2016-04-30 Army units operate periodically at RAF Lossiemouth to provide for their specialized capabilities to the joint force.

In the slideshow below, the first few photos show an Army assault unit taking an airfield as part of the Joint Warrior 2016 exercise.

The British Army’s rapid reaction force has demonstrated the unique reach and agility that its specialist air manoeuvre capabilities provide to the military.

An aviation assault to capture the airfield at Kinloss Barracks today (Mon 7 Apr) marked 16 Air Assault Brigade’s arrival on Exercise Joint Warrior, the biggest annual military exercise in Europe.

Troops from the 3 PARA Battlegroup landed at Kinloss in Chinook, Merlin and Puma 2 support helicopters, protected by Apache attack helicopters, to assault the airfield.

Once secured, more troops and heavier equipment were delivered across the day by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.

Airfield capture is a key skill required for the brigade’s role as the Air Assault Task Force, which is ready to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice to conduct the full range of military operations from non-combatant evacuation operations to warfighting.</p>

The operation was planned and launched from West Freugh, some 250 miles away near Stranraer.

The troops deployed from their base in Colchester last week, passing through the Joint Air Mounting Centre (JAMC) in South Cerney, Gloucestershire, for vehicle and personnel checks.

On Saturday (5 Apr) they took over West Freugh from 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines and carried out battle preparations, including a parachute jump. Kinloss will now be established as a base for further missions, which could include helicopter-borne infantry strikes and stabilisation operations.

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The next few photos show Army presence in the Joint Warrior 2016 exercise, which along with Cold Response earlier this year in Norway show NATO training its forces of the defense of the North Atlantic and Northern European areas.

The next few photos in the first slideshow highlight an earlier Army training event at Lossie.

Apaches came to Lossie from 2 to 11 September 2013 for Exercise PANTHERS PEAK.

The squadron will conduct mountain flying training in the Scottish Highlands so newly qualified instructors can be taught how to train students in challenging conditions.

Apache pilots learn to fly in mountainous areas as part of their pre deployment training before deploying to Afghanistan.

673 Squadron, 7 (Training) Regiment Army Air Corps, is an apache training squadron based at the Army Aviation centre, Middle Wallop in Hampshire.

The role of the squadron is to: train new pilots,pilots returning to the aircraft after a period of non flying related tours and newly qualified instructors.

The detachment of Apaches shows the versatility of the Station and their ability to cater for a variety of aircraft. RAF Lossiemouth will see an increase in such exercises over the next few years to train alongside the TyphoonForce and utilise the airspace, as the area means the aircraft can be used to their full operational capability.

The final three shots in the slideshow are there because they are just cool.

According to the UK MoD website published April 11, 2016 prior to the exercise, Joint Warrior 2016 was described as follows:

RAF Lossiemouth is set to host a small contingent of international Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and F-16 fast jets for Exercise Joint Warrior 16-1 which will take place from the 11th to the 22nd of April.

Exercise Joint Warrior is a tri-service and multinational exercise conducted in the UK during the spring and the autumn of each year. The exercise will involve more than 31 warships and submarines, 60 aircraft, and a total of around 6,500 personnel from the 14 participating nations.

This year RAF Lossiemouth will be hosting MPA aircraft such as the P3 Orion, Atlantique and the new P-8 Poseidon which is planned to be based in Moray. RAF Lossiemouth’s Typhoons will also take part in the Exercise alongside a detachment of Turkish F-16s.

Flight Lieutenant Guy Radcliffe, the Exercise Operations Officer at RAF Lossiemouth, said:

“The hosting of these Exercise participants will involve every section at RAF Lossiemouth. In order to facilitate each visiting units’ individual requirements for the Exercise, planning has been ongoing since last year to ensure that we are ready.

“It will be an extremely busy fortnight for the Station and the airfield itself. Particular challenges will involve working with different coalition countries, operating large aircraft from an airfield which is set up for much smaller, fast jets and fitting it all around RAF Lossiemouth’s own ongoing high operational tempo, essential training and QRA.”

The aircraft from the Canada, Germany, France, Norway, Turkey and the US will begin arriving at RAF Lossiemouth in the weeks leading up to the Exercise….. 

Normally RAF Lossiemouth operates its flying programme from 0800 to 2300, however during this Exercise some night flying may take place out with this period. 

