The P-8 in Advance of the Weapons Revolution: A Core 21st Century Warfighting Capability

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
06/20/2016

2016-06-20 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

We have argued that the 21st century warfighting enterprise is in need of a weapons revolution.  As the former Chief Scientist of the USAF, Dr. Mark Lewis put it: : “Why are we putting 3rd and 4th generation weapons on 5th generation aircraft?

https://sldinfo.com/building-21st-century-weapons-for-21st-century-operations-key-attributes-of-the-new-weapons-enterprise/

We have argued as well that the coming of a hypersonic cruise missile to the force will be a key game changer but that we saw that fitting into what we have called the S Cubed Revolution, namely Sensors, Speed and Stealth.

https://sldinfo.com/shaping-an-s-cubed-combat-revolution-preparing-for-the-coming-hypersonic-cruise-missile-threat/

When we visited Jax Navy, we discovered that the P-8 is a key plank holder in the S Cubed Revolution and a key candidate for new weapons, and is more than prepared to leverage a weapons revolution.

During the two days we spent at Jax Navy, virtually every member of the team mentioned that the P-8 was flying legacy weapons but was ready to do much more with new weapons.

This point was especially driven home by the Deputy Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN, Captain James Robinson (see bio below).

“Because the P-8 operates with the common 1760 Bus which is a common weapons standard for smart weapons, the only limit is your imagination with regard to what weapons might be put on the P-8 in the future.

It is forward compatible with future smart weapons.”

At some point in the future, the P-8 could be in the battlespace armed with hypersonic cruise missiles to go with its capability to see deep into the battlespace.  By building key capabilities for prevailing in the extended battlespace, the USN is building towards the future as it deploys in the present.

During a visit to RAF Lossiemouth earlier this year, there was chance to discuss the coming of the P-8 to the RAF.  The key RAF officer had met with a Navy Captain who had deployed with the P-8 to the Joint Warrior exercise.  During that meeting, the RAF officer highlighted that he was very impressed with the aircraft and very interested in the weapons hard points on the aircraft and their potential for operating in the North Atlantic.

It turns out that the USN Captain involved was none other than Captain Robinson who remembered the exchange well and in his train and equip role was talking with the Brits about future infrastructure for support to the P-8. RAF Lossiemouth is one of the candidate bases for operating UK P-8s as well.

Captain Robinson had worked earlier for Admiral Gortney who in our interview with him had highlighted the threats at the 10 and 2 O’Clock to North America, and when at Joint Warrior, Captain Robinson was operating in the 2’Oclock.

Norway is interested as well in the P-8 which then create a significant interlocking force. For Norway, because the P-8 is not a P-3, they would benefit from seeing much deeper into the maritime space to protect their interests.  It is not just about flying to an area of interest and patrolling it.  When you take off with the P-8 you link into the data network and are on station when you take off.

As Captain Robinson put it:

“With the P-3 we flew together and shaped a common operating picture largely by voice communication or the archaic link 11.

It was always a challenge.

With the P-8 we can share data electronically over hundreds of miles being able to link with other line of site contributors.

We will be able to have maritime domain awareness over huge square miles of ocean that can be covered by a single P8, even before we discuss what Triton brings to the effort.

You have a single sensor that from the time aircraft depart is operating miles and miles away, having domain awareness and feeding a common operational picture to the commander or a set of commanders.

That’s incredible.”

The P-3 experience is important in terms of working collaboratively and that aspect of the P-3 is being carried forward with the P-8/Triton dyad.

“I had extensive experience with the P-3s and worked closely throughout with foreign military’s Air Forces or Navy’s.

This collaborative foundation will be carried forward with the P-8/Triton community.”

We discussed the advantages and challenges of software upgradeability but this is now a baseline going forward for operating 21st century air combat systems.

“The clear advantage is that you can input operational experience into the software development cycle.

We are in a continuous development cycle.”

The challenge is “configuration control and getting everyone on the same page operationally.”

We discussed as well how the P-8/Triton community was interfacing with the surface fleet from the round up.

“We are sending Liaison Officers to the fleet to share knowledge about our capabilities and to learn from the surface fleet about their evolving needs and capabilities as well.

We are building this from the ground up.”

He highlighted the key role, which exercises are playing as well in shaping the way ahead.

He mentioned a recent exercise off of the Virginia Capes working with the Amphibious Fleet to shape a more effective operational capabilities as well.

It is notable as well that the P-8s although a recent addition to the fleet has flown a round the world trip (the Great White Fleet 21st century style) and has engaged in several multinational exercises or visits already, such as with Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Japan, Red Flag, etc.

Robinson noted that “although the “P-8s core competence is ASW; but it has been bought and developed as a multi-mission aircraft as well.”

We would add multinational as well.

Notably, the British Defense Minister recently visited Jax Navy and got an update on the aircraft coming to the RAF as well.

As an article in the Jax Air News published on May 18, 2016 noted about the Minister’s visit:

The Right Honorable Michael Fallon, MP, the British Secretary of Defense, visited NAS Jacksonville May 9 where he met with Royal Air Force (RAF) “Project Seedcorn” personnel who have been embedded within the VP-30 maritime patrol training program since 2012. He also announced the RAF’s intent to sign its initial order for nine Boeing P-8A aircraft this summer. They expect to accept their first P-8A in mid-2019.

RAF Squadron Leader Mark Faulds said the purpose of the visit was for Fallon to experience the Boeing P-8A Poseidon first hand, inside and out, in order to gain a better understanding of the multi-mission aircraft’s capabilities. VP-16 provided the P-8A static display.

The secretary was also briefed at the P-8A Integrated Training Center by VP-30 Commanding Officer Capt. Dave Whitehead, and Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11 Capt. Anthony Corapi.

Faulds explained that Project Seedcorn consists of 11 RAF personnel (two pilots, four TACCOs and five EWOs) who have trained on U.S. Navy P-8A aircraft embedded with Fleet Replacement Squadron VP-30 personnel since 2012.

The program enables British servicemen to maintain skills that would otherwise have been lost due to the cancellation of the outdated British Nimrod program in 2010.

Project Seedcorn also counts nine personnel embedded with squadron VX-1 at NAS Patuxent River, Md. By 2013, all Seedcorn personnel were certified P-8A instructors.

The defense secretary said, “This new fleet of nine maritime patrol aircraft will help to protect our nuclear submarines and surface ships. We can make this investment because we are increasing defense spending every year of this decade. That enables us to meet the NATO two percent commitment and keep Britain safe.”

http://jaxairnews.jacksonville.com/military-jax-air-news/2016-05-18/story/uk-defense-secretary-checks-out-poseidon#.V0dhk1d5w7k

The Minister’s visit to Jax River is a visible reminder of the key working relationship between the US and the RAF and Royal Navy which is enabled by key Navy leaders such as Captain Robinson and the team which visited RAF Lossiemouth as part of Joint Warrior 2016.

CAPT Robinson Biography

CAPT Robinson is a native of Modesto, California and enlisted in the United States Navy in September 1983.  Following completion of the Nuclear Power program he served onboard the FLORIDA (SSBN 728 Gold) and Submarine NR-1, while earning Bachelor of Science degrees in Sociology and Nuclear Technologies.  In September 1991, CAPT Robinson was initiated as a Chief Petty Officer (EMC SS/DV) and accepted to Aviation Officer Candidate School; he was commissioned in March 1992 and designated a Naval Flight Officer in April 1993.

CAPT Robinson’s aviation assignments include:  VP-40 where he completed two Misawa, Japan deployments and one Diego Garcia deployment.  VP-30 where he served as an NFO instructor, IUT Instructor, Lead NFO Fleet NATOPS evaluator and Weapons Tactics Unit subject matter expert for the Stand-off Attack Missile (SLAM), participating in SLAM strikes during air campaign in Kosovo and designated as a P-3C Weapons Tactics Instructor (WTI).

VP-40 as the first Maritime Patrol Aviation “Super JO” where he served as the Tactics Department Head and deployed to Diego Garcia and Misawa, Japan flying over 400 hours overland Afghanistan in the opening months of Operation Enduring Freedom.

VP-46 where he served as Command Service Officer, Tactics Officer, Training Officer and Operations Officer and deployed to Misawa, Japan.

