USAF F-35s BOEING KC-46 TRAINING NAVAL AVIATORS

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IN THE NEWS
6 HEADLINE NEWS
Eurofighter targets electronic warfare,
GlobalEye tracks more success, and USAF
light attack moves slowly forward
8 NEWS
Our new integrated news and analysis
section includes a USAF F-35 air power
milestone in the Middle East, the first
P-8 Poseidon for the UK plus latest unit
and deployment news and all the latest
military losses
16 THE OPS DESK
Scott Wolff ’s fascinating column details how
special forces tackle deliberate targeting
20 READY ROOM
Combat Aircraft’s regular column, looking at
the stories behind the US Navy and Marine
Corps headlines, by Rick Burgess
24 AMERICA’S TANKER:
TOO IMPORTANT TO FAIL?
This year has seen a succession of problems
emerging for the USAF’s already delayed
Boeing KC-46 tanker program. Jon Lake
assesses the options available to the US Air
Force
32 CONTRACT ADVERSARIES:
USAF PROJECT MOVES AHEAD
The US Air Force announced at the end
of October that it had earmarked seven
companies to provide contract aggressor
services across the combat air forces (CAF).
Jamie Hunter evaluates what this means and
how it will evolve
38 MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK:
CONTRACTED CLOSE AIR SUPPORT
The US Air Force’s over-arching contract
covering contracted training for ‘Red Air’
aggressors also includes close air support.
Joe Copalman meets Valkyrie Aero, which
offers cost-effective aircraft and optimized
support to the military
48 BIG SHOT: NIGHT ‘RHINO’
Combat Aircraft’s new feature showcasing
military aviation’s best images each month
— this month it’s a Greek F-4E
62 ‘ATLANTIC RESOLVE’:
DOWN AT THE DOCKS
Part of the European Reassurance Initiative,
‘Atlantic Resolve’ has seen a series of large
US Army deployments to Europe, with
the latest example getting under way in
October, as Dino van Doorn reports
3 Contents C.indd 3
INSIDE
January 2020 • Vol 21 • No 1
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE!
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more Combat Aircraft, more often, with the launch of
Key.Aero — Your Aviation Destination.
Visit www.key.aero and use your customer ID and email
address to register today for your exclusive access.
50
TOPGUN — THE REAL STORY
The long-awaited sequel to the movie
Top Gun is released in June 2020, but
it will be a Hollywood depiction of
what happens at the US Navy Fighter
Weapons School. Jamie Hunter and
Richard Collens tell the story of the
real TOPGUN — a school of combat
excellence in the high desert
ON THE COVER | PAGE 50
Two of the most striking fighters
on the planet — adversary F-16A
and F/A-18C over Nevada as
they hunt down a student. In
this issue we meet the TOPGUN
instructors. Jamie Hunter
64 GOSHAWK: BACK ON TRACK
The US Navy was struggling to train
aviators amid big problems with its
Boeing T-45 Goshawks in 2017. But
with the problems fixed, Andy Wolfe
reveals how training is back on track
thanks to a number of new initiatives
72 FROM STARFIGHTER TO
EUROFIGHTER
Stefan Petersen recounts one family’s
history that charts a remarkable story
of the Luftwaffe, from the F-104G
Starfighter to the F-4F Phantom II and
the Eurofighter
78 MOODY’S RETRO ‘HOG’
The 23rd Wing at Moody AFB,
Georgia, has painted one of its A-10Cs
in special markings to salute the
history of the unit, as Nate Leong
reveals
80 ‘FULCRUM’: THE STORY
OF A RUSSIAN CLASSIC
In the second of a two-part feature,
Alexander Mladenov looks at the
most ambitious ‘Fulcrum’ derivative
— the MiG-29M. It was also used as
a baseline for the MiG-29K shipborne
fighter, eventually ordered by India
and Russia. After the MiG-29K’s land-
based export version was sold to
Egypt, the further improved MiG-35
was ordered for the Russian air arm
88 THE F-4 THAT REFUSED TO DIE
Ted Carlson recounts a memorable
mission with QF-4 Phantom IIs and
F-14 Tomcats in the heyday of missile
testing operations at Point Mugu
94 CUTTING EDGE
David Axe’s column looking at the
latest technological developments in
military aerospace
96 FLASHBACK
Combat Aircraft’s trip down memory
lane, this month it’s an A-7D at
‘Gunsmoke’
Your Aviation Destination
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for full SUBSCR
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details IVE
22/11/2019 10:21
 COMBAT EDGE // FIND US ON

LOOKING AHEAD
W
ELCOME TO THE
first issue of Combat
Aircraft of the new
decade and a new
look for our logo on
the front cover, with
more developments to come…
It’s an exciting time for military
aviation and you can now interact with
the magazine and our constant flow
of content like never before thanks to
our brand new website: www.Key.Aero.
Subscribers can now access all of our
content, in a digital format — globally —
in a fast and efficient way.
Looking at the year ahead, naturally
we’re pretty excited about the new
Top Gun movie. In this issue, we tell the
real story of the TOPGUN school, with
exclusive new images and interviews
from NAS Fallon, plus much more
coverage to come in the months ahead.
It comes during a big period of change as
the first F-35C student pilots prepare to
earn their coveted red and blue patches.
The coming decade will herald
some significant milestones in military
aerospace. An unmanned tanker will
provide an aerial refueling capability
for US Navy aircraft carriers, a brand
new stealth bomber will enter USAF
service, two — maybe three — latest-
generation fighters could be flying, and
loyal wingman drones could be escorting
manned strike packages into high-threat
operating areas. There will be unexpected
hotspots, emerging concerns and more
than a few surprises along the way.
In 2021 we will mark the 30th
anniversary of Operation ‘Desert
Storm’ — one of the most influential
air campaigns in history. Most air forces
bear little resemblance to the massive air
armada that assembled in the Gulf back
then. The contrast in technology between
then and now is stark. Combat Aircraft will
continue not only to look ahead, but also
to look back. Make sure you’re strapped in
for the ride.
Keep on top of all the latest breaking
military news and access all of our
content at www.Key.Aero
Jamie Hunter,
Editor
E-mail: jamie.hunter@keypublishing.com

Dubbed ‘MiG-28s’ in the movie Top Gun, nimble F-5s

continue to provide adversary support for the US Navy
Fighter Weapons School — better known as TOPGUN. This
F-5N Tiger II is the flagship of VFC-13 ‘Fighting Saints’, and
this unit continues to fulfill the role of bad guys for young
aviators that come to NAS Fallon to earn their coveted
TOPGUN patch. Jamie Hunter

04 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

4-5 Combat Edge C.indd 4 22/11/2019 10:20

 CONTRIBUTOR OF THE MONTH
TED CARLSON
T
ED CARLSON IS a
professional aviation
photojournalist in
southern California. With
1,300 hours of military flight
time alone performing aerial
photography, he’s forged a
reputation as one of the best
in the business. He was won
4-5 Combat Edge C.indd 5
numerous contest awards
over the years and has worked
for many large aerospace
corporations. In this issue, he
reflects on one of his most
memorable assignments,
flying QF-4 Phantom IIs at
Point Mugu on a live-fire
missile shoot.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 05
22/11/2019 10:21
 [HEADLINES]
The UAEAF looks set to increase its
GlobalEye fleet to five aircraft. Saab
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ANNOUNCES PLANS
FOR ADDITIONAL SAAB GLOBALEYES
THE UNITED ARAB Emirates Air
Force (UAEAF) intends to procure
two additional Saab GlobalEye
aircraft. The UAEAF announcement
was made on November 19 during
the Dubai Airshow. Saab said it
will now enter into a period of
negotiations and that it has not yet
06 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
6-7 Headlines C.indd 6
signed the contract amendment
or received a formal order relating
to the announcement, but the
agreement has an estimated
cost of $1.08 billion. If the air arm
proceeds with this transaction, it
will increase its total GlobalEye
order from three to five.
The announcement came
as Saab exhibited its third
production GlobalEye at the
Dubai event.
Participation of the GlobalEye
at the Dubai Airshow this year
was fitting, given that the UAE
is the launch customer for the
This image: An artist’s
impression of the two-
seat Eurofighter ECR.
Airbus Defence and
Space
Inset: The new
missionized rear
cockpit of the
Eurofighter ECR. Airbus
Defence and Space
platform, which was made public
at the event held in November
2015. Referred to as the Swing
Role Surveillance System (SRSS)
by the UAE, an initial order for two
aircraft was placed at the Dubai
Airshow 2015, in a contract worth
$1.27 billion. In 2017, the country
exercised an option to procure an
additional aircraft for $238 million.
The first aircraft is expected to
be delivered to the UAE Air Force
during 2020.
22/11/2019 10:20

EUROFIGHTER GOES F-35 PRODUCTION
‘WILD WEASEL’ CONTRACT AWARDED
AIRBUS UNVEILS DETAILS OF
EUROFIGHTER ECR CONCEPT
A
IRBUS AND
EUROFIGHTER
revealed details of
a proposed ECR
(Electronic Combat
Role) variant at the
International Fighter Conference
in Berlin in November. The
development would help to
underpin the aircraft’s status as
an enabler in high-end conflict in
support of the overall survivability
of coalition forces in high threat
environments.
The Eurofighter ECR is aimed
squarely at the German Luftwaffe’s
requirement to replace its Tornado
ECRs and Airbus says the new
capability should be available by
2026. The Eurofighter ECR would be
able to passively locate emitters and
actively jam threats, and it will offer
a variety of modular configurations
A KC-46 Pegasus assigned to
the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at
McConnell AFB, Kansas.
USAF/TSgt John Winn
PEGASUS ENTERS INITIAL
OPERATIONAL TESTING
THE USAF’S BOEING KC-46A tanker
program officially began its initial
operational test and evaluation
(IOT&E) phase on October 22. This is
designed to test the effectiveness,
suitability, and mission capability
of the Pegasus and assure that it is
capable of accomplishing its three
primary mission sets, comprising
aerial refueling, cargo/passenger
operations, and aeromedical
evacuation. Testing will continue
while Boeing works to correct
identified deficiencies with the
KC-46A. The aircraft had been
6-7 Headlines C.indd 7
for electronic attack (EA) and
suppression/destruction of enemy air
defense (SEAD/DEAD). The concept
also features a twin-seat cockpit
configuration with a multi-function
panoramic touch display and a
dedicated mission cockpit for the
rear seat.
The concept is being driven by
Airbus, Hensoldt, MBDA, MTU,
Premium Aerotec, and Rolls-
Royce and supported by German
national industry bodies. In terms
of a kinetic weapon for the role, the
Eurofighter ECR could incorporate
MBDA’s SPEAR-EW, which is
being developed in partnership
with Leonardo under a Technical
Demonstration Programme (TDP)
contract awarded by the UK. It
would provide the Eurofighter with
a low collateral, high-precision
weapon for SEAD missions.
conducting pre-IOT&E activities
when multiple ‘category one’
deficiencies were discovered.
They include problems with the
aircraft’s remote vision system
(RVS) and the refueling boom, but
the recent discovery of problems
with the cargo locks has limited the
aircraft’s ability to simultaneously
carry passengers and cargo. The
successful completion of IOT&E is
a requirement for the aircraft to
achieve initial operational capability.
For more on the KC-46 see pages
24-30 in this issue.
[HEADLINES]
LOCKHEED MARTIN HAS received Martin finalized a $34-billion
a $7.03-billion modification to an
existing contract that provides
agreement for the production
and delivery of 478 F-35s in
for the procurement of 114 F-35s Lots 12, 13 and 14. It includes
for the USAF, US Marine Corps, 291 aircraft for the US, 127 for
US Navy, international partners, international partners, and 60 for
and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) FMS customers. The F-35 program
customers. The aircraft will office says the deal provides cost
comprise 48 F-35As for the USAF, reductions over the Lot 11 prices
20 F-35Bs for the marines, nine for all three variants and says that
F-35Cs for the navy, 12 F-35As for under Lots 13 and 14 the average
Norway, 15 F-35As for Australia, unit cost for the F-35A (including
and eight F-35As and two F-35Bs the engine) will be less than
for Italy. $80 million.
In addition, the F-35 Joint
Program Office and Lockheed
The unit cost of the F-35B remains the highest of the three variants of
the Lightning II. USMC/LCpl Ginnie Lee
Percentage price
Variant Lot 12 Lot 13 Lot 14 reduction from Lot 11
F-35A $82.4m $79.2m $77.7m 12.8
F-35B $108.0m $104.8m $101.3m 12.3
F-35C $103.1m $98.1m $94.4m 13.2
LIGHT ATTACK
PROPOSALS RELEASED
THE USAF RELEASED a final request used to develop an instructor pilot
for proposals (RFP) associated with program for the Combat Aviation
the purchase of a limited number Advisory mission, to meet ‘increased
of AT-6 Wolverines from Textron needs of partner nation for light
Aviation and A-29 Super Tucanos
from Sierra Nevada Corporation/
attack assistance’. The service was
expecting to issue contract awards
Embraer Defense and Security,
on October 24. The service plans
to acquire two or three examples
by the end of 2019 for the A-29 and
in early 2020 for the AT-6.
of each aircraft and will use them
to focus on ‘building allies and
partner capacity, capability and
interoperability and training and ALSO
THIS
experimentation’. The AT-6s will be
stationed at Nellis AFB, Nevada, and
MONTH...
used by Air Combat Command for
continued testing and development
of operational tactics and standards
that will improve interoperability
F-35As head back to the Gulf
with international partners. Air Force
Huge US Air Force air armada
Special Operations Command will
remains poised for potential
operate the A-29s from Hurlburt
trouble in the Middle East.
Field, Florida, where they will be
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 07
22/11/2019 10:20
 [NEWS]

LIGHTNING COMBAT
Task Force — Operation ‘Inherent
Resolve’ on April 30. This strike marked
the F-35A’s first combat employment.’
The two F-35s on the ATO used
GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions

DEBUT COMPLETE
(JDAMs) to hit a tunnel network
used by so-called Islamic State (IS)
and a weapons cache in the Hamrin
Mountains near Baiji in Iraq.
Few further official details of the
deployment have emerged, although,
over the past year or so, Operation
‘Inherent Resolve’ has evolved from
HILL F-35AS ROTATE BACK TO MAINTAIN PRESENCE IN THE GULF being a campaign to roll back territory

U
S AIR FORCE F-35As
of the active-duty 4th
Fighter Squadron (FS)
‘Fighting Fuujins’ and
the Reserve Command’s
466th FS ‘Diamondbacks’,
returned home to Hill AFB, Utah, in
late October at the conclusion of
a six-month tour to the US Central
Command (CENTCOM) region. This
was the first combat deployment of
USAF F-35As, having departed Hill on
the night of April 11, eastbound to
join the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing
(AEW) at Al Dhafra Air Base in the
United Arab Emirates.
The F-35s launched initial local
shakedown missions on April 24
having been fitted with external
missile rails but with no weapons
attached. Images released by
CENTCOM subsequently confirmed
the first combat missions on April
26 — complete with live external
AIM-9X Sidewinders — as the USAF
F-35As joined the daily Air Tasking
Order (ATO) and were assigned to a
dedicated VUL (Vulnerability Period) in
Operation ‘Inherent Resolve’ (OIR).
According to a CENTCOM news
release, the F-35’s first kinetic action
came on April 30 during what it
called an ‘air interdiction during its
inaugural deployment to the US Air
Force’s Central Command’s area of
responsibility’. A further release added:
‘Two USAF F-35A Lightning II aircraft
conducted an air strike at Wadi Ashai,
Iraq, in support of Combined Joint
held by IS in Iraq and Syria to what is
now an intelligence-driven targeting
mission, with fighters providing top
cover for coalition troops. As a result,
kinetic strikes have dramatically
reduced. As well as delivering
weapons, the USAF has been keen to
stress the benefits the F-35A brings
to bear in the on-going campaign in
the Middle East. In a press release it
described how the jet’s ‘powerful and
comprehensive integrated sensor
package’ would be able to ‘fuse,
integrate and share data with other

Above left to right: Having arrived at Al Dhafra

on November 16, the new F-35A deployment
appears to be operating from a new location
rather than the sun shelters used on the debut
deployment. USAF/TSgt Joshua Williams This image: The 34th Fighter
Squadron ‘Rude Rams’ flagship
The 494th Fighter Squadron arrived at Al F-35A arrives at Morón Air Base,
Dhafra on October 18 to join operations in the Spain, on November 12, en route to
region. USAF/TSgt Kat Justen Al Dhafra. Antonio Muñiz Zaragüeta

08 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

8-15 News C.indd 8 22/11/2019 13:16


With a large F-35A deployment, upwards of 30 F-15Es,
a full squadron of F-22A Raptors and F-16s, the USAF
is maintaining a formidable presence in the Gulf
region. USAF/TSgt Joshua Williams
battlefield assets’. USAF Chief of Staff
Gen David Goldfein elaborated:
‘The F-35A provides our nation air
dominance in any threat. When it
comes to having a ‘quarterback’
for the coalition joint force, the
interoperable F-35A is clearly the
aircraft for the leadership role.’
Underscoring the importance of
the F-35 in CENTCOM, the returning
aircraft were almost immediately
replaced by a new contingent of 18
jets from Hill’s 34th FS ‘Rude Rams’
and 421st FS ‘Black Widows’, which
arrived at Al Dhafra via Morón
Air Base in southern Spain on
November 16.
They joined an impressive
armada of combat air power in
the region, with F-15Es from RAF
Lakenheath’s 494th FS ‘Panthers’
This image from October shows a 335th FS ‘Chiefs’
F-15E at Al Dhafra returning from a mission with a mix of
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) and GBU-54 laser
JDAMs. USAF/TSgt Kat Justen
8-15 News C.indd 9
arriving at Al Dhafra on October
18 to join a mix of 4th FW F-15Es
from Seymour Johnson AFB, North
Carolina. In addition, the 389th FS
‘Thunderbolts’ have 18 F-15Es at the
enduring (undisclosed) operating
location in CENTCOM under the
332nd AEW.
LANCERS IN SAUDI ARABIA
Meanwhile, an undisclosed number
of B-1B Lancers touched down
at Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB),
Saudi Arabia, on October 25. The
event marked the Lancer’s first
return to the region since the
last bombers left in March 2019.
The B-1Bs, which were operated
by the 28th Bomb Wing’s 34th
Bomb Squadron, flew direct from
Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, to
the Saudi base and returned to
Ellsworth at the conclusion of an
undisclosed mission. PSAB already
supports F-22As deployed from
Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia,
from the 27th Expeditionary Fighter
Squadron (EFS) and US Navy
EA-18Gs from electronic attack
squadron VAQ-134 ‘Garudas’ at NAS
Whidbey island, Washington.
The 31st Fighter Wing’s 555th
FS is also getting involved in the
CENTCOM action, having deployed
F-16s from Aviano Air Base, Italy,
to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, on
October 28 and it is now assigned
to the 379th AEW. Although the
squadron has made numerous visits
to Afghanistan, this deployment
to Middle East is the first for ‘Triple
Nickel’ since 2006.
[NEWS]
UPGRADED B-2A
PREPARED FOR
FLIGHT TESTS
NORTHROP GRUMMAN RECENTLY
completed hardware installations
associated with the B-2 defensive
management system modernization
(DMS-M) upgrade on an initial test
aircraft. Ground testing in advance
of flight tests is already under way,
with work being carried out at the
contractor’s facility at Air Force
Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.
The upgrade package includes a
digital electronic support measures
(ESM) subsystem, new antennas
and updated cockpit displays and
processing units that improve threat
radar detection and crew situational
awareness. The DMS-M also includes
a new open mission software
architecture that will provide the
system with the flexibility to meet
future threats. The system had been
scheduled to begin developmental
flight tests in 2018, but due to delays
the engineering and manufacturing
development phase for the $3-billion
program was extended through
mid-2022. The system has initially
been installed in B-2A serial 93-1087
Spirit of Pennsylvania, which serves as
the prototype. Once certification of
the final DMS-M flight-test software
load and ground checks have been
completed, flights will start. The
DMS-M program is described as the
single-largest modification effort
undertaken to date on the B-2A.
NIGERIEN BASE
OPERATIONAL
THE USAF HAS begun intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)
operations from Nigerien Air Base
201 in Agadez, Niger. The Nigerien
Air Force and the USAF began flying
limited Visual Flight Rules (VFR)
operations into the base on August
1. The flights included USAF C-130s
that carried out resupply missions.
Nigerien Air Base 201 was originally
scheduled to be operational by the
end of 2018, but weather-related
issues delayed its completion. Its
location in central Niger was selected
because of its geographic advantage
in combating threats from violent
extremist organizations in the area.
The USAF had previously conducted
operations from another base near
Niger’s capital, Niamey.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 09
22/11/2019 13:16
 [NEWS]
Led by an F-35C, this is a formation of Edwards-based
operational test Lightning IIs. Six F-35As of the 31st TES
recently left Edwards to be reassigned to the 422nd TES
at Nellis. USAF/Giancarlo Casem
USAF RELOCATES
OPERATIONAL
TEST F-35S
31ST TES MOVES JETS FROM EDWARDS TO NELLIS
FIRST DUTCH KDC-10 RETIRED
OMEGA AIR INC has acquired
two KDC-10 tankers from the
Dutch government including
ground support equipment and
spare parts. The Defence Materiel
Organisation (DMO), responsible for
the acquisition, maintenance and
disposal of defense materiel of the
armed forces of the Netherlands,
has been involved in the sale, but
the total value has not been made
public. KDC-10 serial T-264 Prins
Bernhard was retired on November
1 from Royal Netherlands Air Force
service. The tanker took off from
Eindhoven for the last time on
November 4 for the ferry flight to its
new owner in the US. The second
KDC-10, T-235 Jan Scheffer, is still
being operated by 334 Squadron
10 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
8-15 News C.indd 10
and will remain in service until the
end of 2021, after which it will be
transferred to Omega Air.
The KDC-10s will augment
Omega Aerial Refueling Services’
(OARS) current fleet of two Boeing
707-300s and a single DC-10. These
are equipped with the hose-and-
drogue system able to perform
probe-and-drogue refueling only.
Omega has provided refueling
services to the US Navy and
US Marine Corps since 2001
to support training flights and
exercises. The company has been
considering expansion of its fleet
to start providing its services to
the US Transportation Command
(USTRANSCOM), but it was lacking
boom-equipped tanker aircraft.
S
IX F-35AS THAT had
been operated by the
53rd Wing’s 31st Test and
Evaluation Squadron
(TES), at Edwards AFB,
California, were relocated
to Nellis AFB, Nevada, where they
were reassigned to the 422nd TES
‘Green Bats’. The move follows the
completion of the 31st TES’s portion
of the Lightning II’s initial operational
test and evaluation (IOT&E) as part of
With the arrival of the first former
Dutch KDC-10, OARS will be able to
offer this refueling method.
In 1992, two DC-10-30s
were acquired from Martinair
and converted into KDC-10
configuration by KLM Engineering
and Maintenance at Schiphol
Airport. The first KDC-10 (T-
264) entered Dutch service in
September 1995, followed by the
second example in April 1996.
Both will be replaced by the
Airbus KC-30 MRTT (Multi-Role
Tanker Transport), under the NATO
Multinational Multi-Role Tanker
Transport Fleet (MMF). A total of
eight aircraft are on order, five
aircraft will be based at Eindhoven
while three examples will be
located in Cologne in Germany.
Marco Muntz
KDC-10 T-264 Prins Bernhard
climbs away from Eindhoven for a
mission in April 2019. Marco Muntz
the F-35 Joint Operational Test Team
(JOTT). The instrumented aircraft will
continue to support IOT&E with the
422nd TES, which is also a component
of the 53rd Wing. The F-35As were
consolidated at Nellis to permit the
service to ‘launch operationally-
relevant numbers of instrumented
airplanes’. The successful completion
of IOT&E will result in a Full-Rate
Production decision for the Joint
Strike Fighter program.
USAF DEVELOPING
‘ARSENAL PLANE’
CONCEPT
THE USAF IS once again evaluating
an ‘arsenal plane’, but is adapting
the concept to include the service’s
latest technological pursuits. In
its latest incarnation, the flying
munitions truck would be capable of
delivering hypersonic weapons and
integrating a networked advanced
battle management system. It
remains unclear if an existing
bomber or airlift aircraft would be
adapted for the role, but during a
recent event the air force’s assistant
secretary for acquisition, technology,
and logistics, suggested that the
USAF’s bombers are already evolving
to fit the ‘arsenal plane’ concept.
The service is looking at integrating
hypersonic weapons with the B-52H
and expanding the B-1B Lancer’s
weapons capacity from 24 to 40
munitions and integrating the AGM-
158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff
Missile (JASSM), the extended-range
AGM-158B JASSM-ER, and the AGM-
158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile
(LRASM). The service is planning
to conduct several ‘arsenal plane’
experiments over the next few years
as the concept is developed further.
22/11/2019 13:17
 [NEWS]

RAF TYPHOONS IN ICELAND

RAF EUROFIGHTER TYPHOONS
have arrived in Iceland for a one-
month deployment protecting
local airspace as the UK’s
contribution to NATO’s Icelandic
Air Policing Mission. No 1 (Fighter)
Squadron deployed to Keflavík Air
Base on November 13 from RAF
Lossiemouth, Moray, and they
were scheduled to remain here
until mid-December.
This is the first time in more
than 10 years that the RAF has
RAF Typhoon FGR4s arrive at Keflavík on November 13 to start the local
air policing mission. Crown Copyright
deployed aircraft to Iceland and
is also the first time the RAF has
covered the Icelandic mission.
Officer Commanding No 1(F)
Squadron, Wg Cdr Mark Baker
said: ‘We are very excited to be
here and are looking forward to
starting flying operations. We
have come here at the request
of the Icelandic government to
provide a capable force designed
to offer reassurance and police the
country’s airspace.’
NORWAY GOES IOC WITH F-35
ROYAL NORWEGIAN AIR Force
F-35As achieved initial operational
capability (IOC) on November
6, after concluding a two-year
period of intense operational test
and evaluation (OT&E). Achieving
the milestone means the fighters
will be permitted to deploy to
Iceland next year, in support of
the NATO Air Policing Mission. The
declaration followed a deployment
of F-35As from the Ørland Main
Air Station to Rygge Air Station
near Oslo that was intended to
verify 332 Squadron’s ability to
operate the Lightning II away from
its home station. The Norwegian
jets are expected to assume the
quick reaction alert mission from
Evenes Air Station in northern
Norway by 2022.
In related news, Luke AFB,
Arizona, has unsurprisingly been
named as a candidate base for a
Belgian F-35A Formal Training Unit
beginning in 2023. The training
unit will be located at the Glendale
base for at least seven years. A
site survey and environmental
impact analysis will be conducted
to ensure the base can support
the additional flights before a final
decision is made by the secretary
of the air force.

