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In a return visit in June, I was able to get updates on the RAF preparation for P-8s, an update on the Typhoon and operations in the Middle East, a discussion of the ground support system for Typhoon, a look at the Tornado weapons training approach and leveraging the approach moving forward into the Tyhpoon/F-35 era, and a look at the nature of the Quick Reaction Force at QRA North.
We will publish materials on these various aspects of the visit in coming weeks.
But during the visit, I had a chance to continue my earlier conversation with the RAF base commander and to get his perspectives, notably after his return from Estonia where he was able to look at the performance of RAF Lossiemouth Typhoons on deployment to the Baltic Air Policing effort.
Question: You recently returned from Estonia.
How is the effort going?
Group Captain Godfrey: It is very similar in mission to QRA in the UK; as you know we have QRA NORTH which is here at Lossie, and QRA SOUTH at RAF Coningsby.
The facilities in Estonia are of the same level and quality we have here in the UK.
A British Typhoon jet, bottom, is seen intercepted one of two Russian ‘Bear’ aircraft that were spotted flying in international airspace September 2014. Credit Daily Mail
You will have seen in the media, that our aircraft are busy intercepting Russian aircraft, including those launched from Kaliningrad although I do think the dynamic has changed slightly since we’ve been operating in the same AOR as the Russians in Syria.
We know more about each other given the deconfliction that we’re going through in Syria and Iraq AORs.
Question: Are there differences between QRA in the UK and in the Baltics?
Group Captain Godfrey: The template is the same but the mission is slightly different.
From the UK, we are largely dealing with Russian Long-Range Aviation with crews that are ‘used’ to being intercepted by European Fighters
In the Baltics, we are often intercepting Russian fighters, and there the adherence to a common template is a work in progress. For several Russian pilots, this may be the first time they seen or dealt with a Typhoon and they are learning the process of how to work safely in such situations.
We are dealing with a different generation of pilots.
Question: How is Typhoon doing in performing the mission?
Group Captain Godfrey: We are building on the experience of the other Typhoon nations, earlier German and Spanish deployments as well as our own, in creating a solid understanding of the infrastructure support.
It is great to have an aircraft able to deal with any of our likely eventualities in performing the mission.
Question: The P-8 is coming to the RAF and during a recent visit to Jax Navy we were able to see some of the capabilities which you mentioned last time, certainly in terms of its ability to do more than simply do classic maritime patrol.
What is your sense of its potential impact?
Group Captain Godfrey: If we open our intellectual aperture, and do not stymie it by doctrine, the P-8 becomes a key part of overall evolving combat force, and not simply as you say a classic maritime patrol aircraft, doing a specialized mission.
It’s all about on board sensor fusion.
Group Captain Paul Godfrey addressing the Copenhagen Airpower Symposium, April 17, 2015. Credit: SLD
With F-35 and P-8 out in the battlespace, we have the potential to shape collective sensor fusion to give absolutely everybody, either airborne, on the sea, on the land the same situation awareness to allow for enhanced timely decision-making.
And that will affect how we operate Typhoon here as well, as we work greater integration across the combat fleet.
P-8 can be the wingman for F-35; F-35 can be the wingman for P-8; and Typhoon can operate as the weapons force multiplier of the evolving force, and a key force protection element as well.
It will be important for our air doctrine to be reworked as our force finds ways to cross-transform rather than trying to fit these multi-mission and multi-tasking assets into classic doctrinal boxes such as strike, mobility, lift, etc.
We are at the beginning of a long road.
I am not sure of the direction in which the road is going which is probably a good thing for if we set the direction to narrowly we will limit the innovation, which is possible.
For the new Special Report which includes all of the Second Line of Defense interviews from RAF Lossiemouth, see the following:
2016-11-18 We will be publishing soon a report by Todd Miller from the USS America about his experience on board with the ship and its air compliment.
It is a weapon system, not simply a platform and the intersection of the Osprey with the F-35B and the coming of the CH-53K will make the USS America a very flexible insertion force, notably working with an amphibious task force.
According to a story written by the USMC and published on October 31. 2016:
PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) — Five Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II aircraft landed on the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on Friday, October 28.
America will embark seven F-35Bs — two are scheduled to begin the third shipboard phase of developmental test (DT-III) and five are scheduled to conduct operational testing.
America, the first ship of its class, is an aviation-centric platform that incorporates key design elements to accommodate the fifth-generation fighter.
The ship’s design features several aviation capabilities enhanced beyond previous amphibious assault ships which include an enlarged hangar deck, realignment and expansion of the aviation maintenance facilities, a significant increase in available stowage of parts and equipment, as well as increased aviation fuel capacity.
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America is capable of accommodating F-35Bs, MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, and a complement of Navy and Marine Corps helicopters.
The third test phase will evaluate F-35B Short Take-off Vertical Landing (STOVL) operations in a high-sea state, shipboard landings, and night operations. The cadre of flight test pilots, engineers, maintainers, and support personnel from the F-35 Patuxent River Integrated Test Force (ITF) are assigned to Air Test & Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.
“It’s exciting to start the execution phase of our detachment with VMX-1 (Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1) on USS America,” said Lt. Col. Tom “Sally” Fields, F-35 Patuxent River ITF Government Flight Test director assigned to VX-23.
“During the next three weeks, we will be completing critical flight test for both Developmental Test (DT) and Operational Test (OT). The F-35 Pax River ITF and VX-23 will be conducting DT work that will establish the boundaries of safe operation for the F-35B in the 3F configuration.
VMX-1 will be conducting OT operations focused on preparing maintenance crews and pilots for the first deployment of the F-35B aboard USS Wasp (LHD 1), scheduled to start in just over a year.”
The operational testing will also include simulating extensive maintenance aboard a ship, said Col. George Rowell, commanding officer of VMX-1, based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona.
Rowell stated one of the VMX jets on board will be placed in the hangar bay, taken apart, and put together again, just to make sure everything goes well.
