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2016-04-06 This report provides an update of the roll out of the F-35 as of March 31, 2016.
The report is based on interviews with pilots, maintainers, testers and industrialists involved with the program.
The F-35 is not a future program; it is here now.
The Marines already have their initial aircraft, the USAF is about to declare their first squadron ready for combat and the US Navy will follow next year. Several partners in the program are flying and maintaining their initial aircraft at places like Luke AFB or Beaufort Marine Corps station.
And those same allies, have built or are building infrastructure in their countries for the roll out of the F-35 in their countries, as well as to support those of allies which will operate when appropriate off of their national airbases.
According to the F-35 Joint Program Officer, there are currently more than 250 F-35 pilots and 2,400 aircraft maintainers from six nations already trained and more than 110 jets are jointly under construction at the Fort Worth and Cameri production facilities.
F-35s are flying at eight operating locations: Edwards Air Force Base, California, Eglin AFB, Florida, Hill AFB, Utah, Luke AFB, Arizona, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, MCAS Yuma, Arizona, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and Nellis AFB, Nevada. Jets are also flown at two F-35 depot locations at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, and the Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill AFB, Utah.
And we learned at Edwards AFB in meetings with maintainers, that more than 150 F-35s are already feeding data into the F-35 digital data base, as part of shaping the way ahead for the maintenance of the fleet.
The F-35 is a “flying combat system” rather than a classic tactical fighter.
It is capable of fighting across the range of military operations and can do so rapidly in a multi-tasking mode.
That is, the impact of using F-35s is that one can deploy a force with a lighter logistical footprint, with greater coalition combat capabilities and operate across the ROMO (Range of Military Operations).
As a fleet, the F-35 is an integrated fleet able to share data over great distances via the its wave based communications systems.
And it comes as Western forces are augmenting their ability to network forces and to prepare for the next generation of weapons, and learning how to off board weapons, that is one platform identifying targets and guiding a weapon launched from another platform to the target.
The F-35 is the first software upgradeable tactical jet ever built; and the evolution of the software will be determined by the operational experiences of the air combat force.
But the F-35 is not a replacement aircraft; and it will operate with selective legacy aircraft in shaping concepts of operations innovations; but legacy assets will be modernized with regard to the shift in fifth generation warfighting fostered by the introduction of the F-35 global fleet.
Although not a replacement aircraft, there are significant improvements in the design of the aircraft which make it more affordable and viable going forward, including the intersecting R and D into the fusion cockpit as well as the fact that the F-35 is the first 8,000 combat hour operational tactical aircraft ever built.
The F-35 is also the first generation of shaping a globally sustainable tactical aircraft whereby global sourcing and support will be available.
This means that one nation’s F-35s can be maintained at the point of attack with other nation’s support structures.
This means that the sustainability of a nation’s force at an expeditionary point of attack can be supported by the global enterprise.
The F-35 is a foundational element in the reshaping of 21st century warfighting approaches whereby the ability of a coalition force to operate in the expanded battlespace is crucial for mission success.
The F-35 fusion engine has built into a range of integrated capabilities, which allows to operate in combat areas where legacy jets simply can not unless they are aided by a range of specialized aircraft, such as a jamming assets.
In effect, the introduction of the F-35 shapes a two fold dynamic.
First, co-modernization with other air combat assets or highlighting which modernizations in legacy systems are worth the effort and second, shaping dynamic combat learning with the F-35 as the learning aircraft at the center of the effort.
Put bluntly: If you are not in the F-35 learning curve you are staying in the past three decades of warfare.
Several of the aspects introduced here are discussed in more detail by those who are actually using the aircraft and evolving the systems onboard the aircraft.
We are drawing largely upon visits and interviews over the past six months in this report but the website has several years of coverage which can be referenced by our readers.
Please enter your name and email below and you will then be able to download the report directly.
Late last year, the Kuwaitis and Eurofighter revealed that a deal was being negotiated for the GCC state to become the third member of the Eurofighter team, joining Saudi Arabia and Oman.
The deal was formally signed this week between Italy and Kuwait. The deal is for 28 Tranche 3 Eurofighters, with 22 being single seat and the remander two-seaters.
The deal includes pilot training, logistics and infrastructure improvements as well.
Most importantly, Kuwait is buying the latest version of the aircraft which includes the new radar and other enhancements.
Eurofighter Tranche 3 has a significantly enhanced combat capability for both air-to-air and air-to-ground operations.
Kuwait Eurofighter. Credit: Eurofighter
As Paul Smith put it with regard to the radar transition for Tranche 3:
The new Captor-E radar allows for greater capability to see and operate within the battlespace. It provides for flexible task management with multifunctional performance and simultaneous modes for air to air and air to surface.
It provides an electronic attack capability, which complements our current EW capability on the aircraft as well as ESM, or electronic support measures as well.
The new radar will be able to leverage very effectively the new Meteor missile with its two-way data link to expand the capability of the aircraft to operate against adversary aircraft at a distance and in complex combat situations.
The situational awareness delivered by the fusion of Captor and other sensors in combination with the larger no escape zone of the Meteor should give Typhoon a significant combat advantage.
The plane itself is crucial, but it can lead one to miss the core point – the Typhoon has become a core air combat platform for the 21st century, and the consortium has expanded its stakeholders in the modernization of the aircraft as a 21st century combat system.
