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Royal Air Force Typhoons have completed their second interception in less than a week during the latest NATO Baltic Air Policing mission.
The RAF fighter jets took to the skies to investigate five unidentified aircraft flying in international airspace along the northern and western borders of Estonia.
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The RAF jets, which have been deployed in Estonia since April, initially shadowed two Su-27 Flanker fighters and an IL-20 ‘Coot-A’ Reconnaissance aircraft to the north of Estonia when two more Su-27 Flankers were detected and intercepted. The Russian military aircraft were operating without transmitting recognised identification codes nor were they communicating with regional air traffic control centres.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
For the second time in a week, the RAF have been on hand to respond to Russian activity at a moment’s notice. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we will continue to secure the Baltic skies on behalf of NATO and our allies.
The lead Typhoon pilot said:
The Baltic Control and Reporting Centre had radar contact on the unidentified aircraft and ordered us to scramble, as always we were airborne in minutes and intercepted and identified the variety of Russian military aircraft. We remain on standby all day, every day to respond to any requests of this nature, this is what we do.
The Commanding Officer of 140 Expeditionary Air Wing, Wing Commander Gordon Melville, said:
Today we again demonstrated the RAF’s ability to launch our Quick Reaction Alert aircraft quickly to investigate aircraft operating in the vicinity of the Baltic states as part of our support to the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission. Several years’ experience operating in this area indicates that we can expect further similar activity in the months ahead. Our mission continues, and our NATO allies can stand assured of the UK’s full support for their defence.
This is the third consecutive year in which the UK has committed to the Baltic Air Policing Mission, the latest rotation sees four RAF Typhoon and pilots from II (Army Co-operation) Squadron from Royal Air Force Lossiemouth deployed to Amari Air Base in Estonia. The RAF Typhoon Sqn, which will remain on BAP until the end of August, is operating alongside Portugese F-16s based in Siauliai in Lithuania.
During the last UK rotation, the Typhoon fighters were scrambled 17 times and intercepted more than 40 Russian aircraft.
The slideshow above shows various intercepts of Russian aircraft since 2014 and are credited to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The first photo shows aircraft from L-R: Russian Coot-A communications aircraft; Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter; RAF Typhoon; Russian Su-27.
Royal Air Force Typhoons stationed in Estonia as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission have scrambled for the second time during their current deployment to intercept Russian aircraft in NATO’s area of interest. The Typhoons scrambled on 17 May to investigate five unresponsive Russian aircraft over international waters. The Russian aircraft – identified as four Su-27 Flanker fighters and one Coot-A communications aircraft – were not communicating with air traffic control, and did not transmit a recognized identification code.
In the second photo, an RAF Typhoon (bottom) intercepts two Russian MiG 31 Foxhound Fighters, as senior RAF sources warn that the number of Russian incursions has reached a peak not seen ‘in living memory.’ June 2015. Credit: Daily Mail.
In the third photo, on June 17, 2014, RAF Typhoons were scrambled to intercept multiple Russian aircraft as part of NATO’s ongoing mission to police Baltic airspace.
The Typhoon aircraft, from 3 (Fighter) Squadron, were launched after four separate groups of aircraft were detected by NATO air defences in international airspace near to the Baltic States. Credit: Ministry of Defence</p>
The fourth photo shows the two Typhoon jets involved in the intercept and it was the first time a Quick Reaction Alert had occurred since the Lossiemouth, Scotland, base had taken on the role of defending the UK’s Northern airspace. September 2014. Credit: Daily Mail
The final photo shows 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.
We will publish soon interviews which will highlight the evolving RAF role in the Baltic Air Policing Mission and Quick Reaction Alerts in UK defense.
The map below published by the Daily Mail in early 2015, indicates the Quick Reaction Alerts for 2014 up until early 2015
Map published by the Daily Mail on 2/19/15 showing Typhoon intercepts of Russian aircraft in 2014 and 2015 up to that point.
2016-05-18 With the RAF and the USAF setting up four squadrons of aircraft between them at two nearby RAF bases, there is a clear opportunity to shape a common sustainment solution.
And the impact of so doing could be significant on the North Sea neighbors, namely, the Danes the Norwegians and the Dutch.
According to an article on the UK Ministry of Defence website, the Ministry of Defence has announced contracts worth 167 million pounds to upgrade and build new facilities at RAF Marham, the future home of the UK F-35B Lightning II squadrons.
The contracts, which will create 300 new jobs, will allow for the addition of maintenance, training and logistics facilities to the station in East Anglia, all of which will be dedicated to the next-generation fighter aircraft.
The announcement was made in the same week as the UK met a new milestones on the F-35 programme with the completion of the 10th aft – or rear – section being built for the UK’s fleet.
Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon said:
The F-35 is the most advanced combat aircraft in the world. Whether operating from land or our two new aircraft carriers, they will ensure we have a formidable fighting force.
They are part of our plan for stronger and better defence, backed by a budget that will this week rise for the first time in six years, and keep rising until the end of the decade.
The works at RAF Marham have been made possible through three contracts, placed initially by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and totalling £25 million, for demolition and cabling works at the Norfolk site, readying RAF Marham for new construction works.
A £142 million contract between Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) and Lockheed Martin UK will then allow the construction of three new buildings which together will keep the new aircraft ready for service, provide training facilities for pilots and ground crew, and enable centralised management of the UK’s whole F-35B fleet.
Approximately 300 people will be employed on the construction works, which will be managed by sub-contractors BAE Systems. The buildings will become a place of work for around 250 military and civilian staff when they open in 2018.
DE&S Chief Executive Officer Tony Douglas said:
These facilities are critical to the F-35B Lightning II programme, which is in turn vital to the future capability of the UK’s Armed Forces. The cutting edge technology of these aircraft, supported by world-class facilities at RAF Marham, will ensure we have a battle-winning fleet of jets deployable anywhere in the world.
The aft – or rear – sections of every single F-35 are being built by BAE Systems in Samlesbury, Lancashire. Demonstrating further progress on the UK programme, the company has now completed the first 10 aft sections designated to form the airframes of UK aircraft.
More widely, around 500 companies across the UK are involved in the F-35 Lightning II programme. More than 3,000 F-35s are planned for global delivery over the next two decades.
A story by Richard Tomkins provided further detail to this announcement.
“The construction work at RAF Marham signals the start of an exciting time for the BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin team as the UK prepares for the arrival of the first F-35 Lightning II jets,” said Cliff Robson, senior vice president of F-35 Lightning II at BAE Systems Military Air & Information business. “The contract also underlines BAE Systems’ continued involvement with the F-35 Lightning II program and our company’s credentials in providing infrastructure for the UK’s military aircraft operations.