The slideshow below shows some of the aircraft involved in the exercise and have been provided by RAF Lossiemouth during my visit and are credited to them.

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And at the conclusion of the exercise, a local reporter provided a wrap up.

Ben Hendry in story published in The Press and Journal on April 23, 2016 noted the following:

A major military training exercise hosted by RAF Lossiemouth has drawn to a close, with fleets of international aircraft jetting off from the base throughout yesterday.

Operation Joint Warrior brought some of the world’s most advanced fighter jets into the skies above Moray, where they staged a series of spectacular aerial training sessions.

More than 3,400 Nato troops took part in the land, sea and air war games event – including 22 ships, four submarines and more than 40 aircraft from a dozen Nato nations and three partner countries.

For the past two weeks the region has been buzzing with excitement about the event, with enthusiasts flocking from far and wide to glimpse the awe-inspiring machines in person.

But by yesterday afternoon, a hush had descended on the base as normality began to reassert itself.

One onlooker, who made several trips to the viewing area at the northern edge of the RAF Lossiemouth runway, hailed the success of the event.

The former RAF serviceman said that a fleet of Turkish F-16 jets had been the main attraction for a lot of the aviation enthusiasts who visited the area for the event.

He added: “The Turkish jets flew on missions twice almost every day, and were involved with some important training sessions.”

A German crew which had been participating in the war games exercise was unexpectedly called away shortly after it begun, and many experts believe they were summoned to assist with international operations.

A fleet of Poseidon aircraft attached to Patrol Squadron 10 at the “Red Lancers” Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, proved of special interest to observers and Lossiemouth personnel – as the airfield will secure its own brand new deployment of the craft in the coming years.

The hulking spy planes were stationed at the northern end of the runway throughout the exercise, and it is understood that RAF chiefs plan to keep the station’s new fleet in that area.

RAF experts who have maintained their surveillance skills since the UK’s fleet of maritime patrol aircraft was decommissioned in 2010 spent time conferring with the American pilots and learning more about the machines.

It is believed that they will train the crews who will work with the machines when they take up a permanent residence at RAF Lossiemouth.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/897689/joint-warrior-concludes/

And for those keen on seeing the movement of aircraft, some footage from Joint Warrior exercise during April 2016 from RAF Lossiemouth, North Scotland can be seen in the video below.

Tornados and Typhoons based at the camp along with visiting aircraft, such as the P-8 and the Turkish F-16s can be seen.

All the photos were provided by RAF Lossiemouth and are credited to them with thanks.

2016-04-28 By Robbin Laird

It seemed a bit odd to be looking at the North Sea on April 24th, after looking at the Pacific over my right while driving up from Sydney to Williamtown Air Base on March 23^rd.

It was also considerably colder, and reminded one of why the Scots make scotch in the first place. They have great water, barley and a weather that requires drinking scotch.

In between, we had a chance to talk with the Northcom/NORAD Commander who lives roughly half way between these two airbases.

What Admiral Gortney highlighted when we visited him in Colorado Springs was the threat to North America from the 10 and 2 O’Clock positions.

When you are at Lossie you are clearly in the center of the 2 O’ Clock threat envelope, which for the Brits is clearly about the defense of their homeland.

RAF Lossiemouth currently is a Typhoon and Tornado base, but with the Tornados to be phased out within the next few years, the Typhoons will be joined by the P-8, which will probably operate as well from Lossie.

This provides the opportunity to integrate the Typhoons with P-8s with the F-35s, which will operate off shore from the new carriers or, in other words, shaping a kill web to protect the homeland and to anchor the defense of the Northern NATO countries.

In effect, Lossie will train to support the formation and evolution of a 21^st century combat force in which a multi-mission combat fleet of Typhoons will work with the maritime-focused but land-based capable maritime combat system which is the P-8 (which will operate in the area, regardless of the final decision concerning where to base the fleet), and which, in turn, will work with the multi-tasking flying combat system which is the F-35.

In forthcoming interviews, we will discuss the roll out of a 21^st century base approach, the key role of Typhoon for the RAF and both the challenges and opportunities inherent in its modernization,and the impact of the Tornado and its legacy upon the evolution of the 21^st century combat fleet.

Recently, Lossie hosted aircraft and personnel participating in Joint Warrior 2016.

According to an April 8, 2016 story published by the BBC:

Exercise Joint Warrior is held twice a year – in April and October – for thousands of army, navy and air force personnel.