The maintenance work will include the replacement of a lift fan, the specialized equipment made by Rolls Royce and Pratt and Whitney that gives the F-35B variant its short take-off, “jump jet” capability, Rowell said.
The Marine Corps variant of the F-35 Lightning II reached the fleet first, with the service declaring initial operational capability July 2015.
“The F-35 Lightning II is the most versatile, agile, and technologically-advanced aircraft in the skies today, enabling our Corps to be the nation’s force in readiness — regardless of the threat, and regardless of the location of the battle,” said Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, deputy commandant for aviation, Marine Corps.
“As we modernize our fixed-wing aviation assets for the future, the continued development and fielding of the short take-off and vertical landing, the F-35B remains the centerpiece of this effort.”
“The America class of amphibious assault ship design enables it to carry a larger and more diverse complement of aircraft, including the tiltrotor MV-22 Osprey, the new F-35 Lightning II, and a mix of cargo and assault helicopters,” added Davis.
“America is able to support a wide spectrum of military operations and missions, including putting Marines ashore for combat operations, launching air strikes, keeping sea lanes free and open for the movement of global commerce, and delivering humanitarian aid following a natural disaster.”
We have published many pieces on the USS America and its role as a cutting edge platform to shape new capabilities for the insertion forces.
2016-11-18 Recently, Second Line of Defense visited the Albacete Air Base and discussed Eurofighter with officers at the base.
They mentioned that they were looking forward to the coming of the A400 to their service as it would enhance their capability to do expeditionary air operations.
Well that day has now arrived.
According to a press release from Airbus Defence and Space published on November 17, 2016, Spain has taken delivery of its first A400M.
The Spanish Air Force has taken delivery of its first Airbus A400M new generation airlifter – the most advanced aircraft to have been produced in Spain and one which will transform the nation’s air mobility fleet.
First Spanish A400M. Credit Photo: Airbus Defence and Space
Today’s contractual handover of the first of 27 aircraft that it has ordered makes Spain the sixth nation to put the A400M into service.
Representatives of the Spanish Air Force and Ministry of Defence formally accepted the aircraft, known as MSN44, from Airbus Defence and Space in a brief ceremony at the A400M final assembly line (FAL) in Seville.
Airbus Defence and Space Head of Military Aircraft, Fernando Alonso, said: “Today is truly a special day for all of us who have been involved with the A400M programme over the years – but particularly for the Seville workforce that has worked so hard to make the aircraft a reality.
“Every delivery to every customer is of huge importance to us, but being able to hand over the first aircraft to Spain from our final assembly line in Seville is a source of particular pride. I would like to thank all our employees, as well as OCCAR and our Spanish customer for achieving this milestone.”
In Spanish service the A400M will replace the ageing C-130 aircraft type, carrying about twice the load over the same distance, or the same load twice as far. In addition it can serve as a tactical air-to-air tanker for other transport aircraft, including other A400Ms.
Uniquely it is able both to cruise at jet-like speeds and altitudes over intercontinental ranges due to its four extremely powerful engines and advanced aerodynamic design, as well as to operate repeatedly from short and unprepared airstrips close to the scene of military action or humanitarian crisis.
Under an agreement signed in September, 14 aircraft will be delivered at a steady pace between now and 2022, and the remaining 13 are scheduled for delivery from 2025 onwards.
The Spanish A400M fleet will be based at Zaragoza in North East Spain and will represent the heavylift element of a transport force that includes the medium C295 and CN235, and light C212 aircraft – all produced by Airbus Defence and Space. MSN44 will fly to Zaragoza in the coming days.
Altogether more than 1600 employees from Airbus Defence and Space work in Spain for the A400m program, including 1100 working directly at the Seville FAL and nearby Tablada Factory. To date eight nations have ordered 174 aircraft of which 34 have now been delivered.
On November 2, 2016, we had a chance to visit the Spanish Air Force at their Albacete Airbase and to talk with a Eurofighter pilot as well as senior maintenance officer.
They both had worked with Eurofighter in the latest Baltic Air Patrol earlier this year.
Albacete flies a regular Quick Reaction Alert force to provide for Spanish security in the Mediterranean.
The engagement in the Baltics is in effect a QRA mission further north.
In an article published on January 11, 2016 by the Spanish Air Force, the deployment earlier this year to the Baltics, which involved our hosts, was described.
On January 4, four Eurofighter planes took off from Albacete Air Base with Siauliai in Lithuania as their destination.
Their aim was to join the VILKAS detachment and therefore carry out surveillance missions of the air space of the Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
In this way, NATOs commitment to the carrying out of air policing in the Baltic has been continued.
After four hours of flight and the re-fuelling of an Italian KC-767 in German airspace, the aircraft arrived without stopovers and without event at Siauliai.
Following the relief of the previous nation Hungary, the first alert service was in place within days.
Ahead, there are four months of air policing in the Baltic, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Head of Force Juan Antonio Ballesta Miñarro.
Captain Antonio Duque Polo. Credit Photo: Chloe Laird
The 14th Wing will act as the lead nation of the assets deployed in the Baltic; specifically, of the Belgian F-16s stationed at Amari, Estonia.
Deployment of VILKAS Detachment Personnel
On January 3, the act of bidding farewell to the first relief of the Air Force personnel that will form part of the VILKAS detachment, within the framework of Operation Baltic Air Policing, took place at Albacete Air Base.
The contingent is made up of 105 military personnel, as well as one other staff member, and it belongs mainly to the 14th Wing.
It will unite with those that left from Spain with Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania, as their destination on December 27.
The objective was to reach full operative capacity on January 8.
This is the third time that the Air Force has participated in this mission. From August 1 to November 30 2006, it did so from Lithuania and as the lead nation, with four C.14 Mirage F-1s from the 14th Wing.
Later, from January 1 to May 4 2015, and with four C.16 Eurofighters from the 11th Wing, they carried out operations from Amari Air Base, Estonia. The Eurofighters from the 14th Wing will lead the missions during the first quarter of 2016: this time from Lithuania.
In total, approximately 230 personnel will form part of the detachment in the four months that the mission will last. Half way through it, a relief of crews, controllers, health workers and maintenance staff will take place.