“We have a proven pedigree in delivering maintenance and support to the Royal Air Force fast jet fleets at bases throughout the UK including RAF Marham, where we have been supporting the operation of the Tornado GR4 fleet for the last decade.”
Not far away, the USAF will base its F-35 squadrons in the UK.
It has been some time since the USAF flew the same aircraft as the RAF, although the RAF and the Marines have flown Harriers for a considerable period of time.
According to a January 8, 2015 press release by the USAF:
The F-35s will be delivered to two fighter squadrons in multiple phases beginning in 2020. Each of the squadrons will have 24 Joint Strike Fighters assigned; totaling 48 aircraft assigned to RAF Lakenheath once full mission capability is achieved.
“Lakenheath is the perfect base for the perfect weapon system in the perfect country,” said Col. Robert Novotny, 48th Fighter Wing commander. “From the beginning, the United States and the United Kingdom have been side-by-side on F-35 program development. This is about continuing to work together with our allies and partners to ensure a secure future for Europe.”
The U.S. is one of nine Joint Strike Fighter partner nations who have agreed to adopt the new platform. This makes European basing crucial to maintaining and improving combat readiness for Air Forces in Europe according to Gorenc.
F-22 Raptors from the 94th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., and F-35A Lightning IIs from the 58th Fighter Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., fly in formation after completing an integration training mission over the Eglin Training Range, Fla., Nov. 5, 2014. It was the first operational integration training mission for the Air Force’s fifth generation aircraft. The F-35s and F-22s flew offensive counter air, defensive counter air and interdiction missions together, employing tactics to maximize their fifth-generation capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo)
In addition to basing F-35s at RAF Lakenheath, there are also plans to construct shared maintenance facilities for the aircraft in Italy and Turkey. The F-35 partnership is expected to bring the added benefits of increased allied interoperability and cost sharing.
“When pilots from different nations fly the same platform they talk the same language,” Gorenc said. “Interoperability with F-35 partner nations is assured for decades.”
As new threats evolve around the world, NATO continuously seeks new technologies that can deter and defeat those threats.
“Air superiority, freedom from attack and freedom to attack, has always been the primary mission of the U.S. Air Force,” said Gorenc. “With air superiority everything is possible, without it nothing is possible.”
The question remains with regard to how the RAF and the USAF will leverage the close proximity of their aircraft to shape the most efficient and effective logistics support system to support and sustain the F-35 air combat force?
With the substantial similarity between the two aircraft, significant joint support opportunities clearly exist.
I think that the F-35 is going to do for NATO what the F-16 did, in the sense that many of the partners and many of the allies were flying it, and so we’re going to share common tactics, techniques, procedures (TTPs), concepts of operations, we’re going to leverage the logistics systems, the training system.
I think that’s going go a long way to provide the interoperability that we strive for in the NATO concept.
Oh by the way, the USAF did not provide a lot of logistics support for the Harrier precisely because they did not fly the plane.
But the JOINT strike fighter will allow them the opportunity to support the Navy as well as the Marine Corps as can be seen with the F-35C being maintained at Edwards AFB.
The Perspective of the UK Lightening Force Commander
In a recent interview with Air Commodore Smyth, the head of the UK Ligtening Force provided his perspective on the importance of this joint opportunity.
“The real opportunity for the USAF and the RAF working together with their F-35s will lie in joint training and some semblance of joint sustainment.
The USAF has operated F-15s at RAF Lakenheath and have used a classic USAF model of flying in parts to sustain their F-15s with C-5s, C-17s and tankers.
It would make sense to shift to a new model whereby our F-35s shared sustainment and parts, transparently between our two bases, which after all are not very far apart.” …
A key expectation of the RAF and UK government’s part is that the sustainment approach for the F-35 will build upon their successful Performance Based Logistics model used for both the Tornado and Typhoon.
One evidence of that expectation is that the UK is building a facility for the services and industry to work together, hand in hand, in maintaining and modernizing the aircraft.
Air Commodore Smyth spoke at some length and passion about his experience as the Tornado Force Commander, where a 40+-year-old aircraft was able to be maintained throughout the very high tempo ops facing an aging force.
He argued that simply put: “We could not have had the operational performance of the aircraft without our exceptional contractual and joined-up working relationships with BAE Systems and Rolls Royce.”
The contracts deliver a product – an aircraft able to go to combat, and he would like to see the focus shift from payments to industry based on simple aircraft availability, to ones based on dispatch rate and mission achievement for combat aircraft.
Computer Generated Image of the outside of one of the facilities which is being built at RAF Marham, Norfolk, as part of a programme of works to prepare the station for the arrival of the F-35 Lightning II fleet in 2018.
Air Commodore Smyth also discussed the ROCET contract with Rolls Royce as an example of how to do sustainment leveraging using the right kind of industrial-service partnership.
“In the ROCET contract, a few years ago we contracted Rolls Royce to do our FOD management for us.
We were probably trashing upwards of 2 or 3 engines a year through a FOD.
We were doing everything we could from an air force point of view to be good managers of foreign object damage.
We incentivized Rolls Royce to take that on, and as the subject matter experts, they were, and are, fantastic at it.
In fact last year, we had zero engines rejected due to FOD, and that’s down to them applying proper analysis and procedures and recommendations with regards to how to drive down a FOD-engine repair rate.
All of a sudden it’s a win-win for everybody.
As a Force Commander, I get better operational capability out of my airplanes.
I also have engineers that aren’t changing engines, and are able to concentrate on other work.
Rolls Royce makes more money due to the contract incentivization, and I get much better operational performance. Why wouldn’t this be a good thing?
BF-01 Flt 518 | Peter “Wizzer” Wilson piloting BF-01 during Ski Jump testing at NAS Patuxent River on 16SEP2105
More importantly, we do this effort together, as a Whole Force, so regardless of being Industry or Serviceman, we are all pulling together to deliver operational excellence.”
He clearly wishes to see the F-35 program build on this historical experience and not follow the USAF historic approach to sustainment with their F-15s at Lakenheath.
“With that approach. they are well over 10 years behind us with regard to our sustainment approach and experience.
I would hope that we could leverage this experience, and apply it to the sustainment of our inbound Lightning Force.”
He discussed the shift from a global solution to one, which could be shaped around regional hubs, and thought that the emergence of a viable regional hub support approach would make the most sense.
There are clear barriers to getting there, but for Air Commodore Smyth and others in the RAF, a forward leaning PBL was a necessary ingredient to ensuring the sortie generation rates which the aircraft is capable of doing.
How did he see the strategic opportunity of working with the USAF, as the USAF brings its two squadrons of F-35As to the UK?
