Airbases. Now. Then. Always

Airbases do not feature significantly in the history of air power unless they are denied. Absence or scarcity is what usually brings them to prominence. The Pacific theatre of World War II has been described as a battle for airfields with islands taken or bypassed according to the significance of airfields.

The lack of focus on airfields is surprising, given that Australia’s fixedwing aviation depends on them to operate. For the foreseeable future, civil and military aviation will require airfields. The potential location of airfields is constrained by terrain, both natural and human. To support most military and civilian aviation needs, airfields must be 3000 metres long and have high pavement strength. While pavements can be built if required, three kilometres of clear, level and firm ground close to the support of human habitation is not common.

This proximity to habitation is driven by access to logistics, workforce and consumables. This also creates some competition for these resources with industry and growing communities. The majority of the world’s airports and airbases were built more than half a century ago, and the options for future airfields are constrained; the multi-decade delay to construction of Sydney’s Badgery Creek airport is testament. Military airbases face greater issue with noise templates and international law constraints.

Air forces focus on platforms, land forces focus on the soldier, and navies on ships. Mounting bases, unless the site of a major battle, are generally ignored in history. Aircraft are the ‘totems’ of airpower, both figuratively and literally, judging by the number mounted on posts outside airbases. Airfields feature rarely, with the Battle of Britain being a notable exception where sector stations such as RAF Biggin Hill becoming famous in their own right.

Airbases must receive greater attention as essential foundations of air power. One of the traditional considerations for the application of air power is impermanence; yet airbases provide the equivalent permanence of mounting operations in any other operational domain, and air fundamental to air power. This consideration captures the always theme of the RAAF centenary.

To look at then, we must cast back into history. The characteristics of level and clear ground, close to support drove Henry Petre’s selection of Point Cook as the site for Australia’s first airbase, over Duntroon. At sea level and near the city and port of Melbourne, Point Cook was a far better choice. These characteristics remain pertinent today, with consideration of RAAF Base Scherger continuing to highlight the importance to airbases of access to support, including fuel supply. Following No 1 Squadron’s deployment to the Palestinian Campaign in 1916, as part of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), bases were then selected on the same enduring constraints.

Power projection and the ability to defend were also identified as essential characteristics for airbases during conflict. Long transits are demanding of crew, fuel and maintenance. Airbases close to the front became targets for enemy attack. The AFC developed a model of three types of bases: an aeroplane park for delivery, assembly, and maintenance; an operating base, home to the workforce and logistics; and forward landing grounds that placed aircraft temporarily close to front. The aeroplane parks were semipermanent, with many surviving the war. Operating bases and forward landing fields, by contrast, moved with the tide of war.

The peace that followed World War I saw airbases become permanent establishments with tarmac runways and permanent maintenance facilities. All of these elements were useful for raising, training and sustaining the force, but less suited to war. The fate of Darwin in 1942 highlights the risk of short memories, and that efficiency is not the same as effectiveness. The rapid retreat inland from Darwin and the proliferation of dispersed landing grounds along the highways south and west, to disperse and protect aircraft, fuel and maintenance assets is a lesson that should not be forgotten.

Given the RAAF’s leadership were aware that the Battle of Britain had seen dispersal to satellite fields, and had also seen the spectacular fate of Hickam and Pearl Harbour, it is surprising that more was not done to disperse and protect Australia’s capabilities.

Post-war Australia saw a return to large bases with increased investment in fixed structures, far from any likely battlespace. This trend has continued with the efficiencies and cost effectiveness of ‘Super Bases’ such as RAAF Base Amberley. The Defence of Australia policy did see the construction of the northern bare bases, but upkeep and provision of services has been the basis of controversy and debate. It is worth noting that these airbases, now more than a quarter of a century old, were the last new airbases built.

The now is looking increasingly dangerous. Modern air bases are, to targeteers, ‘a target-rich-environment’: large, fixed airbases are at ever increasing risk from precision stand-off and hypersonic weapons. Drone attack is a new and evolving threat.

To an adversary in war, there would be little appetite for engaging an F-35 in combat when their airbase and crew provide an easier target: a ‘pre-airborne’ option to disrupt air power may be more attractive.

What can we do now to begin to ameliorate risk? The traditional concepts of dispersal and mobility remain valid. What does the modern air platform need to conduct a mission? Fuel, ordnance, and crew rotation for manned platforms remain part of the always. Access to information is an increasing requirement, and while maintenance remains, modern design and reliability lessens this demand.

