Norwegians at Luke AFB: First Norwegian F-35s Arrive

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
11/16/2015

2015-11-14 The first two Norwegian F-35 aircraft are seen arriving at Luke AFB, AZ and the first Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35 student pilot’s initial flight as well in the video below.

Norway is one of the F-35 partner nations currently training pilots at Luke AFB.

The two Norwegian F-35 jets arrived from the Lockheed Martin plant at Ft. Worth, TX and will join the 62nd Fighter Squadron which is training both Norwegian and Italian pilots in addition to US pilots.

Maj. Morten Hanche of the Royal Norwegian Air Force also did his initial F-35 flight and is the first Norwegian student to complete F-35 training at Luke AFB.

Both events took place on Nov. 10th, which is the birthday of the Royal Norwegian Air Force.

Norwegians at Luke AFB: First Norwegian F-35s Arrive from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.

Credit: 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

11/10/15

According to a piece by Senior Airman Grace Lee of the 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs published on 11/10/15:

The first two Norwegian F-35s arrived today at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. Shortly after, a Norwegian pilot flew the F-35 Lightning II for the first time today, in conjunction with the Royal Norwegian air force’s birthday.

The F-35 program took its first step forward integrating partner nations with the arrival of the first Australian F-35 Dec. 18, 2014, at Luke. Almost a year later the next big international step for the program came when two Italian pilots completed their first flight in an F-35 Nov. 5 here.

This marks the second international partner to have F-35s arrive for training at Luke.

“Today is a great day for the 62nd Fighter Squadron, the 56th Fighter Wing, and the U.S. and Norwegian air forces,” said Lt. Col. Gregory Frana, 62nd FS commander. “Since the 62nd FS stood up as an F-35 squadron back in June of 2015, we have been focused on training the world’s best F-35 pilots. Today, as we accept our first partner aircraft into the squadron, we are one step closer to fulfilling our mission of training the best F-35 pilots from around the world.”

The day was a result of the combined efforts of the U.S. and its Norwegian partners.

“Over the past few months we have been working closely with our Norwegian partners to ensure that we are ready to receive and fly the most technologically advanced aircraft the world has ever seen,” Frana said. “Today is the result of a monumental team effort, but the effort will not stop here. The effort will continue as the U.S. and our partners bring the F-35 to initial operational capability and utilize this amazing machine to strengthen alliances and defend our national interests.”

Similar to the partnership Norway had with the U.S. and other partner nations with the F-16, the F-35 partnership will make for an unstoppable force.

“When it comes to the partnership, we see a very good transfer from our experience with the F-16 to the F-35,” said Royal Norwegian air force Maj. Morten Hanche, 62nd FS training pilot. “Working with the same and some new partners, will allow us the same benefits. Also, it will allow us to easily integrate and operate together as one force. This is because we train together, we know each other and we keep it very similar.”

Eight other nations will be training alongside the U.S. on the new airframe. Other partner nations that will be joining the U.S., Norway and Australia in the F-35 training program here will be Turkey, Italy, and the Netherlands, in addition to Foreign Military Sales countries Japan, Korea and Israel.

“When the F-35 deploys in the future, it will be alongside our Norwegian partners,” said Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, 56th FW commander. “The relationships built here in the West Valley will be critical to both our nations as we move forward. Building partnership activities is priceless as the Air Force reinforces long-established bonds and cultivates new friendships through training opportunities, exercises and military-to-military events.”

Luke currently has 32 F-35s and by 2024, Luke is scheduled to have six fighter squadrons and 144 F-35s. Norway will have seven F-35s stationed at Luke.

Recently, two Italian pilots flew a USAF and a RAAF F-35 as part of their training at Luke AFB.

The USAF is learning to fly its most advanced jet AT PRECISELY THE SAME TIME as key allies. Rather than simply learning to fly WITH the USAF on different jets, the Italians and other F-35 nations are shaping common training, tactics and procedures for a global fleet FROM THE GROUND UP.

As one of the Italian pilots put it:

Question: You flew an Australian jet yesterday.  

You do not normally work with Australian pilots, but you will get to know them from the ground up as well as you train at Luke and fly each other’s jets.  

What is your sense of this dynamic? 

Answer: The young guys will grow up in a very advanced warfighting and multi-national environment because of this program. 

They will be used to not just working together from time to time in an exercise, but will build in common tactics from the ground up and help each other innovate as well.

The impact of the joint training from the ground up was highlighted by Group Captain Glen Beck, Director of the Air Combat Transition Office in the Royal Australian Air Force.

Question: You are working critical mass not just from a pilot perspective but from the air systems perspective.  

Is that how to look at it? 

Group Captain Beck: It is. Not everyone has enough jets at the beginning but by being part of a coalition critical mass they have access to more than simply their own national jets. 

By putting the various national participants in a common pool you can accelerate learning and shape more effective solutions from the beginning. 

And we are seeing a clear acceleration of this process, something not easily recognized by those not participating in the program. 

And with the growing numbers of F-35 pilots and maintainers, you will bring fifth generation into the main stream. Rather than simply being a niche capability, it will become the mainstay for change for the air combat force. 

It is going to become more of a day-to-day experience; it is going to become less “special” and more normal. 

A lot of people don’t realize how much momentum we have in the program and we are rapidly achieving critical mass in the program. 

This will be the premier fighter in the 21st century; several nations will be using it; and sharing their combat experiences, and building an evolving capability over time. In my opinion, a lot of people are yet to think through what the impact of this will mean. 

What follows is the Norwegian judgment about receiving their first F-35 in late September 2015.

On Tuesday 22 September, the first Norwegian F-35 was officially presented in Texas. This marks the beginning of a new era for the Norwegian Armed Forces.

The aircraft was rolled out in front of some 300 prominent guests in Lockheed Martin’s aircraft final finishes hall in Fort Worth, Texas. Among the guests were Norwegian Minister of Defence, Ine Eriksen Søreide, and Chief of Defence, Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen.

 “This is a joyful day for us all. This shows that we are modernising our defence, and that is an important part of our activity,” said the Admiral.

 ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

Norway has decided to buy up to 52 new F-35A multirole fighters within 2025. The jets will replace today’s F-16 fighters gradually from 2019. The F-35s, however, are more than just a replacement for today’s Norwegian fighters. 

“This jet’s combat capability is significantly better than the F-16’s. The advanced stealth technology increases its survivability and makes it easier to get close to an opponent without being detected. Also, the weapon systems have a significantly longer range than we have on the F-16s,” Bruun-Hanssen said.

NORWEGIAN MISSILE

 In her speech, Norwegian Minister of Defence Ine Eriksen Søreide, pointed out the long-lasting and close relationship between Norway and the USA. 

Several Norwegian companies have also contributed to the development and construction of the F-35s. Among them is Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, which has developed the Joint Strike Missile in cooperation with the Norwegian Armed Forces. The missile will be integrated in the Norwegian F-35s.

 STAYS IN THE USA

 During the ceremony, the internationally renowned Norwegian trumpeter Ole Edvard Antonsen played his song “Vidda” (the mountain plateau in English). Antonsen wrote the song after being a passenger on board an F-16. 

The building of Norway’s first F-35 started in September 2013. After some final testing it will fly to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona in November. Norway’s second F-35 is soon to be completed, and in 2016, Norway’s next two jets will be completed. The first four Norwegian jets will all be based at Luke, where the training and education of Norwegian F-35 pilots will be carried out.

 A VITAL CAPACITY

The first Norwegian F-35 is scheduled to land in Norway in 2017, a milestone that the Chief of Defence is looking very much forward to:

 “Absolutely. The F-35 is one of the most important platforms in tomorrow’s Norwegian defence.

We build most of our defence around the F-35s, and all the capacities in this jet,” said the Admiral.

