Robbin Laird, Author at Second Line of Defense

Rebuilding the U.S. Merchant Marine is a Critical Challenge

Posted on April 8, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

04/08/2016

2016-04-08 By Robbin Laird

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operate from ships supplied at sea by the Military Sealift Command (MSC).

This Command is the crucial logistical lynch pin of the sea services, without which the United States would not have an effective maritime combat force.

But the decline of the U.S. merchant marine and the dwindling pool of mariners is a threat to the viability of supporting the Navy and Marines.

And the problem is getting worse. The demand on Military Sealift Command ships is increasing as the Navy moves towards a new concept of operations whereby their ships are operating farther apart both for global coverage and to assure the security of the fleet against 21st century threats.

A good example of this shift is what the Navy and Marine Corps refer to as the Amphibious Ready Group-Marine Expeditionary force. Historically, this force has operated by means of a “three-ship package” deployed within 200 miles of each other. But with the use of the Osprey, which has significantly greater range and speed than helicopters, these ships are now operating thousands of miles from one another on many deployments. It does not take a genius to understand that resupplying ships that are so far apart increases demand on the logistical merchant fleet.

With the approaching retirement of the current generation of mariners, experience gaps are a growing vulnerability. The significant decline in the size of the U.S.-flag merchant marine fleet engaged in international trade — at less than 80 ships currently — and the decline of trained mariners poses a significant strategic challenge for the United States, one that is rarely, if ever, discussed among policymakers.

The Merchant Sealift Command is receiving new ships, such as 12 Dry Cargo & Ammunition ships (T-AKE); 10 Expeditionary Fast Transports (T-EPF), previously known as the Joint High-Speed Vessels (JHSV); two Expeditionary Transfer Docks (T-ESD); and the Expeditionary Mobile Base (T-ESB).

The U.S. shipbuilding industry has a good track record of building ships for the merchant fleet. The latest of these ships are high-tech enterprises, designed to provide flexible, blue-water support in any ocean of the world to the fleet with significant cargo space, including ammunition support and modern logistical IT systems that can easily locate cargo anywhere on board.

However, recapitalization remains a work in progress.

There is growing pressure to develop a new tanker fleet, since the Merchant Sealift Command still operates largely on single-hull tankers. There are also funding issues associated with building supply ships to support a global carrier force.

In an interview conducted with my colleagues Ed Timperlake and Murielle Delaporte at the Merchant Sealift Command headquarters recently in Norfolk, Virginia, MSC Commander Admiral Thomas Shannon, said that “one thing I wake every morning thinking is if the President declares the need for the country to go to war, how will the logistical side of the military meet the challenge?

A major structural challenge we face is the decline of the U.S. merchant marine.”

A growing challenge is recruiting mariners from the U.S. merchant marine, Shannon added. “The Jones Act and the Maritime Security Program are important, but not enough.

We need things like more cargo preference to ensure that we have adequate U.S. merchant shipping.”

Admiral Shannon has a strong naval background.

He served in various parts of the U.S. Navy surface fleet as a consumer of merchant support, but in his words, “I always wanted to be on the other end of the probe taking oil.” As a former carrier strike group commander, he has brought to the job a deep knowledge of the needs of the customer, notably at a time of global-stretch for the Navy and Marine Corps teams. Here is how Shannon answered questions about the state of the U.S. merchant fleet:

Q: Some people consider cargo preference to be corporate welfare.

Shannon: I consider cargo preference an investment in our national security because if you put some cargo on the table, the U.S. flag will see an opportunity and they will acquire or build U.S.-flag ships. They will flag them in the United States if there’s some cargo there for them to haul.

Q: From the Merchant Sealift Command perspective, could you look at cargo preference as a proactive incentive that supports the logistical side of sea service operations?

Shannon: That is a fair way to put it. With such an approach, we can build capacity in the merchant marine and, in turn, expand the base of mariners available to us in time of need. Those mariners are critical to us because when you look at today’s MSC report, we have 61 ships in a reduced operating status. Forty-six of those are over at the Maritime Administration and 15 of them are with Military Sealift Command. They’re mostly large roll-on/roll-off vessels and dry-cargo vessels; and they’re strategically dispersed around the country with 10 to12 mariners on each ship.

When the president rings the bell, we go to the union halls and we man the ships up to whatever their manning requirement is. It’s typically about another 20 persons per vessel. So right there, 60 times 20, we need 1,200 mariners to fall in from somewhere, and where they’re going to fall in from is the U.S.-flagged merchant fleet.

The capacity of a robust U.S.-flag merchant marine and its manpower is the engine that enables us to carry our country to war when ordered.

Q: Are you reaching a critical threshold on shortfall?

Shannon: We are getting awfully close. Three decades ago, when I came into the U.S. Navy, we had around 400 ships in the merchant marine. Today that number is down to 77 in the international trade. Just a few months ago, that number was around 80. That is a drop from the beginning of 2015.

We are getting close to that magic number where we clearly will not have enough U.S.-flagged merchant ships to generate the mariners, which MSC will need to operate, notably when we mobilize. And it is not just a question of mariners. It is about the shipbuilding base and ship repair facilities being available in the United States.

And when one folds in anticipated war damage in conflict, the question of repair capabilities is clearly of central significance.