VP-10 as Executive Officer and the squadron’s 73rd Commanding Officer where the RED LANCERS completed a tri-site deployment to CENTCOM, AFRICOM and PACOM and awarded the 2009 COMNAVAIRLANT Battle E, Golden Wrench for maintenance excellence and the CFFC Retention Excellence Award.

CAPT Robinson’s shore assignments include:  The Joint Staff, J-6 directorate where he served as an Action Officer within the Spectrum Division.  NAVCENT HQ where he served as the Deputy Commander of Task Force FIVE SEVEN in support of combat operations for Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. USCENTCOM HQ, J-5 directorate where he served as the Arabian Peninsula Branch Chief and Strategic Planner.

CAPT Robinson’s education includes Master degrees from the Naval War College and Air War College as well as JPME I and II.

CAPT Robinson transitioned to the P-8 and assumed the duties as Deputy Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN in July 2015.

His personal declarations include:  Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service (2), Meritorious Service (2), Air Medal (2nd strike), Navy Commendation (4), Navy Achievement (6) and the Good Conduct Medal.

The first slideshow of aircraft at Joint Warrior 2016 are credited to the RAF.

Global Defence Trade 2015

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
06/19/2016

2016-06-19  By defenceWeb

The global defense trade reached a record-breaking $65 billion in 2015 fueled by conflict in the Middle East and military spending in Southeast Asia.

This is according to the annual Global Defence Trade Report released on 13 June by IHS Inc.

The report found that the Middle East was the largest importing region, with $21.6 billion in deliveries of defense equipment.

Total defense spending accelerated in Asia-Pacific as states bordering the South China Sea boosted defense spending.

France has doubled its backlog of orders from $36 billion in 2014 to $55 billion, meaning that $55 billion worth of defense equipment has yet to be exported.

This increase means that France will overtake Russia as the second-largest global defense equipment exporter.

Egyptian Rafales. Credit: Dassault.
Egyptian Rafales. Credit: Dassault.

Germany moved from fifth- to third- largest exporter and the UK dropped from fourth to fifth. The largest global exporter, the United States, saw another 10 percent increase in exports over the past year, bringing the total to $23 billion (35 percent of the global total).

South Korea saw exports climb again to $871 million while there was significant change in the top five importing countries, with Taiwan, China and Indonesia all dropping out of the top five and Australia, Egypt and South Korea replacing them.

“The global defense trade market has never seen an increase as large as the one we saw between 2014 and 2015,” said Ben Moores, senior analyst at IHS. “2015 was a record-breaking year.” Markets rose $6.6 billion, bringing the value of the global defense market in 2015 to $65 billion. IHS forecasts that the market will increase further to $69 billion in 2016.

The largest Middle Eastern importers remain among the largest globally in 2015. Saudi Arabia and the UAE imported $11.4 billion (17.5 percent of the global total) worth of defense systems in 2015, up from $8.6 billion in 2014, according to the report.

“The combined value of Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s defense imports is more than all of Western Europe’s defense imports combined,” Moores said. Saudi Arabia’s imports grew from $6 billion to $9.3 billion; an increase that is three times that of the entire sub-Saharan Africa market.

“The US, Canada, France and the UK are the main exporters of defense equipment to the Middle East and beneficiaries of this spending boom,” Moores said.

The IHS report indicates that US trade flow to the Middle East has been driven by sales of military aircraft and associated mission systems.

Canada is the second-largest exporter of defense equipment to the Middle East with $2.7 billion in sales, moving the UK down the table to fourth place, just behind France. Germany and Russia each saw a 25 percent growth in exports to the region of $1.4 and $1.3 billion, respectively.

Russia is likely to increase its trade in the region as post-sanctions Iran begins to replace its exhausted aviation assets.

In 2018, France will move from the third to the second largest global exporter of defense equipment, pushing Russia down the table for the first time in decades.

“France has revived its defense industry and had spectacular back-to-back year of sales,” Moores said. “2014 and 2015 were France’s best-selling years in decades.”

France sold $26 billion of defense equipment, $8 billion in 2014 and $18 billion in 2015. In 2016, France secured the record-breaking $38.7 billion Australian submarine order.

This extended run has increased the French 10-year backlog for defense exports from $36.1 billion to $54 billion in 2016. These sales have included Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft, submarines and helicopters. The bulk of the sales went to India, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Qatar, Egypt and the UAE.

The value of military imports throughout Western Europe rose from $7.9 billion in 2013 to $9.6 billion in 2015. “This notable climb takes Western European imports back to 2010 levels but not their 2009 high point of $12 billion,” Moores said.

Nearly all of Western Europe’s military import gains in 2015 have come from Norway, pan-European programs and the UK.

UK imports nearly doubled as imports of MARS tanker ships from South Korea and CH-47 helicopters from the United States have commenced.

Total defense spending accelerated in Asia Pacific as states bordering the South China Sea boosted their defense spending.

Between 2009 and 2016, defense imports rose 71 percent in the region.

The United States continued to top the export table in 2015 having supplied $22.9 billion worth of goods and equipment compared with $20.7 billion worth 2014, $18.3 billion in 2013 and $12.9 billion in 2009.

This dramatic rate of growth cannot be tied to one particular factor but, going forwards, the total may exceed $30 billion as deliveries of the F-35 begin to ramp up, according to IHS.

This rise could be derailed by sustained low oil prices because, for the US, the Middle East is a key region for exports.

The United States delivered $8.8 billion worth of equipment to the Middle East in 2015.

The IHS report covers production, R&D, logistic support and service revenues where there is an export but does not cover munitions and small arms and anything under 57mm caliber was not included in the study.

The IHS report on global defense trades is in line with other figures. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), world military spending totaled almost $1.7 trillion in 2015, an increase of one percent in real terms from the previous year.

The 2015 increase is the first in military spending since 2011 and reflects continuing growth in Asia and Oceania, central and Eastern Europe and some Middle Eastern states.

The decline in spending in the West is also leveling off.

At the same time, spending decreased in Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus, the global military expenditure picture is mixed, according to SIPRI.

The United States remained by far the world’s biggest spender in 2015, despite its expenditure falling by 2.4% to $596 billion. Among the other top spenders, China’s expenditure rose by 7.4% to $215 billion, Saudi Arabia’s grew by 5.7 % to $87.2 billion – making it the world’s third-largest spender – and Russia’s increased by 7.5% to $66.4 billion.

A combination of high oil prices and new oil discoveries and exploitation has contributed to a surge in military spending in many countries around the world in the past decade, SIPRI said. However, the crash in oil prices that started in 2014 has begun to reverse this trend in many oil revenue-dependent countries and further cuts in spending are expected this year.

Despite declining oil revenues, several other oil-exporting countries continued to increase military spending in 2015. Many of these countries – notably Algeria, Azerbaijan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam – were involved in conflict or faced with heightening regional tensions.

However, Russia’s expenditure was lower than projected in its budget, and Saudi Arabia’s spending would have fallen but for the additional $5.3 billion cost of its military intervention in Yemen.

Russia and Saudi Arabia are planning cuts in 2016.

In Africa military spending fell by 5.3% following 11 years of continuously rising spending, SIPRI research found. This was mainly due to the large cut by Angola, the largest spender in sub-Saharan Africa in the wake of the sharp fall in oil prices.

Republished with permission of our partner defenceWeb

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43915:global-defence-trade-reaches-a-record-breaking-65-billion-in-2015-report&catid=7:Industry&Itemid=116

Exercise Malabar 2016: US, Indian and Japanese Navies Collaborate on Maritime Security

Posted on | by Robbin Laird

2016-06-19  The process of enhanced cooperation among the US, Japanese and Indian navies is proceeding apace.

The Chinese have already driven a deeper defense relationship between the two most important Pacific naval powers in the 20th century and now are putting the Indians in play as well.

Enhanced cooperation provides ways to shape joint operations and joint procurement as well.

The P-8 is a case in point

The Malabar 2016 exercise currently underway is doing just that, enhancing the joint interoperability capabilities of the three forces.

In a visit to Jax Navy, a USN Officer involved earlier in working with Indian P-8s described the experience this way:

The P-8I is different from the P-8A with a different sensor suite, one which provides more emphasis on coastal defense as well.

“We operated from their P-8I base at INS Rajali.

We found them to be very professional and we operated together from that base.

They are building the infrastructure there to support their P-8Is.

They see P-8I as critical to how they’re going to operate in the future.

They had a lot of questions about how we operated.

We had questions about how they operated.