In a press release by Eurofighter dated April 5, 2016, the CEO of Eurofighter, Volker Palzo underscored the critical mass point:
“The confirmation of this order is further testament of the growing interest in the Eurofighter Typhoon in the Gulf Region.
It will enable Kuwait to benefit from the critical mass being developed in the Gulf and the many advantages that it brings to an Air Force in terms of interoperability, training and in-service support.”
KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah (right) and Finmeccanica CEO Mauro Moretti are seen during the signing ceremony for 28 Eurofighter warplanes April 5, 2016. KUNA
The announcement of the agreement in the Kuwait Times highlighted the importance of training and infrastructure involved with the purchase:
The statement pointed out the ministry’s keenness to acquire highest level of operational capabilities through this purchase.
The contract is an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries and includes logistics and operational support, as well as training of both aircrews and ground personnel.
The latter will be carried out in cooperation with the Italian Air Force, and in particular with the 20th Gruppo, ItAF Typhoon OCU (Operational Conversion Unit) based at Grosseto airbase.
It also added, the timeline for the arrival of the aircraft as well.
According to the ministry’s statement, the first two aircraft will arrive in the last quarter of 2019, with the complete arrival of all aircraft by 2022, and an expected in-service operation till 2050.
Kuwait will get the Typhoon in its most advanced configuration: Tranche 3 planes equipped with the cutting-edge new electronically scanned array radar.
For an additional look at Eurofighter modernization, see the following:
This is the latest in a series of Second Line of Defense reports on fifth generation aircraft, and the shaping of fifth-generation enabled combat operations.
The report relies largely on interviews and visits conducted in the past eight months.
This report provides an update of the roll out of the F-35 as of March 31, 2016.
The report is based on interviews with pilots, maintainers, testers and industrialists involved with the program.
The F-35 is not a future program; it is here now.
The Marines already have their initial aircraft, the USAF is about to declare their first squadron ready for combat and the US Navy will follow next year. Several partners in the program are flying and maintaining their initial aircraft at places like Luke AFB or Beaufort Marine Corps station.
And those same allies, have built or are building infrastructure in their countries for the roll out of the F-35 in their countries, as well as to support those of allies which will operate when appropriate off of their national airbases.
According to the F-35 Joint Program Officer, there are currently more than 250 F-35 pilots and 2,400 aircraft maintainers from six nations already trained and more than 110 jets are jointly under construction at the Fort Worth and Cameri production facilities. F-35s are flying at eight operating locations: Edwards Air Force Base, California, Eglin AFB, Florida, Hill AFB, Utah, Luke AFB, Arizona, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, MCAS Yuma, Arizona, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and Nellis AFB, Nevada. Jets are also flown at two F-35 depot locations at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, and the Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill AFB, Utah.
And we learned at Edwards AFB in meetings with maintainers, that more than 150 F-35s are already feeding data into the F-35 digital data base, as part of shaping the way ahead for the maintenance of the fleet.
We have far more material than we can present in a short report, but Second Line of Defense has many interviews, articles and trip reports from visiting those who are putting the F-35 into the air combat fleet and will shape its future. This is about what is now and what is upon the horizon with the aircraft, as an enabler of 21st century combat operations.
The F-35 is a “flying combat system” rather than a classic tactical fighter. It is capable of fighting across the range of military operations and can do so rapidly in a multi-tasking mode. That is, the impact of using F-35s is that one can deploy a force with a lighter logistical footprint, with greater coalition combat capabilities and operate across the ROMO (Range of Military Operations).
As a fleet, the F-35 is an integrated fleet able to share data over great distances via the its wave based communications systems. And it comes as Western forces are augmenting their ability to network forces and to prepare for the next generation of weapons, and learning how to off board weapons, that is one platform identifying targets and guiding a weapon launched from another platform to the target.
The F-35 is the first software upgradeable tactical jet ever built; and the evolution of the software will be determined by the operational experiences of the air combat force.
But the F-35 is not a replacement aircraft; and it will operate with selective legacy aircraft in shaping concepts of operations innovations; but legacy assets will be modernized with regard to the shift in fifth generation warfighting fostered by the introduction of the F-35 global fleet.
Although not a replacement aircraft, there are significant improvements in the design of the aircraft which make it more affordable and viable going forward, including the intersecting R and D into the fusion cockpit as well as the fact that the F-35 is the first 8,000 combat hour operational tactical aircraft ever built.
The F-35 is also the first generation of shaping a globally sustainable tactical aircraft whereby global sourcing and support will be available. This means that one nation’s F-35s can be maintained at the point of attack with other nation’s support structures. This means that the sustainability of a nation’s force at an expeditionary point of attack can be supported by the global enterprise.
The F-35 will be a foundational element in the reshaping of 21st century warfighting approaches whereby the ability of a coalition force to operate in the expanded battlespace is crucial for mission success.
The F-35 fusion engine has built into a range of integrated capabilities, which allows to operate in combat areas where legacy jets simply can not unless they are aided by a range of specialized aircraft, such as a jamming assets.
In effect, the introduction of the F-35 shapes a two fold dynamic.
First, co-modernization with other air combat assets or highlighting which modernizations in legacy systems are worth the effort and second, shaping dynamic combat learning with the F-35 as the learning aircraft at the center of the effort.