Q: When considering global conflict, the challenge will be to protect the convoys and to ensure continuous flow of support as well. What are your concerns with regard to this challenge?

Shannon: Let us take the case of our support to Iraqi Freedom. On a single day in 2003, 167 ships were under the cognizance of Military Sealift Command. They were moving cargo to support the operation in the Middle East. Because the sea was uncontested, this was relatively a walk in the park. Fast-forward to today’s Pacific, where there clearly are powers capable of contesting us at sea.

How then do we do the logistical support necessary for the operation of the sea services operating forward in a contested environment? The situation will become even more difficult as the older generation of mariners retires.

In another interview with the Skipper of the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO 196) during the same visit to the Merchant Sealift Command, the challenges were further highlighted.

Master Mariner Jim Dolan has been in the service for 35 years, the last 15 aboard tankers. He has been a Master Mariner for around 25 years. He says that his peer group with 35 years of experience is now retiring, leaving a “shortage in the pool of skilled mariners.” There is a new generation of captains onboard the fleet, he says. They are “good captains, but without our experience. You cannot put a price on experience.”

In short, the key role of the Military Sealift Command is met by having a supply of experienced mariners and of a robust number of U.S. merchant ships to generate enough qualified mariners.

With the continuing rapid decline of the U.S. merchant fleet and of the shipbuilding base in the United States, core military capabilities are being challenged.

There really is no alternative: the logistics fleet needs substantially more funding to aid the civilian marine industry and to generate the requisite pool of talented civilian mariners that the U.S. government depends on.

Without the logistics base necessary for globally distributed operations, it will be necessary to cut back the tasks and operational reach of the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps.

The expenditures required for land wars has challenged the future of the sea services, notably with regard to its logistical support structure.

This article first appeared in Manufacturing and Technology News, March 31, 2016.

The first slideshow provides various shots of the T-AKE ship we visited in Norfolk.

The second slideshow provides various shots of an MSC tanker at sea.

Building from Airpower Integration in the Middle East To Shape a More Integrated and Capable Australian Defence Force: The Perspective of Air Commander Australia

Posted on April 7, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

04/07/2016

2016-04-04 By Robbin Laird

Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Turnbull is the Air Commander Australia. Air Command is the operational arm of the Royal Australian Air Force.

The Commander is responsible for all operational Air Force tasks, and reports to the Chief of Air Force. The Air Commander raises trains and sustains forces for assignment to operations under the Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS). His position is similar to that of the Commander of the Air Combat Command at Langley AFB.

This means that operations flow into training, and training into operations in a never-ending combat learning cycle.

For the RAAF with its Plan Jericho approach and working to integrate its new platforms into an evolving force, and with the clear desire to be a catalyst and beneficiary of an evolving joint force structure re-design, the Air Commander is focused upon shaping more effective training for the evolving structure of the joint force.

In part, this is why the RAAF has stood up its new Air Warfare Center.

According to Australian Aviation, the stand up of the new Centre can be understood as follows:

The RAAF has formally stood up the Air Warfare Centre, a key element of its Plan Jericho transformation plan, during a ceremony at RAAF Base Edinburgh on February 25.

Air Warfare Centre (AWC) replaces the former Aerospace Operational Support Group (or AOSG) and achieved an initial operational capability (IOC) on January 11.

“The future of the AWC is as dynamic as it is exciting. Importantly, you will have a key role to play in the transformation of the Air Force in the future,” AWC commander Air Commodore Stephen Meredith said at the ceremony.

“The RAAF AWC is a first for Air Force and is an extremely exciting opportunity not only for my staff but for the wider Australian Defence Organisation.”

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

The old AOSG comprised the Development and Test Wing and the Information Warfare Wing, and also had responsibility for the Woomera test range. In its place the new AWC is structured into directorates, comprising Integrated Mission Support, Capability and Logistics, Test and Evaluation, Information Warfare, Air Force Ranges, and Tactics and Training. Like AOSG, AWC’s headquarters and most of its units are based at RAAF Base Edinburgh.

“By working with the other force element groups, Army, Navy and defence industry, the AWC will allow Air Force to generate rapid, cogent and integrated capability solutions that are needed now and into the future,” Air Commander Australia Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Turnbull said at the opening.

“It will identify innovative solutions and translate those into capability by driving integrated tactics and advanced warfare across Air Command.”

The establishment of an air warfare centre was heralded by then Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown in his launch of Plan Jericho in February 2015.

The subsequent Plan Jericho ‘Program of Work’ document notes that: “Air Force lacks the systemic ability to generate rapid, cogent and integrated combat capability solutions in response to current and future capability gaps and bottom-up innovation opportunities.”

In response it promises that: “an Air Warfare Centre … will become the centre of innovation and thinking for integrated operations.”

Air Warfare Centre’s (AWC) full operational capability (FOC) is scheduled for 2020.

As the RAAF Chief of Staff sees the challenge of integration in 21^st century conditions:

“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.”

For Turnbull, it is clear that the new Air Warfare Centre is a key asset in shaping a way to navigate the waters of the future.

In his presentation at the 2015 Airpower Conference, which dealt with multi-domain integration, Air Vice-Marshal Turnbull highlighted the role he saw for the AWC as a key player in helping the RAAF navigate the future with regard to effective force structure integration.