And at the time they were the only other country operating P-8.”

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/the-most-experienced-p-8-squadron-and-shaping-the-way-ahead-an-interview-with-the-co-and-xo-of-vp-16/

According to an article by MC2 Ryan Batchelder from the Stennis Strike Group Public Affairs:

SASEBO, Japan – Ships from the Indian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and U.S. Navy departed U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo to conduct the at-sea phase of exercise Malabar 2016, June 14.

A trilateral maritime exercise, Malabar is designed to enhance dynamic cooperation between Indian Navy, JMSDF and U.S. Navy in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.

The exercise allows for practical training, while exchanging skills and cultures, and helps to increase the understanding of multinational operations.

“At its core, originally, Exercise Malabar was started [in 1992] as a bilateral exercise between the Indian Navy and the U.S.,” said Capt. Jason Gilbert, U.S. Naval attaché to India. “The Japanese (JMSDF) became a permanent partner in 2015, and we are now starting to see the benefits of Malabar being a trilateral exercise.”

Ships will spend the at-sea phase of Malabar in the Philippine Sea to advance the participating nations’ military-to-military coordination and capacity to plan and execute tactical operations in a multinational environment.

“It’s great to see the details and planning from the harbor phase [of Malabar] come to fruition at sea,” said Lt. Cmdr. Brent Jackson, executive officer of the guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) that is participating in Malabar. It’s amazing to see thousands of tons of steel come together on the water and operate as seamlessly as we had planned.”

Malabar 2016 builds on progress made during previous exercises, improving participating nations’ abilities to conduct joint operations, and improve trilateral coordination and capacity.

SASEBO, Japan (June 14, 2016) Senior naval commanders from the Indian Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) and U.S. Navy pose for a photo before getting underway for exercise Malabar 2016's at-sea phase. A trilateral maritime exercise, Malabar is designed to enhance dynamic cooperation between the Indian Navy, JMSDF and U.S. Navy Forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Davis Anderson/RELEASED)
SASEBO, Japan (June 14, 2016) Senior naval commanders from the Indian Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) and U.S. Navy pose for a photo before getting underway for exercise Malabar 2016’s at-sea phase. A trilateral maritime exercise, Malabar is designed to enhance dynamic cooperation between the Indian Navy, JMSDF and U.S. Navy Forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Davis Anderson/RELEASED)

“We have a variety of exercises planned for the at-sea phase of Malabar,” said Gilbert. “We are doing the full spectrum of things that you can possibly do at sea in a short period of time. The more we can understand how each nation works together translates into easier facilitation of operations in the future.”

Areas of proficiency that will be exercised include surface events; visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) exercises; subject matter and professional exchanges; maritime patrol and reconnaissance scenarios; and anti-submarine warfare operations.

“Mobile Bay is out here to be a strong partner in supporting our allies in the exercises’ upcoming operations,” said Jackson. “Both during the harbor phase, and now at sea, we are part of a much larger team and we look forward to executing our mission together as professionals.”

Jackson added that three nations coming together to conduct complex, multi-national operations and maintaining presence helps to preserve peace and stability in the region and further enhances maritime partnerships between allied nations.

“Interoperability is crucial, because if we ever have to work together in a real-world scenario, we will have had the necessary training and preparation to the point where our operations become second nature,” said Gilbert. “Working together is what Malabar is all about.”

And this article published by the Indian Navy provides further details as well.

In consonance with India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and growing relations among India, US and Japan, IN ships Satpura, Sahyadri, Shakti and Kirch are participating in the 20th edition of Ex MALABAR-16 with the USN and Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF).

IN and USN have regularly conducted the annual bilateral exercise named ‘MALABAR’ since 1992. Since 2007, MALABAR has been held alternatively off India and in the Western Pacific.

The 19th edition of the exercise, Ex MALABAR-15, was conducted off Chennai and included participation by the JMSDF.
The 20th edition of the exercise, Ex MALABAR-16, is being conducted from 14 to 17 June 16 with the harbour phase at Sasebo from 10 to 13 June 16 and the sea phase in the Pacific Ocean from 14 to 17 June 16.

The primary aim of this exercise is to increase interoperability amongst the three navies and develop common understanding of procedures for Maritime Security Operations.

Malbar 2016 from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.

The scope of MALABAR-16 includes professional interactions in harbour and a diverse range of activities at sea, including complex surface, sub-surface and air operations.

The IN ships participating in the exercise are from the Eastern Fleet and include INS Sahyadri and INS Satpura, indigenously built guided missile stealth frigates, INS Shakti, a modern fleet tanker and support ship and INS Kirch, an indigenous guided missile corvette. The ships have embarked one Sea King 42B ASW helicopter and two Chetak utility helicopters.

The US Navy will be represented by ships from CTF 70 of the USN 7th fleet, which is based at Yokosuka, Japan. The CTF will include the aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis (CVN 74), Ticonderoga class Cruiser USS Mobile Bay and Arleigh Burke class destroyers USS Stockdale and USS Chung Hoon, all with embarked helicopters. In addition, one nuclear powered submarine, carrier wing aircraft and Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft will also participate in the exercise.

The JMSDF will be represented by JS Hyuga, a helicopter carrier with SH 60 K integral helicopters and Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft, besides other advanced warships for specific parts of the exercise.

Additionally, the Special Forces (SF) of the three navies will also interact during the exercise.

MALABAR–16 will be another significant step in strengthening mutual confidence and inter-operability as well as sharing of best practices between the Indian, Japanese and US Navies.

The exercise will support maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region, and benefit the global maritime community.

The video above shows the John C. Stennis Strike Group, the Indian Navy, and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force taking part in exercise Malabar 2016.

Credit: US NAVY, 6/17/16

An Update on US-Indian Developments

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
06/16/2016

2016-06-16  By Gulshan Luthra

India Strategic

Ever since President Bill Clinton…. Washington has steadily made attempts to come closer to New Delhi.

President Clinton was impressed by India’s measured response in launching the limited Kargil War in 1999 to evict the Pakistani army from the Kashmir heights it had intruded into. In fact, when Islamabad made ‘foolish’ suggestions to use nuclear weapons against India, Mr. Clinton is reported to have drawn attention of the Pakistani leaders to an Indian response which would have simply deleted that country.

The events at that time apparently convinced the US administration of India’s growing maturity, and in 2005, the State Department decided to seek strategic relations with India, declare it a global player, and offered to sell a variety of sophisticated weapons to India.

In fact, a month before the State Department gave indications in this regard, US companies welcomed Indian journalists at the IDEX’05 defense show in February in Abu Dhabi. I happened to be there, and was surprised to learn that from Raytheon to Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky and Boeing that everyone was looking forward to sell arms to India.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting with the United States Secretary of Defense, Mr. Ashton Carter, in Washington DC, USA on June 07, 2016.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting with the United States Secretary of Defense, Mr. Ashton Carter, in Washington DC, USA on June 07, 2016.

It was there that Ambassador Thomas Pickering, a former US envoy to New Delhi and then a Board Member of Boeing, told me that the F/A-18 Super Hornet was on offer to the Indian Air Force (IAF). In fact, he had just reached the UAE capital after attending the Aero India show in Bangalore, where he had interacted with the Ministry of Defence and IAF.

I was surprised and wrote in a local newspaper that “looks like, Uncle Sam is ready to offer AMRAAM, SLAMRAAM AND DamnRAMM to India.” (The first two items are advanced missiles made by Raytheon).

In 2004, US sold Raytheon’s Weapon Locating Radars (WLRs) to the Indian Army under the first Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal. Ever since, US companies have logged about $12 to $14 billion worth of sales to India, though mostly by Boeing.

Many items are still in the pipeline, and both Lockheed Martin and Boeing are also back in the fray to sell their respective F-16 Super Viper and F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft which had lost to the French Rafale in the MMRCA competition.

Both these aircraft, BAE Systems’ M777 howitzers with Raytheon’s Excalibur munitions, Honeywell’s jet engines for Jaguar aircraft and Sikorsky’s helicopters should be on the agenda of Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics when he visits New Delhi in July to follow on the visit of the Indian Prime Minister.

IAF is loaded with old 1970s and 1980s generation aircraft, and has been pressing the Government for new generation manned and unmanned combat assets.

On top of India’s list is Predator C, or Avenger, the latest unmanned precision strike machine being rolled out by General Atomics.