Put bluntly: If you are not in the F-35 learning curve you are staying in the past three decades of warfare.
Several of the aspects introduced here are discussed in more detail by those who are actually using the aircraft and evolving the systems onboard the aircraft. We are drawing largely upon visits and interviews over the past six months in this report but the website has several years of coverage which can be referenced by our readers.
We recently entered an office of a senior Navy Admiral who had a sign posted:
“No drone talk here.”
One good reason might be the wide variety of threats to operating drones, including this one, namely a Norwegian Eagle, the bird, not a code name for a plane.
The Norwegian Army drone pilot was oblivious to the forthcoming drama designated to unfold approximately an hour after his Raven mini-UAV was launched. It took less than 60 minutes from takeoff until the drone came under attack from an unlikely assailant.
Their task is normally to ensure and sustain the situational awareness in the Armoured Battalion of Brigade North. Sunday 6 March turned out to become an extraordinary day for the experienced drone pilots.
“We were cruising steadily and conducting surveillance on Swedish main battle tanks in our area. Suddenly an eagle appeared, and I witnessed a spectacular situation unfold,” Håkon said.
He is one of the drone pilots in Brigade North, and he is assigned to the Cavalry Squadron of the Armoured Battalion (1Btn/Brigade North).
DRAMA AT 1,500 FEET
Together with the Norwegian brigade and 11,000 other allied and partnering soldiers, the pilots are participating in the biannual winter exercise Cold Response.
The exercise is an invitational exercise in the central Norwegian region of Trøndelag.
“We were floating in the up drifting wind and hardly running at any engine power, when out of the blue a large eagle came less than eight meters from the drone. At first we did not understand it, but the eagle launched an attack on the drone,” Håkon explains.
The Raven drone has an automatic return-to-base function, and the pilot was desperately trying to override the function and manually return the aircraft to its point of origin.
– At first we thought it was returning to base. However, during the attack it damaged its wing and thus it crashed, Håkon says.
Shortly after the crash, Norwegian soldiers recovered it and it became apparent that the assailant had left clear traces on the aircraft — there were scratches from the eagle’s claws on the wing.
NEVER HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE
The unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that are used by all CABs in Brigade North are of the type RQ-11 Raven. This is a small hand-launched and remotely controlled miniature UAV, specifically designed to support ground units with information about the situation in a designated target area.
It is an effective tool to foster speed and agility in modern combined arms manoeuvre operations.
“I have never heard of anything like this in Norway, but Dutch police ostensibly train eagles to take out small drones.
Perhaps this was a Swedish counter-drone eagle,”Håkon laughs.
No matter how many regulations are put in place, drones are cheap enough now that frequent misuse is becoming the norm.
There’s no good way of dealing with a dangerous drone: you can jam its radios to force it to autoland, or maybe try using an even bigger drone to capture it inside a giant net.
In either of these cases, however, you run the risk of having the drone go completely out of control, which is even more dangerous.
Or, you can be like the Dutch National Police, and train eagles to take down drones for you.
The video, as you probably noticed, is in Dutch, but here’s what I’ve been able to piece together: the Dutch police (like police everywhere) know that drones are going to become even more of a problem than they already are, so they’ve been testing ways of dealing with a drone in an emergency, like if a drone is preventing an air ambulance from landing.
The police are looking into electronic solutions, but also physical ones, including both nets and trained eagles.
The Dutch police have partnered with Guard From Above, a raptor training company based in The Hague, to determine whether eagles could be used as intelligent, adaptive anti-drone weapon systems.
The eagles are specially trained to identify and capture drones, although from the way most birds of prey react to drones, my guess is that not a lot of training was necessary.
After snatching the drone out of the sky, the eagles instinctively find a safe area away from people to land and try take a couple confused bites out of their mechanical prey before their handlers can reward them with something a little less plastic-y.
The advantage here is that with the eagles, you don’t have to worry about the drone taking off out of control or falling on people, since the birds are very good at mid-air intercepts as well as bringing the drone to the ground without endangering anyone.
Nato has successfully concluded a cold-weather training exercise, Exercise Cold Response 2016 (CDR 16), which involved 12 member nations and partner countries.
The exercise involved the land, maritime and aerial assets of 12 Nato and partner countries, more than 3,000 US service members and 6,500 members of the Norwegian armed forces.
The Norwegian-led CDR 16 aimed at training a multi-national force by engaging them into a joint and combined setting under challenging conditions and subsequently enhancing their interoperability and joint action.
During the exercise, the US crew joined forces with their Dutch and Norwegian counterparts and became a member of the Order of the Royal Blue Noses by crossing the Arctic Circle and witnessing the Northern Lights.
US Navy Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry commanding officer commander Michael Johnson said: “It’s always beneficial to know and understand how another country operates, especially in its own backyard.
“The coming together of nations to support a higher strategic alliance is always beneficial during an exercise that covers so many different operations.”
The 186m-long vessel, Fort McHenry, with a displacement of approximately 16,000t, was deployed to the Cold Response Amphibious Task Group (ATG), led by the Dutch amphibious staff Royal Netherlands Marine Forces.
The vessel was carrying US Marines and equipment, including 16 amphibious assault vehicles, a landing craft utility, and various other support vehicles.
