Sustainment: Transition time for Hercules fleet | ADM September 2012

In December this year the RAAF will retire the last of its C-130H Hercules airlifters after 34 years of continuous service, including many deployments to the Middle East and participation in humanitarian relief operations around the globe.

Their legacy will now be taken over by the newer C-130J-30 and C-17A Globemaster heavy airlifter and, in future years, C- 27J Spartan Battlefield Airlifter. The larger C-130J-30, which has been in service since 1999 is the subject of ongoing upgrades, together with the Globemaster and Spartan, will shape the future of the RAAF’s Air Lift Group out until at least 2030.

Twelve C-130Hs were purchased in the late 1970s, to replace the earlier C-130A and complement a like number of C-130Es. With the introduction of the C-17A in 2007, the C-130J-30 in service and the promise of a Battlefield Airlift Aircraft (BFA) to replace the veteran Caribou, the C-130H fleet was slated for retirement in 2015.

In anticipation of the C-17A introduction, the C-130H was transferred from No.36 Squadron at Richmond to the co-located No.37 Squadron and all C-130 operations concentrated within the latter unit.

To mitigate the loss of airlift capacity after its retirement, Project AIR 8000 Phase 1 sought to acquire an additional two C-130J-30s, but the decision to acquire a fifth C-17A has seen this lapse.

The purchase of a sixth C-17A earlier this year and the requirement within the latest Defence budget to reduce spending by $5.45 billion over the forward estimates period has meant the C-130H will now be retired at the end of the year. In anticipation of the 2015 retirement date, the fleet had begun a process of gradual drawdown and, today, just seven remain in service.

Not dead yet

It is not a quiet retirement though, as the older Hercules is going out in style, having just taken part in two major international exercises, Red Flag in Alaska in June and Pitch Black in the Northern Territory in August.

Commander Air Lift Group, Air Commodore Gary Martin says that normal tasking will be undertaken right through to November. Five aircraft were available for operations on a daily basis in mid August, while another two were undergoing Depot Level Maintenance. The remaining five are in long term storage at Richmond.

The fleet will have reduced to four by the end of August and another will be withdrawn in September and two more by early November, leaving two aircraft to see out the final weeks of service before being formally retired on December 1st.

“It’s been a very proud 34 Years, the aircraft has done exactly what it was acquired to do over the years,” AIR CDRE Martin said. “It was bought with the sole intention of bringing tactical capability into the RAAF.”

Four aircraft will be donated to Indonesia in a deal proposed last November and confirmed in July. Although it is yet to be decided exactly which airframes will be selected for the transfer, the Indonesian Government will absorb the cost of preparing them for service.

Defence is currently working through this issue with the Indonesian Government and Qantas Defence Services to determine the scope of work required.

A business case has been developed to convert one retired airframe into a C-130J-30 fuselage trainer in a similar manner to that done by Cascade Aerospace for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The airframe will require fuselage extensions and other structural work for it to simulate the longer C-130J-30 and will be used to train loadmasters and technicians and support future upgrade work. It will replace two similar C-130E airframes at the Air Movements Training and Development Unit at Richmond.

Another aircraft will be offered to the RAAF Museum at Point Cook and research has been undertaken to decide which of the 12 aircraft is the most important, from a historical point of view. The balance will be offered for sale within the guidelines of the Australian and US Governments.

In response to questions about whether this force restructure sacrifices tactical for strategic capability, AIRCDRE Martin says: “We will have tactical capability with the C-27J and C-130J. The C-17A actually operates to hub and spoke operations to airfields within the Middle East, Tarin Kot and Kandahar for example. The paradigm of what we used to understand to have been tactical or strategic capability has changed and the line is now blurred.

“There has also been a change in the paradigm of airfields we operate into, especially throughout South East Asia. There will be a further shift towards established airfields as we move into the future.”

By comparison, AIRCDRE Martin points out that in 2006, Airlift Group had 47 aircraft and could lift a total of 3,775 passengers or a combined cargo of 656 tonnes. In 2016 it will have one fewer aircraft, but will be capable of uplifting 4,321 passengers or 950 tonnes of cargo.

