HONOLULU (September 2, 2020)
Captain Trent Kalp, commanding officer, Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor, delivers a message, recognizing the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.
09.02.2020
Video by Daniel Mayberry
Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor
By Gulshan Luthra
New Delhi. The Indian Air Force ceremonially inducted its first five Rafale Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) September 10 with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handing over the commissioning plaque to the Commanding Officer of the Number 17 Golden Arrows, Gp Capt Harkirat Singh.
It was a proud moment for India, said Rajnath Singh, and his French counterpart, Florence Parly who had flown in as the Chief Guest for the occasion, shared the sentiment as an example of Indo-French strategic cooperation, pointing out that France will always be on India’s side. Top representatives of Dassault Aviation, which makes the Rafale, and its partner companies Safran (Engines), Thales (EW Systems) and MBDA (Missiles), were in her delegation.
“It’s a game-changer and a lesson to our neighbours for the situation they have created on the borders,” Rajnath Singh, speaking in Hindi, declared while terming the induction of the first five of the 36 Rafale fighters that India has purchased from France as a “historic occasion and a matter of pride” for the country.
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria, the host for the event, said the aircraft have been operational ever since their landing at the frontline Ambala Air Force Station on July 29, and that the induction of Rafales could not have come at a more appropriate time, given the scenario on the borders with tension along both the LAC (Line of Actual Control) with China in Ladakh and on the Line of Control (LOC) with Pakistan in the West.
“Rafale is good to go, and deliver,” he observed.
IAF has been giving full training to the Rafale pilots in France itself, and they have been conducting sorties all along the northern and western borders after arriving at Ambala, pairing up with other aircraft like the Su 30 MKIs, Jaguars and others. Rafale is the most modern combat jet in the IAF inventory, with weapons of matching lethality, and Air Chief Bhadauria disclosed that all the pilots and aircraft had been engaged in live, “intensive and integrated training” that includes “firing of advanced weapons”.
Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, former Chief of Air Staff B.S. Dhanoa, and top IAF officials graced the occasion.
India is buying 36 Rafales from France in a Government-to-Government deal, and all the aircraft are due for delivery by end-2021.
The two ministers held delegation level talks to review the progress of the Rafale deal, as also the possibility of more aircraft from Dassault, more submarines and vessels from Naval Group, and some advanced weapons from MBDA, and Electronic Warfare systems from Thales. Safran already has a presence at HAL, helping its aircraft and helicopter designs and capabilities.
Ms Parly, obviously looking happy, flew from New Delhi to Ambala in the Indian Defence Minister’s Embraer executive jet, and spoke very warmly in English, and praised the professionalism of IAF officers. Normally, the French speak in their language at formal events.
She was the accorded the welcome Guard of Honour at IAF’s Palam airbase in New Delhi on arrival. In a Tweet, she said: “Together, we are writing a new chapter of Indo-French defence ties. Behind the Rafale, there is above all a friendship. A commonality of interests, of vision, of values in the region.”
The acquisition of the fully combat-proven jets would not only give India an edge in the region but will also be able to strengthen its industrial base and upgrade its technological skills, said Parley, who is on her third official visit to India since 2017.
French Ambassador in New Delhi Emmanuel Lenain, who accompanied her, said the two countries had “in-depth talks” covering Transfer of Technology (ToT) for various Make in India projects on industrial scale, operational defence cooperation, Indo-Pacific Maritime Security, Joint Drill Modalities in a pandemic, anti-terror action, and major regional and international strategic issues.
The induction ceremony, on a sunny morning, was marked by a scintillating aerial display, a water-cannon salute, a multi-religious prayer and forceful reaffirmations of the depth of India-France strategic cooperation.
Ambala, not far from China or Pakistan, is IAF’s oldest airbase, commissioned in 1919 by the Royal Air Force. It has the privilege now of hosting IAF’s newest combat aircraft, the high-technology Rafale.
The airbase is considered a first responder to any threat on the country’s Western and Northern borders, being around 300 km or 10 minutes in either direction.
A second Rafale Squadron will be located at Hashimara airbase, in Eastern India.
Aircraft from France have been operating from the Ambala airbase since 1955, and virtually every senior officer and Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force has served there, flying one or the other aircraft from IAF’s inventory. The French Mystere, the Anglo-French Jaguar, the Soviet Union’s MiG-21 and MiG-29 have all operated from this vital airbase.
Rafale is described by Dassault as an omni-role aircraft, capable of swing roles from Air-to-Air or Air-to-Ground strikes in a single mission. The Rafale is also capable of nuclear strikes and shipboard missions from aircraft carriers.