The ATG had also included two Dutch landing dock ships, the HNLMS (L801) Johan de Witt and HNLMS (L800) Rotterdam.
According to a piece published February 23, 2016 by Sgt. Kirstin Merrimarahajara, II Marine Expeditionary Force:
RENA, Norway –
Seven months ago, planning began for Exercise Cold Response 16, a cold-weather training exercise involving 12 NATO and partner countries and approximately 16,000 troops.
Norway extended an invitation to the U.S. Marines, which was graciously accepted, and the two countries put their heads together to make this year’s exercise one of the largest, in terms of Marine participation, in recent years.
One key element of the exercise’s success has been close coordination between Norway and U.S. planners, who have tackled the monumental task of trying to envision the future of this large-scale exercise, anticipate problems ahead of the game and brainstorm potential solutions.
A Norwegian recovery vehicle hooks up to a U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicle prior to the start of a live-fire range in Rena, Norway, as part of their pre-exercise training Feb. 17, 2016. The Marines and Norwegian Army are working together as part of Exercise Cold Response, a joint NATO and allied country exercise comprised of 12 countries and approximately 16,000 troops. The U.S. European Command appreciates the opportunity for taking part in such a large multinational exercise at the invitation of our Norwegian Allies; and we are especially thankful for the chance to put our skills to the test in unique cold weather conditions. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Master Sgt. Chad McMeen/Released)
A Norwegian recovery vehicle hooks up to a U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicle prior to the start of a live-fire range in Rena, Norway, as part of their pre-exercise training Feb. 17, 2016. The Marines and Norwegian Army are working together as part of Exercise Cold Response, a joint NATO and allied country exercise comprised of 12 countries and approximately 16,000 troops. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Master Sgt. Chad McMeen/Released)
Norwegian Lt. Col Erik Bjørnstadbråten and U.S. Marine Maj. Marcus Mainz have been communicating throughout the planning process and have been attached at the hip and focused on that task since 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade personnel began arriving in Norway nearly a month ago.
“What we said to each other from the very beginning is ‘Let’s make this as real as possible. What if we really had to do this as a team? Let’s find all those little things that you would have to do, things you would never think of until you’re there,’” said Mainz, 2nd MEB future operations planner for the exercise.
“We said every system we pull from the caves, we will go test. We will drive it, we will shoot it, we will move it along roads; we don’t want to just get there and pretend. I think that was the big difference – that we were willing to do it the hard way to get all the lessons learned.”
Cold Response will incorporate air, land, maritime and cyber domains.This year’s addition of a Combined Joint Task Force, which will integrate international military personnel into a single headquarters element coordinating the actions of an aggregated force.
Under this structure, Norway’s Brigade North will participate as a tactical brigade rather than on its more customary role as a Land Component Command according to Bjørnstadbråten, 2nd MEB future operations officer for the exercise.
“The interoperability part of it – all nations and all their sub-units have to link up and establish common procedures, both during the integration phase and improving upon this during the exercise. I think it’s good for the MEB as well for all other participant nations,” said Bjørnstadbråten.
Though the exercise will commence later this month, Marines have been in Norway since January testing equipment and really getting a feel for how to operate in this environment to get the absolute most out of the training.
According to Mainz, U.S. personnel are presented with a unique opportunity by training in Norway: nothing is off-limits. Participants will not be confined to military bases and will train over a large swath of the country with very little restriction on tactical movements.
Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR), conduct a simulated attack near Namsos, Norway during Exercise COLD RESPONSE on March 4, 2016. Photo: MCpl Maggie Gosse, Garrison Imaging Petawawa
“This is a tough experience to replicate, not just with the cold weather, but with the way the Norwegians are allowing us to operate; I think we’re going to get one of the most unique experiences that a brigade has had in a really long time,” said Mainz. “It’s what a war in this region could really be like.”
Norwegians and Americans have spent several months, side-by-side, planning an exercise projected to last only 10 days, but knowing that the two nations will have grown immensely as a powerful force by the end of it.
“We talk a lot about trust and I think our countries – on a military level – trust each other more now than they have in decades. I think that’s probably the most important thing that we’ve built, along with all the interoperability,” said Mainz.
“I absolutely believe that we have to keep doing this kind of collaboration, and we have to keep doing these kinds of exercises that put strains on the systems, that find errors and that just make us better and stronger.”
Editor’s Note: For anyone who does not think the Finns take the Russians seriously, it is good to remember that they have the largest mobilizable ground forces in Europe, other than Russia.
In a Newsweek article published 5/1/15, the Finnish approach was highlighted.
The Finnish Defence Forces are to send letters to all 900,000 of the country’s reservists at the beginning of this month, informing them what their role would be in a “crisis situation”, causing a row over whether such a move is necessary.
Finland, with its population of 5.2 million, has a small professional army of 16,000. Yet in the event of mobilisation, Finland could call on its former conscripts to fight. Finland’s wartime military strength is 230,000.
According to local media reports, the decision was announced via a television advert, telling the nation’s reservists “We want to have a word with you”, and warning former conscripts that “Conscription is the cornerstone of Finland’s defence capability.”
The letter will reportedly inform reservists between the ages of 20-60 what their role would be in a “crisis situation”. The letter also asks them to send up-to-date details of their whereabouts.
