Typhoon's present and future

The Typhoon’s future

Farnborough brought forth a much celebrated agreement between UK, Germany, Italy and Spain for the go ahead to the next phases of the Eurofighter Typhoon’s enhancement programme. Good news, undoubtedly, but is it really something worth celebrations?

Sadly, looking into the details, the situation isn’t properly one which inspires pulling out champagne bottles from the fridge. In fact, the Typhoon evolution is finally about to move one step onwards, but seems to have effectively been slowed again for other aspects, and it continues to be hampered by lack of money and unity of intents and action between the four partner nations.

There is, however, a ray of hope as I’ll explain in this article. Please bear with me as we delve in a world made of Tranches, Blocks, Software Releases, Change Proposals and countless other confusing elements.  

Phase 1 Enhancement (P1E)

The thick of the Typhoon fleets in Europe currently is made up by Tranche 1 Typhoons with a very limited air to ground capability.

The Tranche 1 Typhoons were initially delivered with Basic Air Defence capability (Block 1), then came the Block 2 and 2B with more complete AA capabilities, and finally the Block 5, which introduced some air to ground strike capability. All Tranche 1 Typhoons are being upgraded to Block 5 standards under the R2 retrofit program.

Block 5 Typhoons, known in the RAF as FGR4, (Fighter/Ground attack/Reconnaissance) come with the capability of employing laser guided ammunition (Paveway II for the UK, GBU-10 and GBU-16 for the other partner nations), but only with laser designation provided by a third party (either a land-based designator or a pod installed on another aircraft, much like the Tornado GR1 in the Gulf War, which launched paveways on laser designations made by the old Buccaneers!

This same level of capability is provided by the Block 8 airplanes, part of the Tranche 2 order.

The sole Royal Air Force in 2006 launched an urgent national initiative for fitting Tranche 1 Typhoons with a better “austere land attack” capability, as a replacement for the Jaguar airplane and as a step in preparing the Typhoon for an anticipated deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. The deployment actually never happened, but the initiative became a £73m deal signed on 20 July 2006. Known as Change Proposal 193 (CP193) within the Typhoon program logs, this modification gave the Typhoon Tranche 1 Block 5 of the RAF the capability to employ the Litening III laser designation pod, removing the need for third-part designation. It also enabled carriage of the Enhanced Paveway II, which adds GPS to the laser seeker so to enable all-weather attack capability.

Good work was made on the Litening III integration, which incorporates a ROVER 3 (remotely-operated video enhanced receiver) air-to-surface secure full-motion video data link, which allows pictures and data to be transmitted from the Litening pod directly to a forward air controller on the ground via a laptop-type terminal, with minimal lag or latency. This enhances close air support effectiveness by improving target identification and minimising miscommunication. ROVER also provides a limited real-time reconnaissance capability, since Litening III can record still imagery as well, “taking photos” like a recce pod. The system is also compatible with the later Rover 4 and Rover 5, and with the Rockwell ‘StrikeHawk’ Miniature Tactical
Video Downlink Receiver adopted by the British Army’s Fire Support Teams.

In 2007, finally, the other partner nations joined in the Air to Ground development effort with Change Proposal 210, which basically introduces in all nations the capabilities the RAF added with CP193. The agreement came too late to have this capability included in the Tranche 2 Block 8 airplanes, so that, while they incorporate over 400 improvements, the current Tranche 2 Typhoons have less air ground usefulness than Tranche 1 Block 5.

The Phase 1 Enhancement contract, born from CP210, was finally signed on 30 March 2007.

Improvements will be delivered in two incremental software releases: P1EA will come with the SRP10 software  while P1EB will come with the SRP12 software.

Test activities began on 24th October 2008, using the Alenia-owned IPA5 development airplane to start flight trials with the 500-lb Paveway IV.

It was then joined in 2009 by IPA-7, owned by Germany’s Cassidian, which flew handling trials with the Paveway IV bombs loaded and the new P1EA Missile Warner system installed.

Spain’s IPA-4 airplane flew with the 1000 pounds EGBU-16 between February and April 2009, and made five drops of the bomb, and finally, from 18 june 2009, BAE’s IPA-1 began drop trials of Paveway IV, making 15 bomb drops over the Irish Sea. In February 2011 there was the first guided launch of Paveway IV, and in early 2012 the final demonstration, validating in full the self-designation capability and employment of Paveway IV in all its modes, was started.

[NOTE: IPA stands for Instrumented Production Aircraft. These are five production standard aircraft plus 2 converted Series Production aircrafts fitted with telemetry instruments for dedicated flight testing and further systems development. They are owned and operated by the various companies part of the Eurofighter team:

BAE has the IPA1, IPA5 and IPA6.

Alenia (Italy) has the IPA2

EADS (Germany) has the IPA3 and IPA7

EADS Casa (Spain) has the IPA4

IPA6 is a Typhoon Tranche 1 standard (BS031), taken up from the RAF order and fitted with Tranche 2 avionics for testing prior to Tranche 2 deliveries to the air forces.

There are also 6 DA Typhoons (Development Airplanes), some of which have now been assigned to museums, while others remain in use for testing. One DA airplane, Spain’s one, was lost to an engine failure in 2002.]

As of now, P1EA flight testing is complete, and the NETMA agency is going to give its documentation to the partner nations, which will then complete their own process for clearance and entry into service.

According to Eurofighter, P1EA introduces the following improvements:

-          Integration of Paveway IV and EGBU-16

-          Dedicate Air-Ground mode for the 27 mm gun control software

-          More mature integration of the laser designation pod

-          Expanded communications fit, new radios

-          IFF mode 5 upgrade

-          Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) enhancements

-          New Differential GPS navigation system

-          Complete digital integration of IRIS-T short range air to air missile

The more mature integration of the laser pod comes down mainly to enabling it to work at wider angles than those cleared with CP193.

