet AM39 or AGM-84 Harpoon air-launched anti-ship missiles. The larger C295 is in service with the Portuguese Air Force in an MSA role and with the Chilean Navy as an MPA with considerable offensive capability, including torpedoes and Exocet missiles. An important feature

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4 Piaggio has teamed with Abu Dhabi Autonomous System Investments to develop the P180 Multirole Patrol Aircraft. Piaggio Aero 5 In addition to its widespread use overland the AGM-114 Hellfire can be used for maritime strike. US Navy 6 The MBDA Dual Mode Brimstone has a Fast Inshore Attack Craft capability to destroy small, high-speed boats. MBDA 7 A torpedo launched from an Airbus Military C295MPA during a weapons trial. EADS/Airbus Military 8 The Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk is on order for Qatar. These examples belong to the US Navy’s HSM-77 ‘Saberhawks’. US Navy

in the context of this article is that Chilean Navy C295MPAs are capable of providing overthe-horizon target hand-off to Exocet-equipped Super Puma helicopters, which are also in service with several Gulf State navies, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The C295MPA also features FITS, providing up to four operators an advanced interface with onboard sensors including: radar, EO/IR, acoustics, magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), AIS, IFF, communications and electronic intelligence. Communications include multiple SATCOM, HF/ VHF/UHF, and Link 11 and Link 16 data links. In the ASW role, it offers a sonobuoy and armament inventory management system with launch attack pattern control. Altogether, the C295MPA is a near equal with larger and much more expensive platforms, such as the Boeing P-8 Poseidon. In 2012 the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) ordered eight C295s, of which three will be MSAs. They will be equipped with the latest generation of FITS, an EO/IR system and, presumably, a maritime radar. They will not have ASW capability or armament.

Maritime Helicopters As already noted above, several Gulf State navies operate versions of the Eurocopter Super Puma helicopter configured for maritime missions with radar and EO/IR systems and with a surface attack capability. The Royal Saudi Arabian Naval Forces has 16 Exocet-capable AS332Fs, while the UAE Navy has around ten Super Pumas of various marks. In June 2012 Qatar requested 22 MH-60 Seahawk helicopters through the United States Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). Worth about $2.5 billion, the request covers ten MH-60R ASW and antisurface warfare helicopters and 12 MH-60S utility helicopters with the modification kits required to employ various weapons, including Hellfire airto-surface missiles. The MH-60R features Raytheon’s AN/AAS44C(V) multi-spectral targeting system (MTS) with advanced FLIR technology, visible electro-optical (EO), and laser designation and illumination. MTS provides long-range surveillance, target acquisition, tracking, range finding and laser designation of Hellfire and for

laser-guided munitions. The MH-60R is also equipped with the Telephonics AN/APS147 multi-mode radar, which allows operators to classify moving ship targets under night and restricted visibility using the high-resolution inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) mode. ISAR permits the MH-60R to operate outside the lethal range of potential threats. An MH-60R can be armed with a variety of weapons that include new Mk 54 airlaunched torpedoes and Hellfire missiles, and Qatar may pursue integration of Block 3 Exocet anti-ship missiles already in on order. The DSCA request already includes AGM-114K3A or AGM-114R3 Hellfire missiles. Elsewhere, the Royal Air Force of Oman has 16 AgustaWestland Super Lynx Mk 120s in service with a primary mission of operating in the coastal littoral of the Gulf of Oman, including the busy sea lanes entering and exiting the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. Sensors include a Telephonics RDR1500 360° maritime radar and a Selex EO/IR system. Weapons include the MBDA Sea Skua all-weather anti-ship missile and a variety of gun and rocket pods, along with

a door-mounted machine gun.