The director of communications of the Finnish Defence Forces, Mika Kalliomaa, denied any link to a threat from Russia, with whom Finland shares a 1,300km (800 mile) border. “The sending out of these letters to our reservists has no connection to the security situation around Finland,” he said. “We are simply keeping ties with our reservists and asking them what their role would be in an instance of war, and asking them if there is new knowledge we should know about. There is no link to any threat from Russia.”
Last year, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said in an interview with theWashington Post: “We have a long history with Russia — not that peaceful all the time. So everything the Russians are doing, surely the Finns notice and think very carefully about what that might mean.”
In the case of the recent air incursions, he said, the message was clear: “They were testing how we’d react.” Finland boosted the readiness of its airforce following an increase in Russian incursions into its airspace.
According to Peter Iiskola, a former Finnish district court judge and journalist, it is the first time such a letter has been sent out. “It is extraordinary and is clearly intended to make people feel there is a Russian threat and that ‘pre-mobilization’ steps must be taken,” he says. Yet Iiskola believes that rather than responding to a genuine threat from Russia, the Finnish military is hoping to instigate panic and encourage the soon-to-be-formed government to spend more on defence.
During my March 2016 visit to Australia to attend the Airpower Conference on Multi-Domain Integration and the Williams Foundation Seminar on New Approaches to Air-Land Integration, I had a chance to meet with Air Marshal Davies throughout those sessions and then to meet at his office on March 21, 2016 to do a proper interview.
One of those sessions involved an interaction with the Australian media, where the Air Marshal drove home a core point about the South China Sea and the Australian position with regard to Chinese activities in the area.
Interestingly, the Air Marshal highlighted that the presence of the regional air bosses at the Airpower conference provided an opportunity to discuss mutual concerns and responses.
Clearly, there was an interest on Australia’s part to understand the perceptions of the various regional players and how they might respond.
But the Australian response was clear both at the government level and from the Air Marshal.
The Australian government underscores the importance of rule based behavior in the area, obviously having in mind the Chinese trying to make up their own rules.
And the Air Marshal said that the focus was ensuring that we could do for the next fifty years what we have done for the last in terms of transit and “gateway continuity.”
During my visit in August 2015, I first had the opportunity to interview the COS of the RAAF shortly after he became head of the RAAF.
During that interview, his focus was upon the Middle East operations and ensuring that the Plan Jericho transformation approach launched by his predecessor, Air Marshal Geoff Brown, was gaining traction and momentum.
Question: What has been the impact of the operations in the Middle East on the RAAF?
Air Marshal Davies; We certainly have deployed fighters and air lifters in exercises and operations.
Air Marshal Leo Davies with Robbin Laird after the Second Line of Defense interview at the Air Marshal’s office in Canberra, Australia, August 3, 2015.
But this is the first time we have taken an integrated air package to an operation. It is the first operational experience for both the KC-30A and the Wedgetail and the first time the Super Hornets operated (outside of Red Flag) with F-22s……
Question: There is a general lack of focus on the impact of software upgradeability on force structure modernization to come,
Your Plan Jericho approach fits very well a software upgradeability approach to modernization. Which platforms should be upgraded? And with what software code rewrites to do which tasks?
Air Marshal Davies: This point is generally missed, I was in London at RUSI a few weeks ago and made a similar point. And I got more up and down head movements than I did side to side. And I think there are folk who are beginning to understand this.
But sometimes folk like me are part of the problem. What the leadership I believe needs to do now is just open up the aperture a little bit. And let folk from industry and from defense and I think there’s a really important piece here about what does army, what does navy, and in the United States case, what do the marines, and the coast guard do. What are these folk thinking are options to try and explore, including leveraging the data stream from the F-35.
If we do not open the aperture and change the thought processes, we will be flying the F-35 as if it is a classic four-ship formation fighter and totally miss the point.
It is about culture change.
And the evolution we are discussing will clearly affect coalitions and who we work with.
What I would contend has been unacceptable in the future is coalition partners who don’t know what the coalition partners are flying with and what their ability to contribute is.
Air Marshal Davies opened the two day RAAF Airpower Conference where more than 1,000 attendees from Australia, and the region, the US and Europe participated.
The first day was highlighted by the Minister of Defence and the Service Chiefs providing their perspectives on the challenges and ways ahead for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
In his opening remarks, Davies highlighted that the RAAF Plan Jericho was dovetailing with similar plans of the other two services.
But because the RAAF was in the throes of a significant modernization and with the coming of the F-35, Plan Jericho was a lead element.
According to the RAAF chief, “Plan Jericho is designed to transform the RAAF into a fifth generation enabled force. This is not a singular airpower effort.” It is multi-domain and cross-cutting with the other services.
Chief of Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Leo Davis AO, CSC Addresses the Conference.
During the second day of the Airpower Conference, the focus was upon providing an update on Plan Jericho and progress in the RAAF with regard to the approach and to shaping thinking about multi-domain integration.
The Chief of Staff focused on the increasing demands being placed on RAAF personnel to deal with the challenges of change, and the pace of operations, as well as the coming into the fleet of new capabilities along with newly combat tested assets, such as Wedgetail and the KC-30A.
