Armada International - February/March 2016

CYBER WARFARE FIGHTER RADAR + UNMANNED systems compendium

AFGHANISTAN’S ENDLESS WAR feb/mar 2016. Issue 01.

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FEBRUARY/ MARCH 2016 www.armadainternational.com

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LAND FORCES

Best Supporting Actors Andrew White surveys the latest developments in infantry support weapons.

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18 AIR POWER

24 SEA POWER

34 AIR POWER

38 Programme Focus

44 operational focus

CYBER ACTIVE Rachel Marsden kicks off our new cyber security and military communications column.

Avoiding a Mid-Life Crisis Claire Apthorp examines cost-effective Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul services for military aircraft.

Of Sparrows and Sidewinders Thomas Newdick chronicles some of the latest air-to-air missile developments.

Coming to a Theatre near You Joetey Attariwala takes the temperature of the Airbus A400M strategic turboprop freighter programme.

Dangers of the Deep Luca Peruzzi discusses technological evolutions in mine countermeasures technology.

WAR WITHOUT END? Andrew White discusses the tactics and materiel being employed in Afghanistan’s ongoing civil war.

28 AIR POWER

Let’s See What’s Out There!

Thomas Withington details ongoing happenings in the fighter radar world.

Armada COMPENDIUM Unmanned Vehicles COMPENDIUM Claire Apthorp is in the driving seat for Armada’s ever-popular Unmanned Vehicles Compendium.

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INDEX TO ADVERTISERS AERONAUTICS

CYBER WARFARE FIGHTER RADAR + UNMANNED VEHICLES SUPPLEMENT

AFGHANISTAN’S ENDLESS WAR

ON THE COVER: Afghan Army commandos from the Kandak special forces unit. The ongoing conflict in Afghanistan is the focus of Andrew White’s War Without End? article in this issue.

feb/mar 2016. Issue 01.

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COMPENDIUM NEXT

45

NAVY LEAGUE

NEXTER

15

DIMDEX 41

PROXDYNAMICS

ELBIT SYSTEMS

RAFAEL

5

31

19 C4

EURONAVAL

37

SAAB

EUROSATORY

C3

SOFEX JORDAN

C2

UMEX

AERONAUTICAL

C4

IAI

C2

Entries highlighted with Red Numbers are found in Unmanned Systems Compendium

FLIR

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C3

GENERAL ATOMICS Volume 40, Issue No. 1, February/March 2016 Published bi-monthly by Media Transasia Ltd. Copyright 2012 by Media Transasia Ltd. Publishing Office: Media Transasia Ltd., 1603, 16/F, Island Place Tower, 510 King’s Road, Hong Kong

IDEAS PAKISTAN

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Editor: Thomas Withington General Manager International Marketing: Vishal Mehta Manager Marketing: Jakhongir Djalmetov Sales & Marketing Coordinator: Wajiraprakan Punyajai Graphic Designer: Khakanaa Suwannawong Production Manager: Kanda Thanakornwongskul Group Circulation Manager: Porames Chinwong Chairman: J.S. Uberoi President: Egasith Chotpakditrakul Chief Financial Officer: Gaurav Kumar

Advertising Sales Offices FRANCE Odile Orbec - Promotion et Motivation Tel: +33 1 41 43 83 00, o.orbec@pema-group.com GERMANY, AUSTRIA, BENELUX, SWITZERLAND Sam Baird Tel: +44 1883 715 697, sam@whitehillmedia.com ITALY, NORDIC COUNTRIES Emanuela Castagnetti-Gillberg Tel: +46 31 799 9028, emanuela.armada@gmail.com UK, EASTERN EUROPE, GREECE, TURKEY Zena Coupé Tel: +44 1923 852537, zena@expomedia.biz RUSSIA Alla Butova - NOVO-Media Ltd Tel: (7 3832) 180 885 Mobile: (7 960) 783 6653 alla@mediatransasia.com USA (EAST/SOUTH EAST), Canada (EAst) Margie Brown Tel: (540) 341 7581, margiespub@rcn.com

USA (WEST/SOUTH WEST), BRAZIL, Canada (WEst) Diane Obright Tel: (858) 759 3557, blackrockmediainc@icloud.com ALL OTHER COUNTRIES Vishal Mehta Tel: +66 2204 2370, Mob: +66 98 252 6243 vishal@mediatransasia.com Jakhongir Djalmetov Mobile: +66 81 645 5654, joha@mediatransasia.com

Controlled circulation: 25,029 (average per issue) certified by ABC Hong Kong, for the period 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2014.

Printed by Media Transasia Ltd., 75/8, 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.

Tel: 66 (0)-2204 2370, Fax: 66 (0)-2204 2390 -1 Annual subscription rates: Europe: CHF 222 (including postage) Rest of the World: USD 222 (including postage) Subscription Information: Readers should contact the following address: Subscription Department, Media Transasia Ltd., 75/8, 14th Floor, Ocean Tower II, Soi Sukhumvit 19, Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.

Tel +66 2204 2370 Fax: +66 2204 2387 Email: accounts@mediatransasia.com

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INDEX TO MANUFACTURERS Companies mentioned in this issue. Where there are multiple references to a company in an articles, only the first occurrence and subsequent photographs are listed below:

A AgustaWestland 34 Airbus 38, 40, 42 AM General 48 23 Arsenal Company Atlas Elektronik 25, 26, 27 AVIC 22 B Babcock 25 BAE Systems 4, 26, 19, 21 Bell Helicopter 4 Beretta 50 Boeing 18, 35, 36, 42 3, 6,7, 8 Boeing Insitu C CASC 22 CATIC 21 26 Chingfu Shipbuilding CMT Marine 25 Colt 15, 50 D D-Wave 10 DARPA 19, 23, 24 Dassault 20, 30, 34 Denel 22, 23 Diehl 18, 20 DRDO 21 E ECA Group 26, 27 Eurofighter Typhoon 29 Europrop International 29, 39 F Fincantieri 25 Finmecannica 25, 34, 35 FireEye 9 FN Herstal 13, 14, 15, 50 G Gdynia Shipyard

25

General Dynamics Goa Shipyard

14, 24 O 26 Ocius

23

H Heckler & Koch 1 3, 16, 17, 50 Hindustan Aeronautics 32

P Phazotron Shuk 31 Pilatus 48

I IAI 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 32 Intermarine 26 iRobot 20, 21, 22 IWI 16, 17

Q QinetiQ

J

Japan Maritime United Corp 26

20

R Rafael 21 Raytheon 18, 19, 22 Remotec 20

S K Saab 11, 24, 26, 30 KAI 18, 32, 33 Sarcos 18, 19 Kalashnikov 48 SAST 22 Kangman Shipyard 26 Schiebel 7, 8 Kongsberg 25, 27 Securonix 7 Selex 8, 9, 25, 30 L Sikorsky 24 L-3 8, 26 Sonardyne 25, 26 Leidos 23 SRDNE Nevsky Shipyard 26 Lieberman Software 9 ST Electronics 26, 27 Lockheed Martin 8, 9, 11, 19 Sukhoi 21, 23, 31 LookingGlass Cyber Solutions 9 T M Tactical Robotics 10, 11, 12 MBDA 19, 20, 30 Teledyne 26 Mectron 22 Textron 15, 24, 26, 48, 50 MeproLight 16 Thales 25, 26, 25 Microsoft 9 Thyssenkrupp 26 Mikoyan Mil 23, 48 Tikhomirov-NIIP 31 Milrem 19 Mitsibushi 20 U UAV Solutions 8 N UMS Aero Group 11 Navantia 25, 26 United Shipbuilding 26 Nexter 19 Northrop Grumman 4, 11, 24 V

Vympel 23

Editorial Number Crunching

I

t gives me great pleasure to introContinuing his research, in 1948 Mr. Turing duce a new column to grace Arma- left London, where he had been working for the da’s pages. Launched in this issue, National Physical Laboratory, for the UniverTuring will focus on cyber warfare sity of Manchester, northern England, where and military communications. much of the pioneering work on computing was Keen-eyed readers will note that the col- being performed. Appointed as a Reader in that umn takes its name from the great Alan Turing. university’s mathematics department, Mr. TurFor those involved in the cyber security and ing developed software for one of the earliest military communications worlds, Mr. Turing stored programme computers, the Manchester needs no introduction. For the uninitiated, Mr. Mark 1. Operational in April 1949, the ManchesTuring was a pioneering mathematician and ter Mark I possessed a programme to search for computer scientist.

‘Mersenne Primes’, a prime number that is one One of his greatest achievements was the less than a power of two. pivotal role he played in breaking the codes Mr. Turing’s stellar career should have conused by Germany for its Enigma military com- tinued, yet on 7 June 1954 he committed suicide. munications traffic during the Second World He had been convicted for gross indecency War. The resulting intelligence haul cannot be because of his relationship with Arnold Muroverstated and was arguably one of the most ray. Homosexuality was illegal in the United important Allied victories of the conflict. Mr. Kingdom at the time. The death of a man rightly Turing worked tirelessly with other British col- considered a war hero remained a subject of leagues at the Government Code and Cypher deep controversy in the UK. Nevertheless a deSchool in Bletchley, southern England to this termined public campaign resulted in the UK’s end from 1939. then Prime Minister Gordon Brown making an His vital work extended into the post-war official apology on behalf of the government era: Making an undeniable mark in the devel- for Mr. Turing’s appalling treatment, with the opment of decryption and Communications In- granting of a posthumous pardon in 2013. telligence (COMINT), he further developed his Almost 60 years since Mr. Turing’s death, interest in computing. Among Mr. Turing’s pio- his work in computing and cryptography conneering achievements was his paper, presented tinues to influence our daily lives. Armada’s on 19 February 1946, detailing the design of the new column is our modest tribute to a man first stored programme computer: a machine whose work six decades ago lives on in incalcuthe world takes for granted, and which is essen- lable ways.

Thomas Withington, tial to our daily lives.

Editor

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armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

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Cyber Active Hardly a day goes by without the announcement of a significant computer hacking event, usually characterized as ‘cyber warfare’. Typically, a company’s computer system is breached and valuable data are stolen. Except that this is not cyber warfare, but merely a cyber-attack.

Rachel Marsden 6

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Cyber operations in the United States military are now a truly joint affair with members of the US Navy, as pictured here, also staffing positions at the US DoD’s Cyber Command © US Navy

Alongside kinetic combat, cyber warfare was utilized by both belligerents during the Russo-Georgian War of August 2008, including cyber attacks widely believed to have been perpetrated

by Russia against Georgian targets online © US DoD

intelligence services and comprises the element of surprise employed by Special Operations Forces (SOF). The term ‘cyber war’ is nonetheless bandied about loosely in the public domain by media and government officials alike, without much effort made to differentiate between an attack on a computer system, and an act that constitutes actual war. So what exactly is the difference?

W

hile hacktivists (individuals who subvert computers or computer networks often with a political goal in mind) operate by blocking a website’s traffic with junk data in an attempt to render it unserviceable, this does not constitute an act of war. It is essentially a public relations act.

We very rarely hear about legitimate cyber warfare in the military context, which operates covertly in the shadows like the

Definitions Warfare is defined by international law and by the Geneva Conventions which comprises four treaties drafted in 1864, 1906, 1929 and 1949. The Tallinn Manual, published in April 2013, represents an attempt by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence based in Tallinn, Estonia, to fit cyber warfare within the parameters of international law as an extension of kinetic warfare.

The manual defines the decorum of warfare in cyberspace and serves to explain why there has not been a catastrophic cyber event perpetrated on the civilian population of a country.

Chris Inglis, former deputy director of the United States National Security Agency which collects Signals Intelligence for the US government and now a strategic advisor to Securonix, a Los Angeles-based company that provides security threat intelligence to the private sector, argues that there should be decorum in cyber warfare: “Necessity and proportionality of response are conditioned by centuries of experienced practice.

If someone attacks you with a pistol, it is not appropriate to shoot back with a cannon.”

Therefore, what is and what is not permitted in cyber warfare? Cedric Pradel, a lecturer at the Ecole de Guerre Economique (Economic Warfare School) in Paris and a former French SOF cyber defence officer, says that cyber warfare can legitimately be used to gather intelligence; track an individual; perform psychological operations; neutralize an economic, political, communication, or social system; or sabotage a military system such as modifying the behaviour of a ground-based air surveillance radar to mask air strikes. Those drafting the Tallinn Manual concluded that Psychological Operations (PSYOPS), disinformation, or other ‘ruses of war’ do not meet the threshold for legitimate retaliatory cyber warfare. According to the Tallinn Manual, you cannot employ cyber warfare to cause injury or death to civilians, but you can proportionally target another country’s military infrastructure and personnel as

Mindful of the threat posed to the interests of the United States and her allies, the US Department of Defence activated the country’s Cyber Command in June 2009 © US DoD

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Information operations comprise a host of capabilities including US Air Force aircraft such as Lockheed Martin EC-130H Compass Call electronic attack aircraft which may have already had cyber attack capabilities added to their repertoire © US DoD

well as any civilians participating directly in hostilities (such as mercenaries, for example), within the context of an ongoing conflict. Furthermore, cyber espionage is permitted, as long as it is not performed inside enemy territory. Being caught undertaking an act of cyber espionage on foreign soil could mean being treated in accordance with the laws of the land as they pertain to traditional spying.

Cyber espionage regarding companies has nothing to do with actual warfare or international law, according to the Tallinn Manual. Economic warfare has to be handled through diplomatic channels, by the judiciary and law enforcement organizations or through the imposition of economic sanctions. Those drafting the Tallinn Manual were divided on whether a single individual hacking catastrophically into a country’s computer systems and networks could trigger a retaliatory attack.

However, citing NATO and United Nations Security Council resolutions that followed in the wake of the 11 September 2001 Al Qaeda attacks against New York and Washington DC, they determined that a group

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of hackers outside of state direction could trigger a self-defensive counterattack if the initial hit was significant enough, in other words, if an attack caused serious harm to people, property or critical infrastructure. They also extended this provision to any attacks launched by Internet service providers or technology companies. “Nobody is very good at defence (as regards military cyber warfare),” says Mr. Inglis. “If this was a soccer game, the score would be 452 to 67, twenty minutes in. And any gap in offensive capabilities would close very quickly.”