The photos in the slideshow highlight the arrival of the Norwegian F-35 jets at Luke AFB.

The first photo shows the second Norwegian F-35 Lightning II touches down at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., Nov. 10, 2015. The jet marks the scheduled arrival of the first of two F-35s for the Royal Norwegian Air Force, making Norway the newest partner in the international F-35 joint-partnership program at Luke.

The second photo shows Maj. Gen. Morten Klever, the program director of the Norwegian F-35 program, accepts the first two Norwegian F-35 Lightning IIs after they arrived at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., Nov. 10, 2015. Shortly after, a Norwegian pilot flew the F-35 for the first time, in conjunction with the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s birthday.

The third photo shows Norway’s first F-35 Lightning II taxis to the parking ramp Nov. 11, 2015, at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.

The final photos shows Royal Norwegian Air Force Maj. Morten Hanche, a 62nd Fighter Squadron training pilot, prepares for his first F-35 Lightning ll flight Nov. 10, 2015, at Luke Air Force Base.

Credit Photos: USAF

 

 

C2 for Hybrid War: The Marines Preparing for Combat

Posted on | by Robbin Laird

2015-11-11 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

Counter-insurgency warfare has been the dominant template dominating U.S military engagements for more than a decade.

Joint warfare has been largely defined in terms of the air and naval services supporting the ground forces doing COIN.

COIN has become so dominate, that the key elements of a fighting force have been crafted in its image, with slow motion warfare, hierarchical C2, the growth of the OOLDA (Observe, Orient, Legally Review, Decide, and Act) loop replacing a decisive, quick action OODA or Observe, Orient, Decide and Act loop, K-Mart type of logistics support capabilities, significant numbers of Forward Operating Bases or FOBs in the battlespace, and uncontested and uncontestable air space.

In a recent article by Francis Tusa, the age of COIN has been decisively replaced by the demands of what he refers to as hybrid warfare, or his version of what the Marines used to call the Three Block War. 

How much more hybrid can you get than the current situation over Syria?

The “traditional” view of hybrid warfare is an enemy who exhibits elements of different parts of the conflict spectrum – some cyber, some conventional, some guerrilla, perhaps. 

But look at what US/French (and soon British …?) forces face over Syria today: a low level insurgent threat, which can exhibit some higher level capabilities, and then a very high intensity threat from Russian SAMs and combat aircraft. 

Not a hybrid threat from one foe, but one made up of different enemies. That really is hybrid! 

Under Marine Corps Commandant Amos, the need to shift from the COIN template as the dominant definer of military engagement was clearly recognized and the shift was started. The first clear statement of this shift was the “return to the sea,” or ramping up combat Marines experience operating from the ampbhious fleet.

As noted in a 2012 article about the shift:

“The Marine Corps is not designed to be a second land army,” he testified, despite its participation in land campaigns from World War I to Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, he said, the Corps “is designed to project power ashore from the sea.”

“Amphibious capabilities provide the means to conduct littoral maneuver – the ability to maneuver combat-ready forces from the sea to the shore and inland in order to achieve a positional advantage over the enemy.” The Navy-Marine Corps team “provides the essential elements of access and forcible entry capabilities that are necessary components of a joint campaign,” Amos said. 

Fortunately for the Marines, Amos’ passion to restore the naval services’ amphibious capabilities is shared by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert.

The launch of the Bold Alligator series of exercises in 2011 has highlighted the return to the sea, and focusing on enhanced capabilities to operate from the sea base.

The maturing of the Osprey and the F-35B arriving on the sea base are powerful enablers for the Navy-Marine Corps team to shape an expeditionary force able to insert force, achieve objectives and withdraw.

Indeed, the Marines are working hard on shape modern and 21st century insertion forces, which can operate across the range of military operations or ROMO.

A key part of insuring mission success is appropriate C2 to lead a flexible insertion force into an operation and out of that operation.

In an interview earlier this year, the Commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade highlighted how important C2 transformation was to the evolving Marine Corps mission set.

In that interview, Major General Simcock highlighted that 2d MEB is shaping – namely a scalable, modular, and CJTF/JTF-capable Command Element, which can provide the leadership and direction for military insertion into fluid and dynamic crisis or contingency situations.

Recently, the Second Marine Air Wing (2nd MAW) held Wing Exercise 15 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, to train for the kind of C2 flexibility which could support an insertion force in a situation where a near peer competitor was projected to be involved, just the sort of situation which Tusa envisaged.

A key part of that exercise was working flexible C2 of the kind necessary for expeditionary forces as opposed the decade behind of relatively static COIN C2.

We had a chance to discuss the exercise with Col. Kenneth Woodard, the exercise director and 2nd MAW operations officer.

The exercise drew upon earlier work, as well as scenarios developed in other exercises, notably at 29 Palms, to provide the projected operational context to the exercise.

Continuity with regard to scenarios and linkage back to earlier exercises and preparing the ground for the next ones allows for the kind of dynamic learning process, which is crucial to shaping effective 21st century combat forces.

“What we’re trying to do here at the wing is to ensure that we’re able to provide the MAGTF with support tomorrow, today, as well as we did in the past operations, and build on lessons learned. And continue to focus and train our battle staff to be able to set forth ways to use evolving capabilities as well.”

Col. ,Woodard emphasized that having an exercise Wing Exercise 15 was very time consuming and challenging so they would do only a couple of such exercises in a year.

“It’s hard at wing level to train ourselves. It’s very difficult because we don’t have higher headquarters right here that could play that role. To do that we have to simulate the different players in the command process to ensure that Wing level C2 is able to meet the evolving challenges in a fluid battlespace.”

What was simulated in the Wing Exercise was the ability to operate in a land environment when a near peer competitor was part of the combat situation.

This meant that they had to exercise defensive and offensive actions to support the force, and to ensure operational success.

“We had a near peer competitor, and we had a robust aviation elements and, and surface-to-air defenses to counter their offensive capabilities and in our scenario, we were reacting to some of their attacks.”

Expeditionary logistics are crucial to a dynamic operation which can not rely on pre-existing K-Marts to provide supplies for the operation.

According to Col. Woodard, during the exercise they established a FOB to provide support for the advancing forces.

But the question then is how to empower the FOB as part of the dynamic force?

“How do you supply it? Can you do it via truck? Do you get up there via a KC-130? Where’s gas can be stored once you get up there? How are the aircraft are going to get in and out of the FOB?

How do you establish communications at the FOB with our NIPRNet or our SIPRNet?

There are a lot of variables to deal with and to consider.

Our logisticians and our aviation ground support division, were key players in coming up with a plan during the exercise to answer those sorts of questions.”

And the fog of war such as pilots getting sick on mess food and other such intrusions were included in the exercise as well.

Sailors were involved as part of the medical team simulating how best to deal with casualties during the simulated combat as it is crucial to leave no man behind particularly in today’s combat world where hostages can become key political pawns. The role of the team aboard the USS Kearsarge, which conducted the TRAP mission to recover a downed USAF pilot, certainly demonstrated that in real world combat.

As part of the learning process, the Wing Exercise is a prelude to an exercise with 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force in May and then there is Bold Alligator in the Fall.

Lessons learned in the exercises and real world combat are folded into dynamic learning process so that the Marines can prepare for Hybrid War of the type which Francis Tusa envisages.

And the shock of moving from COIN to hybrid war for some in the military and in the defense analytical community is a profound one.

As a senior retired and well respected Marine Corps general put it with regard to the need to shift from the COIN template:

Those who yearn to re-fight the large scale “boots on the ground” nation-building battles we conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan are not going to get their way.

Land-centric warriors loved the primacy of their position in those wars, but our political leaders learned that the world’s representative democracies do not have the stamina (or stomach) required to win those wars over the course of the many years that are required. 

