2008-3

L O C K H E E D

M A RT I N

A E RONAU T ICS

COM P

THIRD

QUARTER

2008

F-16 EVOLUTION F-35 FLIGHT TEST HC-130J OPERATIONAL F-117 MEMORIES

PHOTO BY JOHN ROSSINO

After nearly sixty years of continuous service, Sea Control Squadron 32 (VS-32), one of the last two US Navy units flying the S-3 Viking, was decommissioned on 25 September in ceremonies at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. Established in 1950, VS-32 operated four different aircraft from twenty different aircraft carriers. Known as the Maulers, VS-32 was the first Viking squadron to score a combat kill, sinking an Iraqi patrol boat in 1991. It was also the first squadron to take the S-3B overland during Operation Deny Flight in Bosnia. In 2007, during its last deployment—the last full deployment by a Viking squadron on a Navy aircraft carrier—the Maulers flew 4,500 flight hours on 2,000 sorties while delivering 558,000 pounds of fuel to strike aircraft.

F-16 EVOLUTION

YF-16 To Block 60 And Beyond

VOLUME 23

NUMBER 3

2

EDITOR

Eric Hehs

F-35 FLIGHT TEST PERSPECTIVES

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jeff Rhodes ART DIRECTOR

Stan Baggett VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS

Testing The Lightning II

12

Mary Jo Polidore EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION PRESIDENT, AERONAUTICS COMPANY

SEMPER PARATUS: HC-130J OPERATIONAL

Ralph D. Heath

PERSONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

Send name, address, and $20 for a one-year subscription (four issues) to PO Box 5189, Brentwood, TN 37024-5189.

Foreign subscriptions are $30 (US).

Some back issues are available.

Missionized And Saving Lives

18

CONTACT INFORMATION

Send correspondence to Code One Magazine, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, PO Box 748, Mail Zone 1503, Fort Worth, TX 76101 Editorial office phone number: 817-777-5542 E-mail: eric.hehs@lmco.com Web address: www.codeonemagazine.com Fax: 817-777-8655 Distribution information: 888-883-3780 This publication is intended for information only.

Its contents neither replace nor revise any material in official manuals or publications.

Copyright © 2008 Lockheed Martin Corporation.

All rights reserved. Permission to reprint articles or photographs must be requested in writing from the editor.

Code One is a registered trademark of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Code One is published quarterly by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company.

ISSN 1071-3816 A08-25263

HOLLOMAN RAPTORS F-22s Home In The Desert

20 NIGHTHAWK MEMORIES Life With The F-117

ABOUT THE COVER Front: The proposed F-16IN for the Indian Air Force will be the most advanced version of the Fighting Falcon yet.

This aircraft will feature a refueling boom that retracts from the right conformal fuel tank. The original design effort that went into the YF-16 more than thirty years ago plus all of the subsequent capability upgrades have resulted in the most capable fourth-generation fighter in the world today. Aircraft Illustration by Alan Heptinstall Back: The last flight of the F-117 took place on 22 April, closing out the nearly twenty-seven year career of the Nighthawk, the world’s first operational stealth combat aircraft. Four pilots from the 49th Fighter Wing took off from the Lockheed Martin facility at Palmdale, California, and landed at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, where much of the early history of the F-117 was written.

Photo by Denny Lombard

22 EVENTS

28

F-16 EVOLUTION

All F-16s are not created equal. Fighting Falcons rolling out of the factory today are nothing like earlier versions. Some differences are visible—larger control surfaces; wider inlets; tinted canopies; squared landing lights; and various antennas, vents, bumps, and blisters. Most differences require more than the naked eye to see—structural beef-ups, improved engines, digitized electronics, vastly increased computing capacity, and sof tware changes to accommodate new functions, sensors, and weapons. BY ERIC HEHS

All-glass cockpit The all-glass cockpit (no mechanical gauges) of the latest F-16s is the manifestation of many of these improvements.

Three large five-by-seven-inch color multifunction displays transmit information from a variety of sensors to the pilot in straightforward color graphics. The picture-in-picture 2

Code One

PHOTOs BY TOM HARVEY

capability of each display allows up to nine simultaneous display subsets at any given time. The cockpit features hands-on throttle and sidestick switch controls, night vision goggle-compatible lighting, a color moving map, and a large head-up display. The head-up display is supplemented by helmet-mounted cueing systems that allow pilots to target weapons by simply turning their heads.

Beginnings The original F-16 was designed as a lightweight air-to-air day fighter. Air-to-ground missions immediately transformed the first production F-16s into multirole fighters. The F-16s that followed expanded and refined these roles with beyond-visual-range missiles, infrared sensors, precision-guided munitions, and a plethora of other capabilities. Current and planned versions of the F-16 build on these refinements, enhancing capabilities even further.

But the fundamental strengths of the original design remain. At the heart of every Fighting Falcon is the lightweight fighter concept championed by John Boyd and the other members of what came to be known as the Lightweight Fighter Mafia in the Air Force and Department of Defense. This group favored simple and small fighter designs that could change direction and speed faster than their potential adversaries and were harder to detect, visually and electronically. The Lightweight Fighter Mafia advocated designs that were inexpensive to produce, operate, and maintain. They advocated using technology to increase effectiveness or reduce cost. They went so far as to question and thoroughly analyze the basic assumptions of how fighters were judged and compared.

Engineers in Fort Worth transformed these ideas into reality in the 1970s. The resulting lightweight fighter set new performance standards for combat aircraft. The basic design combined a host of advanced technologies that had never been used in previous operational fighters. A blended wing-body, variable camber wings, and forebody strakes provided extra lift and control. Fly-by-wire f light controls improved response time and replaced heavy hydromechanical systems with lighter and smaller electronic systems. Relaxed static stability, made possible by the f lyby-wire system, greatly enhanced agility. A side-mounted throttle and stick, head-up display, thirty-degree seat back angle, hands-on controls, and bubble canopy improved the pilot’s g-tolerance and situational awareness.

All of these technologies had been explored before in a variety of other aircraft and research programs. But the F-16 prototype, or YF-16, was the first airplane to incorporate all of them.

The development of the YF-16 optimized a design for performance. The evolution of the production F-16s, on the ot her ha nd, was a ba la ncing act bet ween adding a nd improving capabilities and maintaining the optimized performance of the original design.

Capability improvements take many forms: countermeasures, infrared sensors, laser targeting devices, missionized rear cockpits, dorsal fairings, datalinks, satellite phones, helmet-mounted cueing systems, conformal fuel tanks, large color displays, all-glass cockpits, reconnaissance pods, and auto-recovery systems. Each new capability benefits from its own evolutionary process. For example, the active electronically scanned array radar, already operational in F-16s, functions seamlessly with many of these other systems and acts as a capability multiplier in itself. All of these improvement leaps are packed into an airframe still capable of sustaining nine g’s and of out-performing other fourth-generation fighters.

Pratt & Whitney and General Electric have added to the evolution with impressive improvements in engine performance. The original Pratt & Whitney engine on the YF-16 developed about 23,000 pounds of thrust. The engines on the Block 50/52 aircraft develop nearly 30,000 pounds of thrust. The GE F110-GE-132 engine on the

Harry Hillaker was the chief designer of the F-16.

These Model 401 drawings came from the second draft of the lightweight fighter proposal.

The first F-16 prototype, YF-16 No. 1, was first flown in January 1974.

The Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod is operational in the US Air Force and several international air forces.

Third Quarter 2008

3

The Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System enables pilots to accurately direct weapons against enemy aircraft and ground targets while performing high-g aircraft maneuvers.

Digital controls allow current engines to go from idle to full afterburner in two seconds.

PHOTO BY TOM REYNOLDS

Numbers, affordability, and a digital backbone put the F-16 on the cutting edge of testing and employing weapons and sensors.

4

Code One

Block 60 F-16 is rated at 32,500 pounds of thrust. The next round of engine improvements could boost this figure to more than 50,000 pounds. So, even though the F-16’s overall weight has increased, its thrust-to-weight ratio has improved as well.

However, the Lightweight Fighter Maf ia will point out that thrust-to-weight ratio is not the only indicator of aircraft performance. The figure doesn’t account for the effects of wing loading and aerodynamic drag. A better measure of performance is energy rate (or Ps), which is a function of thrust, weight, velocity, and drag. Ever y externa l payload extracts a performance price in ­a erody na mic drag. And F-16s rarely f ly w it hout a few stores hanging under the wing.

Technology comes to the rescue again. Advances in electronic miniaturization have resulted in lighter, more compact hardware that, in turn, significantly reduces drag. The latest navigation and ta rget i ng pod s, for exa mple, a re sma l ler, l ig hter, a nd aero­ dynamically cleaner than first-generation pods. Electronic countermeasure systems have shrunk, too, and have more recently found their way under the F-16’s skin, eliminating even more drag.

Weaponeers are making bombs and missiles smaller, lighter, and more streamlined. Drag reductions have often accompanied efforts to add more systems and weapons to the airplane and to make the airplane more stealthy.

While the F-16 today benefits from the electronic revolution, the original designers did not anticipate it. In fact, they purposely kept the aircraft as dense as possible to prevent additional systems— and the extra weight they would bring—from being placed inside t he airfra me. Technolog y advances have a l lowed much more capability to be packed into that same space or, in some cases, in much less space.

Building Blocks Keeping up with all the varieties of the F-16 is no small task. The job is simplified, though, because most changes to the F-16 are made in groups, or blocks, to track items on the production line. Whenever a new production configuration for the F-16 is established, the block number increases. Block is an important term in tracking F-16 evolution.

The first production aircraft following the two YF prototypes and the eight full-scale development F-16s were Blocks 1 and 5. (From Block 30/32 on, a major block designation ending in 0 signif ies a Genera l Electric engine; one ending in 2 signifies a Pratt & Whitney engine.) The highest block designation, however, is Block 60, which is f lown by the United Arab Emirates. Because the US Air Force has discontinued F-16 purchases to begin transitioning to the F-35, the block designat ions w i l l li kely end at 60. Some of the latest F-16 configurations are now identified with a country-representative nomenclature. For example, F-16IN is the proposed configuration for India.

The A in F-16A refers to Blocks 1 through 20 singleseat aircraft. The B in F-16B refers to the two-seat version. The letters C and D were substituted for A and B, respectively, beginning with Block 25. The new series letters emphasize the major differences occurring between Blocks 15 and 25. Block 60 denotes the transition from the F-16C/D to the F-16E/F.

Full-Scale Development: Production Predecessors The YF-16 was chosen over the YF-17 in the Lightweight Fighter competition in 1975. Work began on the first of eight full-scale development, or FSD, F-16s, incorporating the first major—mostly internal—design changes. The designers were intent on retaining the outstanding flying qualities of the original design. So no changes that would degrade the prototype’s aerodynamics were made. At the same time, they had to adapt the airplane to amplified air-toground requirements that foreshadowed the F-16’s transition into a multirole fighter. The overall length grew by thirteen inches. The nose, which accounts for about three of those additional inches, acquired a slight droop to accommodate the Westinghouse APG-66 multimode radar.

To respond to the need for larger air-to-ground payloads, the wing and tail surfaces were enlarged to carry the extra weight. The wing area grew from 280 to 300 square feet, which is about as much as it could grow without requiring additional internal bulkheads to lengthen the fuselage. The horizontal tails and ventral fins grew about fifteen percent. The f laperons and speed brakes grew by about ten percent. An additional hardpoint was placed under each wing, giving the aircraft a total of nine. The airframe was structurally strengthened for these new loads as well.

Other changes in the FSD aircraft included a lighter weight Stencel SIIIS ejection seat, a simpler single door instead of twin doors on the nose landing gear bay, and a self-contained jet fuel engine starter. The canopy transparency was strengthened to withstand a four-pound, 350-knot bird strike. The radome was hinged to ease access to the radar.

Besides helping to win the Lightweight Fighter competition, the YF-16 also validated the aerodynamics, propulsion, and handling qualities of the aircraft’s basic design. With the major design issues out of the way, engineers concentrated more on internal details— such as the electrical system, hydraulics, and avionics—with the FSD aircraft. The high readiness and f light rates of the first production F-16s are attributable to the maturity level achieved with the prototype design. The FSD aircraft had no block numbers, though they are often referred to as Block 0 F-16s.