Maritime Strike Weapons The Gulf States are investing heavily in fleets of modern multi-role fighters, for which regional challenges are dictating associated developments in maritime strike options. This has led MBDA to develop a Fast Inshore Attack Craft capability for the Dual Mode Brimstone precision-guided missile. During tests at the Aberporth range off the Welsh coast in June 2013 a Tornado GR4 fired a single DMB to sink a rigid inflatable boat. This capability is a priority for the Brimstone missiles integrated on Saudi Arabia’s modernised Tornado IDS fleet to counter the threat of Iranian ‘swarms’ of small attack craft. At the same time, new Saudi F-15SA Strike Eagles will be able to employ AGM-84 Block II Harpoon long-range anti-shipping missiles and should Qatar proceed with a Dassault Rafale buy, these would certainly be armed with AM39 Exocet air-launched anti-shipping missiles.

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COMMERCIAL FLYDUBAI

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stablished in 2008, flydubai is a new type of airline in the Dubai aviation market – a low-cost carrier. Owned by the Dubai government and closely cooperating with Emirates, the company aims to improve connections between Dubai and underserved markets within the five-hour flight radius. Its destination list currently comprises of 65 cities, but the number is growing month-bymonth. “We are motivated by our government

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and our citizens who are always innovative and create new things. That makes the aviation industry very simple”, says Ghaith Al Ghaith, flydubai’s CEO, in an interview in Dubai. Dubai International Airport, one of the most consistently growing hubs, has been traditionally associated with the luxurious Emirates airline and its impressive terminal dedicated for the world’s largest fleet of Airbus A380. But since flydubai’s establishment more passengers are also

coming to the smaller Terminal 2 located on the northern side of the airport. Since its first flight in mid-2009 the airline has already carried over 10 million passengers, and in 2012 alone it has recorded more than 5 million travellers. In fact, Terminal 2 is now being expanded to accommodate the growing fleet of about 30 Boeing 737-800s operated by flydubai. The airline ordered 50 aircraft of this type at the Farnborough Air Show in July 2008, and has already analysed options for future

Dubai’ s Budget Airline Dominik Sipinski provides a profile of flydubai, the UAE’s biggest low-cost airline budget carrier. “Low-cost is the way we run our business”, says Al Ghaith in an interview. “However, I believe that we offer as good a product as any carrier. ‘The flydubai way’ allows passengers to choose what they want to pay for”. Scrupulous cost-calculation, extensive destination list and seamless transfers within both the flydubai’s and the Emirates’ networks are all factors contributing to the company’s growth. The airline has already

surpassed Sharjah-based Air Arabia as the biggest LCC in the UAE. At Dubai International it has virtually monopolised this segment of the market – according to the CAPA’s data, its seat capacity at over 180,000 per week is about eight times bigger that of second-ranked Air India Express. Al Ghaith explains that the carrier, from the very first flight to Beirut, its launch destination, was focused on flying to cities that are underserved, or not served at all, by the widebody-only Emirates. Using

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Simon Gregory/AirTeamImages

expansion. It is necessary as new destinations are added regularly. Currently flydubai flies to 65 cities in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East and according to CAPA’s data accounts for more than 11% of the Dubai capacity (surpassed only by Emirates). In November the Moldovan capital Chisinau will become the 66th destination. Ghaith Al Ghaith explains that the keywords for his airline’s business model were innovation and cost-cutting, but he adds that the company is more than a typical

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1 Flydubai operates a fleet of Boeing 737-8KNs, having ordered 50 from the manufacturer on June 11, 2008. BaoLuo/AirTeamImages 2 Flydubai’s inflight entertainment system in the Sky Interior offers a basic menu of free items, with others available at a small extra cost, one of the ways the airline keeps costs down. BaoLuo/AirTeamImages 3 While flydubai operates alongside Emirates, it has its own corporate identity and is very much an independent airline. Mario Aurich/AirTeamImages