The IRIS-T so far was not completely integrated. To the UK this is of little interest, since it uses ASRAAM, and this was fully integrated already in Tranche 1 Block 5.

P1EA also includes unspecified improvements to a range of systems including Rover terminal integration (to share imagery from the targeting pod with air attack controllers on the ground equipped with the Rover laptop), IFF, Forward Looking Infra Red FLIR, Chaff/Flare and DASS self-protection system, with improved accuracy of threat detection and enhanced countermeasures technologies.

SRP 10 software will also allow up to six non-sequential or four simultaneous surface strikes in a single pass.

P1EA will finally hit service in the first quarter of 2013, if all goes according to plan. By September, the RAF expects the Paveway IV bomb to finally be operational on the Typhoon.

The P1EB software will add new display formats for the air-to-ground role, significantly improving the Human Machine Interface (HMI), minimising the pilot’s workload in the most complex scenarios and facilitating simultaneous swing-role operations by allowing a pilot to continue a bomb run while at the same time fighting off air attacks. Pilot workload will be further reduced by expanded and enhanced Data Link 16 / Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) functionality, with much greater data transmission capacity.

There will also be a two-stage delivery of Direct Voice Input upgrades, with the first package of enhancements increasing the vocabulary to almost 90 commands, and allowing the pilot to request information to be displayed for any target or waypoint by voice command.

It will also allow the pilot to manipulate the Laser Designator Pod and even to create a waypoint at a point of interest with just two commands. Combined with the HEA (Head Equipment Assembly), with the Striker head-mounted display, this will dramatically improve combat effectiveness, as the pilot will be able to engage targets in all directions without having to physically turn the fighter around. He will also have complete access to all relevant information on his display, regardless of where his head is pointed, without the need for looking down at the HUD or cockpit screens.

P1EB flight trials should have already begun: the plan was to start the test flying on July 20 with BAE’s IPA6 airplane.

But Brimstone and Storm Shadow? Keep waiting.

P1E is to be followed, in the future, by a Phase 2 Enhancement program (P2E), again released in incremental steps.

There is a first commitment to this next phase, a “contract one” signed, but we are still quite far from having a precise plan for the future. According to Eurofighter:

In the future, it is anticipated that Nations can continue to develop the product but maintain a common baseline product and reduce the dependency on funding being available from other nations. This approach has already been successfully applied to the Tranche 1 product (Note: with RAF money with CP193).

As it has done with AESA development, industry has self-funded some forward development work on advanced air-to-ground capabilities in support of the export campaigns.

There is a growing recognition that with the partner nations all under budgetary pressure, in order to sustain the technology base, Eurofighter may have to share the development of new technologies with partners beyond Europe. As a result, export customers will have the same ability to push the pace of weapon integrations, even if the weapon required is not a priority for the partner nations.

The ability to integrate a new targeting pod and new weapons (ones not previously associated with the Typhoon), and in such a rapid timescale, speaks volumes for the adaptability and agility of the aircraft – and of its manufacturers.

With the India order a broken dream, it is Saudi Arabia that has to drive things forwards, along with the UK.

And, luckily, the Saudis are quite active: this year their Tranche 2 airplanes will be modified to use a Laser Designation Pod, and they will be the first nation having self-designation capability on Tranche 2 airplanes, for the issues described earlier. The pod selected is the French Damocles LDP, already used by the Saudis on their Tornado fleet. Saudi Arabia purchased Paveway IV bombs from the UK for 457 million USD, initially for use on Tornado, and then on Typhoon, in early 2011, but the US are opposing the sale, and Saudi Arabia is reportedly considering buying France’s AASM if the issue can’t be solved. It would be a major blow for Raytheon UK, caused by what is supposed to be “the best ally”, the nation which, more than anyone else, pours technology and weapons into Saudi Arabia. But the US do not want to take risks on the US-produced advanced Anti-Jamming GPS unit used on the Paveway IV, and the diplomatic conflict continues to rage, albeit behind curtains of silence.  

In addition, Saudi Arabia has abandoned earlier plans of producing the last 48 of its 72 Typhoons locally. Difficulties with the industry complex meant a change of plans, and now BAE Systems will build at Warton, in the UK, all of the Saudi Typhoons. In exchange, the last 24 airplanes will have Tranche 3 features, and Saudi Arabia is pushing for the airplanes to come fitted for (and possibly with) electronically scanned array radars and conformal fuel tanks. They are pressing ahead energically with P1E enhancements, which they might achieve before of the four original partner nations.

Saudi Arabia likes the Typhoon, but wants it to develop its air-ground capability. Quickly. Providing them with the capability they want is crucial for securing a widely anticipated second Typhoon order, which could be for another 72 airplanes.

The UK might find the best ally in Saudi Arabia, in the fight for ensuring that the airplane is finally fully developed and armed.

Going with the original European partners seems to slow everything down. According to Eurofighter:

The four nation future capability plan is also under evaluation, though it is likely that Storm Shadow/Taurus cruise missiles will be integrated by 2015, with the advanced Dual Mode Brimstone multi-role close air

support weapon following.

Ignoring the fact that Dual Mode Brimstone will start being supplemented and replaced by Brimstone 2 already next year, it must be noted that we are facing another delay in the plan. It had been hoped to see Storm Shadow and Brimstone fielded by 2014.

Both weapons are said to have Saudi Arabia’s interest, so perhaps the RAF and RSAF could go ahead on their own.

Again, Eurofighter adds:

The Typhoon will wait until mid 2016 for clearance of the Meteor BVR air-to-air missile under a specific Meteor Integration Contract, though development and risk reduction activities are moving ahead, and the planned AESA radar will be introduced in 2015.