“It is early days, but we are discussing ways to shape synergy.
Computer Generated Image of the outside of one of the facilities which is being built at RAF Marham, Norfolk, as part of a programme of works to prepare the station for the arrival of the F-35 Lightning II fleet in 2018.
We already have an excellent working relationship with our USAFE colleagues, and both sides are being very open to exploring ideas.
But the real opportunity will lie in joint training and some semblance of joint sustainment.
How do we do training in a more joined up way, both synthetically which is of immediate interest to me, and live with our F-35s because there’s got to be synergy in our approaches in British and European air space.
This could then no doubt grow beyond a UK-USAFE relationship, as our close European neighbors establish their F-35s in their countries.
The next question then is sustainment.
What is the appetite from the USAF to want to leverage off what will already be found at RAF Marham as we shape our infrastructure?
We fully understand that the JPO is still working hard to bottom out what the eventual Global Sustainment Solution will look like.
But at Marham we have left an ability to do modular builds and to grow it bigger if there is an appetite from USAF, or from someone in Europe, to want to bring their airplanes in as well.”
According to the UK MoD:
“Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Pilots are training to fly the new state-of-the-art stealth jet the F-35B Lightning II alongside their US counterparts at Marine Air Corps Station Beaufort, South Carolina.
The highly advanced 5th generation jet will come into UK service from 2018, but will make it’s first appearance over here at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in July and the Farnborough Air Show too.”
Credit Video: UK Ministry of Defence, April 26, 2016
2016-05-19 “An Australian-United States team has successfully completed an experimental hypersonic flight at the Woomera Test Range. The experimental rocket reached an apogee of 278 km, achieving the targeted speed of Mach 7.5 (seven and a half times the speed of sound).
The experimental flight was undertaken as part of a joint research program, HIFiRE (Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation Program) being conducted by the Defence Science and Technology Group and the US Air Force Research Laboratory with Boeing and the University of Queensland providing expert technical design and analysis.
The HIFiRE team has already achieved some significant milestones such as the design, assembly and pre-flight testing of the hypersonic vehicles and the design of complex avionics and flight systems.
More test flights are scheduled in the next two years.”
Australia has a small but cutting edge team of hypersonic researchers, with the test ranges to play out the evolving technologies, and with significant global working relationships. Research in this field can clearly yield possible capabilities for space access as well, with an ability to launch rapidly ISR and C2 capabilities for Australia and as part of the effort to overcome the tyranny of distance to deal with longer-range threats and challenges as well.
In fact, hypersonic “air-breathing” engines may be the only solution for dramatic reductions in the cost of launching payloads to orbit.
During a recent visit to Australia, I had a chance to visit several defense installations, including a hypersonics research area. I visited with Dr. Allan Paull and members of the Defence Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) hypersonic team located close to Brisbane, Australia.
HIFiRE 5b is one of a series of 10 flight experiments under the Australia-US collaborative project Hypersonic International Flight Research and Experimentation program aimed at investigating physical phenomena of flight at more than five times the speed of sound. The knowledge gained from these experiments will be applied to develop future flight vehicles and testing of advanced air-breathing hypersonic propulsion engines known as supersonic combustion ramjets (scramjets). HIFiRE partners include the University of Queensland, Boeing, BAE Systems and DLR (German Aerospace Center).
Dr. Paull made it clear that the team was small but effective.
“We combine the skills of several disciplines but each member of the team takes ownership of the entire effort and provides inputs to each and every aspect of the enterprise.
We are not organized around a model of deep pocket experts who stay within the confines of their specialty; we interact across the enterprise to push the research effort forward.”
Dr. Paull emphasized that the hypersonic effort required progress in several technologies at the same time, materials, propulsion, computation, etc.
Visiting the workroom of the DSTO where two hypersonic vehicles are being assembled certainly reinforced the point that several moving parts are being worked toward the next hypersonic test.
The key takeaway from the discussion with Dr. Paull was rather straightforward:
By 2015 we will have finished our current round of tests, and by that time there is little question but that the basic scramjet technology works and can be leveraged moving forward.
A key hypersonics program is the HIFiRE program. Australia has worked with the USAF in building out a full set of HIFiRE test vehicles. The objectives of the program are twofold: To develop the science and technology for hypersonic flight with air breathing propulsion; Complete a horizontal flight of a scramjet-powered vehicle for a duration of 30 seconds.
An interesting aspect of the Aussie effort has been to build an engine which can reach hypersonic speeds but fit into the center of a vehicle, thus allowing for an axisymmetric configuration. The team is working a number of innovations to achieve this result.
Such an engine, if proven, would be a major step forward in making practical use of scramjet technology.
For example, if one wished to do a test replicating what the Chinese just did, it would cost 3-5 times more in the United States than in Australia.
By building a solid working relationship and joint development, access to the Australian range would make sense for both sides and a more cost effective and capable result in a timely manner could be achieved.
After my visit I had a chance to discuss my findings with Dr. Mark Lewis, the former chief scientist of the USAF and a leading researcher in Hypersonics.
Dr. Lewis underscored the importance of boosting the partnership going forward for a number of reasons.
“This is an important relationship because the Australians bring significant intellectual contributions to the table.
They also have important practical flight experience; we can even argue that they flew the very first flying scramjet under their HyShot program, which was a precursor to HiFIRE.
2016-05-18 This year, the Indian Air Force flew to Alaska for the next round of Red Flag Exercises in 2016.
As Peter van den Berg commented in his article on Indian participation in the exercise:
“The decision to take part in the RF-A became definite in 2015.
The units have been training since November of that year in order to be prepared for the rathe difficult and complex exercise that RF-A is….
The Indians took a rather long route to get to Alaska.
That was denied upon based on weather condition sand accessibility along the route.”
The first stop was Bahrain, then Egypt, then Istres (France), then Beja and Lajes to Canada. Stopovers were made in Canada on the way to Alaska.
Indian Sukhoi participating in Red Flag. Credit Photo: Peter van den Berg
According to a USAF article published on May 13, 2016 written by Tech. Sgt. Steven R. Doty, 354th Fighter Wing:
RED FLAG-Alaska is a series of Pacific Air Forces commander-directed field training exercises for U.S. and partner nation forces, enabling joint and international units to exchange tactics, techniques and procedures while improving interoperability in a realistic threat environment.
With more than 75 aircraft and 1,400 participants, RF-A 16-1 featured a strategic — and rare — partnership with the Indian Air Force and two of their specific airframes; the Sukhoi SU-30MK, a twinjet multi-role air superiority fighter and the SEPECAT Jaguar, an Anglo-French jet-attack aircraft.