The training will see increased military activity at Faslane on the Clyde, RAF Lossiemouth in Moray and ranges at Cape Wrath in Sutherland.

The exercise runs until 23 April and will involve submarines, surface ships and aircraft including RAF Typhoons.

Warships and aircraft have already started arriving in Scotland ahead of the start of the training.

This year’s second staging of Joint Warrior, which will also take place in Scotland, will include what the Royal Navy has described as its first “robot wars”.

Unmanned Warrior 2016 will involve drones, including unmanned aerial vehicles and machines that can operate underwater.

And according to the UK MoD website published April 11, 2016 prior to the exercise:

RAF Lossiemouth is set to host a small contingent of international Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) and F-16 fast jets for Exercise Joint Warrior 16-1 which will take place from the 11th to the 22nd of April.

Exercise Joint Warrior is a tri-service and multinational exercise conducted in the UK during the spring and the autumn of each year. The exercise will involve more than 31 warships and submarines, 60 aircraft, and a total of around 6,500 personnel from the 14 participating nations.

This year RAF Lossiemouth will be hosting MPA aircraft such as the P3 Orion, Atlantique and the new P-8 Poseidon which is planned to be based in Moray. RAF Lossiemouth’s Typhoons will also take part in the Exercise alongside a detachment of Turkish F-16s.

Flight Lieutenant Guy Radcliffe, the Exercise Operations Officer at RAF Lossiemouth, said:

“The hosting of these Exercise participants will involve every section at RAF Lossiemouth. In order to facilitate each visiting units’ individual requirements for the Exercise, planning has been ongoing since last year to ensure that we are ready.

“It will be an extremely busy fortnight for the Station and the airfield itself. Particular challenges will involve working with different coalition countries, operating large aircraft from an airfield which is set up for much smaller, fast jets and fitting it all around RAF Lossiemouth’s own ongoing high operational tempo, essential training and QRA.”

The aircraft from the Canada, Germany, France, Norway, Turkey and the US will begin arriving at RAF Lossiemouth in the weeks leading up to the Exercise…..

Normally RAF Lossiemouth operates its flying programme from 0800 to 2300, however during this Exercise some night flying may take place out with this period.

The slideshow below shows some of the aircraft involved in the exercise and have been provided by RAF Lossiemouth during my visit and are credited to them.

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RAF Lossiemouth has entered another significant period of its history.

The Station remains an important fast jet main operating base within the Royal Air Force, with both Tornado and Typhoon squadrons based here.

RAF Lossiemouth remains the home to the Tornado GR4 Operational Conversion Unit, XV (Reserve) Squadron, who train all Pilots and Weapons Systems Operators to operate the Tornado GR4.

During the summer of 2014 two Typhoon squadrons, 6 Squadron and 1 (Fighter) Squadron, relocated to RAF Lossiemouth. The Station’s third Typhoon squadron, II(Army Co-operation) Squadron relocated from RAF Marham in early 2015.

As part of the changes, the Station assumed Quick Reaction Alert (Interceptor) North (QRA(I)N) duties from September 2014. RAF Lossiemouth is now primarily responsible for maintaining QRA(I)N – providing crews and aircraft at high states of readiness 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to police UK airspace and to intercept unidentified aircraft.

Additional units at RAF Lossiemouth include No 5 Force Protection Wing of the RAF Regiment. 5 Force Protection Wing includes a regular field squadron, 51 Squadron RAF Regiment, and a reserve squadron, 2622 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment

2016-04-20 By Robbin Laird

The well-regarded chief of the Australian Army, Lt. General Angus Campbell, weighed in on the future of the Australian Army in the joint environment in two presentations recently in Canberra.

The first was during the RAAF’s 2016 Air Power Conference and the second was during the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-ground integration.

For the Chief of Staff of the Army, it about having the “right effect, at the right place and the right time” for the joint ground force, whereby he clearly meant the joint maneuver force.

He underscored that the core challenge was the co-evolution of the ground, air and naval forces to deliver a timely capability against the tasks or missions in the area of interest.

He argued that the technology was outpacing our concepts of operations and argued that if Wellington came back to see operations in World War II, he would see a decisive difference in how the ground forces operated in the combined arms context.

But that if one would look from World II to now, although the technology had changed dramatically, the differences in concepts of operations are not as significant as the changes in technology would allow.