As he highlighted in his presentation, the required outcomes of the AWC was as follows:

Testing of current and proposed Concepts of Operation (CONOPS) against force structure and higher level defense planes;
Collation of lessons learned through experimentation for inclusion in strategic planning, capability development doctrine development and exercise planning; and.
An optimized structure promoting the exchange of ideas across the
ADF; interfacing with coalition partners.

Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Turnbull Presentation to Airpower Conference March 2016

The Air Vice-Marshal followed this presentation with one at the Williams Foundation which focused in many ways on the key venue through which much operational integration occurs and will evolve in the years ahead, namely sensor fused network centric warfare by which he meant how do we get the right information to the right people at the right time?

Air Vice-Marshal on the final panel at the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-land integration March 17, 2016

During the airpower conference, I had a chance to sit down and talk with him about his approach. This is the second time I have had the opportunity to talk with him, the first was a phone interview during my last visit to Australia in August 2015.

To be clear about the role of integrated forces seen from his perspective, this response in the last interview provides a clear focal point:

Question: Too often integration means shooting for the lowest common denominator, and combat is not a place where the lowest common denominator is where you want to go.

Assimilation often passes for integration, but obviously you have in mind a much higher target for integration.

How would you characterize your target goal?

Air Vice Marshal Turnbull: Assimilation I think is a word that we don’t need to even have in our vocabulary because it’s implies vanilla and gray.

Lethal is the world we live in and people need to keep their eye on that fact.

We don’t play games and we’re here for a reason.

In the March 2016 interview we discussed the build out from the integrated task force in the Middle East experience and lessons being learned to shape a more effective integrated ADF.

Question: The deployment of your air task force the Middle East was the first time that you deployed a completely integrated Air Force package such a long distance to engage in coalition operations.

How significant has this been in shaping your thinking moving forward?

Answer: Very significant.

It has been a long period of growth where we have added the capabilities to be able to deploy our own forces to an area of interest for the Australian state. Prior to this, we could take key elements of an integrated force package but needed to rely on others, most often on the USAF, to deploy to an area of interest.

It wasn’t good enough that as a sovereign nation in our region, we were reliant on somebody else to actually get off our shores.

But adding our own strategic lift and tanking has created a new situation for us. The deployment to the Middle East has been proof of concept for us with regard to our ability to project power and to provide for our combat support.

The speed with which we deployed and the nature of the capabilities we deployed are a testament to the work we’ve done to learn our lessons from the past two decades into our current environment.

And now we can build upon this deployment which deployed as individual components into a task group to move forward and to learn how to integrate our force package into a true fused capability.

The focus going forward is that each of those platforms are contributing to the greater whole, particularly with regard to the central focus on how to prevail as a connected force.

Slide from Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Turnbull presentation at the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-land integration on March 17, 2016.

Question: The deployment of an integrated task force to the Middle East with lift and tanking built in has clearly been a benchmark for you moving forward, but it is also about changing the culture and mindset and innovating towards the kind of joint force which is the core work in progress for 21^st century force structure.

What is your sense of the culture change challenge?

Answer: It is central.

We are doing that from the headquarters down through the force elements groups. With the Air Warfare Centre across the top, we are turning our Air Force into one that thinks integration from the start.

We need to understand our sister service capabilities from the start and will use the warfare instructors course and the AWC to integrate that understanding across our future workforce.

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

How does this illustrate your evolving approach?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Question: You are undergoing the culture change for a more integrated force BEFORE you get what is called a joint strike fighter.

How does that preparation affect how the RAAF can introduce what the plane can do for the entire ADF, and not just for traditional air combat?

Answer: We are reshaping our expeditionary air force capabilities, building new infrastructure, and rethinking how to better mesh decision making at the point of attack with the enhanced situational awareness which allows those at the point of attack to make good decisions.

The F-35 clearly is about decision-making and ISR but we are not waiting for the plane to show up before we reshape our ability to use fused data and to push information to the right people at the right time in order to make the right decisions.

I’m thinking about decision making in the cockpit back to the strategic level, but teaching the JSF pilot how to operate in the decision space where he can be a decision-maker, that’s what we need to do as well to shape an ability to get better decisions at the point of attack or defense.

Air Commander Australia, Air Vice Marshal Gavin Turnbull (centre), AM, chats with other exercise participants including Lieutenant General Jon Davis (right), Deputy Commandant for Aviation, United States Marine Corps, at Exercise Jericho Dawn 2016 firepower demonstration at Puckapunyal training area, Victoria, on 18 March 2016. *** Local Caption *** The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Australian Army, with support from Northrop Grumman, have successfully conducted a firepower demonstration and a combat team quick attack demonstration at Puckapunyal Military Area as part of Exercise Jericho Dawn to display the powerful effects of integrated air and land operations. The live fire exercise allowed RAAF and Army operators, together with Defence and Industry representatives, to observe the combined air and land capabilities in two scenarios. The operators demonstrated the current capabilities, before trialling new ways to improve air-land integration, including the way that aircraft and vehicles connect and translate information through different communication networks. — Air Commander Australia, Air Vice Marshal Gavin Turnbull (centre), AM, chats with other exercise participants including Lieutenant General Jon Davis (right), Deputy Commandant for Aviation, United States Marine Corps, at Exercise Jericho Dawn 2016 firepower demonstration at Puckapunyal training area, Victoria, on 18 March 2016.