Mid 2016 now…? Well, not bad, considering that the Typhoon was originally planned to have Meteor by 2011! Until this Eurofighter news came out, the planned ISD in the RAF was July 2015, but even this target will apparently be missed by a good bit.

Even the AESA radar bit is not as good a news as it would seem. Even if the AESA radar was available by 2015, would it be actually be fitted into the airplanes? Would it be provided at build on Tranche 3 aircrafts at least? For Tranche 2 it is too late already, and a retrofit will be needed if AESA is to be fitted.

Worst part is that it might be late even for Tranche 3 production: orders for Captor radar components for the Tranche 3 Typhoons have already been placed, and work started. Large parts of the system should be the same, but it is not clear what the plan exactly is.

In 2010 the RAF had walked ahead of the other partner nations by placing a 16 million pounds national contract with Selex Galileo for the development and demonstration of an AESA radar solution for Typhoon. It should fly on a RAF Typhoon next year, and is known under the program name Bright Adder. The radar is to have a big air-ground focus, but also, reportedly, the capability to work as a communication data link and an electronic warfare weapon.

The radar aerial is not fixed like in current AESA radars, but mounted on a repositioner, giving a 200° field of view, against a common 120°. 

Similar, yet not the same, is the Captor-E main AESA effort, being brought forwards by the Euroradar consortium. It first flew on a Typhoon in May 2007, and earlier still there was CAESAR (Captor AESA Radar), test flown on a BAC-111 test-bed aircraft.

However, progress was scarce, and the RAF decided to go ahead on its own to have a Plan B in case things would not work.

Finally, in July 2010 the Euroradar consortium made a formal offer to provide an AESA solution for the Eurofighter, following which industry funded the development of a production-series standard AESA radar system, and this is what is now being pushed forwards.

The unit is based in part on the back end of the existing CAPTOR, and on the Selex Vixen 1000E or Raven ES-05 currently under development for the Gripen NG. It uses a similar wide field of regard repositioner for wide field of view, like Bright Adder.

Intended capabilities include greater simultaneous radar functionality, with faster and more accurate detection and tracking of multiple aircraft.

The UK Typhoon Tranche 3 should be at least fitted for (and hopefully with...) adoption of two dorsal 1500 liters Conformal Fuel Tanks. These would prove incredibly useful in the land attack role, as they equate the capacity of 3 auxiliary fuel tanks but do not take away any of the weapon pylons.

This is crucially important because the sole 2 pylons rated for Storm Shadow carriage are the “wet” pylons: either it carries Storm Shadow, or the fuel tanks.

The third auxiliary fuel tank would go in ventral position, where the Laser Designator Pod is normally installed, even if for a long time the LDP has been shown in Eurofighter images fitted at one of the semi-conformal hardpoints under the fuselage. 

It is obvious that having conformal tanks solves a few awkward problems!

BAE Systems curiously reports a story slightly different: according to them, there is no longer a P2E phase, this having been abandoned 

“… in favour of a more organic ‘heartbeat upgrade cycle’. This will see new capabilities being integrated according to a two-year software upgrade cycle featuring SRP 14, SRP 16, SRP 18 and SRP 20, rather than one single big upgrade.”

One possible interpretation of this difference is that, as I suggested, the UK might be looking to a national plan, coherent with the larger Eurofighter plan, but at the same time different. BAE, RAF and RSAF might be about to go onwards on their own path. And indeed BAE adds:

In the wake of the recent ‘Contract One’ signature, the UK now has the power to be able to press ahead with such upgrades even without the participation of the other partner nations. This is a new and important development, and, in concert with the demonstrated new ability to rapidly integrate new

weapons (shown by recent Saudi Typhoon plans), should ensure that the RAF can equip its Typhoons

with the capabilities it requires more quickly than would otherwise have been the case.

Many new capabilities will of course, still be required by all of the Typhoon partner nations, and incorporated as part of a four-nation approach, including – for example – AESA radar.

According to some sources the Storm Shadow/Taurus air-launched cruise missile and the Brimstone air-to-surface missile should be integrated under SRP 14.

Similarly, SRP 14 should also introduce an initial operating capability for the Meteor air-to-air missile, with SRP 16 adding full Meteor operating capability.

The planned AESA radar (known as Captor E) should be introduced with either SRP 16 or SRP 18, though at one point this was expected with SRP 14 (in the case of aircraft built for India) and with SRP 16 for the four partner nations to meet an entry-into-service target date of 2015.

The situation is complex, between Tranches, Blocks, SRPs and, now, even the contradictions between BAE’s words and Eurofighter’s words.

I must also admit that I really can’t understand how the “2-year cycle” for software releases actually works. If SRP16 means 2015 ISD, SRP14 should arguably mean ISD in 2013, no? Instead, in 2013 we’ll get SRP10.

The feeling is that software releases are actually years late into active service…

RAF Fleet growth

Number 1 (Fighter) Squadron will reform officially at the RAF Leuchars Jubilee Air Show on 15th September becoming the fourth front line squadron to operate the Typhoon in the UK. According to the MOD Business Plan 2012, the new squadron will achieve Initial Operating Capability in March 2013.

The fifth Typhoon squadron, again to be based in Leuchars (until the planned move to Lossiemouth, at least) will stand up and achieve IOC between April 2013 and March 2015. The identity of the squadron is not yet known.

Full Operating Capability for the Typhoon force is expected in March 2018.

The latest reports, via Jane’s, suggest that the plan of retiring the Tranche 1 Typhoons by 2019 will be abandoned. They will instead be retained, and two more squadrons will be formed, to keep up RAF strength as the Tornado GR4 bows out, by 2019 according to the latest plan.