The ceremony began with the unveiling of the Rafale amidst flashing strobe lights followed by multi-faith prayers and a flypast by three Rafales, a Sukhoi Su-30 and a Jaguar in the “Golden Arrow” formation of the 17 Squadron of the IAF.
The 17 Squadron had participated in the 1999 Kargil conflict under the command of the then Wing Commander B.S. Dhanoa, later the Air Chief. One of the Rafale is designated after him as BS 001.
A highlight of the induction ceremony was the breathtaking display by three Rafales performing heart-stopping manoeuvres like the high-speed Mach Rate Turn, a Minimum Radius Turn in an area smaller than a hockey field, an Inverted Flight and a Vertical Charlie that demonstrated the extreme versatility of the aircraft and its ability to switch to multifarious tasks in a matter of moments.
The indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), built on French designs but with a US GE 404 engine, then demonstrated that it could also rise to the occasion although it is a Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), smaller than its bigger brother, the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) Rafale.
The IAF’s modernisation plans have been delayed ever since Prime Minister V.P. Singh flattened the acquisition process in the late 1980s to zero, alleging corruption in every deal.
The IAF had initiated an exercise for acquiring 126 MMRCAs in 2007, selected the Rafale from among six contenders, but no deal could be made as somehow, a clause came up that while HAL would be responsible for integrating and manufacturing 70 per cent of the aircraft at its facilities in India, the responsibility for the quality of production at HAL would be that of the French supplier.
Dassault refused, saying: You make it, you are responsible.
Later, in 2015, Prime Minister Modi’s government rightly cancelled that stalled process, and as IAF was rapidly falling short of aircraft, decided to acquire 36 Rafales, or Two Squadrons of 18 each, under a G-to-G deal. It is this deal which is fructifying now.
IAF has meanwhile a second tender now in place, for 114 MMRCAs, single or twin engine, as in the first tender in 2007. Actually, IAF needs a combination of 400 aircraft, in a rough ratio of 70:30 for single and twin engines.
Except for the Su 30 MKI, which came in the 1990s, all IAF aircraft are of 1980s vintage, although upgraded. Rafale is the most modern, and contemporary aircraft now in IAF’s inventory.
Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy along with other senior officers of Ministry of Defence witnessed the milestone event.
Air General Eric Autellet, Vice Chief of the Air Staff of the French Air Force, Mr Eric Trappier Dassault Aviation Chairman and Chief Executive Eric Trappier, MBDA CEO Eric Beranger were part of the large French delegation.
India is the fourth country after France, Egypt and Qatar to have inducted the Rafale, a 4.5 generation combat aircraft.
This article was published by India Strategic on September 10, 2020.
By Robbin Laird
President Trump highlighted the importance of September 11th for the United States in a White House proclamation.
On September 10, 2020, the White House issued this proclamation on patriot day, 2020:
In 2001, our Nation, united under God, made an unbreakable promise never to forget the nearly 3,000 innocent Americans who were senselessly killed on September 11. On this sacred day — Patriot Day — we solemnly honor that commitment. As the bells toll, we call by name those who perished in the terrorist attacks in New York, New York; Arlington, Virginia; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In cities and towns across our great country, we stand in solidarity to remember the victims and mourn their stolen hopes and dreams.
On a day that began as ordinary as any other, terrorists carrying out a sadistic plan murdered thousands of our fellow compatriots. With shock and disbelief, we watched our first responders, encumbered by heavy equipment and hindered by debris and smoke, rush with conviction and courage into the void to rescue those in despair. With pride and sorrow, we felt the tremendous bravery of those aboard Flight 93, who summoned the courage to charge the terrorists in a counterattack that saved countless American lives. As the day closed, America steadied its resolve to hold accountable those who had attacked us and to ensure it would never happen again.
The courage, heroism, and resilience Americans displayed on 9/11, and in its aftermath, are perpetual testaments to the spirit of our country. While our Nation was anguished by this attack, the grit displayed that day — the very essence of America — was a reminder that our citizens have never failed to rise to the occasion. Heroes sprang into action in the face of great peril to help save their fellow Americans. Many laid down their lives. As we reflect on the events of that September morning, let us recommit to embrace the stalwart bravery displayed and reaffirm our dedication to defending liberty from all who wish to deny it.