And we are focused throughout the force on how to work the shift forward to the operational level most capable of achieving the desired effect.

We have already purchased secure mobile facilities. We are growing our security forces over the next four to five years up to the required numbers. We have additional personnel that the government is allowing us to have as the JSF capability comes in.

Our combat support group is very highly focused on being expeditionary, containerized, and mobile with regards to standing up expeditionary bases.

And we are working the integration of the IT systems to allow the deployed forces to know exactly what is where and what the base capabilities are and to fuse that into our own space operation center as well.

Question: With regard to Australia in your region, you have acquired or are acquiring a number of pieces of equipment, which your neighbors are buying as well, such as KC-30A tankers, F-35s and P-8s.

How does common acquisition affect your partnerships in the region as well?

Answer: This is a work in progress but flying similar platforms does open the opportunities for more joint work as well, and we have seen this already with regard to KC-30A and P-8.

Once we start operating all of the new capabilities in the region, we will start to see a lot more collaboration.

This falls into what I call the 80/20 split; you buy a good asset that can give you 80% of what you want; what you can do working with allies and partners is share the experience and the cost to get that additional 20% of capability in collaborative framework.

Appendix: The RAAF Air Warfare Centre

The Air Warfare Centre exists within Air Command and is critical to establishing the RAAF as a modern and fully integrated combat force that can deliver air and space power effects in the information age. The AWC is supported by an integrated workforce which includes Air Force, Army, Navy, Public Service and Defence Industry personnel.

The vision of AWC is: “Excellence in Integrated Air Warfare for optimal Joint Effects”.

Its mission is to: “Deliver Integrated Air Warfighting solutions for superior combat effectiveness”.

The goals of the AWC are to provide:

A focal point for bottom up innovation at the tactical and operational levels
Coordinated and integrated tactics and procedures development across all AF platforms using live, virtual and/or constructed (LVC) environments
Coordination of Science and Technology (S&T) and Research and Development (R&D) effort across AF
Testing of current and proposed Concepts of Operation (CONOPS) against force structure and higher level Defence plans at the operational and tactical level
Collation of lessons learned through experimentation for inclusion in strategic planning, capability development, doctrine development, and exercise planning
Exchange of ideas across the ADF and the Coalition.

The AWC is comprised of the following:

HQ AWC – responsible for the coordination and implementation of common and integrated functions across the AWC IOT meet the AWC Mission

Test and Evalution Directorate – the ADF service provider to AF and Army for specialised flight T&E, aviation medicine support, aeronautical information products, stores clearance and aviation systems engineering support

Information Warfare Directorate – centralises the AF’s tactical information warfare elements and provides the wider RAAF with an integrated and tailorable operational support capability drawn from across the Intelligence, Electronic

Warfare and Information Operations domains. It enables the coherent development and management of the RAAF’s Information Warfare capabilities

AF Ranges Directorate – I the primary provider of Air Force Air Weapon Ranges and Live, Virtual and Constructive (LVC) simulation to enable the testing of war materiel and the training of AF capabilities in order to deliver more effective warfighters

Tactics and Training Directorate – focuses on the development of multi-discipline high end integrated tactics and training across the AF through a combination of training, education engagement and integrated exercises.

http://www.airforce.gov.au/About_us/Structure_of_the_RAAF/Air_Command/Aerospace_Operational_Support_Group/?RAAF-6wujD/tHUBRNDsmm3O+YcYlPvAth9Dmq

Working Air-Land Integration from the Perspective of Air Mobility Group: Air Commodore Lennon Discusses the Way Ahead

Posted on April 7, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

2016-04-07 By Robbin Laird

A key part of the dynamic of change for the evolution of the Royal Australian Air Force’s force package has been with regard to sustainable lift.

The first shift was when the C-17 entered the Air Mobility Group.

As Air Commodore Gary Martin, now the air attaché for the RAAF in Washington DC, but previously the Air Lift Commander, put it about the impact of the coming of the C-17:

I took over in late 2010 and was confronted with a set of demanding humanitarian support situations ranging from support to Tsunami relief in Japan to the earthquake in New Zealand and a fairly serious moment at Christmas Island.

We were in the process of shifting from a C-130 centric mind set to a C-17 mind set by which I mean shifting from thinking in terms of days to support an operation to hours.

The initial cultural change was on the part of the Australian Government.

Government suddenly realized that they had the speed and capacity to make an Australian flag appear anywhere in the South Pacific region within 12 hours. And then have a revisit capability within the next 24 hours or less if you’re utilizing two or more aircraft. This was a shift from a three to four day process to one of 12 hours.

The Prime Minister realized that the Government could have an immediate effect, and they could make a decision the night before, by 3:00 pm the following day an aircraft will be on the ground, with a load of whatever was required. And then can present to the Australian public the initial results on the 6 PM news.

This was a fundamental change to National power for Australia.

This changed us at ALG from being a tactical airlift Group to strategic airlift Group.

The next cultural change came with the KC-30A tanker, which led the Airlift Group to become the Air Mobility Group.

Here the KC-30A with its own reach and range, enabled the entire RAAF to deploy at great distances and speed, a change seen dramatically as the air task group arrived in the Middle East for the fight against Daesh.