The event was presided over by the Chief of Staff of Air Combat Command, Division General César Miguel Simón López, on behalf of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air General Francisco Javier García Arnaiz. General Simón, who was accompanied by the Head of the 14th Wing and Albacete Air Base, Colonel Julio Nieto Sampayo, offered Christmas greetings to the members of the contingent and their families in the name of the Chief of Staff.
He also expressed the wish that the detachment´s tasks will pass without event.
Echoing the recent words of the President of the government, the general also reminded the attendant personnel that they are the “best ambassadors for Spain” outside of our borders.
Baltic Air Policing
“Baltic Air Policing” is a NATO mission framed within the principle of collective defence. It has as its aim the protection of the air space of the Baltic countries that lack their own resources to carry out air policing tasks.
We had a chance to discuss this mission with Captains Antonio Duque Polo and Sergio Martinez Pėrez during our time at the base.
The 2015 mission was conducted in Estonia; the 2016 mission was done in Lithuania.
This year, the winter was especially cold and provided challenges for operations.
But another challenge was provided by the difference between the two bases.
“In Lithuania, we had two shelters from which to operate aircraft.
Obviously, given the extreme cold, we could not work on the aircraft outside, but needed to prepare them inside; the situation is different from Estonia where there are more facilities to operate our aircraft.”
Captain Duque noted that the first six weeks of the mission involved the set up by the support crews of their structure to support the Eurofighter as well as working with the back up flight crew for the mission, which was provided by the Hungarian Air Force flying Gripen fighters.
It was noted that the Spanish Air Force operated with their normal uniforms, rather than special winter gear, which added to the challenges as well.
But the Eurofighters performed well and according to Pėrez the support structure also worked well.
Eurofighter landing at Albacete Air Base During Second Line of Defense Visit. Credit Photo: Chloe Laird
“We had a baseline established from earlier engagements to determine what we needed on the supply side for our Eurofighters.
These forecasts worked well. And with our Spanish digital logistic system we were able to order parts directly from Lithuania back to Spain to support the mission as well.”
Obvious, difficult conditions challenge any air combat asset.
A key challenge which they faced was the need to have well salted runways to operate the aircraft.
And the combat jets would kick up material from the runway into the landing gear areas and pose a challenge of diffusion of Foreign Object Debris or FOD within the aircraft.
“We worked hard on this challenge and found ways to deal with it during the mission,” commented Pėrez.
When asked about cross-talk among those Eurofighter squadrons had operated in the Baltics before them, both officers indicated that the experience of the Spanish squadron at Moron Airbase was a key baseline for them.
They also talked with German and British Eurofighter squadrons to shape their baseline for operational and support expectations.
Pėrez underscored the point that for Spain, the deployment to the Baltics was expeditionary and the support structure for Eurofighter performed well in this Baltic mission set.
After we discussed the Baltic mission, we toured the base starting with the maintenance facilities for Eurofighter at the base.
A simulation system is in place for training purposes.
The simulator is an excellent tool for refreshing training as well but a challenge as Eurofighter gets upgraded is to ensure that the software is upgraded in the simulator as well.
This simulator was described in a press release from Cassidian (now Airbus Defence and Space) in 2013 as follows:
A new Eurofighter flight simulator to be used by the aircrew of the 14th Wing of the Albacete Air Base has been delivered by Cassidian, adding to the two already installed at the Morón de la Frontera Air Base in Seville.
The simulator delivered is part of the ASTA advanced training system. Cassidian has been responsible for all tasks related to the installation and commissioning of this Cockpit Trainer/Interactive Pilot Station (CT/IPS-E) which, together with the Full Mission Simulator (FMS), form the ASTA.
The 19 ASTA systems in service in five of the nations operating the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft – Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom – are intended for crew training.
This ranges from familiarisation with the aircraft to actual missions in highly complex tactical environments, using aircraft software code tailored to the simulator to reflect the behaviour of the aircraft and its embedded systems with a high degree of fidelity.
The simulators currently in service at the Morón de la Frontera Air Base have to date clocked up 6,500 hours of simulation including 4,800 training missions.
With Spain having just received the latest version of Eurofighter, and with the simulator not having been upgraded, training is being done on a two seat Eurofighter which we visited as well on the base.
This version of software is what the British call their Operation Shader ready aircraft, namely the version where ground attack missions are now included in the combat envelope of the aircraft.
A good statement of the shift in capability was provided in an interview with an RAF 1 (F) squadron pilot based at RAF Lossiemouth:
“With Tranche 2, the pilot could type in the targeting information and the plane will then provide the data to execute the strike mission. This capability has been demonstrated in Operation Shader. And the targeting capability was so effective that JTACS actually were calling for the Typhoon/Paveway IV capability on a regular basis.
We had combat mass and significant strike capability which could be delivered rapidly and coalition partners quickly began to pick up on this capability.”
As he described the change in performance and its impact: “We could operate a four ship formation and strike 16 targets in one pass. We never could do that with Tranche 1.
And we provided close air support to our ground forces, and provide information to the ground forces to support their operations, with targeting information provided from the ground maneuver forces, or from our onboard sensors.”
This capability is now coming to the Spanish Air Force as earlier this year the Spanish Eurofighters have been testing their Paveway capabilities as well.
One change which would make the simulator a more powerful weapon system for the Spanish Air Force would be to link the Eurofighter simulator in Albacete with the more powerful one at Morón Air Base.
“This would expand our capability to train for more complex scenarios as well enhance the quality of our training.”
We visited two maintenance buildings.
The first was a building where engine maintenance was going on.
The engine for the Eurofighter is as they put it: “a good news story. It is very reliable and very maintainable and a significant upgrade over the engine we had on our earlier combat aircraft, the Mirage F-1.
It is a next generation engine.”
The engine is maintained in a vertical position and the crew can replace modules on the engine for engine repair.
But the bench tests need to be done at Morón Air Base near Seville.