Blocks 1 And 5: Going Operational After the prototype and FSD programs, the first Block 1 F-16 (serial number 78-0001) was flown for the first time in August 1978 and delivered to the Air Force that same month. The aircraft was first assigned to the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, Utah, and later became an interceptor with the 125th Fighter Interceptor Group in Jacksonville, Florida, followed by a tour at the 158th Fighter Interceptor Group in Burlington, Vermont. It then was flown by the 127th Tactical Fighter Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. The aircraft was eventually sent to Lowry AFB, Colorado, as a student trainer. The first operational F-16 is now on display at Langley AFB, Virginia.

Ninety-four Block 1 and 197 Block 5 F-16s were manufactured through 1981 for the US Air Force and four European Participating Air Forces. Most Block 1 and Block 5 aircraft were upgraded in 1982 to a Block 10 standard through a program called Pacer Loft. New production Block 10 aircraft (312 total) were built through 1980.

The first full-scale development F-16 (right) rolled out in October 1976. External differences between it and the YF-16 (left) were kept to a minimum to retain aerodynamic performance.

The first FSD F-16 (right) flies with the second FSD F-16. All of the FSD aircraft were subsequently used in tests that went far beyond the original scope of the FSD program.

The US Air Force took delivery of its first production Block 1 F-16 in August 1978.

The aircraft was originally assigned to the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, Utah.

Third Quarter 2008

5

The differences between these early F-16 versions are relatively minor, involving improvements to make the airplane more reliable and more easily maintained. All production F-16s beginning with Block 1 are outfitted with ACES II ejection seats.

A word about nicknames: Tactical Air Command, now Air Combat Command, officially christened the F-16A as the Fighting Falcon.

But that name never found wide use on the flightline. As with many aircraft, the unofficial nickname the pilots pinned on the F-16 did catch on: Viper.

Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, and Norway were the original four European Participating Air Forces that purchased the F-16.

AIM-7 Sparrow missile launch

AGM-65 Maverick missile PHOTO BY ERIC HEHS

AGM-119 Penguin missile 6

Code One

Block 15: Most Produced The 330th production F-16 was the first of 983 Block 15 aircraft manufactured in five countries and subsequently assembled on three production lines (Fort Worth, Belgium, and Netherlands).

The production of the Block 15 spanned fourteen years. Of the more than 4,400 F-16s manufactured to date, Block 15 aircraft are the most numerous.

The transition from Block 10 to Block 15 resulted in two hardpoints added to the inlet chin and designated as stations 5R and 5L. The larger horizontal tail is the most noticeable difference between Block 15 and previous F-16 versions. The tail grew in area by about thirty percent. The larger tail offset the shift in center of gravity brought on by the weight of the two chin hardpoints and their associated sensor pods and structure. The larger tail also provides better stability and control authority, especially at higher angles of attack.

Block 15 aircraft received an operational capability upgrade, or OCU, beginning in 1988. The upgrade added a data transfer unit and a radar altimeter. The radar was improved, and the fire control and stores control computers were expanded. OCU also allowed Block 15 aircraft to fire the AGM-119 Penguin anti-ship, the AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground, and the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles. Block 15 aircraft built from 1988 had OCU, a larger head-up display, and the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 engine.

The last production Block 15 was delivered to Thailand in 1996.

Fifteen air arms fly Block 15 aircraft today, including the US Navy.

The Air Defense F-16 is a variant of the Block 15 OCU F-16 equipped with additional systems for the air-to-air role. It has improved APG-66A radar, an APX-109 identification friend or foe interrogator, ARC-200 high-frequency radio, and a 150,000-candlepower spotlight mounted on the left side of the forward fuselage.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, 271 Block 15 airframes were converted to the Air Defense configuration. The first converted aircraft were delivered in early 1989. All of the aircraft initially went to the Air National Guard. The Guard stopped f lying the Air Defense version of the F-16 in 2007. Fargo, North Dakota, was the last Guard unit to operate that type in the United States. However, more than sixty of this F-16 version are still f lown by Jordan, Italy, and Thailand.

Block 25: From A To C The transition of the F-16 from Block 15 to Block 25 marks the evolution from the F-16A/B to the F-16C/D. Block 25 enabled the F-16 to carry AMRAAM as a baseline weapon as well as carrying night/precision ground-attack capabilities.

An improved fire control computer, an improved stores management computer, and an inertial navigation system were added along with multifunction displays, new data transfer unit, radar altimeter, and anti-jam UHF radio.

The Block 25 F-16 also received the improved Westinghouse (now Northrop Grumman) AN/APG-68 radar, which offered increased range, better resolution, and more operating modes. Block 25 featured new upfront controls, a larger head-up display, and two head-down multifunction displays. All Block 25s were originally powered by the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-200, but the engines have since been upgraded to the -220E configuration. The first of 244 Block 25 F-16s f lew in June 1984.

Block 25 is the only F-16 to be employed exclusively by the US Air Force.

Block 30/32: New Engine Choices Block 30/32 added two new engines to the F-16 line— the Pratt & W hitney F100-PW-220 and the Genera l Electric F110-GE-100. The aircraft’s engine bays are common to both engines by design. Block 30 designates the GE engine, and Block 32 designates the Pratt & Whitney engine.

A larger inlet was introduced at Block 30D for the GE-powered F-16s, which are often called big-mouth F-16s. The larger inlet, formally called the modular common inlet duct, allows the GE engine to produce its full thrust at lower airspeeds.

The smaller inlet, called a normal shock inlet, has not changed for the -220 and subsequent Pratt & Whitney engines. A Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engine powered the Variable Inflight Stability Test Aircraft, or VISTA/F-16, which featured the larger inlet. This is the only F-16 with a large inlet and a Pratt & Whitney engine.

Block 30/32 can carry the AGM-45 Shrike and the AGM-88A high-speed anti-radiation missiles, or HARM. Like the Block 25, it can carry the AGM-65 Maverick missile. Changes at Block 30D allowed the aircraft to carry twice as many chaff/f lare dispensers for self-protection, and the forward radar warning receiver antennas were relocated to the leading-edge f lap. These beer-can-shaped antennas have since been retrofitted onto all previous F-16C/D aircraft. Block 30/32 has a crash-survivable flight data recorder, voice message unit, and expanded memory for the multifunction displays.

The first of 733 Block 30/32 F-16s was delivered in July 1987; the airplane was manufactured through 1989.

The F-16N manufactured for the US Navy was a Block 30 variant.

It was powered by the GE F110-GE-100 engine and had the small inlet associated with early Block 30 production. The F-16N also carried the APG-66 radar of the F-16A models and minor structural differences for meeting Navy requirements. The aircraft had no internal 20-mm gun. Twenty-two F-16Ns and four TF-16Ns (twoseaters) were built from 1987 to 1988. They were used for dissimilar air-to-air training with three Navy adversary squadrons and at the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun).

While the Block 30 F-16Ns were retired from Navy service in 1994 for budgetary reasons, the US Navy once again began flying Fighting Falcons in early 2002 when the first of ten single-seat and four twoseat Block 15 F-16s were delivered to NAS Fallon in Nevada (the new home of Top Gun). These aircraft, with distinctive paint schemes, are low-hour F-16A/Bs restored after being stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.

Fargo, North Dakota, was the last Air National Guard unit to operate the Block 15 F-16 Air Defense Fighter.

The Block 30 F-16N was operated by the US Navy from 1987 through 1994.

PHOTO BY ERIC HEHS

Today, the US Navy operates the Block 15 F-16 in the adversary role at NAS Fallon, Nevada.

Block 40/42 Night/Precision Attack With Block 40/42, the F-16 gained capabilities for navigation and precision attack at night and in all weather conditions and Third Quarter 2008

7

The LANTIRN pod became operational on the F-16 with the Block 40/42 version.

The first production pod was delivered to the US Air Force in March 1987.

Night vision goggle systems have been used by F-16 pilots since the early 1990s.

NVG-friendly cockpit and external lighting systems were first installed on F-16s in the late 1990s and are now common across the fleet.

PHOTO BY ERIC HEHS

The modular mission computer expanded the F-16 capabilities by replacing three computers with one system that is much easier to maintain.

8

Code One

traded its original analog flight controls for a digital system and new core avionics.

The landing gear of Block 40/42 was beefed up and extended to handle the LANTIRN targeting and navigation pods and more extensive air-to-ground loads. By desig n, t he la nd i ng gea r bay doors bu lge sl ig ht ly to handle the larger wheels and tires. The LANTIRN pods a lso necessitated mov ing t he landing lights from t he struts of t he main la nding gear to t he leading inside edge of the nose gear door. A larger head-up display was needed for LA NTIR N as wel l. The w ide-a ng le raster HUD, as it is called, is capable of displaying the infrared image from the LANTIRN navigation pod used in lowaltitude night navigation.

The precision weapons incorporated by Block 40/42 include the GBU-10, GBU-12, and GBU-24 Paveway family of laser-guided bombs as well as the GBU-15 glide bomb.

Block 40/42 also featured the addition of the APG-68(V5) radar, automatic terrain following (part of the LANTIRN system), global positioning system, full provisions for internal electronic countermeasures, an enhanced envelope gun sight, and a capability for bombing moving targets.

Production of Block 40/42 began in 1988 and ran through 1995.

Twenty-one more Block 40s were built for Egypt, and ten singleseat Block 40s were built for Bahrain during 1999 to 2000.

US Air Force Block 40 aircraft are now equipped and f lying missions with night vision goggles and with a datalink system. This system receives highly accurate position information from a forward air controller on the ground. The system then inputs the data into the weapon system computer and displays it as a waypoint on the head-up display.

Block 20 And MLU Block 20 refers to new-production F-16As that incorporate signif icant av ionic enhancements, including a modular mission computer replacing three other computers. The processing speed of the computer is more than 740 times faster than the computer in the original F-16. It has more than 180 times the memory. An improved radar, the APG-66(V2), features increased detection and tracking ranges and the ability to track more targets.

The Mid-Life Update program, or MLU, refers to the 300 retrofitted F-16A/B Belgian, Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian aircraft. These aircraft were also structurally upgraded to meet an 8,000-hour airframe lifespan in a program called Falcon UP (for unos programmum). Several other current F-16 operators have upgraded their earlier model Fighting Falcons as well.

Block 20 a nd MLU F-16s have w ide-a ng le head-up displays, color multifunction cockpit displays, upfront controls (a set of programmable pushbuttons placed just below the head-up display), a Block 50-style sidestick and throttle, ring laser inertial navigation systems, miniaturized global positioning systems, digital terrain systems, improved data modems, and advanced interrogators for identifying friendly or foe aircraft. The lighting in the cockpit is compatible with night-vision systems. The aircraft also have provisions for microwave landing systems and helmet-mounted displays.

Block 50/52 Wild Weasel Plus The Block 50/52 F-16 is recognized for its ability to carry the AGM-88 HARM in the suppression of enemy air defenses, or SEAD, missions. The F-16 can carry as many as four HARMs. An avionics launcher interface computer allows the F-16 to launch the HARM missile. US Air Force F-16s have been upgraded to carry the HARM Targeting System, or HTS, pod on the left intake hardpoint so it can be combined with laser targeting pods designed to fit on the right intake hardpoint. The HTS pod contains a hypersensitive receiver that detects, classifies, and ranges threats and passes the information to the HARM and to the cockpit displays. With the targeting system, the F-16 has full autonomous HARM capability.

The Block 50/52 F-16 is equipped with the APG-68(V9) radar, which offers longer range detection against air targets and higher reliability. The Block 50/52 also includes a ring laser gyro inertial navigation system, a global positioning system receiver, a larger capacity data transfer cartridge, a digital terrain system data transfer cartridge, a cockpit compatible with night vision systems, an improved data modem, an ALR-56M advanced radar warning receiver, an ALE-47 threat-adaptive countermeasure system, and an advanced interrogator for identifying friendly aircraft. An upgraded programmable display generator has four times the memory and seven times the processor speed of the system it replaces. New VHF/FM antennas increase reception ranges. The Block 50/52 is powered by increased performance engines—the General Electric F110-GE-129 and the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229—each rated to deliver over 29,000 pounds of thrust in afterburner. Block 50/52 are the first F-16 versions to fully integrate the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-shipping missile.

New production Block 50/52 aircraft ordered after 1996 include color multifunction displays, the modular mission computer, and a three-channel video tape recorder. The throughput of the new computer dramatically increases the processing power of the F-16 and allows the airplane to continue to grow indefinitely. All international versions of the Block 50/52 have LANTIRN capability.