The two countries have been in informal discussions for some time in this regard, but as it could be sold to India only after its entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), New Delhi has formally mentioned this in a wish list during the just-concluded visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington.

It wouldn’t still be easy for the US to sell this most sophisticated technology to India, even after declaring it as a Major Defense Partner, given the history of uneasy relations between the two countries.

New technologies are difficult to part with or share, but then, Washington has shared the best of its airborne anti-submarine technologies on board its Navy’s Boeing P8 Poseidon with the Indian Navy in the form of P-8I.

Nonetheless, at best, President Barack Obama, who has been as friendly to India as his predecessor George Bush was, can ask the State and Defense Departments to consider the Indian request. A lot of decisions would be left to his successor who would take over in January 2017.

There would be riders; India could be asked to opt for at least one of the two aircraft. After all, IAF needs to replace most of its inventory and the deal with France for Rafales is going to be limited, given the cost issues that have erupted between New Delhi and Paris. India has asked for 36 aircraft, or two squadrons. IAF wants some more, but the bulk of the required numbers would have to come from elsewhere.

IAF needs both single and twin engine aircraft but of the MMRCA type. Both Rafale and Super Hornet have twin engines while the F-16 has a single engine. Notably, the single engine Swedish Gripen is also making a very aggressive attempt to capture the IAF requirement.

What is eventually selected depends upon the Indian Ministry of Defence.

What is significant is that besides the critical parameters of equipment, strategic equations with the country of manufacture are going to have a clear and decisive role in the selection process.

New Delhi and Washington have had a history of unease, given the military alliances that the US forged with Pakistan since the 1950s. But Pakistan looks for money and weapons, and despite generous help from the US, is now known as an NMTP (Nuclear, Missile and Terror Proliferator) state.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting the President of United States of America (USA), Mr. Barack Obama in Oval Office, at White House, in Washington DC, USA on June 07, 2016.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meeting the President of United States of America (USA), Mr. Barack Obama in Oval Office, at White House, in Washington DC, USA on June 07, 2016.

In its frenzy of unneeded hatred against India, Pakistan has also leaned towards China and given Beijing access to the warm waters of the Indian Ocean for the first time through a land route connecting with its Gwadar port. This has long term implications for the region, particularly as China has declared that it is going to preposition naval assets – like aircraft carriers and submarines apparently – in different oceans.

China has already shaken its littoral neighborhood by claiming most of the South China Sea.

There is combination of factors which will bring India and the US together, even though New Delhi is keeping a highly significant exit clause in its relations with Washington. There will be cooperation, but not in conflict!

But the relations are getting stronger.

Diplomatic Equations and Military Cooperation are set to grow, particularly in view of developments in the Indian Ocean and Pacific regions.

It is best to conclude here by what Mr. Modi himself said in his address to the US Congress:

“Mr. Speaker, My final thoughts and words would reiterate that our relationship is primed for a momentous future. The constraints of the past are behind us and foundations of the future are firmly in place.

In the lines of Walt Whitman, the Orchestra have sufficiently tuned their instruments, the baton has given the signal.

And to that, if I might add, there is a new symphony in play.”

http://www.indiastrategic.in/US-India_Strategic_Symphony.htm

For additional India Strategic stories looking at the evolving relationship, see the following:

http://www.indiastrategic.in/India_Joins_MTCR.htm

http://www.indiastrategic.in/India_Asks_US_for_Predator_C_Drones.htm

Australian Navy Prepares Their Second New Ampbhious Ship for Operations

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
06/14/2016

2016-06-08  HMAS Adelaide participated in Exercise Sea Explorer 2016 (EX SE16) from 25 May – 05 June off the coast of North Queensland as part of the certification process to determine its readiness to conduct amphibious operations.

The second Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) to be commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), HMAS Adelaide deployed for the first time with a combined force to continue its integration into the Amphibious Ready Element (ARE).

Partnered with the Townsville-based 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) elements, EX SE16 saw HMAS Adelaide provide the staging platform to enable the conduct of amphibious landings via helicopters and LHD Landing Craft as part of the training exercise to test operational capability. 

EX SE16 also afforded the RAN Test and Evaluation Authority an opportunity to evaluate HMAS Adelaide against the required operational capability as well as the conduct of vehicle trials with the LHD Landing Craft.  

The Sea Series of Exercises, culminating with Exercise Sea Raider later in 2016, will test and evaluate HMAS Adelaide’s and HMAS Canberra’s preparedness as the core capability within Australia’s Amphibious Force.

Earlier this year, ABC News reported on the HMAS Adelaide and its arrival in Townsville in North Queensland which will function as the vessel’s second home.

The commander of HMAS Adelaide, Captain Paul Mandziy, called the ship the “Swiss army knife” of the fleet, because it was crewed by all three defence forces.

The 27,000-tonne ship can house more than 1,000 troops, and can generate enough power to run a city the size of Darwin.

“We like to describe ourselves as a small city on the water,” Capt Mandziy said.

“We have our own harbour, we run an airfield, we’ve got a hospital on board, we’ve got accommodation facilities for over 1,000 troops.

“We have great capability for landing helicopters — we’ve got six landing spots — we’ve also got four landing crafts so we can operate both in the air and the maritime environment.”

HMAS Adelaide casts a striking figure on the Townsville horizon. Credit: ABC North Queensland: Pat Hession
HMAS Adelaide casts a striking figure on the Townsville horizon. Credit: ABC North Queensland: Pat Hession

Townsville will be a second home for HMAS Adelaide, with at least 10 visits scheduled for 2016.

The ship will be returning in May for an amphibious exercise with Townsville’s 2RAR.

“Once we complete that exercise, that will allow us to be fully capable to conduct operations from the ship and become a valuable asset in the fleet so we’re looking forward to that,” Capt Mandziy said.

“We conduct a whole range of activities right from the low-level end with regards to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, right up through the spectrum to high-end warfare with running troops ashore via boat and helicopter.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-25/hmas-adelaide-docks-in-townsville/7200982

The next Williams Foundation Seminar looking at new approaches to air and sea integration to be held on August 10, 2016 in Canberra will address this and other challenges to shaping the way ahead for the Australian Defence Force.

http://www.williamsfoundation.org.au/event-2230289

The Royal Australian Navy has had the ability to network and share situational awareness amongst the fleet for many years and the P-3s has been the only RAAF platform capable of being part of that network.

The RAAF’s journey of networking its capability journey started more recently with the Hornet Upgrade Program and has accelerated with the introduction of capabilities like Wedgetail and Vigilaire.  All of the the RAAF’s fleet is now capable of linking into and contributing to an Air Layer of the Joint Battle management system. 

The HMAS Adelaide in Sydney Harbor at Sunrise on March 26, 2016. Credit Second Line of Defense
The HMAS Adelaide in Sydney Harbor at Sunrise on March 26, 2016. Credit Second Line of Defense

With the advent of 5th Generation capabilities like the JSF and the new combat systems on the AWD as well as the design and development of the new combat systems for the Australia’s future frigates, Offshore Patrol vessels and Submarines, the ADF has a unique opportunity to influence and design in an unprecedented level of integration into the RAN’s and RAAF’s new platforms.

That unprecedented level of integration should drive new thinking on the integration of air and sea power effects. The seminar is about examining the challenges and possibilities of the combat power in that future integrated force.

Air Force and Navy need to not only remediate existing deficiencies but take advantage of the transformative nature of fifth generation technology. The seminar aims to explore the art of the possible in future Air-Sea operations.

The seminar will be unclassified, mostly by invitation and at no cost to Defence and Williams Foundation members (who have taken membership before 30 May 2016). 

Defence members can send an expression of interest to ev****@********************rg.au

Williams Seminar August 2016

One of the new platforms which is coming into the picture and will be part of shaping new Air Force, Navy and Army integration possibilities is the P-8.

Not only are the Aussies working on the ground floor with the USN at Jax Navy on the P-8 but have just had the maiden flight of their first P-8.

06/05/2016: Australia’s first P-8A Poseidon aircraft has completed its maiden flight.

The aircraft flew a short distance from Renton Airfield to Boeing Field in Washington State USA, to where the P-8A’s sophisticated mission systems will be installed as part of project AIR 7000.

The $5.4 billion P-8A program will provide Australia’s future manned maritime patrol and response aircraft capability, replacing in part the AP-3C Orion aircraft.