In addition there would be 48 F35B for the Carrier Strike fleet, procured apparently between 2013 and 2023.

There are some problems in retaining the Tranche 1s, however. The role for which they could more easily be retained is the Air Defence / Quick Reaction Alert role, but even for this, the airplanes would ideally need the AESA radar, since Meteor is best exploited with such a radar system. Other improvements would also be necessary, and of course the missile integration would have to be validated on the older Typhoons. As it is, Meteor is being integrated on Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 only.  

On the other hand, using them in the Swing Role / Land Attack role in the long term is hardly conceivable, as it would require a massive weapon integration effort, plus even more modifications to software and hardware.

And unfortunately, Tranche 1 airframes are weaker than Trance 2 and 3 ones: there are narrower payload limits, and other differences that make it impossible / economically unfeasible to upgrade them to a common standard. It’s the first reason why the plan for an early retirement in 2019 came up to start with.

Development of Tranche 1 Typhoons was indeed to end with SRP 4.3 / Block 5 under the main Typhoon contract. Fortunately, an agreement has been found between the partner nations to continue delivering “Drops” of software upgrades into Tranche 1 airplanes.

It’ll be interesting to see how the RAF approaches the unique challenges of keeping the Tranche 1 in service into the 2020s, if this ends up being the path chosen as it now appears likely. For sure, it’ll be years still before the Typhoon becomes a complete system.

Typhoon’s performance in Libya

All Typhoons employed in Libya were Tranche 1 Block 5 ones, due to the awkward situation we talked of earlier, which sees Tranche 2 airplanes being currently less capable in Air to Ground work than the older Tranche 1.

The Typhoon was limited by its AG armament, limited to the sole 1000 pounds Enhanced Paveway II and Enhanced Paveway II+  (The Plus is a UOR development which couples the Paveway II to the anti-jamming GPS module used by the Paveway IV), but in one area at least it came with a great advantage on Tornado GR4.

The Typhoon is fully network-integrated, and thanks to its Data Ling 16 MIDS it can see the situational awareness picture all the time, sharing data in real time with Sentry, Sentinel, Reaper, with all NATO combat airplanes and with suitably equipped ground stations.

The Tornado GR4, unfortunately, to this day is left without a Data Link capability. It is a very relevant limitation, which makes everything more complex: Flight Lieutenant John Robins-Walker, of 14 Squadron, said after an Afghanistan tour that the lack of Data Link connectivity left them without situational awareness, almost like they were blind. To know the situation in the crowded Afghan sky, they could only relay on radio calls to the AWACS assets in flight at the moment.

For a Tornado GR4, sharing data with other assets is currently impossible, other than via voice communication on the radio, whereas a Link 16 enables a constant upgrade on the position and status of all allied platforms and also makes it possible for the troops on the ground, of any NATO nation, to send standard 9 lines messages for calling Close Air Support, in near real-time and without translation issues, an important factor in a multinational scenario of operations.

The RAF is aware of this problem, and in December 2007 a contract was signed for the Capability Upgrade Strategy (Pilot) programme. This was confirmed in the SDSR 2010 when the decision was made to keep Tornado in service:  

[…] 96 Tornado GR4 aircraft will receive capability upgrades between 2011 and 2014 at an estimated cost of around £300 million. This number of aircraft is sufficient to maintain the operational capability of the Tornado GR4 Forward Available Fleet until OSD. There are currently no plans for the aircraft to receive any further capability upgrades after 2014.

Under CUS(P), General Dynamics UK was selected to provide the Tactical Data Link (TDL) sub-system of the Tactical Information Exchange Capability (TIEC) programme for the Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 and Harrier GR9 aircraft, integrating the Link-16 and Improved Data Modem (IDM) on the aircrafts. TIEC integrates the Link-16 and IDM messaging functionality with the aircraft systems to provide the aircrew with enhanced situation awareness that will enable the prosecution of Time Critical and Time Sensitive Targets and will support dynamic re-tasking of the platform and provide a significant enhancement in the area of coalition operations.

The Harrier GR9 was ahead of Tornado in terms of network integration, and flew with its own TIEC version in June 2010.

The TIEC is/was to enter service in 2012 on Tornado GR4, but current status of the programme is not known. A Tornado GR4 fitted with TIEC first flew in November 2010, however, and hopefully we’ll hear something soon about Entry into Service.

The Tornado GR4 is also due to get Secure Communications on Tornado (SCoT), a packet of software-controlled radios developed by Ultra under a 2005 contract. SCoT flew in 2010, but it is not yet in service. Its main purpose is to simplify the pilot’s life by memorizing frequencies and radio networks, allowing the crew to select the needed channel for talking with other airplanes or troops on the ground much more quickly and easily, using a simple interface.

As a UOR, in the meanwhile, Tornado was fitted with the CAGNET multi-band transceiver (based on a Rohde & Schwarz MR6000L software radio) which embodies the Have Quick II waveform used for air-ground communications with JTACs. CAGNET is effectively an half-way house for the longer-term SCoT in which Rohde & Schwarz figures as a principal subcontractor. SCoT in fact uses the very same transceiver, but has additional waveforms including SATURN.

The current MOD position is that whatever improvement Tornado needs, it must get it by 2014, because there won’t be funding for any other upgrade after that date, due to the currently anticipated Out of Service date being 2019. The Tornado’s force at readiness is also going to shrink massively by 2015 as Afghanistan needs end, dropping from 40 elements at readiness to 18.

In the meanwhile, Typhoon force elements at readiness will increase, and their air to ground capabilities will expand. As we’ve seen, though, Tornado GR4 is going to stay the sole Storm Shadow/RAPTOR/Brimstone platform for quite a while still.