The first Block 50/52 was delivered to the US Air Force in 1991.

More than 800 have been delivered so far from production lines in Fort Worth, Korea, and Turkey. (The Fort Worth production line is currently the only active F-16 line, but the Turkey line is schedu led to sta r t producing Block 50 a ircra f t beg inning in 2011.)

Engines The engines that power the F-16 have improved in more ways than in maximum thrust. Engines used in early F-16s required from six to eight seconds to spool up from idle to afterburner. Since then, electronic controls have replaced hydromechanical systems. The changes allow current engines to go from idle to full afterburner in two seconds. This responsiveness has a huge payoff in performance and in aircraft handling. Engine reliability and ease of maintenance have also been improved significantly. Today’s F-16 engines can be expected to deliver eight to ten years of operational service between depot inspections.

Digital engine controls, first introduced on Pratt & Whitneypowered F-16s in 1986, have also improved performance. Older

The AGM-88 high-speed antiradiation missile, or HARM, is used to suppress enemy radar sites.

The HARM Targeting System pod (installed on the right inlet station) detects, locates, and identifies emitters from ground-based radar sites.

Engine thrust has kept pace with the evolution of the F-16. The latest engine versions produce more than 32,000 pounds of thrust.

Third Quarter 2008

9

hydromechanical controls had to be trimmed to operate at the most challenging point within the F-16’s f light envelope. Digital engine controls automatically adjust to the operating environment, so that they optimize eng i ne per forma nce at a l l poi nts w it hi n t he f lig ht envelope. This optimization has increased thrust by more than ten percent in some areas of the F-16 f light envelope. All engines being built today for the F-16 have digital engine controls.

Shaw AFB, South Carolina, received the first F-16s modified under the Common Configuration Implementation Program, or CCIP, in January 2002. The modification provides hardware and software commonality across the F-16 fleet.

PHOTO BY KATSUHIKO TOKUNAGA

The Block 60 Desert Falcon brings an array of new capabilities to the F-16, including the first active electronically scanned array radar—the Northrop Grumman APG-80 (below).

10

Code One

Commonality With all the varieties of the F-16 produced through the years, the US Air Force decided to standardize its F-16 fleet to simplify logistics, maintenance, and training. The service now f lies Block 40/42 and Block 50/52 F-16s almost exclusively in its active duty units.

Exceptions include Block 30/32 F-16s at the Aggressor squadrons in Nevada and Alaska and Block 25 F-16s in training squadrons at Luke AFB, Arizona. Block 25 and Block 30/32 aircraft are concentrated in Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command units.

A few Reserve Component units do already f ly more advanced versions of the F-16.

More recent improvements to the F-16 f leet have reduced operation and support costs, further increased combat capability, and helped standardize the Air Force fleet. The Common Configuration Implementation Program, or CCIP, added color displays, common missile warning systems, and the modular mission computer to Block 40/42 and Block 50/52 F-16s as well as an advanced datalink, called Link-16, that is standard for US and NATO aircraft. The upgrade also includes a helmet-mounted cueing system. This system works with the high-off-boresight AIM-9X air-to-air missile as well as with other slewable sensors. More than 200 Block 50/52 and 450 Block 40/42 aircraft were involved in the two programs. Guard, Reserve, and active duty Air Force units are now operational with the upgrades.

Block 60 And Beyond The F-16 Block 60, also known as the Desert Falcon, is the most advanced F-16 produced to date. An internal, forward-looking infrared navigation sensor mounted as a ball turret on the upper left nose is the main feature that distinguishes the Block 60 from previous F-16s. Both single- and two-seat aircraft carry conformal fuel tanks.

The Desert Falcon’s increased-thrust GE-132 engine helps compensate for the increase in weight and payload over the basic F-16.

Internal differences, on the other hand, add up to a huge improvement in capability.

The Desert Falcon has many automated modes, including autopilot, auto-throttle, an automatic ground collision avoidance system, and a pilot-actuated recovery system. The recovery system allows pilots to recover the aircraft with the push of a button the moment they sense they have lost situational awareness. The Block 60’s electronic warfare system, produced by Northrop Grumman, is the most sophisticated subsystem on the aircraft. It provides threat warning, threat emitter locating capability, and increased situational awareness to pilots. A new data transfer cartridge holds thirty gigabytes of information. A fiber-optic databus handles the throughput and speed needed for many of these systems. The maintenance system is laptop-based.

The APG-80 agile beam radar underpins many of the new capabilities of the Block 60. The radar, produced by Northrop Grumman, is an advanced electronica lly scanned array offering much greater detection ranges. The array consists of a bank of transmit/receive modules attached to a fixed array that generates the radar beam, which can be directed almost instantaneously. The electronic approach, instead of a mechanical approach, allows radar modes to be interleaved.

For example, the radar can continuously search for and track mu lt iple ta rgets a nd si mu lta neously per for m mu lt iple functions such as air-to-air search and track, air-to-ground targeting, and terrain following. The radar vastly improves the pilot’s situational awareness.

Block 60’s General Electric F110-GE-132 turbofan engine produces approximately 32,500 pounds of thrust in maximum afterburner. The engine is a derivative of the F110-GE-129, a 29,000-pound thrust class engine that powers the majority of F-16C fighters worldwide.

The F110-GE-132 has also been selected to power the F-16IN, the Fighting Falcon proposed for India for the Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft program. If selected, the F-16IN will be the most advanced F-16 design to date. This aircraft will feature a refueling boom that retracts from the right conformal fuel tank. The boom allows the F-16IN to operate with India Air Force probe-and-drogue style aerial refueling systems similar to those used by the US Navy.

The refueling boom is now being f light tested in Fort Worth. Even without aerial refueling, an F-16IN with conformal tanks can f ly from Bangalore in the south of India to Leh in the north.

Several other systems distinguish the F-16IN from the Block 60, including an electronic warfare system and radar modes tailored for India, dragchute, datalink, satellite communication, and a helmet-mounted cueing system. The F-16IN will carry the Sniper targeting pod as well.

Still Exceptional The YF-16 was flown for the first time in 1974 at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California. The first production F-16 rolled out of the factory in Fort Worth in August 1978. Since then, more than 4,400 F-16s have rolled off assembly lines in five countries.

Twenty-five air forces will soon be flying the Fighting Falcon. Other countries are considering buying the fighter to modernize their fleets. F-16 production is expected for another ten years, or more, and front-line service and sustainment will extend beyond 2030.

The F-16’s long production run and low cost have given the airplane latitude to expand its capabilities. The F-16 has grown extensively within the external lines of the first F-16. The limited external changes are a tribute to the optimization of the original design and to huge advancements in avionics. The airplane continues to grow in terms of new weapons and sensors.

The present state of the F-16 encompasses a broad range of configurations. While the earliest F-16s perch atop poles for public display, others test the latest weapon and sensor technology. Those rolling off the factory line represent the most advanced fourthgeneration fighter produced today. Even though the F-16 has been f lying for thirty years, its evolution continues to build on the fundamental strengths of its original design.

The F-16IN for India features a refueling boom that retracts into the right conformal fuel tank.

The F-16 is one of the first platforms to employ the Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser (above) and to test the Small Diameter Bomb (below).

Eric Hehs is the editor of Code One.

Third Quarter 2008

11

E

ighteen test vehicles, more than 5,000 sorties, and 10,000 flight test hours are just a few ways to sum up the testing planned for the System Development and Demonstration, or SDD, phase of the F-35 program. Thirteen flyable aircraft and five ground test airframes will be flown, pushed, poked, and prodded during this phase. The flyable aircraft fall into two basic categories: flight sciences and mission systems.

Flight sciences aircraft are used to expand the f light envelope. The nine flight sciences aircraft are composed of four F-35A conventional t a ke of f a nd l a nd i ng , or CTOL, aircraft (including the first aircraft, called AA-1, which was manufactured before the results of a weight reduction progra m were applied to the F-35 design); three F-35B short takeoff/ vertical landing, or STOVL, variants; and two F-35C carrier variant aircraft. These aircraft will be used to evaluate flying qualities, stability and control, high angle of attack, environmental systems, propulsion, flutter, loads, dynamic response, and store separation.

Mission systems aircraft are used to test systems not associated with expanding the f light envelope. The four mission systems test aircraft, divided into one F-35A, two F-35Bs, and one F-35C, will focus on interoperability, stores integration, and avionics integration. Systems associated with mission systems testing include communications (datalinks and satellite communications), distributed apertures, and electro-optical targeting.

Testing of the F-35’s active electronically scanned array radar, helmet-mounted displays, avionics associated with navigation and identification, and multifunction displays will also be done with the mission systems aircraft.

The Cooperative Avionics Test Bed (referred to as CATB, or the CATbird) will support mission systems testing. This Boeing 737-300, originally built in 1986 and purchased by Lockheed Martin from

Lufthansa in 2003, will be used to integrate and validate the performance of all F-35 sensor systems before they are flown on the first Lightning II fighter. The CATB will be key to developing the F-35’s ability to collect data from multiple sensors in a dynamic environment and fuse it into a coherent picture for the pilot.

The delineations between flight sciences and mission systems testing are not as st r ic t as they may

sound. Weapon integration, for example, involves both flight sciences and mission systems aircraft. Test drops for clearing a particular weapon for a specific variant of the F-35 involve flight sciences aircraft.

Testing that evaluates how well systems on the aircraft help the pilot identify targets or how accurately a weapon is delivered to the target involves mission systems aircraft.

The ground test aircraft also fall into two categories: static testing and durabilit y testing. Static tests involve applying forces to the airf r a me to de ter m i ne t he strength of the structure.

Du rabi l it y test s i nvolve applying repetitive forces to the airframe to simulate stresses and strains the aircraft will experience during its lifetime. Both the F-35A a nd t he F-35B requ i re a static and durability ground test airframe. Only a static test airframe is needed for the F-35C. Standing behind these eighteen test aircraft, 5,000-plus sorties, and 10,000 f light test hours associated with the SDD phase of the F-35 is a large group of dedicated professiona ls from the Flight Test department.

Code One editor Eric H e h s i nt e r v i e w e d several of these professiona ls to get t heir perspect i ve s on F -35 f light testing.

PHOTO BY KATSUHIKO TOKUNAGA

12

Code One

S

t arr Hughes joined the F-35 program in 2003 as a flight test engineer and test conductor for the first F-35, or AA-1, which is a CTOL version of the Lightning II. She brings flight test experience from Raytheon where she worked on t he f light tes t te am f or t he Hawker Horizon business jet. She first heard about the Joint Strike Fighter program when she was at the University of Kansas. Lockheed Martin’s winning the contract was a topic of conversation in the aeronautical engineering department.

My main activities involve planning and conducting f light tests for AA-1.

As a f light test engineer, I prepare the test plans and conduct the tests. The ultimate goal for my team is to expand the f light test envelope for AA-1. The aircraft is flying with many limitations right now. But the more we fly, the more limitations we remove. For example, we are expanding the f light envelope for aerial refueling. With our initial test, we were cleared to refuel at only one altitude, 20,000 feet (plus or minus 2,000 feet), and at a limited airspeed. We are in the process of expanding the altitude to 30,000 feet and increasing the refueling airspeed. Opening this portion of the envelope to aeria l ref ueling ma kes the testing more efficient as we conduct other types of testing.

This first Lightning II was manufactured before the results of a weightreduction program were applied to the F-35 design, so envelope expansion tests we’ve done with it apply mostly to AA-1.

Still, we have used AA-1 to test critical subsystems common with subsequent aircraft, such as the integrated power

PHOTO BY NEAL CHAPMAN

Starr Hughes, Flight Test Engineer And Test Conductor For AA-1

package, cockpit displays, electro-hydrostatic actuators, the electrical system, and many components of the propulsion system.

I followed AA-1 to Edwards AFB in California where it was used in a series of tests for engine airstarts as well as for aerial refueling and acoustics. The testing gave us a look at engine/aircraft integration and airstart capabilities. The airstart characteristics for all the systems were as expected. We also verified inlet recovery predictions for the power and thermal management system, or PTMS.* The best part of my job is conducting test f lights. I enjoy talking to the test pilots and observing missions from the control room. The work requires a lot of

our team has to coordinate with engineering, pilots, and f light operations, to name a few.

The biggest challenge the f light test group is facing often seems to be just keeping the airplanes in the air. Hardware breaks, and we fix it. But we learn f rom t hose ex per iences. A A-1 a nd subsequent aircraft will benefit from these early tests.