The 14th Wing is hoping to be able to have their own bench test capabilities so that they do not need to send repaired engines forward to Morón Air Base for final verification.
We then visited an aircraft hanger where multiple repairs were underway.
One aircraft involved was a two seat Eurofighter in for its initial major repairs; and other aircraft where going through regular maintenance inside the facility.
A key asset for the Spanish Air Force is the logistics base which is paired with the combat base at Albacete.
Here the personnel are trained to work on the range of aircraft which the Spanish Air Force flies.
“They are a key asset in keeping the force operational.
But a challenge is the aging of the workforce and to renew the workforce.”
Currently, the other key combat aircraft flown by the Spanish Air Force (the Navy flies Harriers) is the F-18. Until the arrival of the Eurofighter, the F-18 was the key combat asset.
But as the Eurofighter has matured, the F-18 role has shifted from an air superiority mission to a ground attack mission. The Spanish Air Force does not fly Tornado, so that the F-18 is moving into this role.
This year, the Spanish F-18s went to Red Flag.
“We have done a great deal of modernization on the F-18 and find a very capable compliment to the Eurofighter. And as we gain experience with Eurofighter, its role is being expanded as well.
The Baltic Air Patrol has been an important mission in this regard,” according to Captain Antonio Duque.
In short, it is clear that the Baltic Air Patrol is an important mission for expanding the capability of European air forces to shape common approaches and capabilities.
For the Eurofighter there is an opportunity as well to shape a support structure, say in Estonia, so that Eurofighter could fly to the crisis and have prepositioned support equipment.
Such a possibility could flow from a key activity, which is ongoing at Albacete, namely the Eurofighter integration effort lead by the European Air Group.
As two senior officers at the European Air Group put it in an interview earlier this year:
Lt Col. Schiattioni underscored that “We managed to get the key people for each air force responsible for the standards for their national aircraft to shape a more global approach to standards.
And also important was bringing the maintainers together to share lessons learned and to shape more common maintenance procedures.”
Lt. Col. Lecube emphasized that the program has been very industry driven which meant that the operational commonality was not the center of attention.
“But at the squadron level there has been a growing interest ways to shape more operational commonality.
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The Baltic patrolling was a key driver for this approach as well.
With the Spanish and the British e.g. operating together in the Baltic Air Patrol, it is crucial to operate a common SOP in such operations.”
A key achievement clearly is to shape a more common SOP for operations and maintenance which, of course, will become even more important as the Tranche 3 standard comes into play for the Eurofighter nations.
Underlying the new approach is a broad agreement reached many years ago where the seven Eurofighter nations agreed to broad ways to work together but the EAG as in other areas is focused on driving practical solutions.
Lt Col. Schiattioni added: “The sharing of information can provide a better way to underscore how each nation can pursue modernization but sort out which among the Eurofighter nations is interested in a solution generated by a particular nation.
This will allow national, bi-national approaches which can drive innovation for the larger Eurofighter enterprise.”
It is clear that the Spanish Air Force is operating under fiscal constraints, but it is also clear that the squadron leadership is working innovative ways to ensure that the optimal combat capability can be generated within those constraints.
In the slideshow above, the latest Eurofighter is seen at Albacete and is used as well for training to the new level of capabilities in the aircraft.
Editor’s Note: In this piece published by the El Pais about last year’s Baltic Air Patrol, a number of points are made about the mission.
Defense Minister: “We’re not here to create problems, we’re here to avoid them”
About 3,200 kilometers separate the Morón de la Frontera base outside Seville and the Ämari Air Base in Estonia, not to mention around 30 degrees in temperature.
Nevertheless, the Baltic republic’s brutal -15ºC weather has not hampered Spanish Eurofighter Typhoons from their duties protecting the region’s airspace. Planes from Group 11 of the Spanish Air Force have been in control of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission (BAPM), based in Ämari, since January 1 and will continue there until May 4.
So far, the Eurofighters have conducted 108 patrols, clocking up nearly 200 hours of flight time. Only one flight had to be canceled because of technical problems.
“It has been better than we thought,” said Lt. Col. Enrique Fernández Ambel, who is heading the team of 115 Spanish officers of the Ambar detachment.
But the fears are real and the tension exists. NATO is concerned that the conflict may spill over from Ukraine, where the Kiev government has been fighting pro-Russian separatists.
Along the icy waters of the Baltic, two old Cold War adversaries can look directly into each others’ eyes at distances sometimes as close as 300 meters – that is how near Spanish Eurofighters have come to Russian aircraft during the interceptions that have taken place.
These testy encounters have occurred about half-a-dozen times when Russian Ilyushin and Antonov transport planes – modified for spying or electronic warfare – fly from St Petersburg to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad Oblast, which is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland.
Although the Russian jets have not violated Baltic airspace, they ignore international air navigation rules by not filing a flight plan, turning off their transponders so they can’t be identified, or refusing to communicate with civil aviation authorities.
The Spanish Eurofighters usually intercept and escort them under the orders of NATO’s Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC), based in Uedem, Germany.
Commander Eladio Daniel Leal said the tensest moments usually occur when the alarm goes off and “you just don’t know who you are going to encounter, or how they are going to react.”
NATO has been helping the Baltic nations patrol their airspace since 2004 as none of them has an air force of their own. Member countries take turns leading the mission.
But since the Ukraine crisis, NATO has beefed up its patrols. Besides the Spanish EF-2000s, fighter jets have also been dispatched from Italy, Poland and Belgium.
In a tense war of nerves, any wrong move can turn into a catastrophe. According to NATO figures, more than 400 interceptions of Russian planes by the Alliance’s jets occurred last year – more than double the number in 2013.
Although the Russian jets have not violated Baltic airspace, they ignore international air navigation rules
And each day the Kremlin is getting bolder. Last month, two Russian Tupolev Tu-95 bombers ventured as far as the English Channel, setting off an emergency dispatch of British and French jets.
The Norwegian government released a video that showed how an F-16 fighter nearly collided with one of the Russian bombers. But the biggest risk is that of a commercial jet getting entangled in these dangerous standoffs.