The P-8A Poseidon is 39.5 metres long, has a maximum takeoff weight of 85,820kg and a wingspan of 37.6m. Powered by two jet engines, it has a top speed is 907km/h with a maximum range of 7,500km.

With a saving of US$260m compared to the initial budget, the P-8A Poseidon aircraft were acquired through a cooperative program with the United States Navy and contracted to Boeing Defence Space and Security.

A Royal Australian Air Force crew will fly the aircraft to Australia in late 2016 following post-production checks and acceptance.

Maintaining the P-8: VP-16 Mechanics Discuss the Challenge and the Way Ahead

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
06/13/2016

2016-06-13 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

The P-8 is a new plane unlike the P-3.

That brings clear advantages compared to the P-3 at the end of its service life.

In one of our discussions at Jax Navy, one of P-3 operators made the point that they were spending more time getting the P-3 out the door than focusing on the mission.

With a new aircraft, you start with a new slate.

But a rule of thumb is it takes 10 years until one really knows what the realistic and best maintenance rhythm is for an air combat platform.

The P-8 is a military version of the 737 but there is no simple transfer of commercial domain knowledge to operating the P-8. The P-8 is a combat asset and is operated very differently from a commercial airliner, and with its low flight envelope over the water up to higher altitudes faces a significant corrosion challenge as well as stress on its engines, of the sort no commercial airliner would have to deal with.

Maintainers from VP-5 and VP-30 and VP-30 Commanding Officer Capt. Curt Phillips check out the mileage signs at Naval Support Facility Diego Carcia. Their P-8A Poseidon logged a total of 22,000 miles.
Maintainers from VP-5 and VP-30 and VP-30 Commanding Officer Capt. Curt Phillips check out the mileage signs at Naval Support Facility Diego Carcia. Their P-8A Poseidon logged a total of 22,000 miles.

It is also a combat asset which means that the military needs to ensure it has parts and is not simply relying on a commercial just in time delivery system.

But there is a clear opportunity as allies buy the jet – India, Australia and the United Kingdom are already doing so – that a global approach to sustainment might well emerge which would enhance the operational temp of each service using the aircraft.

We had a chance to discuss some of these issues with three mechanics from VP-16, with VP-16 having the longest operational experience with the aircraft.

We discussed the experience to date and the way ahead with Master Chief Ragin who has been a VP mechanic for most of his 23 years in the US Navy and with three years with the P-8, with Senior Chief Tucker, an aviation electronics technician with 17 ½ years of experience and he came to VP-16 in November 2013 and supported the first deployment and, finally, and Lt. Junior Grad or LTG Speed with 20 years of experience and she came to the P-8 at the time of its first deployment as well.

We asked about any advantages on deployment to the aircraft being a 737.

“If you can access a trusted buyer it is possible to get commercial pars, but our own supply system only utilizes their process to get secure parts. If we could access the commercial sector when deployed it would save us time waiting for parts and enhance aircraft availability.”

Currently, this is difficult and “when we deploy around the world we currently take our own support equipment, our own tires and our own parts.”

Clearly, working with trusted vendors can shorten the supply chain problem when deployed.

“We had an issue on deployment where a lightening strike damage one of our aircraft.

A team from Boeing came out to survey the damage. We needed to replace a part and did not have that part in our inventory in Navy Supply.

The Navy went out into the commercial sector and bought part and it came in quickly when ordered and it had Made in Australia stamped on it.”

These experienced professionals touched on a significant issue. It has been said some of the best Generals in the American way of war are General Motors, General Electric and General Delivery among others.

The Navy Supply Corps is one of the most unheralded military specialties making it possible for the global combat operations of the US Navy/Marine team.

A specific point made about the evolving P-8 supply chain was amplified by a retired Navy Supply Officer James “Jim” Druso who supported both subs and aviation units and when he retired became the Security Officer for the Iraq Ministry of Transportation. He has seen both the Navy way and commercial supply operations into a nation at war.

Commander Druso touches on several points in the evolving partnership between Maintenance and Supply.

He understands the dynamic trade off between COTS (commercial off the shelf” and Mil_Spec (those necessary parts that must be designed to military specifications.) He has also had the experience of being part of a supply chain into a combat situation and all the insurance issues with commercial carriers.

Needless to say Navy supply is evolving parts in partnership with a global fleet of P-8s:

“As the P-8 is a militarized Boeing 737-800, a significant number if its parts are stocked worldwide in support of the commercial fleet of 737s.

This will allow the inventory managers to focus on building demand history and inventory for the Navy-unique items.

It will be all the more challenging as it will be done in a down budget environment.”

Clearly, the P-3 is different from the P-8. With regard to engines, the maintainers noted that with a P-3 engine to do a repair you have to strip it down to get it repaired. You have to pull it apart, do all kinds of checks, before you can get it back into service.

With the P-8 you drop the whole engine, and put it back it back up in no time and you are back in engine.”

The P-3 is an analog aircraft; the P-8 is a digital one and much of the maintenance differences flow from that.

“The plane does a number of self diagnostics and we use that information to aid is in the maintenance cycle.”

Clearly, with the deployment cycle a work in progress, correctly determining the stockpiling and flow of parts is a work in progress.

“During our deployment to Japan, we had most of our supplies shipped from the States and had to wait for parts to shipped to us because we did not have them in stock. All parts ordering is done manually.”

The maintainers argued that from the first to the second deployment there were major improvements in terms of delivering supplies to repair the deployed aircraft.

And the mix of specialties to maintain the aircraft is a work in progress.

For example, the expectation was that the engines would need less repair than they are actually experiencing them. The maintenance department was sized with the expectation that engines would need less repair than they do; the Navy is having to adjust to the operational experience of the aircraft, and the engines are a case in point.

They pointed as well the need to deal with corrosion control from the outset, as the way the aircraft is operated will lead to corrosion in a way which would never be seen by a commercial variant.

They pointed out that with the learning curve, the Navy was learning which parts were the higher failure items and trying to stockpile those in Kadena to support the operations of the aircraft from Japan.

But for now there are few global stockpiles given the program is in its early stages.

One part of the maintenance process is doing the software upgrades. According to the mechanics, Boeing does these upgrades in the hangar. “The technicians come on site and do the software upgrades. Boeing tests everything. They just give us certificate of completions when they’re done.”

Editor’s Note: In a 2011 visit to San Diego, senior Navy personnel discussed both the coming of the P-8 and the supply challenges for a new aircraft such as the P-8.

As Captain Kelly then the Force Material Officer at Commander Naval Air Forces put the challenge:

We’re changing out 100-percent of our platforms.  At the same time, we’re at one of our highest operational tempos.  For instance, we’re getting P8s for P3s, we’re getting Growlers for Prowlers, and we’re getting Super Hornets for Legacy jets.  We’re getting E2Ds for E2Cs and we’ll get F-35s thrown into the mix.

So, everything’s changing out, so from our perspective, we have to work with NAVAIR to make sure that the maintenance plans and the constructs for logistics and sustainment are well grounded for everything that’s coming, while we’re managing everything that is already here and deployed.

And then, we have to manage to do the swap outs of airplanes and the retraining of personnel in a fashion so that we don’t impact the operational schedule.

SLD: And the problem is that when one swap outs, historically, whether it be a commercial fleet or military fleet, it is more expensive in the transition.  You’ve got to manage the old as you bring in the new.

Captain Kelly: And that’s why we’re pressurized to do it kind of as quickly as we can, because we don’t want to eat cost in two spots at once.

https://sldinfo.com/the-challenge-of-maintaining-a-global-fleet/

https://sldinfo.com/transitioning-from-the-p3-to-the-p8/

Now the mechanics at Jax Navy are living the challenge and working the solutions.

Two stories have appeared in the Jax Air News which have highlighted the role of maintainers.

The first was published November 18, 2015 and was written by the VP-5 PAO and focused on the performance of the maintainers in the “Mad Foxes” squadron.

The “Mad Foxes” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 5 received high marks on their Maintenance Program Assessment (MPA) conducted Nov. 2-6 at Cecil Airport. 

The hard work of the maintenance department was evident throughout the entire MPA inspection – a graded maintenance department analysis performed by inspectors from Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 11.

The purpose of the program is to highlight discrepancies in standard maintenance operating procedures, prior to their Aviation Maintenance Inspection (AMI).