Air Forces that sit on the forward edge of the battle space with small territory, such as Finland and Singapore, protect fixed assets underground and by dispersal. The precious runway capability is maintained by redundancy using hardened dual-use roads.

The RAAF has its own role model: remote stretches of highway have been purpose-built to support Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) operations. There are multiple locations that double as RFDS landing strips and one near Broken Hill is named after the RFDS architect, Cliff Peel, a young 3 Squadron AFC pilot who lost his life operating from a forward dispersal strip in the closing weeks of World War One.

Of the consumables, fuel can (at some cost) be provided airborne, and ordnance delivered by road or air to dispersal sites. The enduring problem is access to those precious three kilometres of runway. The question at the heart of the matter is, do we need a new model for airbases? Air power’s need for airbases in always, and the threat then is increasingly now.

Australia’s Strategic Defence Update 2020 sets Australia’s Defence priorities to our near region, including the South West Pacific and near north. This shift places a new emphasis on Australia’s northern and eastern coast airfields to support civil and military air operations. While strategic geopolitics plays a major part in this policy reset, one of the greatest risks to regional air power comes not from politics, but from climate change.

As noted earlier, for the foreseeable future, civil and military aviation will require major airfields. These are typically located near major cities which in turn are predominantly located in coastal regions. These airfields have the characteristics of a two and a half to three kilometre runway, and high pavement strength of around 50 to 60 centimetres in depth. These runway characteristics are likely to remain for many decades, even allowing for advances in engine power and aerodynamic design. Legacy aircraft, that is, those in service now, are project to remain in service for decades.

The location of airfields is determined by the demands of logistics, labour and purpose. These characteristics have seen airfields located in and adjacent to cities that were established on or near the coast when shipping was the dominant form of transport. This exposes airfields to the existential threat of sea level rise and extreme weather events due to climate change.

A 2019 report from the EU-funded Copernicus Flood List observed -

‘Most major airports in Australia are located on reclaimed swamps, sitting only a few metres above the presentday sea level.’ The article went on to note that, ‘the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

recommended that a global mean sea level rise of 2.7 metres should be considered in planning for coastal infrastructure.’

These metrics indicate that Australian aviation is at direct risk of flooding from sea-level rises.

The Actuaries Institute, used in determining insurance, reports that for the last five years Australian East Coast temperatures are already averaging more than one degree hotter than their baseline of the 1980-81 values and is likely to exceed the target of 1.5 degrees exacerbating extreme weather.

The majority of Australia’s East Coast airfields are at risk, as are all of the atoll island airfields of the Pacific. Many of the airfields that were the stepping stones of World War Two’s Pacific theatre will no longer exist, thereby limiting expeditionary air power. On the east coast of Australia, the airfields of Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Brisbane and Gold CoastCoolangatta are all less than six metres above sea level. Williamtown and Sydney have airfield elevations of nine metres above sea level.

The relationship is not linear. A sealevel rise of 0.5 metres would see the northern end of Sydney’s KingsfordSmith main north-south runways and northern taxiways inundated with water. But airfields on higher-ground than this have already experienced floods. Despite Rockhampton’s airfield being at an elevation of 10 metres, flooding of the Fitzroy River in 2011 2013 and 2017 caused it to be closed for weeks at a time. The Queensland Government’s 2016 Lower Fitzroy River Infrastructure Project Climate and Natural Hazards Report forecasts that extreme weather events will continue to increase the risk of flooding events.

There are other risk factors beyond inundation of water that affect the viability of airports and airfields. Airfield pavements of up to 60 centimetres, typically covering more than twenty hectares of concrete and bitumen, effectively ‘float’ on the subgrade below. Changes in the groundwater table and salinity create uneven upward force, which damages the pavement above. Anecdotally, following minor flooding at Townsville, the removal of a service cover resulted in a metre high column of water bursting out of the ground.

Airfields have significant underground services and infrastructure, including drains, water pipes, power cabling, runway and taxiway lighting, communications, and fuel pipes and lines. Elevated water tables and increased groundwater also increase pollution. Older airfields, in particular, have a legacy of substantial pollution due to fuel, oil, fire-fighting and other chemicals that have leached into the subsoil. The environmental study for Brisbane Airport development noted that the placement of additional material on pavement surfaces not only risked subsidence due the additional material weight, but also forcing contaminated groundwater into adjacent waterways.