Attribution Attribution of attacks is another difficulty in the cyber realm of warfare. In conventional warfare between nations, attribution is straightforward, albeit less so when involving non-state or sub-state actors such as insurgent organizations, mercenaries or proxies . But cyberspace can take the chaos inherent in the ‘Fog of War’ defined by the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz to a whole new level. Even in cyber attacks on civilian targets, we very

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

rarely see any actual technical proof of attribution. More commonly, we are simply told by a government or corporate official that the attack has been attributed to a nation-state and confidence and trust in their assessment is simply expected. Such was the case, for example, when Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Hollywood office claimed to be the target of a cyber attack which consisted of the theft of communications and data in late November 2014.

The attack was attributed to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea without any disclosed evidence to this effect, or even proof of whether the breach was an external one.

The risk of absence of reliable supporting technical evidence in attributing acts of military cyber warfare is far more serious than in the case of a company. Misattributed attacks in the cyber realm could be used by one nation against another as propaganda, or could result in misdirected retaliation. One of the companies producing technical analyses of cyber attacks as applicable to warfare is LookingGlass Cyber Solutions of Arlington, Virginia, which

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has been monitoring a Russian state-sponsored cyber-espionage campaign active since at least mid-2013. LookingGlass’s April 2015 report, Operation Armageddon: Cyber Espionage as a Strategic Component of Modern Warfare, details the targeting of Ukrainian government, law enforcement and military officials, ostensibly permitting insight into Ukrainian political and military strategies and plans. The firm’s analysis provides a glimpse of how nations might engage in information warfare as an extension of modern kinetic warfare.

Wary of political subversion efforts, Russia viewed the sudden and substantial political unrest in neighbouring Ukraine resulting in the expulsion of its elected president, Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February 2014, as a threat to its own national security. Russia’s military doctrine explicitly acknowledges information warfare as a legitimate component of war.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the country’s domestic counter-intelligence agency attributed Russia’s information warfare campaign to the 16th and 18th Centres of the Russian FSB domestic intelligence service. LookingGlass’ findings support this attribution, says LookingGlass Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chris Coleman, although he adds that this was not the focus of their investigation.

Mr. Coleman explains that “temporal analysis directly correlates waves of the campaign with physical conflict, even around ceasefire,” that “multiple classified and internal documents were stolen and repurposed in waves of attacks using unsophisticated malware (malicious software)” and that the “SSU issued two public statements attributing the attacks to the Russian FSB, each time resulting in a change of (the latter’s) tactics, techniques and procedures.” LookingGlass’ chief collection and intelligence officer, Jason Lewis, explains the role of cyber in warfare.

“The first thing to know is that everything boils down to applying kinetic energy to a target. Intelligence is gathered to drop bombs on key targets. Intelligence is gathered to direct troop movements to supply depots. Intelligence is gathered to assist SOF in disrupting enemy communications … Computer intelligence can assist in every scenario. The explosion of computing has

made cyber intelligence more widespread, because of the proliferation of devices.

Devices make everything faster and easier, so they are obvious targets.”

California-based FireEye sell devices that can scan network traffic for these files and test their behaviour and quarantine them if they are classified as malicious.

LookingGlass will prevent malware that Countermeasures has been activated from contacting comThe tactics used in Russia’s Ukraine mand and control servers. campaign are not much different from Philip Lieberman, president and those used by hackers against civilians CEO of Lieberman Software, develops for non-military purposes. According products that help customers isolate and to LookingGlass’ report, “Each attack in contain data breaches that occur after the campaign has started with a targeted cyber attacks penetrate the network spear phishing email convincing the perimeter. “Much of the work in cyber victim to either open a malicious attachdefence is focused on understanding ment or click a link leading to malicious modern tradecraft and redesigning netcontent. The attackers use documents works, identity management systems and either previously stolen from or of high privilege management to detect, thwart relevance and interest to Ukrainian tarand/or slow down attackers. Much of gets, often government officials, in order the defence work is process driven and to lure their victims into opening the architectural; however, modern defences malicious content.” LookingGlass prodrely on modern technology that autoucts can redirect clients away from known mates defensive responses and operate phishing sites to safe pages; for example, at rapid rates to minimize consequences.” an IT (Information Technology) departMr. Lieberman also credits Microsoft and ment page explaining why they are being other ‘cloud vendors’ (a ‘cloud’ being a redirected. Invicea of Fairfax, Virginia quaint term for the use of someone else’s has a product that provides endpoint server as a data centre for storage of your protection and attempts to intercept own data) for developing and continually malicious attacks on each user’s computer adapting cyber attack countermeasures: in the case of spear phishing. The final “The use of the cloud by both government malware payload in the Russia/Ukraine and commercial (entities) represents campaign, in some cases buried in fake some of the best hopes for society in that updates for Adobe Flash Player, Google these organisations have the assets and Chrome or Internet Explorer software, knowledge to operate in a modern cyber is ultimately a Remote Administration warfare world.”

Tool that allows an attacker access to the Still, as Mr. Pradel points out, educatarget’s computer at will. Companies like tion is the first line of defence against any

The United States’ National Security Agency is tasked with collecting communications intelligence. In recent years its work in this regard has been made public by the revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden © NSA

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Military personnel are employing cyber attack capabilities as part of their tool set for confronting and defeating an adversary during hostilities. The increasing use of the Internet as a propaganda and radicalization tool underlines how important such skills will be in the future © US DoD

such attacks. “In general we say that 90 percent of computer problems are between the chair and the keyboard, but in cyber security and cyber warfare the first line of defence is between the chair and the keyboard too.” Simply not opening an email document attachment or link that looks inviting, or first verifying its legitimacy by other means prior to clicking on it, is the way to avoid being compromised.

The Future The continued development of attack vectors is not likely to subside anytime soon.

In December 2015, Google researchers reported that the quantum computer that it acquired, along with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and a consortium, from its Burnaby, Canada-based manufacturer, D-Wave, was 100 million times faster than a regular computer. This means that it is only a matter of time before conventional cryptographic algorithms can be cracked and supposedly protected data exposed in transit, due to the ability of such computers to perform high speed calculations.

None of this takes into account the backdoors already included within software as access points by intelligence agencies, a phenomenon brought to mass public awareness by the disclosures of former NSA contractor and CIA employee Edward Snowden in 2013.

Whether or not those backdoors have now been closed has not been confirmed, but if an intelligence agency employs them for the purpose of information collection in the interests of national defence, then they also risk being found by malicious actors with less noble interests.

Despite its ongoing proliferation and a quiet cyber arms race, military cyber warfare is unlikely to result in the kind of catastrophic ‘cyber Armageddon’ as imagined by some. The result is likely to be much more insidious and drawn out. For example, the author recently disclosed exclusively in the Chicago Tribune group of client newspapers that a colleague, a former Master Sergeant in the US Army SOF, received a letter in November 2015 from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) informing him that his personal information had been compromised in

10 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

a data breach. Several of his colleagues received the same letter, which said that a “malicious cyber intrusion” had resulted in the theft of their background investigation files. These files contain the sort of sensitive personal information that must be disclosed to the government in order to obtain the highest level of US security clearance. When disclosing the attack earlier this year, government officials said the People’s Republic of China was responsible, although this is impossible to prove since the access logs had been deleted by the time that the breach was discovered. What sort of personal information was stolen?

According to the OPM’s letter it included “name, Social Security number, address, date and place of birth, residency, educational and employment history, personal foreign travel history, information about immediate family members as well as business and personal acquaintances, and other information used to conduct and adjudicate your background investigation.” These former service members have said that their files also include fingerprints, photos and information about vices and sensitive

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As well as having implications for governments and corporations around the world, cyber warfare could also adversely affect the huge information-sharing networks which militaries now deploy into theatre to support operations © US Army

personal matters that could potentially be used for blackmail purposes. Some of the information dates back as far as 30 years.

The CIA was believed to be shielded from the data breach since it does not use the OPM for background investigations, but many SOF members end up working with the CIA on top-secret projects. It is unclear whether the personal information of current SOF members was stolen, but with so many former members working as contractors on classified projects, it is naive to suggest that the damage has been limited.

With fingerprints, photos and blackmail material, it is not difficult to imagine what a foreign government could do to compromise elite military operators. Personal vulnerabilities could be exploited to produce moles, with former military members blackmailed into spying or oth-

erwise acting against national interests.

For example, personnel suspected to be operating under deep cover in foreign territory could have a stray fingerprint lifted and checked against this rogue database in order to uncover their identity.

The exposure of information about family and friends provides malicious entities with easy entry into the lives of SOF personnel, since family and friends not trained in operational security themselves, are likely to be unsuspecting of any malicious agenda and likely have a ubiquitous Internet and social media presence. If they post details about family vacations on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, hostile actors could ascertain the location of a top-secret operative.

What the attackers will actually do with the data remains unknown, but the victims are angrier with their own govern-

ment and its demonstrated incompetence than with the perpetrators. “We talk a lot about a ‘cyber Pearl Harbor,’ this thunderclap that might go off some night, and there is a legitimate concern that there might be a sufficiently large attack on critical infrastructure, or sufficient failure through the vulnerabilities that are latent in some of these systems, that it is possible,” says Mr. Inglis: “What I think is more likely is a sapping of corporate or governmental strength based on the insidious attacks that occur every hour of every day.”

Subversion of a government through the slow erosion of citizens’ confidence may very well end up being the most widespread visible result of cyber attacks, and this is not even tantamount to actual warfare, which is relegated to the shadows.

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Land Forces

The Light Machine Gun (LMG) has proven a mobile and effective fire support solution for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan Š Canadian Army

Best

Supporting Actors Concerns regarding collateral damage in the contemporary operating environment continue to have significant effects on the employment of support weapons on the battlefield, particularly in relation to complex Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT).

Andrew White 12 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

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ong and tiring US-led campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan have seen the public appetite, particularly in the West, for the unnecessary loss of civilian and military life substantially reduce compared to previous campaigns, as governments seek to not only win on the battlefield but also to prevail in the battle for hearts and minds, at home and abroad. This is increasingly important as insurgent groups around the world exploit the Internet as part of their propaganda efforts; witness the use of social media to this end by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) guerrilla organisation.

Infantry support weapons can be used for multiple tasks to assist small units of troops looking to attack; to tactically retreat from a situation; or even to hold an area of territory. Options range from

Land Forces

Heckler and Koch’s M320 40mm underslung grenade launcher, illustrated in standalone configuration © Heckler and Koch

40mm grenade launchers (generally underslung below an assault rifle, or vehiclemounted), 5.56mm x 45mm Light Machine Guns (LMGs), 7.62mm x 51mm Medium Machine Guns (MMGs) and .50 cal (12.7mm) Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs). Beyond such weapons, infantry soldiers can be supported by .303, .338 and .50 cal sniper rifles, Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs) and mortars.

Machine Guns Arguably the most popular fire support systems carried at the lowest tactical level by a squad or section of troops is the LMG and MMG. However, the very nature of these weapons means their utility in urban warfare must be very carefully considered before deployment.

Most LMGs and MMGs feature automatic firing settings, generally meaning multiple rounds will be fired when the trigger is depressed for even a short period of time. Due to the recoil of the weapon and subsequent minimal movement of the barrel, this means rounds impacting a target will result in what is known as

a ‘Beaten Zone’ which can, depending on the ranges involved, see ammunition fired onto the same point of aim, spreading across several metres of ground.

In today’s complex urban environment, this can easily result in civilian casualties and damage to property; not always conducive to winning the hearts and minds battle. However, with these legacy weapons, it is possible for a single shot to be fired if an operator is particularly dextrous with their handling of the trigger, although this can never be guaranteed.

One company which has designed LMGs and MMGs for supporting MOUT is Israel Weapons Industries (IWI) which unveiled its Negev family of machine guns in 2012; all of which are fitted with a semiautomatic capability for single shot application. An IWI spokesperson explained to Armada that “(t)he Negev LMG is the only LMG with a semi-automatic mode in the world, and is currently deployed by the IDF (Israel Defence Force). It has powerful target acquisition tools and accurate performance on the modern battlefield with its semi-automatic feature empowering its

use in Close Quarter Battle (CQB) safely.”

The weapon is available in 5.56mm x 45mm (NG5) and 7.62mm x 51mm (NG7) calibres.

The NG-5 LMG comprises a 460mm (18 inch/in) barrel and operates from an open bolt position, fed by a belt of linked ammunition, an ammunition drum or from a North Atlantic Treaty Organisationstandard magazine. An open bolt position sees a weapon’s bolt and moving parts held to the rear, only moving forward when the trigger is pulled back which feeds a round into the chamber which is then fired. The NG5 is also available in a shorter configuration, designated as the NG-5 SF, with the barrel measuring 330mm (12.9 inches/in) in length, with a retractable stock for stowage in vehicles, aircraft and enclosed spaces.

However, measuring 7.7 kilograms/kgs (16.9 pounds/lbs) and 7.5kgs (16.5lbs) respectively, the NG-5 series of LMGs comprises additional weight when compared to FN Herstal’s popular 5.56mm Minimi LMG which weighs 6.8kgs (14.9lbs).

IWI’s NG-7 meanwhile, comprises a more powerful calibre of 7.62mm x 51mm, based on technology that the firm

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 13

Land Forces

FN Herstal’s popular 5.56mm x 45mm Minimi LMG in a ‘para’ configuration for operation in confined spaces and the urban environment © FN Herstal

developed for the NG-5 LMG (see above).

Also including a semi-automatic capability, the NG7 is available in a shorter barrel configuration (NG-7 SF) measuring 420mm (16.5in) compared to the standard 508mm (18.9in) barrel model. In the lightweight role, the NG-7 boasts a maximum effective range of 800 metres/m (2624.6 feet/ft). Weighing 7.8kgs (17.1lbs) in its NG-7 SF configuration, and 7.9kgs (17.3lb) in its standard NG-7 configuration, the weapon compares very favourably with the FN Herstal 7.62mm x 51mm Minimi which weighs 8.8kgs (19.3lbs). Such weight savings will be of particular interest to armed forces around the world with efforts continuing to be made worldwide ‘to reduce the burden in terms of the equipment carried by infantry and special forces soldiers.