Norway has announced IOC for its F-35As. RNoAF

HH-60WS DELIVERED
TO DUKE FIELD
THE 96TH TEST Wing’s 413th Flight
Test Squadron received the first
of two HH-60W Combat Rescue
Helicopters at Eglin AFB’s Duke
Field in Florida, on November
6. A second example arrived
following a five-hour flight from
the Sikorsky Developmental
Flight Center near West Palm
Beach, Florida, the following
day. The helicopters, which will
TRAINING SPECIALS
support developmental testing, Training Wing Two (TRAWING 2) at NAS Kingsville, Texas,
has painted T-45C BuNo 163656 in a special scheme
were delivered by crews from
based on the Texas flag. It’s the latest of a number of
the Detachment 2, 88th Test designs aimed at helping to promote squadron culture.
and Evaluation Squadron (TES). Brandon Thetford
The initial operational test and
evaluation program that will
follow is expected to begin in
mid-2021. Moody AFB’s 347th
Rescue Group in Georgia will
be the first operational unit to
receive the HH-60W.

The first new HH-60W combat rescue helicopter arrives at Eglin AFB’s
Duke Field in Florida, on November 6. The aircraft was delivered to the
413th Flight Test Squadron. USAF/Samuel King Jr
The 80th Flying Training Wing (FTW) at Sheppard AFB, Texas, has
applied a ‘Heritage Scheme’ to each squadron flagship in the wing.
This T-6A (serial 03-3689) is from the 89th Flying Training Squadron
(FTS) ‘Banshees’. Brandon Thetford

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 11

8-15 News C.indd 11 22/11/2019 13:17

 [NEWS]

UK ACCEPTS POSEIDON
FIRST BOEING P-8 HANDED OVER IN THE US

ISRAEL’S ‘AIR FORCE ONE’ LIFTS OFF

THREE YEARS AFTER landing in
Israel, the Israeli ‘Air Force One’
took off for its maiden flight on
November 3. The Boeing 767-
338ER was reconfigured by Israel
Aerospace Industries (IAI), which
reworked the former passenger
aircraft over the last two years for
its new role carrying the Israeli
prime minister and president for
official visits abroad.
IAI retrofitted a number of
mission upgrades including
Directional Infrared Counter
Measures (DIRCM) protection
against man-portable air-defense
systems (MANPADS) and advanced
heat-seeking missiles, and
jamming systems. The aircraft will
join 120 Squadron ‘Desert Giants’
of the Israeli Air Force, based at
An Air Force Reserve Command HC-130N from the 920th Rescue Wing’s
Nevatim Air Base. Noam Menashe 39th Rescue Squadron makes a pass over the flight line at Patrick AFB,
Florida, during the wing’s ‘Sundown Ceremony’ for the Combat King on
November 2. AFRC/920th RQW

COMBAT KING SUNDOWN

THE US AIR Force Reserve
Command’s 920th Rescue Wing
commemorated the impending
retirement of the final legacy
HC-130Ns at Patrick AFB, Florida,
on November 2. The wing’s three
HC-130N Combat Kings were
operated by the Alaska Air National
Guard prior to their assignment to
Anthony Hershko the 39th Rescue Squadron at Patrick
in 2017. The squadron expects to
receive its first new HC-130J combat
rescue aircraft in March 2020.
Several of the unit’s personnel are
already attending training at Little
Rock AFB, Arkansas, and Kirtland
AFB, New Mexico. The first aircrews
are expected to complete Combat
King II mission qualification in
February 2020.

12 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

8-15 News C.indd 12 22/11/2019 13:17


T
HE UK MINISTRY of
Defence accepted
the first of eight
P-8A maritime patrol
aircraft for the Royal
Air Force at Boeing
Field, in Seattle, Washington,
on October 29. The following
day the Poseidon was flown to
NAS Jacksonville, Florida, where
personnel from the RAF’s No
120 Squadron are undergoing
training with the US Navy. The
training is being provided by
patrol squadron VP-30, which is
the fleet replacement squadron
for the Poseidon.
Assigned the serial ZP801, the
first of nine Poseidon MRA1s for
No 120 and 201 Squadrons carries
the name Pride of Moray. The first
Poseidon is expected to arrive in
the UK in February 2020 and all
nine will be in service by 2024. The
aircraft will initially operate from
the airfield at Kinloss Barracks,
Scotland, until facilities at RAF
Lossiemouth are completed.
The first RAF P-8A Poseidon
arrives at NAS Jacksonville in
October. Crown Copyright/
Cpl Lee Matthews
CHINOOK ENGINE
EVALUATION UNDER WAY
THE US ARMY Combat Capabilities
Development Command Aviation and
Missile Center’s Aviation Development
Directorate-Eustis has begun testing
a modified NCH-47D helicopter
that has been re-engined with a
pair of 7,500shp (5,593kW) General
Electric T408 engines in place of
the Chinook’s 4,800shp (3,579kW)
Honeywell T55-GA-714A turboshafts.
The T408-GE-400 powers the Sikorsky
CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter that is
under development by the marine
corps. The CH-47 test program is
being conducted under a Boeing-
GE Aviation-US Army Cooperative
Research and Development
Agreement (CRADA). The modified
NCH-47D began six weeks of ground
testing in October 2019 and a 25-hour
flight-test program will follow. The
five-year project began in 2015 and
will conclude in 2020. There is no
current plan to install the engine in
the Chinook fleet, but it could become
part of a future upgrade.
8-15 News C.indd 13
JAPANESE F-15J
UPGRADES PLANNED
THE US STATE Department has
approved a possible Foreign
Military Sale (FMS) that will allow
the government of Japan to
upgrade up to 98 F-15J Eagles
with AN/APG-82(v)1 Active
Electronically Scanned Array
(AESA) radar, Advanced Display
Core Processor II (ADCP II)
mission system computers, and
Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15Js are to receive a package of
much-needed upgrades under a new $4.5-billion deal with Boeing.
Commonwealth of Australia
WORLD
NEWS
IN BRIEF
Croatian Black Hawk
sale approved
The US State Department has given
its approval to the foreign military
sale of two UH-60M helicopters and
related equipment and services
to the government of Croatia. The
sale has an estimated value of $115
million. The US had previously
approved the donation of two
UH-60Ms in October 2018.
Lithuania selects new helicopter
Lithuania is the latest Eastern
European country to select Sikorsky’s
UH-60M to meet its future rotary-
wing requirements. The Baltic nation
plans to purchase six Black Hawks
via the US Foreign Military Sales
(FMS) program at a cost of around
$334 million. The Black Hawks will
replace Lithuania’s current fleet of
Russian-built Mi-8s. A formal letter of
offer and acceptance for the FMS will
be signed by the end of 2020, with
deliveries expected within four years.
In addition to Lithuania’s own armed
forces, the Black Hawks will support
AN/ALQ-239 Digital Electronic
Warfare Systems (DEWS). The
cost for the Japanese Super
Interceptor (JSI) configuration
is estimated at $4.5 billion.
Boeing will be tasked to produce
kits for the upgrade and the
modifications will be carried out
by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
(MHI), which built the F-15Js.
NATO’s enhanced forward presence
battalion, which is based in Rukla.
Amphibious ships fully capable
The Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s)
two Canberra-class landing
helicopter dock (LHD) ships,
HMAS Adelaide (L 01) and HMAS
Canberra (L 02), achieved final
operational capability in early
November. The 755ft (230m) 27,500-
ton amphibious assault ships are
capable of carrying an embarked
force of up to 1,122 personnel and
the flight deck can simultaneously
support six MRH90 medium-lift or
four CH-47F heavy-lift helicopters.
The ships can also carry up to
110 vehicles, including Abrams
main battle tanks, and four LCM
1E landing craft can operate from
the well decks. The largest ships
ever built for the RAN are based on
the design of the Spanish Navy’s
Strategic Projection Vessel Juan
Carlos I (L61).
Brazilian Air Force receives first
Phenom 100EVs
The Brazilian Air Force’s 6th Air
Transport Squadron accepted a pair
of EMB-500 Phenom 100EV light
business jets from Embraer in Brasilia
on October 23. The aircraft will be
operated under the designation
[NEWS]
JSTARS COMES HOME
The Georgia Air National Guard and
Air Combat Command’s 116th and
461st Air Control Wings and the
US Army Intelligence and Security
Command’s 138th Military Intelligence
Company closed out an 18-year-
long deployment to the US Central
Command area of responsibility (AOR)
on October 1, when the last E-8C
Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar
System (JSTARS) aircraft assigned
to the 7th Expeditionary Airborne
Command and Control Squadron
flew its final sortie from Al Udeid
Air Base, Qatar. Joint STARS battle
management aircraft have been
continually deployed to the CENTCOM
AOR from Robins AFB, Georgia, since
November 2001. The E-8Cs flew
10,938 sorties, totaling 114,426.6
combat flying hours, supporting
nearly every CENTCOM operation,
including ‘Enduring Freedom’, ‘Iraqi
Freedom’, ‘Freedom’s Sentinel’ and
‘Inherent Resolve’.
U-100. The Phenom 100EV was
produced at the company’s facility
in Melbourne, Florida, rather than in
Brazil. The Phenom 100EV features a
Garmin G3000-based digital cockpit
and uprated Pratt & Whitney Canada
PW617 engines.
Indonesian ‘Viper’ plans
The chief of the Indonesian Air
Force recently revealed plans to
acquire two squadrons of Block
72 F-16s between 2020 and 2024.
The Indonesian Air Force currently
operates 33 F-16s that are divided
between 16 Squadron at Roesmin
Nurjadin Air Base in Pekanbaru,
Riau Province, and 3 Squadron at
Iswahyudi Air Base in Madiun, East
Java. The jets include nine Block 15
F-16A/B variants and 24 upgraded
Block 25 F-16C/Ds that previously
served with the USAF.
Taiwan retires ‘Huey’
The Republic of China marked the
end of an era on October 30, when
the Army Aviation Service formally
retired the last six UH-1H helicopters
from service during a ceremony
at Hsinche Army Base. The ‘Hueys’,
which had been assigned to the
602nd Airborne Brigade’s 602nd Air
Assault Group, have been replaced
by newly delivered UH-60Ms.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 13
22/11/2019 13:17
 [NEWS]

This image: On arrival at Leeuwarden

F-009 was greeted by the fire
department, which doused it in
foam instead of water as it laid on a
traditional welcome. Gert Kromhout

Inset: Lt Col Ian Knight in the cockpit

of F-009 after arriving at Leeuwarden.
Stephan De Bruijn

DUTCH F-35 COMES HOME

FIRST OPERATIONAL AIRCRAFT ARRIVES AT LEEUWARDEN

T
HE FIRST OPERATIONAL
F-35A Lightning II for the
Koninklijke Luchtmacht
(KLu, Royal Netherlands
Air Force) arrived at
Leeuwarden in the
Netherlands on October 31. Serial
F-009 is the first Italian-built F-35A
for the KLu — completed at the Final
Assembly and Check Out (FACO)
facility in Cameri — as well as being
the first operational aircraft to arrive
at Leeuwarden for permanent stay.
On July 17, 2002 the Dutch
government became a partner in
the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program
(JSF). Following political rigmarole, it
was decided on July 5, 2012 that the
F-35 was indeed the right choice and
just one month later, on August 20,
the first Dutch F-35A (serial F-001,
construction number AN-1) made its
maiden flight from Fort Worth, Texas.
The initial pair of Dutch jets joined
the operational test team at Edwards
AFB, California. On November 6,
2014 the KLu established its first
squadron; 323 Test and Evaluation
Squadron (TES) at Edwards.
The 308th Fighter Squadron at
Luke AFB, Arizona, is responsible for
training Dutch F-35 pilots and has
received aircraft from the production expected at Volkel Air Base, ahead of
facility at Fort Worth, Texas, and Full Operational Capability in 2024.
Cameri. Dutch F-35s have visited the Stephan de Bruijn
country on two occasions from the
US, but the arrival of F-009 is a major
landmark. Following checks by
the Defensie Materieel Organisatie
(DMO, Defense Materiel Command)
the aircraft will be handed over
to the KLu and assigned to 322
Squadron ‘Polly Grey’. A second
aircraft was expected in December. It
is anticipated that 322 Squadron will
reach Initial Operational Capability
(IOC) in the fourth quarter of 2021.
In June 2022, the first F-35A is

FINAL LUFTWAFFE EUROFIGHTER

THE LAST EUROFIGHTER currently
on contract for the German
Luftwaffe made its maiden flight
on October 28 at Manching.
Serial 31+53 (GS113) is the last of
30 Tranche 3A jets for Germany.
The Luftwaffe looks set to order
additional Eurofighters to replace
its early Tranche 1 examples under
a project named ‘Quadriga’. This
includes 26 single-seat and seven
two-seat aircraft, plus options on
five more single-seaters. Typhoons
are also being considered to
replace the Luftwaffe’s remaining
Tornados.

SMART ‘WIZARD’
A welcome splash of color adorns this Boeing EA-18G Growler of
VAQ-133 ‘Wizards’ (BuNo 168376) that was detached to NAS Fallon, The Luftwaffe’s last Tranche
Nevada, in late October to participate in the US Navy’s Airborne 3A jet gets airborne from
Electronic Attack Weapons School HAVOC class. Jamie Hunter Manching. Dr Andreas Zeitler

14 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

8-15 News C.indd 14 22/11/2019 13:18


UNIT AND
DEPLOYMENT NEWS
• The 355th Fighter Squadron (FS)
has been inactivated and in its
place the 24th FS stood-up during
ceremonies held at NAS JRB Fort
Worth, Texas, on October 25. The
24th FS is an active associate unit
that is stationed alongside the Air
Force Reserve Command’s 301st
Fighter Wing. Assigned to the 495th
Fighter Group at Shaw AFB, South
Carolina, the squadron shares the
responsibility for operating the
301st FW’s F-16Cs with the wing’s
own 757th FS.
• The last deployed EC-130H
Compass Call departed from Ali Al
Salem Air Base, Kuwait, on October
2. The departure of the aircraft
coincided with the inactivation of
the 43rd Expeditionary Electronic
Combat Squadron.
• The deployment of three RQ-4Bs to
Yokota Air Base, Japan, concluded
when the Global Hawks returned to
Andersen AFB, Guam, on October
20. Assigned to Det 1, 319th
Operations Group, the remotely
piloted aircraft shifted operations to
Yokota during the summer typhoon
season when weather has a greater
potential to affect operations in
Guam.
• The Wisconsin Air National Guard’s
115th Fighter Wing completed a
four-month deployment in support
of Operation ‘Freedom’s Sentinel’
on November 9. In addition to the
wing’s own 176th Expeditionary
Fighter Squadron, the deployment
was supported by the 378th
Fighter Squadron. The active-duty
associate is stationed alongside the
115th at Truax Field in Madison.
While deployed to Bagram Airfield,
Afghanistan, the unit was assigned
to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing.
• The 20th Fighter Wing’s 79th
Fighter Squadron deployed 18
F-16Cs to Bagram in late October,
replacing the Wisconsin jets. The
aircraft arrived in Afghanistan on
October 26 following a stop at
Morón Air Base in southern Spain.
8-15 News C.indd 15
[NEWS]
LOSSES
Compiled by Tom Kaminski
• An Indian Navy MiG-29KUB assigned to the air force’s transport
• The 56th Rescue Squadron
crashed shortly after taking off from group, crossed a taxiway and a
returned to Aviano Air Base,
INS Hansa in Dabolim on November ditch, causing the main landing
Italy, on October 8, concluding a
16. Both pilots ejected safely before gear to collapse. One member of
deployment in support of Central
the fighter came down in Goa. the seven crew was injured.
Command that began in May 2019.
The crash followed multiple bird • AF-1B (A-4KU) serial N-1013
(ex-BuNo 160198, c/n 14566),
strikes that caused a dual-engine
• The Ohio Army National Guard’s
flame-out. operated by the Brazilian Navy’s
Detachment 2, Company A, 2nd
• A Nigerian Air Force A109LUH First Interceptor Attack Squadron
Battalion, 641st Aviation Regiment
was destroyed in a hard landing in (VF-1), was heavily damaged in
is deploying to Afghanistan.
Enugu state on November 14. No an aborted take-off at São Pedro
Normally stationed at Rickenbacker
fatalities were reported as a result da Aldeia Naval Air Base in Rio de
International Airport, Columbus,
of the mishap or the post-crash fire. Janeiro, Brazil, on October 21. The
the unit provides Operational
• Italian Navy SH-101A (AW101) former Kuwaiti Air Force Skyhawk
Support Airlift with a single C-26E
serial MM81487 (c/n 50039) from was only returned to service after
Metroliner.
the 1st Helicopter Squadron receiving upgrades in September.
The pilot was able to egress the
crashed aboard the Horizon-class
• Company F, 1st Battalion 82nd
destroyer Caio Duilio (D554) during aircraft without incident.
Aviation Regiment has deployed
a training flight on November 6.
to the US Central Command
Six passengers and crew escaped USAF safety improves
Area of Operations (CENTCOM)
without serious injury following the US Fiscal Year 2019, which
area of responsibility in support
Merlin’s hard landing. concluded on September 30,
of Operation ‘Inherent Resolve’.
• An F-16 from the USAF 49th proved to be a far safer year for the
Assigned to the 82nd Airborne
Wing’s 54th Fighter Group at USAF than 2018. According to data
Division’s Combat Aviation Brigade,
Holloman AFB, New Mexico, from the Air Force Safety Center
the Attack Reconnaissance
crashed during an evening training at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, the
Battalion operates the MQ-1C Gray
flight on October 29. The pilot service suffered 14 major mishaps
Eagle remotely piloted aircraft.
successfully ejected and suffered compared with 23 in FY 2018. A
Class A mishap is one that results
only minor injuries. The crash
• The New York Air National Guard’s
occurred around 80 miles (128.7km) in more than $2 million in damage,
109th Airlift Wing began its 32nd
southeast of Holloman. or a death or permanent disability.
year of support of the US Antarctic
• Bell 412EP serial FAC0006 (c/n The recorded mishaps resulted
Program under Operation ‘Deep
36585), operated by the Colombian in the loss of three aircraft and a
Freeze’ on October 28, when the
Air Force, crashed during a single fatality. The service suffered
first of five LC-130Hs departed from
maintenance test flight on October 19 fatalities in FY 2018. Incidents
Stratton Air National Guard base
25. Six crew and passengers that involve the destruction of a
in Scotia. The wing’s 109th Airlift
were killed when the helicopter remotely piloted aircraft are not
Squadron flies 10 ski-equipped LC-
went down near Subachoque in included in the statistics unless one
130H aircraft. During the upcoming
central Colombia’s Cundinamarca of the criteria is met.
support season, which runs
department. The 14 Class A events involved six
through February 2020, the 109th
• An Indian Army Dhruv F-22s, two F-15s, and two F-16Cs,
expects to fly around 160 missions,
helicopter was destroyed in an as well as single examples of the
from its base at McMurdo Station.
emergency landing in Kashmir C-17A, T-38C, T-6A, and CV-22B. The
Missions will include logistical
on October 24. Two pilots and service also saw a reduction in Class
support for research in western
five passengers, including the B mishaps, which cause between
Antarctica, where scientists are
Northern Army commander, $500,000 and $2 million in damage,
studying ice loss in glaciers as
were on board, but no serious a permanent or partial disability, or
part of the International Thwaites
injuries were reported — the the hospitalization of three or more
Glacier Collaboration. Throughout
helicopter went down alongside a personnel.
the 2018-2019 season, the
river in the Poonch district of the The improvements can be
squadron completed 242 missions
Jammu region. partially attributed to new
within Antarctica transporting
• Salvadoran Air Force BT-67 technologies and procedures
scientists, fuel, medical and other
serial FAS-116 (ex-C-47B serial that are being put in place. The
supplies. As part of Operation
44-76950, c/n 33282/16534) incorporation of a new Automatic
‘Deep Freeze’, Joint Task Force-
suffered a runway excursion during Ground Collision Avoidance System
Support Forces Antarctica employs
take-off at San Salvador/Ilopango in the F-16 fleet is one example.
sealift and airlift to deliver supplies
International Airport on October The system has reportedly already
and personnel to Antarctica.
22. The Basler Turbo BT-67, which is saved nine lives and eight aircraft.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 15
22/11/2019 13:18
 BY SCOTT WOLFF
BRINGING YOU THE LATEST TALK
FROM AROUND THE SQUADRONS
DELIBERATE
TARGETING
HOW TACTICAL AIRCRAFT AND
SPECIAL FORCES TAKE DOWN
THE WORLD’S MOST WANTED
I
MAGINE FOR A moment you’re
one of a nation’s elite soldiers,
assigned to a famed special
mission unit. Perhaps you’ve been
part of this particular organization
for more than a decade, with
multiple deployments all over the
world, and hundreds of low-visibility,
high-risk operations under your belt.
You’re getting ready to embark on an
assignment which could potentially
define your career, and both your
success or failure could have global
repercussions.
The objective this time is one of the
world’s most-wanted terrorists, and
your unit has been given the task of
bringing that person to justice. Anyone
can clear rooms and kill bad dudes, but
you can’t get information from a corpse.
A breathing, talking individual can be
a treasure-trove of information. The
mission brief includes the words ‘capture
16 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
16-19 Ops Desk C.indd 16
or kill’, but you have a good idea, given
the nature of your target, that capture
won’t be an option.
Intelligence for the mission is provided
from a variety of very capable, credible
sources, and has been flowing in for
several weeks. You and your team-mates
have been poring over maps and satellite
images, along with other raw data and
analysts’ reports. There’s back-and-forth
chat with pilots who will transport the
team into the target location, looking after
infiltration and exfiltration. You’ve been
rehearsing at a remote location, practising
your craft in an environment with
structures very similar to what you’ll find
when the mission goes down for real.
There’s been a tremendous build-up of
anticipation, because your bosses have
wanted this person for some time. Your
skills are sharp. You have the knowledge
you need and wisdom provided from
hard-earned successes — and hard-
learned failures — and you’re supported
by the utmost trust and confidence from
senior leadership. You’ve been on the
brink of launching on a couple previous
occasions, but because of last-minute
hiccups, you haven’t gotten under way.
Tonight, it’s different. Tonight, it’s real…
and it’s go time.
Deliberate targeting
Whether the target is Abu Musab al-
Zarqawi, Osama bin Laden or Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, the mission is a massive
undertaking, utilizing a variety of assets
and disciplines to achieve the common
objective: to capture or kill the bad guy
in question.
Deliberate targeting (DT) is an approach
that is focused entirely on a specific
person or place, at a specific time, with
all efforts supporting the operational
requirements and mission commander’s
objective. In order to achieve that, the
21/11/2019 20:55

right personnel and capabilities are
assigned, given the location of the
target, the nature of area defenses, both
surface and air, the presence of other
‘Blue’ (friendly) forces, and a myriad of
other factors.
A typical DT mission template is broken
down into the following steps, referred to
as an air tasking cycle:
• Objectives, effects, and guidance
• Target development
• Weaponeering and allocation
• Air tasking order (ATO) production and
dissemination
• Execution planning and force execution
• Assessment
While these steps are provided in a
sequence, the process of planning a
mission like this, especially when so
many difference agencies are involved,
is anything but sequential. There will
be moments in the mission planning
cell when all will be humming along
16-19 Ops Desk C.indd 17
like a well-oiled machine. Other times
will be complete chaos, wrought with
spilled coffee, flared tempers, finger-
pointing, and all-round disdain for other
participants and their unique processes.
But it works out, thanks to professionals
like US Air Force weapons officers, who
are masters of this type of chaos, and are
often the glue that holds it all together.
Recent events in the news are no
exception.
The DT mission is built on the
foundation laid by the intelligence
preparation of the operational
environment (IPOE). Whether that intel
comes from signals intercepts, satellites,
human sources, hacking computer
networks, or whatever else is available,
it all matters, and it all must paint the
same picture. If you don’t have credible,
actionable information on which your
plan will be based, your mission will fail
— if it launches at all.
Once you have the intel you need,
targeting and tasking assignments
are laid out. Start on the objective,
and time you want to be there, then
work backwards. What do you need to
accomplish your task? How do you get
there? From where do you arrive? When
do you launch? Will you need to refuel?
What supporting assets do you need to
mitigate as much risk as possible?
The different steps to planning DT are
all inter-related, as they should work
together as an integrated whole to
achieve mission success. Targeting and
tasking should be planned in parallel,
and concurrently, to ensure seamless
integration. That can be challenging
since, in this era of modern warfare, no-
one fights alone. When your objective
is one of particularly high value, you
can count on tremendous involvement
across the branches of armed service and
the intelligence community, as well as
overview at the most senior levels.
Devil is in the detail
The planning process for a mission
like this encompasses the complete
progression of taking the mission
commander’s intent (read: we’re going
to get this person, come hell or high
water) and guidance (read: get us there
safely, cover us while we’re there, and
get us out safely — we’ll handle the rest).
There needs to be a determination of
where to surgically apply force, where to
avoid contact at all cost, and how to get
there while causing the least amount of
alarm, tipping off scouts or informants,
and crossing through airspace and
over terrain controlled by potentially
hostile forces.
Sounds easy, right?
As the mission nears its execution
phase, the charge becomes putting the
required information into an integrated,
synchronized, and co-ordinated order.
That involves distributing the products
to all users, not all of whom will be
joining the party from the same place(s),
monitoring the execution of mission
planning to adapt to changes in the
operational environment, and assessing
the results of the combined effort of all
The 160th Special
Operations the agencies involved.
Aviation Regiment For the final mission planning
flies the uniquely portion, the goal is to produce the
configured
MH-47G for the mission package materials and taskings
type of missions contained therein, ensuring they are
described in this handed out to all the participating units
feature.
US Army/SSgt in order to place a dizzying array of
Reed Knutson capabilities into a position to accomplish
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 17
21/11/2019 20:55