After AA-1 flight testing is complete, I plan to work across all three variants of the F-35. I will support the aircraft through airworthiness testing as a test conductor. I will also train other flight test engineers who will be deploying to the various test sites. * The PTMS performs aircraft functions traditionally performed by an auxiliary power unit, environmental control system, and emergency power unit. The PTMS includes the equipment necessary to provide aircraft main engine start, auxiliary power, cockpit cooling and pressurization, avionics cooling, mechanical equipment thermal management, and pressurized air for the onboard oxygen generation system and the onboard inert gas generation system.

PHOTO BY TOM REYNOLDS

coordination. I also enjoy the detail associated with writing joint test plans that are used by the aircraft flight test lead to plan actual missions. Working with a variety of disciplines rather than just one or two keeps my job interesting.

Day-to-day activities preparing for a mission include putting together a set of test c a rd s to meet t he d ay ’s objectives, leading an engineering brief, and then conducting the test from the control room. Of course to get that far, PHOTO BY TOM REYNOLDS

PHOTO BY KATSUHIKO TOKUNAGA

Third Quarter 2008

13

G

raham Tomlinson came to the F-35 program in 2002 as a test pilot f or BAE Systems. He piloted the first flight of the F-35B in June 2008. He was an advisor for BAE during X-35 flight testing. Tomlinson went to work for BAE Systems as a test pilot in 1983 and spent most of his career in Harrier flight testing programs. He began his flying career with the Harrier in the Royal Air Force. He was the British military test pilot for the AV-8B at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, when that aircraft was introduced to the US Marine Corps. He is a graduate of the Empire Test Pilot School in the United Kingdom.

I was asked to come to the F-35 program to test the STOVL variant because of my experience at BAE Systems as a flight test pilot in the Harrier; BAE has been doing Harrier work since 1960, so we know STOVL. When I arrived six years ago, we were discussing specifi­ cations. We wanted to make sure the specifications were sensible for the needs of the fleet pilots.

Those specification discussions have now turned into design discussions. The bulk of our work has been getting the design right. In particular, we have been refining the control laws. Basically, these are the instructions programmed into

14

Code One

PHOTO BY NEAL CHAPMAN

Graham Tomlinson, Test Pilot

the flight control computer that tell the airplane to f ly the way the pilot commands it to fly. Now that we have started flight testing, my job has changed to a more classic flight test pilot job. I fly the airplane to help flight test engineers test their ideas. We test pilots think of ourselves as the conduit between design engineers and f leet pilots. All the test pilots on the F-35 were fleet pilots once in their careers. I also help write the flight test plans that will get the answers and results needed to eventually turn this aircraft into an operational fighter.

The biggest challenge to the program is f i na ncia l a nd pol it ic a l—t hat is, keeping the program sold. That’s always the biggest challenge. Does the world stay in a current state of disarray long enough before someone decides what we really need is a three-inch square robotic minicopter? The big picture is always the most important issue on any aircraft program. Once the program is

PHOTO BY Liz Kaszynski

securely funded, our biggest technical issues are things like sensor fusion.

Providing pilots with the information they most need to complete their mission is a big challenge.

The engineers have designed an aircraft that f lies nicely in the STOVL mode. But the design assumes that the engine does what it is supposed to do and that the various controls and effectors do what they are supposed to do.

We assume that the response of the actual airplane is the same as the models. Some uncertainty always exists between the models and the real thing. We deliberately add errors into our models to

ma ke sure our control strateg y has enough error-correction terms to keep us safe. How well the model matches the actual STOVL airplane in the slowspeed and low-altitude corner of the f light envelope is the big unknown.

The f lying we have done recently is reducing that unknown. We opened the STOVL doors in f light. That f light provided a lot of aerodynamic informat ion t h at helps to c on f i r m ou r models. Next year when the new engine is installed, we will tie down the F-35B over a hover pit and run it in STOVL mode. The pit simulates free air testing so that we will acquire a lot of data in those tests. But actual flights are always different. There is no such thing as a perfect simulator or a perfect ground rig. I’m sure we will encounter some unexpected events in the air. That’s why we do f light testing. I’m confident those unexpected events will be more interesting than exciting.

PHOTO BY CARL RICHARDS

Paul Dotson, Flight Sciences Instrumentation

P

PHOTO BY TOM ARBOGAST

Each of the three primary partners— BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman—is responsible for instrumentation in its section of the aircraft. All three companies follow common design practices. Flight test instrumentation in Fort Worth tries to make the installations common across the aircraft to reduce complexity and cost. The instrumentation systems are more common between AF-1 and AF-2; CF-1 and CF-2; BF-2 and BF-3 [designations for the A, B, and C-model test aircraft] since flight test tasking and roles for these aircraft are very similar. The

aul Dotson joined the F-35 program in 2002 to work on the integration of the instrument ation s ys tem f or t he nine F-35s associated with flight sciences testing. He has worked flight test integration for twenty-four years on such flight test aircraft as the F - 16 B l o c k 2 5, t h e I n d i g e n o u s Defense Fighter for Taiwan, EC-130V, C-130J, and X-35. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University.

Flight test instrumentation refers t o t he r e c ord i n g a nd m on it or i n g equipment f it ted to t he a ircra f t to monitor aircraft behavior. Instrumentation touches almost every system on the airplane—from an accelerometer on t he ver t ic a l t a i l t hat me a su re s f lutter to strain gauges on a landing ge a r t hat me a su re la nd i ng forc e s .

Those of us who work wit h instrumentation get a big picture of the aircraft and its subsystems.

Each F-35 aircraft in this phase of the program has an instrumentation lead engineer. The leads negotiate and gather measurement requirements from various technical teams and create a master measurement list—a list of parameters that engineers measure during the flight tests.

From that master list, they design a data system for each aircraft to accommodate those measurements. They then create an equipment installation and transducer installation requirements list for each section of the aircraft.

PHOTOS BY KATSUHIKO TOKUNAGA

similarities also allow them to function as backups.

Traditionally, we build the airplane f irst and then put it in a modif ication hangar for six months where we i n s t a l l t h e i n s t r u m e nt a t i on . T h e schedule on the F-35 demands that we install the instrumentation as the aircraft are being manufactured. Airplanes coming off the assembly line now are almost completely instrumented and ready to perform flight tests.

We monitor about twice as many parameters on the SDD F-35s as we monitored on the X-35. We are in the 1,000-parameter range. We are monitoring more capability on F-35. For example, we have digital weapon separation cameras on the F-35. These cameras are used to track the weapon as it releases to make sure it clears the aircraft. We didn’t drop weapons from the X-35.

We have taken advantage of miniaturization in digital electronics. The instrumentation data system is integrated into the aircraft on the f light sciences aircraft instead of filling a weapon bay.

The biggest cha l lenge we face is getting all the various entities involved to work well together. We are dealing with three aircraft variants and two types of f light test aircraft within each variant—mission systems and f light sciences. We have t hree companies bui lding major por t ions of each v a r ia nt . We a l s o have t wo eng i ne ma nufacturers supply ing d if ferent e n g i n e s . I n s t r u m e nt a t i o n h a s t o account for all these differences.

Third Quarter 2008

15

S

tefano Filoni joined the F-35 program in 20 04 to develop test plans f or F-35 c limatic testing, which is scheduled for the climatic test laboratory at Eglin AFB, Florida, in 2010. He also writes test plans f or utilit y and subsystem testing for the F-35B. Before joining the F-35 program, Filoni worked for Alenia Aeronautica in Italy as a flight test engineer on the C-27J Spartan program. He was responsible for performance and handling qualities for the Spartan. He was also i nvo l ve d i n h o t- a n d c o l d-s o a k testing for that two-engine airlifter that makes use of the engines and avionics developed for the C-130J Super Hercules. Filoni graduated from the Universit y of Naples Fe deric o II in 19 9 9. He c ame t o the United States in 2004 to work on the F-35 program.

PHOTO BY ANDY WOLFE

16

Code One

PHOTO BY TOM ARBOGAST

Stefano Filoni, Flight Test Engineer

The climatic test plans I am creating will test the F-35B at high and low temperatures. However, before the program actually takes an aircraft to Eglin for these tests, we must complete a lot of work. For example, we have to build a tie-down and platform for the tests because none currently exist for this new airplane. We also have to design the ductwork that removes the exhaust from the facility. Because we will be testing a STOVL aircraft, the downward thrust has to be redirected out of the facility as well.

For the actual climatic testing on the F-35, we will use a mission systems aircraft—that is, a test aircraft outfitted with all the avionics and systems found on a n op er at iona l a i rc r a f t . H ig htemperature and low-temperature testing involves multiple test runs. We will simulate entire missions during these tests. We start the engine, retract the la nd i ng gea r, f i re t he g u n, release

PHOTO BY CARL RICHARDS

weapons, extend the landing gear, and perform everything in between.

For high-temperature tests, our baseline temperature is 59 degrees Fahrenheit. We perform the same test at 113 degrees F and finally at 120 degrees F. The cold tests are more involved. We perform the first cold test at minus 15 degrees F. We simulate an alert launch at this temperature. A pilot climbs in the jet, starts the engine, and performs

PHOTO BY CARL RICHARDS

a simulated takeoff—all within five minutes from the start of the test. Then we perform a self-start test at minus 25 degrees F. Self-start means starting the aircraft without help from an outside source. The last cold test is at minus 40 degrees F. We will cold soak the aircraft to minus 65 degrees F for this test.

Other test conditions to be covered during the climatic lab trials include snow, high humidity, rain, freezing rain, and icing. I am looking forward to conducting an actual flight test. The F-35B has three test conductors now, but we are training more to prepare for the additional test aircraft.

S

teve Pot ton joined the F-35 program in July 2003 as a flight test engineer for BAE Systems.

He has worked f or BAE Systems for the last twenty years in flight test. He began his career on the Harrier in Dunsfold in the south of England. He later moved to Warton in the northwest of England where BAE performed development trials f or the Harrier. He c ame to the United States specifically to work on the F-35 program.

make the F-35B much easier to operate and, therefore, more effective. Pilots will not have to spend as much time training to operate in STOVL mode. They will be able to devote more training to tactics and operational effectiveness.

We spend a lot of time finding problems with the aircraft. Problems are naturally perceived as a negative. But finding and solving problems at this early stage should be viewed as a real positive. Our job is to make sure the

I lead a group of flight test engineers on the day-to-day planning for BF-1, the first STOVL version of the F-35 for this phase of the program. My STOVL flight testing experience on the Harrier drew me to the F-35 program. We conduct briefings for the aircrew and the f light test control room team before each test flight. Our overall purpose is to thoroughly test the airplane before it goes to the operational fleet.

One of our biggest challenges is the amount of people with whom we have to coordinate before we perform any test.

This coordination effort is driven by the complexity and sophistication of the aircraft and where it is in its life cycle.

With the Harrier, we were updating aircraft that had already been in service for many years. The magnitude of what was new with the Harrier when I worked on it is tiny in comparison with what we are developing for the F-35.

For example, the control laws for the STOVL mode are one of the most technically impressive aspects of this aircraft.

They are an order of magnitude more complex than the Harrier. But they will

PHOTO BY Randy Crites

PHOTO BY TOM ARBOGAST

Steve Potton, Lead Flight Test Engineer For BF-1

airplane is both safe and effective. That’s what flight testing is all about.

With that said, everyone enjoys seeing the flights come off successfully. I also like testing the complete aircraft rather than testing some small piece of it.

Another satisfying aspect of my job is get ting to t he end of t he week a nd feeling that our testing has been of value to the overall program.

BF-1 is going through a modification period through the end of 2008, which includes installing a new engine, updating software, and making a few structural changes. Early next year we begin envelope expansion f lying in STOVL mode. Ever yone is look ing forward to that.