“We’re not here to create problems, but instead we’re here to avoid them,” said Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenés, who visited the detachment in Ämari on Wednesday.
The Spanish government is spending €9 million on having its four Eurofighters take part in the BAPM and hopes to repeat the mission next year.
And last year, Spanish F-18s participated in Red Flag at Nellis.
According to a story published by the US Air Force on September 2, 2016:
Since its inception in 1975, Red Flag has served as the pinnacle of air-to-air combat training for the Air Force and its allies.
For the Spanish Air Force, Red Flag 16-4 has been the perfect avenue to receive the best training for their aircrews and support personnel, as well as an avenue for overcoming unique challenges that aren’t always experienced in European exercises.
“With most of our experience coming from European exercises, we have mostly a European outlook,” said Spanish Air Force Capt. Dario Perez, an EF-18M pilot. “Working with the United States Air Force aircraft and its allies serves as a great chance to train in a non-European venue, and broaden our views.”
In order to expand their views, communication between allies can be a challenge for Spanish Air Forces, but at Red Flag this has not turned out to be a roadblock.
“As we are standardized with NATO everyone speaks the same language while we train,” said Spanish Air Force Capt. Esteve Ferran, a pilot. “With the NATO documents we use, everyone is on the same page and on the same sheet of music at all times. Like last time we were here in 2008 the exercise proved to be difficult at first, but once we got rolling it was excellent.”
Once settled in, Red Flag 16-4 offered unique trials for Spanish Air Force pilots and crews to overcome.
“While the Red Flag exercise here is similar to the exercises that we encounter in Europe, the surface-to-air threats that are part of Red Flag are top notch and always serve as a challenge,” Perez said.
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While the surface-to-air threats that pilots face here at Red Flag 16-4 serve as a valuable aspect of training, they aren’t the only facet of Red Flag valuable for aircrews.
“Tactically speaking, the surface-to-air threats are top notch,” Ferran said. “Also, the ability to use live ordnance in training is something that we don’t always get access to when we participate in European exercises.”
With all of these benefits of Red Flag’s training there are also multiple challenges that aircrews have had to face.
“One of the most difficult things about this exercise has been the act of deploying all of our assets here,” Ferran said. “It has been difficult, and staging out of Nellis was the first challenge we faced. Then, the night operations of Red Flag have also been a challenge. There is a nine-hour difference between the time zones and so when we finish operations we then have briefings at 3 a.m. It gets tiring and becomes a challenge and is something that we don’t see in European exercises.”
While these challenges, coupled with the tests of the monsoon weather that Las Vegas has brought to Red Flag 16-4, have presented Spanish air force with obstacles, they haven’t stopped pilots and aircrews from overcoming them.
Taking these obstacles in stride, the Spanish Air Force has used one of the premier air-to-air exercises that the Air Force offers to gain excellent training experience for aircrews.
All photos are credited to Second Line of Defense (Chloe Laird) except the F-18 photos which are credited to the USAF.
The slideshow showing Typhoons during the EAG Typhoon interoperability exercise in Spain and the photos are credited to the Spanish Air Force and the European Air Group.
The fact that crisis serve as a catalyst for needed and awaited reforms is a well-known proposition.
The triple effect of an increasing threat environment, of Brexit and now of what is widely perceived in Europe as the unpredictability of a new Trump Administration is having a clear impact on a new sense of urgency in favor of an increased European ” strategic autonomy”[1].
It is a bit too early to know if the new American administration will follow the paths of Reagan, Roosevelt or Wilson as far as his course of action towards Europe will go, but let us try to take a constructive approach based on the only concrete hints we have at this point, i.e. the few foreign policy speeches Donald Trump delivered during the campaign[2].
Two Parallel Plays In Need of Synchronization
Both America and Europe aspire to modernize post-War institutions in order to better deal with the current threats and challenges, while going back to the Founding fathers’ initial spirit.
Former SACT, General Palomeros, recently stated that this is something one owes to the upcoming generations, who need to be more involved in a debate that directly concerns them[3].
Both the old and the new continents want to optimize their expenditures to invest in better capabilities and a resilient defense industrial base via renewed R&D funding.
Both want to assess how to be more efficient and reactive if/when a crisis occurs.
Both want to avoid redundancies.
Both want to re-focus on far too long-neglected homeland security needs, including border security and cyber defense.
There is therefore clear room for leading NATO and EU modernization processes in a coordinated and non-antagonistic manner – with the help of XXIth century innovative processes and technologies -, so a true European pillar emerges at last.
If one fails in this process and decoupling and division prevail, our enemies will have won.
However, and no matter how rational this is, we all know that the devil is in the details.
So how does one restructure without “de-structuring” and reducing the mutualized pool to the lowest common denominator?
Restructuring Without “De-structuring”
One can identify many challenges in this very delicate process, but two jump out when one tries to start from scratch:
How to avoid redundancies while preserving national sovereignty and, in the case of Europe, increase “strategic autonomy”?
Washington under President Trump could decide to condition its traditional support to the Alliance to a narrower definition of its national interest and to the level of reciprocity and contribution of each individual ally.
At the same time, the EU wants to increase its capabilities while avoiding redundancies with SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe).
If that is the case, the task is first to identify where most or all national interests intersect as the common minimum baseline and secondly see how to keep building complementary and interoperable forces.
Given the evolution of the threat which requires action as much outside one’s borders as within and given current technological breakthroughs in C2, strategic lift, platform and weapons’ range or accuracy, the question of burden-sharing is rather different than it may have been till now.
Indeed, should Allies focus resources based on priority missions based on geographic proximity, capabilities, whether the operation is territorial or overseas, or, the way it is more or less now, on an ad hoc basis?
Which metrics should one use to optimize one’s defense and security investments?
If the 2% of the GDP goal set by NATO has the merit of measuring each nation’s commitment and is a simple indicator and political threshold, it does not reflect how these 2% are spent and how they actually contribute to readiness[4], since each nation has its peculiar acquisition policy and operational experience.