He argued that we needed to become significantly more innovative in our conceptual thinking to find ways to better leverage technology and to prepare to better use advancing technologies and capabilities.

Here he saw two great opportunities.

The first is to break the hold of incrementalism and imagine significant disruption driven by dynamics of change being introduced in the man-machine relationship. He argued, in effect, that we need to think from the future back into our current thinking to shape a better way ahead in the joint arena.

The second is to move from the very divergent data, communications and related systems to shape more convergent efforts, in effect, to shape more effective co-evolution of the key elements of combat power.

And to shape a more effective joint land force it is crucial to determine where the key capabilities might most effectively be placed, throughout the multi-dimensional combat force.

“In some cases, we are looking for the touch points where best to evolve a capability,” by which he meant that rather than looking for organic upgrades to each platform, the challenge was to look at the joint force and determine which elements of the evolving capability can perform optimal tasks within the overall force capability.

He argued for the increasingly important role of the small, mobile unit within the ground forces, which can leverage the joint assets and, in turn, can contribute to the other joint forces in shaping more effective fire or situational awareness solutions.

He argued that the evolution of software was a key element in the joint space, and that ways needed to be found to more rapidly evolve software in the joint space to provide for the joint effect.

And the “T” or transformation factor was crucial. Rapidity of operations was a key element of the way ahead, and it was important for the joint land force to be able to function more rapidly, with greater effect and in a variety of situations in which connectivity would be degraded.

“The small group needs to train to operate in degraded situations and to operate with as great a capability to not be detected as possible.”

The integration of air, naval and ground power was crucial to the way ahead, and the Australian Army’s battle management lab had RAAF officers involved on the ground floor shaping the way ahead.

Clearly, for the Australian Army chief, the Army is an embedded joint force, and with the new RAAF and Royal Australian Navy capabilities coming on line, would become more so.

Meanwhile back Inside the Beltway a discussion on Breaking Defense seemed in one instance to reflect the thinking Down Under.

According to Lt. General Deptula and Doug Birkey’s characterization:

“Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster issued a warning April 5 to the Senate Armed Services Airland subcommittee saying that the service will be  “…outranged and outgunned by many potential adversaries in the future….”

This statement garnered much attention in the media, but it artificially assesses Army capabilities in a stovepipe and fails to account for the realities of joint power projection.

Bottom line: the individual services don’t fight wars, the Combatant Commanders do by assembling an optimized mix of forces from each of the services to execute a given strategy to attain a desired set of conditions against a specific threat.”

The authors went to argue that “To put it simply, a soldier on the ground working in coordination with a B-1, B-52, the assets of a carrier air wing, or standoff munitions from a ship is afforded immense range and overwhelming firepower.

Those capabilities assembled as a joint task force create a synergy greater than any single service component alone.  In short, the combatant commands will never allow the US Army to be “outranged and outgunned.”

In Australia, the argument by Deptula and Birkey is simply ground truth from which the Australian Army is building its future.

And the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-ground integration simply builds from this point:

Air forces need to be capable of delivering air and space power effects to support conventional and special operations in the land domain. Air-Land integration is one of the most important capabilities for successful joint operations.

The last decade has seen a significant shift in how airpower has supported ground operations.

With the introduction of systems like Rover, the ability of airpower to provide precision strike in conjunction with ground forces saw a significant change in dramatic effects possible from a wide variety of air platforms.

Precision air dropping in support of outposts or moving forces introduced new capabilities of support.

This template of air ground integration is really focused on air operating in conjunction with ground whereas with the shift in the global situation, a much wider set of situations are emerging whereby the air-ground integration approach will become much wider in character, and the ability to insert force rapidly, as a precision strike capability, and to be withdrawn will be a key tool in the toolbox for decision makers.

Fifth generation enabled operations will see a shift to a distributed C2 approach which will clearly change the nature of the ground-to air command system, and with the ability of fifth generation systems to generate horizontal communications among air assets outside the boundaries of a classic AWACs directed system, the change in C2 will be very wide ranging.”

In other words, the co-evolution of the services was crucial in shaping a more effective force, and one capable of operating more effectively in a more timely manner.

Note: For the presentation of the Chief of Staff of the Australian Army’s presentation to the RAAF Airpower Conference 2016, you can listen here:

https://app.box.com/s/auj2inov49kzoxgb4mw2dm8k6jd3y8fz