Third Quarter 2008

17

S EMPER PARATUS: HC-130J OPERATIONAL

THE HC-130J SUPER HERCULES OFFICIALLY ENTERED OPERATIONAL SERVICE WITH THE US COAST GUARD ON 2 JULY AS PART OF A UNIQUE DOUBLE CEREMONY HELD AT CGAS ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA. AFTER THE SUPER HERCULES OFFICIALLY ENTERED SERVICE, CAPT. JOHN HARDIN, ONE OF THE FIRST COAST GUARD AVIATORS TO FLY THE HC-130J, ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE AIR STATION. BY JEFF RHODES

T

he first order of business at the ceremony was to decommission t he C o a s t G u a rd ’s HC -13 0J Aircraft Project Office, or APO, and turn the aircraft over to the operational f leet. The APO, established in 2003, developed operations and maintenance procedures, trained crews, and performed operational evaluations with the gleaming white, orange, and bluepainted HC-130Js. The APO crews had not just been flying around the base flagpole with its new aircraft. Shortly after b e i n g e s t a b l i s he d , the unit hauled an MH-68 helicopter from the west coast of the US, where it was used in drug enforcement missions, back to its home station in Jacksonville, Florida.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the HC-130J crews performed yeomanlike ser v ice delivering relief supplies to residents of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Coast Gua rd Program Executive Officer and Director of Acquisition Programs Rear Adm. Ronald Rábago

18

Code One

Capt. Jim Martin (left) salutes RAdm. Ronald Rábago.

PHOTOS BY JOHN ROSSINO

noted, “The HC-130J is so much more capable than our first Hercules, the C-130B. It is critical that the new technology in the J is ready for the Coast Guard mission. The six HC-130Js are standing watch now and are already saving lives.”

Indeed. A special guest at the ceremony was Roger Brake, the first person to be saved by the HC-130J. On 4 June, Bra ke’s sa i lboat sta r ted ta k i ng on water a nd quick ly capsized of f t he North Carolina coast. The sixty-yearold Brake had no time to send out a distress call—or grab his vessel’s emergency locator beacon—before jumping overboard. He spent two hot days in his life raft with no food or water.

The crew of a passing cruise ship notified the Coast Guard after spotting the capsized sailboat 102 miles southeast of Cape Lookout. Brake recalled he “absolutely couldn’t believe it” when the HC-130J appeared overhead. The Super Hercules crew orbited until Brake was picked up by o n e o f E l i z a b e t h C i t y ’s HH-60J helicopters.

Three of the HC-130Js have been fully missionized through a partnership between Lockheed Ma r t i n Aeronaut ics Compa ny a nd

Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors Company.

Mod i f ic at ions to t he a i rcra f t were completed at t he Aeronautics facility in Greenville, South Carolina. Plans call for installing mission kits in the other three Coast Guard HC-130Js. The heart of the missionization package is a fully automated system that provides realtime information to the crew during search and rescue, maritime surveillance, or interdiction missions. This system includes automatic identification and direction-finding capabilities; a new long-range, multimode radar; an electro-optical and infrared, or EO/IR, sensor turret that provides both imagery and target data; an advanced open architecture mission system processor; and an extensive communications suite.

Roger Brake (second from left), the first person to be saved by the HC-130J, stands with members of the crew (and a future Coast Guard Aviator) who found him after his sailboat capsized.

Inside the aircraft, the two sensor operators sit side by side at a workstation on the flight deck. This station includes a large display screen for each operator, a secondary screen, keyboard, trackball, and other equipment. A smaller version of the sensor operator display, located on the co-pilot’s side of the cockpit instrument panel, allows the f light crew to see exactly what the sensor operators have located or are tracking.

All of the electronic boxes for the mission equipment are located along the sides of the fuselage or in the ceilingmounted rack known as the hog trough. Putting the boxes out of the way enables the HC-130J to keep its full cargocarrying capability for large items such as airdroppable rescue kits.

The belly-mounted radar and fairing make the HC-130J easily recognizable.

Two observers look out the large paratroop door windows that are standard on all C-130J aircraft. This station has been enhanced on the HC-130J with mission lighting, upgraded communications, and a padded shelf under the window that holds binoculars or enables the observers to rest their arms while scanning during missions that can last as long as sixteen hours.

Outside, the HC-130J is easily recognizable with its large belly-mounted radar and fairing, electro-optical/infrared, or EO/IR, system turret under the nose, and antennas for the aircraft’s multiple HF, UHF, and satellite-based radios on both the top and bottom of the fuselage.

The mission kit is a stand-alone system that has been added to the baseline aircraft. It has its own computer-based integrated logistics support system and provides maintenance and operator technical manuals in digital format to allow for customer changes. The manuals are the source data for organizational-level maintenance and operations and include all safety recommendations. Training is conducted on-aircraft, in the classroom, and through individual computer-based training.

With the operational declaration for the HC-130Js, the 1970s-vintage HC-130H aircraft based at CGAS Elizabeth City have been reassigned. Two of the aircraft have been transferred to CGAS Clearwater, Florida. One aircraft will remain at the Coast Guard’s Aircraft Repair and Supply Center, co-located at Elizabeth City, to become a f lying test bed for modifications and upgrades that are being

The HC-130J’s nose-mounted, electro-optical/ infrared turret.

considered for the newer HC-130Hs that will remain in the f leet for some time. The remaining two aircraft have been put into long-term temporary storage.

At the ceremony, Capt. Jim Martin, the last commander of the HC-130J APO, was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his work in bringing the HC-130J to full operational capability and in developing the test plan for the missionized aircraft.

In his closing remarks, Rábago gave the sea services’ highest praise to the APO. He turned to Martin and said, “Bravo Zulu* to you and your entire team.” *Well done.

Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One.

Third Quarter 2008

19

HOLLOMAN RAPTORS The Raptor formally arrived at its third operational base in ceremonies at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, on 6 June. A pair of F-22s, the new flagships for the Then-Air Force Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley 49th Fighter Wing and the 7th Fighter Squadron, respectively, symbolically stood at attention flanking the guest speakers at the ceremony.

The aircraft are the first of approximately forty F-22s that will eventually be assigned to Holloman.

Speaking to the crowd of more than 400 wing members, local community leaders, and two Tuskegee Airmen, thenAir Force Chief of Staf f Genera l T. Michael Moseley, a former 49th FW commander, noted the significance of the day: “Imagine what it looked like at Normandy on 6 June 1944. Now imagine what it would have looked like if 8th and 9th Air Force didn’t have control of the airspace. This nation needs a

20

Code One

cutting-edge Air Force that has the best technology available. These aircraft represent so much—the ability to deter, dissuade, and, if necessary, win the fight. They provide global power. This is truly a special day for the Air Force, the 49th Fighter Wing, 12th Air Force, Holloman, and Alamogordo.”

New Mexico’s senior senator, Pete Dominici, echoed Moseley’s remarks, noting that all five members of the state’s

BY JEFF RHODES

PHOTOS BY JOHN ROSSINO congressional delegation were present at the ceremony, which he said does not happen very often. “That shows how important this milestone is.”

Indeed, t he cit y of A la mogordo, which has a reputation as one of the most supportive communities of the military, eagerly anticipated the arrival of the Raptor. Banners were hung from light poles, and local businesses had welcoming messages on their changeable signs. “The people of this community never give up,” Dominici noted. “They a re a lw ay s c onc e r ne d a b out w h at Holloman needs.”

Lockheed Martin hosted a dinner for members of the wing and the community leaders at the huge Mesa Verde Ranch just outside the base to cap the day’s activities. As the sun set, Maj. Paul Moga, the F-22 Demonstration Team pilot, f lew his airshow routine for an estimated crowd of more than 3,000 Tularosa Basin residents lining a nearby road to watch. TSgt. Jason Schmidt’s narration of the demonstration was broadcast live over a local radio station.

The first two Holloman Raptors, Air Force ser ia l nu mbers 05- 4 088 a nd 05-4106, were f lown to the base four days earlier by Col. Jeff Harrigian, the

Air Force Reserve Command will re-form the 301st Fighter Squadron at Holloman as a Reserve Associate unit, f ly i ng a nd ma i nt a i n i ng t he F-22 s alongside their active duty counterparts. The 301st, until recently an F-16 training unit at Luke AFB, Arizona, traces its lineage to the famed Tuskegee Airmen in World War II.

49th FW commander, and Lt. Col. Mike Hernandez, the 7th FS commander. The Raptors are currently being used to train maintenance and ground support and to support standup of the 7th FS. Known as the Screamin’ Demons, the 7th FS will be the first of two active duty and one Air Force Reserve Command Associate squadrons assigned to the base near Alamogordo. Additional aircraft deliveries to Holloman are scheduled to begin by early 2009.

The F-22 is an important part of the Air Force’s Total Force Initiative. The 301st FS joins the other two Total Force F-22 units: the Air National Guard’s 149th Fighter Squadron, which is an Associate unit w it h t he 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Virginia, and the 302nd Fighter Squadron, a Reserve Associate unit with the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

The Air Force announced in March 2006 that Raptors would be based at Holloman. The sprawling base, which covers nearly 60,000 acres, was established in 1942 as a training base for more than twenty different bomber

groups. Post-war, the base became the Air Force’s primary site for research development and testing of pilotless aircraft, guided missiles, and other weapons research. The 49th FW moved there in 1968. The F-117 was assigned to the wing in 1992.

To prepare for the Raptor, Holloman plans to invest more than $25 million over the next few years for five new military construction projects at the base.

These new facilities will support maintenance, simulation, and operations. The base currently has a weapons and tactics trainer and is expected to get two full mission simulators as well.

Add it iona l a ircra f t deliveries to Holloman are scheduled to begin by early next year. The 49th Fighter Wing is expected to be operational with the F-22 in November 2009.

Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One.

The 7th FS was activated in January 1941. The squadron saw combat service in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

The Screamin’ Demons will be followed at Holloman next year by the Black Sheep of the 8th Fighter Squadron, whose history mostly mirrors that of the 7th FS. Both squadrons recently flew the F-117 Nighthawk. The 7th FS, which served as the training squadron for Nighthawk pilots, was deactivated in 2006. The 8th FS, one of two operational F-117 squadrons, f lew the F-117 until it was retired in April 2008.

Third Quarter 2008

21

N IGH T H AW K M EMOR I ES SU RPRISE, SU RPRISE T he U S A i r For c e a n nou nc e d Thursday the existence of an operational stealth fighter aircraft, officially known as the F-117A. The single-seat, dual engine aircraft is built by Lockheed Corporation in California. The F-117A first flew in June 1981. The F-117A has been operational since October 1983, and is assigned to the 4450th Tactical Group at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The aircraft is based at the Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada. A total of fifty-nine aircraft are being procured.

Fifty-two have already been delivered to the Air Force and seven more are in production. With disclosure of the F-117A program, this mature system, which has enjoyed bipar tisa n Cong ressional suppor t si nce its i nception, can now be fully integ rated into operational plans in adds to the deterrent streng th of US mil itary forces. – US Air Force News Release, 10 November 1988

C OM P I L E D 22

Code One

B Y

J E F F

R HODE S

PHOTO BY GEORGE MCCLURE

support of worldwide defense commitments. This system

The Black Jet The F-117 Nighthawk, the world’s first combat aircraft to fully exploit radar-evading stealth technology, was developed, tested, and f lown operationally in complete secrecy.

Even the official program name—Senior Trend—was a secret.

First f lown in 1981 and declared operational in 1983, the futuristiclooking stealth fighters were based at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, an isolated facility roughly 250 miles north of Las Vegas.

The pilots, maintainers, and support staff of the cryptically designated PHOTO BY JUDSON BROHMER 4450th Tactical Group would leave their homes at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas on Monday, f ly via minimally marked 727 airliners to Tonopah, shift their body clocks to night operations for a couple of days, and then f ly back to Nellis on Friday. After the F-117 program was publicly acknowledged, the unit was redesignated the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing.

The revolutionary design of the F-117, with its black paint scheme and faceted surfaces, would enter the national consciousness a little more than two years af ter the off icial Pentagon announcement. As Operation Desert Storm kicked off, TV news reports showed grainy video of targets in Baghdad—one of the most heavily defended c it ie s on e a r t h—bei ng destroyed with a single 2,000-pound bomb being dropped precisely down an air ventilation shaft.

Two months shy of twenty-seven years since it was first flown, the F-117 was retired in ceremonies at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, where the 49th Fighter Wing had operated it since 1992, and then on 22 April in PalmPHOTO BY ERIC SCHULZINGER dale, California, for the people who had designed and built it.

What follows is certainly not a complete history of what was called the Black Jet, but memories from some of the hundreds of people associated with the F-117 during its career.

In The Beginning The genesis for stealth came in the 1973 ArabIsraeli War [between Egypt and Israel]. Russia had supplied Egypt with a sophisticated radar network, and the Israelis were sending aircraft to the front lines that the Egyptians were shooting down even though the Israeli aircraft were equipped with electronic countermeasures. What was needed was a way to make the aircraft invisible, or nearly so. If you can’t see it, you can’t shoot at it.