“The technology maybe cutting edge, but the people in the front lines, and those that create and sustain the effort are those who shape the combat capability.”
He followed this presentation the next day with the keynote address to the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-land integration.
He argued throughout his presentation that RAAF transformation was a key driver for the opportunity for shaping a more effective integrated and joint force but it would not happen by itself and required work across the ADF to ensure that transformation would occur.
When we met at his office on March 21, the theme of the intersection between the RAAF and joint innovation was a key focus of the discussion. But what Davies argued was that this is a very dynamic and interactive and open-ended process.
“It is like a jig saw puzzle.
You have these really nice pieces to the puzzle sitting in the container, but until you begin to look at the picture your trying to create through the overall puzzle, you do not know which bit goes where.”
With regard to F-35 as an example, Davies argued the following:
“I think Joint Strike Fighter on its own, a fifth generation air combat aircraft, could be regarded as just an air combat aircraft.
If you want to shoot the bad guy down, if you want to defend the battle space for a land maneuver or for a maritime strike, that’s fine.
But what we’re beginning to appreciate now is that it’s not just an air combat asset it is also an ISR node.
If you were to then put two more pieces of your puzzle down and go, “Well that’s starting to form a bit of a picture here,” in the center of your puzzle. ”
What else could I do if it was truly an ISR node?
How do I manage that asset differently than if it was just going to shoot down another fighter?”
Although the puzzle analogy suggested an overall approach what he really was focusing on the interaction between the evolving bigger picture, and relooking at what each piece of the puzzle might be able to do in fitting into a new puzzle big picture so to speak.
“How would you operate the air warfare destroyer differently as you add a Wedgetail, a P-8, a Triton or an F-35 to its operational environment?
Air Marshal Davies during media roundtable held at the airpower conference on March 15, 2016. Credit Photo: Second Line of Defense
And conversely, how could the changes in how the destroyer would operate as you evolve systems on it, affect how you operate or modernize the other pieces of the evolving puzzle?”
Plan Jericho is about opening the aperture on thinking both about the pieces and the various puzzle pictures, which can be created.
Davis saw two key drivers for change as well in terms of the younger members of the RAAF would rethink how the RAAF could integrate more effectively and industry partners helping inform the RAAF about the art of the possible.
This clearly affects thinking about platforms.
The shift from a platform centric world is not about platforms not mattering; they do; but what is crucial is now evaluating how a new platform contributes in a multi-mission, or multi-tasking and specialized effect for the evolving force.
The government as well as the services working more effectively to shape how their particular new platform contributes to both the service’s core missions as well as the effects desired for the extended battlespace.
Air Marshal Davies argued that when buying platforms going forward, a key consideration beyond their basic functional contribution or task to determining how “integratable” those platforms might be going forward.
“I know it’s a little unfair, but we would probably rethink the combat system on Tiger if we were to buy an armed reconnaissance helicopter tomorrow. Having flown the airplane, I don’t have any issue with the airplane that is Tiger. But how do you integrate it? At the moment it is less than ideal in terms of integration.”
He argued that it was crucial to have a realistic and broad view with regard to force design in mind as one thinks about adding platforms, and a large portion of that force design needs to revolve around “integratability.”
“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.
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?
Deputy Chief Of Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Gavin Davies, AO, CSC, farewells deploying troops to the Middle East from RAAF Base Williamtown. Credit Photo: Australian Ministry of Defence
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.”
Clearly, as the RAAF brings the F-35 into service it views its value as an asset which it wants to wring as much “integrability” as they can from the “flying combat system.”
“I view the F-35 as a key catalyst of change not just for the Air Force but the entire ADF.
But to get there, we need to focus on our ability to work with the ADF and remain connected.
We can explore; we can provide options.
We can provide core functions for the evolution of the ADF, but we have to make sure that we are able to stay connected, and paced properly.”
And the regional side of the ADF operations was increasingly critical as well for the RAAF.
“This is not just about an Australia/US or just about an Australia/UK connected effort.
This is about being able to work with partners in the region such as we are doing with Fiji on HADR. We need to be able to still do all of those pieces.”
In short, one needed to focus upon “integrability” as the platforms interactively evolved and the missions adapted to threats and technologies.
During the first day of the RAAF Conference on Airpower, I had a chance to sit down and to talk with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the RAAF, Air Vice-Marshal McDonald.
This is the third time I have had the opportunity to interview him, initially in his previous post as Commander of Air Mobility Group and twice during his current role as Deputy Chief.
The focus of the first interview in January 2015 was upon the Middle East deployment of the RAAF during what the Aussies call Operation Okra, and upon the deployment of a completely integrated air package of fighters, C-17s, the KC-30A and the E-7 or the Wedgetail.
Question: The movement of the RAAF from Australia to Iraq was a major statement about the self-deployment capability of the RAAF enabled by the AMG. Could you describe this effort?
Air Commodore McDonald: This was a defining moment for the RAAF and really the first time we self deployed an air combat package, equipment and personnel over such a long distance and in such a short period of time.
KC-30A MRTT and E-7A Wedgetail conduct Air to Air refuelling testing in the airspace near RAAF Williamtown.
The maturing of the KC-30A was the game changer, in conjunction with our heavy lift fleet.