In Libya, the Tornado GR4 and Typhoon flew together so that the Tornado crews could be briefed on the radio by the accompanying Typhoon crew about the Data Link 16 picture that the GR4 can’t see. The Typhoon also worked as a “mini-AWACS” of sort, thanks to its powerful radar and data link, and its DASS self-protection system would keep track of any menacing radar transmission in the area, helping to keep the pilots aware, both on the Typhoon and on the Tornado accompanying. In exchange, initially, Tornado GR4 pilots guided the far less experience Typhoon pilots in the ground attack missions, and for a while laser-designated the targets for the Typhoons.

Eventually, when enough operational experience was built up, Typhoons started to carry Litening III and self-designated their targets.

To understand what kind of impact Data Link 16 and MIDS have, I’m reporting the words of Wing Commander Patounas, 3^rd Squadron RAF, as appeared in the BAE book “Typhoon: a year on the road”.

As I coasted out from Sicily, I could move my map down to Libya, see every single aircraft that was in the AOR, click on any track, open it up and it would tell me the call sign, how much fuel it had, the height and heading, and its type, tanker, UAV, fighter, ISTAR, the whole hit.

“I had a picture of what was going on in the AOR and the disposition of the maritime fleet, so I could see where the carrier group (sadly not a UK Carrier group…) was, where any destroyers were, and see which types they were.

“And if ASTOR or Joint STARS were out there and painting ground tracks, that information would also be available. I could have details of ground tracks of interest and still have an hour transit to go. I was able to form a picture of what’s going on before I got there.”

 “We’d get airborne about 20 minutes after the Tornados and put them up on our radar, typically 100 miles ahead. We’re all heading to a point in space where we’re supposed to meet the tanker. Looking at the display I can see that there is no tanker; sometimes tankers break. So I already know there’s no fuel and spoke to C2 [the command] using JVOICE, which is the voice capability on Link 16, who advise me that a tanker is coming. Once I know the position to meet the tanker, I would instruct the Tornados and meet them at that point. That saves the Tornados a whole stack of gas because they have not gone hundreds of miles in the wrong direction.

“That’s one part of the link. If I received tasking away from a Predator, I would always want to know where it was and would ask to speak to the Predator crew to see if they had identified anything of interest. Because we can travel quickly, we can pop over to the Predator’s location and help, or add perspective to what the crew is watching on their screen, and often bring weapons to something that the crew wouldn’t engage.

“You can be pro-active in your search, go to where you’re told but you don’t know what you’re looking for because you don’t know what’s going to be there or what’s going to occur, it was all very dynamic.

“Rather than just sitting [on Close Air Patrol] unaware of what’s going on around you, [MIDS allows] you

to see there’s nothing going on where you are and that everyone’s at a different location. By suggesting that you move there to help we could help C2 out that way.

“And also you can send effectively text messages, so if you have radio problems, you can just send people messages over and above, so it really, really does enhance stuff.”

Provided the aircraft is on the link, the pilot has connectivity and can speak and communicate. “It’s like a wireless internet connection: when you’re on it you can use all the functionality,” said Patounas.

MIDS also helped pilots to de-conflict. Even in a tactical fighting situation flight safety is paramount and MIDS allowed aircraft to be identified in the battle space.

“C2 can’t tell you everything, but before we even get there [using MIDS] I can advise that there’s a pair over there, and we’re heading to that same area. Often you’d see them ahead of when you would have ordinarily picked them up.”

MIDS is also a huge advantage with locating the positions of unmanned aircraft, which move slowly and are difficult to spot. They are displayed and could be seen nine times out of ten when in the vicinity, according to one Typhoon pilot.

Written Answers and news of interest

The latest round of Written Answers about Defence, combined with a Flightglobal piece of news about DSEI, present a bit of interesting news.



Cuts to the Royal Marines

The 7200 Royal Marines will be cut by 650 (earlier 500 had been an indication), but not from the 3rd Commando Brigade total. The Fleet Protection Group will lose posts, but all its squadrons and units should be safe.

Leuchars and Lossiemouth

Operating Typhoon from RAF Lossiemouth for 25 years, including transfer cost as the fleet and associated personnel moves in from Leuchars will cost 604 million pounds. Operating the same fleet from Leuchars would have cost 565 millions on the same period. Having decided that the Typhoon force North will go at Lossiemouth, preparation of the infrastructure at Lossiemouth is to start "right away" to be ready to receive the Typhoon force as the last two squadrons are stood up directly in Lossie. However, the build-up will take place over time and Leuchars will remain a working RAF base until 2014, meaning that probably 6 Squadron RAF will move into Lossie only later on, and for the next few years it'll continue to deliver QRA service from its current position.

Joint Combat Aircraft

The F35 so far cost the UK 1,825 million, all coming from the Defence Budget. UK companies have already won JSF production contracts worth 15% by value of the work on each aircraft and are therefore well placed to win future maintenance and support work as well. Recently, the estimate value of such 15% share was put at 35 billion pounds.

Meanwhile, activity related to the F35 is to increase as the UK works towards placing its first orders.
The UK's exact requirement post-SDSR for the F-35 has yet to be set, but the Ministry of Defence has previously identified a need for up to 138 of the aircraft. An initial three F-35Bs were ordered to participate alongside the US military during initial operational test and evaluation of the new aircraft, but the allies are working out the details of a deal to exchange the last example for an F-35C following the UK's switch of variant.
The new type is expected to achieve Initial Operating Capability as a land-based asset from roughly 2018, before launching embarked operations around 2020. In the NAO Major Projects report 2010 (the most recent review of MOD programmes available at the moment, even if SDSR is likely to have changed more than a thing) indicates the Initial Operating Capability of F35 as "6 fighter jets at Readiness Level 2 (2 to 5 days notice) for embarkation for operations on the aircraft carrier" and the Full Operating Capability as "36 Force Elements at readiness", in other words 3 frontline, carrier-capable squadrons, implying that more planes (and at least another squadron) would sustain this. For example, the Tornado GR4 fleet, following SDSR, is going down, by 2015, from 40 Force Elements at readiness to 18, but retaining a total fleet of 96 planes in five squadrons plus OCU at least until around 2017, more likely 2018 - 2020 as F35 introduction must be balanced with the planned draw-down of the Tornado GR4 force: an activity that Liam Fox says will be "particularly challenging".