The head of Air Mobility Group and now the Deputy Chief of Air Force in the RAAF, Air Vice-Marshal McDonald has highlighted the impact of the KC-30A as follows:

Question; On April 1, 2014, your command changed its name from Airlift Group (ALG) to Air Mobility Group (AMG).

You have gone from the Caribou/C-130 package to now a more comprehensive mobility package of C-130Js, C-27Js, C-17s and KC-30As which clearly is the material foundation for shifting the name, but how best to understand the transition?

Air Commodore McDonald: The shift was motivated in large because of the reintroduction of Air to Air Refueling (AAR) through the KC-30A and the growing maturity of this platform.

The shift also highlights the expansion of AMG capabilities of roles within the RAAF.

Renaming the Group signaled an important change to the focus of AMG and the way ahead. The name change also aligns us with naming conventions of both the RAF and USAF Air Mobility commands.

The current AMG Commander, Air Commodore Richard Lennon has become the head of AMG as the RAAF moves forward with Plan Jericho to look beyond the RAAF and its integration to helping shape a more effective integrated Australian Defence Force.

This is reflected in part by the dual hat which Lennon now wears as Commander of AMG and lead on air-land integration within the RAAF itself.

This means that each of the AMG assets, which have a core lift or tanking function, is being looked at in terms of how it can operate in the battlespace to shape more capability to work with the ground maneuver forces.

Last August, I interviewed Air Commodore Lennon in Canberra and we discussed the role, which he saw AMG playing in the Plan Jericho effort.

Commander Air Mobility Group, Air Commodore Richard Lennon, CSC is greeted by the Director of the Australian Antarctic Division, Dr Nick Gales, after arriving at Wilkins Aerodrome. Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence

There is a concerted effort to augment the ability of the RAAF to go with ground forces to support operations, rather than just take them to operations.

In part this is about technology – adding comms and ISR links – but much more broadly a change in the concepts of operations and training, about which my meetings at Richmond with the C-130J squadron provided more details.

It is also about changing the role of the lifters and tankers in terms of how they will be equipped and operate in the battlespace.

They can function as nodes, IT transit elements, C2 enablers or repositories, but more generally, the question is how to use the real estate on the tanker – both outside and inside – to expand its role in the battlespace?

With regard to the shift from transport to force insertion support, this is a RAAF and Australian Army/Special Forces joint effort.

It is about adding SATCOM, ISR, and C2 assets to RAAF C-130Js, and C-17s.

What we discussed last August has become a core priority for Lennon in his command efforts.

And this priority was discussed both in during his presentation to at the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-land integration as well as in the interview which we were able to have during the week of the Airpower Conference and the Williams Foundation.

The technology is crucial to allow for an expanded working relationship between ground and air forces, but Lennon highlighted both in his presentation and the interview, the key role which exercising, deploying and thinking through together was for the integrated force.

“A group of people who are integrated need to operate as a team. You are not replacing each other’s key task or function.

But you have to understand each and every other person’s role in that team. You have to respect it.

You have to trust each other.

You have to know how you’re going to work together.

Because if you don’t have that trust, respect, knowledge of what everybody on the team is meant to do and when they’re supposed to do it, then you won’t be effective.

You certainly won’t win the championship.

When we talk about Air-Land Integration, air force and army need to get together and, and plan how we are going to roll out these new capabilities.

Air Commodore Richard Lennon CSC, Commander Air Mobility Group lays a wreath during the Commemorative Service. *** Local Caption *** A Commemorative Service marking the 73rd Anniversary of the Battle of Bismarck Sea was held at RAAF Base Richmond on Thursday, 03 Mar 2016. The event commemorated the service of Nos 30 and 22 SQN personnel, together with the associated American Forces in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea 02 - 04 Mar 1943. The battle resulted in a victory that removed any likelihood that Japan would be able to regain the initiative in New Guinea and therefore invade Australia. Chaplain (Squadron Leader) Christine Senni welcomes guests to the Commemorative Service. — Air Commodore Richard Lennon CSC, Commander Air Mobility Group lays a wreath during the Commemorative Service. Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence

We have to deliver what the army needs, and the army needs to understand what we can deliver. And the only way you can do that is to get together on a regular basis, not on exercises, well before the exercises.

Talk.

Build confidence in each other.

Build trust in each other.

Get to know each other.

Become friends and develop that team mentality.”

During the presentation at Williams, Air Commodore Lennon went back into history to highlight key moments during World War II where airpower was able to play a decisive role in shaping the battle, including the ground battle.

At the presentation he highlighted noteworthy moments, such as the battle for New Guinea where air and ground operations were mutually supportive in the defeat of the forces of the Empire of Japan.

Lennon quote Lex McAulay and reminded the audience that “the Battle of Bismarck Sea was a battle for land forces, fought at sea, won by air.”

He argued that although the technology is changing, the approach to innovation rested on what was evident in the successes of World War II, namely cooperation among capable forces, which can operate effectively together.

He highlighted as well that maneuver forces were crucial then and are crucial today, and such maneuver forces operate most effectively when ground and air work collaboratively and innovatively together over distance and with speed.

“As an air force we do not exist for ourselves.

We operate to create an effect in the multi-domain battlespace or operating environment.”

We picked up these themes during the interview.

With regard to airlift, a key part of the effort is to deliver the ground forces to the point of interest as the “precision strike” weapon.