A business-oriented mind like Donald Trump will probably be interested in what is actually useful, efficient and cost effective.
Lessons learned might be the best way to assess NATO performance, as it is commonly done.
The same goes for the EU who seems to have decided to favor quickly-implemented solutions (via the PESCO[5] process in particular) and to start with the institutionalization of concrete success stories, such as the European Air Transport Command (EATC[6]).
A Kissinger-like “small steps” policy of modernization, if well synchronized, could actually be welcome on both sides of the Atlantic, while fitting the upcoming era of American “Realpolitik” in the world affairs.
[1] See the conclusions of the EU Council, November 14th, 2016, Implementations Plan on Security and Defence (link to pdf)
[2] See the following abstract from Donald Trump’s April speech, in which he highlights five major flaws in the past decades’ US defense and foreign policies:
« America First will be the major and overriding theme of my administration. But to chart our path forward, we must first briefly take a look back. We have a lot to be proud of.
In the 1940s we saved the world. The greatest generation beat back the Nazis and Japanese imperialists. Then we saved the world again. This time, from totalitarianism and communism. The Cold War lasted for decades but, guess what, we won and we won big. Democrats and Republicans working together got Mr. Gorbachev to heed the words of President Reagan, our great president, when he said, tear down this wall.
History will not forget what he did. A very special man and president. Unfortunately, after the Cold War our foreign policy veered badly off course. We failed to develop a new vision for a new time. In fact, as time went on, our foreign policy began to make less and less sense. Logic was replaced with foolishness and arrogance, which led to one foreign policy disaster after another.
They just kept coming and coming. We went from mistakes in Iraq to Egypt to Libya, to President Obama’s line in the sand in Syria. Each of these actions have helped to throw the region into chaos and gave ISIS the space it needs to grow and prosper. (…)
Our foreign policy is a complete and total disaster. No vision. No purpose. No direction. No strategy. Today I want to identify five main weaknesses in our foreign policy.
First, our resources are totally over extended. (…)
Secondly, our allies are not paying their fair share, and I’ve been talking about this recently a lot. Our allies must contribute toward their financial, political, and human costs, have to do it, of our tremendous security burden. (…)
Thirdly, our friends are beginning to think they can’t depend on us.(…)
Fourth, our rivals no longer respect us. In fact, they’re just as confused as our allies, but in an even bigger problem is they don’t take us seriously anymore.(…)
Finally, America no longer has a clear understanding of our foreign policy goals. Since the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union, we’ve lacked a coherent foreign policy. One day, we’re bombing Libya and getting rid of a dictator to foster democracy for civilians. The next day, we’re watching the same civilians suffer while that country falls and absolutely falls apart. Lives lost, massive moneys lost. The world is a different place.
We’re a humanitarian nation, but the legacy of the Obama-Clinton interventions will be weakness, confusion and disarray, a mess. We’ve made the Middle East more unstable and chaotic than ever before. We left Christians subject to intense persecution and even genocide. (…) »
[5] See on this subject: http://www.lisbon-treaty.org/wcm/the-lisbon-treaty/protocols-annexed-to-the-treaties/673-protocol-on-permanent-structured-cooperation-established-by-article-42-of-the-treaty-on-european.html
For the very first time, the French Center and Right political parties – composed of the Republicans (LR, “Les Républicains”, the Christian Democrats (PCD) and the National Center for Self-Employed and Farmers (CNIP, Centre national des indépendants et paysans) organized this year an open primary aiming at designating the candidate for France’s 2017 Presidential elections.
French politicians (From L-R) Nicolas Sarkozy, Alain Juppe, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Jean-Frederic Poisson, and Francois Fillon attend the final prime-time televised debate for the French center-right presidential primary in Paris, France, November 17, 2016. REUTERS/Christphe Archambault
November 17, 2016 was the third and last televised debate before the first round of elections this week-end opposing the seven candidates.
Except for the Christian Democrat Jean-Frédéric Poisson, all belong to the main stream party, LR.
The first part of the two-hour debate was about “Trump, Putin and Europe,”and the impact of the shift from “Politics as usual” triggered by by Donald Trump’s victory could be felt both in form and substance during the debates.
An Impact on Style: Putting the Media into Its Place
If each of the three debates was especially rich in content all along, the candidates tonight all wanted to talk substance.
They sought to avoid the usual media fostering of bickering among candidates to enhance personality rather than policy differences.
Several candidates interrupted the journalists – and not the other way around – in order to reorient the debate each time they felt they did not have the possibility to develop an important theme, such as Europe, or each time it would deviate from substantive issues.
This is a new trend that was widely commented in the press commentaries in the aftermath of the debate[1].
François Fillon’s message to the French people was the following: “We French are a proud people and we do not like that our choices be dictated.
So do not be afraid, on Sunday, to contradict polls and medias which had arranged everything for you.
Choose to vote for your beliefs.”
An Impact on Substance: Unleashing A New Sense of Freedom and Control
If the French candidates are like many politicians in the world — concerned about the election in the United States–in reality it had an impact on substance which can be seen as a positive one.
A key themes was that the place of France as well as Europe’s in the world arena have to be re-thought, re-oriented and acted upon.
It is crucial to avoid a US-Russian diktat especially on Syria from which Europe is excluded.
The memory of Yalta remains for the French leadership).
The question is whether and how to work or not with Russia.
The perceived Trump impact on this question has split views among the candidates.
This evolution can actually mean a “new departure for France” as Nicolas Sarkozy called for, as well as a chance for Europe to actually be freer to act globally.
One of the key points made in the debate was the fact that since Turkey does not belong to the EU, Europe can be much tougher towards Turkey.
Europe does not have to be blackmailed by Erdogan using the NATO club.
The candidates all had different visions of which road Europe should take.
But they were all sharing the same view that the current mode of action is failing and that it needs to change.
The European Union cannot add any new members.
Expansion is over; and re-exmaination of current structures is urgent.
France needs to refocus on how best to work within a restructured Europe.