Both the NG-5 and NG-7 also feature options for a foldable or telescopic butt stock; adjustable cheek rest, foldable bipod, side-mounted Picatinny Rails; and a flipup back-up iron sight. The NG-5 LMGs also boasts a rate of fire of between 850 and 1050 rounds-per-minute (rpm) while the rates of fire of the NG-7 models are of between 600rpm and 750rpm.

Additional features include ruggedized bipod legs for robust immediate action drills, such as reacting to effective enemy fire, as well as an improvised hand grip when operating the system in the standing, kneeling or sitting positions. Ammunition drums for the NG-5 and NG-7 families are

available in 150- and 200-round configurations. Finally, NG-5 and NG-7 LMGs both feature a rapid barrel change capability without any requirement to cock the weapon to complete such an action. Machine gun barrels must be changed after firing several hundred rounds to prevent overheating and such an action can delay the delivery of suppressing fire during a contact by critical seconds.

Speaking to Armada, sources within IWI explained how armed forces around the world were now experiencing the type of warfare first encountered by the IDF during the First Lebanon War of 1982, when Israel deployed forces to southern Lebanon to combat the activities of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation which was using the territory to launch attacks against Israel and Israeli interests.

Such lessons learned, which highlighted a need for CQB weapons capable of engaging targets effectively out to 600m (1968.5ft) and beyond, were fed back into company developments including the realisation of the NG-5 and NG-7 LMGs. Elsewhere, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GDOTS) continues to offer its Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) which is aimed at filling the gap between legacy 7.62mm x 51mm and .50-cal medium and heavy machine guns. Designed for individual and crew-served operation, the LWMMG fires .338 Norma Magnum (NM) cartridges providing a maximum effective range out to

14 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

1.7 kilometres/km (one mile), in line with requirements for longer-range engagements such as those discussed above. This calibre of ammunition is also capable of defeating US National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Level-3 standard body armour at a range of one kilometre (0.6 miles). Level-3 body armour, according to the NIJ standard, must be capable of defeating 7.62mm x 51mm ammunition travelling at a speed of 847 metres-per-second/mps (2778.8 feetper-second/fps). According to GDOTS, the LWMMG features a recoil profile similar to standard 7.62mm NATO medium machine guns, capable of using 7.62mm x 51mm ammunition, but which, according to a company spokesperson, delivers nearly four times the terminal velocity of standard 7.62mm weapons.

The LWMMG weighs 10.8kgs (23.7lbs) and includes a collapsible stock, allowing it to be mounted on tactical ground vehicles, maritime vessels and helicopters. However, the system has also been designed for dismounted operation. Similar to IWI’s machine guns (see above), the LWMMG includes a quick change barrel mechanism with a Picatinny Rail for the attachment of accessories including gun sights, laser designators and tactical torches. According to the GDOTS spokesperson, the LWMMG provides soldiers with an “increase in effective range and lethality in a lightweight form for dismounted operations (with) the mounted configuration providing the long range, accurate fires currently associated

Land Forces

with the GDOTS/US Ordnance M2HB Browning .50 cal HMG, but without the burden of a heavier weight.” The LWMMG is capable of firing up to 500rpm at a muzzle velocity of 807.7mps (2650fps).

The US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, its centre of excellence for small arms and light weapons, continues to consider options for even lighter weight LMGs and MMGs with the development of Cased Telescoped (CT) ammunition, designed to reduce the weight of the heavy ammunition a squad must carry for its machine gunners. CT ammunition has the ammunition’s projectile either completely, or partially, enveloped by its propellant, as opposed to conventional ammunition designs which have the projectile mounted on top of the cartridges’ propellant; the advantage being that CT ammunition has a smaller length, and avoids damaging the projectile as the cartridge is loaded.

Having redesigned and re-designated the 5.56mm x 45mm FN Herstal M249

Squad Automatic Weapon as the CT LMG, September 2011 at Fort Benning, Georgia.

US Army officials explained to Armada The latest rounds of testing commenced in how weapon weight had reduced from the last quarter of 2015 with ongoing evalu7.9kgs (17.3lbs) to 4.2kgs (9.2lbs), making the ation expected to consider how well the weapon less than a single kilogram heavier weapon and ammunition performs in the than the in-service Colt M16A2 assault rifle, long term. However, the army was unable which weighs 3.9kgs (8.7lbs) when loaded. to comment on future timelines.

These weight savings, the officials continTextron, which has worked on the ued, have been achieved by the downsizing lightweight M249 with the US Departof components and the rearrangement ment of Defence’s Joint Service Small of weapon mechanisms including the Arms Programme Office, is also involved detachment of the firing chamber from in the continued development of its the barrel. This latter efforts means that ‘Ultralightweight’ (ULW) 7.62mm x 51mm the weapon can be kept cooler, thereby M240 medium machine gun. Weighing reducing requirements for barrel changes.

6.5kgs (14.3lbs), more than three kilograms In addition, development of CT ammuni(6.6lbs) lighter than the latest lightweight tion has accounted for 39 percent of weight FN Herstal M240L machine gun, the ULW savings in ammunition with bullets now MMG effort also falls under the US Army’s encased in plastic material as opposed to Cased Telescoped Weapons and Ammunilegacy brass casings. tion Programme (see above). Army sources Nevertheless, the weapon and amsuggested to Armada that a technology munition are still at a developmental stage demonstrator for the 7.62mm x 51mm CT and have yet to be fielded operationally. machine gun would be ready for an evaluaThe CT LMG was first test-fired back in tion test phase towards the end of 2016.

The Caesar® artillery system in Mali

CREATING NEW REFERENCES IN DEFENCE I WWW.NEXTER-GROUP.COM

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 15

Photo credits: ©ECPAD/France/A.Roine

The artillery system of the 21st century

Land Forces

Heckler and Koch’s 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher can be mounted on a tripod or vehicle for fire support out to 2.4km (1.4 miles) © Heckler and Koch

Grenade Launchers Alongside machine guns, Underslung Grenade Launchers (UGLs) remain an important fire support solution for dismounted soldiers with an ever-increasing range of ammunition to suit a variety of environments. Options include High Explosive (HE), HE Dual Purpose (HEDP), tear gas, smoke, non-lethal, thermobaric (where flammable fuel is dispersed and ignited), buck shot, white light and infrared illumination, and paint marking rounds, some of which can be set for either point or air burst detonation on, or over, a target.

Available UGLs include Heckler and Koch’s M320. Elsewhere, IWI has developed its GL 40 40mm x 46mm grenade launcher with the urban environment in mind. It can be operated in a standalone mode with its own fixed stock, or in an under-barrel configuration for integration onto any assault rifle including the company’s X95 and ACE weapons. IWI’s UGL comprises a forward and side opening barrel, allowing for the simple extraction and injection of ammuni-

tion as well as upper and lower Picatinny Rails for the integration of accessories.

Currently in service with the IDF, the standalone GL 40 is available in 305mm (11.9in) and 228.5mm (8.9in) barrel lengths, again designed for MOUT, as well as for use from vehicles and in enclosed spaces.

Options for the GL 40 include a foldable or telescopic butt stock, meaning the weapon can be collapsed to a length of 531mm (20.8in) for the short barrel variant.

IDF Special Operations Forces sources informed Armada how such a concept allowed operators to covertly carry the weapon inside grab bags for counterinsurgency and close protection duties.

Dependent upon the configuration selected, the GL 40 weighs no more than two kilograms (4.4lbs), although IDF sources explained how this could represent too heavy a weight for patrolling missions if integrated directly onto an assault rifle, hence why many soldiers prefer to carry the weapon as a standalone system in addition to their personal armament. The GL

16 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

40mm boasts a maximum effective range of approximately 400m (1312ft) with a typical HE round providing a five-metre (16.4ft) killing area radius. Sighting options for the GL 40 have traditionally comprised flip-up ladder sights although companies including MeproLight have introduced the Mepro Grenade Launcher Sight (GLS) specifically for IWI’s standalone GL and UGL. The GLS is a small form factor sight comprising a self-illuminated reflex sight for rapid target acquisition, which can be attached to the GL 40’s top Picatinny Rail.

As with many other small arms solutions, the most progress currently being witnessed in the realm of grenade launchers focuses on ammunition developments.

The US military is also working on CT options for 40mm grenades, again for weight savings. According to Steven Gilbert, project manager for the US Army’s Small Arms Grenades Munitions initiative, this latest family of ammunition will provide autonomous, air bursting and low velocity solutions with the added benefit of a smart

Land Forces

fuse similar to those already employed in much larger ATGMs. This latest type of 40mm grenade, which has yet to be given a designation by the US Army but is known as the Small Arms Grenade Munition (SAGM), will be capable of autonomously sensing requirements to initiate itself as an air-burst munition should it fly over a compound wall for example, US Army sources explained to Armada. The SAGM’s technology in this regard relies upon a proximity sensor integrated into the grenade which allows it to detect clutter in its path. Similar to legacy ammunition, this latest development is capable of engaging targets up to a range of 400m. However, US Army tests conducted in February 2015 illustrated that the munition provided just 76 percent reliability when used for airburst, illustrating that further development is required before such a capability can be deployed on the battlefield. The SAGM will be capable of being fired from in-service Colt M203 and Heckler and Koch’s M320 UGLs and following successful demonstration could become a Programme of Record with the US Army’s Project Manager-Maneuver Ammunition Systems office.

Mr. Gilbert added; “We must demonstrate a certain level of functional reliability over selected target sets. The SAGM cartridge provides the small unit grenadier with a higher probability of achieving a first-shot kill against enemy personnel coupled with the ability to defeat personnel targets in defilade positions at increased ranges with greater accuracy and lethality.” To enable this, “(the SAGM) has a sensor that will sense defilade or walls, or anything that somebody will be hiding behind, without the need for a laser range finder.

The biggest challenge has been maturing the SAGM sensor’s robustness to ensure proper functionality against the plethora of available defilade structures in a battlefield environment,” he continued. In terms of the SAGM’s operation Mr. Gilbert says, “All the soldier would need to do is to aim the weapon and fire it. They would have to have good aim ... or the round will not detect the wall. You have to have some sort of accuracy.”

Unlike some of the more complex ATGM smart fuses, the SAGM requires no pre-programming by the user ahead of any engagement. The US Army’sOrbitalATK/

Heckler and Koch XM-25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System (also known as ‘The Punisher’), airburst grenade launcher which is currently in development, requires the pre-programming of 40mm smart sensor grenades for air burst capabilities which determines the range to target for optimal detonation. The US Army is expected to take a decision on whether the weapon will enter the production and deployment phase by August, with the possibility that it could be deployed from early 2017.

Conclusion The contemporary and future operating environments look set to continue their focus on MOUT and also operations in littoral environments, with armed forces positioning themselves to win the propaganda war while prevailing in their military efforts. These latest solutions in support weapons discussed above will go some way to assisting soldiers as they seek to suppress enemy forces while minimising collateral damage. Nevertheless, more emphasis must be put on weapons handling and marksmanship if these future capabilities are to be effective.

IWI’s 7.62mm Negev NG-7 medium machine gun which provides a low recoil and lightweight solution for fire support missions is in use with the IDF © IWI

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 17

air power

Of Sparrows and Sidewinders

The global Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) market is a fiercely competitive one, in which long-established players battle to provide the armament for a diminishing number of different fighters in service with air forces and navies worldwide.

Thomas Newdick

W

hile the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is very active in the development of new-generation air combat weapons, the vast majority of fighters entrust their capabilities to derivatives of AAMs designed during the Cold War. This review discusses the currently available AAMs around the world, and selected future programmes. While Iran, Japan and Taiwan all have active AAM development and production programmes, their limited export prospects mean they have been omitted from this analysis.

Rationalisation within the industry means that Raytheon’s missile systems business is now responsible for all AAM

production in the US. Raytheon’s portfolio includes the short-range AIM-9 Sidewinder family, the design of which dates back to the late 1940s, and the AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) series optimised for Beyond Visual Range (BVR) engagements.

The original AIM-9 which first entered service in 1956 has been superseded by the advanced AIM-9X, the result of a programme launched in 1997. However, with over 200,000 examples built, ‘legacy’ AIM-9L/M/R AAMs remain in widespread service, and orders continue for new and existing customers. Among the 50 or so operators of these legacy variants, orders have been placed by the Czech Republic,

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Egypt and Pakistan over the past decade. In September 2010, Iraq requested 200 AIM9L/M missiles, followed by another similar request in December 2011. In order to provide refurbished and modernised AIM9L/M missiles, Raytheon teamed up with Diehl Defence of Germany in March 2004, launching an equally split joint venture that has provided missiles to customers including the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Meanwhile, the AIM-9 family continues to find new applications, including the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50 lead-in jet trainer, which undertook trials with the weapon in November 2005, although the variant of the AIM-9 that this aircraft could receive has yet to be announced.

air power

The AIM-9 remains a key weapon for the US military and its allies, with the AIM-9X being the latest version of the weapon © US Navy

The AIM-9X represents the fifth generation of the missile, and is a joint US Navy and US Air Force (USAF) programme managed by the former’s Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). As of June 2013, 5000 examples had been delivered, and the USAF and US Navy plan to acquire a total of 5097 and 4937 examples respectively, although no end date for these deliveries has been announced. The AIM-9X began to be deployed in late 2003 and the first full-rate production contract of November 2004 was worth $158 million and covered 443 missiles. Recent production contracts include Lot 9 in June 2010, valued at $166.8 million providing 212 AIM-9X Block-I missiles (the baseline production version of the weapon) for the USAF, 55 for the Republic of Korea, plus 100 training rounds.