In my view, we are unlikely to see thousands of US troops on the ground doing nation building again any time soon. 

However, there is a core group of “revered thinkers” who built there résumés on “drinking tea” and “eating soup” in foreign lands. 

It’s no surprise that people who base their entire credibility on nation building would oppose the F-35 and other legitimate technological advances in modern warfare. 

And the crucial need to reform C2 approaches from the overlay bureaucratic and centralized C2 structures which have grown during the COIN years was highlighted as well by a recently retired, and widely respected chief of Air Force.

The CAOC (Combined Air Operations Center) worked well in the first Gulf War because it held true to the concept of decentralized execution. 

It has morphed into centralized micromanager of air ops and post office box for the Joint force. 

It didn’t function all that well in 2003 and Afghanistan has just made it worse. 

We are wasting our Air Power assets (without significant C2 reform).

The slideshow of photos provided by 2nd Marine Air Wing show various aspects of the exercise in process.

In the first photo, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Marines initiate and assist with flight requests during Wing Exercise 15 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct.13, 2015. Performing defensive and offensive measures to counter both traditional and irregular threats based on today’s real world adversaries, the Marines and Sailors learned to work together to accomplish various missions by conducting Tactical Air Command Center operations during Wing Exercise 15, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct. 13-16.

In the second picture, Lt. Col. Bradley Philips updates Col. Mark Palmer, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing chief of staff, on the status of current operations for the aviation combat element during Wing Exercise 15, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct. 13, 2015. During the exercise, the Marines participated in various scenarios that tested their ability to use defensive and offensive strategies in order to maximize readiness and efficiency of 2nd MAW. Phillips served as the senior watch officer during the exercise.

In the third picture, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Marines assess scenarios with fixed-wing assets during Wing Exercise 15, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct. 13, 2015. Performing defensive and offensive measures to counter both traditional and irregular threats based on today’s real world adversaries, the Marines and Sailors learned to work together to accomplish various missions by conducting Tactical Air Command Center operations during Wing Exercise 15, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct. 13-16.

In the fourth picture, Lt. Cmdr. Laura Anderson coordinates medical support for the aviation combat element during Wing Exercise 15, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct. 13, 2015. Marines assigned to battle staff positions participated in operational planning teams requiring staff input across the entirety of 2nd MAW. Medical planners were a vital link in the exercise as they coordinated a multitude of casualty evacuations and general health and welfare for U.S. Marines and Sailors within the ACE.

In the fifth picture, planners within the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing assess available wing assets in order to support a request made by ground forces during Wing Exercise 15, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct. 13, 2015. 2nd MAW aviation assets and its highly trained personnel provide the ground combat element and Marine Air-Ground Task Force commander with unprecedented reach and tactical flexibility. Performing defensive and offensive measures to counter both traditional and irregular threats based on today’s real world adversaries, the Marines and Sailors learned to work together to accomplish various missions by conducting Tactical Air Command Center operations during Wing Exercise 15, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct. 13-16

In the final picture, Lance Cpl. Michael Lobiondo, left, and Lance Cpl. Matthew Cancino patrol a compound during Wing Exercise 15, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Oct. 14, 2015. During the exercise, the security detail patrolled the area to maintain security. While they’re maintaining security, Marines with 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing provide defensive and offensive countermeasures in order to increase the overall readiness of the aviation combat element and supporting units.

2nd MAW Prepares for Future Engagements

By Cpl. U. Roberts | 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing | October 16, 2015

The U.S. Marine Corps is the nation’s crisis response force, forward deployed and poised to rapidly respond to crises within the arc of instability and within regions of anticipated future conflicts.

The ability to provide support from the air is predicated on the ability to bring airpower as close as possible to the fight. There isn’t a force more capable of responding quickly in any environment around the world than the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. It is the adaptable, rapidly deployable nature of Marine Aviation that makes this possible.

Marines with 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing began refocusing training requirements on near-peer adversaries by conducting Tactical Air Command Center operations during Wing Exercise 16, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Oct. 13-16.

“The idea behind the exercise was to train the battle staff,” explained Col. Kenneth Woodard, exercise director and 2nd MAW operations officer. “The MAW must be ready to deploy and employ as a wing-level headquarters in a major theater war … WINGEX provided us an opportunity to test the battle staff and prepare it for this requirement.”

The battle staff is composed of primary and special staff sections across the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. It supports the aviation combat element’s capability to operate, plan and execute all functions of Marine aviation across the range of military operations.

While it is not possible to plan and be prepared for every future engagement, 2nd MAW plans to optimize its readiness and continuously enforce and maintain standards in an effort to increase the capability of defending the homeland and supporting the ground combat element.

Although the exercise lasted four days, the planning phase and coordination required spanned 10 months. Marines assigned to battle staff positions participated in operational planning teams requiring staff input across the entirety of 2nd MAW.  

In effort to make the constructive simulated exercise realistic, planners from the II Marine Expeditionary Force Battle Simulation Center integrated the ground combat element, logistics combat element as well as higher commands such as II MEF and host nation militaries, forcing the ACE Marines to coordinate not only among themselves, but also across the entire MAGTF.

Performing defensive and offensive measures to counter both traditional and irregular threats based on today’s real-world adversaries, the Marines and Sailors learned to work together to accomplish various missions.

“Working with the different agencies across the wing and outside entities was a major takeaway from this exercise,” explained Capt. Kevin Tingley, the future operations rotary wing planner.  “It allowed many of us who haven’t actually deployed in this capacity to truly see the inner workings of what makes the MAGTF work.”

While the purpose of the exercise is to strengthen war-fighting capabilities, the exercise will help key personnel identify training achievements and deficiencies to prepare for future combat operations.

“After several years of sustained combat operations, we need to continue training and executing our mission requirements so that we can ensure we are equally as responsive tomorrow, as we were in past operations,” said Maj. Gen. Gary Thomas, 2nd MAW commanding general. “Outstanding support to the MAGTF is a mindset.

There is a global demand for forces to remain ready, and if we are going to do something, we are going to do it well. This exercise speaks to the quality of the battle staff’s preparation and execution to make it happen.”

Although WINGEX has come to an end, the continuous training and betterment of 2nd MAW Marines and Sailors will continue to evolve when 2nd MAW participates in the II MEF-wide exercise, next year. Nonetheless, if the nation calls for the rapid insertion of ground units or the need for close air support — the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing will be there to answer the call.

 

 

 

Red Friday In Paris: The Birth of A New Era

Posted on | by Robbin Laird

2015-11-16 Dateline: Paris

By Murielle Delaporte

A new reality is born from the bloodshed which occurred in the streets of Paris last Friday.

8 terrorists, 7 points of attacks, 30 minutes, close to 500 persons hit by Kalashnikovs or explosives, more than 2000 relatives mourning a loved one, 64 million people determined to win the war against barbarism.

The War In Syria

The French are starting to put the dots between the war lead against Daesch by the Hollande government with the Chammal operation started a year ago and the growing domestic terrorist threat.

What makes the situation difficult to comprehend is the hybrid nature of the enemy: hybrid by the military means he uses, hybrid by its status.

As the French minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve stressed in a televised interview, the enemy is a terrorist movement, but with the power of a state, since it can tap into the territory, the oil and banking reserves of the two countries it has started to take over.

The first debate therefore has been to answer the question: how do you fight a war against a non- state actor which has resources like a state?

A photograph of the theater hall reveals the bloody horror that unfolded when terrorists opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at The Eagles of Death Metal rock concert on Friday night. Credit: Daily Mail
A photograph of the theater hall reveals the bloody horror that unfolded when terrorists opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at The Eagles of Death Metal rock concert on Friday night. Credit: Daily Mail

President Hollande, very much like President Bush after 9/11, has answered with air strikes barely 48 hours after the deadly attacks on French soil against a Daesh command headquarter and training center.