To fulfill our collective promise never to forget, we impart the memory of that fateful day to our children and grandchildren. The smoke that rose from the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania field carried away the souls of innocent Americans. As we recall the images of our American Flag raised from the ashes of Ground Zero and the Pentagon, we are reminded that good triumphs over evil. We recommit ourselves to fortifying our cherished American values so that future generations will know in their souls that the United States is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
This Patriot Day, we commemorate the lives of those who perished on September 11, 2001, we pray for the families who carry on their legacies, and we honor the unmatched bravery of our Nation’s first responders. We also commend those who, in the days and years following the attack, answered the call to serve our country and continue to risk their lives in defense of the matchless blessings of freedom.
By a joint resolution approved December 18, 2001 (Public Law 107-89), the Congress designated September 11 of each year as “Patriot Day.”
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 11, 2020, as Patriot Day. I call upon all departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the United States to display the flag of the United States at half-staff on Patriot Day in honor of the innocent people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. I invite the Governors of the United States and its Territories and interested organizations and individuals to join in this observance. I call upon the people of the United States to participate in community service in honor of the innocent people we lost that day and to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time to honor those victims who perished as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
DONALD J. TRUMP
You might have missed this in today’s press coverage, but those of us who lived through the events thank the President for the Patriot Day proclomation.
And in an article which I originally published on Breaking Defense on September 11, 2011, I recalled those events from the perspective of being in the Pentagon that day.
That article follows:
Early on the morning of September 11th, I had an appointment in the Pentagon with a senior Pentagon official.
I got there a bit early, and parked just outside the Defense Secretary’s office.
As I was sitting in the office, the TV was showing the story of an airliner plowing into the World Trade Center.
I asked one of the folks in the office, whether they were concerned about a similar event on the Pentagon or the White House.
The person said that “we do not know if this is simply an accident.”
As an ex-New Yorker, I was sure this was not.
I went into my meeting.
Suddenly, I felt the building rock.
It felt like an accident in the ground floor area of the Pentagon.
When buses used to come into the Pentagon directly underneath, such a crash might be possible.
But, of course, I remembered that buses were no longer coming inside.
We went outside to see what was happening.
People were running around the Pentagon, and I exited the main door to the parking lot. General Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld passed me going back into the building.
I got into my car to drive home to our house which is close to the Pentagon.
We were stopped on Interstate 395 by the police as fire trucks and related equipment rushed to the Pentagon.
As I sat in my car, I looked over to see the plane fitted inside the Pentagon.
Unfortunately, I did not have a camera with me, for much more of the plane survived the initial impact than was later reported.
FBI Photo Reproduced by Daily Mail September 10 2017.
When I got home, I found my wife and children more than upset by developments.
It turns out that the plane had flown low over our house on the way to strike the Pentagon.
And my little girl, who was 3 at the time, kept talking about the plane which “almost hit me.”
Of course, for this generation of Arlington children, this would be a traumatic event they would never forget.
My mind went back to a similar event in France in the mid-1990s when my French wife and I were there for the holidays.
In a dry run, terrorists had seized a plane to try to fly into the Eiffel Tower.
Fortunately, the French special forces had successfully killed the terrorists when they had to land and be refueled in the south of France.
Shortly after the attacks, I took a train to New York to appear on 60 Minutes to discuss the French approach to counter-terrorism.
I went to school in New York at Columbia University so knew Manhattan well.
When I went to school there was no World Trade Center.
As the train pulled into New York, the World Trade Center was again not there.
It was as if a generation of redefining New York through this new building had magically disappeared.
Extinguishing the flames: The effort by firefighters to bring the fire under control captures on the morning of the attack. FBI photo released and published by Daily Mail on September 10, 2017.
For several days after the attack on the Pentagon, we could smell the smoke and remains of the attack in our area of Arlington.
That pungent smell will linger in my mind and heart forever.
The experience is more powerful than any response to terrorism could be.
Still, when I stand to applaud American servicemen and women at games at National Park there is some sense of cloture.
But not enough.
INDIAN OCEAN (July 21, 2020) Sailors assigned to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) conduct flight operations and steams alongside their Indian Navy counterparts in the Indian Ocean.
The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, consisting of flagship USS Nimitz (CVN 68), Princeton and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Sterett (DDG 104) and USS Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), along with the Indian Navy ships Rana, Sahyadri, Shivalik and Kamorta, are currently participating in a cooperative deployment Indian Ocean.
07.21.2020
Video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Logan Kellums
Carrier Strike Group 11
I have followed the Osprey since 2005.
It has clearly been a driver of change for the USMC and the joint force.
And one key area of change became evident early on: it can land on a wide variety of ships in the U.S. or allied fleets, and thereby expand the utility of sea bases for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Operations (HADR) or combat operations.