DARPA [the US Defense Advanced Projects Agency] gave $100,000 contracts to two c o m p a n i e s [M c D o n n e l l Douglas and Northrop] to study the problem. The plan was that one of the companies would eventually build Denys a stealth prototype. Lockheed Overholser received a $1 contract that PHOTO BY DENNY LOMBARD gave us access to the DARPA data. We got in the competition through the back door.

We had produced a stealth aircraft in the SR-71 that DARPA didn’t know about. We got the CIA to let us brief DARPA on the A-12/SR-71. After some convincing, DARPA officials told us to go ahead and bid on the program.

Dick Scherrer was Lockheed’s director of operations research.

He was a very inventive guy. He couldn’t get anyone to explain

RCS [radar cross section] to him in normal English. I was at home with a broken leg, and Dick called me on an open phone line and told me I had to design an invisible aircraft.

The day I came back to work, I explained stealth to him. The lowest RCS is taking the smallest number of flat panels and tilting those surfaces over, sweeping the edges away from the radar view angle. Dick went away and came back with some drawings. I told him to make it f latter so the radar couldn’t ref lect back. He came back with some new drawings.

We got Ben Rich [the head of Lockheed’s Skunk Works] to get some money to build an anechoic chamber and a wind tunnel test model. The aerod y n a m ic s g u y s gave the design a name—the Hopeless Diamond. It didn’t have a tail.

The idea was just to look at the Have Blue basic shape. But USAF PHOTO the engineers looked at the model and said, ‘You know, that would almost f ly.’

Scherrer told me to write a computer program to show what we would need to measure RCS. He also said, ‘I need it in a month.’

It took us five 100-hour weeks, but we built the program [called Echo 1] to test the Hopeless Diamond design. It worked—our predictions matched reality. I went from being regarded as the village idiot to being hailed as the village expert.

The Hopeless Diamond design led to the XST design, which was much more of an airplane. The XST design led to Have Blue, which was essentially a subscale version of the F-117. We had a pole model shoot-off at the test range at Holloman, and Have Blue did really well.

We t u r n e d i n our proposa l for Have Blue. Ben said to mark it as confi­ dential. Two weeks later, we heard from DA R PA , a n d t h e proposa l wa s now Top Secret Specia l Ac c e s s R e q u i r e d .

Only two of our engineers had DoD To p S e c r e t c l e a rances. The rest of us PHOTO BY DENNY LOMBARD had only Agency clearances.

We got that situation cleared up and went to work. We had great success with Have Blue. We proved the design would fly. The Air Force thought there was enough proof that stealth worked to start, even though the design wasn’t completely tested. They asked us to take the Have Blue and weaponize it. – Denys Overholser, Lockheed mathematician and engineer

Hal Farley

It Is A Model Lock heed built a wooden mockup of the F-117. It was used to pla n where t he displays would go and how the wiring and plumbing runs would be installed.

The F-117 is probably one of the last aircraf t to be mocked up in wood. – Hal Farley, Lockheed test pilot, Bandit 117

Third Quarter 2008

23

Dead Of Night The aircraft was taken from Burbank to the test range in a C-5 in the dead of night. It was loaded in nearly complete blackout conditions. I don’t think the fact a C-5 was landing at the Burbank Airport in the middle of the night tipped the neighbors off to anything unusual. We did receive some complaints about the noise of the C-5 taking off. – Hal Farley, Lo c k h e e d t e s t pilot, Bandit 117 First Flight I was wel l prepared for the f irst f light. I had f low n t he simulator during development of the flight control laws and had been practicing by flying the F-111, F-15, and F-16. I was also in the cockpit for all of the ground tests and engine runs leading up to first f light. We made several taxi runs and had reached the point of lifting the nose wheel off the ground and deploying the drag chute.

We planned the f light for early morning to take advantage of the smoother air at dawn. Just after liftoff, I noticed the nose was yawing considerably, indicating directional stability wasn’t as great as anticipated. We took off with the AOA and sideslip sensors on the air data probes disabled, planning to turn them on after gaining some altitude. After it became evident that the yawing was getting worse and my attempts to control it weren’t helping, I turned on the yaw sensor, and the airplane stiffened up and felt normal. Dave Ferguson, the primary chase pilot checked me over, and we continued.

Early in the climb, I heard this bang, and I wasn’t ready for that. It was the intake blow-in doors slamming shut and not a problem. After we leveled off at 15,000 feet, the canopy warning light came on and t hat wa s t roubl i ng bec au se t he canopy is also the windscreen. That t u r ned out to be a m isadju sted microswitch. As we began to set up for the test maneuvers, Dick Burton, the test director, informed me that temperatures in the tailpipe were approaching limits and I would need to return and land. Overall, it was a simple f light with the gear down all the way. We did some mild maneuvers in pitch, roll, and yaw as we returned to base.

There was a big party after the first f light, but I stayed behind to write the f light test report while everything was still fresh in my mind. I wanted to be as detailed as possible. In the end, I didn’t even get to the party.

– Hal Farley, Lockheed test pilot, Bandit 117

Small Group One reason the F-117 came about so quickly was the effectiveness of the team. Air Force program management consisted of seven people. We were able to work one-on-one with the Air Force experts. We went from paper to airborne in twoand-one-half years. The Air Force team worked with us, gave us good suggestions, and let us get on with the program. – Dr. Alan Brown, Lockheed F-117 chief technical engineer Really Black Program Thousands of people kept the F-117 program secret. I had to take a polygraph test at the beginning, m idd le, a nd end of my time on the program. For years, we never even said ‘F-117.’ We called it ‘The Asset.’ Since it wasn’t designated the F-19, which is probably what it should have been in the Air Force designation sequence protocol, I was able to truthfully answer, ‘No, I don’t f ly the F-19’ when somebody asked me if I did. – Mark Dougherty, Bandit 168 Test Fleet Flight test missions began, and we worked our way incrementally through the f light envelope. The first two aircraft were f lown continuously. Aircraft 780 is now on static display at Nellis, and 781 is at the Air Force Museum [National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio]. Aircraft 781 f lew a tremendous amount while 782 served as the mission systems airplane. Aircraft 783 was the primary RCS test airplane,

PHOTO BY DENNY LOMBARD

and 784 served as a catchall and did a lot of avionics testing.

We were flying fifteen to twenty times a week. We would typically f ly as many as two f lights in the morning and two in the afternoon. We spent a lot of time making sure nobody else was around.

That added a level of complexity that most programs don’t have to deal with. – Jon Beesley, Bandit 102 Bandit Origin Bandit was a standard radio call sign used by the Aggressor pilots at Nellis. We used Bandit because it wouldn’t draw attention. In the test program, we were allowed to pick our number. The test pilots took Bandit numbers 100 to 125. – Dave Ferguson, Lockheed test pilot, Bandit 105 Bandit Legacy A pilot was given a Bandit number after his first f light. His name and the date of the f light were embroidered on an aviator’s scarf and then hung with the other Bandit scarves.

All of those scarves will be going to the Air Force Museum. There were 557 operational F-117 pilots. The operational pilots started with Bandit 150 [Col. Al Whitley]. There was no Bandit 666. The last Bandit was Brig. Gen. David Goldfein, who was the 49th Fighter Wing commander. He’s Bandit 708. – Lt. Col. Ken Tatum, Bandit 527

PHOTO BY KEVIN ROBERTSON

24

Code One

Blue Suiter My introduction to the aircraft came before its first flight. Skip Anderson, the Air Force’s flight test director, showed me the airplane and asked me to be the operations officer for the Combined Test Force. I was the only Air Force test pilot for all five years of development and flight test. The whole time I was there, the program didn’t officially exist. I remember calling my wife in 1988 and telling her to look at the TV when they made the official announcement. I told her that’s what I was doing for five years. She was excited to finally know. – Jon Beesley, Bandit 102

PHOTO BY DENNY LOMBARD

Welcome To The Air Force I spent four years at Tonopah as a weapons troop. I was a young airman, only nineteen years old. It was really exciting. In the barracks, which were ten miles from the f lightline, we even had maid service. I was new to the Air Force and didn’t know any better—I thought it was like that everywhere. – MSgt. Michael F. Parkison, 49th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Holloman AFB, New Mexico First Launch Anybody who worked on the jet at Tonopah will remember their f irst launch. We ran completely blacked-out operations. It was lights out, comm out. The first time those hangar doors opened with nothing on and nothing else out there on the outside was something to experience. For a long time, we weren’t really sure it was f lying. All we’d see were the lights go by. – CMSgt. Wendy Jones (ret.)

Psych For the distinguished visitors who came to Tonopah, we would show them an invisible aircraft. We would place a set of chocks on the ground and set up a workstand with an air hose held up with fishing line looking like it was attached to the aircraf t. – CMSgt. Wendy Jones (ret.)

Local Fauna I When I started, Tonopah had no billeting. We would f ly t he r e f r om Ne l l i s every day. Later on, when we had bi lleting, I would stay for the first launch a nd r e c ove r y a nd then go home before

the second launch. I would see wild horses as I walked back to billeting. They would follow people and nip them if they weren’t careful. – CMSgt. Kenneth Cody (ret.)

Local Fauna II I was walking back to billeting at Tonopah through the snow one night carrying food when I got cornered by a coyote.

I just gave it the food and quickly went the other way. – CMSgt. Wendy Jones (ret.)

First ORI The group’s first Operational Readiness Inspection was memorable. Time just f lew by. We had to refuel, load bombs, and put in a new brake chute, all in the dark. Forty-five minutes was the standard. The evaluator asked me how long it took. I knew we had done it pretty fast, so I guessed about thirty-eight minutes.

He said, ‘No, it was a twenty-minute turn time.’ – CMSgt. Kenneth Cody (ret.)

Through The Looking Glass Lt. Col. Jerry Fleming [Bandit 152] came to Homestead [AFB, Florida] where I was f lying F-4s and interviewed me personally. He landed in an A-7 with no tail markings and wore no insignia on his flight suit. He looked like someone from the CIA. I was wondering if I was still going to be in the Air Force. He said, ‘What you think you’re going to do is not what you’re going to do. I need you to make a decision now because I need you quick.’ I got orders in two days to report to Nellis. It was fun being wanted. It was even more fun getting picked to f ly the F-117. – Mark Dougherty, Bandit 168 Nighthawk Night Owls We f lew at night under the cover of darkness. We would sleep until late in the day in what we called our cocoons or caves. They were c omple t e l y d a r k with blackout curtains. We would get up, exercise, go eat, and go to the office.

Af ter dark, we would take the jets up and go f ly.

We wou ld f i n ish between 1:00 and PHOTO BY TOM REYNOLDS 3:00 a.m. We would debrief, clean up, and relax a little. We would have to be in our caves by sunup. We had to be in the dark to minimize the psychological effects on our bodies and our circadian rhythms. On Friday, we’d go home [to Nellis] and try to get to sleep at 11:00 p.m., when we were used to staying up until 5:30 a.m. Then your four-year-old would come in at 7:00 a.m. and jump on your chest. And, of course, the only time the dishwasher would overf low or the car would break down was while we were away. – Bill Lake, Bandit 252 J at o P r e t o I k ne w information about the F-117 had been released when I saw a photo of my airplane in a Br a z i l ia n ne w spap er with a caption in Portuguese. – Dr. Alan B rown, Lo c kheed F-117 chief technical engineer

Dr. Alan Brown

PHOTO BY ERIC SCHULZINGER

Third Quarter 2008

25

Limited SA The jet is easy to f ly. Other jets had equipment like radar or radar warning that let pilots know what is going on around them. The situational awareness for the pilot just wasn’t there in the F-117. We went into the target alone and unafraid. The other aircraft in the strike package would always want to know where we were. We just did n’t ta l k on t he radio during missions.

– Lt. Col. Todd Flesch, Bandit 447 Martian Kudos I have to give a lot of credit to our Martians— the maintainers who kept up the low observable materials on the jet’s skin. We quite literally placed our lives in those young Airmen’s hands. – Lt. Col. Todd Flesch, Bandit 447 Weaponology The GBU-10 Paveway II 2,000-pound laser guided bomb and the Mk. 84 general purpose bomb were the baseline weapons for initial operational capability. I was working on a prog r a m c a l le d Have Void for a n i mprove d 2 , 0 0 0 -p ou nd penetrating weapon. This weapon needed to penetrate concrete and not fracture itself.