Syria has become France’s Afghanistan, the same way November 13th has become France’s September 11th.

This could finally trigger a political resolution of the Syrian situation, while raising all kinds of foreign policy questions for France, but also for the rest of the coalition involved in the operations against ISIS, such as the evolution of the relationship with Russia and Iran.

If the political consensus exists in France as far as retaliations are concerned, voices in the opposition are questioning the policy lead so far in this part of the world, while some are even favoring sending ground troops (which is rather unlikely).

Europe And The Border Issue

The second major topic being discussed among the French political class and commentators is of course the migrants question and the question of border control (especially with the discovery that one of the kamikaze may have reached France with the exodus from Syria via Greece, and given the fact that the attacks have been organized once again from Belgium’s territory).

The current state of emergency – which could last beyond the initial twelve days for months – has reinstated border control, and everyone is aware that changes may occur regarding Schengen and the rights to French citizenship.

Getting Ready To “Live With It”

Along with the new awareness that France is at war, the French population – even though accustomed to be the theater of terrorist acts – is grasping the fact that this danger is a new reality with a new dimension it has to face and deal with.

The reactions have been three-fold:

(1) Why France ? Why such hate ?

The French want to go beyond their differences to protect its love of freedom.

An injured person is evacuated outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Police official says 11 dead in shooting at the French satirical newspaper. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
An injured person is evacuated outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s office, in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. Police official says 11 dead in shooting at the French satirical newspaper. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

In less tan a year, with Charlie Hebdo, it was the freedom of expression, which was hit; with the Bataclan and the Stade de France, it is the freedom to enjoy life through music and sports.

The French have many questions aimed at the government: what is being done regarding the people suspected of radicalization?

(2) What is being done against arms trafficking?

(3) Does a solution exist to get rid of these assassins?

The solidarity is real within the population, as shown by many individual courageous actions, which occurred during the horror scenes and the demonstrations, which are still going on in spite of the interdiction to gather in public.

Even though flowers and candles do not bring solutions, there is a wish that this time, and contrary to the last terrorists attack in January, the politicians will not take advantage of these events for their own political games.

If the spirit is similar to January 11th, the tone is rather different and the question of Muslim integration is being purposely left out to favor a genuine national unity.

The Eiffel Tower, November 17, 2015. Credit: Murielle Delaporte
The Eiffel Tower, November 17, 2015. Credit: Murielle Delaporte

The shock is tremendous especially among the youth: this horror has affected many friends and friends of friends, often 20 or 30 years old who were just entertaining themselves on a Friday night in a popular part of Paris.

Psychological help is there, but with this new reality of the impossibility of zero risk come new advice from the professional: the French must find the courage to face this within themselves…

A new generation is coming, probably less lucky, but getting stronger.

Murielle Delaporte, the co-founder of Second Line of Defense is in Paris attending a security conference, Milipol, an exhibition organized under the patronage of the French Ministry of the Interior.

Editor’s Note: We have argued that the Russian intervention in Syria was a strategic turning point.

Now the strikes in France are an accelerator of that turning point with the French clearly more concerned with attacking Isis than with Assad or the Russians as the problem. 

Credit for photo of the theater hall:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3319244/Video-reveals-horrific-moment-terrorists-opened-fire-crowd-music-fans-Bataclan-killing-89-people-shows-musician-hiding-drums-escape.html

The Wedgetail as a Trailblazing Program

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
11/15/2015

2015-11-15 The Wedgetail is part of the Royal Australian’s 21st century air power transformation effort and strategy.

It is the core air battle management platform in the RAAF and is often referred to as an AWACs, although it is not.

The underlying story of the approach to introduce the Wedgetail and then how the platform is being modernized highlights why the program is trailblazing in many ways.

The Wedgetail has brought to the fight, unique battle management capabilities.

The Wedgetail is operated by South Korea and Turkey as well, although the Aussies have developed the most advanced version, but the South Koreans refer to it as their first “fifth generation” platform.

To understand what they mean, one has to look at some of the Wedgetail’s core capabilities.

Most fundamentally, the Wedgetail does not operate like an AWACs.

The AWACs works in tracks directing the air battle but does so with a 360 degree rotating radar.

It is the hub of a hub and spoke air combat system.

With the coming of the fifth generation aircraft, there is a need for air battle management, but not of the hub and spoke kind.

And with the challenge of operating in the expanded battlespace, it is not simply a question of management of air assets, but management of the assets operating in the expanded battlespace, regardless if they are air, naval or ground.

The Wedgetail is a key step forward in shaping a 21st century or to use the South Korean characterization “a fifth generation” approach to battle management for evolving combat demands.

The Wedgetail provides for the key function of air traffic control; which will remain important in the 21st century battlespace.

But it is designed with the reach rather than range approach characteristic of fifth generation systems; the MESA radar can be dialed up in terms of energy and focused in terms of direction on priority scan areas.

With the first combat operations initiated in the Middle East, the Wedgetail squadron and the RAAF are evolving not only lessons learned, but shaping demands for the evolution of the software systems within the Wedgetail.

The Wedgetail is one of the first if not the first software upgradeable aircraft and built so from the ground up.

Rather than requirements set by testers and acquisition officials, the warfighting community can shape a demand side driven set of desired changes, which is then worked out with the engineering side of the house, which includes a key partnership with Boeing and Northrop Grumman in shaping the doability of meeting the demands.

The photos in the slideshow provide various shots of the Wedgetail.

The first photo shows he view from the cockpit of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft as it approaches a RAAF KC-30 Multirole Tanker Transport aircraft in the sky over northern Iraq. Clearly visible is the extended probe of the tanker’s refueling boom, which features the latest technology available for this difficult operation.

10/26/15

The second and third photos show  2 Squadron Wedgetail, Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft , AIR – AIR of first to arrive in Australia. Flying along coast of New South Wales from Williamtown Air Force Base then over Sydney Harbour.

9/15/15

The fourth and fifth photos show KC-30A MRTT and E-7A Wedgetail conducting Air to Air refueling testing in the airspace near RAAF Williamtown.

6/10/2015

The sixth photo shows the Minister for Defence, The Hon Kevin Andrews MP (bottom of the stairs), and the Deputy Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Gavin ‘Leo’ Davies, AO, CSC exit a No 2 Squadron E-7A Wedgetail aircraft after being shown the onboard Mission System.

The seventh photo shows Squadron Leader Andrew Boeree (foreground) shows the Minister for Defence, The Hon Kevin Andrews MP; the Member for Solomon, Mrs Natasha Griggs MP; and the Deputy Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Gavin ‘Leo’ Davies, AO, CSC the onboard Mission System on the situational display in a No 2 Squadron E-7A Wedgetail aircraft.

5/26/15

The final photo shows  two F/A-18A Hornets and a E-7A Wedgetail aircraft fly over the Anzac Day 2015 National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

4/25/2015

 

Remembering Veterans on Veterans Day 2015: A Vietnam Veteran Tells His Tale

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
11/11/2015

2015-11-08 By Ed Timperlake

The Honorable Allen Clark, a decorated combat veteran who lost both legs in Vietnam, has written two books that capture the Vietnam war perfectly and his challenging journey home.

His book Valor in Vietnam, 1963-1977 Chronicles of Honor, Courage and Sacrifice should be on the shelf of every graduate of military colleges at all levels.

Allen is a proud graduate of West Point, the “Long Gray Line,” and his work gives extremely interesting insights into the personal experiences and courageous actions of those engaged in combat.

Vietnam

However, equally important at the Senior War College level of understanding war, the book makes an important contribution in showing, not telling, what it was really like during some very hard days, the Vietnam War years, for those in uniform.