With the allies and partners of Indonesia building out their fleets, there will be obvious opportunities to land on and leverage those allies and partners sea bases, whether it would be with Australia (recapitalizing its Navy),with the United States (sorting out the best ways to address sea control and sea denial in the Pacific alone with SLOC defense and offense), with South Korea (building out its amphibious fleet) or with Japan (building out its amphibious fleet as well), just to mention the major players in the Pacific region.
Or put more broadly, the allies and partners are building out their fleets, and with ships on which clearly Indonesian Ospreys can land and operate.
And a key advantage of working with ships is, of course, is both operational flexibility and political agility in a crisis.
But one does not need a specialized ship for the Osprey to land on and to provide connectors for the force.
We followed closely the Bold Alligator exercises held in the last decade, and in one of those, the Osprey landed on a T-AKE supply ship.
In another exercise held off of the Carolina coast, an Osprey landing was done on a Dutch warship and then later in the year, during a NATO exercise, a second landing was conducted.
We interviewed the T-AKE captain involved in the Osprey landing as well as the Dutch Captain of the HNLS Karl Doorman, and both interviews highlighted how the Osprey expanded their ability to work with the joint or allied force.
This is a key capability which clearly rotorcraft (with more limited range and speed) or fixed wing airlifters (which require landing bases) cannot bring to the Indonesian force.
The Osprey creates a new combat or HADR capability by its range and speed and ability to land vertically on a wide range of shipping, including supply and combat ships.
We published an article on Jun 22, 2015 which highlighted the evolving role of the new aircraft in working with the fleet.
We entitled the article “The Osprey as enabler: Linking Coalition Warships.”
This was a summary of efforts to that date, so Indonesia would not need to worry about buying an untested capability for fleet connectivity; it was already there mid-decade.
I argued the following in that article:
The speed and range of the Osprey is a key combat enabler.
It also provides significant reach and range to connect US and allied warships into a 21st century sea base.
The capability to provide for resupply has been demonstrated many times, but the capability delivered in Operation Odyssey Dawn whereby Ospreys flew roundtrip from the USS Kearsarge to Sigonella to resupply Harriers was a clear statement of new opportunities.
As the Osprey has become a fixture of USMC and USAF global operations, the Marines have been working operations off of foreign warships as part of the process of building out an Osprey-enabled sea base, writ large.
Among others are the UK, French, Japanese, South Korean, and now Dutch warships.
https://sldinfo.com/looking-back-usmc-ospreys-and-harriers-aboard-the-hms-illustrious/
https://sldinfo.com/the-mv-22-operates-off-the-dixmude/
https://sldinfo.com/the-osprey-globally-engaged-this-time-landing-on-a-japanese-ship-in-the-apr/
During Bold Alligator 2012, the Osprey landed on a T-AKE supply ship which expanded the lily pads from which an assault force can be launched.
The Navy is looking to expand the size of the hanger aboard the T-AKE so that an Osprey can be kept in the hanger and one on deck for a total of two as needed.
Now the two dynamics – landing on a supply ship and on a foreign warship – have been combined during training off of the East Coast of the United States with a Dutch supply ship on June 12. 2015.
In the remainder of this article, we are taking our readers back to those two experiences, the Osprey working with the T-AKE supply ship, and the USMC working with the Dutch Navy.
Second Line of Defense visited the USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE 5) while it was in port in Norfolk.
The ship caught our eye while we were covering Bold Alligator 2012 because of the first operational engagement of an Osprey aboard a T-AKE ship.
Captain Little is a graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy and has operated off of virtually every asset Military Sealift Command operates, since he joined in 1989.
He was the first chief mate for the T-AKE 5 when it was delivered to the Navy in 2008.
He and his crew had just returned from a 9 ½ month tour, which included action off of Libya as well as participation in the Bold Alligator 2012 exercise.
Notably, the helos, which operate off of his ship during deployments, are either USN helos, or Eurocopter Pumas.
And the ship is extremely flexible in providing supplies of various kinds, including ammunition and fuel. During the Libyan operation, the USNS Robert E. Peary worked with several allies as well.
The men and women of the Military Sealift Command are true mariners.
They operate at sea off and on during the year with only three months off.
They are civil servants but are closely intertwined in support of the warfighter.
The Role of the T-AKE Ship in Providing Forward Presence from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.
As Susan Melow, Public Affairs Officer, for MSC’s Military Sealift Fleet Support Command clarified for us:
A civil service mariner, or CIVMAR, is a federal government employee who pursues a civil service career while assigned aboard U.S. government-owned, Military Sealift Command-operated ships responsible for global fleet support.