Several paths were proposed:
Reject the current European structures;
Keep the institutions and do not propose a referendum (otherwise France will vote for a Brexit of its own for sure), but reform them;
Build a European defense either through a flexible federalist cooperation approach (Sarkozy) or a rebalancing within Europe itself.
For France – which pays 25% of Europe’s military expenditures once BREXIT is implemented – there is a clear need for the rest of Europe to do much more on defense.
And France should be free to take their significantly greater defense expenditures as a credit from the re-balancing of the Maastricht 3% criteria.(Kosciusko-Morizet).
There is a clear need to focus on working with the members of the Euro Zone as a core to strengthen the European defense rather than thinking in terms of the European Union as a whole (Juppé and Fillon)
There is an urgent need to reinforce the protection of France and Europe with enhanced border and immigration control and an increase in military and security expenditures.
The French Republicans also want to implement trade taxes, but these ones would be … carbon taxes….something different clearly from a potential shift in US environmental policy under President-elect Trump.
In short, Putin and Trump are having their impact and the French are debating shaping a new way ahead.
There are five criteria set out in the Treaty of Maastricht that must be met by European countries if they wish to adopt the European Union’s single currency, the euro.
They are: 1) inflation of no more than 1.5 percentage points above the average rate of the three EU member states with the lowest inflation over the previous year.
2) A national budget deficit at or below 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
3) National public debt not exceeding 60 percent of gross domestic product. A country with a higher level of debt can still adopt the euro provided its debt level is falling steadily.
4) Long-term interest rates should be no more than two percentage points above the rate in the three EU countries with the lowest inflation over the previous year.
5) The national currency is required to enter the ERM 2 exchange rate mechanism two years prior to entry.
On a recent visit to Norway, the UK Minister of Defence signed a new agreement with Norway to shape enhanced cooperation on maritime patrol operations. This was done in part due to the coming of the P-8 to the United Kingdom.
In the story on the UK MoD website it was noted:
Work on the UK’s MPA programme is progressing well, including the investment on infrastructure in Lossiemouth in Scotland, where the planes will be based.
Former armed forces personnel who previously served on UK Nimrod are also re-joining the RAF to help operate the future P-8s.
12 have recently re-joined and more will re-join in the future
The UK MoD retired the Nimrod in 2011; recently, the UK government announced that the P-8 was coming into the force in 2019.
The Nimrod MK2 MPA was taken out of service in 2010 with the UK accepting the capability gap until the MRA4 came into service.
How do you maintain the skills necessary to stay in the maritime domain awareness game when your aircraft goes away?
According to the MoD, a “seed-corn” program was put in place to provide for a transition.
With the first aircraft due to arrive in the UK in 2019/2020, the RAF has been committed to maintaining the skills needed to operate these MPAs through the ‘seed-corn’ programme, which has embedded former RAF MPA operators within the MPA squadrons of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.
Air Vice-Marshal Gerry Mayhew, who is responsible for the RAF’s fast jets and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance assets, said:
The seed-corn initiative has been vital in ensuring that our future MPA aircrew are prepared to regenerate the UK’s MPA capability. By retaining those essential skills, our aircrew are already on the front foot when it comes to operating these new aircraft.
But doing so is not easy, and notably because the P-8 is not really a Nimrod replacement.
As Wing Commander Paul Froome put it during my April visit to RAF Lossiemouth:
“The P-8 is clearly not Nimrod.
“If we think that we’re going to take an old-fashioned air electronics operator, and use him in the same way on the P8, we’re missing a trick.
“We need to be developing the crews now to be maritime warfare operators, not electronic operators, and radar, and wet and dry, we need to be thinking bigger than that.
“The training that was already in place for the MRA4 saw more use of Link 11 and 16 and ensuring that the information flow between assets was as slick as possible. The Nimrod was used as more than an MPA spending more time supporting overland operations in the Middle East than over the sea.
“If we don’t, then you end up making problems for your F-35, your Typhoon, your P8, your Reaper, your Son of Reaper.”
During my June visit to RAF Lossiemouth, I had a chance to meet with a former Nimrod commander who is part of the seed corn effort, and it was clear that getting the P-8 into the force was an important step to allow the challenge of skill transition to be met successfully.
My discussion with this RAF officer from No. 602 Squadron, which is a Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadron, highlighted the transition effort.
“We are predominantly former Nimrod personnel and I spent 32 years flying in the MPA role.”
He highlighted how important NATO exercises have been to shape a transition.
Joint Warrior which this year brought various NATO aircraft to RAF Lossiemouth, including the P-8, has provided a crucial opportunity for former Nimrod operators to go onboard US and allied Maritime Patrol Aircraft to keep skill sets current.
Lossiemouth is a fast jet base; it is not yet fully set up to support larger MPA aircraft. There is a clear challenge with the decision to standup the P-8s at RAF Lossiemouth. One should note that the Nimrod base, which was located close to Lossie, was closed down and is now an Army base.
Currently, Lossie supports two large Joint Warrior exercises a year, which includes MPA aircraft at Lossie as well. The location of Lossie is important in terms of the area of interests for the UK and its allies as well.
The base is manned 24/7 for the Quick Reaction Alert capability. This provides a foundation for thinking forward towards the future MPA as well. The personnel is used to expeditionary operations as well.
The decision-making facility for MPA and the Royal Navy, more generally, is located at Northwood; and with the deployment of P-8s at Lossie will shape a new decision-making dynamic between the two centers as well.
The MPA community is very international in character; with the Joint Warrior exercises, the RAF has had an opportunity to keep skill sets current; but is not the same as flying your own aircraft.
But what this means as the P-8 comes into the RAF inventory, the broader multinational orientation built into the exercises, and the Nimrod/P-3 working relationships can be carried forward.
“We have continuously sent officers to work with our allies abroad to keep their skills current as well.
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“We are well replaced to the new challenges.
“The training we have given our ex-MPA guys in flying and operations with our allies is crucial.
“This will allow us to slot in people very quickly as the P-8 becomes operational.”
“But it is a clear challenge.