The VP-5 Maintenance Department completed seven drills and 64 practical applications during the assessment – all while juggling a heavy flight schedule with multiple flights per day. Despite these additional hurdles, the department finished with an overall satisfaction rating of 100 percent on all drills and practicals.

VP-5 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Al D’Jock was absolutely thrilled with his maintainers’ performance.

“There was never a doubt in my mind that our maintenance team would knock this inspection out of the park. I couldn’t be more impressed with the hard work that maintainers put into the preparation and execution of this challenging inspection. This is a direct reflection of the professionalism of this department and I can’t wait to see how well they perform during our upcoming AMI,” said D’Jock.  

The Mad Foxes Maintenance Team will begin their AMI Jan.18. 

VP-5 is currently halfway through their inter-deployment readiness cycle at NAS Jacksonville and Cecil Airport, and will soon start the Operational Readiness Evaluation (ORE) portion of their home cycle.

The Mad Foxes will continue training to ready themselves for their upcoming historic worldwide deployment next year.

http://jaxairnews.jacksonville.com/2015-11-18/%E2%80%98mad-foxes%E2%80%99-maintainers-score-high-recent-inspection#.V0dlS1d5w7k

And the photo below shows maintainers during the worldwide deployment of the Poseidon which was the digital age version of the Great White Fleet.

In a second story, more recent, maintainers are seen working on the certification for “safe flight” of the final P-8 squadron at Jax Navy.

In a story written by the VP-26 PAO and published on May 18, 2016, the certification for “safe flight” was discussed.

The “Tridents” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 26 received their P-8A Safe for Flight (SFF) certification from Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group (CPRG) May 4, after a series of inspections that took place the week of April 25.

“This is huge,” declared Lt. Cmdr. Michelle Higingbotham, the maintenance material control officer of VP-26. “Our fleet readiness cycle has commenced and now that we have been qualified safe for flight we can prepare for deployment.” 

Higingbotham stated that the SFF qualification marks the end of the transition of VP-26 from a P-3C Orion squadron to a P-8A Poseidon squadron. Although the Tridents accepted their first P-8A two months ago, they have been operating under the supervision of fleet replacement squadron VP-30. This safe for flight inspection marks the date when VP-26 is certified to operate independently.

The inspection certified the Tridents’ ability to operate safely as a P-8A squadron, and according to VP-26 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Mark Burns, the squadron scored higher on their SFF inspection than any of the squadrons that previously have made the transition to the P-8A.

The Tridents’ transition to the P-8A began in October of 2015 and marks the end of an era for active duty operational P-3C squadrons on the east coast. With the exception of two reserve squadrons and VP-30, the long reigning P-3C has officially been replaced by the P-8A at NAS Jacksonville. With the east coast transition complete, the last P-3C squadrons in Hawaii and Whidbey Island, Wash. are poised to begin their transitions later this year.

Earlier this year on March 16, Lt. Jared Stolle of VP-26 piloted the completion of the squadron’s first acceptance check of a P-8A Poseidon, bureau number 168848, from VP-30. The acceptance involved two consecutive days of inspections beginning with an on-deck test of the engines called maintenance turns, followed by an in-flight check called a functional check flight or FCF. The FCF is a comprehensive six-hour evaluation of airworthiness. Each flight system is tested to ensure proper function. The squadron’s first FCF was successful and the squadron was now ready to begin training for its first P-8A deployment slated for early 2017.

This summer, VP-26 will be participating in BALTOPS 2016, a multinational exercise hosted by Commander U.S. Naval Forces Europe. They will also be participating in exercises in Keflavik, Iceland and Lossiemouth, Scotland. 

http://jaxairnews.jacksonville.com/military-jax-air-news/2016-05-18/story/vp-26-certified-%E2%80%98safe-flight%E2%80%99#.V1clEJMrLUJ

An Update on the Aussie Tanker: Milestone Passed in Middle East Operations

Posted on | by Robbin Laird

2016-06-05 The RAAF KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport provides air-to-air refueling support to international coalition aircraft in the skies over Iraq as part of Task Group 630.

On 27 April 2016, the deployed KC-30A surpassed the milestone of delivering 50 million pounds (27 million kilograms) of fuel to receiver aircraft in theatre since it first conducted missions for Operation OKRA in September 2014.

KC-30A Refueling Milestone in Operation OKRA from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.

And the operational performance and tempo of the KC-30A was described in an interview we did earlier this year with the KC-30A test team then at Edwards AFB (made up of folks with operational experience, including the Middle East).

With a new program, generally, you crawl, walk and then run.

With this program, we needed the capability relatively quickly so we sort of crawled and then ran.

The deployment to the Middle East has rapidly accelerated our maturing of the aircraft.

We went to the Middle East in the Fall of 2014.

We operate one tanker at a time in Operation Okra and a deployment is four months.

Some airmen have already completed three or four rotations in the mission.

Even though we have only one tanker there, we are delivering more than 10% of all the fuel in the operation.

We have offloaded around 40-45 million pounds of fuel in the Middle East during the operation to coalition forces.

We are operating at 96-98 percent mission success rate, and the maintenance has been outstanding.

It is a commercial plane with military systems onboard and is built for rapid fuel intake, for commercial airlines expect to turn around planes rapidly.

They don’t make money with the plane on the ground.

We can do this as well, but are limited only by the austere conditions at military bases which slows the refueling process.

And the efficiency of the engines is outstanding which means that we burn less fuel than a KC-10 or KC-135 when flying and doing the tanking operations.

During visits to Australia and to the KC-30A team then doing certification tests at Edwards AFB, an update was provided on the tanker by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)

In an interview conducted in March earlier this year, the Chief of Staff of the RAAF highlighted the role of the tanker as follows:

“For example, we are having a long conversation inside Air Force around how would you use a KC-30 better than we currently do?

 Well you would integrate it. 

Air Marshal Davies during media roundtable held at the airpower conference on March 15, 2016. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense
Air Marshal Davies during media roundtable held at the airpower conference on March 15, 2016. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense

So what does that mean for tanker?

 It means that we spend a long time in the airspace providing fuel to aircraft. What’s it doing in between the refuels?

 It’s flying racetracks or patterns or getting to the next place that gas is needed airborne. What’s it doing while it’s doing that? Why can’t it collect some form of ISR data to be turned to knowledge? 

The legacy perspective would be to say: “No it’s an in mid-air refueler and a transport aircraft.” 

The new perspective is to think about how the KC-30 can become a communications node for platforms and systems other than fighters. Perhaps you’re able to relay information to soldiers on the ground, or with regard to the new amphibious task force, perhaps you might, from a couple hundred miles off the coast, be able to relay information during the time the tanker is on station. 

That makes a lot of sense to me, and a lot of it can happen without the crew having to do one extra bit of work other than provide the node.” 

https://sldinfo.com/mastering-the-reshaping-of-the-joint-force-capability-puzzle-a-discussion-with-air-marshal-davies-of-the-royal-australian-air-force/

The Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Turnbull, focused on the operational experience of the tanker in the Middle East in his interview. 

Question: When we visited your KC-30A test team at Edwards, one of the key points driven home by the team was how important the built-in situational awareness in the aircraft to reshaping their approach to tanking in the area of interest. 

 How does this illustrate your evolving approach? 

Answer: What we have given the tanker crew is what the fighter pilot experienced in the first decade of the 21st century. 

Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Turnbull, speaking at the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-land integration March 17, 2016.
Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Turnbull, speaking at the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-land integration March 17, 2016.

We added Link 16 into the cockpit and suddenly they had situational awareness of the battlespace around them and could now work within the battlespace, rather than simply going to a tanker track and acting as a gas station in the sky waiting for the planes to come in to get gassed up. 

This has meant changing the skill set for the tanker crew as well. 

We need to have smart people with smart situational awareness combat skills rather than truck drivers. They now position themselves where they’re next needed. 

They’re maintaining their awareness and they’re moving into the battle space, and the jets are coming off their targets and are surprised about how close the tanker is. 

In fact, we’re starting to get the reverse complaint where pilots who are coming off targets don’t have time to think and reconfigure their airplane before they’re on the wing of the tanker getting some more fuel.

https://sldinfo.com/building-from-airpower-integration-in-the-middle-east-to-shape-a-more-integrated-and-capable-australian-defence-force-the-perspective-of-air-commander-australia/

And the Air Commodore in charge of Air Mobility for the RAAF provided both an example of the performance of the tanker and its crew in the Middle East as well as an insight into the way ahead for the evolution of the tanker as well.