CIVMARs are credentialed, in their areas of expertise, by the U.S. Coast Guard and are rotationally assigned to MSC ships for stints of, at a minimum, four months.
With no shore duty breaks during their civil service careers and with, generally, thirty days separating each ship assignment, CIVMARs are consummate mariners, journeymen in their fields.
SLD: Captain, could you talk a little bit about the Osprey landing on the T-AKE ship?
Captain Little: “The Osprey landing was a long range supply demonstration.
“It took off from New River, landed on our ship, got refueled and then participated in a raid on Fort Pickett more than 180 miles inland.
“The Osprey was on deck for about 30 minutes, loaded four pallets, was able to refuel, and took off with her cargo to support the Marines ashore in Fort Pickett….”
According to a story published by the USMC on June 16, 2015 by Lance Cpl. Fateh Saad, the first landing of an Osprey aboard a Dutch warship occurred on June 12, 2015.
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. –
Spirits ran high aboard the Karel Doorman, a warship with the Royal Netherlands Navy, as U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 made the first MV-22 Osprey landing aboard a Dutch ship during an interoperability test conducted near Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, June 12.
“What we normally do is support the forces ashore,” said Capt. Peter van den Berg, the commanding officer of the warship.
To better support ground forces, the amphibious unit recognizes it needs aircraft support, said van den Berg.
“That’s why the Netherlands Navy is very interested in cooperating and integrating with the U.S. Marine Corps and operating the Osprey from our decks,” said van den Berg.
“The Osprey is capable of doing large airlifts at a time, instead of a smaller helicopter – an Osprey can take much more personnel back to shore.”
The landing was the first of its kind and tested the interoperability of the two military entities, as well as the Dutch’s ability to host the American aircraft aboard their ships through carrier landings.
“The majority of people live within 300 nautical miles of the ocean,” said Capt. Matthew Thompson, a Marine with VMM-261 and the pilot and operations officer for the exercise.
“With that in mind, the true Marine aspect of ‘from the sea, to the shore,” is increasingly important. Being able to land on a ship, or sea base from a ship, and move people, things, to the shore is increasingly important.”
The test included five landings aboard the warship along with a refuel check to test the Osprey’s ability to receive fuel from the Dutch warship.
“[This test] supports the mission of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing because when units from 2nd MAW move forward, they sometimes work in concert with coalition partners and that may include the Dutch one day,” said Thompson.
Thompson said building a stronger relationship and testing the units’ ability to integrate was the central focus of the carrier landings.
“The MV-22 Osprey provides commanders with unprecedented agility and operational reach,” said Thompson.
The U.S military has a long-standing history working with their Dutch counterparts, a partnership both units expressed an interest in deepening.
“Having the knowledge that we learned today can help us when we move forward, if we ever work with the Dutch, which I think is a very real possibility … especially when we saw the amount of compatibility that we have from a simple exercise like today,” said Thompson.
First published by 2nd MEF on 6/12/15.
We added to this USMC article, with an article of our own.
And that article was based on a phone interview prior to the landing event with the Captain of the HNLS Karl Doorman, Peter Van Den Berg.
We discussed the the interoperability exercise and its origins was discussed.
Where is your ship now?
Van Den Berg: “We are in Norfolk undergoing demagnetization.
“We will perform an interoperability test later in the week with regard to landing an Osprey onboard our ship.
Your ship is a new logistical support ship.
What are its primary missions?
Van Den Berg: “It’s designed as a logistical support ship, with its primary tasking is refueling at sea.
“And having that capability and also this space, we also have a secondary tasking, which is strategic transport for heavy equipment.
“And there’s a third task for providing the logistics from the sea base.
“We can do that with the use of small landing craft or by using our very long, and large helicopter deck”.
How did the test come about?
Van Den Berg: “We were undergoing sea trials when we were tasked last year to support the Ebola emergency relief effort.
“We had only four sea weeks on the clock when we were tasked to go to West Africa.
“And while on station we witnessed the performance of the Osprey and decided that we would like to work on working with the Osprey onboard.
“We requested such a test, and combined that with our visit to Norfolk for our demagnetization requirement.
“Dutch naval engineers determined that we could support the weight of the Osprey and any heat generated by the engines, so we worked with the USMC to set up this test.
“I should note that we only requested this test, six or seven weeks ago, and it was pushed forward by our commander general in the Netherlands with the leadership of the USMC.”
You are a supply ship with some clear capabilities to operate more traditional rotorcraft, but how do you see the potential role of the Osprey for your ship as part of a coalition seabase?