smaller, more cost-efficient Boeing 737-800s flydubai is able to make profit on routes that otherwise would not be feasible. Some of the carrier’s connections are fairly obvious, such as numerous flights to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. But there are also examples of niche markets that the airlines has been able to capitalise on, such as Skopje, the capital of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. “There is a large community of migrants with Macedonian origins in Australia”, explains Jeyhun Efendi, Head of Commercial Operations UAE, Middle East, Europe and CIS. “We have many connecting passengers from there who continue to fly with Emirates to Australia”. At the same time flydubai offers just two routes to India, where about half of Dubai’s residents come from. That is yet another sign of well-oiled cooperation with Emirates – due to high demand the larger carrier can fly to as many as 10 Indian destinations with its wide-body aircraft. Flydubai’s network is accessible to passengers from a range of markets in part due to its lower prices. The airline benefits from many cost-cutting measures: limited services included in the basic fare, unified and fuel-efficient fleet, quick turnaround times and additional charges for passengers. But despite the low-cost model the airline

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offers high-quality product. In August it has announced that it will change the cabin layout from all-economy to two-class seating. Business class will first be offered on selected flights, among others to Jeddah, Istanbul and Doha. Until the end of the year flydubai aims to offer upgraded seating on 26 routes, nearly a half of the company’s network.

Reducing Costs All of its young Boeing 737-800s are equipped with the Dreamliner-inspired Sky Interior, featuring bright LED cabin mood lighting, larger overhead bins and redesigned cabin walls. Each of the 189 seats onboard is equipped with a personal in-flight entertainment system, and a wide variety of soft and alcoholic drinks are on the menu, as well as cold and hot meals. Checked luggage is also included in the fare. However, almost all of that comes with an extra charge. Regarding the IFE, for example, all passengers can only access for free the information about the flight, destination guides and the collection of about 40 newspapers in a digital version. For audio and video they have to pay from AED10 to 30 (£1.75-5). The business class is not just an upgraded service, but also has completely different seating. With four-abreast layout, bigger

touchscreens and more legroom, it offers much greater comfort. When explaining the extra charge philosophy, Al Ghaith demonstrates that the company indeed pays attention to the detail. “When we selected the IFE we looked at its size and weight. When we charge our passengers, we have to make sure that we not only cover the cost of the system itself, but also the extra fuel burnt due to additional weight of the plane”, he underlines. Al Ghaith boasts that the flydubai’s IFE system contains more than 900 hours of uninterrupted entertainment – according to him, the most in the world. The on-board product will soon be enhanced with a new, bigger selection of meals and drinks. The company also aims for high standards among its international cabin crew. Personnel come from about 90 different countries and it has to serve the most diverse passengers. Mike Evans, Head of Customer Experience, Brand and Communications, explains that demands from religious passengers are a challenge on some regional routes, while on others few travellers would speak English. That is why flydubai pays particular attention to its cabin crew selection procedure. Evans admits that maintaining current level of service will be a challenge as the number of employees grows. The international team reflects the character of Dubai as a global city. But that is not the only mark the pro-business approach 2 in the city has left on flydubai. The business model of the company is typical of the UAE. “There is no place to rest on our laurels in Dubai, there is no place for people who do not succeed”, points out Al Ghaith. He has been in the Dubai’s aviation industry since 1988, working for Emirates until flydubai’s was created in 2008. He served as Executive VicePresident Commercial Operations Worldwide for 13 years, and now stresses that despite a different business model, flydubai is guided by the same principles. In stark contrast to many crisis-torn European carriers, and despite being stateowned, both Emirates and flydubai are flourishing. “Our government is determined to invest, but does not interfere in the way we run our business. It only requires high quality service and profitability. That is it. If I do not achieve a profit, I will be fired”, says Al Ghaith. Flydubai reported a profit of AED152 million (£26.7 million) in 2012 on AED2.8 billion (£487 million) in revenues. According

1

FLYDUBAI COMMERCIAL later this year during the Dubai Air Show. Alongside the growing number of aircraft the company also seeks new markets. One of them is Central and Eastern Europe, including the CIS countries. As of April 2013, some 10% of flydubai’s capacity was offered on these routes, but this is about to change as new destinations are announced. From September the company will add two new cities in Ukraine (Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk), as well as three more cities in Russia (Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don and Volgograd). These connections supplement already existing routes to Kiev (twice daily from September) and Kharkiv in Ukraine, and Mineralnye Vody, Samara, Kazan, Ufa and Yekaterinburg in Russia.