U.S. Air Force Colonel Brian Toth, 354th Operations Group commander, attributes participation of foreign military forces to the overall success of RF-A exercises.
“Through the initial planning meetings for each RED FLAG iteration, we discuss the end goals of each exercise and it is up to those countries’ representatives to acknowledge which missions would most benefit their particular needs at that time,” Toth said. “
However, the realistic training environment we aim to provide each iteration is only made possible with the participation of our partners and the hard work they put in throughout the exercise.”
Among the key highlights of the 2016 Red Flag in which India participated are the following according to an Indian observer:
A team of over 170 Indian Air Force personnel was part of the exercises.
The Indian Air Force flew 10 aircraft: four Su-30MKIs, four Jaguars and two IL-78 aerial refuelling tankers.
The objective of this inter-continental deployment was to showcase the IAF’s capability in undertaking integrated air ops and to imbibe operational lessons from the exercise engagements.
During the exercise, IAF also flew as a part of the Red Force (simulated as the Defensive force component fighting to protect own airspace and assets) alongside the Aggressors which was a first of its kind.
The IAF Jaguars DARIN II undertook integrated strike missions dropping practice bombs over the world renowned JPARC Air to Ground Range.
The temperatures were sub-zero during a large part of the exercise.
A Sukhoi SU-30MK with the Indian Air Force taxi’s down the tarmac in preparation for take-off, Nellis AFB, May 6, 2016. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Steven R. Doty)
“A total of 10 missions were flown by both the SU-MKI and the Jaguars: five in the first and five in the second week of the Red Flag Exercise.
The Jaguars were usually classified under the blue team and the SU-30MKIs had a supporting, defensive task.
Main challenges for thse pilots were training with other foreign units and the intensive program.
Another challenge was to turn the learning effect and inform from the mission debriefings into knowledge to be brought back home to India.”
An illustration of the impact of Red Flag upon coalition operations can be seen with regard to Indian’s Air Force contingents from Red Flag coming back to the region to expand their working relationship with the UAE, notably with the UAE’s Block 60 F-16s.
Until recently, the Indian Air Force (IAF) planned for the possibility of United Arab Emirates (UAE) supplying up to a squadron of F-16 fighters to boost the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in an Indo-Pakistan conflict.
Now, dramatically signalling the transformed relationship between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi, an IAF contingent returning to India next month from the on-going Red Flag exercise in the US will train with the UAE air force.
Its pilots fly the world’s most potent F-16s, the Block 60 version, superior even to US Air Force F-16s and to the Block 50/52 version that Washington supplies Pakistan…..
Growing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation between India and UAE has been catalysed by Abu Dhabi’s sharp U-turn from the time PAF pilots trained its air force and retired PAF technicians maintained its Mirage III and F-16 fighters.
This has been catalysed by the radical threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to UAE last August, the two countries forged a “comprehensive strategic partnership”.
On its heels came the February visit to New Delhi of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, when “the two renewed their commitment to strengthening the existing cooperation in training, joint exercises, and participation in defence exhibitions, as well as in identifying opportunities to cooperate on the production of defence equipment in India”.
The UAE has detected and deported terrorist sympathisers from the two million Indians working in that country, handing them over to Indian authorities. al Nahyan, visiting soon after the terrorist attack on the Pathankot Air Base this year, condemned cross-border terrorism.
If the UAE is a new friend, Oman has long been India’s most steadfast partner in West Asia.
Muscat and New Delhi signed a military protocol in 1972, and the two air forces together conducted Exercise Eastern Bridge in 2009 in Oman, and in 2011 in India.
This incorporated the common Jaguar fighter, which both operated until Oman retired its Jaguars in 2014 and bought the Eurofighter. Until then, Jaguar spares built by HAL were sold to Oman. With the IAF looking to extend the service life of its six Jaguar squadrons by fitting in new engines and avionics, Oman’s 24 retired Jaguars could be of interest to the IAF.
With President Obama visiting Vietnam, it is now time for a celebration of a very successful bipartisan pro-bono effort to help build elementary schools in Vietnam.
The late Jack Wheeler upon hearing of Lew Puller Jr ‘s tragic suicide challenged us all to build enough schools to honor all the names on The Vietnam Veteran Memorial.
Now with the 50th School built that quest has been doubled.
And the year end letter for 2015 captures the sense of progress.
Dear Friends of the Vietnam Children’s Fund,
The close of the year always seems to be a time of reflection for me. The first thing I think of is the gratitude we feel for the support we have from those who care about our work – building clean modern schools for children who live in some of the most deprived regions of Vietnam.
We have finished the renovation of Lew’s school, thanks to the generosity of Mr. H.F. Lenfest of Pennsylvania.
Last spring President Truong Tan Sang conferred the Friendship Medal on Sam in recognition of the important contributions he has made for the past two decades in his work with VCF. This Medal is the highest honor accorded by the Government of Vietnam to non-citizens.
In June an elaborate new playground was installed at the award winning school in Thai Binh, a generous gift from Mr. Binh Tran of Washington, DC.
We are working now on the new school in Quang Nam, sponsored by FedEX which will be number 50! And a school in Ha Giang, sponsored by Mr. and Mrs. Pat Lomma, our 51st!
We remain deeply grateful to all those who have supported our work over the years. Your gifts, large and small, have made it possible to change the lives of more than 100,000 children. Many have gone on to secondary education and beyond. There are no words to express our appreciation. If you are moved to give VCF a gift our mailing address remains PO Box 150, Unionville, VA.
Wishing you and yours the very Best of the Holiday season and beyond.
The above letter written by the two distinguished co-chairs of the Vietnam Children’s Fund , Terry Anderson and Kieu Chinh and perfectly captures the success of a project that began two decades ago.
Since the letter the 50th School was dedicated thanks to the generosity of FedEx a company created by a decorated Vietnam veteran Fred Smith.
This is a picture of the famously talented actress Kieu Chinh and the VFC project manager Sam Russell who was awarded the Vietnam Friendship Medal, the highest award bestowed on non-citizens.
L-R Sam Russell, Lan Vien, Board members Kieu Chinh and Binh Nguyen.
With the 50th school having been built, it is time to reflect on all who made this worthy effort possible.
Two decades ago group of friends got together at the Freedom Forum in the old Arlington USA Today headquarters to launch an effort to build a school in Vietnam in honor of the late Lew Puller.
Today his legacy is very much alive with the children of Vietnam.
The Vietnam Children’s Fund was the dream of Lewis B. Puller, Jr. who lost both legs and most of both hands to a land mine during the Vietnam War.
Lew was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star while serving as a Marine Lieutenant.