Lot 10, worth $61.8 million, provided 60 AIM-9X Block-II missiles (which features a lock-on-after-launch capability). Lot 11, valued at $61.8 million, provided 115 AIM-9X Block-III missiles, including the first of this version for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. For 2016, the USAF

expects to accept 240 deliveries of what are expected to be AIM-9X Block-II weapons.

Work continues to improve the AIM-9X, and in August 2014, Raytheon received a $44 million research and development contract for AIM-9X Block-II follow-on work which could include improvements to the missiles’ control actuators, a new inertial measuring unit, improved insensitive munitions, hardware development and operational flight software work.

The AIM-120 AMRAAM programme was launched in 1975 as a joint USAF and USN study. This active radar BVR weapon entered USAF service in 1991. Production of the initial AIM-120A ended in December 1994, by which time around 3500 missiles had been delivered to the US military alone. The AIM-120C was first test launched in 2003 and entered production with Lot 8. Incremental improvements led to the current AIM-120C-7 standard, fielded in October 2005, which remains in production for FMS customers. In all, 36 countries have acquired the AIM-120C/D, and 14000 missiles had been produced by 2005. Acquisition for the US military continues at a rate of around 250-300 missiles each year. The latest US model is the AIM-120D, equipped with an internal Global Positioning System, enhanced datalink and new software. The AIM-120D achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with the US

Navy in April 2015. In the meantime, work continues to improve the AIM-120C-7 via the Advanced Electronic Protection Programme (AEPIP) software upgrade.

European Programmes European missile house MBDA is responsible for a range of AAMs that cover shortrange to very long-range applications. The Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) programme was launched in 1980 and originally envisaged development by France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and co-production with the US. In the event, France, Germany and then the US left the programme, British Aerospace (now BAE Systems) became the prime contractor for the ASRAAM in 1988 with the programme now led by MBDA. To date, three countries have ordered the ASRAAM: the UK government announced a development contract in 1992 and the Royal Air Force (RAF) declared the missile operational in late 2002. Australia selected the ASRAAM in November 1998, and declared IOC (Initial Operating Capability) in September 2004. In July 2014, MBDA inked a $414.5-million deal to supply India with 384 missiles. The UK plans to retain the ASRAAM until at least 2030 and intends to integrate the missile with the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning-II fighter that it

An F-35A test aircraft performs this type’s first aerial weapons release of an AIM120C-5 AMRAAM © Lockheed Martin

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 19

air power

The MICA-EM AAM entered French Air Force service aboard the Mirage 2000-5 in 1999 and on the Rafale-F3B/C/M in July 2000. (c) MBDA

will receive next decade. In September 2015 the UK agreed to a $462-million contract with MBDA to manufacture new ASRAAMs for the RAF and thereby entirely replenish existing stocks.

The MBDA MICA (Missile d’Interception, de Combat et d’Autodéfense/Interception, Combat and Self-Defence Missile) began life in 1982 as a private venture by erstwhile defence contractor Matra, and is unusual among current Western missiles in that it is available with either an active radar or Imaging Infrared (IIR) seeker. By 2009, MBDA had received 3000 orders for the MICA, and deliveries have been made to France, Greece, Qatar, Taiwan and the UAE. By 2005 France had ordered 840 MICA missiles, of which 263 had been delivered by the end of that year. The 1000th MICA was delivered in October 2010. By that time, France had 1100 missiles on order. The MICA is also included in India’s ongoing

Dassault Mirage-2000H/TH fighter upgrade, which will see 493 missiles acquired as part of a $1.18-billion package expected to be delivered over the next ten years.

Beyond MICA, the ramjet-powered, MBDA Meteor offers a very long range in excess of 161.9 nautical miles/nm (300 kilometres/km) combined with active radar guidance. The programme is led

by MBDA, with the UK as lead customer, but the weapon is also being acquired by France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden.

The Meteor is initially being integrated on the Flygvapnet (Swedish Air Force) Saab JAS-39C/D Gripen fighter, which will declare IOC with the weapon in 2016.

The RAF Eurofighter Typhoon fighter is also due to undergo Meteor integration by the end of this year. Thereafter, the Meteor will be cleared for use on the Dassault Rafale-B/C/M Standard F3 fighter and the F-35B. MBDA is currently

20 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

working with Mitsubishi Electric on future seeker technologies, using knowhow transferred from Japan. Ultimately, this may yield a new version of the Meteor to arm the F-35B, which has also been ordered by Japan.

Another European missile product, the IRIS-T is a multinational programme led by Diehl BGT Defence. This advanced short-range missile equipped with an IIR seeker originated in Luftwaffe (German Air Force) studies of the early 1990s, before the project was given the go-ahead in October 1995. In January 2003 Germany approved funding to launch production for the Luftwaffe and a contract for series production was awarded in December 2004. By 2011 a total of 4000 missiles had been produced, with additional orders received in the meantime. The IRIS-T is used by Austria, Germany (the acquisition of 1250 missiles planned for as long as budgets permit),

air power

Greece (350 missiles plus options for another 350), Italy, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain (700 missiles and 70 training rounds), Sweden and Thailand.

Other Players Israel’s long history of developing and producing AAMs is led by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, which currently markets both short-range and BVR-class weapons.

Rafael’s fourth-generation AAM is the Python-4, which superseded the earlier Python-3 in Israeli service from 2007, entering service in 1993-94. The further improved Python-5 was revealed in June 2003. While the Python-5 employs the same airframe, it is equipped with a new IIR seeker. Development of this latter missile began in 1997-98 and was completed by mid-2003. The missile is in service with Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Israel and Thailand. In Israeli service, the Python-5 is planned for integration on that country’s F-35I fleet. In May 2008 Rafael announced plans for a Python-6, with design and development to be undertaken as part of the Future Advanced Air-to-Air Missile (FAAM) programme, with the weapon possibly entering service next decade.

Unveiled by Rafael in May 2001, the Derby is a BVR weapon with an active radar seeker. Developed clandestinely with South Africa, it shares a common development history with that country’s Denel R-Darter BVR AAM. Although it has not

Procured by six nations, the IRIS-T combines an imaging infra-red seeker, thrust-vectoring engine control and a powerful motor ©Saab

entered Israeli service, the Derby reportedly entered low-rate initial production in July 1998. Operators include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Singapore and Thailand (unconfirmed). The Derby was also selected for the Indian Navy’s BAE Systems Sea Harrier FRS.51 fighter upgrade, for which an initial batch of 20 missiles was required, although no further work in this regard appears to have taken place. Reports indicate that Rafael has studied a future version of the Derby

Sukhoi Su-30SM fighters of the Russian Air Force’s contingent in Syria carry medium-range R-27R and short-range R-73 AAMs © Syria.mil.ru

equipped with a dual-mode seeker.

India’s AAM programme was launched in the early 1980s and to date has yielded the Astra family of BVR weapons with active radar guidance. The Astra programme is led by the country’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), but various changes to the missile’s design have resulted in significant delays. The improved Astra Mk.II was announced in 2012, but tests began 2006. The Astra Mk.II features a revised configuration, a dualpulse motor which expands the missile’s range and manoeuvrability during the end game and twice the range of the previous Astra Mk.I (80.9nm/km as opposed to circa 40nm/74km of the Astra Mk.I).

Under the latest plans, the DRDO expects to complete the Astra project in December 2016. Initial launch trials are being undertaken using Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI aircraft.

Chinese AAMs Away from India, the PRC’s PL-8 is based on the Python-3 (see above), and was developed by the China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) and the Luoyang Opto-Electro Technology Development Centre (LOEC). In domestic use since the mid-1990s, it remains the most capable short-range AAM in widespread Chinese service. The PL-8B that appeared

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 21

air power

A Royal Australian Air Force McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F/A18B Hornet MRCA equipped with an ASRAAM missile on its wing tip station © Australian DoD

in mid-2005 features an all-aspect seeker, enabling engagement of a target from any angle, and increased range.

Described as an ‘improved third-generation’ AAM, the PL-9 is based on PL-8/ Python-3 technology. While it employs a LOEC-developed seeker, overall responsibility lies with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The PL-9 has never been seen in PRC service, but has been offered for export. Confirmed users are Bangladesh, Namibia and Nigeria, while Iran and Pakistan are possible recipients. The PRC’s new-generation short-range IR-guided AAM is the PL-10, developed by LOEC. First sighted in 2013 on board a Shenyang J-20 fighter, development began in 2005 and a test round was launched in 2010. The PL-10 entered initial production in 2012 and can be expected to arm the J-20 and other new-generation Chinese fighters.

The picture as regards Chinese medium-range AAMs is more confused, at least in terms of the latest developments. Two established in-service weapons are the PL11 and the more advanced LOEC PL-12. The PL-11 employs Semi-Active Radar Homing (SARH) and technology derived from the

Raytheon AIM-7 Sparrow family of AAMs. The PL-11 is a product of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), part of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), and development was completed in 2000. The missile is in Chinese service alongside the PL-12 and is available for export as the FD-60.

The PL-12 was first deployed by the PRC in mid-2004 and has also been exported as the SD-10, initially to Pakistan. Variants include the PL-12C adapted for internal carriage in the J-20, the slightly improved SD-10A offering a longer range of up to 53.9nm (100km), and a possible version with a dual-mode seeker performing active and passive radar homing. A ramjet-powered version (reputedly designated PL-12D) is also under development. The PL-15 designation has been used to describe another longrange weapon, this time with a dual-pulse rocket motor, and with Active Radar Homing (ARH), where the missile’s own radar guides it to its target. While the enigmatic PL-15 is perhaps derived from the earlier PL-12C/D, China aerospace analyst Andreas Rupprecht expects the forthcoming PL-21 to be an even more advanced “clean sheet of paper” design and to offer a much greater

22 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

range, perhaps as long as 215nm (400km).

Like the PL-12D, the PL-21 will be another ramjet-powered weapon.

Brazil Beyond the PRC, Brazil has entered the AAM domain with the Mectron MAA-1 Piranha. The basic MAA-1A Piranha-1 was approved for production in June 2003, with deliveries to Brazil thought to be ongoing. The MAA-1A has reportedly been delivered to Pakistan, which may also order the improved MAA-1B Piranha-2.

The MAA-1B upgrade programme was announced in 2006 and guided firings began in mid-2010. Once planned to achieve service entry with the Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB/Brazilian Air Force) at the end of 2014, the programme has faced serious delays, with no information released regarding a possible service entry date.

Brazil and South Africa are now working closely together to develop new and existing AAMs. In February 2006, Mectron announced an industrial partnership with South Africa’s Denel, with the aim of further developing and manufacturing the short-range A-Darter, with an initial investment of $52 million. In March 2007,

air power

Mectron and Denel began joint development, and in December 2012 Brazil announced plans to build the missile locally.

Plans exist for extended-range A-Darter Mk.2 and Mk.3 versions, with improved guidance. The A-Darter is expected to be deployed on South African Air Force JAS39C/D Gripens from around 2018, and the weapon will also be integrated onboard the new FAB JAS-39E/F fighter. In 2013 Denel revealed the Marlin, a new AAM with BVR capability intended for South Africa and Brazil. Powered by a dual-pulse motor, this weapon is planned to complement the A-Darter and provide a successor to South Africa’s R-Darter (now retired) and Brazil’s Derby missiles. Further flight tests of this weapon are expected to occur this year.

Russian AAMs Russia’s combat aircraft continue to be armed almost exclusively with AAMs that date from the latter years of the Cold War, and most new projects since then have been hamstrung by a lack of funding. The Vympel R-73 remains the standard shortrange Russian AAM, and entered service in the early 1980s. Since 1992, around 10000 examples have been built for export, but almost none have been completed for domestic service. Operators for which missile numbers are available include Algeria (up to 800 missiles), Bangladesh (around 96), Burma (60), India (4080), Ma-

laysia (366), the PRC (3300), Venezuela (150), Vietnam (around 200), Yemen (176), and the US (100 for evaluation).

An effort to replace the R-73 resulted in the Vympel R-74M equipped with a new IIR seeker, and this weapon officially entered Russian Air Force service in October 2012. Since the seeker was provided by the Arsenal Company of Kiev, Ukraine, development stalled as relations between the countries broke down following the commencement of the Ukraine Civil War in 2014. Plans were laid to introduce a Russian-made seeker, but as of 2014 this had not yet become available. Since the R-74M is restricted to external carriage, the Vympel K-74M2 is under development for internal carriage by the Sukhoi PAK FA fifth-generation fighter. The weapon has not yet been publicly revealed, but is likely to be undergoing testing.

Development of the Vympel R-27 medium-range AAM began in the mid1970s, but series production is carried out exclusively by the Artem factory in Kiev. Available in SARH, IR -guided and passive-seeking versions, meaning that the missile homes in on its target’s radar emissions, and equipped with single- or two-stage motors, the R-27 is used by over 25 countries. The successor to the R-27 is the Vympel R-77 ARH AAM. At least 4000 examples have been produced and operators include Algeria (around 400 missiles),

Eritrea, India (1600), Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru (30), the PRC (around 1500), Russia, Venezuela (100), Vietnam and Yemen. The improved R-77-1 version entered production around 2010 and features improved aerodynamics and an upgraded seeker. A more extensive upgrade is found in the K77M, also intended for internal carriage in the PAK FA fifth-generation fighter. Test rounds are in production and the weapon features a new seeker and a dual-pulse motor. Vympel is also known to be working on a ramjet-powered BVR missile and a separate, next-generation successor to the K-77M. In 2014 Russia launched production of a new, heavy long-range AAM to arm the Mikoyan MiG-31BM air superiority fighter and replace the previous Vympel R-33. Equipped with ARH and a dual-pulse motor, the Vympel R-37M is available for export and can be carried by Sukhoi Su27/30/35 family of fighters and the Mikoyan MiG-35 air superiority fighter. Looking beyond the R-37M, Vympel is working on the Izdeliye 810 project, which will arm the PAK FA with a new long-range AAM. While the tendency in recent years has been towards a standardisation of Western fighter aircraft and their armament subsystems, leading to a reduction in the number of different Western AAM programmes, globally, the demand for aircraft armament remains as strong as ever. What is more, a rejuvenation of Russian combat aircraft procurement and successive developments in terms of new fighters from the PRC look set to ensure that the requirement for ever more advanced AAMs will continue, both to arm these aircraft and those that will counter them. While Western fighters will have to choose from advanced versions of the AMRAAM and the Meteor as their primary air-to-air weapons, it is notable that Brazil, China, India and South Africa, as well as Russia, a more established player in the field, are all now offering BVR weapons of their own design. While it is unlikely that these will be able to seriously threaten the dominance of products from Raytheon and MBDA, they are likely to find favour as part of fighter weapons upgrade packages, an area in which Israel and South Africa have both achieved notable success in the past.