There was a dramatic case of where the KC-30A moved to an aircraft in trouble over the skies of Iraq.

According to Air Commodore Richard Lennon:

A United States Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to VFA-103 'Jolly Rogers', refuels from a Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport in the skies over the Middle East region. Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence
A United States Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to VFA-103 ‘Jolly Rogers’, refuels from a Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport in the skies over the Middle East region. Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence

A USMC Hornet lost an engine, and was in danger of going down in an area where it might not be good for the pilot to land or bail out. 

The KC-30A came to the Hornet and supported it as the aircraft had to fly down in a cascading pattern to get back to base. 

“Link 16 can tell you where the assets are and the fuel status of the air combat force. 

But it cannot tell you about intentions. You get that from listening to the chat. 

In this case, the pilot was listening to the chat and discovered a problem. 

He then flew to the problem. 

A United States Marine Corps, Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare, 4 Squadron "Seahawks" EA-6B Prowler, refuels from a Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A Mobile Tanker Transport duirng operations in the Middle East region. Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence
A United States Marine Corps, Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare, 4 Squadron “Seahawks” EA-6B Prowler, refuels from a Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A Mobile Tanker Transport duirng operations in the Middle East region. Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence

The Marine Corps Hornet had lost an engine and could not stay level at the refueling speed, so they set up a descent pattern to work the problem. 

They could not do that until they were outside of the core combat area.

They set up what is called a toboggan where you just slow the descent so the Hornet could keep up his speed to get refueled. 

And of course as he transferred fuel, he got heavier which in turn made it more difficult to keep your speed up, but the tanker adjusted to the need for the Hornet.”

https://sldinfo.com/working-air-land-integration-from-the-perspective-of-air-mobility-group-air-commodore-lennon-discusses-the-way-ahead/

He then provided a perspective on the evolution of the tanker as the RAAF worked joint force integration and the platform itself evolved.

With regard to tanker, the RAAF is thinking about the future modifications of the KC-30A and clearly doing so from the Plan Jericho perspective.

This means not simply from an air-to-air perspective but from a joint perspective.

“We’re getting lots of ideas obviously from all quarters.

And it’s not just army in terms of Air-Land Integration.

It’s from air force itself and, and it’s from different quarters of the organization.

Air Commodore Lennon at the Williams Foundation. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense
Air Commodore Lennon at the Williams Foundation. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense

In that process we’ll start to prioritize what we need.

The number one priority might actually take three years and a lot of money to implement but we will look for low-hanging fruit as well which can be implemented and funded in a much shorter period of time as well.”

Air Commodore Lennon highlighted an important development, which Airbus was working on for the tanker.

“They are working hard on building an autonomous boom where the boom will actually work out where the receptacle is and fly itself into contact.

This will ease the workload for the tanker crew, and provide significant capabilities to fuel new assets coming to the tanker, such as UAVs.

It would be an important step forward.

If you have a good reliable autonomous system, then the boom operator is not tiring as quickly and so you can stay on station longer and enhance your persistence in the battle space.”

The video and the text at the start of the article was published by the Australian Ministry of Defence on May 23, 2016.

For an update on the Airbus Tanker from the Australian perspective which was published on 9/20/15, see the following:

https://sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Update-on-Airbus-Tanker.pdf

For the perspective of the KC-30 test team when they were at Edwards AFB earlier this year, see the following:

https://sldinfo.com/an-update-on-the-kc-30a-from-edwards-afb-clearing-the-way-for-expanded-operations/

For the version of this article which appeared on National Interest, see the following:

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/interview-flight-testing-australias-airbus-kc-30-tanker-16009

 

CH-53s: The New Generation

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
06/12/2016

2016-06-06 A look at the new CH-53K is provided in a set of interviews with the USMC.

The article is based on interviews with:

  • Colonel Paul Fortunato, Branch Head, Weapons Requirements (APW-1)
  • Colonel Hank Vanderborght, Program Manager, PMA-261/H-53 Heavy Lift Helicopters
  • Major Thomas Trimble, Heavy Lift Requirements (APW-51), Department of Aviation, US Marine Corps.

As Germany is looking for a successor to his CH-53 G the two US helicopter builders Boeing with its Chinooks (CH-47F) and Sikorsky with its CH-53s (CH-53K) are competing for the bid.

The verdict is planned to occur at the end of the year with a contract set in 2018 and first deliveries starting in 2022, while both could be picked for different missions and timetables according to some sources.

(See: Lars Hoffman, Germany Picks CH-53K, CH-47F as Options of New Helo, Defense News, January 26th, 2016 ; CH53K « King Stallion » et CH-47F « Chinook » pour l’Allemagne? Avia news, http://psk.blog.24heures.ch, May 17th, 2016 ;Defense Industry Daily (DID), CH-53K: The US Marines’HLR Helicopter Program, May 18th, 2016 ;Defenseworld.net, Germany Requests Princing For 41 CH-53K Choppers, May 18th, 2016 ; Franck Colucci, Testing Kings, Vertiflite, January/February 2016, page 19.)

The Luftwaffe wants to replace its old heavy-lift helicopters to perform MEDEVAC, personal recovery mission and support Special Forces.

The K, due to enter into service in 2018-2019, would almost double the gross take-off weight from 19 tons to 40 tons and benefit from a grouped order with the UMSC.

The triple hook system for the CH-53K allows for the delivery of three payloads each to a different landing area if requires. Credit Photo: USN-USMC
The triple hook system for the CH-53K allows for the delivery of three payloads each to a different landing area if requires. Credit Photo: USN-USMC

The U.S. Marines have indeed decided to acquire 200 of them: in their case, the King Stallion would triple the payload of the existing « Echo » super stallions, which are in great need for replacement given a usage rate triple the norm over the past years.

The attrition is high and there are no flyable spares available. The flight hour for the 15-year old CH-53E costs 20,000 dollars and the maintenance man hours: flight hours ratio has reached 44:1.

This is also the reason why maintenance and sustainability have been at the heart of the Integrated Test Team currently working on the Next Generation Chopper.

This ITT is divided between the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in Florida and the Naval Air Weapons Center Aircraft Division Patuxent River in Maryland and includes USMC maintainers

According to the three Marines interviewed in this article, who are centrally involved in the program, the CH-53K is a XXIst century air system, which will add significant capability to the evolution of the US Navy amphibious fleet for two reasons: its capacity for more efficient heavy lift and its ability to deliver loads to multiple points in the battlespace, faster, and with significantly enhanced integration with the other combat assets.

The hope is that, given this larger capacity and its potentially improved supportability, greater sortie rates will be generated significantly reducing the transit time to move supplies from the ship to the shore.

Just how the capabilities of the new aircraft would intersect with the evolving operational approaches is discussed in the interview below.

How important has it been building in maintainability to the CH-53K design approach?

It has been central from the beginning.

We formed a maintainer working group at the outset as part of the design team, which has met every quarter to provide their recommendations from a maintainer’s perspective with regard to ways to improve the design from a maintainability and sustainability perspective.

Currently, we have ten maintainers at West Palm working on the aircraft.

These are the seed corn for the new maintenance approach working with the new aircraft.

Their recent fleet experience has prepared them to act as a critical link between engineers and end users in the development the helicopter and the knowledge they gain during their time on the program.

We are counting on these Marines to reenlist and be our Staff Non-Commissioned Officers assuming leadership roles as future Quality Assurance Representatives and Division Chiefs of the first King Stallion squadrons.

Even though the aircraft is quite different, we wanted that field experience built into the design process from a maintainer’s perspective.

The team working the new maintenance approach are the future stakeholders and their ideas are incorporated into the design, as for example:

  • On the CH-53E, when you have to work on, or replace, the fuel cell, you have to do so through big trap doors on the top of the aircraft. And then one has to wait a couple of days to have the gas free environment on which to work on the cell. A maintainer suggested that we build a port on the bottom of the K where one can access the fuel pumps directly and easily, and then if you have to change the fuel pump inside the tank, you could go underneath the aircraft, unscrew it, pop in a new one, connect it and off you go. You don’t have to wait until a gas free engineering environment is ready. There are several examples of this kind of input to the design of the new aircraft, which will enhance maintainability, which, in turn, enhances readiness and sortie generation.
  • The design of the avionics systems is built around an avionics box for easy access to the cannon plug and wires, which the maintainers need to work on. Instead of having to have a flashlight, a mirror and another Marine holding something to get behind the systems, the systems are facing the maintainer directly for their attention.