C-130J-30

Australia was an early customer for Lockheed Martin’s new generation C-130J, purchasing 12 of the stretched C-130J-30 aircraft in 1995. It’s fair to say that the aircraft had its’ share of teething troubles at the beginning, but it has now matured into a capable platform and a worthy successor to the C-130H.

To replace the C-130H in the tactical role the C-130J has been the subject of a role enhancement program, which has looked at the essential differences between the two aircraft.

The C-130J has been continuously deployed to the Middle East Area of operations since 2003 and will continue to support deployed Australian forces there for the foreseeable future.

In order to partially redress the earlier C-130H retirement, AIRCDRE Martin says that work is being done with the Defence Materiel Organisation to increase the planned daily aircraft availability rate from eight aircraft to nine.

AIRCDRE Martin also dispels the myth that the extra burden on the C-130J fleet will cause additional fatigue issues and have an impact on the current Life of Type, set at 2030.

“We planned to increase utilisation in 2015/16 anyway, so we are comfortable with where we are,” he said.

Being a software-driven platform, the C-130J continues with a series of (largely software-oriented) upgrades under Project Air 5440, the most recent of which, known as Block 6.1, is being rolled out to the fleet at the present time.

“The first two are having the software installed right now and we will have the entire fleet completed by the end of August,” AIRCDRE Martin advised ADM. “It has gone incredibly smoothly, largely conducted during routine servicing.”

Australia is a member of the international C-130J User’s Group (JUG), along with the US, UK, Italy, Denmark, Norway and Canada . What goes into each software build is determined, along with Lockheed Martin, by this group.

Version 6.1 software is largely built around the Global Air Traffic Management and Terrain Avoidance requirements.

“There are three or four different switch selections in the cockpit, but the way the information is processed and brought to the crew’s attention is quite radically different,” explained AIRCDRE Martin.

The next version, 7.0 will bring further capability to the aircraft and is in flight test in the US at the present time. An RAAF pilot is involved in this process, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

“One aircraft will go to the US for modification and testing, for completion late next year, or early in 2014,” AIRCDRE Martin said. “Then the rest of the fleet, including the simulator, will be done in Australia and completed by mid 2016.

“It will be a quantum step for us. Once you are trained on it you do not fly a 6.1 aircraft,” he continues. “The upgrade changes the flight management system computers and the depth of information significantly increases.”

A further software rollout, version 8.0, is planned around the 2018/2020 time frame. Between the 6.1 and 7 upgrades are two projects to significantly enhance the self protection capabilities of the aircraft. Air 5416 Phase 4B.1 adds a Radar Warning capability to the current EWSP system and is due for service release in the fourth quarter of this year. Final Operating Capability is due to follow in September 2014, when all the knowledge is incorporated into the RAAFs upgrade and conversion courses.

AIRCDRE Martin declined to discuss the capabilities of the new system, “It will be more capable than the system fitted to the C-130H,” he said.

LAIRCM

Project Air 5416 Phase 4B.2 will integrate Northrop Grumman’s Large Aircraft Infra-Red Countermeasures (LAIRCM) system. This sub-phase is currently awaiting Second Pass Approval with an Initial Operating Capability of around 3rd quarter 2016.

“We are looking at the way the US Air Force has integrated the system, which is aerodynamically more efficient than the RAF method,” AIRCDRE Martin said to ADM. “It will give us the full sequence of flares, LAIRCM and RWR. A full countermeasures system which will take us through to Life Of Type.”

LAIRCM comes with strict ITAR guidelines and the first four aircraft will probably be modified in the US. Subject to ITAR regulations, it is hoped that the remainder will be upgraded in Australia, with US guidance.

Finally, with the ever increasing pressure on Defence budgets, finding a way to reduce fuel burn is an important way to save money. Defence has signed a 12-month contract with Rolls Royce to analyse the operational profile of the RAAF fleet. The study will use technology developed by Optimised Systems and Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rolls Royce and identify ways to optimise fleet-wide fuel burn.

Together, these measures will ensure the Hercules is a common sight in Australian skies for at least another 15 years.