His personal experience, expressed in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Fortunate Son, led him to believe that in war no one goes unscathed, and that children, the most vulnerable of all, suffer the greatest hardships.
In the year before his death, Lew Puller returned to Vietnam seeking ideas for the living memorialhe and several friends had decided to build to honor the Vietnamese men, women, and children who died in that country’s long wars.
He decided that the most appropriate monument to the past and greatest hope for the future would be schools for Vietnam’s children.
Lew died just before the ground-breaking of the first school, built in Quang Tri Province on the old demilitarized zone and dedicated in his name on the 20th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Since Lew’s death, his friends have remained determined to realize his dream.
(Left to Right) Ed Tumperlake, Lan Vien Jack Wheeler, Sam Russell, Kim Anh, Marcia Landau, Terry Anderson, Kieu Chin, and Tony Accamando Board members not seen in the photo are Joy Carroll and the Honorable Pat Derian.
During the journey to the 5th School many were very helpful especially the late Al Neuharth, and the late David Broder of The Washington Post.
Mr. Neuharth sponsored the original meeting space and David Broder’s column, very early in the effort, about honoring Lew was so very important.
“The project is an inspiring example of how people of goodwill can turn violence and tragedy into a cause for hope.”-David Broder, The Washington Post.
As the Vietnam War enters the history of America four people who made a difference are no longer with us:
Jack Wheeler was brutally murdered in 2011 and the crime remains unsolved.
Jim Kimsey who donated the seed money to build the first school.
Board Member Tom Kennedy who left us all to soon.
Tom was passionate about and dedicated to the Vietnamese children.
Over the years he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for VCF.
His family and friends personally funded the construction of two schools: one in Phu Da and one in Que Son, the home village of his adopted son Khoa.
Thanks for everything, Tom.
We miss you.
The sounds of a distant battlefield are echoing into history but the sounds of Vietnamese children attending VCF schools will be with many generations yet to come.
For an opportunity to comment on this article, please go to the following:
Here the continued focus is upon how the coming of the F-35 is part of the reshaping of European airpower and enabling 4th generation in the words of a Typhoon pilot to become “more lethal and survivable.”
But during my visit, I was able to talk with the Typhoon integration-working group.
The session was led by Brigadier General de Ponti, Deputy Director, of the European Air Group and joined by the “drivers” of the ETIP (Euro Typhoon Interoperability Project) as well as organizers of exercise efforts to shape a new approach, namely Lt. Col. Jacobo Lecube of the Spanish Air Force and Lt Col. Marco Schiattioni from the Italian Air Force and Chief of Staff Col. Stephane Pierre, of the Belgian Air Force.
The overall focus of the effort is upon shaping a more common fleet approach among Eurofighter nations.
Although four nations came together to build a common airplane, the planes have been used by four different air forces with limited overlap in standards and operating practices.
As the Euro-Typhoon is clearly a key element for the future of European airpower and with the coming of the F-35 to Europe, this makes little sense.
And what the European Air Group is focused upon are practical ways to shape more common fleet approaches among the air forces, which fly Euro-Typhoon.
Also, shaping a common template in doing Baltic air policing in which Eurofighter/Typhoons are becoming a frequent asset in executing the mission provides an obvious opportunity to find ways to shape common procedures and support approaches as well.
The problem was simply put by one of the participants:
“When an Italian Eurofighter lands on a German base, it can not use the ground support equipment or change a tire, because the standards are different.
These are procedural issues, which may make sense in terms of national norms but not in terms of common fleet operations.
Through this project we seek to end differences which get in the way of common operational support.”
According to BG de Ponti:
“The Eurofighter-Typhoon project is an important effort for our air forces.
It is about the co-evolution of Typhoon with the shaping of a 4th-5th generation integrated force.
It is two prongs of shaping more effective European airpower.
It is a building blocks approach to shaping evolving capabilities.”
The focus is upon achieving practical steps towards greater integration of the Eurofighter-Typhoon based on the working together of the crews to shape common approaches and capabilities.
The EAG is leveraging an exercise approach to shape a way ahead.
According to Lt Col. Schiattioni:
“We started as a normal forum, but quickly realized that we needed to shape an exercise approach.
From the beginning, the Tornado had a much more common operational approach than with Typhoons.
Although the jet was built together, each nation did its own training and TTPs.
Each nation operated the jet differently.
But now that we operate more together, we need clear common operating procedures, notably with regard to maintenance of the aircraft.
In turn, this drives a wedge in common modernization which needs to be done with the broader fleet.”
The approach is based on sharing information and to get the pilots and maintainers to together to share experiences and to shape common standards.
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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.
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.”
In the words of one speaker at the 4th-5th generation working group, there was a clear need to modernize the Eurofighter approach to modernization.
Clearly, the EAG is making a key contribution to this effort.
Eurofighter/Typhoon Interoperability Exercise – Albacete AB (Spain)
Four nations (Germany, Italy, Spain and UK) of the European Air Group (EAG) conducted a multinational exercise, VOLCANEX Eurofighter Typhoon Interoperability Project (ETIP) LIVEX 15, from 14 – 18 September at Albacete Air Base (Spain).
The aim was to strengthen Eurofighter/Typhoon interoperability and standardization between the EAG nations through the use of common Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), and to familiarize ground crews on other nations AGE (Aircraft Ground Equipment),“Turn around” and QRA procedures.
The key to success in multinational operations is a common understanding and efficient coordination and communications between nations of what to do and how to do it.
The EAG, consisting of the Air Forces of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom, seeks to improve the operational capabilities of the Parties’ Air Forces to carry out operations in pursuit of shared interests.
One way of achieving this goal is by developing common doctrines and procedures. VOLCANEX is the European Air Group’s name for current and future multinational exercises on which it seeks to refine and validate its developed products and procedures.
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IM OF VOLCANEX ETIP LIVEX 15
VOLCANEX ETIP LIVEX 15 was a week-long exercise primarily focused on achieving a common EAG SOP for Air Operations and to improve familiarization through the exchange of best practices among aircrew and maintenance personnel of the Eurofighter/Typhoon community.
The live Air Operation Exercise was conducted under the ‘Eurofight Technical Agreement’ at the Spanish Air Force Base of Albacete, taking advantage of the concomitant deployment of nation’s aircrafts for the Tactical Leadership Programme Flying Course.
The exercise, hosted by the 14 ALA of the Spanish Air Force, was directed by EAG personnel, together with the senior national representatives.
The level of experience amongst the participants allowed to the exercise objectives to be achieved quickly and in particular to establish a usable and valid SOP for Eurofighter/Typhoon operations.