the commander’s intent with the given
acceptable level of risk.
The mission’s parameters are
determined by time and distance. Do you
have all the airframes you need available?
Do aircrews have the appropriate amount
of experience? How’s their level of crew
rest? Do any additional assets need to be
brought into the theater? Do you have
the flexibility and versatility required to
meet your objective with the assets and
personnel your plan includes?
Effective DT has a high price tag as
it applies to flow of information and
resource allocation. The targeting and
assessment portions are especially
intensive, as your high-value target
(HVT) could have a last-minute change
to travel plans, weather could come into
play negatively, as could factors such as
the phase of the moon. Your assessment
needs to include the things like the
current posture of the opposing force,
as well as their capabilities and known
tactics, techniques and procedures. What’s
their leadership like? What about the
specific HVT? Have you covered centers
of gravity and specific vulnerabilities?
What about habits and pattern of life?
How many people are around for close
protection? Has an attempt to deal with
him been made before? If so, how recent
was the attempt?
Threat picture considerations
DT missions can be wrought with peril,
and most of that has more to do with
the operational environment than actual
actions on the objective. If you are public
enemy number one, and you know this,
you’re going to have protection. If you’ve
18 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
16-19 Ops Desk C.indd 18
allied yourself with state-controlled
agencies, either foreign or domestic,
chances are you’re going to have a lot of it.
If you recall Operation ‘Neptune Spear’
— the mission to go after Osama bin
Laden — the infiltration route had the
assault force flying nap-of-the-earth
through some of the highest mountains
on the planet, through heavily defended
airspace in three different countries.
At the actual objective, the Pakistani
Military Academy was less than a mile
down the road. The Pakistani Air Force
was — and still is — equipped with
F-16s. The risk was significant enough
that two top-secret helicopters with low-
observable characteristics were used in
the operation.
In a more recent high-profile operation,
when US forces raided a compound
housing the founder of so-called Islamic
State (IS), the infiltration portion of the
mission was incredibly challenging —
similar to ‘Neptune Spear’. Operation
‘Kayla Mueller’ included overflight of
mountainous terrain at low level and
high speed, through airspace and over
terrain heavily defended by Syria, Turkey,
and the Russian Federation.
The surface threats alone in that part
of Syria are nightmarish, including the
SA-21 and SA-22 surface-to-air missile
systems (SAMs). Both boast a very high
probability of kill as well as advanced
search and fire control radars designed
to detect low-observable aircraft such
as the F-22 and F-35. Not only can those
systems target aircraft, but they can
defend themselves and target munitions
fired at them. Throw in Russian fighters
— including Su-35s — and attack
helicopters, and ‘acceptable risk’ seems to
be teetering precariously on the edge of
‘ridiculous and stupid’.
Which of those is the larger risk? While
the ‘Growler’ and ‘Greyhound’ SAMs
are really, really high on the scary scale,
perhaps the fighters are a bigger concern?
A double-digit SAM may be nothing to
scoff at, but they do have limitations,
and particular targeting criteria. If I’m a
fighter pilot covering a mission like this,
I’m probably a bit more worried about a
‘Flanker’ rolling into the operating area.
In the target area itself, the terrain
is sloped, features all manner of large
rocks, and is surrounded by olive groves.
The uneven terrain, trees, and boulders
present a significant impediment to the
insertion and extraction of the assault
force, perhaps even preventing the
helicopters from landing. As is said in the
trade, ‘Getting there is half the fun.’
Inbound ‘hot’
At any altitude or time, the noise is
constant and penetrating. The MH-47G
Chinook is a massive helicopter, creating
a wall of sound that can be heard from
a long way off. The pitch of that noise
increases with power modulation, so
it gets higher as you take off and the
pilots are throttling up, or as you climb.
During descent into the landing zone,
the throttles come back and it lowers,
but it never, ever goes away. The sharp
increase of that pitch means a sharp
power application when the pilots are
maneuvering in the formation, avoiding
a mountain or other vertical terrain, or
halting a descent close to the ground.
If you aren’t hooked to comms on the
aircraft, which usually is only the team
leader and the USAF joint terminal attack
controller (JTAC), the ear-splitting noise is
the only interface you have with the state
of the aircraft or the flight itself.
Imagine for a moment being on
that beast: if you look around in the
interior, almost 20 guys are packed into
the helicopter, and perhaps a military
working dog or two. All the operators
would be dressed pretty much alike:
combat uniforms; hiking boots of
various makes; webbing adorned with
med kits, breaching tools, and spare
magazines; GPNVG-18 panoramic night
vision goggles firmly affixed to Wilcox
mounts on OpsCore helmets; and a pretty
standard weapons array — short-barreled
M4 rifles with suppressors, as well as a
smattering of other weapons to deal with
possible contingencies.
21/11/2019 20:56
 The MH-47 routinely only has 18 seats
available. Why so few? Because the craft
is built specifically for special operations,
there is a bunch of non-standard
equipment aboard. So, if you are one of
the guys without a seat, it is a miserable
ride. Your butt and legs will fall asleep
and it will be a constant battle to keep
circulation to your lower extremities. Not
only that, but any part of you touching
anything metal will be numbed from the
vibration of the engines, the transmissions,
and the rotors beating the air.
Here’s another thing, just to add to the
fun factor: it’s freezing. The rear ramp
is never fully closed during combat
operations, and the other doors and crew
windows are open to accommodate the
aircraft’s guns. There’s no escaping the
breeze, and the airflow goes from back to
front as well. The interior of the helicopter
would be blacked out to conserve the
crew’s night vision, but you could be
certain that you’d see other operators
shivering in the cold.
You would wiggle your fingers and toes
almost subconsciously, starting to feel
the cold knock you out of your reverie.
Your nostrils are assaulted by the smells:
a mixture of hot metal, engine exhaust,
JP8 fuel, hot oil, and the occasional whiff
of the terrain below, since you’d be raging
across the ground at really low altitude
trying to avoid detection.
16-19 Ops Desk C.indd 19
The back-end crew of the MH-47 consists
of four personnel — the flight engineer,
who is the senior crewman, and three
crew chiefs. When not attending to tasks
involved with flying the aircraft, the four
of them have a secondary responsibility of
being gunners.
There are two miniguns in the front, one
in the cabin door, the other opposite in the
other window. The guns are much larger
and more complex than the armament
normally carried on helicopters, and their
ammo boxes and batteries take up a
good amount of the floor just behind the
door/window. They have a large battery
because they are DC-powered, allowing
them to be used without aircraft power
in the case of a shoot-down — a painful
lesson learned from Roberts Ridge during
Operation ‘Anaconda’ in Afghanistan. Left: ‘Green
Berets’ assigned
Additionally, the MH-47G model has to the 3rd
two rectangular windows (left and right) Special Forces
just below the engines and forward of Group (Airborne)
conduct fast
the ramp. Each of these has an M-240 rope insertion/
mounted in it. extraction system
training. US Army/
Spc Peter Seidler
End game
We’ve all seen the news, and we know Below: US special
how this type of operation generally ends. forces are
required to work
It’s a well-planned, well-co-ordinated with a host of
effort between the Special Operations aviation assets in
Aviation Regiment (SOAR), fixed-wing order to execute
their missions.
and rotary close air support (CAS) US Army/SSgt
assets, intelligence, surveillance and Iman Broady-Chin
reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, and other
players, all working together in concert
towards meeting the objective.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t always go as
planned. While ‘Neptune Spear’ and ‘Kayla
Mueller’ were tremendous victories for
Joint Special Operations Command, other
missions have resulted in less favorable
outcomes. Aircraft have been downed
(Operation ‘Gothic Serpent’), aircrew
have been lost, and members of the
special mission units (SMUs) have been
killed in missions like these over the past
two decades.
As technology improves and lethality
increases on both sides, the required
level of co-ordination, precision, and
allocation of appropriate assets also rises.
The purpose of air assets fielded by the
USAF, US Army and US Navy is pretty
simple: support the boots on the ground.
Maximize your performance and that of
your aircraft to keep the threat picture
clean, thereby enabling the SMUs to get in
and conduct their nasty business.
While there is much fanfare about the
who and the how in the most recent
operation, the focus should remain on
the why. Simply stated: there is evil in
the world, and that evil must be met
and driven back at the point of a sword
employed by brave men willing to wield it
in times such as these.
Sine Pari…
On Operation
‘Neptune
Spear’ — the mission
to go after Osama bin
Laden — the infiltration
route had the assault
force flying nap-of-
the-earth through
some of the highest
mountains on the
planet, through
heavily defended
airspace in three
different countries
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 19
21/11/2019 20:56
 READY ROOM // UNMANNED TANKERS

READY ROOM
THE STORY BEHIND THE US NAVY HEADLINES
RICK
BURGESS

DRINKING
eventual customers will be the F-35C
Lightning II and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
strike fighters, EA-18G Growler electronic
attack aircraft, E-2D Advanced Hawkeye
early warning aircraft (now being

FROM
retrofitted or built with suitable refueling
probes), and CMV-22B Osprey carrier
onboard delivery transport tilt-rotors.
Presumably, the customer list also could
include US Marine Corps F-35Bs and
AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft, plus MV-22B

A DRONE
Osprey and CH-53 assault transports.
Currently, carrier-based aerial refueling
is provided by the F/A-18E/F using buddy
stores for probe-and-drogue tanking.
Deploying the MQ-25A will enable the air
wing to free up those Super Hornets for
combat missions.

A
The need for organic tankers
REVOLUTION WAS St Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, Tankers are vital for conventional ‘cat-and-
MARKED on September leading the way for the US Navy’s future trap’ carrier flight operations to extend
19, 2019, with the first carrier-based aerial refueling platform. the combat radius of aircraft, but also to
flight of Boeing’s MQ-25 The Stingray will be the world’s first Above: The first provide a margin of safety for returning
Stingray unmanned aerial unmanned tanker aircraft. It is designed MQ-25 gets aircraft in case they are low on fuel, the
vehicle demonstrator. The to operate from the navy’s aircraft carrier airborne for its flight deck is fouled — delaying recovery
maiden flight on
company-owned craft, known as T1, fleet to provide a recovery tanker for the September 19. of aircraft — or pilots are having to make
made its aerial debut at MidAmerica aircraft of the carrier air wing (CVW). Its Boeing multiple passes before snagging an

20 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

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 arresting cable or having to ‘bingo’ — and A-7 Corsair II, with some Intruders
divert to a nearby land base. becoming KA-6Ds. By the mid-1990s, the
Above:
The X-47B The requirement for carrier-based buddy store-equipped S-3 Viking and
Unmanned tankers came about in the mid-1950s jet ES-3A Shadow were the only tankers on
Combat Air era, with aircraft that were of shorter range carriers until being joined and ultimately
System —
Demonstrator than their predecessors. In addition, long- replaced by the Super Hornet, which
(UCAS-D) range missiles carried by Soviet bombers continues the role today.
completes created the need for the navy to intercept
preparations
for launching them at longer ranges, hence the need for Enter the MQ-25
aboard the airborne fuel. Boeing won the competition to build
aircraft carrier The US Navy filled the requirement in the MQ-25 tanker in part because it
USS Theodore
Roosevelt (CVN two ways: either by aircraft being fitted had a prototype built, and one that
71) in November with ‘buddy stores’ to enable them to was already largely suited for the
2013. US Navy/ pass on fuel, or by retrofitting existing navy’s requirements, but cost is a clear
MCS3C Heath
Zeigler types to act as tankers. Aircraft such as common denominator in many recent
the A-1 Skyraider and A-4 Skyhawk used major competitions. It was, however,
Below: The buddy stores, and types like the A-3 notable that Northrop Grumman
configuration of
the Boeing UAV Skywarrior received drogue packages. pulled out of the running despite
was kept under Later, A-3Bs were converted to become having completed a huge amount of
wraps until it permanent tankers in sub-variants such pioneering work with its X-47B under
secured the
contract for the as the KA-3B and EKA-3B. The buddy store the Unmanned Combat Air System
navy. Boeing practice continued with the A-6 Intruder (UCAS) carrier demonstration program.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 21

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 READY ROOM // UNMANNED TANKERS

The ability of a large unmanned aerial the navy with a long-range unmanned
vehicle (UAV) to take off from and land surveillance aircraft with the potential
on an aircraft carrier was demonstrated to become a strike or electronic attack
by the X-47B, ultimately going to sea aircraft. The navy cancelled this ambitious Above: An artist’s
for operations aboard the USS Theodore effort, wisely deciding to scale back impression of the
MQ-25 refueling
Roosevelt (CVN 71) in 2013. Despite this the requirements in order to reduce an F/A-18E Super
impressive feat, Northrop Grumman development risk and field a carrier- Hornet.Boeing
chose not to continue through to the based UAV more quickly. In fact, the
Below: This
MQ-25 competition, but the lessons MQ-25 program imposed only two key artist’s impression
learned by the navy for UAV carrier performance parameters: the ability to — a screen
operations from the X-47B program are operate from an aircraft carrier and to grab from a
video — shows
being applied to the MQ-25. conduct aerial refueling. the planned
Boeing’s MQ-25 T1 had been conceived configuration of
for the earlier Unmanned Carrier- A winning design the MQ-25 with
wing-mounted
Launched Aerial Surveillance System The US Navy announced Boeing as the refueling pods.
(UCLASS) concept, intended to provide MQ-25 winner on August 30, 2018. As Boeing

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 one observer noted, it was unusual
to apply a military designation to a
winning design before that design
has actually been chosen. Boeing
was awarded a contract to build four
EMD (engineering and manufacturing
development) MQ-25As under an
$805-million contract, and it initially
received $79 million to begin work on
the four EMD craft. The navy expects to
procure 72 Stingrays in a deal that could
be worth as much as $9.5 billion, with
the type’s integration into a CVW for
initial operational capability (IOC) taking
place by 2024.
The prototype is likely to be transferred
to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, for
further testing. As the four EMD aircraft
are built, they too can be expected to be
put through extensive testing to include
launch and recovery trials at Naval Air
Warfare Center Lakehurst Division in
New Jersey.
The challenging test regimen ahead
will involve technology and procedures
for handling on a flight deck, a difficult
environment for manned aircraft, let
alone unmanned assets. The catapult
launching and arrested landing
Tankers are vital for conventional ‘cat-and-trap’
carrier flight operations to extend the combat
radius of aircraft, but also to provide a margin of safety
for returning aircraft in case they are low on fuel
20-23 Ready room C.indd 23
THE
FUTURE OF
UAVs IN
THE CVW
An additional benefit of the MQ-25
Stingray is that it will give the US Navy
real-world opportunities to explore
manned/unmanned teaming and lay the
foundation to bring to the carrier air wing
future UAVs that will be able to conduct
protocols will have to be developed and
The Northrop refined so as to not disrupt the routine
Grumman X-47B of carrier operations. The use of the
took on fuel from
an Omega 707 MQ-25 in the air traffic patterns around
tanker over the the carrier has to be standardized to
Atlantic Test ensure smooth functioning. Scenarios
Ranges in April
2015, marking such as what to do when the MQ-25
the first time itself needs to ‘bingo’ out to an airfield
an unmanned need to be explored. Communications
aircraft had
refueled in flight. links and interfaces with the carrier and
US Navy the air wing must be thoroughly flexed
strike, surveillance, and electronic attack
missions.
During the navy’s August 2018 news
conference announcing the MQ-25
source selection, this author asked if
the MQ-25’s carrier landings would be
graded as are those of pilots of manned
aircraft. One admiral present said the
MQ-25, because of its precision landing
capabilities and absence of hands-on
control, would achieve perfection every
single time. The then chief of naval
operations, ADM John M. Richardson,
added in jest that the main worry was
that the MQ-25’s impact spot on the
flight deck would wear out sooner than
any other!
in order to make a UAV tanker effective
and a team player in the fleet. It’s an
aggressive timeline and the relatively
low development budgets scared off
some potential parties. However, the
MQ-25 is set to revolutionize the face of
the modern CVW, combining manned
and unmanned aircraft in a world few
could have scarcely imagined when
tankers first joined the seaborne order
of battle.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 23
21/11/2019 20:56
 A KC-46A refuels a B-2A Spirit for the first
time during developmental flight testing
from Edwards AFB, California, on April 23,
2019. USAF/Christian Turner

TOO IMPORTANT TO FAIL?

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 This year has seen a succession of problems emerging for the
USAF’s already delayed Boeing KC-46 tanker program.
Combat Aircraft assesses the options available to the US Air Force.
REPORT Jon Lake
T
HINGS HAVE GOT steadily
worse this year for the US Air
Force’s new in-flight refueling
tanker, the Boeing KC-46A.
Brand-new aircraft coming
off the production line in
Seattle were found to have foreign
objects and debris left inside them from
manufacturing — and this problem
allegedly recurred even after Boeing
was supposed to have put measures
in place to solve it. Next, it emerged
that cargo restraints in the aircraft hold
came unlocked in flight on a number
of occasions, forcing Air Mobility
Command (AMC) to ban the carriage
of cargo and passengers. This was yet
another category one (Cat 1) deficiency,
defined as a shortcoming that ‘may
cause death or severe injury; may cause
loss or major damage to a weapon
system; critically restricts the combat
readiness capabilities of the using
organization; or results in a production
line stoppage’.
At the Air Force Association’s Air, Space
and Cyber Conference in September, AMC
commander Gen Maryanne Miller said
that Boeing had not made any progress in
24-30 KC-46 C.indd 25
addressing a Cat 1 problem affecting the
KC-46’s remote vision system (RVS), and
estimated that it would be another four
years before the type is ‘into the fight’ — or
operationally deployable.
It should, on the face of it, have
been so easy.
A troubled tanker
Few could have predicted that Boeing
— creator of the super-successful KC-135
Stratotanker, which was based on the
design that also spawned the Boeing
707 — would experience such difficulty
in turning the tried and trusted, utterly
familiar and well-proven 767 jetliner
into an air-to-air refueling (AAR) tanker,
albeit one equipped with infra-red
countermeasures, protected against
electromagnetic pulse and fitted with
cockpit armor. But adapting the 767 to
make it the USAF’s new tanker has been a
difficult and troubled process.
An attempt to simply lease 100
KC-767A tankers from Boeing ran into
political opposition, and the subsequent
compromise solution of buying 80
aircraft and leasing 20 more was officially
canceled by the US Department of
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 25
21/11/2019 20:57
 TYPE REPORT // BOEING KC-46

Defense (DoD) in January 2006 after
becoming mired in accusations of
corruption.
A new KC-X program eventually resulted
in the selection of the rival Northrop
Grumman/EADS KC-30 (A330 MRTT)
on February 29, 2008. A Boeing protest
to the US Government Accountability
Office (GAO) resulted in an ‘expedited
re-competition’. With key criteria redrawn,
the KC-767 was finally chosen, kicking
the A330 MRTT to the curb with a USAF
program of record for 179 Boeing aircraft,
designated the KC-46A Pegasus.
Bearing the internal Boeing designation
767-2C, the aircraft was based on the
767-200 freighter airframe, but featured an
improved version of the KC-10 Extender’s
refueling boom and incorporated cockpit
displays from the 787, and the wings,
flaps and landing gear of the 767-300ERF. Above: A 77th
Air Refueling
This was an untried combination that Squadron
led some to start referring to the KC-46 KC-135R
as the ‘Frankentanker’. In the end, this prepares to
tank a KC-46A
combination of elements did not present from the
major problems. 22nd ARW
Instead, it was a wiring redesign that from Pease
AFB, New
delayed the first 767-2C flight from June Hampshire.
2014 to November that year. That resulted USAF/SSgt
in a $272-million pre-tax charge to Boeing Mary McKnight
for the redesign of the tanker’s wiring,
which had been found to have insufficient
separation or inadequate shielding.
Over the course of the KC-46 flight-test
program, the aircraft completed 3,800
flying hours and transferred more than
four billion pounds of fuel, according to
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg.
But flight-testing threw up more
problems and caused further delays.

A KC-46 undergoes electromagnetic

environment testing in the Benefield
Anechoic Facility at Edwards AFB.
USAF/Christopher Okula

This image:
Testing of the
wing aerial
refueling pods
(WARPs) with
a US Marine
Corps AV-8B
Harrier II. The
pods should
receive Federal
Aviation
Administration
(FAA)
certification in
2020. Boeing/
John D. Parker

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 Some 18 KC-46As were originally due
to have been delivered by August 2017,
but the process was delayed by serious
RVS and boom problems. These required
hardware and software changes to fix,
forcing Boeing to spend $3.5 billion of
its own money to find solutions, while
the USAF withheld a sum of about
$500 million, equivalent to $28 million
per aircraft.
New technology —
new problems
Unlike previous USAF tankers, the
KC-46A incorporates a remote boom
operator station immediately behind
the flight deck. Instead of lying on his
or her stomach, looking at the refueling
procedure through a big window in the
lower fuselage while steering the boom
and guiding it into the AAR receptacle
of a receiver aircraft, the boom operator
of the KC-46A sits upright, in comfort.
24-30 KC-46 C.indd 27
The ‘boomer’ views the scene on a Air National Guard properly disconnect from it either. This
screen, with a panoramic picture of the director Lt Gen L. is necessitating changes to the KC-46A’s
Scott Rice, left,
procedure provided via the Rockwell telescopic boom actuator, funded by
and his son Capt
Collins-designed RVS, a suite of visual Lee Rice, a 157th the air force, which placed a $55-million
and infra-red cameras that can provide ARW pilot, fly a contract with Boeing in August 2019.
KC-46A together
high-fidelity imagery at night or in bad The GAO has estimated that designing
on August 8, 2019.
weather without floodlighting. ANG/SSgt Morgan the modification and retrofitting aircraft
But the RVS produces distorted imagery R. Lipinski will cost more than $300 million, and
in certain lighting conditions, can
wash out or black out in glare, and has
inadequate acuity (definition). The system
can make depth perception more difficult
for boom operators, making it harder
for the operator to gauge the distance
between the boom and the receiver
aircraft and leading to instances of the
boom accidentally scraping the receiver.
These problems are being addressed by
Boeing, at the company’s expense.
There are other issues with the boom.
The A-10C Thunderbolt II, for example,
does not produce sufficient thrust to push
into the boom to start refueling, and can’t
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 27
21/11/2019 20:57
 TYPE REPORT // BOEING KC-46
that certification is likely to take three to
four years.
The KC-46A is not yet able to use its
underwing refueling pods. Boeing is
moving forward with getting the wing
aerial refueling pods (WARPs) certified
by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA), though former US Air Force
Secretary Heather Wilson said this will not
be achieved until June 2020.
Deliveries under way
The first two squadron KC-46As for the
USAF were delivered from Boeing’s
Everett facility in Washington to
McConnell AFB, Kansas, on January
25, 2019, almost two years later than
originally planned. The USAF agreed
to accept the aircraft so pilot and
boom operator training could begin.
AMC commander Miller explained in
28 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
24-30 KC-46 C.indd 28
September: ‘When we accepted the
KC-46 with known Cat 1 deficiencies,
we did so with the belief that it offered
the fastest route to achieve limited
operational capability and meet an
urgent warfighter requirement. Eight
months have passed since our first
delivery, and Boeing has not made any
progress on the remote vision system.’
Within a month of these deliveries,
further problems had emerged, with
the discovery of tools and other
loose articles in various locations
inside completed aircraft. Eight tools
were found in aircraft that had been
delivered to Boeing’s Military Delivery
Center (MDC) and two more in tankers
delivered to the USAF. The KC-46 is built
‘green’ on the main 767 assembly line at
Everett before being transferred to the
MDC, where the aircraft are completed
KC-46A
DELIVERY
STATUS
Of the 179 KC-46s in the USAF’s
program of record, 67 are currently
on contract. In October, the Air
Force Life Cycle Management
Center awarded Boeing a
$2.6-billion contract modification
that covers the production of 15
Lot 5 KC-46As, plus spares and
other support equipment as well
as two spare engines and five wing
aerial refueling pod kits. Boeing
had previously received its first two
production lots, for seven and 12
aircraft, in August 2016. The third Above: A KC-46A
lot, for 15 aircraft, was awarded in Pegasus wearing
January 2017; the fourth lot for 18 test registration
N464KC connects
aircraft in September 2018.
By October, 23 had been delivered with an F-15E
to four units: the 418th Flight Strike Eagle
during trials from
Test Squadron at Edwards AFB,
Edwards AFB in
California; the 344th Air Refueling 2018. Boeing/
Squadron (ARS) of the 22nd Air John D. Parker
Refueling Wing (ARW) at McConnell
AFB, Kansas; the 56th ARS (the Left: Personnel
KC-46 training unit) under the 97th from the 60th
ARW at Altus AFB, Oklahoma; and Aerial Port
the Air National Guard’s 133rd ARS, Squadron prepare
which is part of the 157th ARW at to load cargo
onto a KC-46A
Pease Air National Guard Base, New
at Travis AFB,
Hampshire. Delayed deliveries mean California. USAF/
that the USAF will seek to slow SrA Christian
down the retirement of the KC-135. Conrad
21/11/2019 20:57