Van Den Berg:” I think the Osprey in amphibious warfare is a real game changer.
“The Osprey will allow us the ability to sustain our support missions because of its ability to link us for a distance and with real speed.
“There is a shortage of decks; we need a connector like the Osprey able to link up those ships into an operational seabase for a coalition effort.
“And from an amphibious point of view, you can operate an Osprey deep and with speed inland.
“It changes the nature of the meaning of amphibious operations.
“It not only expands the operational reach, but can allow ships to be further from shore and be more secure.”
For the fascinating history of the HNLMS Karel Doorman, see the following video:
And later that year, the Osprey landed on the HNLMS Johan de Witt during the NATO exercise Trident Juncture 2015.
The video below, highlights this event.
By Mark Schauer
YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz.– The CH-53 has been a potent member of the Marine Corps aviation community’s fleet for over 40 years, but the newest version takes the platform to a whole new level.
Equipped with three 7,500 horsepower engines and built to carry a nearly 30,000 pound external load for over 100 miles, the CH 53K King Stallion boasts a 20% increase in heavy lift capability over its predecessors.
The most impressive new feature, though, is fly-by-wire technology that computerizes flight controls and represents a major advancement over hydraulic ones. In addition to making the craft lighter, the new controls assist pilots, particularly in degraded visual environments.
The CH-53K has undergone extensive developmental testing that utilized the degraded visual environment (DVE) test course at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) for more than two years, most recently to verify software updates in the flight control software that have been made as a result of this testing.
“This iteration of testing is somewhat of a culmination exercise for the team,” said Joshua Magana, test officer. “After this, the program will go into an initial operation test and evaluation training period that will train the pilots, air crew, and maintainers who support will support the initial operational testing next spring.”
YPG’s DVE course is highly coveted by helicopter testers seeking to protect flight crews from the potentially catastrophic consequences of brownouts. Caused by rapidly blowing sand and dirt thrown into a vortex by the rotor blades of a helicopter, a brownout’s swirling dust gives pilots the illusion they are moving even if they are hovering stationary. Hazardous in any situation, it is particularly risky when landing in a combat zone with multiple other aircraft, or in a situation where support personnel are on the ground below. The risk is compounded when the aircraft is hauling an extremely heavy cargo load beneath it.
The extremely fine ‘moon dust’ on YPG’s DVE course, tilled for maximum diffusion when a helicopter hovers overhead, was more than adequately harsh for the testers’ purposes—YPG personnel prepared the site in such a way to ensure a variety of DVE conditions, disking the dusty ground at depths of two and eight inches while leaving other areas of the site completely untilled.
“If they flew at one end of the course, it was as bad a DVE as it can possibly get,” said Magana. “If they flew on the other end, it was significantly less severe.”
The King Stallion’s primary mission is Assault Support, and testers put it through its paces at the DVE in extremely realistic scenarios that included support from Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 based at Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma. The Marines attached and unhooked massive blocks of standardized weights ranging between six and 13.5 tons as the CH-53K traversed the DVE course, day and night.
“It’s meant to simulate everything from a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to a Light Armored Vehicle,” said Magana. “The aircraft is made to carry externally anything up to 36,000 pounds, unhook it, and get out of there.”
Aircraft refueling at YPG typically is only done ‘cold,’ or with the aircraft’s engines off and powered down, as a safety measure. To maintain maximum realism for test purposes and increase the efficiency of the test, however, a waiver was granted to allow for ‘hot’ refueling of the aircraft as it was put through its paces. MWSS 371 established a Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) on an improved airstrip close to the DVE site.
“The customer wanted on-site hot refueling because using an operationally representative FARP was a test point,” said Magana.
MWSS 371 successfully treated the ground beneath the FARP with dust abatement material: As the CH-53K is a developmental aircraft, they wanted to minimize the risk of foreign objects and debris being vertically propelled into the aircraft and damaging it. The weight blocks used in the testing were also staged here.
“The testers received test efficiency, and MWSS 371 received training on refueling this new aircraft in an operationally realistic environment,” said Magana. “It was a win-win that integrated training with our developmental test.”
Remarkably, the large scale test that began its planning phase in early 2020 proceeded without delay despite the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic a mere weeks after formal coordination began.
“The program’s schedule didn’t slip at all,” said Magana. “The customer had implemented strict COVID-19 procedures for their personnel prior to coming here and after arriving, and followed all of YPG’s procedures once they were here.”
This article was published by DVIDS on September 9, 2020.