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 23

Sea Power

The Lockheed Martin Remote Mine-hunting System (RMS) provides the primary mine reconnaissance capability for the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships © US Navy

Dangers of the Deep Easy to deploy and cheap to acquire, sea mines and underwater explosives pose a real threat to navies and commercial shipping by reducing freedom of movement in shallow waters and strategic choke points.

Luca Peruzzi

T

he capability to detect, locate, manned and unmanned rotorcraft, surface the Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and classify and neutralise these and underwater assets and other built-in Analysis system. weapons remains a key require- features to launch, recover and operate unEuropean Efforts ment for navies around the manned systems at sea. world. With the technological The US Navy’s current programme of The follow-on increment will provide a evolution in Unmanned Underwater and record calls for 24 Mission Packages (MPs) sustained influence sweep capability with Surface Vehicles (UUVs/USVs) as well as dedicated to MCM warfare. The first incre- the Unmanned Influence Sweep System sensors and effectors in Mine Counter- ment of the MCM MP includes the Remote (UISS) being developed by Textron Sysmeasure (MCM) warfare, Western navies Mine-hunting System (RMS), which com- tems and centred on a USV derived from and industries are developing networked prises the Lockheed Martin semi-submers- the company’s Common Unmanned Suroff-board ‘systems of systems’ which can ible unmanned AN/WLD-1 Remote Multi- face Vehicle (CUSV) towing a long subbe deployed at stand-off ranges to replace mission Vehicle (RMMV) towing a Raytheon merged magnetic field-generating cable current conventional MCM platforms.

AN/AQS-20A sonar, the Northrop Grum- with a Mk.104 acoustic generator to detoThe US Navy has been the first Western man AN/AES-1 Airborne Laser Mine Detec- nate mines. The fourth increment will denavy to move toward this operational con- tion System (ALMDS) and Raytheon’s AN/ liver the Knifefish UUV, a development lead cept, providing an organic MCM capability ASQ-235 Airborne Mine Neutralisation Sys- by General Dynamics Mission Systems for expeditionary forces by introducing ro- tem (AMNS); the latter two systems carried based on the Bluefin-21 UUV equipped with tary-wing and non-specialised but multi- by the Sikorsky MH-60S naval support heli- a side-scan sonar that will provide a buried role platforms equipped with dedicated copter. Three more planned increments will mine-detection capability up to a speed of equipment. The US Navy’s ‘Freedom’ and introduce new MCM systems: Increment 2 three knots (5.5 kilometres-per-hour) to ‘Independence’ class Littoral Combat Ships will provide beach zone mine detection with a depth of 275 metres/m (902 feet/ft). The (LCSs) are at the forefront of such a capa- the currently operational Northrop Grum- main component of Increment 1 MCM MP bility, using their modular mission bays, man MQ-8C Fire Scout UAV equipped with represented by the Remote Minehunting

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System (RMS) has however encountered reliability problems, which could delay MCM MP initial operational test and evaluation and follow-on low-rate initial production awards.

Although worldwide navies look to organic, multi-role/dedicated platforms capable of deploying off-board MCM systems, European shipbuilders maintain leadership in the MCM vessel design and production segment, promoting new developments and upgrade packages. For example, in 2011, Thales received from the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence a contract for upgrading two ex-Royal Navy ‘Hunt’ class MCM vessels which were commissioned into the Lithuanian Navy in July 2013. The contract involved the ships’ modernisation and installation of Thales’ Sonar-2193, Thales M-CUBE MCM command and control system, an advanced hull-mounted wideband mine-hunting sensor and ECA’s K-STER ‘one shot’ Expandable Mine Disposal Vehicle (EMDV).

The Royal Navy’s MCM capability is today largely delivered through eight ‘Hunt’ and seven ‘Sandown’ class MCM ships, which are being kept current through the insertion of new equipment and platform overhauls provided by BAE Systems and Babcock International. Equipped respectively with a Thales Sonar-2193 hullmounted and Sonar-2093 variable depth sonar, the former embodies wideband techniques to dramatically improve performance against low target echo strength mines, which are to be implemented on the latter Sonar-2093 following a contract awarded to Thales in late 2014. Both classes of ship also use Atlas Elektronik/Ultra

Saab offers the Double Eagle Mk.II/III ROV family of semi-autonomous systems.

The latest addition is the Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System © Saab

The hull-mounted Thales Sonar-2193 and the variable depth Sonar-2093, together with the modular TSM-2022 Mk.III model represent the state-of-the art solutions for the MCM domain © Thales

Electronics’ SeaFox system for mine inspection and disposal.

To further enhance the Royal Navy’s MCM force by reinstating influence minesweeping on the ‘Hunt’ class, Atlas Elektronik has been awarded a contract to design and build a USV-based multi-influence minesweeping prototype, followed by full acceptance and demonstration in a portable mode, capable of deployment from the ‘Hunt’ class ships. No details have yet been disclosed, but the system should be based on Atlas Elektronik’s proprietary USV-based ARCIMS (Atlas Remote Capability Integrated Mission Suite) remote MCM system.

Already delivered to an undisclosed Middle East navy, ARMICS comprises an optionally-manned surface vehicle manufactured by ICE Marine and configured to accept alternative MCM mission modules.

Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Lürssen shipyard offers dedicated MCM vessels, as does Navantia via its ‘Segura’ class. Saab is offering a larger version of its ‘Landsort’ and ‘Koster’ class MCM ships equipping the Marinen (Royal Swedish Navy), as well as the Republic of Singapore Navy’s ‘Bedok’ class. Referred to as the ‘Enhanced Koster’ class, the ship’s hull is lengthened by five metres/m (16 feet/ft) to 52.5m (172.2ft) to create more space for crew and systems, and improved sea-keeping, in addition to

allowing future growth. Thales, meanwhile, completed the upgrading of the ‘Bedok’ class in 2014 introducing an upgraded MCM Command and Control (C2) system, a TSM2022 Mk.III hull-mounted mine-hunting sonar, K-Ster EMDVs and a Thales DUBM44 towed synthetic aperture sonar introduced to reduce the time required to survey an area for threats.

On September 2015, the industrial team headed by the Polish Remontowa group and including the Gdynia shipyard and the CTM Marine Technology Centre as combat system integrator, launched the first of three planned MCM vessels for the Marynarka Wojenna (Polish Navy) under the Kormoran-II programme. Initial delivery of these ships is planned for November 2016. The design includes CTM’s SCOT-M MCM C2 system, together with mine detection, identification and disposal systems including the Saab Double Eagle Propelled Variable Depth Sonar (PVDS) and Kongsberg Maritime HUGIN 1000 MR AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle).

With a long tradition in manufacturing GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) MCM ships and providing such vessels to Australia, Finland, Italy, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand and the United States, Italy’s IMMSI is currently involved in the construction of an MCM vessel for an undisclosed export customer, under a contract assigned to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali (OSN) jointventure between Fincantieri and Finmeccanica as prime contractor with a reported option for a second vessel. According to different sources the MCMV is expected to be delivered to the Algerian Navy with a dedicated C2 system provided by Selex and Gaymarine Pluto-family mine searching and destruction Remotely-Operated Vehicles (ROVs). IMMSI is also involved in the mid-life upgrading programme of the Marina Militare (Italian Navy) eight ‘Gaeta’ class MCM ships which includes platform modifications and systems overhaul, a new MCM C2 from Selex, a Thales Sonar-2093 and the latest Gaymarine Pluto Gigas ROVs. The Italian shipyard is also part of the international industrial team led by Ching Fu Shipbuilding of Taiwan, and Lockheed Martin announced on October 2014 to supply six MCM ships to the Republic of China Navy. To be equipped with a mine-hunting

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yards to pre-qualify for a follow-on formal bid based on technology transfer, together with international MCM equipment suppliers, to locally build and deliver the new MCMVs in the 2021-2026 period.

In late 2015, the Republic of Singapore unveiled a new version of the ST Electronics’ VENUS USV which can accommodate an MCM suite © Luca Peruzzi

combat management system and mine disposal vehicles integrated by Lockheed Martin, the first-of-class will be delivered by Intermarine and completed by the Taiwanese shipyard, while the following vessels will be built and fitted-out locally with technology transfer and support from the Italian shipyard. Deliveries are expected to be completed by 2024.

The Russian’s Srdne-Nevsky Shipyard (SNSZ) part of the United Shipbuilding Company launched on October 2015 the first of two ‘Project 10750E’ class MCM ships for the Kazakhstan Ministry of Defence (MoD). They are equipped with a dedicated mission package centred on Teledyne Reson’s SeaBat sonar, K-Ster EMDVs and Alister-9 AUVs. Asia Prepares In the Far East, the Republic of Korea’s (RoK) Kangman shipyard is promoting GRP MCM vessels based on Intermarine's design and built for the RoK Navy, while Tokyo-headquartered shipyard Japan Maritime United Corporation (JMUC) launched on 27 October 2015 the first composite material/GRP built 690-ton MCM ship for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force, with two other vessels under construction.

Other Asia-Pacific and Middle East navies are looking at dedicated MCM vessels or multi-role platforms to perform the MCM mission, in addition to upgrading their current MCM ship inventories. India’s Goa Shipyard was selected by that country’s MoD to supply twelve locally-built MCM vessels. The Goa Shipyard has in turn invited several companies including Kangnam, Intermarine, Navantia, Lockheed Martin, Thyssenkrupp and two Russian

Bilateral Initiatives On behalf of France and the United Kingdom, OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d’Armement/Joint European Organisation for Cooperation in Defence Equipment), which manages pan-European defence procurement programmes on behalf of the European Union, awarded a $23.9 million contract regarding the Maritime Mine Counter Measures (MMCM) programme in late March 2015.

The contract was awarded to an industrial team lead by Thales in collaboration with BAE Systems and their partners in France (ECA) and in the UK (ASV, Wood and Douglas, and Saab’s UK division). The goal of this joint French/UK MMCM programme is to de-risk and demonstrate low-risk, robust and reliable ‘end-to-end’ mine and underwater explosive detection, classification, localisation and neutralisation to meet common French and UK requirements.

The MMCM architecture proposed by the Thales/BAE Systems team comprises a USV based on an improved variant of the ASV Halcyon multi-role USV, already demonstrated with its full autonomous capability to the UK MoD, and equipped with autonomous navigation and obstacle detection/avoidance sonar; a threat identification and neutralisation capability provided by Saab via its Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System (MuMNS) concept based around an ROV to be launched and recovered from the selected USV; a towed synthetic aperture

Atlas Elektronik’s SeaFox Explosive Mine Disposal System is available in both training/inspection and single-shot mine disposal versions and is in service with ten navies © NATO

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sonar based on Thales’ latest SAMDIS (Synthetic Aperture and Mine Detection Imaging Sonar) to be used by the selected USV and AUVs derived from ECA’s A-27M long-endurance multi-mission vehicle.

Thales and BAE Systems provide the MCM C2, while the above-water communications suite is provided by Wood and Douglas. Stage 1 of the MMCM programme is to be completed following a critical design review by mid-2016 while the contract includes options for the manufacture and demonstration of two identical systems for evaluation by the Royal Navy and Marine Nationale (French Navy) with a view to moving into production early next decade.

The MMCM programme does not include the host platform. Instead, this will be satisfied through the French Systéme de Lutte Anti-Mines Futur (SLAMF/Future Anti-Mine Fighting System) which will renew the force’s MCM capabilities after 2020 and the UK Mine Countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability (MHC) programme, of which the MMCM represent a core building block. The French MoD plans for the MMCM to operate from a new larger, non-specialist ‘mothership’ remaining outside the danger area, while UK looks to operate the MMCM from its ‘Hunt’ class ships, and eventually from the vessels developed as a result of the MHV programme.

Integrated MCM systems, provided in both ship- and container-mounted versions, with a tool box of sonars, USV, AUVs and MCM C2 systems are being offered today by several suppliers, such as Atlas Elektronik. The company’s IMCMS (Integrated MCM System) is in service with the navies of Belgium, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. ECA’s Triton and MCM mission module includes a Thales MCM sonar package (typically the company’s Sonar-2193, -2093 VDS and TSM-2022 Mk.III) and Atlas Elektronik’s HMS-12M triplefrequency broadband sonar.

Uninhabited In the USV domain, in addition to Textron Systems’ UISS plus Atlas Elektronik’s ARMICS and MMCM ASV solutions, ECA is proposing its Inspector Mk.II USV, which has already been supplied to the French Navy for counter-insurgency training missions. L-3 Communications Calzoni, mean-

Sea Power

while, is proposing its family of U-Ranger has an endurance up to 30 hours and an opand Mini-Ranger USVs which have been erating depth up to 300m (984ft). Saab has selected by the Italian Navy. Moreover, the sold the AUV62-MR, which can be deployed Republic of Singapore unveiled in Novem- from both surface and underwater platber 2015 a 16m (52.4ft) variant of its Venus forms, while Atlas Elektronik offers the family of USVs developed by Singapore SeaCat hybrid and SeaOtter Mk.II AUVs; Technologies Electronics which could be the latter can operate in un-tethered auequipped with an MCM suite including a tonomous and ROV-modes. More informaThales dipping sonar and TSAS, in addition tion on USV and UUV programmes around to K-Ster EMDSs. the world can be found in Claire Apthorp’s Kongsberg’s Remus AUVs, including Unmanned Vehicles supplement accompathe portable Remus-100 and the larger Re- nying this issue. mus-600, are joined in the company’s catalogue by the more specialised and larger Detection HUGIN-1000, which can work with high- The mine detection, location, identificaresolution sonar at up to 3000m (9842ft) tion and disposal segment is covered by depth. The ECA group, meanwhile, offers the Atlas Eletronik SeaFox system, which a complete range of AUVs based on its Ali- comes in disposal and training/search ster family which can be equipped with a versions and is currently in service with variety of sensors. The smaller man-por- ten navies around the world. Saab offers table A9-M has been developed for shallow the slightly heavier Double Eagle which is and very shallow waters while the mid- available as both the Mk.II Mine Disposal and larger-size A18-M and A27-M can be Vehicle (MDV) and Mk.II/Mk.III Propelled equipped with Synthetic Aperture Sonar, Variable Depth Sonar (PVDS) Mine Recon-

naissance Vehicle. The Double Eagle family is supplemented by the Double Eagle SAROV semi-autonomous version and the new Multi-Shot Mine Neutralisation System (MuMNS) already selected for the MMCM programme (see above).