PHOTO BY DENNY LOMBARD

Family Affair My wife and I both got stationed at Nellis with the 4450th Tactical Group at the same time. I was sent to Tucson to learn to fly the A-7, so she actually saw the stealth fighter before I did. Later on, we both deployed with the unit in support of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Once combat started, she would be there to meet me when I landed. – Maj. Gen. Greg Feest, Bandit 261 Lifestyle Change The lifestyle of going away on Monday and coming home on Friday was not the most stressful aspect of what the men and women in the program had to endure. The inability to talk about what we did for five days out of seven with our families, friends, and neighbors was a bigger challenge. In between, phone calls and communications were limited. We were 250 miles north of home in a location at a higher elevation where it would actually snow. We could be talking with our families and even having the usual conversation about the weather, and we couldn’t say what our weather was. It was an ‘I can neither confirm nor deny that’ situation. The inability to tell somebody how our week was going was hard. We could ask how our spouse’s week was, but it was as if our week didn’t exist. – Bill Lake, Bandit 252 Unique Distinction I was chosen to f ly the mission during Operation Just Cause. We didn’t even go into Panama in stealth mode. We were chosen because we could drop a precision munition and hit what we aimed at with a specific time on target.

We were told to hit a field. We didn’t really show what stealth could do. – Maj. Gen. Greg Feest, Bandit 261

USAF PHOTO

We took the more compact guide fins from the Paveway II and the penetrating capability of the BLU-109 warhead and kluged them together. We did a very slow fit check to make sure it would fit in the F-117’s weapons bay. I called the program office and they sort of got mad. I wasn’t authorized to do that kind of thing. After getting chewed out, the program people turned around and asked, ‘Well, how did it do?’ It was so new, it was called GBU-XX. I drew up the requirements, and Tactical Air Command went forward on IOC [initial operational capability] with it. It worked so well that TAC threw out the toss delivery mode. The weapons guys said, ‘This is stupid. We are not going to fly straight and level to a target,’ even though that’s the best way to deliver weapons.

In the first test, the GBU-27 split the barrel. It later went directly down an air shaft in Baghdad. – Chuck Pinney, former Air Force F-117 Program Office director Not For Beginners You learn to f ly the F-117 in the simulator.

Your first flight is solo. You have to have 750 to 1,000 fighter hours to get in F-117s. The jet f lies like any other fighter tactically. But we usually f ly with seven other aircraft, all at the same time.

– Col. Jack Forsythe, Bandit 460

26

Code One

PHOTO BY KEVIN ROBERTSON

Getting Real In Desert Shield, we didn’t believe we were going to war until the second squadron arrived in theater in December of 1990. Then we started getting serious. We did a lot more target study and reading up on Iraqi order of battle. When we got the warning order, we realized we were going to war. – Klaus Klause, Bandit 283 First Night Having dropped a bomb in Panama, I was chosen for the first mission of Desert Storm. On the first night, none of the pilots knew whether stealth would work or not. The engineers

told us what it could do, a nd we t r usted them. But until we got t hrough t he enemy air defenses in Iraq, we weren’t sure. We a nt icipated some losses that first night.

But we returned with none of us getting hit by triple-A [anti-airc r a f t a r t i l l e r y] o r SAMs [surface-to-air m is si le s]. T hen we knew stealth worked.

– Maj. Gen. Greg Feest, Bandit 261

new target and drop it there. Ten years ago, we would have never even thought about dynamic retargeting with the F-117. We went where the mission was planned to go. With laser guided bombs, we couldn’t drop if the weather was bad at the release point.

– Lt. Col. Todd Flesch, Bandit 447

PHOTO BY DENNY LOMBARD

See It Live I was watching CNN’s coverage of the opening night of the Gulf War. I saw the explosions going off in the background, and then the power went out. The air raid sirens started going off after that. I knew it was the F-117s, and I knew we had succeeded.

– Denys Overholser, Lockheed mathematician and engineer Shack During a drop, we would f ly in on autopilot and put the cu rsor on t he ta rget. We wou ld get consent to release a nd the weapon bay doors would open. We could feel the bombs leave the bomb bay. The jolt would sometimes knock off the autopilot.

We couldn’t hear the explosions, obviously, but we could see the splash. We knew immediately if we hit the target. – Klaus Klause, Bandit 283 Improving The Jet I was the squadron commander of the 410th Flight Test Squadron—the F-117 f light test unit—from 1997 to 1999. We had Air Force test pilots and maintenance, but we also had Lockheed test pilots and maintainers to help us.

It w a s t he mo s t ideal test force I’ve ever been in. The depot was there; t he eng i neer i ng was there; the experience was there. We put the r i ng-laser g y roPHOTO BY JUDSON BROHMER scope in the aircraft, GPS [Global Positioning System], and the new brake controller. We did the testing and development for the single configuration fleet. Our job was to keep the signature and reduce maintenance. We did that. – Crash Jaspers, Bandit 121 Life At Holloman On my second tour in F-117s, the wing was in the white world. We had relocated to Holloman, and things were moving very well. It was a time when lots of things were happening. We were quite often called on to execute deployments.

Some of those deployments came under the cover of darkness and we did them well. We packed equipment and f lew the aircraft out of town and nobody noticed. Other times we went overseas in support of contingencies. – Bill Lake, Bandit 252 JDAM Addition We could do close air support when the capability to drop JDAM [the GPS/inertial-guided, 2000-pound GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition] was added to the aircraft. Retargeting the weapon in f light was easy. We would get the coordinates of a

Keep On Keepin’ On We were combat capable until the very end.

The F-117 retirement has been a leadership challenge. There could have been an attitude of, ‘Why are you still worried about that?’

There is too much history in this aircraft to not be worried about it until the end. There is a lot of love for this airplane all up and down the chain of command. It wasn’t very hard to keep people motivated. – Col. Larry Stephenson, 49th Maintenance Group Vice Commander, Holloman AFB, New Mexico Been Everywhere Over its career, the F-117 has been deployed to the desert, to Europe, and to the Pacific. The jet has done its job every time. The bombs go right where they are supposed to, and we go home. – Lt. Col. Todd Flesch, Bandit 447 What Goes Around We had to modify some of our load and test equipment for the F-117. Now that the jet is retired, that e qu ipment i s goi ng bac k i nto t he i nventor y. I ’m now t he head of the weapons shop and I have young troops who are compla i ni ng, ‘W ho d id t his shoddy work? ’ I’ve never told them that it was probably . . . me. My career’s come full circle.

– MSgt. Michael F. Parkison Influence Last year when things in Korea got hectic, the US Forces Korea com ma nder s a id , ‘G et t hose black things up to the front.’ We made the F -117 ’s l a s t d e pl oy m e nt a nd t o o k eighteen jets to South Korea. We knew we were inf luential. North Korea came back to the Six Party talks because we were there. We did that. Ever ybody knows what the jet can do. – Lt. Col. Ken Tatum, Bandit 527

Lt. Col. Ken Tatum

PHOTO BY ARNOLD FAGAN

Hearts And Minds We were at Wright-Patterson for the program office farewell. I went to the Air Force Museum and I realized this aircraft has entered the national mind. It’s like the B-17, P-51, or F-86. The jet’s capability also stuck in an adversary’s mind.

When we deployed, it was national news. – Col. Jack Forsythe, Bandit 460 New Paradigm The F-117 changed combat capability overnight.

The thinking changed from how many sorties does it take to destroy a target to how many targets can be destroyed on a sortie.

I’m proud of the ground-breaking legacy of this aircraft. We really did own the night. – George Zielsdorff, Lockheed Martin F-117 program manager Footprints The F-117 changed the way wars are fought. This country has not started a major conf lict when those little black airplanes were not asked to kick down the door. They are a critical part of history. – Jon Beesley, Bandit 102 Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One.

Additional F-117 memories can be found at www.codeonemagazine.com Third Quarter 2008

27

EVENTS Georgia Relief An aircrew from the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, carried out the first C-130 relief mission to the wartorn Republic of Georgia on 15 July, two days after humanitarian operations began. After a seven-hour flight from Ramstein to Tbilisi International Airport in Georgia, loadmasters, 86th Air Mobility Squadron aerial porters, and a Georgian civilian company offloaded the pallets of medicine, clothing, sleeping bags, and other essential items from the unit’s 1960s-vintage C-130Es. As of 22 August, both US Air Force and Navy C-130 crews have flown most of the thirty-six airlift missions into Tbilisi. As of that date, more than 1,000,000 pounds of relief supplies have been delivered to Georgia via air or sea.

PHOTO BY A1C KENNY HOLSTON

Moroccan Falcons T he US gover nmen t g ave Lockheed Martin an undefinitized contract authorization in May to produce twenty-four F-16C/D Block 52 fighters for the Kingdom of Morocco under the Foreign Military Sales program.

The sale will include the aircraft, m ission equ i pm e n t, su ppo r t equipment, alternate mission equipment, and a spares and technical support package. The F-16s will supplement the existing Royal Moroccan Air Force fleet of F-5s and Mirage F1 fighters. Morocco is the twenty-fifth country to select the F-16. More than 4,400 F-16 aircraft have been delivered to date worldwide from assembly lines in five countries. Production is expected to continue beyond 2012.

C-5M Flight Testing Complete A joint Air Force-contractor test team completed developmental flight test of the C-5M Super Galaxy on 16 August. The two-year test program included verification of performance and reliability enhancements to the C-5’s propulsion system, avionics, utilities and subsystems, flight controls, and airframe. Testing took place primarily at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Georgia, and at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California. As testing was concluding, one of the three test aircraft that received both the Avionics Modernization Program and Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program updates was flown on a round-trip mission to Europe. Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation of the C-5M is scheduled to begin in third quarter 2009.

PHOTO BY JOHN ROSSINO

F-35 Funding Approved The US Department of Defense released $1 billion in funding on 22 July to acquire six F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing, or STOVL, aircraft as part of the second Low-Rate Initial Production, or LRIP, contract for the F-35. The LRIP 2 contract, worth $2.2 billion for twelve aircraft, was awarded in May. At that time, the government authorized six conventional takeoff and landing, or CTOL, F-35As and gave provisional approval for the STOVL jets pending first flight of the initial F-35B test aircraft, which occurred 11 June, and completion of a propulsion system review, which occurred 22 July. The nineteen F-35 test aircraft and the first two LRIP 1 aircraft are now in production.

PHOTO BY LIZ KASZINSKI

28

Code One

EVENTS Elmo Deploys

PHOTO BY TSGT. MIKAL CANFIELD

Approximately 130 Airmen and six F-22s from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, deployed to Guam for two weeks in July and early August for the Jungle Shield and Cope Thaw exercises. The overseas deployment was the first for the 3rd Wing Raptors.

During the exercises, the F-22 pilots flew defensive counterair, offensive counterair escort, and offensive counterair suppression of enemy air defense missions. Jungle Shield enhances the 13th Air Force’s air defense mission on Guam, while Cope Thaw provides pilots the opportunity to conduct routine training in an environment different from their home station. Elmendorf’s 90th Fighter Squadron was integrated with other fighters participating from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, and bombers from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, during the exercises.

C-130 Firefighting Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard C-130 crews equipped with the Modular Airborne Firefighting System, or MAFFS, conducted more than 980 airdrops, releasing more than 1.3 million gallons of fire retardant on the more than 2,000 wildfires that ravaged California in late June and July. The 302nd Air Expeditionary Group was the military unit formed to fight fires with the US Forest Service. The 302nd AEG included three Air National Guard C-130 units—the 145th Airlift Wing from Charlotte, North Carolina; the 146th AW from Channel Islands ANGB, California; and the 153rd AW from Cheyenne, Wyoming. It also included one Air Force Reserve Command Hercules unit, the 302nd AW at Peterson AFB, Colorado.

50,000th Noble Eagle Sortie

PHOTO BY SSGT. HECTOR GARCIA

Guard Noble Eagle Flight The 192nd Fighter Wing, the Air National Guard Associate unit at Langley AFB, Virginia, recently flew its first F-22 mission in support of Operation Noble Eagle, the military operations related to homeland security initiated after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. The 192nd FW’s 149th Fighter Squadron flies Raptor aircraft assigned to the active duty 1st Fighter Wing at Langley. The 1st FW and 192nd FW combined in October 2007 under the Total Force Initiative, which made the 192nd the first Air Guard unit to fly the F-22. The 1st FW’s 27th FS flew the first active duty F-22 Operation Noble Eagle mission in January 2007.