Airfields are critical to Australia’s air power capability and economic well-being, and many of these are at risk.

Airfields have remarkable and rare characteristics, and are not easily replaced. They are multi-million dollar national assets that require long lead times to either repair or construct alternative sites. Multiple individual studies of airport and airfield viability, along with broader climate change research, indicate that most of Australia’s major airfields are at risk of either inundation or significant damage from climate change. We were expecting a pandemic, but ill-prepared when it occurred; it appears that the same may be the case for our airfields.

Addressing this demands a number of tasks. The first would be a risk analysis of all Australian and South West Pacific airfields to ‘all hazards’ climate change threats, including sea level inundation, water table change, flooding and extreme weather events. Based on that understanding, a risk mitigation strategy could be developed. For many current airfields, there is likely no redundancy or repair option, and alternative would need to be explored. Is it time for the return of the seaplane? Or for increased investment in rotary wing or short field platforms? Whatever the solution, the problem must be identified and explored with a degree of urgency.

David (Doc) Millar Air and Space Power Centre

Pic 1 PC-12 Lands on an outback strip. Royal Flying Doctors Pic 2 RAAF Base Williams, Point Cook. Defence image Pic 3 Flooding at Rockhampton Airport 2017. ABC image

BUILDING NEW? DON’T MISS THE FINAL LAND SALE AT POTTER’S LANE

Buying a home is one of the most important decisions a person can make. Starting the journey of building a home can be a daunting prospect and some feel safer purchasing a house that already exists. However, there are a number of benefits to be gained from choosing to build a new home. One new neighbourhood that is proving to be popular with home buyers is the impressive Potter’s Lane in Raymond Terrace, developed by award-winning Hunter property group, McCloy Group. Potter’s Lane first hit the market in 2016 and with demand growing year on year it is now selling its final land release.

So what are these benefits of a new build?

A New Neighbourhood

Potter’s Lane launched onto the market in July 2016 so all purchasers are part of a new project and sharing a similar experience. This builds a real sense of community and helps to shape the neighbourhood from the start. Today Potter’s Lane is home to more than 200 brand new homes, a state-of-the-art playground, and an enviable Port Stephens lifestyle.

Services

All homesites at Potter’s Lane come ready to be connected to electricity, town water, natural gas, sewerage and high-speed internet via the NBN Network with fibre to the premises (FTTP). Existing dwellings in Raymond Terrace will get access to the NBN network at a later stage via a shared connection with fibre to the node (FTTN).

5% Deposit

from purchasers to secure an established home. To secure your homesite at Potter’s Lane all you need is a 5% deposit payable upon exchange with no more to pay until settlement.

Government Grants

There are several financial rewards from the state government that come in the form of Government Grants, which could save you tens of thousands of dollars. To see if you’re eligible, visit revenue.nsw.gov.au/grantsschemes. Not to mention leading home builders are offering impressive builder incentives to secure your business with added inclusion and even ‘turnkey’ options available.

Equity

Raymond Terrace has experienced strong capital growth over past 12

months so there is a good chance that you could have instant equity in your new property. If the housing market is rising – as it appears to be doing in the local area – this will mean that by the time the property is built it could already be worth more than you paid for it.

Modern Living

Because you are buying a property before it has been built, you will be able to ensure that the house will meet your family’s needs. You can liaise with the builder on the design so that you get the features and spaces you need, having an input on everything from the initial floor plan to the finishes, fixtures and fittings. You can also decide which proportion of the land is devoted to a yard or garden.

Maintenance

The other benefit of a new-build property is that maintenance costs will usually be lower than those associated with an established property. New builds will benefit from the latest technology and design innovations, meaning they will have up-to-date heating and water systems that are less likely to break down. Often the building, fixtures and fittings will be covered by a builder’s guarantee, which can often last for up to 10 years.

FINAL STAGE:

If a new build is something you’d like to investigate, act now. Potter’s Lane is now selling its final stage. Why not make a trip to see the community for yourself, test out the park and playground and call by the Land Sales Office to discuss your land needs or visit potters-lane.com.au for more information.

Potter’s Lane is located at 42 Rees James Road in Raymond Terrace.

SHOPS ADELAIDE STREET

IRRAWANG PUBLIC SCHOOL

REES JAMES ROAD PACIFIC HWY

RICHARDSON ROAD

IRRAWANG HIGH SCHOOL GRAHAMSTOWN DAM

NEWCASTLE 20 MINS

RAAF 20 MINS