As you know from visiting the KC-30A squadron earlier this year, we have been very focused on assembling a combat focused capability piece by piece. This has not been without its challenges, as the KC-30A still has a foot in both the operational space and project space.
However, both the project and operational teams are working the issues collegiately. Operation Okra has accelerated the maturing process of the KC-30A.
The focus of the second interview held in August 2015 at his office in Canberra, Air Vice-Marshal McDonald highlighted the Plan Jericho thought process and how to shape ways to enhance the ability of the air platforms to work more effectively with one another and to become an effective part of the transformation of the joint force.
He discussed the C-130Js and C-17s as an example of how the RAAF was looking at transformation.
Question: An example of your transformation approach has been what you are doing with your C-130Js. Could you describe the process and how you are addressing the future of this platform as a joint asset?
Air Vice Marshal McDonald: With the KC-30A and the C-17, we really do not need to use the C-130J as a transport aircraft.
And we are adding the C-27J to do that mission with a wider variety of austere locations in the region where we might need to operate.
What then with regard to the C-130J?
A clear path is to make it a combat asset integrated with the ground forces to inert them into areas of interest.
But to do this effectively we need to add SATCOM and ISR capabilities, which we have done, are doing.
A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) refuels a United States Air Force C-17A Globemaster III transport.
By doing so this triggers a change in Army whereby they can look to link digitally with RAAF assets to create a more effective joint combat package.
By enabling them to have all that decision authority, and full understanding of situational awareness aboard the C-130J, you then have a very good joint blade to spearhead an operation.
And we are doing similar things with the C-17 whereby we have added broadband communication to the aircraft along with Air View 360 to the back of the aircraft to provide situational awareness and communications tools for our troops onboard.
This is Plan Jericho in action, which is a con-ops driven approach.
One looks for the appropriate technology for the appropriate platform to shape the effect which you need to create in the battlespace, rather than having simply a technological driven approach.
In the most recent interview conducted on March 15, 2016 in Canberra, the Deputy Chief of Staff discussed how the RAAF was working with Army and Navy to shape cross-cutting transformation.
This clearly is a work in progress, and whatever success the RAAF has had in launching their new platforms and enhancing their ability to work with one another was important in and of itself, but also as a foundation for shaping more effective joint solutions.
And by joint solutions, he was not talking about how airpower has supported the ground forces for the past decade in the land wars, but shaping new ways to enhance the ability of airpower to intersect with and to reshape the capabilities of the ground maneuver and naval forces in the extended battlespace.
This meant the next round of modernization needed to focus on ways to configure air platforms to provide for greater interactivity with the ground and naval forces as well as those forces providing enhanced contributions to airpower in terms of achieving the desired combat effects.
Getting to this point has been hard or challenging for the RAAF, as two of the key air platforms, the Wedgetail and the KC-30A, were not esy to bring on line and to become full members of the RAAF.
“Some may disagree, but working through complex problems, such as those encountered with the KC-30A and Wedgetail is crucial learning the skills necessary to find an effective way ahead to deal with next round of complex of problems and challenges.”
And he underscored that the way the RAAF has succeeded is how they will continue to work in the future.
“We needed to get the platforms in the hands of the warfighters as early as possible so that we were addressing real needs as opposed to lists of requirements.
And by getting real combat experience, we could determine where our resources for modernization should be applied to get the maximum effect.”
In the case of the Wedgetail, the ability to work with fighters and to operate in the battlespace is now combat proven; the next round of modification of the software onboard the aircraft really needed to focus on the engagement with the naval forces, or to find ways for naval systems to work with Wedgetail modifications and vice-versa to deliver the kind of joint effect the ADF needed to achieve.
In the case of the KC-30A, with its situational awareness already onboard the aircraft, and with the con-ops being practiced by crews today in combat situations, the way ahead in support of the ground maneuver forces and naval forces was a key consideration for what to put on the aircraft, in terms of ISR, or C2 support.
And working with industry is seen as a key part of shaping the interactive modernizations, which the RAAF and the ADF have in mind.
Air Vice Marshal after the Second Line of Defense Interview at his office in Canberra, August 3, 2015. Credit: RAAF
And in succeeding with now combat proven KC-30As and Wedgetails, has happened as a result of opening the aperature in the working relationship between government and industry.
This is also a key foundational element in the next phase of shaping combat capability.
McDonald went out of his way to praise what he saw as forward leaning thinking from the Army leadership.
Army work on networks in support of the ground forces, and ways to master them operationally in difficult situations, was a key element of how the RAAF needed to think about the intersection of their own networks with the joint force.
He told the story of the now head of the Australian Army when he was then Major-General Campbell and working in the Middle East, McDonald came into his office, while he was writing up his post-operations report and said “I don’t believe I have enough balance in the piece with regard to the air role. Could you please contribute to it?
“He is truly a joint officer, and we in the RAAF can learn from him as we proceed with Plan Jericho.”
With regard to the way ahead, McDonald emphasized “the need for army and navy to understand our RAAF systems and ways we might modernize them so we can provide the best input to them.
We need to understand how best to provide support to one another to get the kind of maritime or land strike outcome is required by the joint force.”
The F-35 is viewed as potentially disruptive technology, which can be a key part of transforming the evolving joint approach.
“The F-35 for me is a platform on which one can increase the desired capability through software upgrades to enable you to mitigate or get around threats posed to the joint force.