For our report on the CH-53K, see the following:
By Robbin Laird
In my discussion with Vice Admiral Miller last February we discussed the way ahead for the carrier air wing.
In that conversation, we highlighted the way ahead for the carrier wing in terms of a shift from the integrated to the integratable air wing.
The shift is a significant one in which the carrier air wing is reaching out beyond what is on the carrier organically to what it can tap into in the broader joint and coalition force kill web capabilities.
It is about how the carrier wing can both be supported and support an integrated distributed force.
And my recent visit to the Naval Air Warfare Development Center, focused on a significant development which highlighted the new way ahead.
At Fallon Naval Air Station, the NAWDC team is working fleet wide and expanding working relationships with the USAF and USMC to shape Training, Tactics and Procedures (TTPs) for the fleet in the high-end fight.
For example, NAWDC chaired a working group earlier this year on how the fleet can work together to shape integrated maritime strike operations.
During his almost three year tenure as Air Boss, Vice Admiral Miller worked with his team to set in motion a solid foundation for this transition.
In an interview on September 3, 2020 in his office at North Island Naval Air Station, San Diego, we had a chance to discuss the challenges which he and his team has faced during his tenure.
Question: What are the biggest challenges you faced when you became the Air Boss?
Vice Admiral Miller: “There were three main things when I came in, and most of them were near term focused.
“Readiness was unacceptable.
“For example, 50% of our FA-18s weren’t flyable. Readiness was clearly the first and the highest priority.
“The second one was to shift our training from counter-terrorism to what we need to fight and win a great power competition.
“The third involved manning challenges. We had gotten ourselves to where we had no bench.
“:We were putting our combat teams together right at the end game and sending them out the door on deployment, and we really weren’t cultivating the expertise we need for the high-end fight.
“We knew that meeting these challenges was not an overnight challenge, but required a sustained effort.”
Question: How did you work the readiness transition?
Vice Admiral Miller: “We designed and shaped a Naval Sustainment System for Aviation.
“We focused on creating an ecosystem to provide and sustain the mission capable airplanes that we needed.
“All good things come from up airplanes.”
Question: I have seen the training changes, which are significant at Jax Navy, Mayport and at NAWDC.
How would describe the training re-set and re-focus?
Vice Admiral Miller: “The key focus has been upon a complete reworking at Fallon.
“We have totally revamped the strike syllabus, for example.
“We have migrated the new approach into all of our workups, unit level workups, our advanced readiness programs, SFARPs, FARPs, HARPs, those sorts of things.
“Now we’re starting to work it all the way down to where we’re getting into the FRS’s, so that we work that level of training that we need all the way from when you get to your initial squadron, all the way up to our air wing Fallon and then deployments.
“And with the coming of the F-35s and CMV-22bs to the carrier air wing, what we’ve seen so far out of their SFARPs, which are the unit level Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness Program, up in Fallon has just been eye-watering.
“New training and new assets mean new training to work integration for the fleet.
“We will continue to evolve as our weapons systems evolve, to include MQ-25 and what it’s going to bring to the Carrier Strike Group in the middle of the decade.
“So we’re already starting to think about how we need to training as the carrier air wing evolves.
“We’re also making great strides as far as live virtual constructive and how we connect everything from our simulation capability to what we’re able to do out on the ranges.
“The one area that’s going to be a big issue for us this year, especially in Congress, is going to be the Fallon range expansion.
“With the changing nature of warfare, we need to change not just our training approach but the ranges on which we prepare for combat.”
Question: How are working to reshape the force from the personnel side of the equation?
Vice Admiral Miller: “We are changing the metrics to evaluate personnel.
“For example, with regard to maintainers we are focusing on building an AMEX, or an Aviation Maintenance Experience Score.
“We want our maintainers to not just say, “Hey, I’m a H-60 maintainer, or P-8 maintainer, or FA-18 maintainer, but I also have these qualifications.” So as you build time and you work in that type model series and you start getting different qualifications, now your AMEX credit score goes up.
“When we’re looking at putting the right person in the right job at the right time, we can note that ”Here are the people that have those qualifications, that have that experience, and so I’m going to go ahead and place you in a particular position that requires those skill levels.”
“This helps us as well to distribute evenly our talent so that we don’t have one squadron that is at the professional level and another squadron that’s at a collegiate level.
“We want to be able to distribute our talent such that all of our squadrons throughout the entire training continuum are evenly skilled, and therefore have the ability to surge if we ever get to that point, or, of course just working towards generating MC airplanes that enhance training across the OFRP.
“If we’re in a great power competition, we need everybody to good all the time.”