At the European level, Belgium, Estonia, Germany (as the project’s lead nation), The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are all involved in a research project regarding future maritime MCM capabilities launched in October 2014. Called the MCM-NG (New Generation) this project has a planned duration of 36 months during which contributing nations will work on a set of common requirements to prepare future generations of MCM vessels and systems that could become operational in the 2030 timeframe.

This initiative could yet pave the way for a larger pan-European MCM programme over the next two decades, as navies around the continent, and around the world in general, continue to address the threat posed by these dangers of the deep.

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Lockheed Martin F-16 family fighters have, for many years, utilized Northrop Grumman AN/ APG-66 family radars. A number of initiatives are ongoing to replace these with new systems © Northrop Grumman

Let’s See What’s Out There!

When Captain Jean Luc Picard, skipper of the USS Enterprise, uttered these immortal words in the cult science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the technology onboard his 24th Century spaceship was a tad more sophisticated than current combat aircraft radar.

Thomas Withington

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caused by the pulse striking a target. AESA radars have several advantages; each T/R module, or groups of T/R modules can use their own transmission frequency.

This can be rapidly changed to frustrate RF (Radio Frequency) jamming using a specific frequency for a specific time.

Secondly, AESA radars can rapidly switch between tasks such as air-to-air and air-toground surveillance, while the concept of ‘graceful degradation’, by which the failure of a few T/R modules will not cause the entire radar to become unserviceable, is another attraction. Finally, AESA radars electronically ‘steer’ their transmissions to enable the radar to look across a FieldOf-View (FOV) of up to circa 120 degrees without needing to move the antenna via ‘constructive interference,’ by which radar output power levels from the T/R modules are adjusted to ‘push’ the radar transmissions in a particular direction. Nevertheless, AESA radars remain comparatively expensive vis-à-vis conventional mechanically-scanned arrays (where the antenna

is physically moved to look at the ground or the air). For this reason, these latter radars remain attractive, particularly for air forces lacking the budgets for AESA acquisitions.

Technical Characteristics Regarding frequency, combat aircraft radars tend to employ the X-band frequency range of 8.5-10.68 Gigahertz(GHz). In radar design, frequency choice is usually a compromise: There is no perfect frequency for all radar applications in the air, on land and at sea. For combat aircraft, X-band provides good penetration of moisture in the atmosphere, which can degrade radar performance with some of the radar’s RF energy being absorbed by particles of moisture. Moreover, X-band radars provide a good compromise in terms of antenna size for comfortable housing in an aircraft’s

One of the options available to F-16 family fighter operators regarding radar upgrades is Raytheon’s RACR. This radar is currently awaiting customers, and had been selected to upgrade F-16C/D aircraft operated by the RoK © Raytheon

N

evertheless, the capabilities of such equipment are vastly improved since their first use during the Second World War. Today, fighter radars are capable of the accurate detection of targets on the ground, as well as in the air, helping the march towards a truly multi-role capability for today’s 4.5- and fifth-generation fighters. What follows is a survey of some of the world’s leading combat aircraft radar programmes, and their current status.

Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) architecture remains the dominant technology for combat aircraft radar, since their advent in the mid-1990s. An AESA employs an antenna housing multitudes of Transmit/Receive (T/R) modules. Each T/R module acts as a miniature radar, generating a radar pulse and processing the echo

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Thales’ RBE-2 has the distinction of being the first European-developed AESA to enter service, and is deployed onboard the Rafale-A/B/M Standard F3 fighters of the French Air Force and French Navy © Thales

nose, without adversely affecting the aircraft’s performance. At the same time, X-band radars provide surveillance ranges over one hundred nautical miles/nm (185.2 kilometres/km), accurately discerning the targets that they detect.

Europe Three European suppliers are involved in combat aircraft radar provision; the Euroradar consortium, Selex and Thales, supplying the CAPTOR-E, RBE-2 and the ES-05 for the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche-3, Dassault Rafale-A/B/M Standard-F3 and Saab JAS-39E Gripen fighters respectively.

The CAPTOR-E is currently under development and will equip the Typhoon Tranche-3 aircraft ordered by Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. This radar supersedes the legacy CAPTOR mechanically scanned array radar used in previous Typhoon versions. One notable design feature of the CAPTOR-E is its so-called ‘Swash Plate’ which allows its AESA antenna to be tilted in several directions, the logic behind this being to increase the radar’s FOV beyond 120 degrees. It also mitigates the degradation of transmitted RF energy which can occur around the edges of a radar scan.

Selex is a partner in the Euroradar consortium alongside Airbus’ defence and space subsidiary and Indra.

A Swash Plate design is also included in Selex’ ES-05 Raven X-band AESA equipping Saab’s new JAS-39E Gripen fighter furnishing the Brazilian and Swedish Air Forces. Alongside the ES-05 Raven, Selex has supplied its SCP-01 Scipio radar to equip 43 of the Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB/Brazilian Air Force) AMX International AMX-A1M fighters as part of the type’s modernisation effort, with the radars delivered between 2013 and 2014.

Similarly, eleven of the FAB’s Northrop Grumman F-5E fighters are receiving Selex’ Grifo-F radar as part of these aircraft’s F-5M modernisation. The X-band Grifo radar family also includes the GrifoS which has a detection range of 50nm (92.6km) for airborne targets, and 40nm (74km) for surface/ground targets.

While Saab employs the ES-05 in its JAS-39E fighter, the company has developed its own fighter radar in the form of the PS-05A Mk.IV intended for the legacy JAS-39C/D fighter. Unveiled in 2015, and developed from the PS-05A Mk.III which debuted in 2005, the PS-05A Mk.IV offers

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a significantly-enhanced acquisition range, equated to around 150 percent that of the PS-05A Mk.III, plus the improved detection of helicopters and targets with a low radar cross section. The radar includes a new back end (where the radar’s exciter and processors are located), although it retains the PS-05A Mk.III mechanicallyscanned antenna to reduce costs compared to using an AESA. This new radar will enable the JAS-39C/D to deploy the Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile and MBDA’s Meteor Air-to-Air Missile (AAM). More information on recent AAM developments can be found in Thomas Newdick’s Of Sparrows and Sidewinders article in this issue. The PS-05Mk.IV is being offered to both the Flygvapnet (Royal Swedish Air Force) and existing JAS-39C/D export customers, with the firm adding that it can begin deliveries of the radar circa two years after receiving an order.

The first European AESA to enter service was Thales’ X-band RBE-2 onboard the Armée de l’Air (AdlA/French Air Force) and Marine Nationale (French Naval Aviation) Rafale-A/B/M jets in 2014. According to Thales the radar can perform

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simultaneous air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting, terrain following and avoidance, and can detect sea-skimming targets. Open architecture should also greatly increase radar upgrades in the future. Beyond the RBE-2, France continues to export legacy combat aircraft radar. To this end, in 2009, it supplied the Comando de Aviación Naval Argentina (Argentine Naval Aviation) with ten Thomson-CSF/Thales Anemone radars to equip its Dassault Super Étendard fighters as a replacement for these aircraft’s legacy Thomson-CSF Agave radar.

The Anemone has a reported range of circa 53.9nm (100km), and can aid the targeting of the aircraft’s MBDA AM-39 Exocet antiship missiles.

Russia and Israel Much like France, Russia is an important combat aircraft radar exporter. In 2012, the country was selected by India to supply 80 Phazotron Zhuk-AE radars to equip the same number of Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters

operated by the Indian Air Force. This was in addition to the two Phazotron N-001V Myech radars selected by Kazakhstan to upgrade two of its Sukhoi Su-27UB fighters to Su-27UBM2 status, with deliveries to this end completed in 2010. The N-001V Myech X-band radar has a range of up to 75.5nm (140km) for a large aircraft. The N-001V variant of the N-001 radar family, which also includes the N-001VE, N001VEP and N-001VEP Pero variants, has a new processor which allows the radar to intercept a single target, while tracking up to ten targets simultaneously.

The Zhuk-AE, meanwhile, is a member of Phazotron’s Zhuk combat aircraft radar family which also includes the Zhuk-A. To further complicate matters, the Zhuk-A/ AE family includes the FGA-29 and FGA-35 versions of both radars. Thus the ZhukA/AE FGA-29 radar has a range of up to 70nm (129.6km) according to open sources, with the Zhuk-A/AE FGA-35 range being increased to 108nm (200km), with this lat-

ter version equipping the MiG-35 fighter currently under development.

Meanwhile, Russia’s first foray into the fifth-generation fighter world will benefit from the Tikhomirov-NIIP NO36 Byelka (Squirrel) radar which will equip the Sukhoi PAK FA air superiority fighter currently under development. Whereas several of the radars surveyed in this article employ a single X-band antenna, the NO36 is slightly different in that it also includes L-band (1.215-1.4GHz) antennae mounted on the aircraft’s wings to perform electronic warfare and identification friend or foe tasks, plus two X-band side-scanning arrays, to increase its FOV. Open sources state the radar as having a range of 215.9nm (400km), and the ability to simultaneously track 30 air and four ground targets, aiding the intercept of eight air targets at once.

There is no word as to when the NO36 radar may enter production, although the Russian Air Force should have commenced its procurement of the PAK FA by 2020.

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AESA radar technology is increasingly finding its way into the hands of many air forces around the world. Northrop Grumman has developed its AN/ APG-83 SABR radar as an upgrade option for F-16 operators to this end © Northrop Grumman

Russian-designed aircraft such as the MiG-29 fighter family are also equipped with Israeli radars such as the Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) ELTA Systems’ EL/M-2052. With a reported FOV of 200 degrees, this radar can track up to 64 targets simultaneously. In recent years, Israel has performed significant exports of combat aircraft radars. Between 2009 and 2014, it delivered twelve IAI EL/M-2032 radars to equip the FAB’s McDonnell Douglas A4KU Skyhawk fighters. Elsewhere in Latin America, EL/M-2032 radars were delivered between 2007 and 2011 to modernise eleven Kfir-C7 fighters, belonging to the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (Colombian Air Force), to Kfir-C10 status. The same radar found its way onto nine BAE Systems Sea Harrier FRS.51 fighters operated by the Indian Navy between 2008 and 2011, with 100 of the radars being ordered in 2012 as part of a $150 million deal to modernise the Indian Air Force’s SEPECAT Jaguar-M/S ground attack aircraft, with the same radar also equipping the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Tejas fighter (although it was reported in October 2015 that India and Israel

will jointly develop a new AESA radar for this aircraft). In addition, the radar is equipping the Republic of Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries’ (KAI) FA-50 fighters, and IAI is proposing the EL/M-2052 for the KAI KFX (Korea Fighter Experimental) 4.5 generation fighter programme for which the CAPTOR-E (see above) has also been proposed with Saab offering to co-develop an AESA with KAI for the aircraft. Moreover, in November 2015 reports surfaced that the EL/M-2032 would be offered to Argentina to upgrade 14 of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina (Argentine Air Force) IAI Kfir Block-60 fighters.

United States Several radar upgrade programmes are afoot in the United States. For example, the US Air Force (USAF) plans to modernise its legacy Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block-50/52 Fighting Falcon fighters with a new radar to replace its legacy Westinghouse (now Northrop Grumman) X-band AN/APG-66 radars. Launched in 2012, the USAF Combat Avionics Programmed Extension Suite (CAPES) initiative planned to upgrade the USAF’s F-16C/ Ds with new avionics, including a new radar, with up to 300 of the fleet to receive the CAPES modernisation prior to the entry into service of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning-II fighter. In August

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2013, Lockheed Martin (the CAPES prime contractor) selected Northrop Grumman’s AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) as the preferred radar to retrofit the USAF’s F-16C/Ds. However, as of the time of writing (early 2016), the CAPES programme remains on hold following the USAF dropping the initiative from its Fiscal 2015 Department of Defence budget request. There is no indication as to when the CAPES initiative may be resuscitated.

Despite this the Republic of Singapore Air Force was reported in 2015 to have selected the AN/APG-83 to upgrade its circa 60 F-16C/D jets. Furthermore, the AN/APG-83 is being offered by Lockheed Martin as the preferred radar for its F-16V design, which is a significantly-enhanced version of the venerable Viper, available both as a newbuild aircraft and as an upgrade package for legacy models.

Beyond Singapore, the AN/APG-83 has been successful in winning the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) as a customer. Up to 140 of the RoCAF’s F-16A/B MRCA will receive the SABR, which will replace the legacy AN/APG-66(V)3 radar which currently equips these aircraft. Similarly, the F-16C/D jets flown by the RoK Air Force (RoKAF) were to receive Raytheon’s new RACR (Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar) as a replacement for the Westinghouse/ Northrop Grumman AN/APG-68(V)7

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radar currently equipping the RoKAF’s 134-strong fleet. The radar was selected to equip the RoKAF’s F-16C/Ds in April 2013 as part of an over-arching upgrade programme for the aircraft led by BAE Systems. However, in November 2014, the Republic of Korea terminated the BAE Systems-led modernisation. Still, the modernisation of the jets is to go ahead with Lockheed Martin, selected on 18 December 2015 as the prime contractor for the F-16C/D initiative, but with the RACR dropped in favour of the AN/APG-83.