To do so, a core effort is to provide better situational awareness to the ground forces in transit.

Similar to what the USMC is doing for the ground combat element flying in the back of the Osprey, the Aussies are doing with regard to their C-17s, namely providing satellite communications in the back of the aircraft to support the ground forces on the way to their insertion mission.

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

“What I’m doing is talking to all the stakeholders in the army and, and other support groups such as communications and information organizations, to ensure that everything is working in harmony.

At the technical level we’re going out to our users and saying, well, what do you need? And they say, well, we need a long-range forward air refueling capability. Okay. Well, how about we look at using a C-130 as a flying fuel tanker?

And so now we’ve developed a forward area refueling capability using the C-130s with the Blackhawks.

We’ve tried it in exercise. It works.

And now we’re just concluding the project by ensuring that logistics and the support required to maintain that system in the field.”

Air Commodore Lennon highlighted that the challenge of getting ready for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief missions was a key test of being able to get ready rapidly for unexpected contingencies and operating in remote and degraded areas.

As such, it was a preparation for the more demanding situations where an active enemy was added to the mix.

“A HADR mission is essentially a no-notice activity, so it’s come as you are. It tests your readiness to the extreme and you’re operating in an environment with lack of information.

You’re going forward into an area that’s largely destroyed depending on the nature of the disaster that beset the area.

It’s a real test of your ability to respond quickly in a degraded situation. HADR is a good test of your readiness to respond.”

The RAAF AMG is working closely with Army Aviation, as there is an effort to find ways to better work together, which is often done in the same battlespace.

This is effort is unfolding as the Chief of Staff of the Australian Army is undertaking a major review of the future of Army Aviation, which certainly will be informed by the joint working efforts of the RAAF and its assets with those of the Army.

A United States Marine Corps (USMC) AV-8B Harrier aircraft from the US-led international coalition flies alongside an Australian Air Task Group KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) in the skies over Iraq. Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence.

This was seen as well in the Jericho Dawn Exercise, which was held the day after the Williams Seminar as well. Here the RAAF working with the Australian Army compared its current system of operations with one where assets such as the Tiger could be connected in such a way as to operate more as a joint asset.

As Air Commodore Lennon put it with regard to the Tiger helicopter:

“The Tigers are a great example because the Australian specifications were set many years ago before the F-35 was approved and we really weren’t as an air force even thinking in that fifth generation space.

We were just looking at getting the aircraft as an Army platform, not one that can operate as both a force within and a contributor to the joint battlespace. It was basically procured as an army asset as opposed to a joint asset.”

In effect, what Lennon was discussing throughout was shaping a join workspace within which the Army as the ground maneuver force was thinking through and operating with the Air Force as the diverse provider of core capabilities, air superiority, strike, ISR, C2, lift and tanking, in terms of how best to work together to shape the desired effect.

And this was not a rear mirror look, but forward leaning with regard to working with Army and Navy.

An example of this was our discussion of the intersection of the new amphibious ships with the Air Force tanker.

“The KC-30A is very likely to be operating in the same area of interest as the amphibious ship.

What can the tanker provide for the ship in terms of various types of support?

We have the opportunity to think about this at the same time as we introduce the one and evolve the other.”

Shaping a more open ended look at communications links and how they could affect concepts of operations is a key part of the Plan Jericho thought process.

“The whole idea of Jericho is that the assets will work together. We’re actually discovering capabilities on radios that we didn’t know they had, such as the ability for some radios to automatically do retransmissions.

So when the aircraft is just flying along, it can be retransmitting signals from the ground.

This gives us other opportunities to use those capabilities to support ground forces after you have landed those forces.”

And the situational awareness built into the KC-30A is allowing the tanker crew to expand how they operate and think within the battlespace.

“We have the ability to broadcast and receive data with low probability of intercept communications.

We can see where each other are so we don’t need to stay in one point.

If we move, our receivers can see where we are and, and vice versa.

So we have always tried to reduce the distance that the receiver has to fly because that gives him more time on the station.

But equally, when it comes off the tanker, we want to be closer to where that asset is going.

Whether it’s on station or back to base, there’s no point in dropping them off at the wrong end of the orbit because then they’re just going to burn all the fuel flying all the way back again.

With our C2 and related capabilities we can now do this more effectively.”

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

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

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

“Link 16 can tell you where the assets are and the fuel status of the air combat force. But it cannot tell you about intentions.

The Air Task Groups KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft carries out air to air refueling of a United States Marine Corps (USMC) F/A-18 Hornet fighter/attack aircraft in the skies over Iraq. Credit: Australian Ministry of Defence

You get that from listening to the chat.

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

He then flew to the problem.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This will ease the workload for the tanker crew, and provide significant capabilities to fuel new assets coming to the tanker, such as UAVs. It would be an important step forward.

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

Editor’s Note: In the slideshow above, the KC-30A is seen refueling a variety of aircraft as the types of aircraft which can be tanked by it have rapidly expanded over the past few months.

Shaping the Airpower Transition: The Perspective of “Zed” Roberton, Commander Air Combat Group (RAAF)

Posted on April 6, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

04/06/2016

2016-04-06 By Robbin Laird

Air Commodore Steve “Zed” Roberton knows about airpower transitions.