The NAVAIR process is somewhat like a V where one side is design and the other is testing and fielding.

We are now largely past the design piece and we are now focused on test and aircraft performance under those test conditions. The ten maintainers that are down at West Palm are actually maintaining the aircraft.

They are validating maintenance procedures, while identifying best practices, while noting and correcting any discovered deficiencies .

The airplane is much more digital; and so are the maintainers; there is an evolving fit between the 21st century aircraft and the 21st century maintainer.

They are shaping the integrated manuals we need to support the aircraft in the field.

They are going to make sure that the manuals are written correctly.

That is why it so crucial to have the maintainers down at West Palm and integrated into the process from the outset.

Composites are now a norm for new air systems, as opposed to when the E was conceived: how does the evolution of the material technologies affect the K?

By leveraging modern engineering practices and materials, we have enhanced performance. The structural strength of the aircraft provides for extra performance, and is clearly a key reason why the K can lift three times more than the E externally in the same ambient conditions.

It is obvious, but important to underscore that a heavy lift mission is just that and that it does lead to stresses and strains on the aircraft as well as on the airframe.

The plane has been designed to take the stress of a three time enhanced lift capability and we are testing the aircraft rigorously and robustly to ensure that the performance is being met.

Even though the King is 5,000 pounds more on max weight than the Echo, it is able to fold down to a smaller footprint shipboard and can land on exactly the same ships as its predecessor.

Such capability stems from the conjunction of three technologies:

  1. the new engines (the GT-408) providing the lifting power;
  2. the split torque gearbox generating the power to the blades from the engine;
  3. the new all composite rotor blades with anhedral tips.[ref] The Sikorsky S92 has Growth Rotor Blades with anhedral blade tips providing enhanced lift and reduced blade-vortex interaction. The reduced rotor diameter achieved using the modern anhederal blade design increases the helicopter’s maximum airspeed, because the rotor blades can turn more quickly whilst reducing retreating blade stall. (http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-sikorsky-s92-has-growth-rotor-blades-with-anhedral-blade-tips-83536560.html)[/ref]

The avionics and the fly by wire system are a major shift as well from the E to the K. How will the new technology have an operational impact from your perspective?

We land in hostile environments and in degraded visual environments as well.

The new systems will have a number of impacts, one of the most significant is stable hover.

Because of the ability of the aircraft to hover assisted by technologies onboard, we can land the aircraft much more safely and in difficult visual environments.

Automation will assist it in managing the flight and let us focus much more on the mission.

There are two different flight control modes on the aircraft, PFCS and AFCS. During different missions, one can select different flight control systems that are optimized for those missions. The different fly by wire systems actually assist you in optimizing those systems for different mission sets.

The cockpit is a glass cockpit with five Multi-Functional Displays. They dramatically increase air crew situational awareness.

The fly-by-wire flight control system makes the aircraft a lot easier to fly and allows the crew to focus on what the MFDs can provide to shape mission effectiveness.

Safety and security are significantly enhanced.

We have had a lot of mishaps with the E because of low visibility and brownouts.

Loading a standard 463L Pallet directly onto the CH-53K, something which can not be done with the CH-53E which requires the standard Air Force pallet to be repacked prior to loading onto the CH-53E.
Loading a standard 463L Pallet directly onto the CH-53K, something which can not be done with the CH-53E which requires the standard Air Force pallet to be repacked prior to loading onto the CH-53E.

If, if I could compare the 53K, the 53K comes in to pick up an external load, there is a flight director in the aircraft, almost like an airliner.

And when you fly at the initial point, which is the last checkpoint on your route before the landing zone to pick up the external, the 53K pilot can push a button and the aircraft will fly itself to the load and basically come into a steady hover at a preselected altitude right over the load.

For example, if the pilot wanted that aircraft to go to 20 feet over the load, he would put those parameters in the system and hit the button and the plane will do that.

With regard to what we call “divided attention,” where you need to multi-task, the systems help you manage that as well.

For example, say you were inbound to a landing zone and you are about to come pick up an external load.

And all of a sudden you get a call on the radio that says: “hey, change your mission.

You now need to pick up the external and go to a different location and drop it off”.

Because the aircraft is so augmented and is able to do pretty much the pilots’ job, the crew can start re-planning that mission while one pilot can monitor the aircraft and the other pilot can actually re-plan the mission to go to the new landing zone.

Whereas in the Echo, it took the entire attention of the entire crew just to stay safe to pick up that external load in a difficult environment.

The power of the fly-by-wire system combined with the displays inside the aircraft makes in that sense the K much safer than other helicopters.

What are the assets of this next generation aircraft from a logistical point of view?

The K has two key features, which make it a next generation aircraft:

  • The first is the widening of the cabin to allow it to load Air Force 463L pallets. Currently, when the Air Force arrives with a C-17 or C-5, we have to crack open the 463L pallets and re-palletize them into 48 x 48 wooden pallets and then put them into the Echoes. With the K we will be able to take them directly off of the C-5 or C-17 and roll the pallets right onto the Kilo and go to whatever FOB we need to deliver the cargo to. Logistical throughout will be much greater.
  • The second is the triple hook system, which no other helicopter has. Whereas the E can only do a single and dual point, the Kilo can do a single, dual and triple point. The beauty of this capability is that we can be on an L-Class ship and pick up three independent loads. And then in one sortie, we can drop off those loads at three independent locations, which, from a logistical point of view, gives us much greater flexibility than we have ever had before.

The Echo was built in a former era when you brought supplies as part of a support wave; the K is being built in the age of force insertion across a distributed battlefield.

You can support three different company landing teams across the battlefield that could be supported by one ship, with three loads taken form the ship and then going to zone one, zone two and zone three without ever having to go back to the ship to reload.

This saves not only transit time, but exposure to threats, while flying the aircraft among multiple loadings rather than loading a triple package and taking off for the area of interest. You save sortie numbers simply by being able to use the triple hook system.

How has the Sikorsky approach to a Heath and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) on its commercial helicopters affected the K program?

It is a crucial part of the program.

For example, Sikorsky has more than ten years of experience with the HUMS on the S-92, a helo that is flown three times as much as we would fly the K.

It is used for fleet management, and provides significant information with regard to the operational performance of the aircraft, parts and reliability and overall real-time data with regard to the operation of the aircraft.

We are leveraging this approach for the K and clearly when the E was built there was no HUMS system or capability.

An example from the S-92 world provides some insight into where we think the K fleet can go as well using the HUMS system.

CH-53K being prepared for tests. Credit: Defense Tech
CH-53K being prepared for tests. Credit: Defense Tech

They’re measuring every aircraft across the fleet and they understand the signatures for every parameter they’re measuring looks like. So they understand what normal looks like and if something starts deviating from normal they can understand where the safety margins are.

One example that sticks in my mind was an S-92 that was flying for an oil company in the Singapore area doing globe plots. And they had a tail rotor gearbox in this aircraft that was showing some signs of wear and tear.

And they knew that the operator was going to need to have in about 20 flight hours dedicated base maintenance.

So before the operator even knew that there was something going awry with the aircraft, they called the operator and said : “ in this scheduled maintenance period, you need to change your tail rotor gearbox. By the way we shipped you a brand new one yesterday”…

We certainly look forward to such a capability within the K fleet.

In short, the predicate for the K is 21st century aircraft materials, systems and approaches.

The E was built in the age of the Studebaker; the K is built in the age of the electronically-enabled car.

In and of itself, that makes it a very different animal.

Editor’s Note: Recently, the French defense publication OPERATIONNELS SLDS published an article on the new generation CH-53K which was based on earlier articles published on Second Line of Defense.  

This article is republished with their permission below and the PDF version of the article can be found below:

https://sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/CH53K-as-published.pdf

The latest issue is being distributed at the Eurosatory international exhibition from 13-17 June in Paris and the OPS booth can be found in Hall 6 Stand 8A 350 at the show.

Eurosatory is a leading defence and security international exhibition which focuses on land and airland solutions.

The slideshow above shows the Commandant of the USMC visiting the Sikorsky CH-53K facility earlier this year.