and military systems are installed,
including the refueling systems and
communications equipment.
The discovery of this foreign object
debris prompted the air force to
temporarily halt KC-46 deliveries in
February 2019, after the delivery of six
aircraft to McConnell. The stoppage
lasted from February 21 until March 11,
after which training flights resumed.
Acceptance of new KC-46s was halted
again on March 23 after debris was
again found in closed compartments,
according to former Secretary Wilson
who described it as a ‘manufacturing
discipline’ issue. The air force resumed
the acceptance of KC-46s from Boeing
after instituting stringent inspections
of all aircraft, including those already
delivered to McConnell and to Altus AFB,
Oklahoma. Aircraft had to have their
fuel tanks drained to allow for these
inspections.
24-30 KC-46 C.indd 29
As a result of these additional
requirements, the USAF accepted aircraft
at a slower rate of about one per month
instead of the planned drumbeat of three.
Original plans called for Boeing to deliver
36 KC-46As to the USAF in 2019, but just
11 had been delivered by June.
Above: A boom The latest problem to hit the KC-46A
operator works emerged in September, when it was
with the remote
vision system, revealed that multiple cargo restraint
which has been devices had become unlocked in flight. No
one of the major cargo or equipment moved and there was
trouble items for
the USAF. no immediate specific risk to the aircraft or
US Army/Sgt crew, though the problem was potentially
James K. McCann catastrophic, and was classed as another
Below: The Cat 1 deficiency. As a consequence, AMC
418th Flight Test stopped the carriage of passengers and
Squadron from cargo for an indefinite period.
Edwards AFB has
spearheaded Boeing has proposed a two-step
the air force’s solution, using tie-down straps to allow
development the aircraft to carry cargo as an interim
test work on the
Pegasus. USAF/ step. In the longer term, the company
Ethan Wagner plans to produce a more ‘robust’ fix to
permanently solve the issue. Miller said
that while she had not yet been briefed
on Boeing’s proposal, her interest was
in permanent and not interim fixes for
Cat 1 flaws.
No other option?
Writing for news website Breaking Defense,
Theresa Hitchens headlined her KC-46
article ‘Too crucial to fail’. There is no doubt
that the USAF is short of tanker capacity,
and indeed its plan to go from the current
level of 312 squadrons to its planned
force size of 386 squadrons includes an
increase from 40 to 54 tanker units. The
tanker force expansion is the second
largest in the plan (after the intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance force)
and relies heavily on the KC-46.
In her piece, Hitchens quoted Todd
Harrison, the director of the Aerospace
Security Project at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies (CSIS) as saying,
‘There is no other option at this point. The
air force needs new tankers, and Boeing
is the only one making them.’
Many would disagree strongly with
Harrison’s assertion. Boeing is not the
only company making tankers, however
much it likes to present itself as ‘the tanker
company for the US and the world’, as
chief executive officer of Boeing Defense,
Space and Security, Leanne Caret put it.
At Getafe in Spain, Airbus turns A330
airliners into what many believe is the
world’s best tanker — the A330 MRTT
(Multi-Role Tanker Transport), which
many view as a potential option. Indeed,
last year Lockheed Martin teamed with
Airbus in a bid to offer ‘power-by-the-
hour’ solutions with these aircraft. Aircrew
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 29
21/11/2019 20:57
 TYPE REPORT // BOEING KC-46
from seven air forces would also highlight
the capabilities of their operationally
deployed and combat-proven A330s,
while officers from 15 more air forces
would doubtless be able to explain why
their nations had now also selected the
Airbus tanker, and why they were now
looking forward to receiving the type.
They would tell of a tanker that carries
more fuel than a KC-46, more freight and
more passengers, and that can safely
operate from shorter runways. If they were
being mean they might even contrast the
relatively untroubled development of the
A330 MRTT with the litany of misfortunes
that have befallen the Boeing tanker.
And even outside the current A330
MRTT operators’ community, there are
many in the US who say they know exactly
why that aircraft was originally selected
by the USAF as the KC-45A, to meet
the KC-X requirement. That was before
Boeing protested the contract award
to Airbus, of course, and before criteria
30 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
24-30 KC-46 C.indd 30
were allegedly altered to favor the Boeing
aircraft in the re-run of the contest. That
adjustment of yardsticks in turn resulted
in Northrop Grumman withdrawing from
the bidding process, complaining that the
new criteria had been skewed towards
Boeing’s offering. But even after Northrop’s
withdrawal, Airbus stood ready to offer
the aircraft to the USAF, and to build it in
Mobile, Alabama.
The House Armed Services Committee
certainly sees alternatives to the KC-46.
In its Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense
Authorization Act it stated, ‘The Secretary
of the Air Force has several viable options
to ensure future tanker capability, to
include acquiring a non-developmental
commercial derivative tanker.’
There are options, in other words. There
is an alternative that is arguably a better
tanker for the USAF, and that would
support just as many US jobs. But it would
not be a Boeing tanker, and that, perhaps,
makes it unacceptable.
For now, the KC-46 has marched
forwards into its initial operational test
and evaluation (IOT&E) phase, designed
to establish whether the aircraft can
meet air force requirements. A statement
from the USAF said, ‘IOT&E will test the
KC-46’s effectiveness, suitability, and
mission capability toward accomplishing
its three primary mission sets: aerial
refueling, cargo/passenger operations,
and aeromedical evacuation.’ It added,
‘The air force continues to test the new
weapon system, while Boeing corrects
identified deficiencies in parallel, as the
most expeditious means of achieving full
operational capability.’
Boeing says it is working to introduce
incremental improvements to correct the
problems that have been highlighted. It
plans to retrofit a secondary set of locks
in the hold to address the cargo restraint
concerns, and an upgrade to the RVS
Above: A KC-46A
Pegasus makes will automatically adjust contrast and
its final approach resolution in difficult lighting conditions.
to McConnell The latter is said to be in a preliminary
AFB, Kansas,
where operational design phase.
testing is now The USAF has elected to begin the
under way. USAF/ IOT&E process and to get the ball rolling
SrA Skyler Combs
by scheduling tests that don’t involve
Top: The official either air refueling or cargo transport.
ceremony In the background, it continues to work
marking the
arrival of the first hard to correct the serious deficiencies
KC-46A for ‘Team that have plagued this aircraft, so the
McConnell’ on air force can field an aircraft that truly
January 25, 2019.
USAF/TSgt makes the grade as a suitable successor
Abigail Klein to the KC-135.
21/11/2019 20:57
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 T
HE US AIR Force’s Air Combat
Command (ACC) awarded
seven companies contracts
worth $6.4 billion on
October 18, 2019, to provide
contracted adversary air
(ADAIR) over the next five years. The
firms involved were Air USA, Airborne
Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC),
Blue Air Training, Coastal Defense,
Draken International, Tactical Air
Support (TacAir), and Top Aces.
As part of the Combat Air Forces
Contracted Air Support (CAF CAS)
program, the companies will supply
contractor-owned, contractor-operated
(COCO) aircraft to support air-to-air
combat training from October 2019
until October 2024. In addition, some of
them will fly contracted close air support
(CCAS) sorties for joint terminal attack
32 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
32-37 Contact aggressors C.indd 32
controller (JTAC) training — this includes
Valkyrie Aero, which features in this issue,
as a sub-contractor to ATAC.
The approved vendors will now have
to bid against the operational taskings
laid out at 12 locations for the air-to-air
adversary requirement and nine sites for
JTAC training.
According to the contract, the USAF
is seeking 30,000 adversary sorties and
10,000 CAS/JTAC training sorties per
year. The aggressor services have been One of TacAir’s
budgeted for Eglin AFB, Florida; Joint new F-5ATs
(74-1459/N697TA)
Base Hickam-Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Hill at Reno-Stead,
AFB, Utah; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; Nevada, in
Kelly Field, Texas; Kingsley Field, Oregon; October. The pilot
wears the Thales
Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia; Visionix Scorpion
Luke AFB, Arizona; Nellis AFB, Nevada; helmet with the
Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina; new HObIT (hybrid
optical-based
Tucson International Airport, Arizona; and inertial tracker).
Tyndall AFB, Florida. Michael Grove
21/11/2019 20:58
 The US Air Force announced at the end of October that it had earmarked seven companies to provide contract aggressor
services across the combat air forces. What will this mean, and how will it evolve?
REPORT Jamie Hunter

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 33

32-37 Contact aggressors C.indd 33 21/11/2019 20:58

 INDUSTRY REPORT // USAF ADAIR
ATAC’s first airworthy Mirage F1,
two-seat F1B N601AX, gets airborne
from Alliance Airport in Fort Worth,
Texas, on August 22, 2019.
ATAC/Henry Ham
Contract air support is not a new
concept in the US. ATAC blazed the trail by
securing US Navy contracts for adversary
support in 1994 amid a lack of in-house
adversary assets. It sought to aid squadron
training by offering cost-effective ‘Red
Air’, as well as profiles for surface vessels
to train operators in self-defense during
work-up exercises. ATAC primarily
utilized a fleet of aging IAI F-21 Kfirs and
Hawker Hunters to maintain a low cost
base, while employing experienced
aviators who could offer insight and
expertise to underpin the value of the
company’s services.
Meanwhile, Discovery Air Defense
Services, now known as Top Aces, was
active further north in Canada, offering
electronic warfare and adversary support
to the Department of National Defence
(DND with a fleet of ex-Luftwaffe Alpha
Jets. It also procured ATSI (Advanced
Training Systems International), which
operated A-4 Skyhawks out of Williams
Gateway Airport, Arizona, and has since
gone on to win target-towing and
aggressor contracts in Germany.
34 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
32-37 Contact aggressors C.indd 34
Draken International pushed the bar
higher when it was formed in 2011
by Jared Isaacman, who pounced on
an opportunity to procure the Royal
New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) fleet
of redundant MB339s and A/TA-4K
Skyhawks. It was a move that would
ultimately trigger a transformation in the
contracted ‘Red Air’ market.
Breakthrough contract
The 2014 disbandment of the 65th
Aggressor Squadron (AGRS), which flew
F-15C/Ds at Nellis AFB, Nevada, is seen as
something of a watershed moment in this
story. The USAF was already desperately
short of professional ‘Red Air’ aggressors
for its front-line forces to train against, and
now it was down to just two dedicated
units — the 18th AGRS at Eielson AFB,
Alaska, and the 64th AGRS at Nellis, which
both fly the F-16C and are kept active
supporting ‘Red Flag’ exercises, as well as
the Weapons School at Nellis, leaving little
time for them to service front-line units.
Shortly after the deactivation of the
65th AGRS, ACC conducted an analysis of
adversary air capabilities. The outcome
was clear — there was a cavernous void
in capacity, exacerbated by the advanced
fifth-generation fighter fleet, which was
growing exponentially. The advent of
fifth-generation fighters — the F-22
and F-35 — has radically changed the
aggressor world. Brig Gen Robert Novotny
told Combat Aircraft, ‘ When I became
commander of the 57th Wing [at Nellis in
June 2018] the 64th was flying nine sorties
a day, on average. Then you have an
animal like the F-22 or the F-35; it will go
to an all-you-can-eat buffet and you can’t
feed it enough! One of those will ‘kill’ all
nine of those guys. So, to make everyone
more lethal, we had to work as hard as we
could to fly more aggressors and advocate
for modernization where possible.’
The USAF has an insatiable need for
adversary training. To address this shortfall,
it released a proof of concept tender. This
led to a year-long ADAIR I ‘pathfinder’
experiment at Nellis in 2015, during which
Draken International supported both the
Weapons School and exercise training,
working in concert with the resident 64th
21/11/2019 20:58
 AGRS. Draken initially provided its radar-
equipped A-4K Skyhawks, which were
later joined by Aero L-159 ‘Honey Badger’
Top to bottom:
Draken
Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (ALCA).
International’s Draken boss Isaacman said, ‘The L-159E
ex-Royal New is equipped with the Leonardo Grifo-L
Zealand Air Force
A-4 Skyhawks
radar and attack software suite. They are
have supported a modern, virtually brand new fourth-
adversary and generation fighter aircraft with extremely
close air support
training. Draken
low operational costs. In both cases, the
International A-4 and L-159 enable Draken to provide
tactically relevant adversary support,
All the contractor
adversary
but at dramatically lower costs than a
companies are comparable military F-16 or F-15 fighter.’
stacked with Draken gained something of a lead
experienced
pilots, which
thanks to the Nellis experiment. It also
is ideal when aided Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35
it comes to operational testing out of Edwards AFB
imparting that
knowledge to
and JTAC training at NAS Fallon, Nevada,
young trainees. and has taken part in large-force training
José M. exercises in support of the Japan Self-
Ramos/Draken
International
Defense Force at White Sands Missile
Range, New Mexico.
Draken has The Nellis proof of concept contract
enjoyed
significant
went through three extensions and three
success with modifications to account for continued
its contracts at growth and requirements as the USAF
Nellis AFB. It is
expected to move
sought a more permanent solution.
its Mirage F1s In June 2017, the USAF awarded Draken
there in 2020 to a five-year, $280-million ADAIR II contract,
operate alongside
its L-159 ‘Honey
cementing the original pathfinder study.
Badgers’, as seen Only two bidders came forward for ADAIR
here. José M. II, which Draken secured as a three-year
Ramos/Draken
International
contract with two option years, until
December 2023. It specified that Draken’s
ADAIR II aircraft must be capable of flying
at Mach 1.5 and of completing sorties
of up to 60 minutes. As soon as Draken
signed the contract it was obliged to
execute at least 22 missions per day within
the first month of operations.

The big contract

In July 2016, the USAF had issued a
request for information for the larger
ADAIR contract, reaching out to the
contractor air service companies to
support this massive, emerging, training
need. The solicitation to industry was
for nearly 42,000 hours of contracted
aggressor support training across the 12
air bases.
The USAF started to work even more
closely with the contractors, refining
the requirements and ensuring it was
seeking a realistic solution that could be
met by the commercial providers. They
were permitted to provide support with
several aircraft types including third
and fourth-generation fighters, with
requirements including operations at
speeds of between Mach 0.8-1.5 and

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 35

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 INDUSTRY REPORT // USAF ADAIR
altitudes up to 50,000ft. The contracted
aircraft must be compatible with captive
The 2014 air-to-air training missiles, electronic
countermeasures pods and infra-red
disbandment search and track (IRST), and around half
will require a radar with a range of up to
of the 65th Aggressor 80nm (148km).
Only US-based companies were
Squadron, which flew permitted to bid as prime contractors
F-15C/Ds at Nellis AFB, and the aircraft will be flown by American
civilians. However, the aircraft can be
Nevada, is seen as sourced from western nations or from
‘threat countries’. All of this was deemed to
something of a watershed be achievable despite a relatively modest
cost per flight hour (CPFH).
moment in this story The solicitation set the wheels in motion
for the leading ADAIR contenders to
start lining up new fleets of aircraft to
36 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
32-37 Contact aggressors C.indd 36
meet the requirement. Four of them
were selected as the primes under the
$6.4-billion contract.
The adversary contractors
ATAC is now part of Textron Airborne
Solutions. In anticipation of the USAF
requirement it procured former
French Air Force Mirage F1CR/CTs and
F1Bs, which began arriving at its new
Adversary Center of Excellence (ATAC-
ACE) in June 2017. It acquired 63 F1s from
France, along with support equipment
and 150 engines. This facility at Fort
Worth Alliance Airport, Texas, is where
it performs maintenance, repair and
overhaul work on the 80 jets operated
by the company. The company carried
21/11/2019 20:58
 out the first flight of one of its Mirage F1s
at Alliance Airport on August 22, 2019,
as two-seat F1B registration N601AX
(ex-French serial 502) flew on ‘an initial
acceptance flight’.
Meanwhile, TacAir of Reno, Nevada,
bought a fleet of 21 F-5E/Fs from the
Royal Jordanian Air Force, building on the
five ex-Royal Canadian Air Force CF-5D
Freedom Fighters it already operated.
TacAir has developed a bespoke
upgrade for its ‘new’ aircraft at its
maintenance and logistics facility in St
Augustine, Florida. It is adding a new
Garmin glass cockpit and radar to the
jets, which are now known as F-5AT
‘Advanced Tigers’. TacAir has partnered
with Duotech Services to retrofit a radar
warning receiver (RWR) and its low-cost
NEMESIS mechanically scanned array
(MESA) radar. This is a ‘tailor-made’ system
that employs modern radar techniques,
with an ability to quickly add new
modes to meet training requirements.
According to DuoTech, it also offers threat
replication via unclassified and classified
means, allowing the aircraft to fly ‘realistic
adversary intercept profiles, offering
mission-critical situational awareness and
assessment capabilities’.
NEMESIS is integrated with FAAC Inc’s
Zone Acquisition Process (ZAP) real-
world threat replication software, which
provides high-speed missile simulations.
TacAir says the beauty of the F-5 is that it
has a proven track record in the adversary
field and that there are a number of
specific upgrades that can be used to
enhance these fighters.
The company was swiftly rewarded
when in 2018 it was awarded a five-
year, $107-million contract from the
navy running through May 2023. Under
this deal it was to provide adversary air
services in addition to training for air and
ship crews to counter electronic threats.
The award was challenged by ATAC,
which proposed a fleet of ex-Jordanian
F-16s. The challenge was denied and the
contract went forward, the Government
Accountability Office noting that the
advantages of the F-16 were outweighed
by the affordability of the F-5.
Draken International too has started
expanding its fleet to meet the new USAF
requirement, receiving former Spanish
Air Force Mirage F1Ms, and 12 Denel
Cheetahs from South Africa. The Cheetahs
offer an advanced capability ‘off the shelf’,
thanks to their EL/L-2032 radar and Elisra
RWR, plus a degree of commonality with
the Mirage F1s. The first of 22 ex-Spanish
Mirages — F1M serial C.14-73 — arrived
at Draken’s Lakeland, Florida, facility
in July 2018. Upgrade plans include
a helmet-mounted cueing system,
infra-red missile seekers, datalinks, and
electronic jamming and radar warning
receiver capabilities. Draken marked the
first flight of its Mirage F1B N552EM on
November 12, 2019.
Top Aces was able to take advantage
of a highly pro-active Canadian stance
when it came to training and in 2005
won a contract to provide the Canadian
Forces with aggressor training. In 2018
it renewed that deal for a further 10
years. The company acquired its A-4N
Skyhawks through the takeover of
Advanced Training Systems International
(ATSI) in December 2013, and these
ex-Israeli Air Force jets joined a fleet
of former Luftwaffe Alpha Jets. It has
repeatedly said it will acquire F-16s
despite the expected higher operating
Left top to bottom:
costs that these aircraft will incur. In Top Aces operates
a media release related to the USAF seven A-4N
contract award, it said, ‘Top Aces will Skyhawks at
Wittmund to
be the first provider to offer the F-16 support Luftwaffe
platform, configured with a unique open Eurofighter
system architecture designed to meet training.
Rich Cooper
the diverse needs of the USAF customer.
Top Aces’ fleet will initially be based at Mirage F1BM
the F-16 Center of Excellence located in N552EM made
its first post-
Mesa, Arizona.’ restoration flight
Now these four contractors have been with Draken on
selected as possible suppliers they will November 12,
2019. Draken
each need to bid against operational International
taskings for the 12 locations that require
their aggressor services. The nature of Below:
Draken
the business dictates that they will need International
to move their fleets of aircraft around showed off one of
to keep them suitably employed, and its Mirage F1EEMs
in a stunning new
to meet the varying phases of training scheme at its
at each location. This is expected to Lakeland base
start in October 2020. It is reported that in October. The
aircraft is former
Kingsley Field, Oregon, and Holloman Spanish Air Force
AFB, New Mexico, will be the first two serial C.14-70,
locations that are serviced, in support of now registered as
N574EM. Draken
F-15C/D and F-16C/D basic course pilot International/
training. José M. Ramos

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 37

32-37 Contact aggressors C.indd 37 21/11/2019 20:59

 A
FTER NEARLY TWO decades
of combat operations in
Afghanistan and Iraq, and
in the face of a booming
civilian job market, the US
military is facing manpower
shortages in several critical warfighting
quarters. Among the most consequential
shortfalls are fighter pilots in the US Air
Force, US Marine Corps and US Navy, but
there is a less-well publicized shortfall in
joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs).
These skilled personnel are responsible for
directing tactical aircraft executing close
air support (CAS), often in close proximity
to friendly ground forces. Both the pilot
and JTAC shortages are critical for the
infantrymen and special operators who
rely heavily on air support.
Compounding the impact is the fact
that JTACs rely on tactical aircraft for their
training. Regardless of their assigned

The US Air Force has issued an overarching contract covering contracted training
for ‘Red Air’ aggressors and close air support. Valkyrie Aero is aimed at the latter,
offering cost-effective aircraft and optimized support to the military.

REPORT AND PHOTOS Joe Copalman

MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK

VALKYRIE AERO TACKLES CONTRACTED CLOSE AIR SUPPORT
38 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

38-44 Valkyrie Aero C.indd 38 21/11/2019 20:59

 branch of the military, all JTACs must
perform a certain number of different
types of attack controls to gain or retain
their certifications. Historically, front-line
combat squadrons provided the pilots,
aircraft, and ordnance JTACs to meet their
needs, but the pilot shortage, coupled with
the increased use of multi-role aircraft with
a broad range of mission sets beyond CAS,
has limited the opportunities for overlap in
the training schedules of the JTACs and the
aviators who support them. This comes at
a time when the US military — particularly
the USAF and USMC — is anticipating
significant growth in the demand for JTACs
over the next decade.
Commercial solutions
One solution to the pilot shortage and
its impact on JTAC training is the use of
contract close air support (CCAS) services
to provide both inert and live ordnance
employment aligned with training
needs and scheduling. Valkyrie Aero is
one such company, specifically oriented
towards ensuring that JTACs receive the
required support to enable their ongoing
certification. Valkyrie chief operating officer
Todd McCutchan told Combat Aircraft, ‘We
started in February 2018. There seemed
to be a gap in the quality and quantity
of support for the JTAC training mission
in the US and abroad. We started the
company after identifying what we felt was
a weakness there; where we thought that
we could bring something to the market,
as well as to the customer, to improve their
training and readiness to deploy.’
Based at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona,
Valkyrie operates a mixed fleet of a dozen
Embraer EMB-312F and 20 Shorts S312
Tucanos. As both are configured — or
are being reconfigured — for pure attack
work, Valkyrie refers to both variants as the
A-27 — a nod to the T-27 designation the
Brazilian Air Force applied to its EMB-312s
tasked with pilot training. Building an
all-Tucano fleet aligns with Valkyrie’s goal
of acquiring aircraft that met the criteria of
what JTACs need in a CAS platform.
Explaining Valkyrie’s acquisition
philosophy, McCutchan said, ‘We
approached this from the standpoint of,
if we’re going to train JTACs, let’s talk to
[them] and see what they want, and then
we’ll buy the airplane and equipment that
the JTACs want for their training.’
Valkyrie’s leadership had an existing
relationship with an individual in the US
who owned a large number of Tucanos
and it secured that fleet, the EMB-312Fs
coming from ex-French Air Force stocks,
and the S312s being former Royal Air
Force machines.
Whereas several of the more established
contract air service providers aim to

Based at Falcon Field in Mesa, Arizona, Valkyrie

Aero is positioned to support JTAC training
over the numerous aerial gunnery ranges
throughout the southwestern US.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 39

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 INDUSTRY REPORT // CONTRACTED CLOSE AIR SUPPORT

With over three hours of loiter time, four hardpoints capable of carrying a combined
2,000lb of ordnance, a sensor with a feed that can be accessed by JTACs on the ground,
and attack speeds within 100kt of the A-10’s, Valkyrie’s Tucanos are highly capable attack
platforms that check most, if not all, of the boxes needed for a viable CCAS aircraft.

40 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

38-44 Valkyrie Aero C.indd 40 21/11/2019 21:00

 provide a wide breadth of capabilities
through diverse fleets of three, four, or
even upwards of six aircraft types, Valkyrie
has instead chosen to focus solely on the
JTAC training niche, enabling it to build its
fleet around a single type. Referencing the
Inset: Valkyrie decision of the Southwest Airlines founder
flies with veteran
JTAC instructors to stick with a single-type fleet for ease of
in the back seats acquisition, maintenance, and training,
of the company’s McCutchan said, ‘Herb Kelleher had it right.
Tucanos. Having
a sensor operator Southwest Airlines figured some stuff out,
who speaks the and there’s no need to reinvent the wheel.
language and It’s great for a couple of reasons. From
understands
the training the maintenance standpoint, it’s great.
objectives of the When we modify the aircraft, we do them
JTAC instructor identically, so there’s no difference there.
on the ground
expedites We have economy of scale and volume.
communications We also have commonality for training,
and helps so we don’t have pilots bouncing around
maximize training
opportunities. different kinds of aircraft. Even places that
SSgt Tyler have the same type of aircraft, those aircraft
‘Sherpa’ Burgett — because of their age — will be all over
is a retired USAF
JTAC instructor, the board in terms of what kinds of radios,
bringing 13 years instruments, and everything else you’re
of experience to going to find in them.’
the job.
Valkyrie Aero
Tucano traits
Performance-wise, the Tucano gives
Valkyrie a good match for JTAC training
needs. Elaborating on what the aircraft
brings to the CCAS mission, McCutchan
said, ‘The Tucano has great time on station
— the loiter time is over three hours. Our
attack speeds are within 100kt of an A-10,
and it can carry a lot of ammunition.’
Valkyrie’s Tucanos have the
capacity to carry up to
1,000kg (2,200lb) of
ordnance on
four hardpoints,
but the variety
of weapons they can employ is just as
important.
The Tucano can carry an impressive
variety of free-fall bombs and forward-
firing ordnance. McCutchan explained,
‘We can carry a lot of weaponry on the
aircraft for live ordnance training. We
can carry up to 6,000 rounds of 7.62mm
minigun ammunition, we carry up to
12 BDUs [practice bombs], and up to 14
2.75in rockets.’The company’s literature
also indicates the capacity for .50-cal
machine guns and 127mm rockets, plus
Mk81 (250lb) and Mk82 (500lb) general-
purpose bombs.
Weapons loads are mission-specific
and driven entirely by the training
requirements of the JTACs who
are being supported on
the ground, with
ordnance being
38-44 Valkyrie Aero C.indd 41
mixed and matched to meet specific needs.
The primary gun pod used by Valkyrie
is manufactured by Dillon Precision and
centered around the company’s proven
M134 7.62mm six-barrel minigun, with a
magazine carrying up to 3,000 rounds of
ammunition. Valkyrie owns a variety of
rocket launchers and bomb racks capable
of carrying multiple BDU-33s and other
practice bombs, allowing for numerous
configurations — absolutely ideal for
its trade.
Building a better Tucano
While the Tucano, off-the-shelf, provides
the reliability, safety, performance, and
endurance required of a CCAS platform,
optimizing it for the mission necessitated
numerous modifications to transform
it from a trainer to a ground attack
thoroughbred. Valkyrie CEO Charlie
Keebaugh, an air force veteran who spent
10 years as a special operations JTAC,
explained the need to transition the
company’s Tucanos to attack aircraft: ‘In
order to have a successful training event,
you need reliable aircraft that are outfitted
with all the technology that a JTAC needs to
exercise. He needs the aircraft to challenge
the technology that they have, so they’ll be
able to work together.’
One of the primary upgrades Valkyrie
made to its Tucanos was the addition of the
L3 Wescam MX-15DiA sensor turret to the
EMB-312Fs. The MX-15 brings exceptional
capability, giving JTACs access — via a
ROVER-compatible video downlink — to
full-motion video up to a range of 10nm
(18.5km). With day and night optics, a
laser illuminator, and a laser designator,
the MX-15 enables Valkyrie’s Tucanos to
provide round-the-clock intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)
services to JTACs on the ground, as well as
the ability to designate targets for laser-
guided weapons. The centerline mounting
of the MX-15 mirrors that of the light attack
Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine and the Tucano’s
successor, the Embraer A-29 Super Tucano.
Centerline sensor mounting eliminates
fuselage blanking, enabling Valkyrie’s
sensor operators to keep the system
pointed at whatever the JTACs need eyes
on, without the picture being masked by
any portion of the aircraft.
Crew concept and
operator experience
In the air, Valkyrie relies on crews of two
in the Tucano. According to McCutchan,
‘All of our aircraft we operate with a
two-crew concept. In the front seat is the
pilot, who is going to be a CAS-centric
guy, someone who has come out of the
military with at least 1,500 hours in the
attack or fighter community, and with a
CAS-centric background. A-10s, F/A-18Ds,
AV-8 Harriers, some of the [F-16] ‘Viper’
community — that’s our primary ground
for recruitment. Our chief pilot is Jack
‘Coach’ Allison — he’s got 4,400 hours in
the A-10 [all active-duty], and he retired
as an O-6 [Colonel], and has been doing
CAS continuously for more than 30 years.’
McCutchan added, ‘All of our pilots are
former weapons school instructors, either
navy TOPGUN, air force weapons school,
or marine WTIs [weapons and tactics
instructors].’
The back-seater is primarily a sensor
operator. Valkyrie’s aircrew working in
this role are all prior JTACs familiar with
training objectives and experienced in
talking with aircraft and other ground
units. ‘Our JTACs are a mix of marine and
air force veterans,’ McCutchan explained.
TUCANO
TECHS
Valkyrie’s fleet is supported in-house
by a team of highly skilled aviation
maintenance professionals. Explaining
the company’s maintenance set-up,
Todd McCutchan told Combat Aircraft,
‘All of our mechanics are prior military.
Since there’s really nobody in the
US with Tucano experience, we’ve
built that up in-house. We’re on our
second year of maintaining, as well
as modifying the aircraft, so we know
it very well. We have a relationship
with Embraer, so we have some OEM
[original equipment manufacturer]
support as well. They’ve been very
supportive throughout the process.’
In addition to Embraer, Valkyrie
maintains relationships with other
OEMs of systems and components
it uses, such as L3 Wescam, Dillion
Precision, and Honeywell.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 41
21/11/2019 21:00
 INDUSTRY REPORT // CONTRACTED CLOSE AIR SUPPORT
‘All of them are former instructors and
weapons school graduates.’ In addition
to the service they provide in the air, they
provide critical support on the ground,
being able to serve as JTAC instructors
out on the ranges as well. Valkyrie CEO
Keebaugh added, ‘Post-mission, they’re
an extra subject matter expert during
the debrief.’ Though no longer on active
duty, Valkyrie’s operators are held to
internal standards that mirror those
42 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
38-44 Valkyrie Aero C.indd 42
they had to meet in the military, the
company’s training program having to be
periodically inspected by the Department
of Defense (DoD).
McCutchan enthused, ‘We’re really
proud of our people. I’m a big believer
in ‘the company is the people’ and
we’ve got great people here. We have
literally a couple of hundred years of CAS
experience in this company, and probably
over 20,000 hours of close air support
Though they were operated by the French
Air Force exclusively for pilot training,
Valkyrie modified its EMB-312s as modern
attack aircraft, complete with an MX-15
sensor turret mounted on the centerline that
is operated by a JTAC in the rear cockpit.
flight time just in our higher-echelon
leadership levels. We’ve worked hard to
get to where we are.’
Above left: Flags
from all five Operational employment
branches of the During JTAC support missions, the station
US military and
the POW-MIA time, ordnance capabilities, and two-crew
flag flank the concept enable a single aircraft to simulate
American flag multiple aircraft on a single mission. As
hanging in
Valkyrie’s hangar McCutchan explained: ‘Generally speaking,
at Falcon Field. we have the ability to simulate multiple
21/11/2019 21:00
 aircraft because we have multiple crew
members. We can easily simulate up to six
aircraft. Four is very simple, and we can
do six aircraft with each crew member
simulating two additional pilots. The
rear-seater is the sensor operator and the
front-seater is the CAS pilot. You might
be [simulating] a four-ship of ‘Hogs’ and it
just works out.’ With one aircraft, Valkyrie
typically gets the pilot to act as the lead
and number three aircraft, and the back-
seater acts as the number two and four
aircraft, thereby offering a notional flight
of four CAS aircraft.
For every training event the company
supports, Valkyrie’s pilots and JTACs are
deeply involved from long before wheels-
up through to the final mission debrief.
According to McCutchan, ‘We do face-to-
face pre-briefs and debriefs, and we also
record the mission, so we’ve got both the
sensor feed as well as the audio recording
for [analysis].’
Mission-ready from day one
Contract air services have been
supporting the US military for in excess
of two decades. Increased demand for
the kind of support they provide has led
38-44 Valkyrie Aero C.indd 43
Left page insets to the proliferation of new contractors, CCAS contracts
top to bottom: The with each new start-up learning from the This approach has already paid off, as
Dillon Aerospace
7.62 minigun pods experiences of others who came before Valkyrie recently partnered with Textron’s
used by Valkyrie’s them. The most common model for new Airborne Tactical Advantage Company
Tucanos. companies to get a foot in the door is to (ATAC) in a successful bid for the US Navy’s
Valkyrie Aero
bid on a contract with a ‘paper fleet’ — Terminal Attack Controller Training (TACT)
A view through aircraft the company could acquire for program. This contract will see Valkyrie
the L3 Wescam the mission if given the green light. Such putting its Tucanos to work providing
MX-15 sensor
turret that companies only go about the business of CCAS for navy JTACs, alongside ATAC’s
equips Valkyrie’s building assets to meet the demands of Aero Vodochody L-39s and Beechcraft
EMB-312Fs. the contract after it is awarded. AT-6 Wolverines.
The MX-15 is a
proven system This model has worked well, and is a While CCAS is Valkyrie’s core mission,
for day and proven lower-risk strategy, but Valkyrie the company can provide other services
night full-motion decided to take a different approach. that the Tucano lends itself to well.
video and target
designation. Keebaugh explained, ‘We’ve done what Keebaugh said, ‘We’ve got the expertise
Valkyrie Aero no-one has ever done before. We built to do training for FAC-A [forward air
our fleet, our capability, before ever controller — airborne], training for ISR,
Below: Up close
and personal getting a dime from the government. and for personnel recovery’. This past
with the ‘office’ There are several companies in several April, Valkyrie’s crews had an opportunity
of a Valkyrie industries that will go into it safe and to fly contract ISR during a USAF exercise
A-27. With night
vision-compatible put a proposal together about what called ‘Razor’s Edge’ at Davis-Monthan
cockpits in the they would do if they won. We’ve taken AFB, Arizona.
company’s this fleet of aircraft and modified them During the two-week exercise, which
Tucanos and
pilots current to where we could go and operate served as a pre-deployment workup
on NVG flight tomorrow. That way, when we do get the for the pararescuemen (PJs) of the 48th
operations, contract, there’s no build-up time on the Rescue Squadron (RQS), Valkyrie’s Tucanos
Valkyrie can
support JTAC government’s dime. We’ve already done seamlessly filled the roles that would
training deep into that, and I don’t think anyone has done traditionally be assumed by unmanned
the night. that in this industry.’ aerial vehicles such as the MQ-9 Reaper
We approached this
from the standpoint
of, if we’re going to train
JTACs, let’s talk to [them]
and see what they want, and
then we’ll buy the airplane
and equipment that the
JTACs want for their training
Todd McCutchan
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 43
21/11/2019 21:00
 INDUSTRY REPORT // CONTRACTED CLOSE AIR SUPPORT
and CAS aircraft like the A-10. Describing
how Valkyrie supported the exercise,
McCutchan said, ‘We primarily did ISR
and what’s called ECAS — emergency
CAS. We were supporting PJs, so it was a
lot of night flying, a lot of ISR, and a lot of
ECAS as well.’
More recently, Valkyrie supported
a week-long training detachment in
September for a group of NATO JTACs at
the company’s own private range in Texas.
Then on October 18, Valkyrie — again in
partnership with ATAC — was awarded
part of the USAF’s massive Combat Air
Force Contracted Air Support (CAFCAS)
contract. Valued at $6.4 billion and spread
among seven service providers, this will
meet many of the air force’s air-to-air and
JTAC training needs. Valkyrie’s Tucanos
are expected to fly CCAS sorties out of 10
operating locations.
Skin in the Game
Being long-time veterans of the CAS
community, Valkyrie’s pilots and JTACs
have personal connections to the service
members they are supporting, adding an
extra incentive to provide the best training
they can. As Keebaugh said, ‘I personally
know the customer. The guys that we are
supporting are guys that I served with.
They deserve the best training that’s going
to make them more than likely have a
better chance for coming home.’ For other
Valkyrie instructors, the connections
are even more personal. According to
McCutchan, ‘A lot of our pilots also have
44 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
38-44 Valkyrie Aero C.indd 44
brothers who are former Delta [Force] or
sons who are Rangers that are down-
range, so we want to make sure that
we are putting out the highest-quality
product we possibly can.’
Regardless of professional or familial
connections, Valkyrie aims to provide
the very best in contract CAS and JTAC
instruction. McCutchan stated, ‘We set the
bar very high for ourselves. Ultimately, our
goal is to ensure that JTACs are current
and that they are proficient, so that when
they deploy they have a better chance of
coming home and bringing their friends
home with them. That’s something we
take very seriously, and it’s something that
is at the core of the company.’
Evolution and expansion
Looking towards the future, McCutchan
sees the need for CCAS developing further.
He said, ‘We think the contract CAS market
will continue to grow exponentially over
the next few years. This is something that
I think the government has figured out,
that it is incredibly wasteful monetarily,
and with man-hours, maintenance hours,
blade hours, and all that together to go
out and train JTACs with F-35s, F-16s, and
F-18s. We think that about an 80:20 mix
is around the right ratio for having guys
being able to be proficient, current, and
then also work with [military assets] so
they can see the real thing and stay good
with the real thing as well.’
With a growing résumé of successfully
executed contracts and continued
upgrading of the company’s fleet
(including the forthcoming addition
of Link 16 to further enhance digital
interoperability), and with the recent
partnership with ATAC, Valkyrie seems
poised to prove its worth.
In addition to traveling where needed
to support training, Valkyrie has its own
facility. Keebaugh said, ‘We’ve also got
a range in Texas — 252 square miles of
privately owned land where we’re building
target villages. We’ve got a runway,
lodging, and the ability to feed people out
there. We’ve got rotary-wing support built
in, role-players at the ready, and military
vehicles that can be used.’ Along with
providing an immersive pre-deployment
training environment, this facility could
ease scheduling pressures on the few
military ranges designated for JTAC
One of Valkyrie’s
ex-RAF S312s, training in the US.
serial ZF267 — Valkyrie’s leadership is confident that
now registered
N267TC — on the
the company brings the perfect mix of
ramp in front of expertise, mission-suitable hardware,
the company’s technology, safety, and affordability to the
hangar at Falcon
CCAS mission to make it a peer-leading
Field. Though
the EMB-312 and solution to two burgeoning problems.
S312 share a Summarizing what he thinks Valkyrie’s
common pedigree
combination brings to the CCAS mission,
and have similar
capabilities, there McCutchan told Combat Aircraft, ‘Our
are in excess of average [JTAC] controls per hour are much
900 differences
higher than the military can produce, and
between the two
Tucano variants. we think that we’re higher than any of our
The current focus competitors as well. That’s because of the
of Valkyrie’s
efficiency and capabilities of the aircraft
upgrade efforts
is the company’s and the technologies that are integrated
EMB-312F fleet. into them.’
21/11/2019 21:01
 uS NAV Y & MARINE CORPS SPECIAL

air power YEARBOOK 2019

AIRCRAFT • PERSONNEL • SQUADRONS • MISSIONS • PROGRAMS
Welcome to the 2019 edition of the

US NAVY & US Navy and Marine Corps Air Power

Yearbook. This annual bookazine

Marine CoRps
AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2019
aims to deliver a round-up of the
most exciting action from the ranks
of two of the world’s premier air
arms, including insightful interviews
and reporting from the cutting edge
of naval aviation.

• TOPGUN AT 50 YEARS OLD

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And much more!

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 BIG SHOT // HELLENIC AIR FORCE F-4E

Yes, there is still front-line fighter action out there that isn’t F-35-related! The reign of ‘classic’ fighters continues in some air arms,
illustrated here by a wonderful nocturnal image of a Hellenic Air Force F-4E(AUP) Phantom II and aircrew from 338 Mira at Andravida
— Greece’s last unit operating the fabulous ‘Rhino’. In the coming months, Combat Aircraft will be hot on the trail of the world’s last
remaining active-duty F-4s with stunning exclusive coverage. Rich Cooper

48 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

48-49 Big Shot new C.indd 48 21/11/2019 21:01

 www.Key.Aero // January 2020 49

48-49 Big Shot new C.indd 49 21/11/2019 21:01

 TOPGUN
THE REAL STORY
The long-awaited sequel to the movie Top Gun is released in June
2020, but it will be a Hollywood depiction of what happens at the US
Navy Fighter Weapons School. Combat Aircraft tells the story of the
real TOPGUN — a school of combat excellence in the high desert.

REPORT AND PHOTOS Jamie Hunter and Richard Collens

M
ENTION THE TERM
TOPGUN and many will
immediately recount a
line or refer to a scene
from the 1986 Hollywood
blockbuster starring Tom
Cruise. Some 34 years later, the eagerly
awaited sequel is placing the spotlight
firmly back on the US Navy Fighter
Weapons School (NFWS), the formal
name for this surprisingly publicity-shy
organization. With its 50th anniversary in
2019, the real TOPGUN is focused on the
mission at hand — creating the world’s
greatest fighter pilots. Yet from both sides
of the silver screen, this famous school is
once again locking an exemplary public
image of US naval aviation into the minds
of millions.
‘TOPGUN is special because everyone
around you is just so talented — so driven
and dedicated to the mission — that you
don’t want to let them down,’ says CDR
Timothy ‘Ain’t’ Myers, the current ‘skipper’
of TOPGUN. Now officially a department
within the Naval Aviation Warfighting
Development Center (NAWDC) at NAS
Fallon in northern Nevada, TOPGUN has
retained its identity through numerous
trials and tribulations over its half-century
of existence.
Unlike the movie, there is no
competition for the students arriving
at TOPGUN. Myers explains, ‘It’s not
competitive in the sense of trying to beat
someone. You are literally trying to live
up to them. We are all on the same side of
this team, all pulling in the same direction
— it’s still an extremely competitive
environment, but not from a
head-to-head standpoint. This
is more collaborative.
Every one of these
students
wants to

50 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 50 21/11/2019 21:01

 One of the Naval Aviation
Warfighting Development
Center’s F-16As flies with
an F/A-18C. Both serve
as adversary aircraft
and are flown by TOPGUN
instructors.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 51

50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 51 21/11/2019 21:01

 SQUADRON SHOWCASE // US NAVY FIGHTER WEAPONS SCHOOL
TOPGUN missions typically include course aircrews flying
standard fleet jets, accompanied by instructors in NAWDC
aircraft such as this F/A-18C, but they also use the visiting
aircraft if they are flying as a wingman to the students.
be the best and they are challenged to be (WSOs) who, upon graduation, are posted
better every single day.’ to either the TOPGUN staff, Strike staff at
TOPGUN runs three 13-week student NAWDC, an east or west coast weapons
courses each year with aviators who school, a fleet replacement squadron
are hand-picked from fleet squadrons. (FRS), or to Test and Developmental Below: ‘Hop’
‘Sometimes we’ll have as many as 14 or Squadron Nine (VX-9). SFTIs are complete, a
15 students [per class] when you count designated as squadron training officers, TOPGUN BFM
instructor heads
our two-seat aircraft,’ explains Myers. who prepare for deployments and keep back to the Fleet
‘That’s 42-45 TOPGUN graduates per year their units abreast of new tactics. Training Building,
[who] then go back to the fleet to raise TOPGUN patch-wearers are at the heart which houses
TOPGUN as well
the level of instruction there.’ TOPGUN of fleet squadrons, as LT Matt ‘Magic as the HAVOC
teaches the Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Mutt’ Buss explained to Combat Aircraft: EA-18G Growler,
(SFTI) course, dedicated to maintaining ‘The guys with a TOPGUN patch on their TOPDOME E-2
Hawkeye and
standards across the fleet. It’s aimed at shoulder are extremely professional SEAWOLF MH-60
pilots and weapons systems officers and they set the pace for the squadron.’ weapons schools.
52 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 52
Buss is a recent graduate of the course,
and was selected to remain at Fallon to
join the TOPGUN staff as an instructor.
Reflecting on his path to being accepted
as a student, he says, ‘You need to have
completed your first fleet tour and be
a division [four-ship] leader with all the
right qualifications, plus have supporting
letters of recommendation. When you
hear you’re accepted you have about six
months to get ready. Fleet squadrons
do a great job of preparing the students,
making sure you’re not hit by a fire hose
when you come here initially. No matter
how much preparation you do, the quality
of instruction and the difficulty of the
flights here are unmatched.
‘You get one warm-up flight when
you first arrive, which is usually a local
familiarization, but your first ‘hop’ on
the course is ‘BFM one’ [basic fighter
maneuvering, flight one], leading a
TOPGUN instructor. It counts at that
point and the stakes are high. Literally
everything you do is judged. You have
to meet their standard and a big portion
of the learning is realizing your mistakes
and showing what could have been
done to prevent them. Then you have to
teach that to the instructor. So much of
being a patch-wearer is about being a
good teacher.’
The TOPGUN charter
TOPGUN was established in 1969 as a
response to the Ault Report, which found
that training across the US Navy was not
where it needed to be, recommending
21/11/2019 21:02
 the establishment of a fighter weapons
school dedicated to teaching individual
1-v-1 aerial combat. Myers says, ‘That was
really the start of TOPGUN’s charter —
training aviators that are able to teach and
instruct the rest of the fleet to accelerate
the learning throughout the US Navy.’ Over
the years, TOPGUN’s model has changed.
It started 50 years ago as a multiple-week
course but has now expanded into a
multiple-month course, currently standing
at 13 weeks. It has also evolved from
mainly 1-v-1 air combat — ‘dogfighting’
— into section (two-ship) and division
(four-ship) tactics. Myers adds, ‘While we’re
focusing on individual mechanics and
the combat employment of our aircraft in
both the air-to-ground and the air-to-air
TOPGUN’s F-16s are Block 15 A/B
models that were destined for
Pakistan but were embargoed.
Unlike the earlier F110-GE-100-
powered F-16N adversary aircraft
that were retired by 1995, the
current jets have Pratt & Whitney
F100 engines.
50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 53
environment we will also instruct each finished with their first tour in the fleet
one of our students on the ways that they will put in an application package to
they can continue to teach the tactics, TOPGUN, which — along with the east
Above left to right: techniques and procedures that they learn and west coast weapons schools as well
Larger missions
towards the end at the class to others. as other constituencies, including the test
of the course ‘Selection of our students has absolutely community — will parse through and pick
see the TOPGUN changed throughout the years. When the best and most qualified for the class.
instructors being
supplemented TOPGUN was first established, basically Once they are accepted to TOPGUN they
with either the squadron commanding officer would are assigned follow-on orders to either
contract be ‘convinced’ to give up a couple of their one of those weapons schools, the test
adversaries or by
the resident F-5s aviators for a period of time to get the community, NAWDC Strike or potentially
of VFC-13. extra training. They would provide them to stay on as TOPGUN instructors, and
to TOPGUN, which would train them then they will serve an entire two-and-
Although F/A-18Cs
have all been for several weeks in aerial combat and a-half to three-year tour in an instructor
retired by fleet then return them to the fleet. What has capacity at one of those schools.
units, NAWDC changed over the years is that TOPGUN ‘Talent goes beyond performance in
retains a large
fleet of these students are really on a continuation the aircraft. While talent in the aircraft
aircraft. of a career model. Once students have is fundamental to credibility, it must
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 53
21/11/2019 21:02
 SQUADRON SHOWCASE // US NAVY FIGHTER WEAPONS SCHOOL

go further. We need people who are the F-4 Phantom II, the F-14 Tomcat and Right: Wearing
credible, humble, approachable and today in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the trademark
light blue T-shirt
hard-working. Talented instructors who TOPGUN remains weighted towards and black
are intellectually curious and outstanding air-to-air. Myers says, ‘It’s still the Navy flying boots,
teachers. All of these talents together Fighter Weapons School and our charter a TOPGUN
instructor
make for a rounded human being who is is to ensure the fleet is ready for air-to- walks away
also excellent in an aircraft.’ air combat. We do have a significant from a
period of air-to-surface training as well, mission in
BFM — the foundation but for the most part it’s an air-to-air
one of
NAWDC’s
of TOPGUN weapons school.’ ‘vanilla’
Despite the evolution of naval fighter The TOPGUN course is divided into F/A-18Fs.
aviation over the past 50 years, through four phases: basic fighter maneuvering

54 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 54 21/11/2019 21:02

 (BFM), air-to-surface, section (two-ship) able to fight the aircraft. It starts with
While talent and division (four-ship). Each runs for the student being offensive, so as the

in the aircraft between three and three-and-a-half

weeks, except for air-to-surface, which
instructor I’m the defender [out front]
and I’m trying to maneuver my aircraft

is fundamental to lasts only two weeks. All phases are

conducted at Fallon, except for BFM,
credibility, it must which involves TOPGUN detaching to
either NAS Lemoore or MCAS Miramar in
go further. We need California, or NAS Oceana, Virginia.
LT James ‘Brolemic’ Gibbons is a BFM
people who are instructor on the TOPGUN staff. He says,
‘When the school was founded in 1969,
credible, humble, most of the engagements were WVR
in order to deny them that position
— they’ve got to make the correct
decisions based on how my aircraft is
maneuvering. If they make an error I will
look to capitalize on that as quickly as
possible. We repeat each flight multiple
times because it’s likely the first time
they’re exposed to ‘slick’ airplanes — we
kick the pylons off in order to improve

approachable [within visual range], so the primary

focus was to teach aviators to maneuver
aerodynamic performance and we are
flying close to sea level in denser air,

and hard-working. to employ their weapon successfully.

BFM is the foundation of the school —
Talented instructors we build everything upon what we learn
in that and it can be applied to the air-
who are intellectually to-air concepts that we have later on in
the class, be that in a division of aircraft,
curious and or beyond. As you go from BVR [beyond
visual range] to WVR you have to know
outstanding how to maneuver your aircraft and
with a greater thrust-to-weight ratio. We
then move to defensive BFM and the
roles are reversed; then into high aspect
[head-to-head].’
Aside from a handful of US Marine Corps
students in ‘classic’ Hornets, the US Navy
crews all now fly Super Hornets, although
the F-35 will be added to the class from
January 2020. The students fly fleet

teachers how to take advantage of the threat’s

mistakes and turn that into an offensive
aircraft that are borrowed from the
front line and are preferably in
advantage for you. the latest configuration.
CDR Timothy
‘We begin with the BFM phase, which
‘Ain’t’ Myers
is designed to introduce students
to maneuvering the aircraft at 7.5g
while maintaining sight and being

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 55

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 SQUADRON SHOWCASE // US NAVY FIGHTER WEAPONS SCHOOL
In the BFM phase they initially fly
against similar types. However, the
NAWDC F-16A/B ‘Vipers’ are then drafted
in with BFM instructors so the students
can fight against a dissimilar aircraft
that has a significantly higher thrust-to-
weight ratio.
This is all about live flights. At present
there are no Super Hornet simulators
at Fallon, as Gibbons explains: ‘Right
now with respect to BFM it’s difficult to
simulate the environment because the
effect of g is significant. Under 7.5g in a
defensive break turn, trying to assess the
nose position of another aircraft while
trying to keep the lights on is relatively
difficult. That’s why we put so much
emphasis on the flying.’
Reflecting on BFM from a student
perspective, Buss recalls, ‘BFM is very
difficult right up front because of
the shock factor. It’s the introduction
to what the standards are. Having
everything you do on a one-hour
flight put under the microscope, you’re
56 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 56
constantly evaluating where you could
have improved.’
Staying on the staff
Having successfully completed the
TOPGUN class, Buss got his number
one choice of staying on at Fallon to
become a TOPGUN instructor, which is
a full three-year tour and reflects the
complexity of the task at hand. ‘They say,
‘Congratulations on getting your patch,
now the hard work begins’.’
Once pilots join the staff they receive
the trademark light blue T-shirt and
initially train to get a ‘Red Air’ adversary
qualification, so they can fly as a
wingman on those missions. They are
then assigned a ‘smee’, which means
they will become a subject matter expert
(SME) in a particular area. Buss says,
‘I am going to be the AIM-9 and aerial
gunnery SME.’ This gets handed down
as instructors move on and essentially
entails becoming the single point of
contact for all things related to the
subject area. Buss adds, ‘A lot of it is just
about timing. The SME topics are all
extremely complex and executed to the
exacting TOPGUN standard — it’s why
the process is infamous for how difficult
it is. Right now I’m reading everything
the current SME has written, looking
at what has changed, absorbing as
much knowledge as possible. The only
interface I have with the students in this
current class is as an adversary. Probably
even the next class will be the same
because I’ll be going through my ‘murder
board’ process.’
Of the 42 instructors on the TOPGUN
staff, a small portion are like Buss who
have recently graduated the course and
are undergoing the process of becoming The first TOPGUN
SMEs. That involves compiling their mission of the day
lecture and all the research required to is launched at
dawn, such is the
be the TOPGUN expert on that topic, in need to maximise
order to then be able to teach this to the the day’s flying.
students. Building the lecture is crucial TOPGUN does
not fly any night
and is achieved through an ominous missions during
process of ‘pre-boards’ given to a hyper- the course.
21/11/2019 21:02
 critical panel of seasoned instructors,
as preparation for the ultimate ‘murder
board’, which is delivered to the entire
staff and then critiqued in extraordinary
levels of detail. Successful completion
of the murder board means the
individual is qualified as the SME for their
particular area.
Under 7.5g in a defensive break turn, trying to assess the nose
position of another aircraft while trying to keep the lights on is
relatively difficult. That’s why we put so much emphasis on the flying
LT James ‘Brolemic’ Gibbons
50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 57
This all happens in parallel with the
start of IUT — instructor under training.
Buss says, ‘In order to complete IUT you
have to progress meticulously through
each phase of the course, essentially
going back through the entire course
several times to be polished enough to
actually instruct the students.’
LT Orion ‘Sid’ Kelly is the current air-to-
surface fundamentals SME. ‘I completed
the class in December 2018 [and] started
working on staff in January. As a junior
instructor the majority of the flying is ‘Red
Air’ as you haven’t yet got your instructor
quals. I got my ‘Red’ then air-to-surface
instructor qualification, and next will
be BFM. Towards the end of your time
on staff is usually when the guys get
division. Throughout the entire time on
staff you’re continuing to work on your
qualifications to teach the various flights.
‘The BFM instructors on staff have
seen every error there is to be made
and they’re at the point where they’re
maneuvering the aircraft with muscle
memory. It’s eye-opening how much
work goes into creating a BFM instructor
pilot to get to that level of proficiency.’
The IUT syllabus for each phase is
extremely thorough. Every instructor
at TOPGUN will have flown upwards
of 60 flights in BFM just to become an
instructor.
Maintaining the standard
With more than 4,000 graduates of
TOPGUN over its 50 years, there is zero
doubt over the credibility that comes
the day these aviators earn their patch.
Myers says, ‘Our credibility is derived
from the efforts and the representation
— the blood, sweat and tears — of those
that have gone before us. We are very
conscious of our history.
‘We have never been asked to lower
or to compromise the very high bar that
we have set, so I can confidently say that
when you graduate from TOPGUN you
have met a very stringent requirement.
The fact that our leadership supports our
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 57
21/11/2019 21:03
 SQUADRON SHOWCASE // US NAVY FIGHTER WEAPONS SCHOOL
standards is certainly indicative of the
fact that they support our mission.’
When asked about the impact of the
new movie on TOPGUN’s mission, Myers
remarked, ‘We focus primarily on the job
at hand: training the next generation of
Strike Fighter Tactics Instructors. It helps
that we’re very busy, which means we
don’t have time to sit and bask in the
spotlight. We are also very confident
in our identity and appreciate that the
original Top Gun movie is a Hollywood
rendition of the school.’ While a new
movie is surely good news for navy
recruitment and overall morale, any talk
of it at Fallon is quickly diverted back
to the importance of the training and
the mission.
It’s an evolving picture at TOPGUN as
the first F-35 students arrive in January,
breaking a collegiate cycle of Hornet
and Super Hornet training and adding
overall complexity to the syllabus. Myers
58 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 58
says, ‘I see the school becoming a bit type’s suitability to the suppression of
more focused on the integrated fourth enemy air defenses (SEAD) role.
and fifth-generation fight, whilst still Reflecting on the developments ahead,
maintaining the dedication that we Myers says, ‘When I flew the F-14, I
have to individual aircrew performance, remember F-4 pilots talking about how
because that’s really what the Ault easy it was to fly an F-14 — now it’s the
Report talked about. Regardless of the most difficult airplane I’ve ever landed on
schemes, no matter what the strategic an aircraft carrier. Every modernization
employment of the force might look like, is a significant step-change. The
individuals in their warfighting platforms incorporation of the F/A-18 into TOPGUN
make a difference. Making sure that you
are focused on individual training and
raising the level of every one of those
individuals makes the collective a much
more powerful fighting force.’
NAWDC will receive two F-35s in the
summer of 2020, with F-35Bs and Cs from
the US Marine Corps and US Navy coming
in for each class. TOPGUN has no present
plans to fly F-35s as adversaries. The
air-to-surface focus of the F-35 is likely to
herald a tweaked syllabus compared with
the Super Hornet, especially given the
22/11/2019 14:00
 was an advance, and these progressions
always create new opportunities and
challenges, and open up mission sets
that were previously closed. This is the
next challenge. Change brings risk and
we’re mindful of that fact. We’re currently
executing a dry run of [the] F-35 syllabus
in this class right now with just TOPGUN
instructors. We are dedicated to the
quality of the product we provide in
the class, we can’t experiment with the
implementation of this platform.
‘In my humble opinion Strike Fighter
Tactics Instructors — the product
of TOPGUN — are the soul of naval
aviation. We have a huge impact on the
direction and tactics, driving combat
excellence, which is ultimately our
mission, to be ready to conduct prompt
and sustained combat operations at
sea. TOPGUN has created the people
who drive the navy’s mission every
single day.’

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to

thank CDR Timothy Myers, LT Alex Beasley, LT Matt
Buss, LT Benjamin Witt, Mr ‘Zip’ Upham and all at
TOPGUN for their assistance in the preparation of
this feature. Left page:
This F/A-18C is
assigned to the
NAWDC and is
flown by TOPGUN
instructors as
an adversary
aircraft.

Left page inset:

TOPGUN
Instructors step
from the Fleet
Training Building,
where the school
is located, to the
hangar to get
kitted up before
walking to the jets
on the adjacent
flight line.

Left top to bottom:

A TOPGUN
instructor in an
F/A-18C waits for
two students to
taxi past for the
morning ‘go’.

A sight many
students see
in their mirrors
— an instructor
bearing down
in an adversary
F/A-18C.

A student flying
a loaned VFA-2
F/A‑18F with a
GBU-12, recovers
to Fallon during
the air-to-ground
phase.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 59

50-59 TOPGUN C.indd 59 22/11/2019 14:00

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 COMBAT REPORT // ‘ATLANTIC RESOLVE’

Part of the European Reassurance Initiative, ‘Atlantic Resolve’ has seen a series of large US Army
deployments to Europe, with the latest example getting under way in October.

REPORT AND PHOTOS Dino van Doorn

T
HE US ARMY’S 3rd Combat is part of a renewed US commitment to
Aviation Brigade from peace, security and stability in Europe
Hunter Army Airfield in through deployments that are generally
Georgia set foot in Europe focused on central and eastern Europe.
at the port of Zeebrugge, These rotations are overseen by the
Belgium, on October 16, as mission command element, a regionally
its helicopters started unloading from aligned headquarters based in Poznan,
the ARC Endurance. It was the start of Poland, and there are approximately
a nine-month rotation in support of 6,000 soldiers participating in OAR at
This image:
‘Atlantic Resolve’. The 3rd CAB’s 3rd any given time. 3rd Combat
Infantry Division is replacing the 1st CAB To date, four different US Army CABs Aviation Brigade
Apache and
‘Demon’, which is heading home to Fort have deployed to Europe.
Black Hawks in
Riley, Kansas. Capt Philippe De Cock, the Belgian Zeebrugge during
Part of the European Reassurance Navy commander of the province of October having
been offloaded
Initiative (ERI) that came into effect in West Flanders, explained to Combat
from the ARC
2014, Operation ‘Atlantic Resolve’ (OAR) Aircraft, ‘Our services as host nation are Endurance.

62 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

62-63 Atlantic Resolve C.indd 62 21/11/2019 21:03

 to co-ordinate the support of various Unit Home base Start End Arrival port Departure port
American ministries and officials, such 10th Mountain Fort Drum, October
March 2017 Bremerhaven Rotterdam
Division New York 2017
as the security of this part of the port,
1st Cavalry October
supplied by Belgian soldiers, but also Fort Hood, Texas June 2018 Zeebrugge Zeebrugge
Division 2017
the supply of fuel and fire safety for 4th Infantry
Fort Carson, Texas July 2018
January
Rotterdam Rotterdam
Division 2019
the unloaded US Army equipment in
1st Infantry January October
our harbor.’ Division
Fort Riley, Kansas
2019 2019
Zeebrugge Rotterdam
On average, 80 helicopters are shipped 3rd Infantry October
Hunter AAF, Georgia July 2020 Zeebrugge -
for an OAR deployment, and they are Division 2019

offloaded at one of the major ports

in Europe. In order to test different
logistical routes and the capacity of
European ports, the US Army has moved
equipment through Bremerhaven,
Rotterdam and Zeebrugge on previous
deployments, with Alexandropoulos and
Volos in Greece having handled a small
number of helicopters as well. The vast
ARC (American roll-on, roll-off carrier)
Endurance is able to accommodate
and disgorge all of the helicopters in a
single day — they typically consist of 12
CH-47F Chinooks, 24 AH-64E Apaches,
38 UH-60 Black Hawks and 12 HH-60
medevac Black Hawks. Once offloaded,
the aircraft are immediately readied
for a short flight to a nearby staging
airport for a so-called ‘tech stop’ before
continuing on to their destination field.
This rotation is slightly unusual in that
the CAB only unloaded eight AH-64Ds,
four CH-47Fs and 25 UH-60/HH-60s at
Zeebrugge, with a second shipment
heading for Volos to support the major
effort in Bulgaria and Romania. These
assets will then gradually move north
into central Europe in order to take part
in ‘Defender Europe 20’ during April and
May — the largest planned deployment
of US-based forces to the area in the
past 25 years.

Top to bottom:
The 3rd CAB
takes in three
flying battalions
including 2-3
Avn that flies the
UH-60L (seen
here), UH-60M
and CH-47F.

Having been
offloaded, the
helicopters are
readied for a short
flight to a nearby
airfield.

AH-64D serial
07-07046 of
3-17 Cav on the
dockside at
Zeebrugge.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 63

62-63 Atlantic Resolve C.indd 63 21/11/2019 21:03

 64 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

64-71 Meridian C.indd 64 21/11/2019 21:03

 The US Navy was struggling to train new aviators amid big problems
with its Boeing T-45 Goshawks in 2017. But with those problems fixed,
training is back on track, thanks to a number of new initiatives.
REPORT AND PHOTOS Andy Wolfe

A VT-7 T-45C
holds close
formation during
a training mission
out of NAS
Meridian.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 65

64-71 Meridian C.indd 65 21/11/2019 21:03

 UNIT REPORT // TRAINING WING ONE
T
HE SPRAWLING FORESTS of
central Mississippi are unlikely
surroundings for a naval air
station, but away from the
US Navy’s more traditionally
located bases is NAS Meridian,
home to Training Wing One (TRAWING
ONE). A pair of squadrons sit under this
organization — VT-7 ‘Eagles’ and VT-9
‘Tigers’, which operate nearly 100 Boeing
T-45C Goshawks. More than half of all
naval aviators destined to fly carrier-
based aircraft (E-2, EA-18G, C-2A, F/A-
18E/F, F-35C, AV-8B) come to Meridian
to earn their coveted wings of gold.
Students arrive having completed their
first phase of training in the T-6 Texan II
at either NAS Whiting Field, Florida, or
Corpus Christi, Texas, and spend some
52 weeks at Meridian flying around 150
hours in the Goshawk, interspersed with
66 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
64-71 Meridian C.indd 66
simulator ‘rides’ and lectures. Roughly
150 pilots each year earn their wings
here — it’s a crucial node in the training
pipeline that provides junior officers for
fleet squadrons.
Following an ‘operational pause’ in 2017
while the navy addressed physiological
issues in the T-45C, maximizing pilot
throughput is more important then ever
amid retention issues in a world where
airlines are hiring and greater pay and
quality of life are luring people out of the
military. The increased demand signal on
naval training following the T-45 pause
has been a huge challenge for TRAWING
ONE, according to CDR Brandon ‘Billy’
Ray, the Flight Instructor Training Unit
(FITU) officer in charge (OIC) here. With
a large quantity of students stacked
up, the wing has worked through
the backlog and got back on track
throughout 2019, which is testament to
the hard work of the staff.
Getting results
One of the key enablers to breaking
the backlog and actually increasing
pilot training efficiency was the
establishment of the FITU in January
2018. Prior to this, the training syllabus
for instructors was far more informal
and located within the individual VT
squadrons. During a normal 36-month
instructor tour, the first four to six
months were spent getting fully
qualified as an instructor. Following the
formation and integration of the formal
FITU at TRAWING ONE, the instructor
qualifications are taking less than three
months, netting a 24 per cent reduction
in the time required to qualify. The
impact of this has been huge for a training
community that was essentially shut
down for more than three months.
The US Navy approach to instructor
training has differed significantly
from the USAF philosophy of having a
separate and dedicated training wing
for instructors. The wing at Randolph
AFB, Texas, commonly known as pilot
instructor training (PIT), serves as the
only schoolhouse for air force instructors
in the T-38 Talon, T-1 Jayhawk and T-6A Left top top to
Texan II. Ray went through Randolph from bottom:
A dedicated
2003-05 prior to a tour in the T-37 ‘Tweet’, instructor pilot
and says, ‘Even though there is an entirely pipeline has
different instructor training philosophy dramatically
improved
with the different services, one is not productivity.
necessarily better than the other. They
are just different approaches to creating Three Goshawks
lined up on the
a qualified instructor.’ Ray is now on his Meridian runway.
third spell teaching in the T-45 and was The pace of
an ideal candidate to set up the FITU. operations here
means that as
‘There were many obstacles to overcome many as 150
during the establishment of the FITU since sorties a day is
it was a dramatic culture shift from how standard.
[navy] instructor training was completed Right page
previously.’ clockwise from
There are more than 80 full-time top:
A T-45C performs
instructors assigned to the various a carrier break
organizations at Meridian, with around into the pattern at
35 in each squadron and 10 more on the Meridian.
wing staff. Of those 80 instructors, about CDR Brandon
15 per cent are standardization pilots ‘Billy’ Ray is the
who are assigned to the FITU to train new commander of
the new Flight
instructors and serve as NATOPS (Naval Instructor Training
Air Training and Operating Procedures Unit (FITU) at
Standardization) evaluators. In addition, Meridian.
16 US Navy Reserve instructor pilots (IPs) With the safety
fly eight to 10 days per month to each issues behind
offer 100 hours of valuable tuition. Since the T-45C, the
navy has worked
TRAWING ONE flies a whopping 150 hard to clear the
training sorties each day, these reserve trainee backlog.
21/11/2019 21:04
 TRAWING ONE will continue
to look at ways to improve
training and instruction via increased
efficiency as well as implementing
new technology like augmented reality
and virtual reality
CAPT Nick Mungas

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 67

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 UNIT REPORT // TRAINING WING ONE
instructors are crucial for continuity,
especially when factoring the natural
turn-over in active-duty staff every year.
This can equate to anything up to one
third of the staff billets.
Professional flight
instructor
Another new program at Meridian is
that of the professional flight instructor.
This is designed for O-4 and O-5 officer
ranks who have completed their
department head tours. It’s a new
career path for pilots who want to stop
pursuing a command track and would
prefer to focus on flying in their next
assignment. They come to the wing
to become experienced senior-level
instructors who fly events without
extra command and leadership
development responsibilities.
The program was started
as a retention enabler
based on feedback
from navy
A crisp echelon of T-45Cs from VT-7, one of
the two squadrons at Meridian.
68 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
64-71 Meridian C.indd 68
and marine pilots, many of whom were
leaving after department head tours
when their service obligation was
complete and they could easily walk out
the door to the civilian job market.
Mirroring the case throughout the
US services in recent years, the high
operational tempo coupled with lucrative
career opportunities outside the military
have made it difficult to retain precious
aircrew. This has spurred the services to
rethink traditional options and career
paths for more senior pilots, in order to
keep them in assignments that benefit
the navy as well as the individual.
The navy is coming at the problem
from a number of angles, additionally
using the selectively retained graduate
(SERGRAD) initiative to strengthen the
instructor cadre at Meridian. SERGRADs
stay at Meridian for a year after they
are winged to serve as instructors prior
to heading to the fleet replacement
squadron (FRS). It’s an approach that’s
worked for the USAF, where they are
known as FAIPs — first assignment
instructor pilots. Even though it’s
currently a small number of officers, it’s
working well and will likely continue.
A blend of experience
The instructor cadre at TRAWING ONE is
a melting pot of experience from various
fleet platforms, not just fighters. It’s not
unusual to find E-2 Hawkeye, P-3 Orion
or E-6 Mercury experience here, even
though they have no prior T-45 flight
time. CAPT Nick Mungas, commodore
of TRAWING ONE says, ‘This diverse
instructor corps provides a high-quality
training program for the students that
includes a variety of perspectives beyond
a single aircraft community.’
Despite the recent troubles, T-45C
training at Meridian will go on well into
the future as the expected airframe life
of the aircraft is currently set at 14,400
hours, thanks to a fleet-wide service life
extension program (SLEP). Goshawks are
due to fly into the early 2040s, but eyes
21/11/2019 21:04
 THE FRENCH
CONNECTION
Coalition partnerships on the battlefield
filter down into training command. Not
only does TRAWING ONE host students
from Italy, France and the UK, but there
are international instructors on staff,
too. Currently, there are three foreign
instructors in the cadre of VT-7 and
VT-9. Two French pilots fly with VT-7,
while one British pilot teaches at VT-9. Lt
‘Chico’ is from the French Navy (Marine
Nationale) and is on exchange for two
64-71 Meridian C.indd 69
years. He previously flew the Super
Étendard and Rafale M. Approximately
five foreign students complete training
at Meridian every year, with three to
four international instructors on the
staff at any given time. The relationship
permeates through operations on the
front line. Indeed, ‘Chico’ recounts how
he once buddy-refueled from a US
Navy Super Hornet and that mutual
understanding and joint co-operation
is aided greatly by the grass roots level
work at Meridian: ‘All French carrier strike
pilots go through Meridian for training
in the T-45C,’ he says. ‘Here, they earn
their initial carrier qualifications [CQs] in
addition to their wings.’
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 69
21/11/2019 21:04
 UNIT REPORT // TRAINING WING ONE
are already on a replacement requirement
that will likely kick off in the early 2030s.
Interestingly, since the C-2 Greyhound
is being retired in favor of the Bell-
Boeing CMV-22 Osprey in the carrier
on-board delivery (COD) role, it is
forecast that there will be slightly less
demand for the Goshawk’s services in
the 2020s. Additionally, with the advent
of technology such as Magic Carpet
in the Super Hornet/Growler as well
as the Delta Flight Path in the F-35C,
the carrier qualification (CQ) phase of
training is likely to be adjusted. There are
already considerations to reduce the CQ
requirements for fleet F-35 and Super
Hornet pilots, and this will probably have
an effect on the training community.
The T-45C lacks fly-by-wire controls
and therefore cannot be upgraded with
an equivalent flight control system that
mirrors that of the fleet fighters. However,
the strategic approach to this complex
training is to be re-evaluated and it will
feed heavily into the T-45 replacement Left top to bottom:
project in the longer term. The US Navy has
CQ accounts for roughly a third of the initiated a number
of programs
entire T-45C syllabus and there is scope designed to retain
to employ new technology to train new experience in its
naval aviators more efficiently. Mungas ranks.
says, ‘TRAWING ONE will continue to The T-45C has
look at ways to improve training and received fixes
instruction via increased efficiency as for the oxygen
flow issues that
well as implementing new technology caused major
like augmented reality and virtual reality.’ problems in 2017,
There is a clear recognition that there a back-up system
now being fitted.
are opportunities for improvement even
when success is prevalent — and there’s The T-45C is
a strong expectation that student and set to remain in
service for many
instructor training will continue to evolve more years, with
over the remaining life of the T-45C. a replacement
project not slated
to start until
early in the next
decade.

Right top to
bottom:
Getting
airborne from
Meridian. Carrier
qualifications
form a significant
portion of the
training course
on the T-45,
and the navy is
looking to simplify
this through
technology in the
future.

T-45C BuNo
165598/101
in its special
markings for the
commander of
TRAWING ONE.
US Navy

70 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

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 SPECIAL
MARKINGS
In the summer of 2018, the leadership at
TRAWING ONE had the idea to paint one
of the T-45s in a patriotic scheme. The
T-45Cs have a nine-year paint cycle, so
there were options for special schemes
on jets assigned here, but the chief of
naval air training (CNATRA) limits the
number of ‘deviated paint schemes’
allowed for each wing. When one of
these specially painted jets came up for
its nine-year makeover, it was used as
64-71 Meridian C.indd 71
an opportunity to do something new.
LT Scott ‘Hooker’ Hook floated an initial
concept to the wing leadership in the fall
of 2018 and, after several adjustments
and tweaks, it was approved and went
for paint at the beginning of 2019. BuNo
165598, coded 101, rolled out of the
Meridian paint shop in February 2019
bearing a unique design that includes
the ‘Betsy Ross flag’ painted on the speed
brakes as well as extensive red, white and
blue paint. In an era of drab schemes and
a lack of color on navy jets, it’s good to
see that some senior officers recognize
the value of special schemes and make
an active push to paint jets and involve
aircrew in these initiatives.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 71
21/11/2019 21:04
 In 1986, Helmut Schelchshorn
underwent transition training from the
F-104G to the F-4F, a type his son was
to fly as one of the last ever Luftwaffe
pilots to train on the Phantom II.

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 One family’s history charts a remarkable story of the Luftwaffe, from the
F-104G Starfighter, through to the F-4F and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
REPORT AND PHOTOS Stefan Petersen
T
HE LUFTWAFFE OF Federal
Germany has existed for more
than 60 years, and in some
cases the grandsons of its
initial pilots now occupy the
front-line cockpits of today.
There are father and son pairs who have
logged flight time on the same type
of jet — sometimes even in the same
wing. That goes for Helmut and Philipp
Schelchshorn, who both flew the F-4F
72-77 Luftwaffe father and son C.indd 73
Phantom II with the ‘Richthofen’ wing at
Wittmund. What makes them so special
is the fact that Helmut flew the F-104G
Starfighter at Memmingen for 10 years
before he stepped to the F-4F, and his
son Philipp is now a Eurofighter pilot at
Laage with 1,100 total flight hours under
his belt. Three generations of jets, and
air bases in the north and south, west
and east of Germany, are represented
in two generations of the Schelchshorn
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21/11/2019 21:04
 GLORY DAYS // LUFTWAFFE FATHER AND SON
family. So, what was it like back in the
Starfighter days, and how does that
compare with things now?
Both Helmut and Philipp began their
flying careers in the US with initial flight
training at Sheppard AFB in Texas —
Helmut in 1973-74 and Philipp in 2009-
10. ‘We flew 200 hours on [the] T-37A
and T-38A, before we went to weapons
system training on the F-104 at Luke AFB
in Arizona,’ says Helmut, a retired Oberst
(colonel). The 70-year-old says he was
fascinated by the ‘enormous amount
of skills’ he learned during that time.
‘One had no idea about the amount
initially — and at the end of the training
one knew the whole spectrum and had
enormous self-confidence because of
this knowledge.’
The T-37 ‘Tweet’ was retired before
Philipp arrived at Sheppard and he
embarked on the T-6A Texan II course.
‘We then flew the T-38C with a glass
cockpit, which I then flew for 40
additional hours of IFF [introduction
74 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
72-77 Luftwaffe father and son C.indd 74
to fighter fundamentals] to learn basic
air combat skills,’ the now 32-year-old
Hauptmann (captain) explains.
This phase of training wasn’t in the
schedule in the 1970s. Back then,
mastering flying skills was given greater
importance, whereas tactics play a far
greater role today, even during the early
phases of training, as does the use of
simulators. Indeed, back in the 1970s
these training aids were very simple.
Different worlds
Comparing the two training paths
reveals some significant differences
between them. For example, the modern
syllabus sees check rides ‘flown’ almost
exclusively in the simulator. Now, as
a fully-fledged Eurofighter pilot of
Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 73
‘Steinhoff’ (TaktLwG 73 ‘S’) at Laage,
Philipp finds himself in the Eurofighter
simulator two to three times a week
on average, and airborne in the jet
between two and four times per week.
His father regularly flew three or four
times a day in the F-104 during his
time with Jagdbombergeschwader
34 at Memmingen. Little wonder he
logged 1,800 hours in the cockpit of
the Starfighter. ‘In those times, the main
thing was to fly as much as possible,’
he reflects. ‘Quantity had priority over
quality, and quality was achieved by
quantity.’ He looks back on it as a dream
period for a fighter pilot, but notes that,
following conversion training to the F-4F,
flying time started to reduce noticeably.
Transition from the Starfighter to the
Phantom — on which he logged 1,200
hours — was not difficult for Helmut
when it took place in 1986, aside from
having to become accustomed to
having a weapons systems officer (WSO)
in the back seat. He also recalls how the
sheer size of the Phantom II was a big
adjustment, with a huge cockpit. The
F-4 was more agile than the F-104, yet
unsurprisingly, ‘it took an awful lot of
time before it went supersonic’, he says,
21/11/2019 21:04
 Clockwise from
this image:
Back in the
1980s, Luftwaffe
pilots sometimes
flew as many as
five times each
day.

Helmut
Schelchshorn
in 1974 during
training on the
F-104G Starfighter
at Luke AFB,
Arizona. He flew
the Starfighter
until 1986.
via author

Hauptmann
Philipp
Schelchshorn in
the cockpit of a
Eurofighter for
a night mission
from Laage.

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 GLORY DAYS // LUFTWAFFE FATHER AND SON
adding that the F-4F tended to hold-up
at Mach 0.95, whereas the F-104 ‘just ran
through it!’
The transition to the F-4 for
Schelchshorn junior in 2010 was
somewhat different. ‘The handling of the
F-4 was similar to the T-38C, but it was
a step back from the glass cockpit into
the old analog layout of the Phantom.
But because I didn’t get a full transition
course, I always flew with an instructor
in my back seat.’
In fact, he only logged 59 hours in the
F-4F during his time with ‘Richthofen’,
but in 2013 he flew the final jets to Jever
for scrapping. ‘It was a honor to be their
last pilot,’ he says.
Today, he flies the Eurofighter EF2000
and has logged some 750 hours in the
jet. ‘I am happy to be a single-seat pilot.
The excellent visibility from the cockpit,
the acceleration, the agility — it’s just
marvelous.’
Eurofighter meets the
‘Fulcrum’
The young Hauptmann Schelchshorn is
able to make an interesting comparison
between the EF2000 and one of its
76 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
72-77 Luftwaffe father and son C.indd 76
predecessors at Laage — the MiG-29.
‘In Poland I got a ride on the MiG-29GT,’
he says. ‘The ‘Fulcrum’ can’t keep up
with the Eurofighter — the radar, for
example, is far more sophisticated. [The]
ECR-90 of the Eurofighter is very user-
friendly — you drag-and-drop, like on
your home computer.’
When his father flew the F-104, he
had to work with the relatively simple
NASARR-F-15-A radar, but he recalls that
the switch to the F-4 was far from an
advance when it came to the avionics.
He explains, ‘It displayed the surface
[picture] better than the old AN/APQ-12
of the F-4F, and the F-104 also navigated
more accurately.’
The big leap ahead for the German
Phantoms came thanks to the ICE
(Improved Combat Efficiency) upgrade
performed on 110 F-4Fs, which were
modified between 1991 and 1996. This
essentially added the AN/APG-65 radar
and the ability to use the Raytheon
AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range
Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). ‘Suddenly,
we could see on the radar scope things
that we had formerly only heard of
from the ground control intercept
[GCI] officer, and we were able to fight
against multiple targets,’ says Helmut
Schelchshorn, who then progressed to
become the deputy commanding officer
of the ‘Richthofen’ wing from 1995-98.
His son says of his conversion from
the F-4F to the Eurofighter: ‘I grew up
in the air-to-air role. [In the Eurofighter]
I still have the AMRAAM, but instead
of the AIM-9L Sidewinder we use the
IRIS-T air-to-air missile, plus the 27mm
Mauser cannon has 7mm more diameter
than the M61 Vulcan of the F-4F, but five
barrels fewer,’ he adds with a smile.
The younger Schelchshorn has been
at the center of development of the
air-to-surface role for the Luftwaffe’s
Eurofighters. He attended the Weapons
Instructor Course (WIC) at Laage earlier
in 2019, when the role was integrated
for the first time. He was able to drop
two GBU-48 laser-guided bombs on
the Vidsel range in Sweden during
the course.
Discussing the latest Luftwaffe
advances, his father compares these
with his time in the Starfighter wing at
Memmingen in the Cold War, recounting
the two NATO tactical evaluations
21/11/2019 21:05
 each year and the high rate of flying
accidents involving the F-104G. ‘Of
course, it moved us,’ he says. ‘But we
got over it and learned — and the
next day we carried on. We trusted the
system and the materiel, and there
was a tremendous team spirit in the
squadron, both when we were on duty
and afterwards!’
That particular team spirit was a
decisive factor for his son in deciding
to become a fighter pilot. Philipp says,
‘I attended school in Wittmund and
experienced the great camaraderie of
the members of the ‘Richthofen’ wing.
That was what I wanted: to become part
of this team.’
Now, Philipp Schelchshorn proudly
wears a ‘Steinhoff ’ patch on his shoulder,
while having also enjoyed a special
relationship with the ‘Richthofen’
wing. ‘I wanted to become a weapons
instructor on the Eurofighter,’ he says.
It’s an ambition he has achieved,
having graduated in October 2019 as
a proud member of ‘Team Steinhoff ’
— thus writing another chapter in this
Left:
remarkable two-generation story of Helmut
Luftwaffe history. Schelchshorn
flew the Alpha
Jet in order to
maintain currency
as a fast jet pilot
and between 1998
and 2001 he was
the commander
of Taktisches
Luftwaffen-
Ausbildungs-
kommando
(Tactical Training
Command of the
German Air Force
in Canada) at
Goose Bay.
I attended Right top to

school in bottom:
During an
orientation
Wittmund and flight in Poland,
Hauptmann
experienced the Philipp
Schelchshorn
flew in a
great camaraderie of MiG-29. Some
of these very
the members of the aircraft formerly
served with the
‘Steinhoff’ wing at
‘Richthofen’ wing Laage.

Eurofighters of
Hauptmann Philipp Schelchshorn TaktLwG 73 during
the Weapons
Instructor Course
carrying GBU-48
bombs, IRIS-T
missiles and a
Litening III laser
designator pod
(LDP) under the
fuselage.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 77

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 PHOTO REPORT// 23RD WING

painted
The 23rd Wing at Moody AFB, Georgia, has
te the
one of its A-10Cs in special markings to salu
history of the unit.
REPORT AND PHOTO Nate Leong

A-10C serial 80-0241

wearing its new special
markings.

78 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

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 T
HE 23rd WING at Moody AFB,
Georgia, is the latest to paint
a ‘heritage jet’, with A-10C
serial 80-0241/FT ingeniously
incorporating some unit
history with ‘European One’
camouflage on its vertical stabilizers.
The 23rd Wing’s exploits are well
documented with its origins in the
American Volunteer Group, led by Col
Claire Lee Chennault who commanded
100 P-40 Warhawks at the beginning
of World War Two. It was dubbed the
‘Flying Tigers’ and consisted of the 1st
Pursuit Squadron ‘Adam and Eve’, the
2nd PS ‘Panda Bears’, and the 3rd PS
‘Hell’s Angels’, all of which are honored
with their respective patches on the
78-79 Moody A10 C.indd 79
tail of the A-10. It also features the
Disney-designed ‘Flying Tiger’ on the
engine nacelles.
On July 4, 1942, the 23rd Fighter Group
was established by the Army Air Forces at
Kunming, China. It immediately absorbed
the American Volunteer Group, and the
squadron designations were changed
to the 74th, 75th and 76th Fighter
Squadrons. This is represented on the
fin band of the aircraft with the three
current squadrons, all currently serving
at Moody. The ‘European One’ colors hark
back to the standard A-10 camouflage of
the 1980s.
The author wishes to thank SSgt Nicholas Alder
of the 23rd Wing for his assistance.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 79
21/11/2019 20:53

D
EVELOPMENT OF THE
MiG-29M — internally
designated as the 9-15
within the MiG OKB — was
launched as early as 1982.
The much more capable
derivative boasted a significantly
redesigned airframe with additional
fuel capacity, combined with increased-
thrust engines and an all-new avionics
suite to enable a full multi-role capability.
The 9-15 was based around a wholly
new airframe with considerably
improved aerodynamic performance,
featuring a revised leading-edge root
extension (LERX) design with sharp
leading edges to further improve the
complex vortices field created by the
airframe in high angle of attack (AoA)
flight. The new wing design boasted
80 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
80-87 MiG-29 pt2 C.indd 80
PART TWO
longer-span ailerons extending further foreign object damage (FOD) protection This two-seat
prototype was
outboard. The tailplane was vastly system that was so characteristic of
the first ‘Fulcrum’
improved in order to be more effective the original design, which made use of to receive
at high AoA, with a greater area and a intake doors and auxiliary air intakes; the MiG-35
designation. This
dogtooth discontinuity on the leading these were now replaced by newly
happened in 2007
edge. Furthermore, the radome shape added fuel tanks. Additional fuel volume when the aircraft
was altered to further contribute to the was provided by using the space was modified as
the technology
aircraft’s stability in high-AoA flight. previously occupied by the cannon
demonstrator
The end result of these many ammunition box, which was now of with the Zhuk-AE
aerodynamic changes and refinements reduced capacity (100 rounds, compared AESA radar. It
used the fuselage
was that the MiG-29M was made to 150 for the baseline version). In this
of one of the
unstable in the pitch axis for better agility, way, the MiG-29M boasted an increased original MiG-29M
further improving its already formidable internal fuel capacity of up to 5,800 liters prototypes,
serialled ‘154’,
low-speed turning performance. This, in (1,500 liters more than the original 9-12
and saw use as
turn, necessitated the use of an analog version), providing 30 to 40 per cent a demonstrator
fly-by-wire system instead of the simple more range. The reshaped, flat spine for the Indian
MMRCA fighter
hydro-mechanical system found on the allowed some increase to the internal
competition.
first-generation ‘Fulcrums’. fuel capacity and it accommodated a RAC MiG
To increase internal fuel volume, the battery of built-in chaff/flare dispensers
MiG-29M dispensed with the complex for 120 rounds.
21/11/2019 20:53
 In the second half of a two-part feature, Combat Aircraft looks
at the most ambitious ‘Fulcrum’ derivative — the MiG-29M.
It was also used as a baseline for the MiG-29K shipborne
derivative, eventually ordered by India and Russia. After the
MiG-29K’s land-based export version was sold to Egypt, the
further improved MiG-35 was ordered for the Russian air arm.

REPORT AND PHOTOS Alexander Mladenov

The new intake FOD protection this much heavier ‘Fulcrum’ derivative.
MiG-29K AND MiG-35 included a simplified retractable system The afterburning turbofan introduced

SPECIFICATIONS
of meshed grills preventing ingestion of a new low-pressure compressor for a
debris on take-off and landing. greater mass-flow. This, combined with
MiG-29K MiG-35 The revised wing design retained the the higher-temperature turbine, resulted
Dimensions same span but was made capable of in a significant thrust increase compared
Length 17.30m 17.32m carrying much greater weights, with a with the baseline model. The new engine
Wingspan 11.99m 11.99m total of eight hardpoints — four under had a hybrid digital/hydro-mechanical
Height 4.40m 4.40m
each console. The strengthened wing control system for even better response.
Wing area 42.00m2 42.00m2
structure enabled the MiG-29 to carry up Rated at 86kN (19,400lb st or 8,766kgf)
Weights
to 9,920lb (4,500kg) of ordnance. at full afterburner, the RD-33K’s dry
Normal take-off 18,550kg 17,500kg
Maximum take-off 24,500kg 23,500kg The undercarriage members were rating was set at 53.96kN (12,122lb st or
Maximum payload 6,500kg 6,500kg reinforced — while remaining externally 5,500kgf).
Performance unchanged — in order to enable a In its initial form, the MiG-29M boasted
Maximum speed at sea level 1,400km/h 1,400km/h maximum take-off weight of more than a much more modern cockpit layout,
Maximum speed at high altitude 2,200km/h 2,100km/h 48,450lb (22,000kg). with a pair of cathode ray tube (CRT)
Ceiling 17,500m 16,000m More powerful Klimov RD-33K engines, multi-function displays and hands on
G limits +9/-3 +9/-3 originally developed for the shipborne throttle and stick (HOTAS) controls. It
Range at high altitude on internal fuel 2,000km 2,000km
MiG-29K, were installed on the M version had an all-new weapons control system
Ferry range with three external tanks 3,000km 3,000km
in order to enhance the performance of (WCS) centered on the then brand-

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 FIGHTER FOCUS // MIG-29 ‘FULCRUM’
new Phazotron-NIIR N010 Zhuk multi-
functional radar, which had both air-to-air
and air-to-surface operating modes.
The first MiG-29M prototype (serial
‘151’) was completed in 1986 and took to
the air on April 26 that year, with Valery
Menitsky at the controls. This prototype
was powered by the old RD-33 engines,
retained the same analog cockpit as the
original MiG-29 and lacked the WCS. It
received its new-generation WCS later
on, and in 1991 it began trials of the new
mission avionics.
That initial prototype was followed by
a batch of five pre-series aircraft. The first
of these — serial ‘152’, powered by the
new RD-33K and equipped with a full set
of mission avionics — made its maiden
flight on September 26, 1987. The Soviet
Air Force, however, stopped purchasing
MiG-29s in 1991, and sharply reduced
Tarasenko has confirmed that this ‘MiG-35 on steroids’ is seen as a contender
in India’s ongoing tender for the procurement of 110 advanced fighters
82 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
80-87 MiG-29 pt2 C.indd 82
MiG-29M — as the MiG-35, now offered
for export. Then, in 2014, the MiG-35’s
development program, now redirected to
meet domestic needs, at last secured the
required funding from the Russian MoD.
The first of a pair of newly built MiG-35s —
Left: Two two-
seat MiG-35UBs referred to as pre-production aircraft and
were delivered to earmarked for use in the type’s exhaustive
the VKS in the end testing and evaluation effort — took to
of 2018, and the
other four aircraft the air in November 2016. This event,
from the Russian however, was kept out of the public eye
order placed in in anticipation of an official unveiling and
August 2018 were
set to be taken blessing from Russia’s all-powerful state
on strength by and military authorities, which eventually
the end of 2019. occurred in January 2017.
This ‘Fulcrum’
is believed to be Upon completion of the development
one of the aircraft and testing effort, an order for 30-
delivered in late plus examples for the Vozdushno-
2018, shown
with a selection Kosmicheskiye Sily (VKS, Russian
of air-to-surface Aerospace Forces) was originally expected
development funding allocated to the guided ordinance to be placed in late 2018 or early 2019.
including the
MiG-29M program. As a consequence, in Kh-38ME and the Such a scenario would allow first deliveries
the mid-1990s the development effort Kh-35UE anti-ship to take place by 2020 but, in fact, only
stopped altogether, although it was missile. Alexander six MiG-35s were ordered by the Russian
Mladenov
eventually revived in the mid-2000s. MoD in August 2018. This initial batch
This time the MiG-29M utilized a host of Below: The new is intended for use mainly in the type’s
new technologies, the much-improved MiG-35UB for the testing and evaluation campaign, after
VKS presented for
‘Fulcrum’ derivative being touted for both the first time in which a large-scale order could be placed
domestic and export customers. January 2017 is, by the Russian military. According to the
in fact, a follow-on latest information released by RAC MiG
derivative of
MiG-35 for the the well-known in August 2019, the MiG-35 is slated to
Russian military MiG-29K/KUB, complete its exhaustive joint state testing
Today’s MiG-35 is regarded as a very retaining the effort, currently carried out by the VKS, at
same airframe
different beast from the aircraft wearing structural design, the end of 2021.
the same designation and unveiled for albeit without The MiG-35, showed in public for the first
the first time for the public by RAC MiG folding wings time in January 2017, is a new derivative
and tailhook,
some 12 years ago, when it was proposed and boasting a of the MiG-29M, ordered by the VKS.
for participation in the Indian MMRCA Russian-made According to RAC MiG director-general Ilya
tender. In 2005, the fighter manufacturer avionics suite Tarasenko, speaking to the press in June
in order to meet
began marketing a company-funded the complex VKS 2019, the first two MiG-35 fighters from
demonstrator — previously designated specification. UAC the VKS order for six aircraft dating from
21/11/2019 20:53
 August 2018 have already been delivered The first pre-series two-seater of
to the VKS, while four more are set to the ‘new’ MiG-35 family line for
the VKS, dubbed the MiG-35UB,
follow by year-end. taxiing in after a display flight at
Tarasenko told the Russian RIA Novosti Lukhovitsi in January 2017. UAC
news agency that a new order for an
undisclosed number of MiG-35s for the
VKS is expected soon. He hinted that
these aircraft are slated to replace the
aging first-generation MiG-29s delivered
to the Russian military prior to 1990. This
follow-on contract is expected to cover
at least 14 more MiG-35s and they will be
delivered, according to Tarasenko, within
three years. In addition to the front-line
VKS units, the new-build MiG-35s will
be used to replace the first-generation
MiG-29s operated by the Strizhy (Swifts)
air display team.
Within RAC MiG, the internal
designations of the two sub-versions of
the MiG-35 for the VKS are 9-41SR for
the MiG-35S single-seater, and 9-47SR
for the MiG-35UB two-seater. Both these
sub-versions share the same airframe
structure and even sport the same
canopy design, one employed for the
first time in the MiG-29K/KUB derivative, Above left to right: between overhauls (TBO) has been KUB together with the NSTs-T helmet-
albeit now without folding wings The Phazotron- extended to 1,000 flight hours. mounted cueing system (HCMS).
NIIR AESA radar
and tailhook. Space occupied by the in its initial form, The MiG-35 features a newly introduced
second cockpit in the two-seat version known as the Conservative sophisticated self-protection suite,
is used to accommodate an additional Zhuk-AE, was
installed on the
mission avionics including the L-150 Pastel’ radar warning
400-liter fuel tank on the single-seater. first MiG-35 The MiG-35S/UB built for the VKS receiver in addition to the OAR missile
Airframe service life is set at 6,000 hours prototype for the retained the MiG-29K’s Phazotron-NIIR approach warning system using six
or 40 years. Indian MMRCA Zhuk-M radar with a mechanically ultraviolet sensors for spherical coverage
tender. Alexander
The MiG-35 is powered by the same Mladenov scanned slotted-array antenna, the same and two laser warning sensors for the
engines as on the MiG-29K/KUB — as is used on the MiG-29KR/KUBR built OLO system placed in the wingtips. The
Klimov RD-33MK afterburning turbofans, A close view of for Russian Naval Aviation, in a sub- MSP-418K jammer pod is offered for this
the Zhuk-AM
rated at 11,902lb (52.97kN) at military AESA radar in its version with enhanced performance. ‘Fulcrum’ derivative as well.
power and 19,836lb (88.3kN) at full latest version. Its weapons control system further During January 2017’s official
afterburner. The engine service life is Alexander comprises the OLS-UEM optronic system, presentation, the MiG-35 for the Russian
Mladenov
set at 4,000 flight hours while the time also ‘borrowed’ from the MiG-29KR/ military had the T220 targeting pod,

This anonymous-looking MiG-35UB

two-seater is believed to be among
the initial production aircraft for the
VKS. Alexander Mladenov

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 FIGHTER FOCUS // MIG-29 ‘FULCRUM’
The two pre-series MiG-35s on
a test flight. The lead aircraft
is armed with four KAB-500Kr
guided bombs using the TV
guidance method. UAC
supplied by the Moscow-based NIIP
company, with the same sensor outfit
as the nose-mounted OLS-UEM. It is
intended to be used for target detection
and identification as well as for the
designation of laser-guided munitions.
The cockpit layout is described as
being very similar to that of the MiG-29K,
dominated by an IKSh-1M monochrome
head-up display (HUD) and three
MFI-10-7 color liquid crystal displays.
The MiG-35’s armament is carried on
eight hardpoints and includes the entire
arsenal of modern Russian-made air-to-
air and air-to-surface guided munitions.
The air-to-air missiles are represented
by the RVV-SD (R-77-1) for beyond
visual range (BVR) engagements and
the RVV-MD (R-74M) for within visual
range (WVR) combat, in addition to
the traditional 30mm GSh-301 single-
barrel gun.
84 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
80-87 MiG-29 pt2 C.indd 84
accommodated between the engine
nacelles in addition to four external
tanks under the wings.
Below left to right:
The latest MiG-35 According to RAC MiG sources, non-
demonstrator specified measures were taken to reduce
unveiled by the aircraft’s infrared and radar signature,
RAC MiG has
redesigned fins thanks to the use of special coatings.
The list of air-to-surface munitions with square
includes Kh-29 missiles in two versions tips, apparently Still targeting export
for better
(equipped with TV and laser guidance controllability.
The MiG-29M/M2 is a land-based export
systems respectively, as the Kh-29T and This derivative derivative of the new-generation
Kh-29L), in addition to the all-new Kh-38 is also set ‘Fulcrum’, likewise based on the airframe
to get new,
missile with several guidance systems, increased-area
and systems of the shipborne MiG-29K/
the Kh-35U and Kh-31A anti-ship missiles wings for better KUB, with the tailhook and folding
and the Kh-31P/PD high-speed anti-radar aerodynamic wings deleted. It has an export-standard
performance.
missile. It is capable of using satellite, Alexander
avionics outfit and weapons, and
laser and TV-guided bombs of the KAB Mladenov was offered for the first time in the
series and the Grom family of new- late 2000s.
One of the two
generation guided glide munitions. pre-series Initially, its marketing effort turned
Maximum warload weight is set at MiG-35s, the out to be fruitless as the only customer
13,224lb (6,000kg), with the four inner single-seater found was Syria, which placed an
shows its air-
hardpoints made ‘wet’ for carrying to-air weaponry order for 12. These aircraft, however,
1,150-liter external tanks, in addition to a of two RVV-SD have never been delivered due to the
2,200-liter tank accommodated between and four RVV-MD country’s civil war. In the event, only
missiles together
the engine nacelles. The MiG-35 has with the T220 two examples from the ill-fated Syrian
an in-flight refueling probe and can be targeting pod order were built in 2011 — a single-
deployed as a ‘buddy-buddy’ tanker under the seater designated MiG-29M (wearing
starboard engine
for refueling other tactical combat nacelle. Alexander the serial ‘747’) and a two-seater called
aircraft, the PAZ-MK refueling pod being Mladenov the MiG-29M2 (serial ‘741’). These saw
21/11/2019 20:53

extensive use by RAC MiG for flight trials
and customer demonstration purposes.
The definitive export derivative of
the new-generation ‘Fulcrum’, dubbed
the MiG-29M/M2, was launched into
production in 2015 for Egypt, which
placed an order for no fewer than 46
aircraft. The first of these are reported to
have been delivered in 2017. The contract
is priced at around $2 billion and the last
of the new-generation ‘Fulcrums’ for the
Egyptian air arm were expected to be
taken on strength in 2019.
The MiG-29M/M2 built for Egypt differs
from the VKS MiG-35 in its export-standard
mission avionics, such as the radar, electro-
optical targeting system, communication
system, electronic warfare system and
identification friend or foe system.
The airframe structure of both the
newly built MiG-35s and the MiG-29M/
M2s is very similar to that of the MiG-29K/
KUB shipborne fighter.
Shipborne derivative for
India and Russia
The origins of the dedicated shipborne
derivative of the ‘Fulcrum’, built on the
basis of the MiG-29M, date back to
80-87 MiG-29 pt2 C.indd 85
the late 1970s. Detailed design work,
however, began as late as 1984, with
the new MiG-29K (9-31) intended to be
included in the air wing of the newly
built short take-off but arrested recovery
(STOBAR) aircraft carriers of the Project
1143.5 class.
For STOBAR operation the aircraft
required powerful afterburning engines,
while landing was to be performed using
a desk arrestor system in conjunction
with a tailhook. The new RD-33K
engine, specifically designed for the
shipborne ‘Fulcrum’, introduced a so-
called emergency afterburning mode
to enable the MiG-29K to be launched
off the ski-jump at a take-off weight of
up to 39,010lb (17,700kg) from the ‘first
start position’, providing a take-off run
of just 344ft (105m). At its maximum
permissible deck take-off weight of
49,379lb (22,400kg), the MiG-29K was to
be capable of being launched from the
second start position, which provided a
Below left to
right: The pre- take-off run of some 640ft (195m).
series MiG-29K To be suitable for carrier operation,
landing on the
the MiG-29K received a new wing with
Indian aircraft
carrier INS power folding at one-third span, as well
Vikramaditya as a new, strengthened undercarriage,
during a test
center-body and nose sections, in
and evaluation
campaign held addition to an increased-area tailplane
in August and and arrestor hook.
September
Two MiG-29K prototypes were built and
2012 in the
Barents Sea. It the first of these, wearing serial ‘311’, took
is armed with to the air for the first time on June 23,
two KAB-500Kr
1988. It was then tested on the deck of
guided bombs.
the new Soviet aircraft carrier Tbilisi from
RAC MiG
November 1, 1989.
The shipborne
The second prototype, serial ‘312’,
‘Fulcrum’ can
carry extensive was rolled out in 1990, equipped with a
external fuel full-standard mission avionics fit. It was
and a PAZ-MK
mainly used in the type’s mission avionics
refueling pod,
here between and weapons trials.
the engine The dissolution of the Soviet Union in
nacelles,
late 1991 — and the resulting cuts in the
enabling use in
the tanker role. defense budget — meant the MiG-29K
RAC MiG program was effectively frozen in favor
WEAPONS
OPTIONS
The MiG-29K/KUB sports nine
pylons for carrying weapons, eight
under the wings and one under
the fuselage. In addition, the two
innermost underwing pylons can
be fitted with tandem bomb racks,
increasing the number of available
hardpoints to 13.
The air-to-air weaponry integrated
on the Indian aircraft includes
a mixture of RVV-AE and R-73E
missiles. Up to eight can be carried
in different combinations, or six
plus two underwing fuel tanks.
The air-to-surface missile options
cleared for the shipborne ‘Fulcrum’
include the Kh-31A and Kh-35E/
UE active radar-homing anti-ship
missiles as well as the Kh-31P
anti-radiation missile and Kh-29T/
TE TV-guided missiles — up to four
can be carried under the wings.
Guided bomb options include up
to four KAB-500Kr 1,100lb (500kg)
TV-guided bombs, while the
unguided weapons selection takes
in free–fall bombs weighing up to
1,100lb (500kg) each and various
rockets. The maximum combat load
is 12,100lb (5,500kg).
The MiG-29K/KUB retains the
proven GSh-301 30mm cannon with
150 rounds, installed in the port
leading-edge extension.
The Russian Navy’s shipborne
‘Fulcrums’ are capable of using non-
export versions of all air-to-surface
guided weapons, already integrated
on the Indian MiG-29K/KUBs, which,
as a rule, boast higher performance
than that of their export
counterparts. The list of air-to-air
weapons already integrated on
the Russian MiG-29K/KUB includes
the new RVV-SD BVR missile with
a maximum range in head-on
engagements at high altitude of
60nm (110km), plus the RVV-MD for
WVR engagements.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 85
21/11/2019 20:53
 FIGHTER FOCUS // MIG-29 ‘FULCRUM’
of development of the much larger and
heavier Su-27K, later redesignated as
the Su-33.
In the event, the MiG-29K/KUB program
was revived and turned into a success
story in the late 2000s, only thanks
to the huge investment from India at
the time. Major development work on
the redesigned shipborne ‘Fulcrum’ —
with a redesigned fuselage, modified
engines and an all-new avionics suite
— was largely completed by 2010. Serial
production was launched two years
earlier and first customer deliveries were
reported in 2009.
The first Indian order became a long-
awaited opportunity for the crisis-stricken
RAC MiG to launch development and
production activities by resurrecting the
two decades-old shipborne ‘Fulcrum’
program, which had been frozen during
the early 1990s. The effort resulted in a
shipborne aircraft (designated 9-41 for the
single-seater and 9-47 for the twin-seater),
claimed to be very different from the first-
generation MiG-29K.
An all-new fuselage with extensive
corrosion protection was developed as
well as a good many new systems and
a more powerful ‘marinized’ derivative
of the RD-33K jet engine. Two pre-
production aircraft — one two-seater and
one single-seater, using exactly the same
basic fuselage design — were built to bear
86 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
80-87 MiG-29 pt2 C.indd 86
the brunt of the flight test effort. These The MiG-29K/KUB is equipped with Above left to right:
shipborne ‘Fulcrums’ took to the air for the the KSU-9.41 quadruple-channel digital First customer
deliveries of the
first time on January 20 and June 25, 2007 fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system MiG-29K/KUB took
respectively, while the first production- with envelope protection, auto-throttle place in 2009.
standard aircraft built for the Indian Navy and in-flight loads alleviation functions. After India, which
ordered 45 aircraft,
made its maiden flight on March 18, 2008. It’s provided with a specific mode for the variant was
The production-standard MiG-29K/ improving stability and controllability purchased by the
KUB boasts an all-new wing, consisting during air-to-air refueling. Russian Navy,
which took 24 more.
of large-size double-slot trailing-edge As many as 16 MiG-29K/KUBs were RAC MiG
flaps, double-slot leading-edge slats covered in the first Indian order. Placed in
and drooping ailerons. It introduced the 2004, it was priced at $740 million. These The MiG-29K
and two-seat
so-called Krueger flaps — small leading- aircraft were taken on strength by the MiG-29KUB have
edge vortex controllers extending from Indian naval air arm between 2009 and all-new avionics,
wing root — used for low-speed stability 2011. The first examples from the second completed thanks
to funding provided
improvement by reducing oscillations on Indian contract for 29 aircraft, ordered by India. RAC MiG
the glide path during landing approach. in March 2010, were delivered in 2012
This extensive and highly automated and the last was taken on strength in This image: The
MiG-29K and KUB
wing mechanization would provide early 2017. are powered by
considerable reduction in approach The solid progress of the Indian Klimov RD-33MK
speed, vital for the pilot on final approach MiG-29K/KUB program in the early Sea Wasp engines.
RAC MiG
and when touching down the desk. 2010s eventually prompted the Russian
The internal fuel tanks were made MoD to place an order for 20 single-seat
much roomier than those of the baseline and four two-seat shipborne ‘Fulcrums’,
‘Fulcrum’, holding 11,463lb (5,200kg) designated MiG-29KR for the single-
of kerosene, equal to 6,666 liters; a seater and MiG-29KUBR for
conformal dorsal tank holds 858lb the two-seater. This
(390kg) or 500 liters in the fuselage mid- contract was inked
section aft of the cockpit. The MiG-29K in February
single-seater additionally features a 2012 and
1,082lb (492kg)/630-liter internal tank
housed just behind the cockpit, while
the two-seater’s internal capacity is
seven per cent less than that of the
single-seater.
21/11/2019 20:54

deliveries to Russian Naval Aviation were
completed by 2015.
Ultimate ‘Fulcrum’
At the MAKS 2019 aerospace exhibition
in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, RAC MiG
showcased the MiG-35’s definitive export
derivative, promoted as a ‘Gen 4++
fighter’. It was claimed that this derivative
uses some technologies inherited from
fifth-generation fighter design. Tarasenko
has confirmed that this ‘MiG-35 on
steroids’ is seen as a contender in India’s
ongoing tender for the procurement of
110 advanced fighters.
The latest MiG-35 configuration
sports redesigned, larger-area wings
and extended-area vertical fins with
rudders mounted flush with the fin
trailing edge. The fins feature cropped
top surfaces (so-called square fins)
instead of the downwards-canted design.
These changes were likely introduced to
enhance aerodynamic performance and
further improve aircraft controllability
at high AoA.
Tarasenko noted that this new MiG-35
derivative for export customers has
a further refined airframe design
and is powered by uprated Klimov
RD-33MK engines. He said it sports a
modular avionics suite and, in addition
to the Zhuk-A/AM AESA radar and a
T220 targeting pod, uses a Russian-
made extra-wide field of view HUD.
Furthermore, Tarasenko claimed that the
new AESA radar offered for the MiG-35 is
capable of simultaneously tracking up to
30 aerial targets.
This is without doubt the ultimate
incarnation of this Russian classic — a
fighter that has continued to re-invent
itself, and one that may just have enough
in the tank to be able to secure more
precious business for the Russian fighter
industry.
80-87 MiG-29 pt2 C.indd 87
ALL-NEW
MISSION
AVIONICS
SUITE
The MiG-29K/KUB’s mission avionics
include the PrNK-29K integrated
targeting and navigation suite, its most
important system being the Phazotron-
NIIR FGM-129 Zhuk-ME radar. The
mechanically scanned Zhuk-ME works
in both air-to-air and air-to-surface
modes, and it has multiple-target
engagement capability, with a claimed
maximum detection range of around
81nm (150km) and acquisition range
of 65nm (120km) against a fighter-size
target with a radar cross-section of 5m2.
The radar can track up to 10 air targets
and provide data for the engagement
of four of these with the RVV-AE BVR
active-radar missiles, while the air-to-
surface modes include high-resolution
terrain-mapping.
The new OLS-UEM electro-optical (EO)
search-and-track system with a sensor
window in front of the windshield is
capable of operating 90° left and right
(in azimuth), 15° down and 60° up (in
elevation). It incorporates infrared,
laser and TV sensors and works in both
air-to-air and air-to-surface modes.
In the former mode, the EO system is
claimed as being capable of detecting
and automatically tracking aerial targets
in tail-on engagements at a maximum
distance of 24nm (45km), while the
Above: A
production- head-on detection range is advertised to
standard be up to 8nm (15km).
MiG-29KUBR two- The third component of the MiG-29K/
seater, belonging KUB’s sophisticated targeting suite
to Russian
ordered by the Indian Navy is the Thales
Naval Aviation’s TopSight helmet-mounted sight and
100th OKIAP, an display (HMSD) system, allowing off-
independent boresight target designation and cueing
shipborne
of the EO sensor, radar, INS and the
aviation regiment,
home-based at seekers of IR- and TV-guided air-to-air
Severomorsk-3 and air-to-surface missiles.
near Murmansk.
Andrey Zinchuk
Right: The
Russian Naval
Aviation
‘Fulcrums’,
designated
MiG-29KR (single-
seater) and
MiG-29KUBR (two-
seater), sport a
true multi-role
capability with a
variety of guided
air-to-surface
munitions.
Andrey Zinchuk
Another non-Russian mission system
integrated on the Indian MiG-29K/KUBs
is the IAI Elta EL/L-8222 podded self-
protection jammer (SPJ) system, which
can be installed on the outer starboard
underwing pylon and is typically
intended for use as a self-escort jammer.
The MiG-29K/KUB’s self-protection
suite also features the Indian-made
Tarang radar-warning-receiver (RWR). In
addition to the two electronic systems,
the aircraft’s self-protection equipment
includes two Russian-made, downwards-
firing APP-50A chaff/flare dispensers
on the outer side of the engine nacelles
below the fins, each containing 16
rounds.
The single-seater’s full-digital
glass cockpit incorporates a large
monochrome IKSh-1M head-up display
(HUD) with 26° field of view (FoV) and
three side-by-side 6 x 8in MFI-10-7 LCD
displays, while the two-seater has seven.
The MFI-10-7’s resolution is 1,024 x 768
pixels and they are used for displaying
flight/navigation, targeting and system
status information as well as digital
terrain maps and targeting data.
The communication, navigation and
identification (CNI) suite of the Indian
shipborne ‘Fulcrums’ incorporates an
eclectic mixture of French, Indian and
Russian-made equipment. The French
equipment is represented by the Sagem
Sigma 95N inertial navigation system
(INS) with integrated GPS receiver for
accurate navigation and targeting.
The list of Indian-made items includes
a radio altimeter, TACAN short-range
navigation system, VOR/ILS/MRK
navigation aids, IFF and UHF/VHF radios,
while Russian company Polyot supplies
the R-800L2 VHF/HF radio as well as
the R-098 jam-resistant secure tactical
datalink system for sharing targeting
and navigation data.
The MiG-29K/KUBs built for the
Russian naval air arm are known to have
retained the Sigma 95N system, but
all the equipment of Indian and Israeli
origin was removed and Russian-made
equivalents were integrated — for
example, the Tarang RWR was replaced
by the SPO-150 Pastel while the NSTs-T
replaced the TopSight HMSD.
www.Key.Aero // January 2020 87
21/11/2019 20:54
 A memorable mission with QF-4 Phantom
IIs and F-14 Tomcats in the heyday of
missile testing operations at Point Mugu.

REPORT AND PHOTOS

Ted Carlson/Fotodynamics.com

88 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

88-93 QF-4 C.indd 88 21/11/2019 20:54

 QF-4N BuNo
150465 during
a manned flight
from Point Mugu
in July 1996 while
attached to the
resident test
squadron.

www.Key.Aero // January 2020 89

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 GLORY DAYS // QF-4 MISSILE OPS
I
T WAS LESS than a stellar day on
the weather front back in March
1998. There were three layers of
gloomy clouds spread across the
skies and robust winds combined
with a ‘marine layer’ just above the
ocean surface. Still, we had a mission
to do: a live-firing VX-9 ‘Vampires’ F-14
Tomcat feeding frenzy, clawing at a
sole unmanned QF-4N Phantom II off
the coast of Point Mugu, California,
within the expansive Whiskey 291
range complex.
The unmanned QF-4N Phantom II was
being flown remotely by a pilot back
at the base, Rich ‘Mink’ Bryant, as this
was a NOLO (no on-board live operator)
sortie. The target aircraft was planned
90 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero
88-93 QF-4 C.indd 90
to depart from San Nicolas Island and
would ideally be recovered back there
to serve as prey for another day, unless
it got thwacked by the Tomcats. A QF-4S
stablemate was positioned as a target
observer and inspection bird, with me in
the back to document the entire event.
At the helm of our S-model ‘Rhino’ was
the renowned F-4 aviator LCDR Chip
‘Shantini’ Shanle.
The plan was to have the target
Phantom just out of reach of the
Tomcat’s missile range, and the telemetry
would be monitored to validate proper
tracking and accuracy. We would inspect
the QF-4N before and after the shoot,
ensuring target integrity before the
return flight and NOLO landing back at
San Nicolas. Due to the reserved range
distance offshore, we would need to go
to a tanker and top up our tanks as well.
At Point Mugu, the VX-9 flight line and
arming areas were bustling with activity
and missile-laden trailers. Even the all-
black F-14D ‘Vandy 1’ was on hand for
the extravaganza, and AIM-9 Sidewinder,
AIM-7 Sparrow, and AIM-54 Phoenix air- Above: The QF-4
to-air missiles were strapped to the ‘Cats’, was unique in its
ability to carry
but with their warheads removed. Aside and fire the
from that, they were the real deal with AQM-37C drone.
the latest upgrades.
Below: A close-up
Naval Weapons Test Squadron Point of the QF-4N as
Mugu (NWTSPM) was the ‘go-to’ it limped back
specialist for US Navy aerial targets, and to San Nicolas
Island, having
the ‘Bloodhounds’ were happy to provide shrugged off the
the assets for this very important test. pack of Tomcats.
21/11/2019 20:54
 Being the operational test F-14 Tomcat
unit, VX-9 was responsible for validating
software updates, new systems, and
aircraft upgrades.
‘Rhinos’ roll
‘Shantini’ and myself squeezed into our
flight gear, strolled out onto the buzzing
flight line and began the process of
clambering into our 1960s-vintage,
intrepid steed. It was McDonnell
Douglas QF-4S BuNo 155810, which
began life as an F-4J-35-MC and was
eventually upgraded into an S-model
during its tenure in military service.
It had previously served with the US
Marine Corps for years and had been
attached to units such as VMFA-115
‘Silver Eagles’, VMFA-232 ‘Red Devils’, Once at altitude we worked our way
Above left to
VMFA-312 ‘Checkerboards’ and to the tanker through the gloomy haze right: QF-4N BuNo
VMFA-451 ‘Warlords’, before being and clouds — very rare in the area and 150465 blasts out
converted into a QF-4 with the potential just typical given the scope of what we of San Nicolas
Island for the
to be flown unmanned as well as had in front of us that day. Much to my unmanned test
conventionally piloted. delight, the tanker turned out to be an flight.
I had never had the opportunity to fly 18th Wing/909th Air Refueling Squadron A VX-9 ‘Vampires’
in a ‘Rhino’ before and it was like going ‘Shoguns’ KC-135R Stratotanker from F-14B lets rip
with an AIM-54
for a ride in a classic car like a ‘57 Chevy. Kadena Air Base, Japan, unusual in
Phoenix over the
To my surprise, the back-seat instrument these parts at that time. Since it was Pacific Missile
cluster was rather sparse and missing configured for navy fighters with Test Range.
several dials — not that I needed them. probes it had the ‘wrecking ball’ drogue Below: The empty
The engineers fired up the ‘huffer’ attachment installed on the end of QF-4N cockpit
during the NOLO
(ground power unit) and soon we had the boom. It held true to its nickname flight. The mission
a good light on both engines. ‘Shantini’ — due to the turbulent conditions it marks on the
quickly taxied out, and the pair of was dancing around like a butterfly on splitter plate
denoted live-fire
afterburning J79s took us airborne and steroids. Several attempts to spear the missions it had
into the wild gray muck above. bucking and elusive basket with our endured.

Straining to see the F-14s in the distance, we saw a missile flash.

The AIM-7 appeared to track the target before it petered out as
planned, without reaching the QF-4N

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 GLORY DAYS // QF-4 MISSILE OPS
refueling probe ended in failure, resulting
in some grumbles up front about having
to possibly RTB (return to base) due to
our worsening fuel situation. However,
‘Shantini’ prevailed in the end and earned
his money as we plugged into a welcome
flow of fuel from the laden tanker.
Topped up, we headed for San Nicolas
Island and made an awesome high-
speed, low-level pass over the runway
— like ‘Maverick’ did in Top Gun except
‘Shantini’ had actually been granted
permission. Looking up (or below,
depending on how you look at it) at San
Nicolas Island through the Plexiglas at
the view outside as we fired past I could
see a small dot below — it was our target
QF-4N preparing to get airborne. We
came back in for the rendezvous and
airborne pick-up of the jet. The QF-4N
lit the ‘burners and climbed out as we
slid in on her and tightened up in left
echelon. It was surreal to see an F-4 in
afterburner, adorned with a 600-gallon
centerline fuel tank, making a lazy right-
hand turn over the island coastline, with
no-one on board.
The target was QF-4N BuNo 150465,
which featured a Roadrunner cartoon
painted on the nose. This aircraft had
been born on the assembly line in the
Above: 1960s as an F-4B and served as a US Navy
QF-4N BuNo fleet machine, attached to units such
152970 gets as VF-51 ‘Screaming Eagles’ and VF-151
airborne from
Point Mugu in ‘Vigilantes’. She had seen action during
1996 during the the Vietnam War and eventually survived
heyday of the her entire operational career, including
type there.
Jamie Hunter the volatile drone service, as it turned
out, ultimately being laid to rest in the
Below: boneyard and written off in 2000.
The QF-4N was
superseded by
the QF-4S, which Defying death
soldiered on until We flew around the NOLO jet on both
2003.
Jamie Hunter sides and it checked out as ‘thumbs-
up and good to go’ for the mission.
Below right: A green range light was relayed to
A fabulous shot of
three Point Mugu the circling Tomcats, and the game
QF-4Ns as they commenced. Straining to see the
formate behind F-14s in the distance, we saw a missile
a KC-135 tanker
during a manned flash. The AIM-7 appeared to track the
test flight in 1996. target before it petered out as planned,

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 MUGU
without reaching the QF-4N. A second and a multitude of low- and high-
performance profiles. The QF-4s also
shot worked in the same manner. It was
offered extensive video, analog, and

‘RHINOS’
all going to plan until a sudden call of digital data collection systems that
‘lost link, lost link!’ provided real-time video and data
It meant the pilot on the ground who feedback during missions.
was ‘flying’ the QF-4 could no longer Naval Weapons Test Squadron Point When asked about the QF-4N, former
Mugu — later known as VX-30 — EA-6B pilot and senior QF-4N/S pilot
control the target aircraft due to a
operated numerous McDonnell Douglas LCDR Chip Shanle said, ‘Flying the QF-4
technical issue of some kind. Standard QF-4N and QF-4S Phantom IIs, which was the most diverse and the most fun
operating procedure was to cease fire participated in manned and unmanned flying job I’ve had in 15 years in naval
and knock it off, holding a safe distance test flights. The QF-4 was unique since aviation. It was one of the best-kept
from the target, and waiting to see if the it was the only supersonic high-altitude secrets in the navy, and when I first
launch platform at the time for the came to Point Mugu I thought the
link could be re-established. If not, the
AQM‑37C drone. majority of what we did was prepare
Tomcats would have to ‘splash’ the F-4 The QF-4 made an excellent and fly NOLO flights. While that was
— take it out with one of their missiles. unmanned test platform when the our primary mission, it only accounted
Because the weapons on the F-14s did mission may have dictated unsafe for about five per cent of our annual
not have warheads, the plan was for a mission parameters. It had an on-board flight hours. The rest of our missions
Trimble GPS navigation system, which consisted of test and evaluation ‘hops’
direct impact, hoping that a high-speed
guaranteed precise accuracy during and fleet support including AQM-37
kinetic object such as a missile would a launch. QF-4 missions included drone launches. The QF-4 at the time
punch through the F-4, thus creating multi-sensor search and track via an was the only aircraft in the navy that
sufficient damage to bring it down. ATIMS (airborne tracking infrared could take an AQM-37 target drone
After about 15 minutes, the link had measuring systems) pod, dynamic to 50,000ft and Mach 1.5 for launch.
target presentations, forward-firing Despite its age back then, the F-4 was
still not been regained. That meant it
and freefalling ordnance, photo/safety the quintessential test and evaluation/
was fireball time. Could I really watch chase, electronic airborne jamming, fleet support aircraft in the world.’
the destruction of a mighty F-4 without
becoming teary-eyed? The Tomcats
were directed to slide in closer for a
‘Rhino kill’. They fired their remaining
missiles when within physical striking
range, yet the QF-4N still didn’t succumb
to the onslaught. When the F-14s were
‘Winchester’ — they’d expended all of
their missiles — they turned for Mugu.
Shortly thereafter came the call of ‘link
regained, link regained!’ It was safe
for us to rejoin the unmanned QF-4
with a mind of its own. We’d be able to
assess exactly what had happened in
the Tomcat attack and whether the jet
was safe for a retrieval attempt back at
San Nicolas Island. If not, it would be
programmed into a ‘circle of death’ until
its fuel ran out and it would plummet
into the Pacific.
As we gingerly moved in closer, initially
in echelon and then edging forward,
it dawned on us that the 600-gallon
centerline fuel tank was no longer
present. It had gone. Did a missile rip it
off or did this Phantom with a mind of
its own somehow jettison it? We never
knew for sure, but I’d wager a missile
took it off.
‘Shantini’ deemed the jet as being
fit for landing back on the island and
it touched down without incident. We
headed for Point Mugu. The Roadrunner
QF-4N continued to soldier on until it
eventually was put out to pasture in
2000. It was a day I’ll never forget, and
working with a US Navy master at the
helm of our ‘Rhino’ was so impressive.
Thank you, Chip.

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 ‘Syrian experience displayed to Russian forces
the need to have available drones that can
range for hundreds of kilometers and then
deliver a strike, without [troops] calling for
manned aviation and without putting manned
aerial assets at risk’, Bendett added.
‘With Orion in the Russian forces, a significant
gap in ISR and strike capability can be closed.
While mass use of this UAV is still some time
away, the fact that it was supposedly tested in
small enough for the Orion to carry without
sacrificing much of its performance.
The Kremlin is working on several types of
drones. Perhaps most notably, a heavyweight,
jet-powered drone that appeared in public for
the first time in January 2019. The Hunter-B is
a rough analogue of the US military’s MQ-25
tanker drone and RQ-170 spy drone as well as
China’s Tian Ying.
As their development continues, the Hunter-B

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINE Syria signifies the Russian ministry of defense’s
drive to acquire sophisticated weapons that can
and Orion could run into some of the same
problems. Besides the relative immaturity
OF AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY extend Russian forces’ operational range while
giving them greater precision capabilities.’
of Russia’s efforts to produce small, guided
weapons to arm the drones, there’s also the
BY DAVID AXE
The Kremlin has not disclosed what kinds issue of manpower.

RUSSIA’S KILLER
of munitions Orion carried in Syria. US armed It takes hundreds of maintainers, operators
drones routinely carry small, laser-guided and analysts to effectively operate a single ‘orbit’
bombs as well as laser-guided anti-tank missiles. of three or four drones that’s capable of keeping

DRONE MAKES Kronshtadt Group has demonstrated munitions

and bombs that weigh up to 50kg, making them
a single UAV over a target area for long periods
of time. The US military has spent more than

STRIKES IN SYRIA two decades developing a pool of manpower

that now supports hundreds of Reaper drones

R
USSIA’S FIRST ARMED drone has
The Orion’s organized into nearly 50 orbits.
Russia by contrast has just begun to train
completed combat trials in Syria and apparent success drone crews. But they’re learning fast, Tom
is now beginning to equip units in Cooper, an author and Russian military
Russia for further testing, state media signals an important aerospace expert, told Combat Aircraft. ‘The first
reported on November 1. generation of pilots and ground crews for UAVs
The armed, satellite-controlled turning point for the just completed their four-years-long training,
Orion, a product of the Kronshtadt Group, is
roughly similar to the US Air Force’s own Predator
Kremlin, which has lagged and they meanwhile have plenty of experience
in operating smaller UAVs in Syria.’
drone, which the American flying branch retired
in 2017 after the type had served for more than
far behind the US and even According to TASS, the Russian Aerospace
Forces are considering establishing mixed units
20 years. The USAF continues to operate larger
Reaper drones from the same manufacturer,
Chinese militaries in the to operate drones such as the Orion alongside
manned aircraft. That would represent a
General Atomics. development of armed, departure from the American model, which
‘The Orion drone in its attack configuration can organizes unmanned aircraft into their own
carry up to four missiles, which it successfully test- unmanned aircraft squadrons and wings.
fired in Syria’, an unnamed source told TASS. ‘The
drone has started arriving for Russian troops for its
The Orion is roughly similar to the
operational evaluation, after which the command USAF’s now-retired Predator. KT Group
will make a decision on launching it into serial
production and accepting it for service.’
TASS described the Orion as a ‘medium-altitude,
long-endurance drone with a maximum take-off
weight of one ton and a maximum payload of
200kg. The drone has a service ceiling of 7.5km
and its maximum flight duration with the standard
payload is 24 hours. The drone can develop a
speed of up 200km/h.’
It’s unclear when or how long the Orion was in
Syria and exactly what missions it performed. But
the drone’s apparent success signals an important
turning point for the Kremlin, which has lagged far
behind the US and even Chinese militaries in the
development of armed, unmanned aircraft.
‘Russian forces are starting to get their ‘missing
element’ — long-range [intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance, ISR] and combat UAVs that
were not available to the military until recently’,
Samuel Bendett, a drone expert with the Center
for Naval Analysis, told Combat Aircraft.

94 January 2020 // wwwKey.Aero

94 Cutting Edge C.indd 94 21/11/2019 20:55

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96 January 2020 // www.Key.Aero

96-97 Flashback C.indd 96 22/11/2019 13:12

 Ling-Temco-Vought
A-7D Corsair IIs (with
serial 71-0341 nearest
the camera) at Nellis AFB,
Nevada, on October 7, 1987
prior to the weapons loading
competition during exercise ‘Gunsmoke
87’. Assigned to the 120th Tactical Fighter
Squadron of the Colorado Air National Guard
— winner of the first ‘Gunsmoke’ contest in 1981
— A-7D 71-0341 ultimately notched up 4,320.9 flight
hours before being retired to the boneyard at Davis-
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www.Key.Aero // January 2020 97

96-97 Flashback C.indd 97 22/11/2019 13:13

 FEBRUARY ISSUE: ON SALE GLOBALLY FROM JANUARY 2 (ON SALE DATE MAY VARY BY REGION)

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