Question: Looking forward what is a big challenge you are leaving behind?
Vice Admiral Miller: “Strike fighter pilot production is a big challenge facing us.
“It is a cumulative process.
“When we had some T-45 physiological episodes in the recent past, we stopped training for a while. That caused that whole pipeline of people working their way to the fleet to come to a standstill for a handful of months.
“And then about the time we started working our way through that was when the FA-18s were experiencing their readiness issues, and then over the last couple of years we got that working again, we finally got the T-45 guys into the FA-18s.
“The bottom line: we weren’t being very efficient going through the year.
“We were kind of playing whack-a-mole. We got the T-45s working, we got the FA-18s working, got the T-6s working again.
“And then what happened with T-45 engines? Just this last year, we had some material failures of compressor blades, and we took T-45 engines that we were replacing it around the 1800 hours, and now we’re replacing those engine blades at 900 hours.
“And so that took the T-45, again, back to almost nothing for a while, little trickle charge. And now after working closely with Rolls-Royce, and we’re just now starting to get ourselves to where we’re healthy there.
“Over the last couple years, this has led to a shortfall of strike fighter pilots getting to fleet seats in squadrons.
“We’ve mitigated that by elongating the guys that are there, their orders a little bit longer, other things like that through detailing processes to mitigate that shortfall.
“That has an effect because those guys normally would be rolling to your TOPGUNs and to your test pilot schools and to be your FRS instructors.
“And this means that overall we have had a cumulative negative effect in terms of strike fighter pilot production.
“The pilot training at CNATRA is being revolutionized which will help with this challenge.
“We’re changing the way we train initial pilot training.
“And, as I mentioned earlier, we’re changing the way we train at the high end, at the air wing level.”
Question: Another challenge clearly is when you add new platforms, how do you get the operators to think past their legacy platform to what they are now flying.
How significant has been that problem?
Vice Admiral Miller: “This is a challenge, getting P-3 operators not to operate in the “alone and unafraid” mentality of their legacy aircraft, to what the P-8, Triton, Romeo synergy delivers to the fleet.
“This is a major training opportunity and challenge.
“We need to take advantage of the leaps in technology that we had as we modernize.”
Featured Photo: CORONADO, Calif. (0ct. 21, 2019) Vice Adm. DeWolf H. Miller III, commander, Naval Air Forces, inspects a new gunner seat of an MH-60S Sea Hawk, assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3 on Naval Air Station North Island.
The MH-60S gunner seat redesign has adjustable lumbar support, energy absorbers and is comfortable for the aircrew. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jeffery L. Southerland)
In the Footsteps of Admiral Nimitz: VADM Miller and His Team Focused on 21st Century “Training”
From the Integrated to the Integratable Air Wing: The Transformation of Naval Aviation
An Update on the Integratable Air Wing: A Discussion with the US Navy’s Air Boss
Visiting the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC): July 2020
In an article published on August 31, 2020 by Flight Lieutenant Clarice Hurren, a recent innovation driven by a need to overcome a COVID-19 induced barrier was highlighted.
Aircraft technicians at No. 36 Squadron are now using Microsoft HoloLens mixed-reality devices with Boeing-developed software to maintain C-17A Globemaster III aircraft.
The trial started at RAAF Base Amberley in July to open communication and new working practices with their U.S-based counterparts.
Normally, Boeing specialist technicians – known as the recovery and modifications services team or RAMS – travel to Australia to assist with repair and replacement for certain C-17A maintenance tasks, but because of COVID-19 restrictions they have been unable to visit.
Maintenance team supervisor Sergeant Thomas Lane said RAMS could send technical drawings and documents, provide instant feedback and direct the overall task through the virtual space while technicians wear the devices.
“Through a secure ‘cloud’ connection, my team and the technicians in the U.S can work seamlessly together by sharing screens and see exactly what they are seeing inside the aircraft through iris tracking,” Sergeant Lane said.
“The first project was to replace the floatation equipment deployment systems panels inside C-17s, which consist of explosive components that deploy life rafts in an emergency.
“This technology is a massive benefit to resourcing the workforce moving forward, with significant potential to empower and train less-experienced technicians.”
Boeing C-17A field services manager Glen Schneider said this new capability would see the devices used to eliminate future travel and create time efficiencies.
“After the initial maintenance activity, No. 36 Squadron will continue the trial with two HoloLens devices that can be used by accompanied maintenance teams,” Mr Schneider said.
“Technicians can connect with the Boeing field engineering team while they are away on a domestic or international mission and will aid them to troubleshoot any unique maintenance issues they encounter.”