A ‘bottom-up’ / operator-led approach encouraged participants to explore the specific tools needed for further development of interoperability within the community.
A full week’s program focused on interoperability where daily aircrews compared, discussed, and validated in flight, common procedures throughout the missions spectrum.
Meanwhile ground crews had the opportunity to familiarize with launch and recovery (see off/in) and QRA procedures and to demonstrate their own national AGE.
A total of 8 very highly experienced pilots and more than 18 engineers/ground crew personnel took an active part in VOLCANEX ETIP LIVEX 15 and 28 total sorties were flown.
“The achievement of a Common SOP is a milestone in the development of future combined training and operations for the Eurofighter/Typhoon community.
`For instance, we are providing a useful tool for the operators to be employed in the Baltic air-policing mission where the four nations are currently involved.` said Lt Col Jacobo Lecube, member of the EAG permanent staff and Exercise Director.
It was also the first time that this Exercise was focused on 1st line maintenance interoperability issues, providing not only the opportunity to discuss and share best practices, but also to observe and practice together in order to identify possible tools and ways ahead for a better interoperability on future combined scenarios.
The EAG describes the project as follows on its website:
In September 2011, the Eurofighter operating community comprising 4 EAG Nations (Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), two additional Eurofighter users (Austria and Saudi Arabia), NETMA and the Industry, signed the Typhoon User
Group (TUG) Agreement.
The Agreement aimed to provide an open forum for the exchange of operational, capability, sustainability and maintainability views and develop best practice within the Eurofighter-Typhoon operator community, industry and for other potential users.
The EAG Nations felt that they needed to coordinate and exchange information at the tactical/operational/operating level in order:
To improve the coordination of flight safety activity amoung the Typhoon Nations,
To organize an annual conference to share TTPs at Squadron level,
To organize an annual conference for Operational Conversion Units (OCU).
The Euro Typhoon Interoperability Project, created in September 2013, seeks to work on these issues at tactical level, in order to developed improved interoperability between the EAG Eurofighter and Typhoon nation’s aircrews and supporting staff.
The main objectives agreed by the nations and established in the ToRs are as follows:
Improve coordination between the different Eurofighter and Typhoon squadrons.
Improve flight safety at the user level.
Share crew certification criteria.
Improve mission planning knowledge and capability.
Share information at the tactical level (TTPs).
Improve the sharing of the day-to-day troubleshooting and basic maintenance issues.
Share instructional syllabus and improve the Initial Basic Instruction and coordination of training activities at the OCUs.
Coordinate as much as possible, deployments and exercises for mutual benefits.
The first slideshow shows various photos of the typhoons.
The first photo shows the Typhoons in the formation along with the F-35 crossing the Atlantic and is credited to the Italian Ministry of Defence.
The second and third show RAF Typhoons involved in Red Flag 2015.
The fourth shows the Typhoon with the Storm Shadow.
The fifth shows the Typhoon with a Meteor missile.
And the final photo shows the Typhoon with both Storm Shadow and Meteor.
The second slideshow shows 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 video below shows Typhoons from RAF 3rd Squadron (based at Coningsby) participating in Red Flag 16-1.
During a visit to the Joint Airpower Competence Center of NATO located in Dusseldorf, Germany, specifically in Kalkar, Germany, I had a chance to discuss their important study on the evolution of air warfare capabilities in a networked environment.
The Joint Air Power Competence Center or JAPCC was formed and focused on helping NATO member nations shape more effective airpower solutions for 21st century challenges.
According to its website:
The Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) was formed on 1 January 2005 to provide the strategic level proponent for Joint Air and Space (A&S) Power that was missing in NATO. Soon thereafter, JAPCC was accredited as NATO’s first Centre of Excellence (COE) and, as such, is charged with the development of innovative concepts and solutions required for the transformation of A&S Power within the Alliance and the Nations.
A&S Power SMEs, drawn from the Land, Maritime and Air components of the 15 MoU nations, conduct collaborative research into areas in which JAPCC assistance is requested by leveraging their independent thought and a global network of experts that reach across the military, academic and industrial spheres. The resulting analysis and solutions are disseminated via studies, reports, journal articles, seminars, panels and conferences.
The co-leads of the study are Lt. Col. Carlos Presa of the Spanish Air Force who is the Combat Air Branch Manned Air lead, and Commander William Perkins of the US Navy the lead analyst for maritime air including carrier operations.
The two co-leads provided an overview of this important study, which is focused on the evolution of C2 in a networked environment.
Broadly speaking, there are two schools of thought among those looking at future generation-enabled air operations.
One school of thought looks at the evolution of networks within which airpower creates its effects and the coming of fifth generation is largely understood in terms of both its impact upon and role within the evolution of networks. This can be seen largely as an update on understanding of network centric warfare in the second decade of the 21st century.
The second school of thought focuses on the evolution of C2 within which fifth generation aircraft provide an impetus to an evolving trend towards decentralized C2.
The difference can be a subtle one but it is a significant one.
The first prioritizes the networks, their operations, and their security and assumes that the hub and spoke system largely continues within which hierarchical decision-making remains a norm.
The second focuses on a honeycomb approach within which force packages are shaped to work with one another but C2 evolves within the battlespace.
With a solid communications structure, the 5th generation aircraft can function as a honeycomb which allows them to follow a distributed air con-ops and allows the combat force to operate interactively in three-dimensional space. (Credit: Bigstock)
Tactical decisions are made at the key point of attack and defense; strategic decision making is really about the decision to deploy a force package, shaping ways for confluence of force to operate and evaluating the impacts of those force packages and calibrating next steps for the deployment of continuous evolving force engagement model.
Although the project is entitled air warfare in a networked environment, the study falls squarely in the second school of thought.
The co-evolution of platforms to shape C2 in self-adjusting networked operational environments is a key element of the approach.
In an interview, which we did with a former USAF officer who then joined Northrop Grumman the key impact of fifth generation on command and control, was highlighted in a key manner:
“You don’t want to have a fifth-generation Air Force, shackled by a third-generation system of command and control.”
He then added:
“The concept of dispersing aircraft on airfields is well understood. Rather than park them wingtip-to-wingtip, commanders might disperse them across broader geographies, so that at worst case, an adversary could take out one or two airplanes, not the entire fleet. And this idea of dispersing for survival is well accepted.
But the same kind of concept is not generally applied to command and control at the operational-level with the same level of effort.
Dispersing command and control for survival or distributing command and control in a way that one can pick up the slack is essential.
If the CAOC goes away and the Joint Force Air Component Commander is unable to C2 the forces, then, who are the subordinate commanders?
And, and what ability do they have to continue to fight in terms of operational-level command and control?
