Combat Aircraft - October 2016.pdf

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October 2016
• Vol 17 • No 10
the
Navy are working hard to manage
88
Boeing andghterUSeet until 2040, as Brad Elward explains
the strike fi
fl
IN THE NEWS
06 Headline News
USAF declares initial operating capability
for F-35A, KC-46 hits Milestone C, and two
new close air support options for USAF
USAF looks at new contracted aggressors,
Block 20 AC-130J delivered, and all the
latest unit and deployment news
News from Europe and around the globe
including Russian ‘Backfires’ in Iran, plus all
the latest military losses
82
102
ECUADOR’S WILD
CATS
The Denel Cheetah is the primary
combat aircraft of the Ecuadorian
Air Force. Santiago Rivas provides
an update on its status
08 US News
Jeroen van Veenendaal and Roelof-Jan Gort talk to
a US Army AH-64 pilot in Germany about recent
changes in flying the Apache
WINGS OF VICTORY
108
SERIOUS PATRIOT
16 World News
96
MEN IN BLACK
Neil Dunridge reports from Hill AFB,
Utah, as the 303rd Fighter Squadron
flies a live weapons exercise prior
to its deployment to Europe this
summer
Francesco Militello Mirto and Luca La
Cavera visit the Italian Air Force’s 15° Stormo
in Cervia and discover the advanced
features of the new, highly capable
HH-101A Caesar
112
CUTTING EDGE
26
BLACK KNIGHTS
OVER LIBYA
Combat Aircraft’s
monthly column
reporting from the front line of
aerospace technology, by David Axe
Babak Taghvaee details recent US Marine
Corps operations against forces of the
so-called Islamic State in Sirte, Libya
PLUS
30
SEEK TO DESTROY
Over the skies of North Africa, a
heterogeneous fleet of highly modified
aircraft is carrying out extensive
surveillance activities, as David Cenciotti
reveals
34
BULLDOGS ON TOUR
Jake Melampy describes the growing
trend of rotational deployments to
bolster the US presence at bases in Guam,
Japan and South Korea
36
SUPER TUCANOS HONE
SKILLS AT NELLIS
Exercise ‘Green Flag — West’ at Nellis
AFB, Nevada, continues to hone close air
support skills. Frank Crébas reports on
the recent participation by A-29 Super
Tucanos of the 81st Fighter Squadron
40
TEAM BOXER’S
GULF MISSION
Jamie Hunter examines how AV-8B
Harrier IIs from the USS
Boxer
in the
Persian Gulf joined strike aircraft
operating from carriers in the
Mediterranean during Operation
‘Inherent Resolve’
Combat Aircraft
details current and future
strategic bomber programs
including the USAF’s B-1B,
B-2A and B-52H plus the
future B-21. Plus the Russian
Tu-95, Tu-22M and Tu-160,
and China’s Xi’an H-6.
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OF THE WORLD
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This year’s US-Bulgarian ‘Thracian Eagle’
exercise was held at Graf Ignatievo and
saw Air National Guard Eagles make the
most of dissimilar air combat training
with their Bulgarian allies. Alexander
Mladenov brings our report
ON THE COVER:
A division of F/A-18D Hornets from
VMFA(AW)-225 ‘Vikings’ on a mission
from MCAS Miramar.
Jamie Hunter
CLOSE AIR SUPPORT
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A-10 WEAPONS TRAINING
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FLAG’
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F-35C DT-III CARRIER TRIALS
COMBAT EDGE |
FIND US ON
T
04
F-35A HITS IOC — WHAT NEXT?
When it comes to the F-35, any CAS-related
discussion inevitably comes back to the high-
end threat. The F-35 can operate in contested
environments where others cannot. It can
help in the air superiority fight before turning
its hand to ground targets. The proliferation
of advanced air defense systems bolsters the
argument in favor of maintaining the program
for 1,763 Air Force F-35s. The Lightning II is
surely set to redefine the future of multi-role
aircraft.
We are told not to focus on the current fight.
But that fight has been the norm for 25 years
now. It has eaten up aircraft service lives and
left squadrons of shiny new fighters old and
tired. Are we facing the same problem all over
again?
These brand-new Lightning IIs will, it is
clear, maintain a deterrent and offer an
unquestionable high-end capability. But will
they spend their entire service lives hauling
bombs externally and dropping them in
benign environments?
The F-35 is a big and expensive hammer
with which to crack a small nut. Given that,
perhaps advocates of the OA-X and AX-2
are correct to insist that the USAF needs
a lower-tier CAS platform, at lower cost,
easily able to operate in low- to medium-
threat environments and thus avoiding the
unnecessary burning of precious F-35 service
lives. Carlisle argues that the low-end threat
may not exist in the near future.
We are told that CAS isn’t about the
platform, but the mindset and the training.
Surely, though, it
is
about the platform when
cost and threat are factored in.
New USAF chief Gen David Goldfein told the
Senate Armed Services Committee during his
nomination hearing on June 16 that the service
should not retire the A-10 ‘in the near term’.
Goldfein said he is more concerned about the
CAS community than he is about the future of
the A-10 specifically. Outgoing USAF chief Gen
Mark Welsh had already acknowledged that a
CAS platform doesn’t really need to be stealthy.
HE US AIR Force declared
initial operating capability
(IOC) for the Lockheed Martin
F-35A Lightning II in August,
right at the leading edge
of the window that it had
set itself. Gen ‘Hawk’ Carlisle, the boss of Air
Combat Command, has been nothing short
of glowing in his praise for the Lightning II.
The aircraft has clearly made huge progress in
recent months.
In public speeches to declare his first
operational F-35A squadron ‘combat-ready’,
Carlisle has shown little sign of endorsing
other recent proposals that are floating
around. He’s already dashed hopes of re-
starting F-22 Raptor production — more
F-35s, faster, says Carlisle. He has also shied
away from talk of a new close air support
(CAS) aircraft to help mitigate the retirement
of the A-10C Thunderbolt II. In Carlisle’s view,
money diverted to a so-called AX-2 program
would be dollars taken away from the F-35.
Achievement of IOC is a massive
endorsement for the F-35A Lightning II.
Maybe, in time, it will be seen as a genuine
replacement for the A-10?
Jim Haseltine
www.combataircraft.net
October 2016
OCTOBER 2016
| COMBAT EDGE
The ‘Inherent Resolve’ operation in Syria and
Iraq has driven the need to retain the ‘Warthog’
for the time being, but it has also resulted in
raising the profile of CAS once again.
Despite calls for a small, lower-tier force to
pick up the USAF’s low- to medium-threat
CAS mission and help drive down overseas
operations costs, maybe we should look
at recent operations in Libya. These have
combined unmanned USAF Reapers with US
Marine Corps AH-1 Super Cobras and AV-8B
Harrier IIs. The Marine Corps — arguably
the number-one US military CAS force — is
banking on the F-35 as well.
There are plenty of CAS platforms out there,
ranging from F-35s to B-52s, MQ-9 Predators
to AH-1 Cobras. Maybe that covers all the
bases, and once political pressure subsides
the A-10 can finally disappear without a direct
replacement.
To keep track of the latest breaking news
and analysis in the world of military air power
you can visit our social media sites and our
website: www.combataircraft.net.
We also have a new section of the
website dedicated to the USAF’s T-X trainer
competition. You can also sign up for our free
e-mail newsletter by going to
www.combataircraft.net to register.
Jamie Hunter,
Editor
E-mail: jamie.hunter@keypublishing.com
05
CONTRIBUTOR
PROFILE
FRANK CRÉBAS
rank Crébas, a regular
contributor to this magazine,
has a strong interest in US
military aviation. For this
feature Frank went to Nellis Air Force
Base, Nevada to attend a ‘Green Flag’
exercise, and noted some significant
differences between the exercise and
its bigger brother ‘Red Flag’.
F
October 2016
www.combataircraft.net

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