As the USN’s 6th Fleet Commander put it recently, we are seeing the fourth Battle of the Atlantic take shape as the Russians take to sea once again.
For the British, making a key contribution to this effort is crucial and will be provided a new aircraft is married to the transitional “seed corn” approach.
2016-11-16 According to a story on the UK Ministry of Defence website, the UK and Norway have agreed on new cooperation on Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
With the coming of the P-8 to the RAF, the UK MoD is looking to ways to enhance its impact on defense in the North Sea and beyond.
Sir Michael, who visited Norway’s top military headquarters, close to the Arctic Circle on Thursday, announced that the UK and Norway would work closer on Maritime Patrol Aircraft cooperation, including in reducing costs and increasing operational effectiveness.
The UK announced that it would procure nine Boeing P8 MPA in last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review.
The new capability, which will be based in Scotland, will allow for enhanced situational awareness in key areas such as the North Atlantic, and will also further increase the protection of the UK’s nuclear deterrent and our two new aircraft carriers.
Sir Michael also visited Norway’s Bodø Main Air Station, home of two F-16 squadrons and a squadron of Search and Rescue Sea King helicopters, where he signed a new agreement on host nation support for UK exercises in the country, further increasing the UK and Norway’s ability to exercise, train and operate together.
Mr Fallon welcomed the fact that British armed forces undertake yearly winter training in Norway, particularly 3 Commando Brigade in Harstad and Evenes and elements of Joint Helicopter Command at Bardufoss.
The Defence Secretary boards a Norwegian Maritime Patrol Aircraft with his counterpart, Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide. Credit: Norwegian Armed Forces
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:
Britain needs Maritime Patrol Aircraft to keep watch over the seas.
As part of our £178 billion defence equipment programme, we’ve committed to new maritime patrol aircraft that are able to monitor threats to Britain and our armed forces.
By stepping up cooperation with Norway on maritime patrol, we will help keep Britain safer and more secure.
The Defence Secretary arrived in Norway following meetings with the Northern Group countries on Wednesday in Copenhagen, where he reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to European defence.
As part of this, the Defence Secretary announced that 5 Battalion The Rifles would lead the UK’s battalion in Estonia next year, part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in the East.
Work on the UK’s MPA programme is progressing well, including the investment on infrastructure in Lossiemouth in Scotland, where the planes will be based.
Former armed forces personnel who previously served on UK Nimrod are also re-joining the RAF to help operate the future P-8s.
12 have recently re-joined and more will re-join in the future
And the Norwegian Ministry of Defence website added this with a November 10, 2016 article with regard to the Northern Headquarters’ Conference conducted at the 8-9 November meetings at the Norwegian Joint Headquarters in Bodø, Norway:
As a security forum for operational-level headquarters within the Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS) Area of Responsibility (AOR) in the north-eastern part of the Alliance, the forum enables Commanders from NATO and partner nations to discuss areas of common regional interest, and to raise NATO’s profile within, and on the periphery, of Alliance territories.
In his opening remarks, General Salvatore Farina, Commander JFC Brunssum, emphasized the opportunity to discuss operational challenges, and to find practical solutions focusing on our area of responsibility “where we are working closely together”.
He thanked Lieutenant General Rune Jakobsen, Commander of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, for his hospitality, and expressed his appreciation for the close links to NATO’s partners from Finland and Sweden – “who have a significant contribution to make to security in the strategically important northern region”, Farina added.
With the outcomes of the Warsaw Summit fresh in everyone’s minds, this year’s event was an ideal platform to discuss selected outcomes affecting the AOR, to focus on NATO’s High North and parts of the long term Adaptation Measures of the Readiness Action Plan, including the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), NATO Force Integration Units (NFIU) and the establishment of an enhanced forward presence in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in early 2017.
General Farina underlined the important role of the Multi National Corps North-East, Stettin, Poland, in implementing and conducting the enhanced forward presence drawing upon its expertise in land operations.
Under ordinary circumstances, the Northern Group would hardly be headline news. The association of northern European countries holds regular ministerial meetings, strategic meetings, and expert-level meetings, but so do many other intergovernmental outfits. Lately, though, Russian analysts have been watching this very vanilla-sounding Nordic association carefully.
That’s because while its member states may consider themselves very peaceful indeed, the five-year-old Northern Group is a military alliance. Take a look at the group’s members: Britain, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordic states, the Baltic states. Only two countries in this 11-strong congregation are not NATO members: Sweden and Finland. And there they are, collaborating with their northern neighbors on defense issues and participating in talks held by the Northern Group’s NATO members.
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“The Northern Group provides a key platform to help shape and deliver Europe’s and NATO’s response to the security implications of Russia’s indefensible actions in Ukraine and whose incursions of European air and sea space have increased,” Britain’s defense secretary, Michael Fallon, said ahead of the group’s meeting in November last year, at which point annual air incursions into the members’ territory had reached 100—three times as many as during all of 2013. Not bad for an alliance conceived by then Defense Secretary Liam Fox essentially to keep Britain engaged with its NATO allies.
Sure, the Northern Group is hardly essential to its members who also belong to NATO. It’s a complement, not an alternative, said Norwegian State Secretary Roger Ingebrigtsen at an earlier meeting. But for Sweden and Finland, who are still vacillating about NATO membership, it provides a convenient partial solution that, handily enough, doesn’t require a major political debate.
Though Finland’s new government has said that it will conduct a study on NATO membership, the step in no way indicates that Finland will eventually apply to become a member.
Besides, it would have to join with Sweden, whose government has not embarked on a similar fact-finding mission, though in April it announced that it wants to strengthen cooperation with NATO. Even if the pair would apply for NATO membership, it would be a long process before they formally joined.
By contrast, Sweden and Finland are already full members of the Northern Group.
That’s good news as far as their defense capabilities are concerned, one might argue. But it’s no surprise that Russian officials suspect the group of really being a mini-NATO. And the Russian military correctly judges that in a crisis situation, NATO would come to Sweden and Finland’s aid.