Northrop Grumman employed significant amounts of technology from the AN/APG-77 and AN/APG-81 radars it had already developed for the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor air superiority fighter and for the F-35A/B/C Lightning-II fighter in realising the AN/APG-83. The AN/APG77 has been developed in two variants, the ‘vanilla’ AN/APG-77 and the AN/APG77(V)1, the latter providing sharp Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, Ground Moving Target Indication and automatic target recognition. These three operating modes are important as they enable F-22A aircraft produced in production Lot-5 onwards (which are furnished with the AN/ APG-77(V)1) to perform air-to-ground missions. AESA architecture is also employed in the AN/APG-81 radar yet few details have been released regarding the radar’s performance.

In spite of the advent of new systems such as the AN/APG-83, the United States has continued to supply legacy combat aircraft radars to recipients globally. In 2012 it supplied four Northrop Grumman AN/ APG-68(V)9 versions of that company’s AN/APG-68 radar as spares to equip the 24 F-16C/Ds ordered by the Iraqi Air Force.

In addition, three spare AN/APG-68(V)9 radars were delivered in 2014 to equip the Royal Omani Air Force’s 14 F-16C/Ds. Furthermore, a total of 45 AN/APG-68(V)9 radars were supplied to Pakistan between 2009 and 2014 as part of a mid-life update to bring the same number of Pakistan Air Force F-16A/B jets to F-16C/D status. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, a total of 18 AN/ APG-68(V)9 radars will be delivered to the Royal Thai Air Force by 2017, modernising 18 of the country’s 39-strong F-16A/B fleet.

Other significant recipients of the AN/

APG-68(V)9 include Turkey which between 2010 and 2014 received 165 examples of this radar to modernise its F-16C/D fleet. In terms of architecture, the AN/APG-68(V)9 was an improvement on the legacy AN/ APG-68 models, adding a range increase of circa 30 percent and a SAR mode.

Other US radar supplies include the 70 Hughes/Raytheon AN/APG-63(V)1 systems delivered between 2007 and 2014 to equip the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15J fighters of the Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF). The AN/APG63(V)1 version of the legacy AN/APG-63 radar can track 14 targets simultaneously, six of which can be attacked, according to published sources. Meanwhile, the Royal Jordanian Air Force received 17 Westinghouse/Northrop Grumman AN/APG-66 80.9nm (150km) range X-band radars to equip its F-16A/B aircraft between 2007 and 2009, with 22 Lockheed Martin AN/ APG-67 X-band 79.9nm (148km) range ra-

The Euroradar consortium’s CAPTOR-E will outfit the Eurofighter Typhoon with an AESA system, equipped with a steerable Swash Plate to enhance the radar’s field-of-view © Thomas Withington

dars being delivered between 2011 and 2012 to equip the KAI T-50I/TH/B Golden Eagle Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT) variant of the company’s T/TA/FA-50 Golden Eagle family fighters and LIFTs. The energy of the global combat aircraft radar market underlines the demand for such equipment, particularly in the AESA domain, to ensure that fighter pilots gain the maximum situational awareness, both regarding happenings in the skies and on the ground. Technology will continue to evolve to ensure that the radars adorning fifth-generation and beyond fighters provide ever-clearer representations of the tactical environment. The stage is set for radar to boldly go where it has never gone before.

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The Dassault Rafale-B/C Standard F3 fighter was designed from the outset to have as low a maintenance, repair and overhaul burden as possible. This includes the ability to change engines rapidly © Thomas Withington

Avoiding a Mid-Life Crisis The Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) requirements of military aircraft account for a significant portion of defence budgets around the world. Customers want high reliability and availability from their fighter, helicopter, transport and special mission aircraft, and they want it at a good price.

Claire Apthorp

T

his imperative to keep their customers flying where and when they need to at low lifecycle costs using simplified logistics models is increasingly driving aircraft manufacturers to build in easy to maintain and repair capabilities into their aircraft from the outset, thus reducing pressure on MRO budgets in the long term and making their products more attractive from the outset. For existing in-service aircraft this means getting innovative with the services they offer and, increasingly, streamlining MRO provision across customer groups to deliver availability at the right price.

Cost Savings In 2006 the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) embarked on the first phase of a 25-year contract with AgustaWestland (now Finmeccanica Helicopters) for the operational support of the Royal Navy’s HM.1 and HC.3/A Merlin naval support and medium-

The Royal Navy’s HM.2 and HC.3/3A Merlin naval support and medium-lift utility helicopters benefit from an MRO scheme developed by the UK MoD and the aircraft’s manufacturer which places a high premium on delivering value for money © UK MoD

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Air Power

lift utility helicopter fleet operated by the The Royal Navy’s HMA.2 Lynx Fleet Air Arm (FAA).

Wildcat naval support helicopter The contract, known as the Integrated has benefited from a similar MRO Merlin Operational Support (IMOS) approach to that developed for contract, is a total service provision which the force’s HM.2 and HC.3/3A includes technical support and publicaMerlin naval rotorcraft tions, spares supply, aircraft maintenance, © UK MoD configuration management, safety and risk management. At the time the contract award was expected to deliver support cost savings to the MoD of around $710.9 Mixed Requirements million over the course of the 25 years. This The helicopters supported unwas to be achieved by introducing a new der IMOS include the 30 HM.2 support model for the fleet, under which and 25 Merlin HC.3/3A, with AgustaWestland would be paid for achievthe latter two types (HC.3/3A) ing flight hours, along with incentivised being simultaneously converted by the arrangements associated with delivering company to the HC.4 and 4A standards agreed levels of aircraft serviceability, opfor amphibious support operations under erational fleet aircraft numbers and Royal the Merlin Life Sustainment Programme Navy Lockheed Martin Merlin Training (MLSP). Providing availability-based System (MTS) availability. The MTS is an support for such a mixed fleet at the right initiative to train HM.1/HC.3/A air and price presents a challenge for the company. maintenance crews in the aircraft’s opera“Cost reduction targets are built into the tions which uses a number of training tools, contract, typically ten percent, and that including flight simulators, to this end. requires innovation and continued focus Such a model relies heavily on a parton all aspects of the contract to achieve nered approach to achieve value for money the reduction,” Mr. Jones said. “Achieving for the MoD, and the results of the initial those cost reduction targets becomes more five-year phase were positive. On award of challenging as the fleet diversifies to meet the second five-year phase of the contract the growing needs of the front line; higher in January 2011 (valued at approximately numbers of the same spare in a single fleet $810.4 million), the company said that offers greater cost reduction than smaller together AgustaWestland and the Merlin batches of different parts.”

Project Team had “delivered major support In order to deliver, investment in repair cost savings while enhancing aircraft and overhaul centres and a focus on parts availability” under the initial phase. reliability and servicing intervals have “IMOS is an output requirement-based been key to reducing maintenance activity contract providing aircraft availability and extending the frequency of that activiwhich moves away from the traditional ty. “Reducing the maintenance burden and spares provision type of contract,” Simon improving parts reliability, coupled with Jones, vice president of UK government the ongoing review of all aspects of the business for Finmeccanica’s helicopter division, told Armada. “This incentivises us to improve parts availability and servicing intervals and ultimately reduces the time and cost associated with maintaining the aircraft. The service is continually reviewed and updated in line with customer requirements and identifies opportunities to further improve the effectiveness of the service or reduce the overall cost to Boeing has worked to develop a robust defence.” The most recent phase of the consystem for the MRO of the global C-17A tract was awarded to the company in March Globemaster-III fleet which is designed 2015. It is valued at approximately $824.6 around its Performance-Based Logistics model ©USAF million and will run until March 2020.

contract to reduce costs has become a key focus, away from the traditional provision of spares,” Mr. Jones continued. Finmeccanica is also continually seeking new technologies and capabilities to ensure that availability rates can continue to increase for its customers. “New aircraft design is focused on minimising both the cost of acquisition and the through life cost from the outset, and feedback from other rotary wing platforms provides the benchmarks and learning which are then built into new aircraft design,” Mr. Jones said. “The (AgustaWestland/Finmeccanica) HMA.2 Wildcat is the first aircraft to receive the benefit of this approach to design. It is a brand new aircraft which had through life cost and management designed in from day one and this was a key factor in the navy achieving 99 percent availability on the first HMA.2 naval support helicopters operated by the FAA; and as mentioned previously, this focus on reducing maintenance frequency and improved reliability all improve aircraft availability.”

This in-built maintainability is a growing requirement, with customers now paying much more attention to the long term support and training requirements and costs for the platforms they are looking to procure, recognising this is a key element in driving capability up and through-life costs down.

A Different Model Regarding fixed-wing aircraft, Boeing has developed a model to support its worldwide C-17A Globemaster-III strategic turbofan freighter fleet that allows it to leverage whole fleet cost savings across

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Like other aircraft manufacturers Saab has worked hard to develop a maintenance concept for its JAS-39C/D fighters which ensures a high availability, low lifecycle costs and a small logistics footprint © Thomas Withington

its operator base. This model is based on a public-private agreement designed around the concept of Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) in which customers pay for readiness, not specific parts or services.

Under the C-17A Globemaster-III Integrated Sustainment Program (GISP), Boeing provides all of its C-17A customers with fully-integrated and affordable solutions that ensure fleet readiness, enhance aircraft capability, extend platform life and reduce lifetime cost-of-ownership.

The arrangement ensures mission readiness by providing all C-17A customers with access to an extensive support network for worldwide parts availability, and has delivered some impressive statistics for a global fleet that logged its three millionth flight hour in May 2015 supporting military, humanitarian and disaster relief missions around the world.

According to the company, GISP “has become a model for the future of sustainment” and has sustained average mission readiness rates of more than 85 percent for the past ten years across its global C-17A fleet. Additionally, over a ten-year period from 2004 to 2014, C-17A support dollar costs per aircraft were reduced by 36 percent, the company adds. The tailored programme is designed to address aerospace support across the entire C-17 product lifecycle with a flexible offering that meets customers’ varying needs. This customer base includes, in addition to the US Air Force (USAF), the Indian Air Force, the Kuwaiti Air Force, the NATO Consortium (providing the Alliance’s Strategic Airlift Capability), the Qatar Emiri Air Force, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United Arab Emirates Air Force. “In

partnership with the USAF, the C-17A GISP virtual fleet arrangement ensures increased mission readiness by providing all C-17A customers with varied fleet sizes the benefit of access to an extensive support network for worldwide parts availability and economies of scale when purchasing materials,” a company spokesperson told Armada. “This brings spares and support closer to the action and makes the C-17A more affordable to own and operate.”

Boeing is fully responsible and accountable for total aircraft availability, executing programme management, sustaining logistics, material and equipment management, sustaining engineering, depot-level aircraft maintenance, engine management, long-term sustainment planning, Air Logistics Complex depot partnerships and the support of international military customers. This is conducted by support and modernisation teams located around the world, at USAF airbases, at management offices in Southern California, Georgia and South Carolina, and at supply and maintenance depots internationally. “Boeing on-site base support includes personnel for base management and operations support, field services and engineering technical support, aircraft configuration and data management, base-level engine management and 24/7 base supply support for spares,” the spokesperson added. “Other unique service requests when needed include aircraft recovery, flight line and back shop maintenance, support equipment maintenance and palletized seat maintenance.”

With C-17A Globemaster III production now having ended, the Boeing team has the task of transitioning the C-17 customer community’s partnering from production

36 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

to sustainment. “As the C-17A surpasses 20 years and 3 million flight hours, the same challenges that emerge on all out-of-production aircraft will become challenges for the C-17A,” the spokesperson added.

“Boeing is focused on using its repository of supply chain data, procurement and component repair subcontracts, demand planning and analytics, and global asset management infrastructure to proactively address and mitigate challenges related to material availability within our supplier base … while Boeing technical representatives and field engineering are embedded within each C-17A customer maintenance organisation to monitor aircraft structural, avionics, and mission system performance and to provide expeditious engineeringbased solutions and repair dispositions.”

Fast Jet Beyond freighters, fighters are increasingly supported under centralised programmes that allow the suppliers to offer economies of scale. In December 2015 Saab received an order from the Försvarets Materielverk (FMV/Swedish Defence Materiel Administration) to provide MRO and continuing development work for Saab JAS-39C/D Gripen fighter operations during 2016 on behalf of the Flygvapnet (RSAF/Royal Swedish Air Force). The order, part of exercised options of a framework contract signed between Saab and the FMV in December 2013, will see the company operate rigs, simulators and test aircraft for the verification, validation and operational support of the JAS39C/D and the forthcoming JAS-39E/F fighter due to enter RSAF service before the end of the decade.

Saab’s Performance Based Logistics contract with the FMV sees it provide a number of different support and MRO services for JAS-39C/D operators in Sweden, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Thailand.

“The main objective is to continue to deliver outstanding aircraft availability and low lifecycle cost for the Gripen operators,” Fredrik Bergkvist, marketing and sales director in Saab’s support and services business area told Armada. “Within this contract Saab provides technical services, depot level maintenance, and spare parts.

We also provide on-aircraft maintenance and we have recently received authorisa-

Air Power

tion regarding technical training from the Swedish Military Aviation Safety Inspectorate. As a result Saab now provides military technician training for military customers in accordance to a standard similar to what commercial customers work within.”

The overall goal for its customers, Mr. Bergkvist said, is aircraft availability, low lifecycle costs, a small logistics footprint, simplicity and, perhaps most importantly, affordability. Reducing support costs while securing high availability and increasing system functions is driving Saab to invest in key technologies, including improvements to built-in testing capabilities, reduction of maintenance requirements, increased reliability, redundancy, and improvements regarding the development and management of technical information.