The reason why the first-person stories resonate so well in Valor in Vietnam is because there is a companion book Wounded Soldier, Healing Warrior which is Allen Clark’s personal journey home from horrendous combat wounds to reaching another achievement:

The highest level of service to America, by having a Senate Confirmed Presidential Appointment made by President Bush to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

By reading both books, readers can better understand how valuable military service can be to those entrusted with the sacred mission of the VA motto-“To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan” (Abraham Lincoln).

Wounded

In this time of dereliction of their duty by some very nasty and grossly incompetent Veteran Administration (VA) senior leaders, Allen’s work gives hope that good people can also make a difference for the greater good of all Veterans.

In bringing focus to war and physical courage, his works also bring focus to the moral and ethical courage currently shown to be lacking with many of those entrusted with helping Veterans.

Both books bear witness to the great strength of America because there are many, many more Allen Clarks then the charlatans who have been gaming the VA system for their personal gain.

On this eve of Veterans Day 2015 both works will stand the test of time for every future day in America not just one special set aside day.

Ed Timperlake is the former Principal Director, Mobilization Planning and Requirements/OSD in President Reagan’s Administration, and the first Assistant Secretary, Congressional and Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs.

Also, see the following: http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/echoes-from-history-in-a-veterans-cemetery-the-way-ahead-for-a-21st-century-american-military-force/;

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/memorial-day-remembrance-fighting-the-right-coin-with-xxist-century-tools/;

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/how-to-change-the-va-to-deliver-quality-services-facing-the-challenge/;

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/the-crisis-in-veterans-health-care-get-back-to-basics/;

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/reworking-the-veterans-administration-from-the-ground-up-revisiting-title-38/;

http://sldinfo.wpstage.net/the-challenge-of-dealing-with-ptsd-capt-joseph-p-schweitzer-comes-to-terms-with-a-dramatic-accident/

For a chance to comment on this article, please go to the following:

http://www.sldforum.com/2015/11/remembering-veterans-the-right-way-a-vietnam-veteran-tells-his-tale/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Russian Re-Set: How the Syrian Intervention Alters the Conflict

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
11/10/2015

2015-11-03 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

The Russian intervention in Syria crosses a strategic threshold.

Russia has used a small but decisive air and naval force to side with Assad to protect his regime and specifically Damascus.

So far the introduction of a relatively small number of combat aircraft in comparison to U.S. and Allied airpower has operationally secured a new air base –Hemeimeem — and equally important bolstered their ability to expand the Syrian naval port of Tartus in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In doing so, they have used airpower decisively in a way the U.S. has not, and have expanded their ability to influence outcomes in the region.

While the Russians are delivering a relatively high tempo of air sorties from a small force and delivered weapons against targets, the U.S. tempo of sorties and weapons delivered against targets has been reduced to a trickle.

The Russians are backing a sovereign government, with that government’s approval.

This means that U.S. actions prior to the Russian engagement, whereby aiding “rebels” and inserting special forces was part of the effort takes on a new meaning. U.S. actions now face the threat of Syrian government or Russian attacks protected by international law, custom and practice.

In other words, the Russians are in a military partnership with Syria their joint forces have every legal right to direct combat action against all enemies including the U.S. military.And now President Obama has decided to up the ante and invade Syria.

Not only is it risky, but the U.S. is invading a sovereign nation without any legal right to do so.

The President’s actions is putting U.S, forces directly in military conflict with, Syria, Russia and Iran, just after the “breakthrough” nuclear agreement with Iran, which was supposed to herald a “new day” in the relationship.

A key fall out from the Russian actions and the Administration’s reactions will be the fall out on the allies.

Did the President consult allies?

And how will the U.S. actions affect allied interests and behavior in the fight against Isis?

One ally is already working out its way ahead by taking into account Russian actions.

Significantly under appreciated Russian diplomatic and political initiative is a new agreement with Israel.

Putin invited the Obama-shunned Israeli leader Prime Minister Netanyahu to Moscow in September to forge a deconfliction agreement between Israel and the Russians. The Israeli diplomatic mission to Moscow included senior Israeli military officials. Consequently, both political and military issues were on the table from the start and the agreement has provided the basis for Israel expanding its capability to defend its interests in Lebanon.

Since then Jordan, America’s closest ally behind Israel has also signed such an agreement.

And during this Russian Israel strategic and military process President Obama pulled Secretary Kerry and Ambassador Power out of the UN Speech being given by Prime Minister Netanyahu.

It appears that the legacy of President Kennedy is long gone “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”

In other words, decisive Russian military actions is more in line with 21st century insertion forces then the ever evolving Counter-Insurgency (COIN) nation building military mantra.

Since the Powell characterization of the “if you break it you fix it doctrine,” the U.S. military has been on the path of operations on the ground to reshape political and economic systems, regardless of the inability of an outside power to do so.

In contrast, regardless of the size it is the intangible of combat decisiveness that forms the basis for the Russians expanding their diplomatic role in the region.

Russia is being recognized by the key players in the region as a force to contend with.This historic shift in power relationships is occurring while the U.S. is continuing its slow motion approach to fighting ISIS.

The Russians have reset the war by inserting themselves into a key position.

In contrast, U.S. counter-insurgency efforts and nation building in Iraq ended with the U.S. unable to negotiate a status of forces agreement or any real working relationship with Iraq.

And then ISIS arrives.

If COIN was so successful in winning the “hearts and minds,” why do we see a very different Russian approach meeting their relatively limited objectives?

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/09/its-not-airpower-vs-boots-on-ground-any-more/

As one Iraqi military leader was quoted as saying about the desire to bring the Russians into the Iraqi fight:

The US-led rules, which enforces verification of targets, regularly give IS militants time to save their supplies, equipment and fighters, they said.

“This is an exceptional war and our enemy has no rules,” one of the officers said.

“How [can] you ask me to stick to the rules while my enemy is brutally killing my people every day, enslaving my sisters and destroy my towns and cities?

“Russians have no red lines, no complicated and restricted rules, so it would be easy for us to deal with them,” he said.

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iraq-authorises-russia-strike-islamic-state-inside-country-1869786714

Unfortunately, inside the Beltway is still under the influence of slow-motion war COIN advocates.

Putin clearly has looked at the limited air campaign in Libya, the no-reaction to the Benghazi strikes, and our slow motion air campaign against ISIS and has concluded that a much shorter, decisive and brutal air campaign will get the kind of political diplomatic results he wants.

Put in other terms, while the Obama Administration and the neo-cons remain wedded to the COIN and slow motion air campaign approaches of the past, the Russians are breaking out a new approach to achieve diplomatic power to reassert Russia’s role in the region.

To understand how the region is changing under the impact of the Russian intervention in Syria, we discussed the evolving situation with the leading Israeli expert on Iraq and Syria, Dr. Amatzia Baram, a professor of Middle East History and Director of the Center for Iraq Studies at the University of Haifa.

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/12/a-calibrated-response-to-isil/

In effect, the interview with Baram highlighted that the Russians were using their military intervention to achieve a key objective, namely to expand their naval and air presence in the Mediterranean.

Previously, Assad didn’t give them permission to expand Tartus and use it as the Russian fifth fleet port.

Until now, the Russian fifth fleet, which is also known as the Russian Mediterranean Fleet was home, ported in Sevastopol, hardly a key Mediterranean port.

Now they will be able to operate their surface fleet and submarine fleet from the Eastern Mediterranean..

And having inserted their force rapidly and with effect, with little concern for collateral damage, the Russians have made a forceful entry, but are not providing an open checkbook for Assad.

The Russians are supporting Assad in keeping the corridor between Damascus and the beach and the shore of the Aluwite Mountains.

The Iranians are now controlling most of Assad’s controlled area.

Assad is very worried about it because he feels that even if he stays as a president, the Iranians are taking more and more of Syria.

He has enlisted the aid of the Russians to protect his interests. This a secondary Russian objective but an important one to Assad.

And the insertion of force by the Russians has opened up their diplomatic range of maneuver including reaching an agreement with Israel.

Putin met with the Israeli PM in Moscow and senior Israeli and Russian military officers met for a few hours to talk about coordination.

There is now a “red” phone line between the head of the Russians Operations Center and the Israeli Air Force.

Maybe it is blue-and-white on one side and red on the other but it’s a direct link.

And this agreement allows Israel and Russia to deal with other issues, such as Lebanon.

I think Israel can reach an agreement with Russia in terms of: You don’t support Hezbollah, you don’t stop us when we want to attack a convoy.

We attack a convoy; we shall let you know perhaps 10 minutes before the operation when it will be too late for information to leak.

The message will be: Just keep your air planes away.

Baram highlighted the European interest in the Russian actions helping to stabilize Syria and to stop the flow of migrants from the region.

But he felt that the best chance for Europe was to cut a deal with Turkey for the Turks to deal with the refugees in exchange for money.

And as for Iranians, they are not really an ally for Russia, but Russia sees both economic and diplomatic opportunities from Iranian engagement in the region.

They can leverage what Iran is doing, rather than directing or being responsible in anyway for Iranian objectives.

Russia has the opportunity to expand its influence in Iraq, but is perhaps wary to do so, given the interests of the Iraqi government as well to limit a Russian role.

But Russians actions have caught the interest of key players in Iraq who see decisiveness in Russian actions missing in Washington.

And coming to terms with Russia will have to be part of an agreement involving Syria.

The Russians would wish to be a broker for any agreement in which Assad is taken off of the table and the key players behind Assad become part of any future agreement. The paradox here is: because the Russians are more massively invested now in western Syria, they also are more interested in reaching some agreement…..

I see a lot of fatigue on the Iranian and Hezbollah fronts, and that, to my mind, is an opportunity. If I were in Obama’s place, I would start talking to the Russians seriously about some political solution that will recognize Russian interests….

If the US and the Russians together tell the Iranians, “That’s how it’s going to be,” I doubt that the Iranians are going to risk everything in order to explode this agreement. In my view, this is the way to go.

Italy and Two Historic First Flights in 2015: Shaping the F-35 Global Enterprise

Posted on | by Robbin Laird
11/09/2015

2015-11-09  By Robbin Laird

We have argued for some time that as the F-35 got into the hands of the warriors, the renorming revolution started with the the F-22 would accelerate.

We have also highlighted for some time, that the F-35 is not simply an airplane, but a global air system in the hands of the U.S. services and the core allies would shape a new way of working together moving forward.

Italy is a key plank holder in the F-35 global enterprise, and their two first flights this year highlight their crucial and visionary role.

The Italians have built a final assembly line on which to build their jets as well a those of the Dutch.

And this final assembly facility in Cameri – one of three with the main one in Fort Worth and an additional one being built in Japan – will be the foundation for a broader sustainment effort not only for Italy but its allies operating in the region.

The first of two historic flights was the first jet assembled at Cameri taking to the skies of Italy.

On Sept. 7, the first F-35A assembled outside the US, made its very first flight from Cameri airbase.

The aircraft, designated AL-1, is the first of eight aircraft currently being assembled at the Final Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facility at Cameri, in northwestern Italy.

During the flight, that lasted about 1,5 hours, the F-35A was escorted by a Eurofighter Typhoon.

As Secretary Wynne, the man who started the talks on building the Italian facility with the Italians put it with regard to the importance of the event:

“This flight makes the F-35 truly an international program.”

It was hard to miss the meaning and impact of this first flight.

But the second first flight, where Italian student pilots took to the skies of Arizona from Luke AFB, might just look like a new training flight for the Italians have trained with the USAF for many years.

But that would be to miss the underlying point – the USAF is learning to fly its most advanced jet AT PRECISELY THE SAME TIME as key allies.

Put bluntly, rather than learning to fly WITH the USAF on different jets, the Italians and other F-35 nations are shaping common training, tactics and procedures for a global fleet FROM THE GROUND UP.

When we were at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, we learned that British pilots flew USMC jets; and vice versa.

This is clearly the case at Luke as well, for one of the two Italian pilots actually flew an Aussie jet for his first flight.

This is not some kind of stunt or exercise; this is the kind of foundational capabilities, which can achieve significant advancement in coalition capabilities as we move forward.

It is commonly asserted that the U.S., Europeans, Asian and Middle East allies intend to fight in coalitions going forward; yet the most fundamental building block for enhanced capabilities to do so is simply staring the combat community in the face – the F-35 global fleet.

This about combat integration at the high end and an ability to operate throughout the entire Range of Military Operations.

The F-35 is no silver bullet to be used for a few hours of combat and then bring the legacy equipment; it is about deploying an aircraft which can multi-task in a variety of combat settings, rather than having to calibrated multi-mission sequential air taskings and large scale fleet configuration planning.

An Italian F-35 Lightning II pilot is met by a 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit Airman Nov. 5, 2015, at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., after the pilot flew the first Italian F-35 training mission. U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Ridge Shan
An Italian F-35 Lightning II pilot is met by a 61st Aircraft Maintenance Unit Airman Nov. 5, 2015, at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., after the pilot flew the first Italian F-35 training mission. U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Ridge Shan

As Lt. General Preziosa, the head of the Italian Air Force put it in an interview in his office in Rome in late September 2015:

The F-22 and the F-35 are called fifth generation aircraft, but really the F-35 is the first airplane built for the digital age, we are rapidly moving from the dog-fight concept to the data-fight evolution of the broad utilization of air power. 

It was conceived in and for that age, and is built around the decision tools in the cockpit and is in fact a “flying brain.”   

And that makes it different from other aircraft.   

It is a multi-tasking aircraft, and fits well into the I-phone age.  

Other aircraft – with the exception of the F-22 – are built to maximize out as multi-mission aircraft, which execute tasks sequentially and directed to do so.   

The F-35 fleet thinks and hunts and can move around the mission set as pilots operate in the battlespace and  leverage the data fusion system.  

It is a battlespace dominance aircraft; not a classic air superiority, air defense or ground attack aircraft.  

It changes the classic distinctions; confuses them and defines a whole new way to look at a combat aircraft, one built for the joint force age as well. 

The Army and the Navy will discover, as the F-35 fleet becomes a reality, how significant the F-35 is for their combat efforts. 

http://breakingdefense.com/2015/10/italys-air-force-chief-on-the-f-35-eurofighter-and-predator/

https://sldinfo.com/an-update-on-the-evolution-of-airpower-a-discussion-with-lt-general-preziosa-on-the-way-ahead-for-the-italian-air-force/

I had a chance to talk with the two Italian pilots in a phone interview on November 6, 2015 and to get their perspective on their first flight and their sense of the way ahead.

Question: I assume that you went through what has become the basic syllabus of training of about seven weeks with simulators and classrooms, and then flew the jet?

Answer: We have about six weeks in the simulators and classroom training on the TTPs, (Tactics, Training and Procedures) to get read to fly the airplane. We have an exam with a USAF trainer and then we are ready to fly the jet.

Question: When we spent time with the Brits and the Marines, we learned that they flew each other’s aircraft, and you did the same by flying USAF and Aussie F-35s. 

Could you explain how unusual this is at this phase of your training?

Answer: What you mention is one of the key points of this program.

Starting from training to tomorrow’s operations, we are learning from the ground up.

Shaping common TTPs is crucial to shaping an integrated approach.

We are training on the same basis from the ground up.

This is the very first combat aircraft program which has this capability built into.

We have come to Sheppard to train with the USAF, but it is a trainer, and we do not share TTPs as we are doing with the F-35.

We start with the shared TTPs and then go from there.

Question: In other discussions with experienced pilots who have become F-35 pilots, all mention that the mental furniture associated with operating a multi-mission aircraft versus a multi-tasking aircraft is very different. 

They also emphasized how crucial it is to get into the F-35 to move on to understand the transformation of airpower. 

What is your sense of this shift?

Answer: The aircraft is so easy to fly that you spend 99 per cent of your time shaping a strategy as you use your two screens.

You are focused on your mission, instead of flying your jet and trying to achieve your mission.

We are very happy to be part of the program and to understand from the ground up how significant a shift the F-35 coalition capability is going to be.

Of course, we are also happy to be building our own jets and bringing them to Luke next year.

The first five Italian-built jets will take off from Cameri and fly to Luke next year.

Question: You flew an Australian jet yesterday. 

You do not normally work with Australian pilots, but you will get to know them from the ground up as well as you train at Luke and fly each other’s jets. 

What is your sense of this dynamic?

Answer: The young guys will grow up in a very advanced warfighting and multi-national environment because of this program.

They will be used to not just working together from time to time in an exercise, but will build in common tactics from the ground up and help each other innovate as well.

Question: We went to ACC recently, and one of the points made was that there are very few F-22 pilots free to work the culture of air power transformation based on their experience. 

With the F-35 program, there is the opportunity to generate many more pilots and for these pilots to trigger ongoing airpower transformation. 

What is your take on this opportunity?

Answer: Usually when we have exercises, we have to integrate on your own type of jet.

Here you are working from the ground up to shape an integrated approach.

It is hard for non-pilots to understand how significant this difference between shaping interoperability via exercises versus integration built in from the ground up.

Question: What does an integrated F-35 fleet bring to coalition combat, from your point of view?

Answer: We will write the TTPs together.

The commonality from the very beginning will be built into any operation which you do with your coalition partners.

And we are working from the ground up with the USAF, which is different as well from before.

We have made significant progress in the past two years, which is often not grasped by those not involved in the program.

And let me return to the point we discussed earlier about the difference between multi-mission and multi-tasking and the impact on operations.

You do not have to switch your configurations for air-to-air to air-to-ground or whatever the mission for which you have been pre-configured.

You can do what you need to do with the situational awareness built into the jet and the fleet and then fly to the mission.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Way Ahead for Eurofighter Modernization: A Discussion with Paul Smith (Updated from Dubai Air Show 2015)

Posted on | by Robbin Laird

2015-11-09 By Robbin Laird

(Originally published 2015-10-09)

The Eurofighter is a clear player in shaping European and global air forces.

It has reached critical mass and will be modernized through its operational life to work with new air assets and to deal with the evolving threat environment.

The program currently has seven customers, 599 committed aircraft orders, 446 deliveries to date, more than 300,000 flying hours with 100,000 employees and more than 400 companies involved in the program.

This kind of critical mass provides a solid foundation for the evolution of the program.

The Eurofighter consortium has launched a series of capability enhancements as part of a Capability Roadmap, which is designed to increase the combat effectiveness of the fighter.

It has evolved from an air defense aircraft to a multi-mission aircraft, notably with the addition of new weapons to subsume Tornado functions and to incorporate a new AESA radar as well as cockpit and linkage improvements as well. And the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) business also ensures that Eurofighter will continue to be a solid program for the next few decades.

In a visit to Munich in September 2015, I had a chance to discuss the way ahead for Eurofighter modernization with Paul Smith, formerly of the Royal Air Force and now with Eurofighter.

Smith is an experienced pilot with more than 3,000 fast jet flight hours with 600 of those hours flying Typhoon.

He worked during his time with the RAF for four years working the Operational Test and Evaluation Program for the RAF.

And in the period prior to his retirement he worked for Air Vice Marshal Gary Waterfall when he was at the Typhoon Force Headquarters.

Eurofighter Typhoon Capability Manager Paul Smith at ILA Berlin Air Show 2014 Credit: Eurofighter
Eurofighter Typhoon Capability Manager Paul Smith at ILA Berlin Air Show 2014 Credit: Eurofighter

At Eurofighter, Paul Smith works on the modernization program, notably with regard coordinating customer input into cockpit design.

Question: Clearly, as you are looking at Eurofighter modernization, notably for the British and Italian customers, there is a clear focus on working Eurofighter with F-35.

How are you approaching that dynamic?

Paul Smith: If you look at both of their future planned force structures, then their combat mass both in terms of number of aircraft platforms and individual aircraft weapon loadout will be Typhoon.

Three-quarters of the RAF will be Typhoon going forward into the 30s and 40s and, and somewhere between, around 100 or 50 or so F-35s.

They will be complimentary, with the aircraft contributing related but different capabilities. And it’s important that they are absolutely networked.

When considering modernization, one can start with the basic character of the aircraft, with a strong, light airframe with significant thrust to weight ratio.

This allows the aircraft to carry a significant weapons load out at Mach 1.5.

The kinematics, and the sensor integration in the aircraft have allowed the aircraft to evolve from its initial air defense and air dominance role to a multi-mission role.

The aircraft delivers a good integrated picture to the pilot in an effective and simple manner to guide his actions.

It is a different type of sensor integration from the F-35, but we are upgrading our sensors over time, and are clearly doing so with direct relevance to working changes in the cockpit and are also upgrading our helmet mounted display to further enhance pilot decision making.

Question: How would you describe the approach to enhanced air-to-ground attack in the aircraft, which is important to the RAF and IAF in subsuming Tornado functions?

Paul Smith: With new sensors and new weapons, we are expanding the weapons envelope to support a broader variety of missions. We are carrying flexible weapon loads to enable us to maintain our air-to-air functions while adding ground attack weapons. We have 6 dedicated AAM stations and currently can simultaneously carry up to 6 PGMs of 500, 1000 or 2000lb class.

The weapons load-out for such an integrated mission by 2018 will include 4 Paveway IVs, 6 Brimstone 2s, 6 AAMs, with a 27 mm Mauser and two 1000L fuel tanks and one Laser Designator Pod or LDP. This will be further augmented by the integration of SDB II and the introduction of the SPEAR next generation precision surface attack missile.

And with the ability to carry Storm Shadow or Taurus, the Eurofighter can provide for a deep strike capability as well with 2 standoff missiles and 8 air-to air missiles along with a 27 mm Mauser and 3000L conformal fuel tanks and one Laser Designator Pod or LDP.

With a heavy strike load, your primary focus is not air-to-air but of course you need to be prepared to fight your way out if needed.

It is not unknown that the air sweep, which precedes a ground attack, may not have removed the entire threat, so having the ability and weapons to fight your way out when needed is useful.

And the broad notion is really air-to-surface not just air to ground, for we are shaping a modernization strategy for maritime attack as well with both SPEAR and Marte-ER missiles integration work in progress.

Question: The engine for the aircraft is well known to be one of its key capabilities.

How does engine performance play into the modernization strategy?

Paul Smith: The engine-airframe combination underpins every aspect of fighter weapon system performance. In my experience of flying Tornado operationally, we struggled for aircraft performance when carrying a full weapon load; the excess thrust means this is never an issue with Typhoon and the engine is virtually indestructible!

There are no scheduled maintenance intervals for the engine; it has a sophisticated Engine Health Monitoring System (EHMS) that uses sensors to inform maintainers of when and what tasks need to be performed.

Experience across the whole in-service engine fleet is that the average engine time ‘on wing’ before initial maintenance is over 1100 hours – indeed, some of the RAF’s aircraft have flown more than 1500 hrs. without the EHMS flagging up the need for maintenance.

As I noted before, the plane has a very good thrust to weight ratio.