He led the transition in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from F-111 to Super Hornet, Commanded the RAAF’s initial Air Task Group to the Middle East, where for the first time the RAAF took an integrated air package which included lift, strike, tanking and airborne C2/ISR, and operates from the key fighter base which will be a key home to the F-35.

This transition for Roberton is about shaping airpower for integrated operations in the information age; it is not about staying in the 20th century world of disaggregated air from maritime from ground forces.

Air-Commodore-Roberton-Bio

It is about shaping an integrated force driven by the new fifth generation approach.

AIRCDRE Roberton with then Defence Minister Kevin Andrews during the Minister’s early January 2015 visit to the Middle East Region. (Defence)

And for the RAAF, this approach is crucial because unlike the USAF or the USN, the RAAF does not have a large force of specialized aircraft to operate in an evolving approach to integration; the RAAF with the Navy and the Army need to lead a process of force structure integration shaped by a key driver like the F-35.

As Roberton put it in an interview at Williamtown Air Base on March 24, 2016:

“The Australian Defense Force is in a different position than the U.S. Navy or Air Force, in that we are largely being air asset-led.

Our aviation assets are out ahead of where we are with development of our surface combatants.

For Australia, the F-35 is not just about making everything else in the battle space better and more effective.

It’s more about providing options for commanders to accord them the right time to choose how to deploy force so that the right asset can be where it needs to be to get the desired effect.

Increasingly, for us, that’s going to be both kinetic and non-kinetic.

The F-35 is going to provide us a level of temporal control that we haven’t really had but this will only happen if we get the information sharing right.

But, we’re still in a position where we are waiting for some of the other force structures to become more effectively integrated in the way ahead.”

He highlighted that working with the U.S. transition was crucial as well, but recognized a gap which had to be addressed.

“We need to have enough influence with the U.S. that they understand that the maritime domain really is important for us as an Air Force.

The U.S. Navy with their surface fleet , with the Super Hornets and Growlers, has meant that, although, the F-35 is an important program for them, it’s not fundamental for them like it is for us.

I would argue the U.S. Air Force has never shown the level of interest and fascination at integrating with maritime forces that we need. We’ve got to be able to influence the shift that we think is necessary.”

We discussed briefly the concept of the kill web which Rear Admiral Manazir had introduced at his presentation at the Mitchell Institute earlier that week in Arlington, Va and Roberton readily embraced the idea of shift from a linear kill chain and hub-and-spoke operations to one of an distributed force contributing to capabilities across the integrated battlespace.

(Note: My colleague Ed Timperlake had attended the Mitchell Institute session and communicated the results in time to discuss with Air Commodore Roberton).

As Air Commodore Roberton sees it, there is a three-phase process underway and “we are only at the first step.

“We need to be in the position where our maritime surface combatants are able to receive the information that we’ve got airborne in the RAAF assets. Once they’ve got that, they’re going to actually be trying to be able to do something with it.

That is the second level, namely where they can integrate with the C2 and ISR flowing from our air fleet.

But we need to get to the third level, where they too can provide information and weapons for us in the air domain.

That is how you will turn a kill chain into a kill web. That’s something that we want in our fifth generation integrated force.

And in a fifth generation world, it’s less about who is the trigger shooter but actually making sure that everybody’s contributing effectively to the right decisions made as soon as possible at the lowest possible level.

And that is why I see the F-35 as an information age aircraft.

I’m less concerned about the load outs on the F-35. You can give it another ten weapon stations and you would miss the core point.

What’s actually important is how the F-35 makes other weapon providers or effect providers out there far better and shape faster reaction times.

A lot of people seem stuck in the old mindset of how many weapons we are going to stack on each aircraft.

That’s almost two generations ago.

In some ways, we are going back to the concept of military aviation early in World War I where we are the eyes and ears for the combat force forward operating.”

Clearly, the approach discussed by Air Commodore Roberton meant that his own job was in transition as well.

“In ten years time, my successor in this job will be dealing a lot more with other elements within the ADF , with other government agencies and leveraging information management and decision making.

Shaping and keeping the link or connectivity services dynamic will be a key capability not just focusing on the individual platform.”

During his presentation at the Williams Foundation seminar on new approaches to air-land integration, he focused on the crucial importance of pushing decision making to the key point of attack or defense in an operation.

In the presentation, he made the case that the airborne forward air controller was going to become more important in the evolving battlespace, and needed to be empowered to work with the deployed force to execute rapidly in the fluid battlespace as well.

Roberton Williams Foundation Presentation

And last year, he provided an excellent overview on his experience with the first deployment of the integrated air task force, and this transition is a crucial one as the RAAF shapes its future as well.

“We managed to self-deploy. It was and remains a fairly modest, but very important, contribution.

The fact is, I don’t think the RAAF could have done this, at this scale, and this packaged level, ten years ago.”

This experience along with his work on transitioning from the F-111 to the Super Hornet are key building blocks in his leadership for the next transition, namely the fifth generation enabled air combat force.

Air Commodore Roberton Looks Back at His Experience with the Australian Air Task Group Deployed to the Middle East from Second Line of Defense

OpOKRA_Transcript

For earlier pieces, including an interview with Air Commodore Roberton last year, see the following:

https://sldinfo.com/visiting-the-raaf-williamtown-air-base-preparing-for-the-future-and-remembering-the-past/

https://sldinfo.com/the-raafs-air-combat-group-middle-east-operations-and-the-way-ahead/

The photos in the slideshow highlight aircraft based in Williamtown, or in the case of the KC-30A working with aircraft based at Williamtown.