“Low cost is the way we run our business. However, I believe that we offer as good a product as any carrier. It is not typical low-cost… in Dubai one has to innovate, standard needs to be higher.” Ghaith Al Ghaith, flydubai’s Chief Executive Officer

No Fear of Competition

3

to the statement announcing the financial results, the company has become profitable in the second half of 2011, about two years after its operational launch. Al Ghaith rejects the notion that the Gulf-carriers are booming due to lower fuel prices. He stresses that fuel costs the same for all airlines in Dubai. Furthermore, and in contrast to many other airlines, flydubai receives no government subsidies after the initial investment. Good financial results fuel further growth of the airline. The airline’s current order

Although the European market, including destinations in the Balkans, is nowhere near as big as the Saudi and GCC one for flydubai in terms of capacity, growth and profits are very good. In 2012 alone the carrier recorded 73% growth in traffic to this region. Al Ghaith underscores that these destinations are increasingly attractive also for outbound passengers from Dubai. “I am convinced that we can attract tourists to these destinations. But we have to work together – we, the media and the local government”, he says, adding that many potential passengers have little knowledge about the cities in Russia or Ukraine. Wizz Air, the leading Central and Eastern European LCC, will commence flights from Kiev in October. Al Ghaith welcomes the competition. “For us in Dubai competition is something good and we always learn from it. It is good for us, because it keeps us on our toes. It is good for the country, and for the customers. We manage the airline, but we cannot do it against the country and the customers”, he concludes. With its strong business model, growing fleet and profitable destinations, flydubai indeed does not look like it has to fear competition. The company seems to be well positioned for sustainable growth. The challenges? Maintaining the current pace of expansion and finding new destinations will be one, but with a lot of potential in the region and relatively long, five-hour flight radius, flydubai has got many opportunities. Cooperation with Emirates, rather than competition for customers, propels both carriers forward. And with Dubai’s development kicking off again after the crisis, the new airline will carry even more business and leisure customers alike.

of 50 Boeing 737-800s is expected to be completed by the end of 2015, and Al Ghaith confirms that a new order will soon be placed. He says that talks are in progress with both Airbus and Boeing, with no decision yet. However, Al Ghaith stresses that for the time being the carrier will remain narrow-body-only and it does not plan to order any wide-body aircraft in the foreseeable future. “Our previous order was for 50 aircraft. This one needs to be at least as big”, he claims. The new order might be announced

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MILITARY GULF SURVEILLANCE

Gulf Surveillance Saab

Jim Dorschner looks at the procurement of manned and unmanned ISR systems in the Gulf region

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GULF SURVEILLANCE MILITARY

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anned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) has proven an essential capability for military operations in the region since the first Gulf War of 1990-1991. For Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm the US and the UK deployed an array of advanced platforms and sensors that included the U-2, RC-135 Rivet Joint and Nimrod R1, along with dozens of tactical reconnaissance aircraft ranging from RF-4C Phantoms and Jaguars to diminutive OV-1D Mohawks and early versions of tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). ISR was the key enabler

for the precision strike air campaign, and for critical ‘Scud hunting’ missions in the Iraqi desert. ISR also proved crucial for the planning and conduct of the fast-moving land campaign and for Special Operations Forces (SOF). Since 1991 the importance of ISR in the region has only accelerated with the advent of digital networking and advances in technology that have exponentially improved collection capabilities and the integration of sensors, weapons and command and control (C2). The post-invasion insurgency that started in Iraq in 2003 generated a range of requirements for ISR, from real-time distributed imagery applications down to