In the past, air platforms simply did not enable you to shape such an approach. It is now an essential element of shaping the spiral development of the joint force itself.”
The Russian media has recently given prominence to the role of Russian Special Operations Forces (SOF) in the military operation in Syria.
The Russia media confirmed the death of a Russian Special forces officer conducting forward air control had called an artillery strike on his own position after he was discovered and attacked by “terrorists.”
Even more revealing was the interview given by Colonel General Aleksandr Dvornikov, commander of the Russian contingent in Syria, to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
Dvornikov provided the first official confirmation that Russian SOF “conduct ground reconnaissance of pre-selected targets for Russian warplanes, assist in targeting warplanes in remote areas and perform other tasks.”
Colonel General Alexander Dvornikov, deputy commander, Central Military District, holding the Hero of Russia rank, seen in the Kremlin’s St.George Hall, at the ceremony of presenting state awards to officers and experts who distinguished themselves in the counter-terrorism operation in Syria, March 17, 2016. Source: Aleksey Nikolskyi/RIA Novosti
The General also said that Russian military advisors, which might also be SOF, provided critical air support, help train the Syrian military and other local forces such as the Kurdish military to Russian weapons, and assist them with operational planning.
“To boost the capabilities of the Syrian Army we provided advanced arms and hardware, including artillery systems, communications and reconnaissance equipment.”
The General also correctly boasted that Russian military intervention in Syria in late September 2015 saved the Syrian government from likely defeat.
A good starting point for considering the forces in Crimea is Mark Galeotti’s book ‘Spetsnaz’, which considers the history of the Russian SOF and how they had a central role in the hybrid war in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.
The Spetsnaz is a designed for low-intensity conflict and fits somewhere in between an intelligence service and a conventional army.
Galeotti argues that the Spetsnaz have had different “identity crises” over the years. The role of the Spetsnaz has been widely debated within Russia since it was formed. Initially in the Russian Civil War, the precursors to the Spetsnaz was a guerilla war force run by the Political Police (NKVD – later KGB ) and a paratrooper force under direction of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).
The Spetsnaz was formally established in 1950 under the direction of the GRU’s Naval Intelligence Directorate. While the Spetsnaz have remained under GRU control, they have been under the command of each branch of the military in their history: the Ground Forces, the Navy, and the Aerospace Forces.
In 2010, after the Georgia war, there were calls for the Spetsnaz to fall under a command other than the GRU. The airborne units argued that their VDR paratroop forces are very similar to the GRU, but the General Staff under the ground forces won this argument and the Spetsnaz briefly fell under General Staff Command.
However, the Spetsnaz was returned to GRU direction in 2013.
Phillip Karber of the Potomac Foundation offers five categories of Russian New Generation Warfare, ranging from a low level of conventional warfare intensity and a low degree of state responsibility to a high intensity and a high degree of state responsibility. The categories, from low to high, are: political subversion, proxy sanctum, intervention, negotiation, and coercive deterrence.
The categories of political subversion and proxy sanctum are the domain of irregular forces. Political subversion requires the “[seizure] of government buildings and checkpoints, sabotage, assassination, terrorism, propaganda and media campaign [and the] insertion of agents.”
The category of proxy sanctum also utilizes irregular forces, as the Russian state “consolidate[s] controlled areas, and core cadre, ‘volunteers,’ and militia destroy government infrastructure.”
In Crimea and eastern Ukraine, the Russian Federation has employed irregular forces in rapid localized actions that present others with fait accompli and, through staged incidents of supposed attacks against Russian interests or humanitarian crises, justify more direct Russian military intervention in addition to rendering diplomatic, logistical, and other non-military support for Russian operations.
Russia’s SOF have rendered technical and tactical training to the Ukrainian separatists as well as helped them organize a command-and-control system.
Furthermore, Russia’s SOF have exploited their deep penetration of the Ukrainian government’s armed forces and other security forces to help the Russian authorities and their local allies monitor, assess, and disrupt the Ukrainian government’s response.
At first, the Ukrainian authorities lacked confidence in their established military and internal security forces and created less effective paramilitary units that sometimes had extreme anti-Russian ideologies that exacerbated tensions.
In addition, Russian irregular forces have delivered weapons to pro-Russian separatists under the guise of rendering help to distressed populations.
This tactic involves delivering relief aid to territories in which Russia has created the conditions for a humanitarian crisis in the first place, thereby allowing Moscow to provide both “bullets and bandages.”
Moreover, when Moscow’s adversaries object to the Russian deliveries on foreign territory without the national government’s permission, Moscow can exploit this seeming indifference to humanitarian suffering as well as then show that it can ignore the foreign government’s wishes.
Under Putin, the special forces have also been used as political instruments.
They have conducted assassinations and sabotage operations against adversaries and provided a pretext for more overt and intrusive Russian intervention.
For example, they helped organize the South Ossetia militias, whose attacks helped provoke the Georgian government into launching its disastrous offensive in August 2008.
The Baltic authorities are now worried that the Russian special forces will work with local collaborators to create similar provocations and pretexts for Russian intervention in their countries.
In the future, the special forces aim to improve their ability to operate in small units supported by drones and other novel technologies for specialized missions, such as assassinating terrorists and warlords (including out-of-control proxies).