PHOTO BY SSGT. NATHAN BEVIER

A pair of F-16 pilots from the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw AFB, South Carolina, reached a significant milestone on 8 June, flying the 50,000th Operation Noble Eagle sortie conducted over the continental United States. Operation Noble Eagle, the military operations related to homeland security, began after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. The Continental U.S. NORAD Region, which is responsible for a considerable portion of those missions, represents a substantial contribution to homeland air defense and the war on terrorism. Although not always a response to any specific threat, Operation Noble Eagle sorties are an element in the overall homeland defense mission.

PHOTO BY TSGT. BEN BLOKER

Third Quarter 2008

29

EVENTS Vikings Ashore The very last at-sea deployment for the S-3 Viking ended on 29 May as crews from Sea Control Squadron 22 (VS-22), known as the Checkmates, returned home to NAS Jacksonville, Florida.

VS-22 crews completed more than 300 flight hours during their twomonth deployment on board the USS George Washington (CVN-73) as the ship sailed around South America en route to its new home port of Yokosuka, Japan. The VS-22 flyoff as the Washington neared San Diego marked the last planned S-3 catapult shot. The Checkmates and Sea Control Wing Atlantic Fleet are both scheduled to disestablish in January 2009, closing out the Viking’s thirty-eight year career with the US Navy.

PHOTO BY PM3 CHRISTOPHER STEPHENS

Raptor Over The Pond

PHOTO BY KATSUHIKO TOKUNAGA

Air Combat Command’s F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team successfully carried out the first F-22 trans-Atlantic deployment in July. T he Demo Team, led

by Maj. Paul Moga, deployed to England on 8 July to participate in the 2008 Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, England, and in the Farnborough International Airshow. He was joined by Capt. Leo Lemelson and Flt. Lt. Dan Robinson, a Royal Air Force exchange pilot.

Moga flew only a practice ses­s ion on 11 July as the scheduled flying display at Air Tattoo was cancelled because of weather.

He flew at Farnborough on 14 July. Capt. Chris Bergtholdt, C a p t . M i c h a e l Tr u j i l l o, a n d Lemelson flew the three F-22s back to Langley on 15 July.

Good Hunting

Weatherbirds In Action The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, known as the Hurricane Hunters, flew its first mission of the 2008 hurricane season on 11 July. Leaving from their home base at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, a WC-130J Weatherbird crew flew into Hurricane Bertha, a Category 1 storm, approximately 350 miles southeast of Bermuda. This year, all

PHOTO BY JOHN ROSSINO

PHOTO BY TSGT. JAMES B. PRITCHETT

ten WC-130Js are equipped with the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, which measures the wind speeds at the surface. The 53rd WRS is tasked by the National Hurricane Center in Miami to provide data used to forecast the path of nature’s most destructive storms. The data collected by the Hurricane Hunters on their missions increases the accuracy of the center’s forecasts by thirty percent.

30

Code One

US Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, P-3 crews assisted in three huge cocaine seizures in May. In the largest seizure, a CBP crew spotted and tracked a go-fast smuggler boat before directing a US Coast Guard cutter to intercept the vessel on 18 May. The smuggler subsequently ran aground near the Nicaragua-Honduras border. Nicaraguan authorities reported recovering 113 bales of cocaine weighing 6,215 pounds and valued at more than $56 million. Through June, CBP’s P-3 Air Wing had seized more than 98,000 pounds of cocaine in fiscal year 2008 with a street value of more than $890 million. CBP’s Air and Marine P-3 operations are composed of two operational facilities, one in Corpus Christi, Texas, and one in Jacksonville, Florida.

EVENTS Prizewinning Photo

A photograph of two detached North Dakota Air National Guard F-16s being flown on a combat air patrol mission over Washington after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon was selected as the first-place shot in the North American Aerospace Defense Command 50th Anniversary Photo Contest. The breach in the wall of the Pentagon created by the airliner that crashed into it on 11 September can be seen as F-16s flown by then-Maj. Brad Derrig and Maj. David Hill defend the skies over the Capitol. The photo was taken by thenSSgt. Greg L. Davis, who left the service in 2004, but was assigned to the 20th Fighter Wing, Shaw AFB, South Carolina, as the wing’s photojournalist at the time.

Pioneer Pilots Meet Two generations of pioneer pilots met at the McChord AFB, Washington, Air Expo on 20 July.

Dorothy Olsen, a pilot with the Women Airforce Service Pilots, was introduced to Capt. Jammie Jamieson, the first operational and combat-ready woman F-22 pilot. Olsen, who recently turned ninet y-t wo, primarily flew such fighter aircraft as the P-51 and the P-38 from 1943 through the end of World War II. Jamieson, who flew a Raptor to the show for static display, is a 2000 graduate of the Air Force Academy. She is currently stationed at Elmendor f AFB, Alaska, where she is the mobility flight commander for the 525th Fighter Squadron.

PHOTO BY SSGT. ERIC BURKS

Screaming Eagles Fly Home

Old Base, New Training

Patrol Squadron 1 (VP-1), known as the Screaming Eagles, returned home to NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, on 9 June, after a six-month deployment to the Eastern Pacific. While deployed, VP-1 supported the commander of the US 7th Fleet. The unit flew more than 2,500 flight hours as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terror. VP-1 will be the last Whidbey squadron to be integrated into the new Patrol Wing 10 Consolidated Maintenance Organization. VP-1 will transfer accountability for its aircraft and maintainers to the organization in an effort to produce more capable aircraft and maintenance crews using the most efficient and cost-effective methods.

PHOTO BY MSGT. BOB OLDHAM

C-130 crews from the 154th Training Squadron, the Arkansas Air National Guard unit at Little Rock AFB, are expected to convert Walnut Ridge, a small airport in central Arkansas, into a night vision goggle, or NVG, training site as early as October. The conversion resulted from a change to the C-130 Instructor School training syllabus. Walnut Ridge, which is twenty minutes flying time from Little Rock, offers a low-traffic, low-light environment for NVG training. It was established in 1942 to train Army Air Forces pilots during World War II. More than 5,300 pilots who had already completed primary flight training flew Vultee BT-13 and BT-15 basic trainers at Walnut Ridge during the war.

Third Quarter 2008

31

EVENTS Baja Scorpions Finish The 410th Flight Test Squadron, which was responsible for testing the F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft, was inactivated in ceremonies 1 August at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, after more than twenty-seven years and 8,000 flight test hours. The 410th FLTS traces its history to 1980 when Air Force and Lockheed personnel were tapped to form a classified Joint Test Force, unofficially named Baja Scorpions. The JTF received its first shipment containing a ­disassembled prototype YF-117A in January 1981. In April 1992, the unit moved to Air Force Plant 42 and later became a test squadron.

Lt. Col. Dwayne Opella (pictured) was the last commander of the 410th FLTS.

PHOTO BY DENNY LOMBARD

F-35 Milestones The third flyable F-35 Lightning II fighter, a short takeoff/vertical landing, or STOVL, F-35B, was completed on 16 August and moved to the flightline at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas, where it will undergo ground testing. First flight is expected in early 2009.

Six other F-35s are in final assembly, and fourteen other variants, including the first F-35C carrier variant, are in various stages of production. In F-35 engine news, Pratt & Whitney marked 10,000 hours of ­System Design and Development ground testing with its F135 engine in mid-July. The GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team recently completed STOVL testing with a developmental version of the F136 engine, the F-35 alternate powerplant.

PHOTO BY TOM HARVEY

P-3C Bees

Supersonic SDB Drop

A1C Gilbert Hardy, assigned to the US Air Force’s 18th Civil Engineer Squadron at Kadena AB, Okinawa, uses a vacuum to remove a swarm of Japanese honey bees from a Patrol Squadron 16 (VP-16) P-3C Orion on 29 June at nearby MCAS Futenma, Okinawa. The bees are thought to have swarmed on the aircraf t to escape from heat and wind while in transit to a new hive site. VP-16 and a Patrol Wing 11 Consolidated Maintenance Organization detachment are deployed to the Pacific in support of the commander of the US Navy 7th Fleet. Home port for VP-16, known as the War Eagles, is NAS Jacksonville, Florida.

PHOTO BY KEVIN ROBERTSON

An F-22 test pilot with the 411th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, California, carried out the first supersonic release of a GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, or SDB, on 11 July. This first supersonic SDB drop was part of a safe separation test program currently being performed to integrate the weapon on the F-22. The GBU-39 is a 250-pound Global Positioning System-guided precision munitions capable of destroying stationary targets at standoff distances. Eight prior SDB releases from the F-22 were carried out at subsonic speeds. Additional supersonic releases and later guided drops will take place on the Edwards ranges. The Raptor can carry eight SDBs or two 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions internally.

32

Code One

PHOTO BY MCS2 CHARLES WHITE

NOTAMS 2Q 2008 Corrections

This space is devoted to announcements and items of general interest. For our non-pilot readers, NOTAM is short for Notice to Airmen. NOTAMS, briefed before every mission, contain important information that may concern the flight.

Norway C-130J Flown The first of four C-130Js for Norway was flown for the first time on 8 July at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Georgia.

These aircraft are the first C-130Js to be ordered under the US Foreign Military Sales program. The Norwegian Super Hercules aircraft are similar to those being delivered to the US Air Force.

Deliveries to Norway include one aircraft in 2008, one in 2009, and two in 2010.

On page 27 of the second quarter 2008 issue of Code One, Maj. Nicole Malachowski, the first female Thunderbird pilot, was misidentified as Maj. Samantha Weeks (shown here). Weeks is the team’s first female lead solo. On page 32, the 41st Airlift Squadron at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, is the first Air Mobility Command C-130J squadron, not the first active duty US Air Force Super Hercules unit.

F-22 Honored The F-22 Raptor was the featured aircraft for the twelfth annual US Air Force Marathon held 20 September at WrightPatterson AFB, Ohio. The aircraft’s likeness appeared on the medals given to all the runners. The Raptor also appeared on the marathon logo in 1998.

It is the first aircraft to be chosen twice.

Among the other aircraft honored previously are the F-16 (2000), F-117 (2004), U-2 (2005), and C-5 (2007). The 88th Services Division at Wright-Patterson coordinates the race.

F-16 Fireworks Aviation photographer Joe Oliva captured this image of an F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 115th Fighter Wing, the Air National Guard unit at Truax Field, Wisconsin, on its home runway near Madison on 28 June during an early US Independence Day celebration and fireworks display.

Red Arrows Raptor

RIMPAC 2008 Japanese sailors refuel a P-3 Orion at NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii, on 24 July during the Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, 2008 exercise. RIMPAC is the world’s largest multinational exercise and is scheduled biennially by the US Pacific Fleet. Participants include the United States, Australia, Chile, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Peru, South Korea, Singapore, and United Kingdom.

Maj. Paul Moga, the F-22 Demonstration Team pilot, flies his Raptor in formation with the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, during an afternoon practice flight 18 June at Langley AFB, Virginia. The pilots were preparing for the Langley airshow held two days later.

The F-22 Demo Team, based at Langley, has been in existence since 2006.

Flying Hawk advanced trainers, the Red Arrows, based at RAF Scampton, have been performing since 1965.

U-2 Nose Art

Pull Up To The Hose

Three M1A1 Abrams tank crews from the 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, line up to be refueled from a KC-130J Super Hercules tanker aircraft at Blackstone AAF, Virginia, earlier this year. The rapid ground refueling was conducted by a Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252 crew from MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina.

Chalk art on this U-2 in operation in Southwest Asia honors the late brother of A1C Alexander Zwilling, a Dragon Lady crew chief. Army Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling and eight other soldiers were killed 13 July when enemy forces attacked their outpost in Wanat, Afghanistan. Airman Zwilling, who was deployed from Beale AFB, California, helped launch another U-2 before heading home to his family.

Night Run-Up SrA Graham Willis, left, and SSgt. Ferdinand Brown, both engine mechanics with the 77th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, observe the engine run-up of an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, on 16 July. Mechanics observe run-ups to ensure engine performance and safety, and to make necessary repairs. Willis, Brown, and the F-16 are all deployed from Shaw AFB, near Sumter, South Carolina.

www.codeonemagazine.com