the lowest tactical echelons, to mobile phone intercept and quick reaction counter-IED (improvised explosive device) technologies, such as defeating simple electronic garage door openers that were being used as remote triggers. As discussed in Setting the Standard (AIR International, June 2013), these urgent requirements gave rise to manned MC-12W platforms for the US Air Force based on the Beechcraft King Air 350ER aircraft missionised by L-3 Mission Integration Division, and unmanned systems exemplified by the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator. This was especially driven by increasingly desperate efforts to combat widespread insurgent use of IEDs that were

causing significant casualties and undermining coalition freedom of action across the country. These ISR ‘stars’ of the Iraq War remain in service with US and allied forces today and serve as models for similar capabilities on offer for export to the Gulf. Evolved ISR requirements for the Gulf States now include imagery systems and advanced mobile phone-capable COMINT collection capability targeted against terrorist/insurgent groups, and more established military forces. Beyond proven B350s and Predators, other potential platforms in the marketplace include missionised regional turboprops or business jets and relatively simple rotary wing UAVs.

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Props and Jets

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Building on the reputation of the MC-12W Liberty and subsequent sales of ISR B350s to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, L3 is now promoting a B350ER platform to other Gulf air forces known as SPYDR. SPYDR features “a complete processing, exploitation and dissemination [PED] system,” according to L3. Sensor options include a WESCAM MX-15Di full-motion video system with a laser range finder illuminator, a full Rio SIGINT system with added UHF scan capability, and various radars, depending on which equipment fit, or ‘spiral’ a customer may choose. Sensor suites are supported by an imagery management system (IMS) and a choice of data links. Similarly equipped B350ER ISR platforms are also on offer from other US integrators, such as Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Moving up in size, L3 has reportedly teamed with Canadian aerospace giant Bombardier to offer a more advanced manned ISR platform based on the popular Q400 regional airliner, though neither company would confirm this to AIR International. A Q400 ISR platform would have imagery and SIGINT systems similar to SPYDR, but with the ability to perform more onboard data integration and manipulation. It could also serve as an airborne C2 platform, able to direct, coordinate and support air and land forces, including SOF missions. Bombardier is also promoting various ISR configurations for the longrange Global 6000 business jet, depending on customer requirements. Airbus Military offers

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1 1 The Saab 2000 AIRTRACER signals intelligence gathering system. Saab. 2 The Beech MC-12W Liberty was used by the US Air Force in Iraq and is currently operational in Afghanistan. US Air Force 3 Saab is offering the Skeldar vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle for ISR roles to Gulf nations. Saab. 4 In addition to larger platforms, several manufacturers offer special missions versions of smaller types; Cessna has delivered the ISR Caravan to Iraq, among other customers. US Air Force 5 The UAE was the launch customer of the Air Tractor AT-802U armed ISR platform. Air Tractor

SAAB AIRTRACER PERFORMANCE DATA ESM/ELINT frequency coverage: 0.5 to 18 (40GHz) ELINT receiver: digital receiver, bandwidth 500MHz ELINT antennas: quadrant, inteferometric or high gain spinning DF COMINT frequency coverage: 2 to 3,000MHz COMINT direction finder: ultra-fast, wide-band scanning up to 200 GHz/sec COMINT tuners: multiple wide- and narrow-band channels COMINT analysis: demodulation, decoding and analysis of digital transmission modes COMINT: wide-band recording, narrow-band recording including voice ELINT: intrapulse, pulse, emitter tracks Mission data: includes EOB

advanced SIGINT platforms based on the C295 tactical airlifter and the A319/A320 family of airliners that would mirror US and European strategic collection and targeting capabilities. Saab is well along in this category, offering the AIRTRACER Airborne SIGINT system in two configurations

