Land Warfare: Challenging times for Army aviation | ADM October 2012

Australian Army Aviation faces significant challenges over the next few years, as it copes with the introduction of two complex helicopter types, maintains operational deployments on rotation in Afghanistan and Timor Leste and prepares to operate off the new LHDs.

Furthermore it has to honour its commitment to domestic operations, including major training exercises such as the recent Exercise Hamel in the Shoalwater / Bay Training Area and all the while maintaining the training continuum.

The two new helicopters, Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) and MRH 90 Multi-Role Helicopter represent the future of Army Aviation service introduction has not gone as smoothly as anticipated and it’s fair to say that both have consumed more time and effort than originally planned.

In addition, there are projects to acquire new Chinook medium-lift helicopters over the next few years, replacing the hardworked examples currently deployed to Afghanistan and a new rotary wing training system which will oversee the next evolution of the way crews are trained.

Introducing new capabilty

Tiger and MRH 90 are at the cutting edge of battlefield helicopters, but they are much more than just two new platforms. The capabilities they bring will literally transform Army Aviation, but with this comes an element of doctrinal change.

Tiger, in particular, restores an offensive capability lost when the ‘Bushranger’ Iroquois retired a few years ago. Armed with a deadly accurate 30mm cannon, Hellfire missiles and 70mm unguided rockets, the helicopter is two full generations ahead of the limited Bushranger capability.

In fact, Tiger not only replaces the Bushranger but also the Kiowa in the reconnaissance role and the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter capability is the result. The development of an ARH doctrine has been underway for many years and is ongoing.

The MRH 90 will similarly transform the battlefield mobility role when it is fully operational, but Army finds itself in a position where it is introducing it to service whilst maintaining a full Black Hawk capability.

From an aircrew perspective, the transition from the 1960s-era Kiowa to the glass-cockpit Tiger or MRH 90 is a big step. Even the current Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters are of an earlier age and nowhere near as complex.

Tiger has also introduced a new aircrew role, in the form of a Battle Captain, to employ the weapons system.

Both helicopters also present new maintenance challenges, being built largely from composite materials and having sophisticated systems which require specialist knowledge to test and repair.

Army Aviation is a relatively small force, with just seven operational squadrons and three Aviation Regiments, spread across three bases in three states. Introducing these two highly complex helicopters concurrently, albeit with more overlap than originally planned due to the delays, will be further exacerbated in the next few years when seven of the latest CH-47F Chinooks will replace the elderly ‘delta’ models currently in service.

Contuinuous operations

Against the backdrop of Tiger, MRH 90 and CH-47F introduction is the fact that elements of Army Aviation have been deployed overseas almost continuously since the intervention in Timor Leste in 1999.

With the relative stability in Timor Leste, the efforts of Army’s deployed Aviation Group is sometimes unfairly overlooked, but up until this year it has contributed significantly to ADF efforts in the small nation.

The current rotation, which is due to finish its six-month stint shortly, is the 18th in the series which utilises resources primarily from the 5th Aviation Regiment at Townsville, but also from the 6th Aviation Regiment at Holsworthy and the 1^st Aviation Regiment in Darwin. On top of this, two Chinooks have been deployed to Afghanistan regularly since 2003, returning home at the end of each northern hemisphere summer for maintenance and regeneration. This years’ rotation is Rotary Wing Group 7, which commenced in late March and embedded with the US Army’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade in support of ISAF forces.

Two ex-US Army CH-47Ds were acquired to replace one helicopter lost last year when it crashed during landing near Tarin Kot and handed over to Army after modification in June. Australia has only one Chinook squadron, so the impact of the regular deployments to the Middle East places a significant load on available resources. Afghanistan and Timor Leste are not the only operational deployments made over the last few years either, with Army Aviation assets serving in the Solomons and supporting regular regional deployments to Papua New Guinea at least.

Role enhancements

The arrival of the two ‘Canberra’-class LHDs over the next couple of years will continue the evolution of Army into an amphibious force, capable of conducting expeditionary operations from the decks of ships.

Tiger, MRH 90 and Chinook all have a role to play in amphibious operations and, although some work has been done with the now-retired ‘Kanimbla’- class LPAs, the ability to conduct intensive flying operations off the deck of a ship will be an important milestone in the programme.

Black Hawks have been operated from both RAN and US Navy vessels and there is a fair amount of corporate knowledge already existing within Army Aviation, but the newer types will first need to be cleared for shipboard use before any developmental work can be carried out.

The delays to both the Tiger and MRH programs, coupled with the premature retirement of Kanimbla and Manoora and the loss of availability of HMAS Choules for much of the year has frustrated efforts to carry out shipboard trials.

This is particularly critical in the case of MRH as Navy is acquiring the helicopter to replace their now-retired Sea Kings in the Maritime Support Helicopter role, meaning they will be going to sea early in their operational career.

To redress this somewhat, HMAS Tobruk will be used extensively over the remainder of the year, but the delays to the helicopter programs has meant that shipboard trials and work to develop maritime operational doctrine will be closer together than originally envisaged.

Program delays

Both Tiger and MRH 90 are significantly behind their original timetables and the latter remains a Project of Concern, while remedial activity is undertaken. Tiger has been in service for almost eight years now, but is yet to achieve the operational milestone of being able to field one squadron on operations. Army says that, aside from two recent fleet groundings due to fumes in the cockpit, the major issues have been around the immaturity of the support system.

This milestone is planned for the end of the year and shipboard trials are to be carried out between then and the attainment of Final Operating Capability (FOC) in 2016.

The MRH 90 program is newer than Tiger, but the first helicopters were delivered to Army almost four years ago. As with Tiger, the immaturity of the support system is to blame for much of the delays to the MRH program, but the helicopter has also suffered a string of technical issues, including an engine failure in 2010. The program has been the subject of two diagnostic reviews and was ultimately placed on the Projects of Concern list late last year.

Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for Army is set for mid-2014 but FOC may not follow until 2018. If this later date comes to pass, work will be required to extend the life of Black Hawk past its Planned Withdrawal Date.

Training for the future

The next major Army Aviation project, actually a joint program with Navy, is the acquisition of a new rotary wing training regime.

Project Air 9000 Phase 7, the Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS), will introduce not only another new platform but completely change the training regime.

This will be a major cultural change for rotary wing students and will be mirrored in the fixed-wing world by Project Air 5428. The latest DCP has an IOC for the project of between FY 2015/16 and 2017/18.

Although the Government has committed to the withdrawal of ground forces from Afghanistan in 2014, it is unclear what will happen to the Rotary Wing Group and media speculation has suggested that Chinooks may be replaced one day by Tiger.

Whilst that is ultimately a decision for Government to make, it is no secret that Army has been watching French Tiger operations in Afghanistan (and aboard the Mistral LHDs in Libya) very closely.

Assuming that operational tempo will not drop off in the short-term, Army Aviation will be also introducing MRH 90 and Tiger, planning for maritime operations, introducing new versions of the Chinook, transitioning to a new training system and supporting domestic operations concurrently for the foreseeable future.