Some level of funding commitment will be required next year, to cover the order of long-lead items for an initial batch of 16 aircraft to be built during the programme's low-rate initial production phase (ending in 2016 after the latest programme restructuring). In particular, the 16 planes, according to the most recent Memorandum of Understanding (scroll down to page 88) signed by JSF partners, would be 7 ordered in 2013 and 9 in 2015, with expected delivery in 2015 and 2017 (from order to delivery, Lockheed Martin indicates two years as the time necessary). According to the MOU, 11 more orders (these would be, according to current plan, Full-Rate Production airplanes) would follow in 2016, 3 in 2017, 6 in 2018, 14 in 2019, 10 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 4 in 2022, 14 in 2023 for a total of 80. By 2020, consider the two years delivery time, the UK could have 36 planes plus 3 test airframes, compatible with the "40 F35 in 2020" figure which stubbornly circulated post SDSR.
80 airframes should be enough for 4 Squadrons and OCU.

The MOU displays further orders, up to 2027, to reach a total of 138 UK planes, but the MOD Business Plans 2010 and 2011 both showed an "end of activity" for F35 programme in 2023, which might mean end of the procurement effort after orders for a maximum of 80 airframes.
Post SDSR, RAF officers continued to declare that the long term target still is for "around 100".  


UK Military Flight Training System 

This December, ASCENT Flight Training, the industrial joint venture which delivers to the UK the military training for pilots of fixed and rotary wing of all three services, will issue the detailed request for proposals to continue the aircraft service provision competition, as part of the UK Military Flying Training System programme. Programme value is not disclosed, and locations of future training have not been confirmed. Several training planes in the fleet are expected to be replaced, including the Tucano and Tutor, while a replacement for the retired Dominie is also sought. Details are provided on this site, at the UKMFTS page.

 UCAS

Analysis to date has indicated that Unmanned Combat Air Systems (UCAS), in combination with manned systems, could form part of a cost effective solution for future air-to-air and air-to-ground combat roles. Ongoing research is focused on developing concepts and assessing their performance with a view to shaping a future UCAS programme. Such work includes the Taranis technology demonstrator, which the Ministry of Defence is developing in partnership with a BAE Systems-led industry team and which should soon enough fly for the first time at Woomera range, Australia.

Cooperation with France, according to the recent bilateral agreements, will involve UCAS activity, with a notional 2030 In-Service Date target.
Unfortunately, the written answer do not provide any additional information: in particular, it would be interesting to recognize what impact a 2009 Royal Navy study on the use of UCAS on the CVF carriers has eventually had on wider UCAS planning.

Entry in Service of Astutes and Type 45s 

HMS Astute, commissioned April 2010, Operational service start in late 2012
HMS Ambush 2013
HMS Artful 2015
HMS Audacious 2018
HMS Agamemnon 2020
HMS Anson 2022
HMS Ajax 2024

HMS Dragon 2012
HMS Defender 2013
HMS Duncan 2014

Next year HMS Daring, Dauntless and Diamond should all experience their first deployment. For HMS Daring, planning assumed its deployment as escort for HMS Illustrious, itself planned to replace HMS Ocean in Libya ops. The recent developments in Libya might change the plans by removing the need for this deployment.

HMS Ocean replacement, future LPH capability

Debates during the buildup of the Parliamentary Defence Committee report on the SDSR had seen declarations about HMS Ocean leaving active service in 2016, probably to be replaced by HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The recent answer by Peter Luff reopens the scenario:

The means for delivering our landing platform helicopter capability after 2020 have not yet been decided, nor has the eventual out-of-service date of HMS Ocean, which provides the current capability. These decisions will be influenced by the evolving plan for the introduction into service of the new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.

Can we hope for a dedicate LHD as replacement? Probably no. But one can dream...

155 mm naval guns: hopes still exist?

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the replacement of existing warship guns by ones of 155mm; and if he will make a statement on his policy, with special reference to (a) the future frigate fleet and (b) Type 45 destroyers. [68308]
 
Peter Luff: No decision on the calibre of the new Maritime Indirect Fire System (the new naval gun) has yet been made. This will be taken when work to consider the available options under the Future Maritime Fires Concept Phase is complete in around mid-2012.

The MOD cut funding to the 155 TMF BAe development programme in 2010. I'm not aware if BAE has been continuing with its own funding, but i've expressed my hope many times that they would self-finance development.
If a 155 mm "Army-compatible" solution still exists, it has my support.

Otherwise, the likely options are the retention of the immortal 114 mm gun, or the adoption of 127 mm, almost certainly via Oto Melara/Babcock joint venture, marketing the Oto Melara 127/64 Lightweight gun mount.

A big load of news

Targets for the Royal Navy – Training for asymmetric threat such as suicide boats attacks is more and more important these days, and the Royal Navy has taken a step in ensuring its ships are ready for all events. ASV Ltd. has recently been awarded a contract by the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) for the Provision of Remote Controlled Naval Surface Target Systems and Associated Capabilities. Under this contract the company will supply, operate, store and maintain a range of remotely operated craft from 3.5-13m in length.

A military-civilian flying role for Leuchars even as Army Base? – Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is to ask the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to examine the possibility of having Leuchars’s runways (expensively updated in the last few years) available for civilian use — which would provide a welcome boost to the local economy — in the wake of the decision to end the Fife town's century-old link with the RAF.

"It is crucial that the airfield is kept in use so that it can be used as an embarkation point for military personnel involved in future operations — and beyond — that there must be scope to investigate securing commercial flights from Leuchars to make the most of the facilities there.

"There is no reason why military and civilian flights could not both use Leuchars, which would be a huge boost to the economy of the area."

It is not the first time the possibility of commercial airline flights from Leuchars has been raised. In 2002 a feasibility study by the MoD indicated that potential exploitation of spare capacity at RAF Leuchars might include greater use of the base by civilian and commercial aircraft. Ryanair looked at flying in and out of Leuchars several years ago and even approached the MoD about the prospect.

However, Project Pioneer was put on hold the following year because RAF Strike Command wanted to keep its "options open" as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq escalated.

Asked about the possibility of commercial flights, the MOD said that the large number of troops — possibly as many as 1300 — scheduled to be based in Leuchars means there might not be "sufficient capacity."

"A large volume airline would have a very substantial impact on local infrastructure such as the road network. The funding of any improvements to the road network might be difficult to achieve."

The majority of military deployments in the UK take place from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, although Leuchars, Edinburgh and Prestwick airports have been used for Scottish troops in the past.

Mr Salmond believes using Leuchars for that purpose would allow aviation skills and jobs to be retained in Fife and make use of the base's runway, which has been the subject of millions of pounds of investment in recent years. The MOD is actively considering retaining the Leuchars runways and facilities as an Embarkation Point for troops, but at this stage it is unclear whether Leuchars could also welcome civilian flying. Apart from security problems which would have to be studied and mitigated, the base might not be suitable for the large passenger numbers that would be required for the arrival of a budget airline once the army base was functional.

We will see what eventually comes out of it.

 

F35 test fleet temporarily grounded following electrical failure - All 20 U.S. F-35 Lightning IIs have been grounded following a failure of the aircraft's integrated power package (IPP). the IPP - which combines the functions performed by an auxiliary power unit, emergency power system and environmental controls - the crew shut down the aircraft as per standard operating procedures, according to a press release by the JSF program office.

Government and contractor teams are reviewing the incident to find out what caused the IPP to fail. The program office suspended flight operations as "the prudent action to take at this time until the F-35 engineering, technical and system safety teams fully understand the cause of the incident," according to the statement.

This is the second time the F-35 has been grounded this year due to electrical problems. In March, the F-35 fleet was briefly grounded after the same aircraft experienced a dual generator failure that was traced to faulty maintenance procedures.

The Navy's F-35C was also grounded for six days in June due to a software problem with the wing-fold mechanism that might have caused the flight control surfaces to freeze in flight. The aircraft returned to flight June 23.

It is not uncommon during tests and development to incur in such problems, and the fleet should be back flying soon. Hopefully this will have no impact on the test programme schedule.

Libya war developments - On August 1, as planned, Norway withdrew its small but efficient contingent of F16s from the Libyan operation, after carrying out 583 missions, out of a total of 6,493 flown by NATO since March 31, but especially after dropping a very impressive 569 weapons, almost one for each sortie flown, and one of the very highest figures in the whole coalition.

On June 10, the center-left government, split over Norway's prolonged participation in the bombing, announced it would gradually withdraw its six F-16 fighter jets stationed at the Souda base on the Greek island of Crete. The government explained that its small air force could not sustain a large air contribution for a long period of time.

Only eight of NATO's 28 member states have flown bombing missions since the alliance took command of the operation on March 31: Norway, Britain, France, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and the United States.

Even more worrisome, the French navy will withdraw its aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle from Libyan seas on Aug. 10 for maintenance, though France will keep participating in airstrikes against Col. Moammar Gadhafi's forces using fighter jets that will take off from Sicily.

The Charles De Gaulle, which hosts six Rafale fighter jets and nine other aircraft, will head to her home harbor of Toulon on the French Mediterranean coast for regular maintenance, a French Defense Ministry official said Thursday. The maintenance will take place in the port over "several weeks," he added.

The French air force will take over the job using six other Rafale jets which have been moved forwards at the Sigonella air base in Sicily, meaning France's military contribution the North Atlantic Treaty Organization campaign in Libya will continue. The French military carries out about 25% of the coalition's sorties in Libya and about 30% of the air strikes.

The Charles De Gaulle has been sailing off the Libyan coast since March 20, together with other French vessels and a helicopter carrier. Prior to her mission off the North African coast, the ship had patrolled the Indian Ocean off Eastern Africa as part of antipiracy surveillance and its Rafales had flown missions into Afghanistan. Between both missions, the ship moored in Toulon for about a month, a brief break in almost 18 months of constant operations.

What the newspapers do not tell is that the absence of Charles De Gaulle will mean a further decrease in responsiveness of the NATO force, and even longer gaps of time in which the rebels will be on the ground on their own, without air support available, and exposed to Gaddafi’s counterattacks.

The NATO coverage of the Libyan air space is, as I’ve said several times, an umbrella riddled with holes. NATO is flying an average of 100 sorties a day, of which only 60-65 are of attack planes. This is sufficient to ensure 4 “orbits” each lasting 3 to 4 hours (thanks to some 3 Air-to-Air refuellings per sortie!), which means that NATO has attack planes for a relative time of 16 hours out of 24. Gaddafi’s forces have been well known for launching counterattacks against the rebels during the “gaps”, only to hide in heavily urbanized areas when the NATO starts to arrive. With Charles de Gaulle out of the area and with the planes all being based further away from their targets, the rhythm of operations and the coverage will shrink even further. It also appears that the “9 other planes” carried by CdG, are not being replaced. This means also the loss of the Hawkeyes (probably 3) that the carrier has, further eroding the NATO’s already lacking ISTAR and RECCE capacity over Libya.

Indeed, the RAF AWACS and Sentinel (and the Nimrod R1 until it was there) are the diamond tip of the ISTAR/RECCE effort, with the rest essentially coming from the US, which despite their formal “absence from ops” are still flying 100% of the Electronic War missions and a very high share of RECCE and Air Refuelling sorties. They also have made drones available: details have not been disclosed, but Libya shot down a Fire Scout UAV of the US Navy. A number of Predators of the USAF fly out from Sigonella air base, Sicily, providing two constant RECCE orbits (each with a drone in the area at all times): one over Tripoli and one over Misrata. It appears that a Global Hawk is also present on Sigonella, but as I said, details have definitely not been disclosed. The RAF, partially to replace the lost capability of the Nimrod R1 now decommissioned, has sent 4 more Tornados to Gioia, along with one RAPTOR pod. As awesome as the RAPTOR is, an occasional RECCE trip will not mean a dramatic change in the rhythm and efficiency of ops.    

Meanwhile, an Italian warship, the ‘Bersagliere’ was missed by an unidentified missile launched by Libya towards her, and HMS Liverpool was (again) targeted unsuccessfully by shore-based artillery, which was then “silenced by Apaches taking off from HMS Ocean”.

It doesn’t appear to be going well, does it…?

Meanwhile again, the Parliamentary Defence Committee, announced on its SDSR report that “We support the decision to proceed with both the Queen Elizabeth class carriers and to develop the JSF carrier strike capability” and noted, with Charles de Gaulle no doubt in mind, among with other simple logical considerations, that even if the second CVF is to be eventually mothballed for real, it still must be fitted with catapults and arresting wires, so to be effectively “ready” to go into action rapidly when needed. Needless to say, I fully agree with this, and I’ve been banging about this for a looong time.  [Conclusions and Recommendations, point 24 and 27]

Point 28 of the report also calls for clarity on the management of the gap in Marittime Patrol left by Nimrod retirement, and urges the MOD to find solutions and outline a plan for regeneration of the lost capability.

Together, they make for a good couple of Torpedoes fired in the flank of the SDSR, which is once more exposed in its flaws.

Afghanistan tragedy - Thirty-one U.S. special forces and 7 Afghan commandos accompanying them died in Afghanistan when the Taliban shot down their Chinook helicopter on August 5, officials said Aug. 6, marking the deadliest incident for foreign troops in the decade-long war. The previous biggest death toll saw 16 American soldiers killed in 2005 when a Taliban rocket hit their Chinook in the eastern province of Kunar.

Twenty-five of the dead were U.S. Navy SEALs, U.S. television network ABC News reported. The Pentagon declined to comment on the cause or number of deaths.

One man who said he witnessed the Aug. 5 crash, Mohammad Saber, told AFP that the helicopter plummeted during a late-night operation in his village.

"At around 10 p.m. last night, we heard helicopters flying over us," he said.

"We were at home. We saw one of the helicopters land on the roof of a house of a Taliban commander, then shooting started.

"The helicopter later took off but soon after taking off it went down and crashed. There were other helicopters flying as well."

Wardak provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the crash happened in Sayd Abad district during an operation against Taliban insurgents who have been waging war on pro-government forces since being toppled from power in 2001.

"The U.S. chopper that crashed last night was shot down by the Taliban as it was taking off," he said. "A rocket fired by the insurgents hit it and completely destroyed it."

He added that the helicopter had broken into several parts.

This tragedy follows the announcement, just days ago, that another Chinook of the US forces had been brought down by RPG fire, fortunately without serious consequences.

Bad luck? Taliban with GREAT aim?

Where the weapons REALLY RPGs? Hitting an helicopter with an RPG, even in landing and take off phase, is a complex business. The RPG is notoriously inaccurate, and despite having a range of over 900 meters, an hit at 500 is already considered a “Lucky Shot”.

It makes me suspect that the Taliban might have gotten their hands on a number of more sophisticated weapons to employ against NATO helicopters. I obviously hope to be wrong. My thoughts go to the families and friends of the fallen.

My greatest respects also go to the family of Marine James Robert Wright, from Juliet Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines, killed in Afghanistan on 5 August 2011. 

Returning fire swiftly and accurately - After examining emerging technologies to counter the small arms threat, the MOD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory conducted extensive trials with the Infantry Trials and Development Unit and in theatre, and identified Boomerang III as the preferred solution for meeting the requirement of a fire source-locating device. Scientists then made recommendations to industry on how to improve the system and develop it into a capability to save lives on the front line.

Hundreds of the Boomerang systems have been bought under a £20m contract with Essex-based company Maxord Ballistics Limited (MBL), which is the UK distributor for Raytheon BBN Technologies who make the system and they are now already in use in Afghanistan. 

Protection of bases

The Boomerang is a succesfull system already in widespread use with US Forces and other armies, and can be used at FOBs, checkpoints and other fixed locations or mounted on vehicles.

Warthog success: will it give it a long-term role in the Army? - The Warthog is doing its job very well in Afghanistan, with its combination of good protection and high mobility and Infantry Carrying load, which means that it can outmaneuver the Taliban and bring troops and heavy fire to bear on insurgents from unexpected directions.

Some 115 Bronco All Terrain Vehicles were acquired for 150 millions from Singapore's ST Kinetics, and turned into the Warthog vehicle with additional armor and british-mandated radios, electronics and other kit. The last one has been handed to the British Army very recently.

The success of the Warthog in Afghanistan will be enough to give the vehicle a future post-2015 inside the Core Budget and programme of the Army…? Perhaps the September Equipment Procurement report will give us some info about this and other kit pieces.