Nigel Pittaway | Melbourne
In July the first two of its fifth generation Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighters (JSF)were rolled off the assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas and shortly afterwards completed their maiden flights.
At around the same time that the JSFs were being unveiled to senior RAAF and government officials, the first of ten Alenia Aermacchi C-27J battlefield airlifters was rolled out of the L-3 conversion facility in Waco, just a couple of hours down the highway.
In addition to the materiel gains, important decisions were taken during the past year which will further shape the future Air Force.
In February, the Abbott government announced that at least eight, and as many as 12 Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft would be acquired from 2017. A further announcement just a few weeks later revealed that, subject to satisfactory operational test and evaluation with the US Navy, a number (with seven the strongly rumoured number) of Northrop Grumman MQ4C Triton unmanned maritime surveillance platforms will join the P-8A to replace the existing Lockheed AP-3C Orion.
Other important projects achieved milestones during the period, including the release of a tender to industry for the fixed wing Pilot Training System (PTS) of the future and, in late September, the RAAF committed an Australian Air Task Group (ATG) to the Middle East and is currently conducting strikes against ISIL forces in Iraq.
Yet there is work to be done to change the thinking of Air Force, the ADF as a whole and even the wider Defence Organisation, if the potential of new platforms and systems are to be fully realised. In launching Plan Jericho in May, for example, Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown warned that 5th generation capabilities such as the F-35A will fundamentally change how Air Force interacts with Navy, Army and allies and that the organisation is often constrained by previous mindsets.
Dawn of ‘5th generation’ capability
In terms of hardware, the completion of the two F-35As represents a major milestone in Australia’s New Air Combat Capability, intended to not only replace the ‘Classic’ Hornet, but to maintain technical dominance in the region for some considerable time.
The first aircraft are due to be delivered to the international training school, administered by the USAF’s 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, in January 2015.
The pair will form part of a pool of US and partner aircraft used to train an initial cadre of instructor pilots, prior to the first aircraft coming back to Australia in either late 2018 or 2019.
Speaking at the rollout ceremony in late July, held at the historic Air Force Plant No.4 which also built Australia’s F-111s, Air Marshal Geoff Brown told invited guests that, in his opinion, the F-35 is not merely a replacement for Australia’s Hornets and (into the future) Super Hornets.
“If I looked at the F-35 as a replacement for our Hornets and Super Hornets I would undermine from day one, the real capability of this aircraft. Like any revolutionary capability, its potential to generate effects beyond the mainstream will have far-reaching impacts in any future application,” he asserted.
“I view the F-35 as a platform that can operate across the spectrum, from tactical to strategic, and anywhere in between, as required. It will be a key node in our new fluid force concepts.”
Australia is just the fourth nation, behind the US, the UK and the Netherlands to take delivery of what is referred to as a fifth generation fighter and CAF described the aircraft as both an evolution and revolution, in terms of situational awareness and decision dominance.
AIRMSHL Brown predicted that the F-35A had the potential to confer the RAAF with ‘an exponential leap’ over preceding aircraft but cautioned again that a change in mindset must herald the capability in Australian service.
“We are introducing into service a revolutionary capability and our evolution as a force must align with the opportunities that this offers us,” he warned. “It really is a big change, bigger than a lot of people realise.”
Decisions
The announcements around the replacement of the AP-3C Orions (under two phases of Air 7000) were probably of no great surprise as both have been flagged by government for some time. Nevertheless the fact that the decisions were made ahead of the forthcoming Defence White Paper means the transition can be planned to a known timeline and with confidence.
In October and November the first three Orions (two AP-3Cs and the single P-3C that was never upgraded) were scrapped, but the 16 remaining aircraft remain heavily tasked including the ongoing border patrols out of Darwin under Operation Resolute.
The first RAAF Poseidon will arrive in Australia during 2017 and all eight will be operational by 2021. When making the announcement in Canberra in February, Prime Minister Tony Abbott revealed that a further four aircraft are under consideration as part of the White Paper process.
“Defence will consider the P-8A and Triton fleet mix in the upcoming Defence White Paper review, which may lead to as many as four additional P-8As being required,” a spokesperson noted in the period following the government’s announcement.
Although there is no firm timeline for the acquisition of the MQ-4C Triton and no contract yet exists, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Defence Minister David Johnston made the joint Triton announcement on 13 March, noting that a formal order would be subject to the successful completion of the US Navy development program.
“These aircraft will patrol Australia’s vast ocean approaches, and work closely with other existing and future ADF assets to secure our ocean resources, including energy resources off northern Australia, and to help protect our borders,” Abbott said.
A Defence spokesperson said that the number of Tritons to be acquired and their introduction into service date will be further considered by government in 2016, based on the White Paper and ongoing reviews which are aimed at delivering a ‘responsive airpower capability’ for Australia.
Hints
The ADF’s delayed Pilot Training System to be delivered under Air 5428 also received a boost during the period with the release of a tender to industry at the end of March 2014. The competition is down to teams led by BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin, based upon the Beechcraft T-6C Texan II and Pilatus PC-21s respectively, with a decision anticipated either late this year or early in 2015.
The delays to date however have already put back the planned withdrawal date of the incumbent PC-9/A to late 2019, with additional funding required to keep them in service beyond their original retirement date.
Australia’s strategic airlift capability also received a boost in recent months with the announcement by Defence Minister Senator David Johnston that two, and possibly four, more Boeing C-17A Globemaster IIIs will be acquired and the Minister has also broadly hinted that two more Airbus KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft will be purchased as part of the White Paper process.
The C-17As have enjoyed a high public profile over the past twelve months, supporting humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations, as well as supporting the repatriation of victims of the MH17 shoot-down over the Ukraine and the airdrop of military supplies to Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, fighting against ISIL.
Coupled with the ongoing support for ADF operations in the region, now increased somewhat by Operation Okra, the RAAFs strategic airlift looks as though it will remain heavily tasked into the foreseeable future and additional capability delivered by past and future decisions will be no doubt be welcome.
Combat operations
Operation Okra is the ADFs contribution to coalition efforts in Iraq against ISIL forces and, in RAAF terms, consists of an Air Task Group (ATG) of six Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets, a single Boeing E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C platform and one KC-30A tanker.
The ATG deployed to Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE at the end of September and the Super Hornets commenced striking ISIL targets on the night of October 8.
The ATG deployment is significant in that it benchmarks the RAAF’s capability to deploy and sustain a force or fighters, together with organic AEW&C and tanker support, on expeditionary operations thousands of miles from the nearest Australian base.
“The deployment so far has been a significant achievement for the Australian Defence Force. From a standing start we packed up a potent Air Task Group and moved them 12,000 kilometres,” noted Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin shortly after the ATG’s arrival in the Middle East.
“We also moved a Commando unit over there as well within that time, with all their supporting equipment.”
The KC-30A and Wedgetail are also providing tanker and AEW&C support for coalition forces, in a meaningful example of the RAAF’s level of interoperability in modern times.
Chief of Joint Operations (CJOPS), Rear Admiral David Johnston noted that, up until November 5, RAAF Super Hornets had flown 89 sorties over 663 flying hours and dropped 27 laser or GPS guided bombs (GBU-38 JDAM and GBU-12 ‘Paveway’) on a number of ISIL targets.
“Twenty-five of those bombs have been dropped over the last month. Fourteen targets have been hit by Australian aircraft, 11 (targets) confirmed destroyed and three assessed as damaged,” he said.
The immediate future
Looking forward to the next twelve months, preparations for the introduction of F-35A, C-27J, P-8A and MQ-4C will continue, both in terms of the development of infrastructure required at bases across Australia and the allocation and training of staff to operate them.
Added to this are preparations for the first airborne electronic attack capability to be delivered with the Boeing EA-18G Growler from 2017. When the Growlers are in full service later in the decade, the RAAF will have a full-spectrum electronic warfare capability currently enjoyed only by the US.
Current platforms are also likely to achieve capability milestones in 2015, including the long-awaited certification of the Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS) on the KC-30A. Testing of the updated system is now complete in Europe and trials are set to begin in Australia next year with a view to IOC being declared before the end of 2015.
This is important as the first trials with the F-35A (a USAF test aircraft) are set to begin in the third quarter of 2015 and this work needs to be completed before the aircraft can be brought back to Australia later in the decade.
The RAAF will also continue to be busy supporting operations in the Middle East during 2015, as well as Operation Resolute here in Australia, but arguably the biggest hurdle will be the mindset changes required to fully understand the potential of coming capabilities.
Under Plan Jericho, so named because walls need to be broken down, AM Brown wants to change thinking in the ADF, DMO and industry.
“We are really hamstrung by the organisational focus. We’ve seen some of the challenges we’ve had with the functional supporting silos, they aren’t necessarily well aligned to our capability outputs and we see the manifestation of under investment in infrastructure,” he told guests at a Williams Foundation dinner back in May. “I really think the First Principles review of the Defence organisation is an enormous opportunity for Defence, if you take a different mindset into it.
“Breaking down walls, or breaking down the stovepipes of Defence is central if we’re actually going to realise the full capability of 5th Generation equipment.”