An F/A-18 Hornet conducts an aerial display over RAAF Base Williamtown in preparation for the Wings over Illawarra Air Show.

F/A-18A Hornets based at RAAF Williamtown, NSW, participate in Exercise Aces North which was conducted in the Northern Territory. Exercise Aces North 2015 is the culmination of Fighter Combat Instructor (FCI) course held at RAAF Base Tindal and Darwin over the period 28 May-25 June 2015.

Exercise Aces North is supported by personnel and assets from Number 1 Squadron and Number 2 Operational Conversion Unit.

Two F/A-18A Hornets take off in formation from RAAF Base Williamtown during Exercise DAWN STRIKE. Dawn Strike represents the final mission of the Fighter Combat Instructor (FCI) Course held at RAAF Base Williamtown.

FCI course was run from 12 January to 26 June 2015 at Number 2 Operational Conversion Unit (2OCU). The aim of FCI course is to graduate expert leaders and instructors capable of tactics development, validation and instruction and is run every two years.

KC-30A MRTT and E-7A Wedgetail conduct Air to Air refueling testing in the airspace near RAAF Williamtown. From 1-13 June 2015, air-to-air refueling (AAR) trials were conducted between a RAAF KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) and an E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft.

A Royal Australian Air Force No. 2 Squadron E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft completes a night-time air-to-air refuel from a United States military KC-10 Extender Air-to-Air Refueling Tanker Aircraft.

Australian F-35A flying out of Luke Air Force Base, USA (credit Lockheed Martin)

The first squadron of ten F-35B Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) are operational after the United States Marine Corps (USMC) declared Initial Operating Capability (IOC) on 31 July 2015.

RAAF personnel working with JSF will be tapped into an international support network and will have the opportunity to work alongside Defence industry to sustain the JSF fleet.

Australia is scheduled to achieve IOC for its first Squadron of F-35s to be based at Williamtown in 2020.

No 76 Squadron Hawk-127 aircraft return to Squadron lines after conducting an aerial display during the No 76 Squadron Family day at RAAF Base Williamtown.

F-16 C aircraft from the 132nd Fighter Wing (132FW), Des Moines, IA are seen operating from the Williamtown Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base in preparation to launch during a Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) mission at the Williamtown RAAF Base, Australia on February 23, 2011.

The 132FW is seen conducting DACT mission “Sentry Down Under.”

All but the F-16 photos are credited to the Australian Ministry of Defence; the others to the USAF.

The second slideshow focuses on Air Commodore Roberton.

The first two photos highlight the Super Hornet transition.

The third photo shows The Minister for Defence, the Hon Kevin Andrews, MP (left) speaking with Commander Air Task Group, Air Commodore Steve Roberton during a visit to the Middle East Region.

The fourth photo shows outgoing Commander Air Combat Group Air Commodore Anthony Grady, AM, (right) Officially hands over his duties to Air Commodore Steven Roberton, AM by signing the Change of Command certificate.

The fifth photo shows Commander Air Combat Group, Air Commodore Steve ‘Zed’ Roberton listens to an address by Local Worimi Elder Uncle Neville Lilley during a ceremony at RAAF Base Williamtown during NAIDOC Week.

The final photo shows. Commander Air Combat Group, Air Commodore Steve ‘Zed’ Roberton presents a framed Aboriginal flag and Worimi Hornet print to Local Worimi Elders Uncle Neville Lilley (right) and Uncle John Ridgeway during a ceremony for NAIDOC Week at RAAF Base Williamtown.

A New Special Report: The F-35 Arrives into the Combat Fleet

Posted on April 6, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

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.

Screen Shot 2016-04-06 at 3.00.44 PM

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.

Rethinking China Policy

Kuwait Formalizes Its Eurofighter Partnership: The Next GCC Partner Signs Up

Posted on April 6, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

2016-04-06

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.

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/the-way-ahead-for-eurofighter-modernization-a-discussion-with-paul-smith-updated-from-dubai-air-show-2015/

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 21^st century, and the consortium has expanded its stakeholders in the modernization of the aircraft as a 21^st 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:

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/eurofighter-modernization-lars-joergensen-explains-the-approach/

For a report on Eurofighter modernization, see the following:

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/a-special-report-on-eurofighter-modernization-shaping-a-way-ahead/

The Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Arrives Into the Combat Force

Posted on April 5, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

04/05/2016

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.

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.

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 21^st 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.

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 21^st century warfighting approaches whereby the ability of a coalition force to operate in the expanded battlespace is crucial for mission success.

In effect, the introduction of the F-35 shapes a two fold dynamic.

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.

Drone Attacked and Destroyed by Eagle: The Dutch Bring Eagles to the Fight

Posted on April 2, 2016 | by Robbin Laird

04/02/2016

2016-04-02

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.

Published March 8, 2016

Norwegian Minsitry of Defence

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.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/drones/dutch-police-training-eagles-to-take-down-drones

Appendix: The RAAF Air Warfare Centre

Rethinking China Policy

​DRAMA AT 1,500 FEET

​NEVER HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE

DRAMA AT 1,500 FEET

NEVER HEARD OF ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE