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2015-11-09 Both the British and Italian air forces are retiring their Tornados and handing many of its missions to the Eurofighter.
A key part of that transition is expanding the range of missiles carried by Eurofighter.
In an earlier article, Lars Joergensen explained the modernization approach.
It is clear that a variety of Air Forces are using their sensor pods, including targeting pods, to provide a variety of information and quickly increase capabilities.
By combing those innovations with weapons innovation and tying them back to the aircraft you can get enhanced combat effect.
And given that the process of tranche upgrades inevitably will be slower than pod upgrades, this expands the ability to modernize at a more rapid pace than we could do simply through tranche upgrades on the aircraft itself.
Put another way, the “intelligence” of the weapon system can be described as the sum of the capabilities of the platform, the pod, the weapons and of course the other datalink participants.
And it is the sum of all these elements that turns you into an effective operational asset.
As Paul Smith, a former RAAF Typhoon, added particularly in respect of the Storm Shadow on the Eurofighter:
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.
In a press release from Eurofighter dated November 9, 2015, the progress with integration of Storm Shadow on the Eurofighter was highlighted:
A Eurofighter Typhoon Instrumented Production Aircraft (IPA) has successfully completed a release of the MBDA Storm Shadow, conventionally armed, stealthy, long-range stand-off precision missile.
This continues the series of trials that Eurofighter Partner Company, Alenia Aermacchi, is leading to demonstrate the full integration of the Storm Shadow missile with Typhoon’s weapon system. With support from Eurofighter Partner Company BAE Systems, missile designer and producer MBDA, and specialist trials support from QinetiQ, the trials were conducted in November 2015 at Aberporth MoD firing range, in the UK.
Storm Shadow – Take off_Warton (November 2015) Credit: Eurofighter
The integration of the missile with the aircraft’s weapon system was successfully demonstrated. The trials also verified the interface of the missile with the weapon system for pre-launch checks, demonstrated post-launch safe separation and the subsequent commencement of missile flight.
Test pilot Enrico Scarabotto flew the sorties and he said: “The Eurofighter and its weapon system performed exactly as expected. The aircraft’s performance is not significantly degraded by this heavy missile and, thanks to the aircraft’s performance and the large number of weapon stations, after the launch of the missiles the Eurofighter keeps a full spectrum of capabilities for both air-to-air and air-to-surface engagements. This is a great advantage that only the Eurofighter, among western fighters, can guarantee. A truly swing-role combat aircraft.”
Storm Shadow provides a significant leap in the Eurofighter Typhoon’s operational capabilities, enabling the platform to deploy multiple weapons at a very long range well clear of danger from air defences. Storm Shadow, already in service with the Italian Air Force, Royal Air Force and others, is a long range weapon system designed to neutralise high value, hardened or buried targets.
The new weapons system will add the capability to strike in day or night in all-weather conditions, well-defended infrastructure targets such as port facilities, control centres, bunkers, missile sites, airfields and bridges that would otherwise require several aircraft and missions. This is a new addition to the Eurofighter Typhoon’s potent simultaneous multi-role/swing-role capabilities. Powered by a turbo-jet engine, with a range in excess of 250 km, the Storm Shadow missile weighs approximately 1.300 kg and is just over 5 metres long.
The first tests on Storm Shadow integration for the Eurofighter began in December 2013 with IPA2 operated by Alenia Aermacchi.
Six further flights were then completed in the following weeks to assess the Storm Shadow’s compatibility with the Eurofighter’s Air Data System, and Flutter & Structural Coupling tests were also carried out. A later flight was then performed with baseline configuration for comparative analyses purposes.
The assessment of the Performance & Loads on the aircraft while carrying the missiles was done in March 2014 in a programme known as Extended WIF phase 1.
Five flights were performed with the Storm Shadows installed and a further three with baseline configuration.
Following this testing, IPA7 (Airbus Germany) and IPA4 (Airbus Spain) undertook an intensive campaign of related Aero Data Gathering trials with IPA4 having one and/or two Storm Shadows fitted in order to complete the WIF Flight Test phase of testing.
In November 2014 inert drop-tests and store jettison trials were accomplished at an Italian test range.
The trials saw the missile being jettisoned from the aircraft and tracked by radar up to impact. In September 2015 two avionic integration flights have been performed in Decimomannu airbase to check the aircraft-missile avionic interface.
The Meteor missile is in the process of being integrated onto the Eurofighter as well and will be a key part of building out the capability of the Tranche 3 aircraft, as it adds the new AESA radar.
2015-11-03 Both the UK and Italy will operate a mixed Eurofighter and F-35 fleet.
Both have operated the Tornado, which is reaching the end of its service life.
Both will sort through evolutions of the Eurofighter to encompass some of the mission sets for Tornado as the Tornado is retired and as the F-35 comes into the two fleets and provides the next surge for the re-working of air-led combat concepts of operations.
A key element of this transformation will be reworking the connectivity among air, sea and ground systems as well as shaping the weaponization approaches of joint and coalition forces.
In part, this is a Eurofighter transition whereby the radars are upgraded, and weapons added; in part this is the coming of the F-35 and its impact on reshaping air enabled combat operations.
And associated with this will be fundamental changes over time in C2, and the approach to strike operations.
The UK and Italy already fly together in operations through their use of Tornados and Eurofighters and have clearly shared combat learning with regard to the use of these platforms; as the F-35 comes on line this combat learning cycle will continue into the next generation of aircraft, and shaping ways to approach fifth generation warfare.
In effect, the dynamics of change for Italy and the UK will be a function of the intersection of four variables: the evolution of the Eurofighter; the impact of the F-35 and the global fleet of F-35s; changes in weaponization, and evolving C2 for strike and combat operations.
81118random1.05.0
This report highlights a number of the dynamics of change in these two European combat forces associated with Eurofighter modernization. Much as the USN carrier air wing will alter its approach as F-35s come to the carrier deck, but modernize their Super Hornets to compliment and add lethality to the entire air wing, the RAF and the IAF will work interactive modernization of the two air platforms.
Continuing with the case of the USN carrier air wing, the dynamics of co-modernization can be better understood.
The new carriers – the USS Ford or the British Carrier the Queen Elizabeth – bring new command capabilities and operational infrastructure which enhance their contributions to other combat capabilities in the battlespace.
The coming of the F-35 puts on the carrier deck a core capability to operate at the edge of the carrier’s battlespace and can reach deep into the operational networks which support each cell of a honeycombed force.
The legacy assets will be modernized under the influence of synergy opportunities as well as fifth generation warfare dynamics to work more effectively in expanding the capabilities of a synergistic joint or coalition force.
Currently, the Super Hornets operating with the new Hawkeye are beginning to demonstrate the expanded reach of the carrier by delivering off boarding weapons capabilities, whereby one asset can direct the fire of another.
There is a clear analogy to what the British and Italians are in the process of doing as well, but this time with the Eurofighter instead of the Super Hornet. The excellent thrust to weight ratio of the aircraft makes it a solid platform going forward to expanding the payload/utility equation of the aircraft and its contribution to the performance of an air combat force.
“The modernization of Typhoon is underway and we have seen real progress in terms of electronic warfare, sensors and integration, and improvements in the human machine interface which is going to make the cockpit more effective to operate the aircraft in the expanded battlespace with 5th gen assets.”
This report looks at the process of Eurofighter modernization highlighted by Group Captain Godfrey.
The photos in the slideshow highlight the operations of the Italian Air Force earlier this year during their engagement in the NATO Baltic air defense mission and the photos are credited to the Italian Air Force.
The United States and European allies and partners can respond more effectively against the kinds of hybrid threats we gave been discussing on Second Line of Defense.
NATO can take actions, primarily in the military and intelligence fields, to deter and counter direct Russian threats against alliance members.
But the very nature of the hybrid tactics require a wider array of response tools: well-trained police forces, functioning border management systems, effective anti-corruption agencies, measures to support media freedoms, as well as more transparent energy and party political activities.
From the analytical perspective, the important point is that this is an inherently “whole-of-government” and probably “whole-of-society” issue that further warrants extensive international cooperation.
The critical nature of hybrid threats is that they blend military and non-military issues.
The Pentagon and other NATO militaries cannot address them in isolation.
They need to partner with the non-military national security agencies such as the diplomatic corps, homeland security and interior ministries, law enforcement and police agencies, as well as other branches of the national government.
Subnational, provincial, and local agencies that can first identify and respond to hybrid threats and work with private sector actors that in many countries control critical national infrastructures that are vulnerable to hybrid threats. Furthermore, national governments must pool their resources with foreign partners in both bilateral and multinational frameworks.
To mobilize these capabilities, NATO must partner more effectively with other organizations for dealing with specific non-military hybrid techniques, such as collaborating with the EU to promote energy independence, political reform, anti-corruption, and human rights.
Russian tanks and soldiers storm a Ukrainian air force base in Belbek near the Crimean city of Sevastopol on March 22, 2014. (Viktor Drachev / AFP/Getty Images).
Partnering with the EU might also make it easier for the allies to make the challenging transition in their intelligence gathering and exercises. In NATO, this has traditionally focused on external military threats and related developments, whereas hybrid warfare tries to exploit the internal vulnerabilities of targeted states. Governments are naturally reluctant to share information about these domestic problems even with the closest of allies.
Similarly, NATO and the EU need to participate in, and if necessary arrange, more domestic exercises involving hybrid scenarios the controversial but important question of how allied and partner countries can render assistance to a friendly state experiencing domestic political and other challenges.
NATO and the EU can also better pool their growing cyber and strategic communication capabilities, which are inherently dual-use in having both military and civilian applications. In a future hybrid crisis accompanied by economic threats to a targeted state, the EU can more easily provide emergency financing to repay loans, support the local currency, and cover other immediate and longer-term expenses than NATO.
As a crisis develops, NATO should work with the EU and member governments to resist subversion, train and exercise how to rapidly secure strategic points and infrastructure, establish detection and early warning procedures, and plan crisis response contingencies. The local civilian agencies will need to be able to identify and understand the threat of hybrid warfare so that they can provide early warning to NATO.
Importantly, NATO should work with the EU and other forces to encourage the local governments to address the issues that Moscow is using as rallying points for hybrid attacks before the Russian exploitation becomes effective. Inclusive government policies that offer opposition a means to raise and resolve grievances through peaceful political action will remove conditions conducive to hybrid tactics and reduce Russia’s ability to generate a powerful internal force against the targeted state.
For the sake of illustration, let us assume a scenario similar to that seen in eastern Ukraine.
Assuming the target state’s intelligence service is unable to detect the clandestine preparatory steps Russia might take against their regime, the first indications of a Russian subversion operation against a neighboring state would probably, as they were in eastern Ukraine, be mass pro-Russian protests.
If the subversion continues to follow the Ukrainian model, several weeks would pass before the protesters begin taking more direct action, during which time, the protests may appear to be dying down if they were originally spontaneous, since Moscow would require some time to organize them into a force capable of meaningfully contesting their government’s authority. However, if the subversion campaign is pre-planned and based on an artificial crisis, there will be little grace period between peaceful protests and direct action.
As soon as this becomes evident, NATO must use the opportunity to take countermeasures such as countering Russian propaganda, threatening sanctions, and rendering economic and military support to the targeted state. NATO should consider deploying forces to the frontline state’s borders since sealing them could prove critical to keep Russian arms from flowing to its proxies, as in Ukraine.
NATO and EU personnel may also need to supplement domestic military and law enforcement personnel, but if NATO protects the border, then the targeted government’s military and law enforcement personnel can concentrate better to suppress the anti-government unrest. If the protests actually do begin to morph into an insurgency, and Russian complicity is suspected, NATO should act decisively against the insurgents before they can organize, train, arm, consolidate their control, or gain credibility as a serious movement among the local population.
A Russian Orthodox Army member stands guard near Donetsk airport. Credit: Financial Times
Hopefully, domestic and NATO intelligence will be sufficient to estimate the strength of the threat and determine whether domestic forces are sufficient to counter it. If they are, then NATO forces should be kept in the background, available only for emergencies. However, if the intelligence is insufficient to reliably determine the insurgency’s strength, or if the strength is estimated as potentially high, then NATO should more plausibly consider supporting the internal counter-insurgency operations.
In most cases, however, NATO forces may be most useful in securing the frontline state’s borders to prevent the transit of insurgents and weapons or a Russian invasion, which would allow the frontline state’s forces to fully commit to crushing the insurgency, unlike in Ukraine, where fear that excessive force or success might provoke a total Russian invasion restrained them.
NATO forces are generally militarily and politically unsuited for waging protracted counter-insurgency campaigns against Russian minorities in NATO members. That could alienate them further from the West and would fuel Kremlin propaganda about anti-Russian genocide as well as could provoke a Russian military intervention. Ideally the OSCE or some other less controversial body could take charge of stabilizing the conflict regions.
U.S. and NATO planners should also look beyond the Georgia and Ukraine campaigns as they consider the future nature of hybrid warfare.
We see hybrid conflicts in the former Soviet Union, but also in the Middle East and the South China Sea, as well as previously in Yugoslavia and Northern Ireland.
Western experts should also revisit the Western campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq for insights on the now better understood hybrid warfare concept, since the insurgents in both countries tried to apply sub-conventional as well as conventional tactics to overcome U.S. military superiority.
Furthermore, Chinese scholars are undoubtedly studying Russia’s hybrid tactics as Beijing pursues its own “grey area” challenges in the contested maritime domains of the western Pacific.
While China does not use “little green men,” Beijing does employ paramilitary forces, economic coercion, disinformation, and cyber tools to press its territorial claims and regional order visions against neighboring countries.
2015-11-07 The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) set in motion in the past decade an approach to shaping a weapons enterprise which has become a key part of UK integrated air power.
“Team Complex Weapons” has been described as follows on the MBDA website:
Team CW defines an approach to delivering the UK’s Complex Weapons requirements in an affordable manner that also ensures a viable industrial capacity with MOD being the architects of the sector strategy.
The first implementation of this approach is through the MOD–MBDA Portfolio Management Agreement, which has been independently evaluated as offering £1.2Bn of benefit to MOD over the course of the next 10 years.
This Agreement aims to transform the way in which CW business is conducted by MOD with its main supplier. At the heart of this is a joint approach to the delivery of the required capability based on an open exchange of information and flexibility in the means of delivery. It is therefore anticipated that the Agreement will be consistent with the future direction of acquisition reform within MOD and is well positioned to respond positively to the conclusions of the SDSR.
At the Farnbourgh Air Show in 2010 a media briefing held by MBDA provided a good overview on the Team CW approach.
The business model is of interest, not only for shaping a key ally’s approach to shaping future capability but in terms of being a potential harbinger for how MOD will handle efforts to maintain capabilities in the face of fiscal stringencies.
Lord Drayson in his formulation of the defense industrial strategy forged a number of initiatives, one of which was Team CW. The idea was to bring MOD into closer partnership with its weapons providers and supply chain to shape evolving capabilities in the industry with an eye to enhanced efficiencies but at the same time ensuring UK operational sovereignty in this key area of future military capability.
Storm Shadow is a British, French and Italian air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by MBDA. Recent enhancements of the Storm Shadow / SCALP EG include the capability to relay target information just before impact, utilization of one-way (link-back) datalink, to relay battle damage assessment information back to the host aircraft. This upgrade is already under development under a French DGA contract. Another feature planned for insertion into the weapon is in-flight retargeting capability, utilizing a two-way datalink. Credit Video: MBDA
The baseline agreement was signed in June 2006 between MBDA, QinetiQ, Roxel and Thales UK as well as other members of the weapons supply chain to work with MOD in shaping development of future weapons. The idea has been to share risk, guide investment and clarify early for MOD what procurement choices are optimal for its point of view.
At the heart of the concept is to try to bridge the gap between industry and MOD in reducing risk and enhancing effective procurement. Obviously there are a number of challenges ranging for Intellectual Property ownership, investment sharing between government and diversity of private sector competitors to the question of the relationship between Team CW, MOD and the companies, such as Raytheon who are outside of the arrangement.
The UK MoD has created a close working relationship with industry to provide for the complex weapons necessary to enable the strike force. Now that agreement has been expanded to encompass new weapons to be built jointly with France through MBDA.
According to a story on the UK Ministry of Defence website published on November 3, 2015:
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has today unveiled a new agreement with France that will help pave the way for the next generations of missiles.
As Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister for Defence, visits London to reaffirm Anglo-French relations, this agreement allows for the sharing of certain technologies to aid the development of future generations of missiles developed by missile contractor MBDA. This includes the helicopter-launched anti-ship weapon, termed Sea Venom and other future national and joint programs to meet British and French military requirements over the next decade and beyond.
This new Intergovernmental Agreement builds on increasing collaboration in this area since 2010. It will allow closer working and information sharing on MBDA’s missile technologies while providing the necessary legal assurance to both governments on issues such as the protection of national data and security of supply…..
It follows work carried out by both countries with MBDA to create Centres of Excellence, consolidating their specialist design and engineering skills. Four of these centers are being established at first, for Weapon Controllers and Test Equipment in France, and for Datalinks and Actuators in the UK; another four, on complex warheads: guidance and navigation systems; algorithms; and software will follow.
Signed in 2010, the Lancaster House agreement was brought into existence to solidify the relationship between the two allies and provide greater defense cooperation.
Operation Barkhane is an anti-terrorist operation in Africa’s Sahel region beginning in August 2014. It consists of a 3,000-strong French force, which will be permanent and headquartered in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad.
The operation has been designed with five countries, and former French colonies, that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
The operation is named after a crescent-shaped dune in the Sahara desert.
2015-11-06 The impact of the F35 as a global coalition capability is clear to the professionals who are shaping airpower modernization.
For example, the head of the Italian Air Force, Lt. General Preziosa hammered home the point of how significant the impact of the F-35 was in a recent interview in his office in Rome.
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.
The coalition aspect is crucial to the Italians as highlighted by Lt. General Preziosa:
For Lt. General Preziosa, the close relationship with the RAF was important in working through the way ahead with regard both to Eurofighter modernization and working with the F-35.
“There is no point in having to repeat lessons which have been learned by one Air Force or the other.”
But what is often lost Inside the Beltway is that the roll out of the F-35 is not simply that of a new aircraft, but a whole new approach to building coalition capabilities from the ground up.
No better example of this can be that of the Italians now training at Luke Air Force base, where the Italian pilots first training flight was on an Aussie F-35 at an American base on a plane maintained by Australians!
1/5/2015 – LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Arizona — Two Italian pilots completed their initial training flight in the F-35 Lightning II Nov. 5 at Luke Air Force Base marking the first F-35 flights under control of an Italian pilot.
Today marks another significant step forward for the F-35 program as today’s missions showcased the full partnership aspect of F-35 operations here. One Italian flew his mission in an Australian F-35 with an Air Force Reserve ground instructor on the headset. In addition, the maintenance team was comprised of Lockheed Martin contractors and an Australian maintenance liaison officer.
Two U.S. instructor pilots from the 61st Fighter Squadron flew alongside the Italians, guiding them through their first flight.
“This has been a big day for the 61st, for Luke AFB, and for the F-35 program,” said Lt Col Michael Gette, 61st Fighter Squadron commander. “Every aspect of today’s operation was a multinational effort. It was a great example of how all the partner nations are cooperating to make this program a reality and shows how Luke AFB is becoming the international training hub for the F-35.”
The international partnerships were on further display as two U.S. student pilots took their first flight as well, one guided by a U.S. instructor pilot and the other by an Australian.
“It is great from an Australian partner perspective to be contributing to the outcome of training F-35 aircrew,” said Squadron Leader Nathan Draper, Australian Participant Maintenance Liaison Officer. “To see a USAF IP alongside an Aussie jet with an Italian partner getting his first flight is seeing the vision for the program come to fruition. It is a great day for the F-35 and a big milestone for our team.”
The pilots began the academic training phase on Sept. 21, which involved approximately 90 days of classroom and simulator instruction under the supervision of the 56th Training Squadron prior to them stepping to the jet.
“New pilots will be trained in an environment where they learn how to work seamlessly with other nations both from a practical standpoint and a tactical basis,” an Italian pilot said. “Future students coming through the course will be able to fly on many different tails, so it is a perfect integration.”
When the Italian pilots return home they will be equipped to help develop the training programs of their own air forces and will help pioneer the next generation of global F-35 pilots.
Yesterday’s flight highlights the importance of understanding that the F-35 global fleet is about integration, not simply interoperability.
It is commonly asserted that the U.S. intends 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.
An Italian F-35 Lightning II pilot shakes the hand of Squadron Leader Nathan Draper, Australian Participant Maintenance Liaison Officer, November 5, 2015, at Luke Air Force Base after flying the first Italian F-35 training mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Ridge Shan)
Lt. General Preziosa highlighted the way ahead within which the F-35 will play a crucial coalition role in an earlier interview.
“The cost of a fully modern 21st century force that democracies need is beyond even the reach of the richest industrial democracy. We need to share in terms of capabilities, and in order to do so we must ensure that these forces can work effectively together.”
Modernization is essential and Preziosa sees somewhat similarly to Air Marshal Brown of the RAAF, the opportunity to leverage the F-35 as a transformation asset.
“We need to think beyond the F-35 as a platform, and to think of the overall system capabilities, and in this case the system of systems within which modern combat forces are designed, built and employed.”
And the heart of the transformation is to achieve “an effective C4ISR enterprise within which the forces can operate with information superiority. Because we deploy only relatively late, our forces need to be much more effective in being linked together to provide for information superiority.”
For Preziosa, an effective C4ISR enabled force is one, which can be used “to intervene as rapidly as possible with the greatest effectiveness possible.
By so doing, one can reduce the escalation of the conflict.
Airpower provides crucial tools to control the fire and reduce its threat to spread (deterrence nature of air power).”
2015-11-05 The USAF and its lead role for shaping air combat power has finished the first phase of re-norming under the influence of the F-22.
The F-22 and its impact is a good case study in a key challenge facing the defense analytical community.
The aircraft is not only stealthy but its impact has been even more so.
The F-22 is a breakthrough capability in terms of it having redefined what a tactical fighter can do and what its impact can be.
The F-22 has become a key enabler for the entire air combat force currently, and had led to a re-norming of airpower in practice.
The shift was well articulated by the Commander of the Air Combat Command in an interview in early September 2015.
Carlisle emphasized throughout our meeting the importance of the training transition throughout the fleet, not simply the operation of the F-22 and the coming of the F-35 as in and of themselves activities.
It is about force transformation, not simply the operation of the fifth generation aircraft themselves as cutting edge capabilities.
General Carlisle: “It is important to look at the impact of the F-22 operations on the total force. We do not wish, nor do the allies wish to send aircraft into a contested area, without the presence of the F-22.
It’s not just that the F-22s are so good, it’s that they make every other plane better. They change the dynamic with respect to what the other airplanes are able to do because of what they can do with regard to speed, range, and flexibility.
It’s their stealth quality. It’s their sensor fusion. It’s their deep penetration capability. It is the situational awareness they provide for the entire fleet which raises the level of the entire combat fleet to make everybody better.”
The shift is to a new way of operating.
What is crucial as well is training for the evolving fight, and not just remaining in the mindset or mental furniture of the past.
It is about what needs to be done NOW and training towards the evolving and future fight.
General Carlisle: “The F-22s are not silver bullets.
The F-22s make the Eagles better, and the A-10s better, and the F-16s better. They make the bombers better.
They provide information. They enable the entire fight.
And its information dominance, its sensor fusion capability, it’s a situational awareness that they can provide to the entire package which raises the level of our capabilities in the entire fight.
This is not about some distant future; it is about the current fight.”
The slideshow shows various shots of the Raptor, the Eagle and of the F-22s training with F-35s and these aircraft area key elements of the renorming effort for the “fighter” force. Clearly, there are other participants as well but Raptor and Eagle integration tactics have led the way, and the coming of the F-35 will bring impetus to the next wave of renorming efforts, practices and concepts of operations.
The first photo shows an F-22 Raptor, from the 199th Fighter Squadron increasing in altitude shortly after taking off from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, June 6, 2015. Pilots of the F-22 from the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 199th Fighter Squadron and the 19th Fighter Squadron teamed up with maintenance Airmen from the 154th Wing and 15th Maintenance Group to launch and recover 62 Raptors in a day. The previous record was 46 sorties in one day with 14 aircraft, this recorded was broken using only 12 of the 18 aircraft in the smallest F-22 squadron in the Air Force.
The second photo shows an AH-1W Super Cobra from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773 Detachment A prepares to land as crew chiefs ready a Tyndall F-22 Raptor for take-off Oct. 27, 2015, during Exercise Southern Strike at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Belle Chasse, La. Southern Strike allowed pilots to perform in a realistic environment and train with fourth and fifth generation fighters in high threat scenarios.
The third photo shows an F-22 Raptor from the 199th Fighter Wing as it soars over the island of Oahu as a part of Warrior Day exercises at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Oct. 28, 2015.
The fourth photo shows an F-22 Raptor returning to Langley Air Force Base, Va., from a deployment to the Middle East, Oct. 9, 2015. Approximately 200 members of the 1st and 192nd Fighter Wings were assigned to the United States Central Command providing support and stability to the region.
The fifth and sixth photos show an F-22 Raptor landing at Langley Air Force Base, Va., April 17, 2014. The 94th Fighter Squadron F-22 returned from a nearly four-month deployment to Kadena Air Base, Japan.
The sixth and seventh photos show an F-15 Eagle aircraft from the 104th Fighter Wing, Massachusetts Air National Guard deploy for two weeks in support of the United States Air Force Weapons Instructor School (WIC) located at Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 30, 2015. WIC teaches graduate-level instructor courses to elite fighter pilots, and provides the world’s most advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to officers of the combat air forces.
The eighth, ninth and tenth photos show F-22 Raptors from the 94th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., and F-35A Lightning IIs from the 58th Fighter Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., perform final preflight checks before taking off for an integration training mission on Eglin Training Range, Fla., Nov. 6, 2014. The F-35s and F-22s flew offensive counter air, defensive counter air and interdiction missions, maximizing effects by employing fifth-generation capabilities together.
The 11th photo shows a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 756th Air Refueling Squadron, Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Md., refuels a 1st Fighter Wing’s F-22 Raptor from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. off the east coast, May 10, 2012.
The first Raptor assigned to the Wing arrived, Jan. 7, 2005. This aircraft was allocated as a trainer, and was docked in a hanger for maintenance personnel to familiarize themselves with its complex systems.
The second Raptor, designated for flying operations, arrived, Jan. 18, 2005.
On Dec. 15, 2005, Air Combat Command commander, along with the 1st FW commander, announced the 27th Fighter Squadron as fully operational capable to fly, fight and win with the F-22.
The 12th photo shows a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor takes off from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, to participate in a training sortie over Europe Sept. 3, 2015.
The U.S Air Force deployed four F-22 Raptors, one C-17 Globemaster III, approximately 60 Airmen and associated equipment to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
The deployment occurred from August 28 to mid-September 2015.
The F-22s are deployed from the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Fla. While these aircraft and Airmen are in Europe, they conducted air training with other Europe-based aircraft.
The F-22s also forward deployed from Germany to maximize training opportunities.
The 13th photo shows a U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 480th Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany participate in a training sortie with F-22 Raptors Sept. 9, 2015, over the United Kingdom.
The 14th photo shows six F-22 Raptors from the 95th Fighter Squadron from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., fly over the Gulf of Mexico Nov. 5, 2015 during a local training mission.
The group of six F-22s were part of a large group formation of 15 Raptor
The final photo shows two F-15 Eagles fly in formation with an F-22 Raptor April 24, 2008 during a support mission near Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
The F-15s act as “aggressors” to replicate potential adversary air force capabilities, tactics, training and equipment.
Credit Photos: US Air Force
For our book on Re-Norming which started with the projected impact of the F-22 on the air combat force see the following:
From the initial re-norming work in 2010 which was included in the book published in early 2011:
Re-norming transition for the air combat force. Credit: Second Line of Defense, 2010
And for a clear articulation of why the F-22 was a key trigger of change made during the heyday of the “we don’t need this aircraft because it is a Cold War relic days”:
2015-11-05 The shaping of joint tactics between the F-22 and the F-15 is where shaping 4th and 5th generation integration has begun.
The F-22 now enables the air combat fleet and with the F-35 entering the fleet in greater numbers than the F-22, the re-norming of airpower begun with the F-22 will accelerate for the air combat force.
In this video, the F-22 and F-15 taking off in Southwest Asia are shown from the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing flightline.
The F-22 is from the 525 fighter squadron based at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, and the F-15 is from the fourth fighter wing, based at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina.