– either installed aboard the high-performance Saab 2000 turboprop regional airliner, or as a roll-on, roll-off quick change module known as AIRTRACER Flex that is compatible with the C-130 Hercules tactical transports found in most Gulf air forces. AIRTRACER features a complete solution from antennas and mission system equipment

such as an integrated tasking and reporting system (TRS), to state-of-the-art wide-band digital receivers and processing, consolidated electronic order of battle (EOB) and a SIGINT database, all supported by SATCOM and various data link options. The associated AIRTRACER training system is a groundbased simulator for crew training with multiple linked workstations. ATS features software to generate “realistic signal scenarios” that allow operators to “perform life-like missions.” Saab hopes to follow up on a $220 million sale to the United Arab Emirates in 2009 of two Erieye Airborne Early Warning & Control systems aboard refurbished Saab 340 regional turboprops. Whether this takes the form of an AIRTRACER order from UAE or from another Gulf State is unclear. Saab spokesperson Helene Lindstrand told AIR International: “Saab is actively marketing airborne surveillance systems and other special mission aircraft solutions in several countries worldwide – many of them are based on the Saab 340 or Saab 2000 platforms.” While a Saab 340 MSA is scheduled for static display at the Dubai airshow in November, Saab declines to “comment on specific countries or customer specific requirements in this product area.” Asked about sensor system and aircraft selections Lindstrand replied that: “Saab is providing complete surveillance systems to our customers, including system integration, aircraft integration and conversions as well as integration into groundbased units. In many areas Saab’s own in-house sensors and systems are included. In other areas, such as maritime surveillance, some of the sensors

GULF SURVEILLANCE MILITARY are sourced from suppliers to Saab. Since different customers have different environments and tactical requirements, suppliers may vary.” Given that the Saab regional airliners being offered as ISR platforms are no longer in production, “Contracts involving Saab 340 or Saab 2000 are based on factory refurbished aircraft. The Saab 340 and 2000, designed as regional aircraft, are robust, flexible platforms with a very long life and low cost of operations. Today most of the fleet is suitable for conversion to various special mission aircraft purposes, and aircraft availability is not an issue.” In fact, Saab predicts there will be “a lot of opportunities using existing airframes in coming years”.

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Predators XP In February 2013 General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI), secured a $197 million contract with the UAE for procurement of unarmed Predator XP UAV systems. Predator XP is an updated export version of GA’s flagship MQ-1 Predator in service with the United States, Italy and Turkey. For the UAE Air Force contract GA-ASI partnered with International Golden Group (IGG), a leading supplier of integrated defence systems in the Middle East. IGG, GAASI and the Abu Dhabi-based Tawazun Economic Council subsequently agreed to establish a joint venture for long-term service and support of the UAEAF Predator XPs. Predator XP has the same physical dimensions, altitude, speed, and long endurance of up to 35 hours as the proven MQ-1, but has been updated to include triple-redundant avionics, an automatic take-off

and landing system, GA-ASI’s Lynx multi-mode radar with maritime wide area surveillance, high-definition electro-optical video, an improved claw sensor control, an imagery analysis software system, an automatic identification system and a more efficient propulsion system. Having opened the door to sales in the Gulf, GA-ASI is hoping to develop additional customers

a medium-range UAV system that can hover for hours while providing real-time information to a control station or to remote video terminals. It is fully autonomous, employing a technique known as ‘point and fly’ and ‘point and look’. Launch and recovery is easy, while the high degree of built-in autonomy during takeoff, flight and landing provides for enhanced safety. Skeldar can be launched, operated and recovered by a two-person team, and the entire system can be easily transported by most of the military vehicles commonly in service. Skeldar has separate data links for the air vehicle and sensors, each with a 100km (60 miles) range. Vehicle control 4 is via UHF, L- or S-band with a for the XP, such as Saudi Arabia, low bit error rate (BEr) and high Kuwait or Oman. probability of error detection, while the sensor data link is C-, L- or Ku-band with a Skeldar high bandwidth that permits As a much simpler platform, transmission of large data files. Saab’s Skeldar rotary wing UAV The air vehicle is available with is also attracting attention in the a number of different advanced Gulf, with a variety of potential commercial off-the-shelf payloads ISR applications ranging from for collection and dissemination counter-IED to SOF, land forces and includes an open architecture and maritime roles. Skeldar is for the rapid integration of new