For the engine only, it is over 9:1, giving an aircraft thrust:weight ratio of approximately 1.15:1. In broad terms, the Eurofighter and F-22 have a similar thrust to weight ratio unmatched by any other fighters.

This is enhanced as well by the low weight and large wings of the aircraft, with a resultant low wing loading. It is a very strong wing with about 70% carbon fiber composites as the baseline material.

Question: With regard to the sensors, a major shift is from your current radar, which is maximized for its air to air role to an AESA radar designed to give you a different range and variety of threats and targets.

How would you describe the change?

Paul Smith: 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.

Question: Part of the modernization program is the enhancement of the infrared airborne tracking equipment as well.

How will this program integrate with the aircraft as a combat system?

Paul Smith: PIRATE or passive infrared airborne tracking equipment is designed to enhance our situational awareness and to provide for a passive multi-function track-while scan sensor.

It is designed to provide for longer-range detection and enhanced capability to track multiple threats, particularly those with a low RCS.

It will allow us to reshape our combat tactics as well in dealing with adversaries, notably when we add the Meteor missile to the aircraft as well.

Question: In effect, you are addressing Typhoon modernization, missile modernization and evolving sensor integration, including the pods, which you will add, to provide for evolving multi-mission capability.

Is it fair to say then that you are focused then on cross-cutting modernization efforts to enhance its role in the 21st century combat space?

Paul Smith: That is a good way to put it.

And we are modernizing the aircraft in a way that will make it a very good asset to work the F-35s going forward.

And as we go forward we are looking at various data link enhancements, which further enable the air, combat force.

It is a journey but one going in the right way for our customers. It is about gaining and maintaining information superiority and then leveraging that with the appropriate weapons and means to provide for combat superiority.

The way I would put it is that Eurofighter is an inherently living fighter. The platform has longevity in terms of its airframe, power plant, cockpit, avionics and autopilot. It is well positioned for weapons integration and leveraging externally mounted sensors. The airplane is capable of mature sensor fusion and we are focused on evolving the sensor management capability of the airplane as well.

Put in other terms, we are focused on obsolescence management and sustainment adaptation.

And looking forward we are looking to enhance data link bandwidth, ways to further reduce the pilot’s workload through expanded automation of functions, where we become more of a “hybrid” air platform.

And in your interview with Air Marshal (retired) Geoff Brown, he highlighted the potential role of the Super Hornet as a UAV/UCAV wingman. We certainly are looking at this role as well.

Editor’s Note: The photos in the two slideshows are credited to Eurofighter.

The first slideshow shows some of the core weapons integrated onto Eurofighter.

The second slideshow shows various shots of coalition Eurofighter aircraft.

In a press release from Eurofighter published on November 9, 2015 from the Dubai Air Show, Paul Smith expanded his comments made during the interview.

As Eurofighter Typhoon engages in significant global deployments delivering high levels of effectiveness and reliability, speaking at the Dubai Air Show, the Programme’s Capability Manager, Paul Smith, a former UK RAF Pilot and Fighter Weapons School Instructor, today (November 9th) revealed that work on integrating major new capabilities onto the aircraft is now ‘well advanced’ and ‘delivering promising results’.

Paul Smith said: “We are having one of the busiest Flight Test periods in the Programme’s history and the integration of the enhanced weapons-mix is well advanced and delivering promising results.”

He added: “Throughout 2015 we have been conducting a series of flight tests with our Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) working on the integration of major new weapon-systems capability with a particular focus on both Storm Shadow and Meteor missiles.

At the same time, the Eurofighter continues to deliver effective and proven air power in both the Middle East and the Baltic States. This is a dynamically challenging and exciting time for the Programme, with its weapon system capabilities continuing to grow.”

Central to this last month’s capability enhancement work on the Eurofighter Typhoon has been flight testing for the P2E Programme – the Phase 2 Enhancement Capability Update which introduces a broad range of capability enhancements to the aircraft.

As well as the Storm Shadow and Meteor missiles, there are enhancements to the radar, DASS (defensive aids sub-system) and other avionics which will enhance the aircraft’s lethality and survivability across all roles.

Eurofighter with Martre ER missile on the pylons. MARTE ER represents the 3rd generation within the MARTE family of missile systems and is derived from MARTE MK2/S which is already in service with the Italian Navy on its NFH90 and AW101 helicopters. The main difference between the two lies in the introduction of a turbo engine in place of the rocket motor. CreditL MBDA
Eurofighter with Martre ER missile on the pylons. MARTE ER represents the 3rd generation within the MARTE family of missile systems and is derived from MARTE MK2/S which is already in service with the Italian Navy on its NFH90 and AW101 helicopters. The main difference between the two lies in the introduction of a turbo engine in place of the rocket motor. Credit: MBDA

Smith said: “The testing regime over the last few months has been relentless, and IPA6, a BAE Systems-based Eurofighter Typhoon, made the first flights with the new software and completed the 5th Meteor missile firing. Flight test of multiple enhancements to the integration and functionality of the Laser Designator Pods (LDP) has primarily been carried out by flight test engineers and aircrew from Airbus Defence and Space, Germany.

IPA6 has since been joined by Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi’s IPA2 as work on the integration of Storm Shadow continues.”

The effects deliverable by both weapons are enhanced by the high-kinetic characteristics and highly integrated sensors of the Eurofighter Typhoon.

This improves the weapons’ range and gives the pilot the situational awareness to employ them most effectively.

Smith continued: “In the last week of October, in the UK, the Customer had a first opportunity to test the new P2E software for themselves through a series of typical operational Air-to-Air and Air-to-Surface scenarios.

IPA6 was joined by a number of other RAF assets (up to 8 aircraft including IPA6, tankers, co-operators and targets) to conduct Operational Assessment Testing.

The flights were conducted by pilots from the UK’s 41 TES (Test and Evaluation) Squadron who gave some positive initial feedback.

This early operationally focused input enables industry to make final tweaks to ensure that the final product is tailored to customer air forces requirements.”

He added: “The During November we will see further integration work with Storm Shadow, including missile releases, and preparation for the next Meteor missile firing. Airbus Defence & Space, Spain will join as the fourth Flight Test Centre as IPA4 is cleared to commence testing with a focus on Weapons System Performance and Comms. This is the entire flight test community operating together to deliver real capability enhancement.”

With the P2E enhancements scheduled to be delivered to the Customer in steps between 2015 and 2017 Smith said that work is now underway on the next batch of enhancements, P3E which will enable the Eurofighter Typhoon to deploy several more capabilities including precision-guided air-to-surface weapons at fast-moving targets with low-collateral damage.

Smith told media in Dubai: “Our Phase 3 Enhancement (P3E) Programme will enable Eurofighter operators to integrate the Brimstone 2 on the aircraft and will also further enhance other existing weapons capabilities – including Storm Shadow, Meteor, Paveway IV and ASRAAM.

We aim to deliver P3E to the Customer in 2017.”

He said: “Beyond P3E, our customers are currently agreeing the content and schedule of future weapon system programmes.

These will include avionic enhancements, such as MIDS JTRS, and the potential integration of other weapons such as SDB II and the Marte-ER anti-ship missile, which we know are of interest to some of our customer community. It will also see the integration of Eurofighter’s new E-Scan Radar.”

“Bring all these elements together,” said Smith, “ and it becomes clear why we talk about Eurofighter Typhoon operators having the ‘Combat Edge’ – the situational awareness and a suite of flexible weapons options that offer pilots a real advantage in the battlespace.”

https://www.eurofighter.com/news-and-events/2015/11/eurofighter-typhoon-strengthens-capability-on-service

For a Special Report on Eurofighter, see the following:

https://sldinfo.com/a-special-report-on-eurofighter-modernization-shaping-a-way-ahead/

https://sldinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/An-Update-on-Eurofighter-Modernization.pdf