For the current fight, the tactical-level C2 elements, the air battle managers on board the AWACS for example, will continue to fight the current fight. But, what happens next?
And so, I think a wing commander in the future will have to have ability, in the same way a brigade commander does in land warfare, to exercise appropriate command and control over his forces absent the higher authority … centralized command, distributed control, decentralized execution … mission command for the air component.”
It is in this spirit that the JAPCC study is being conducted.
How will enhanced communication networks working with the co-evolution of new and legacy platforms reshape operations and mission effectiveness?
The study is based on a number of key propositions, which are guiding the research and analysis for the evolution of NATO C2.
“An advanced C2 network through unrestricted communication will permit new forms of information transfer among different platforms that display information from different sensors and employ different weapons
This will happen through:
self-synchronization
in pre-authorised sub-tasks
requiring a multi-functional supported-supporting toolbox
The different features or characteristics of these platforms may be combined in real-time to create more effective mission-tailored clusters.”
And this will likely result in an evolution in NATO Air C2 doctrine.
One of the elements for shaping the analyses is examining how European researchers are shaping understanding of swarm behavior or swarm intelligence.
How do swarms of bees balance and distribute their functions, configure their tasks and arrange the optimal motion policy for the swarm?
And what is the impact of swarming behavior among dissimilar species teaming when symbiotic behavior is a must in a competitive environment?
How does auto positioning and dynamic re-positioning happen with members of a swarm?
Data links have become important in shaping NATO coalition operations but with the introduction of the fifth generation multi-tasking aircraft, how will something more akin to self-adjusting cells of a honeycomb operate?
A number of key objectives have been identified for the project.
When considering the evolution of C2, a key dynamic of change is the evolving man-machine relationship and the enhanced role of machine-to-machine data transfers as well.
“Network-centric C2 and cyber warfare as a primary linking factor will dynamically reorganize the current functional distribution of Roles among aerial/joint platforms and expedite task accomplishment”.
F-35 is an example of a multi-functional platform that may act as an enabler for other legacy platforms.
Each platform has core functions. These functions are allocated for each tactical task, as well as the proper decision rights.
Task execution will become more dynamic and characterized by a flexible supported-supporting schema where the different systems contribute through data transfer to enable and augment everybody’s capabilities.
The ‘best available sensor’ and ‘best available weapon’ concepts will be allocated within the honeycomb for the different offensive and defensive stages of the fight.
Co-evolution of legacy platforms through LINK-16 is already a fact.
The JAPCC team, in close collaboration with the Tactical Leadership Programme, has analysed the pre and post LINK 16 efficiency trends within a 10-year span of TLP operations across different tactical scenarios.
But beyond LINK-16, and through gateways, like the Northrop-Grumman Freedom 550 Joint Enterprise Terminal, hyper-connectivity will create a new skeleton for decision making, force management and task execution based on data transfer while recognizing the future air forces will be comprised of aircraft with varying capabilities yet retain a requirement for robust network participation.”
The study draws upon the work of NATO researchers who have defined a maturity model for C2.
For future C2 model references, Alberts et al. proposed a Maturity Model for network-enabled operations. The scope of the SAS Panel study was to investigate how operational capability can be provided and enhanced through the exploitation of new technologies, new forms of organization or new concepts of operation.
Leveraging the Honeycomb and Swarming Capabilities Credit: Bigstock
The analogy used by the authors of this NATO NEC maturity Model is cartographic: ‘A maturity model is like a map, it helps you to determine where you are relative to where you want to go’.
As it is uncertain the impact that the incoming networked environments will cause in the existent C2 structures, the usage of a model will be the conceptual tool that helps to locate and understand the ‘intermediate destinations’ that these evolutionary trends will meet once the information’s age warfare changes the way to plan and conduct operations.
The Maturity Model defines 3 Axes:
1st Axis. Allocation of decision rights to the collective: The rules. The entities evolve from mistrust to a shared, robust and flexible decision-making process within the team by giving up their respective rights for the benefit of the endeavour as a whole. This feature is related to the strength and validity of the team’s contract and regulations.
2nd Axis. Patterns of interaction among the entities: The will and confidence. Axis where players with different communication capabilities, skills and communicative options can reduce uncertainty in support of the team’s leader decision making.
3rd Axis. Distribution of information among the players: Axis where the information needed to accomplish required tasks is available to each player. As the flow of relevant information within the C2 system is tangible, this axis can be considered as a direct measure of the team’s performance. A channel of communication must be available, a code compatible and messages understood without ambiguities.
Axis number 3 would cause a quicker effect as it would be possible to connect the team through universal sounds, icons and symbols, just as young teens play online videogames worldwide, sharing the rules and the functions, but neither the country nor the language or the culture.
Shaping an understanding of the way ahead for C2 in a coalition environment is built around what the authors call a dynamic airspace synchronization concept.
Because this is a NATO study, a key focus is upon understanding how the evolution of C2 maturity will impact on the evolution of NATO’s air C2 doctrine.
And the authors argue that although “hyper-connectivity has already changed the air (joint) battle, there is not a concept for integrated-distributed ops at coalition level.”
The Director of JAPCC is General Frank Gorenc, USAF. In previous interviews he addressed interoperability through machine-to-machine interaction as part of his future Air Power vision.
Recently, he has clearly identified the significant impact of the coming of the F-35 on NATO airpower.
In an interview with Defense News published on March 16, 2016, General Gorenc identified how he sees the impact of the coming of the F-35:
“The beauty of the F-35 is for the first time ever we have an airplane that literally can do four out of five core competencies. It can do air and space superiority, it can do strike, it can do intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and it can do command and control”.
With the coming of the F-35 and the evolution of the networks within which coalition airpower operate and are changing, it makes sense to think through a broader approach to C2, notably one which can leverage the evolving man-machine relationship.
The longer-term objective is to have a more effective coalition force which can provide much more effective C2 in a fluid battlespace with maximum effect.
With the evolution of two way data-linked weapons, and of remotely piloted vehicles and the coming of the F-35, the need to both understand and shape a more effective approach to self-synchronization of platforms through a collaborative use of the joint battlespace is crucial.
And understanding how this can be done in accord with the evolution of Alliance or Coalition rules, caveats and missions is required as well.
In short, the JAPCC is taking a solid step forward in looking at the future of airpower and how that future is reshaping concepts of operations.
On Thursday May 12, 2016, the Brazilian senate voted by 55 to 22 to begin an impeachment trail of Dilma Rousseff.
This means she was suspended from office and vice president Michel Temer was installed as interim president of Brazil.
The trial of Rousseff in the senate could last up to 180 days.