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MILITARY GULF SURVEILLANCE 1 The Beecraft 350 King Air is the basis of several ISR variants in service in the region. This aircraft serves wit the Iraqi Air Force. US Air Force 2 The Cessna AC-208 ‘Armed Caravan’ can use AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missions. US Air Force 3 The General Atomics Preador A is the basis for the enhanced Predator XP variant due to enter service with the UAE. US Air Force

2 1 payloads. Sensor options include

electro-optical/infra-red gimbals ranging in weight from 2 to 20kg (4 to 66lb), 3D rapid mapping processing, SCARAB ground and foliage-penetrating SAR radar, PicoSAR with 300mm (12in) spot resolution and an ESP SIGINT system covering 0.5 to 18GHz. The UAS control station (UCS) is NATO STANAG 4586 compliant, has state-of-theart user interface and features point-and-fly and point-andsee methods, offers single or dual operator positions, has redundant flight safety critical computers and open interface to C4ISR systems. Skeldar was designed to have low lifecycle costs and for ease of operations, requiring less training than more advanced systems, such as Predator. Modular design permits tailored system configurations and functional development at minimum cost. Routine maintenance can carried out at unit level. A single operator can quickly plan and upload a Skeldar mission. Take-off is initiated

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by pressing a button, after which the vehicle heads to a pre-planned ingress point at a specified speed and altitude autonomously. Route of flight can be a straight line or via a number of waypoints. Once

established in a hover with observation of the target area, the operator can select a standard flying pattern, a route using waypoints, or a combination of the two. If troops are on the move

SKELDAR FEATURES Overall length (including rotor):

5.1m (16.73ft)

Airframe length (excluding rotor):

4.0m (13.12ft)

Airframe length (excluding tail):

2.0m (6.56ft)

Height:

1.3m (4.65ft)

Max take-off weight:

200kg (440lb)

Payload:

>30kg (66lb)

Service ceiling:

>4,000m (13,123ft)

Ceiling (hot and high):

>2,000m (6,561ft)

Max speed:

> 130km/h (70kts)

Endurance:

4-5 hours

Mission radius (D/L):

>100km (60 miles)

Propulsion:

heavy fuel, 2-cylinder, in-line, 625cc, 2-stroke, liquid-cooled internal combustion engine, running at a constant 6,000rpm, with electronic fuel injection/ignition, rated at 58hp.

the UCS can accompany them in a vehicle, with the UAV automatically flying ahead at a set distance if required. This is known as tethering. If the troops and the UCS have to stop, the UAV automatically enters a hover, allowing the operator to focus on other tasks related to the sensor payload or planning for follow-on activity. Surprisingly, the Predator XP sale to UAE earlier this year marked the first major acquisition of UAVs by a Gulf State. However, additional UAV contracts across the region are expected over the next few years. While this is likely to include tactical battlefield systems, there are clear needs for UAVs in the Predator class that can augment manned ISR platforms in support of air targeting and counter terrorism surveillance as well as strike operations in areas, such as along the Saudi-Yemen border/Oman-Yemen border, or monitoring events in Sinai, across western Iraq and in Syria.

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e nc e i er s. xp on e i t a ue ov ni q n u n ty. i g i l n l i a a bi n nic ion co m h t , c s c s a t te um cl fun t es a d Brand new multip pose helicopter of medi l n ur he rt a it h t o w f d m orl , co the w r y e t v o e l l of Mi-8/17 typ na af e helicopters operatio ity, s l i b a reli vel of e l t s e h Mi-171A2 offers the hig

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