This will bring it close to the opening of the Olympic Games.
Dilma is unlikely to step down voluntarily.
Rousseff is well known for her obstinacy.
But she is also known for her courage in adversity.
Then Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff reacts during a meeting with leaders of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia November 5, 2014. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
Brazil’s first female president claimes that she has been the “victim of a great injustice.”
She is accused of breaking budget laws to disguise the scale of the fiscal deficit during her re-election campaign in 2014: “I have made mistakes, but I have not committed any crimes.”
She is unlikely to be acquitted.
The balance of the votes are against her. But she is not charged with personal corruption.
The case against her involves her alleged manipulation of the budget. But this been an endemic practice by previous presidents, governors, and municipal leaders for decades. In fact the accusations against her are political.
The decision to impeach her is a political act, which is the direct result of her abismal ratings of popularity. The action is conducted within legalistic and constitutional mechanisms.
So it is not a “coup” as she claims.
But it is without question a “constitutional” removal from office of an elected president by a partisan congress, where she has lost support, and where her political enemies, many of them accused of corruption, have been calling the tune.
Acting president Michel Temer has moved quickly to install a new government.
The key figures in Temer’s government are the new finance minister, Henrique Meirelles, and Jose Serra, the new minister of foreign affairs. Both men have presidential ambitions. Michel Temer, who is 75, will not run for office in the next presidential election which will take place in 2018.
Michel Temer is the interim President of Brazil. Credit Photo: Reuters
Jose Serra is a long term leader in the main oppostion party (the PSDB). Serra was twice the presidential candidate of the PSDB in 2002 and 2010, when he was defeated by Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, of the workers party (PT).
Dilma, who was Lula’s handpicked candidate to suceed him, was twice elected president, also in opposition to a PSDB candidate, most recently, when she ran for a second term against Aecio Neves, also a leader of the PSDB, a former governor on Minas Gerais, and now a senator from Minas Gerais, and a leader of the impreachment against Dilma Rousseff.
Serra is a long term political leader in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s industrial, commercial, and financial capital, where he has served a mayor, governor, and was elected as senator. He has a PhD from Cornell university. Serra has quickly asserted his leadership of the foreign ministry by criticising the so-called “Bolivarian” states of Latin America, principally Venezuela and Cuba, for their claims that Dilma was removed by a coup. He will undoubtedly go on to criticise the BRICS, another major component of the PT’s foreign policy agenda. As a senator Serra also introduced legislation (which passed) to privatise Brazil’s offshore petroleum assets.
Henrique Meirelles, the new minister of finance, is a former long term president of Brazil’s central bank. During Lula’s two terms in office, he was an essential figure in establishing and retaining Brazil’s financial credibility for Lula when he first became president. Lula was a left-wing union organiser and PT founder and his election had been opposed by Brazilian business leaders.
But Lula gave Meirelles de facto autonomy at the central bank, and he presided over a time when Brazil experienced great prosperity as a result of high commodity exports, low inflation, the discovery of vast off shore petroleum reserves, and substantial social progress.
Meirelles is a fiscal hawk.
He has a PhD in economics from MIT, and he was for 28 years with BankBoston, where he became president and chief operating officer. He has also said he will appoint Ilan Goldfajn, chief economist at itau Unibanco, as the new head of Brazil’s central bank. Goldfajn is also a PhD in economics from MIT. He also worked as chief economist and risk manager for Gavea Investments in Rio de Janeiro, the company established by Arminio Fraga, who was the Brazilian Central Bank president under Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Arminio Fraga had previously worked with George Soros in New York City. Temer had wanted Fraga to be his finance minister, but he declined.
These appointments in the financial area, however, will undoubtedly be very well received by the financial establishment in São Paulo, and more generally by the co-called “markets.” The “Financial Times” in fact called them the ideal “wishlist for investors.”
But who is Temer and what are the prospects for his administration?
Temer is a Brazilian career politician from São Paulo. He has twice been speaker of the chamber of deputies.
He is the son of Lebanese Christian immigrants, a lawyer, and constitutional law professor at the pontifical catholic university of São Paulo. He is also the author of a work of fiction “anonymous intimacy” and a collection of poems. But he is not well known by the public, nor is he popular. And there have been accusations against him for electoral improprieties and illicit funding of his campaigns.
He is best known for his marriage to Marcela Temer (32) who is 43 years younger than her husband, and is a statuesque former beauty queen who has “Michel” tattooed on her neck. The Brazilian weekly newsmagazine, Veja, a protagonist in the impeachment debate, called Marcela Temer (approvingly): “Beautiful, maiden like, and a housewife.”(Bela, recatada, e “do lar”). Which only reinforced the popular reaction to Temer’s new cabinet which is all white and all male. But then only 53 out of 513 Brazilian congressional representatives are women.
Michel Temer certainly has the insider skills of a long serving politician, but he also has all the faults of a long term “articulator” of the back room deals which characterize the “inside the beltway” mentality of Brazilian politics.
His choice of ministers reflects this pattern.
His first choice as minister of defence, for example, was representative Newton Cardoso Jr, the son of the former vice-governor of Minas Gerais. Newton Cardoso Jr had supported Dilma’s re-election, but he then voted for her impeachment. The army reacted with fury to this nomination. A general was quoted a saying that it was “incredible” that a “boy of 26 years old” would “command men of 60 at a critical moment of crisis on the eve of the Olympic Games.”
Temer retreated. Cardoso Jr was not appointed to be minister of defence.
But other ministers bring heavy baggage.
Temer’s first chose as minister of science was Marcos Pereira, an evangelical pastor, who is a “creationist.” Evangelical Christians form an important bloc in the congress. But again he was forced to retreat. But he did secure the agriculture ministry for senator Blairo Maggi of Matto Grosso, known as the “soya-king”. Maggi it is claimed was responsible for deforesting large tracts of the Amazon rain forest.
One thing is certain. Michel Temer’s honeymoon will be very short indeed.
His government faces formidable problems on many fronts:
Not least the worst recession in modern times.
Growing inflation.
Competing would-be presidential hopefuls in key positions in his administration.
Providing security for the rapidly approaching Olympic and para-Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.
The continuing spread of Zika.
The on-going Petrobras investigations, plea bargaining and convictions (as well as other corruption scandals.)
And against this background the ongoing impeachment trail of Dilma Rousseff in the Brazilian senate, which for all her faults, omissions, misjudgments, and misgovernment, now risks becoming the trail of a wronged woman, pursued by middle aged, corrupt, and vengeful men.
But the new interim president of Brazil is the last man to realize the potency of this image.
Dilma defenestrated is much more powerful than Dilma in office.