MRO Trends A key aspect of keeping costs low is delivering a proportion of MRO work in-country

for the customer nation, and Saab seeks to find well-balanced solutions including working with local operators and partners where possible. This capacity to work locally is becoming more important to customers as security of supply becomes an increasing concern. “On aircraft MRO is more commonly of interest to be performed at in-country facilities and component MRO is usually a little less important,” Mr. Bergkvist said: “Saab has however noted an increasing customer interest in security of supply and this has created a slightly higher interest regarding in-country facilities also for components.

In-country component MRO facilities can also be a great asset to reduce turn-around times, and by this the investment cost for spare components can be reduced. Saab always strives to offer each customer a well-balanced solution considering initial investments, lifecycle cost, availability, turn-around times, investments in spares and components, existing in-country ca-

pabilities, customer strategy and synergies with other programmes.”

The other major influencing factor on MRO provision models according to the company is the increasing need for its customers to do more with less in the face of continued budget pressure. “(This) continues to challenge and move boundaries between operators and industry to enable utilisation of synergies between different customers and different programmes,” Mr. Bergkvist added. “This includes considerations regarding cooperation between customers and operators, as well as transfer of maintenance and support tasks and commitments from the customers and operators to industry.” He concluded by observing that “(t)he trend to transfer more and more of the support responsibility to industry appears to continue. The operators continue to focus on the actual operation and expect industry to be able to offer and guarantee long-term total support solutions.”

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Programme FOCUS

Coming to

a Theatre near You Airbus’ A400M Atlas strategic turboprop freighter is at the forefront of developments in new technology for a large transport aircraft. It is designed to carry up to 37 tons of equipment and perform all airlift-related missions, including inter and intra-theatre transport.

Joetey Attariwala 38 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

T

he A400M programme was officially launched and integrated into OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en Matière d’Armement/Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation) in May 2003. OCCAR is a European Union (EU) organisation tasked with the management of cooperative defence equipment programmes across the EU. The current intention of the

Programme FOCUS

The A400M programme has been ground-breaking in many respects, not least its certification process which is led by the aircraft’s manufacturer, and which certifies the aircraft for civil and military operations © Joetey Attariwala

Tragedy Like most major multi-national programmes, the A400M has seen its fair share of setbacks, most notably from a crash which occurred on 9 May 2015 in the southern Spanish city of Seville, where the A400M is built, resulting in the tragic loss of the crew and of the aircraft destined for the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish Air Force), and at the time conducting a first-flight test. The Spanish Military Aircraft Accident Technical Investigation Committee showed that power setting problems affecting three of the A400M’s Europrop International TP400-D6 engines led to the crash. This was precipitated by quality control problems in the installation of engine control software which resulted in only one of the four engines producing forward thrust during the aircraft’s take off, ultimately leading to the crash. This incident stalled the programme for some months following the accident; however, a recent trip by the author to Airbus’ facility in Seville has shown the company redoubling efforts to get back on track with its production, test and validation schedules. Indeed, the manufacturing halls and flight line were buzzing with A400M activity.

All A400Ms are manufactured to the same standard on which a customer

can add a relatively limited number of so-called ‘Configuration Items’ extracted from a catalogue. Air-to-Air Refuelling (AAR) hose-and-drogue pods or self-protection devices are some examples. Some operators are more strongly committed than others to using the AAR capability, but even in that case all A400Ms are capable of refuelling and it is only a case of whether any individual operator chooses to implement that. In order to keep each aircraft as similar as possible for different configurations between the nations, participating countries gave OCCAR the responsibility to manage upgrades.

A specific aspect of the A400M programme is that industry, in this case Airbus, is responsible for planning and performing the entire certification test programme, inclusive of flight tests. Some of these tests require military equipment or facilities, such as fighters for AAR, or a range for flare and chaff tests, so nations involved in the programme provide what is necessary but Airbus remains responsible for the achievement of the tests on behalf of the national military authorities responsible for aircraft certification. That means each delivered aircraft is certified for operation from its first day, and is delivered directly to the customer.

Portions of the A400M air show display routine include a signature high-speed pass, climb and 120 degree over-bank manoeuvre © Joetey Attariwala

participating states is to procure a total of 170 aircraft to be allocated as follows: Germany 53, France 50, Spain 27, United Kingdom 22, Turkey ten, Belgium seven and a single aircraft for Luxembourg, which is represented at OCCAR by Belgium. In addition to this, Malaysia has ordered four aircraft, the second of which was delivered in December 2015.

The remaining two aircraft are expected to be delivered to Malaysia in 2016.

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Like the French Air Force and the RAF, the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) is looking forward to increasing its A400M fleet, with the service expected to work closely with the UK and France on the aircraft’s further development © Joetey Attariwala

French Connection The Armée de l’Air (AdlA/French Air Force) was the first customer to receive the A400M. Its initial cadre of pilots were trained at the Airbus facilities in Seville, where the first Thales A400M Full Flight Simulator (FFS) was installed. Training is now performed at Orléans airbase, central France, were a training centre has been built with a FFS. The training is similar to the modern civilian world, with students undertaking 80 to 100 simulator hours.

Only one flight is performed at the end and this allows a new trainee to start operating the aircraft under the supervision of an experienced captain.

Lieutenant-Colonel Laurent (AdlA policy calls for personnel to be referred to by a single name only), the AdlA A400M Programme Officer spoke about the air force test and certification mechanism: “During the first year (August 2013 to August 2014), all A400M Atlas aircraft were operated by the Centre d’Expertise Aérienne Militaire (CEAM/Military Aerospace Centre of Expertise) which is the French

Air Force Air Warfare Centre. All aircraft and also all related resources like crews, technicians, tools and aircraft ground equipment were also assigned to the same CEAM unit along with the A400M Multinational Entry into Service Team (MEST) at Orléans. This team also hosted the UK and Germany to allow them to gain some knowledge on the French A400M before receiving their own aircraft.”

After this first year of AdlA Operational Test and Evaluation (OT/E), a first operational capability milestone was achieved, and the MEST was split into several units consisting of an operational squadron, training squadron and maintenance unit which departed from CEAM to enter the standard AdlA chain of command. From MEST, only an evaluation team remains under CEAM command to continue programme activities and OT/E for upcoming aircraft standards. All of these units remain at Orléans under a recently-created A400M wing. Since September 2014, any new aircraft is delivered directly to the wing, and can be flown

40 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

directly by the operational squadron if it is not a new standard. In the latter case, the evaluation team has to conduct OT/E before allowing the squadron to operate the aircraft.

AdlA A400Ms have amassed 3300 flight hours, out of which approximately 200 are for OT/E and 200 for training. The first aircraft are operationally used mainly for logistical missions carrying equipment and troops between France and its main operational theatres in Africa or the Middle East. “(The A400M) will achieve a next step when it will fully use its unpaved runway capability, and will deliver support from France directly to Forward Operating Bases.

The ultimate step will be to perform tactical missions, particularly airborne operations, directly from Europe to theatre. That is why it is a tactical aircraft with a strategic range.

It will allow our operations to shift from a hub and spoke model to a point-to-point concept,” said Lt. Col. Laurent.

With A400M aircraft starting to have tactical capabilities, the French training centre is now developing tactical courses

Programme FOCUS

The A400M is developing its ability to access unprepared landing strips, as well as conventional airfields, with the French Air Force playing an important role in this regard © Joetey Attariwala

for use of night vision goggles, low level flight, military systems and aerial delivery to keep in step with the advancement of aircraft capabilities. “In the near future (2017), a large proportion of our pilots will receive their initial training in Wunstorf, northern Germany, in a centre our German partner is currently building up. We have set up French-German cooperation on training based on pilot training exchange. Initial training will take place in Wunstorf and tactical training in Orléans. It is one of the main reasons why we ordered a second FFS which is expected to be delivered by 2019, and will help to train and maintain Section Leader pilots,” said Lt. Col. Laurent.

Helicopter Operations Airbus’ defence and space division, which is responsible for the aircraft, is continuing its work to clear many of the tactical capabilities which operators are seeking to exploit. In a recent trade media briefing held in late-2015, Airbus stated that the A400M has not been cleared for the AAR of helicopters due to turbulence encountered by receivers flying through the vortex generated from the A400M’s wing. Lt. Col. Laurent spoke about this situation: “With the delay in Airbus' development for AAR pods for helicopters, we are extending cooperation with our partners to fill that gap, but the A400M solution has not stopped. Despite some doubts expressed in the past months, Airbus identified technical solutions and is now working on them with reasonable promise of success. The

MRTT will become the base of our AAR capability, in particular for large-scale operations or strategic deployment. The A400M is expected to be used as a tanker …

It is also planned to provide tanker support to (helicopter operations), in particular for Combat Search and Rescue.”

One of the most sensitive aspects to the A400M programme is the Defensive Aids Sub-System (DASS) equipment which includes defensive flares, radar warning receivers and missile countermeasures. Most A400M operators are reticent to speak about the DASS, but one can safely assume that each operator has their own DASS requirements in order to make their aircraft as safe as possible for the operations that they will be used for. No DASS has yet been delivered to any nation; however, Lt. Col. Laurent spoke about this capability for the French A400M fleet: “In the self-protection domain, the first developments are to be completed soon, and the first devices should be delivered this year. For France (the ninth AdlA aircraft) is expected to have them implemented, initially for OT/E. We expect to have a first operational capability in early 2017.”

In February 2015, an AdlA A400M conducted an 80 flight-hour mission around the world spanning 16 days.

The mission served to check A400M compatibility with airbases overseas, to conduct OT/E on long-range crew activity (medical monitoring), and to promote the aircraft at overseas sites, notably the Avalon air show in Australia.

42 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

African Adventure Lt. Col. Laurent went on to say, “Although the A400M is not yet declared operational, the Air Force flew some sensitive missions in an operational area. In late December 2013, we brought (Jean-Yves La Drian, the French Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs) to the Gao landing strip in northern Mali, west Africa. On a day-today basis, crews appreciate the A400M’s capabilities, its powerful engines and its flight deck. The flight deck fuses all information to present a clear situation and it makes the two-pilot crew an operational concept (as it now is routinely on commercial airliners). As for unpaved runways, the capability is not yet fully usable and some work is still to be done to provide the crews with aircraft performance on such strips.

But we already know that for a large part of the payload domain, its ACN (Aircraft Classification Number) is between the TransAlliance C-160F Transall and Lockheed Martin C-130H/J Hercules turboprop freighters … Moreover, recent industrial trials conducted on a grass runway in Écury-sur-Coole in north-eastern France demonstrated good performance. After a year and a half of regular operation for logistical support, we already appreciate its logistics capacity. With a payload of over 30 tons, and a cargo hold allowing large loads, it goes beyond the classical performances of a tactical aircraft. And on the other hand, we can operate from small- or medium-sized airports just like other tactical cargo aircraft. We are very keen on seeing its operations on unpaved runways to experience its point-to-point concept at the maximum extent. With an aerial delivery capability to be cleared in the near future, we are going to enter a new concept of operation, performing airborne deployment from national territory directly to the right engagement point within the theatre.”

Programme FOCUS

As noted by Lt. Col. Laurent, Airbus has successfully completed certification testing of the A400M on a grass runway. The tests took place over a three week period at the Écury-sur-Coole airfield in September 2015 and examined the aircraft’s behaviour on grass and natural soil runways. According to Airbus, the heavily weighted A400M demonstrated excellent performance both in taxiing manoeuvres, such as U-turns, and during take-off and landing on the 1500 metre (4921 feet) strip. These tests followed earlier successful results on the gravel surface at Ablitas in northern Spain and will be followed by tests on sand surfaces in 2016.

On 22 December 2015, the French Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA/ General Armaments Directorate) national procurement agency took delivery of aircraft MSN31, their eighth A400M. This aircraft has the first parachute dropping ability in free fall over the rear ramp and through the side doors. It is also the first French unit with the infrared Enhanced Visualization System (EVS) to improve cockpit visibility.

The United Kingdom’s 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review outlines a recapitalised air transport fleet to enable its armed forces to intervene globally at speed. The report indicated that 22 new A400M Atlas aircraft will enhance the UK’s global reach. In 2015, Air Commodore Jon Ager, the then Air Officer Commanding

turbofan freighter, and it also gives us the tactical capability of a C-130J. The aircraft With the demise of C-17A has a cavernous cargo hold and we plan production, the A400M could become to exploit that for those loads that are too the only strategic freighter on offer from Western suppliers for some time big or too heavy for the C-130J. It’s a very to come © Joetey Attariwala capable aircraft and as we build up to our full fleet size we will shoulder the lion’s share of the strategic and tactical airlift for the Royal Air Force.”

Air Cdre. Lushington went on to say, “We have flown 70 Squadron A400Ms to Malaysia, Australia, the United States, all over Europe, and I can tell you that we see a contagious enthusiasm when we arrive and particularly when we see other A400M operators. Our trip to Malaysia (in October 2015) was just such an experience, and it allowed us to discuss things like training, maintenance and ways to employ the aircraft. There are lots of working groups being set up (to these ends) so it is a very (AOC) of the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Air collegiate and exciting time.”

Mobility Command (AMC), which operates In other A400M news, Spain has the A400M, commented that the arrival of recently decided to temporarily delay the the aircraft into RAF service represents delivery of 13 of the 27 aircraft on order to a the biggest step change in capability for date after 2024, due to budget constraints. the service’s tactical air mobility force. He The first Spanish A400M is expected to went on to say that the RAF will use the be delivered in the second quarter of 2016, A400M’s inherent strategic capability and with the remaining 13 aircraft expected to state-of-the-art training system to equip be delivered by 2022. Airbus said it “greatly RAF crews for the high end operating envi- welcomes the agreement with Spain to ronment which they anticipate. restructure the delivery schedule of its A400M fleet in line with the country’s Light Blue evolving defence requirements and budAir Commodore Steve Lushington is the gets. This agreement brings clarity to the current AMC AOC for the RAF, and he told A400M production schedule into the next Armada that “We are very excited about the decade and ensures that the transformaA400M. It’s a cutting edge aircraft so we’re tion of Spain’s air mobility fleet through taking a measured approach and thinkthe introduction of the A400M is conducting very carefully about how to exploit all ed in a measured and sustainable way.” its capabilities. We’ve flown it all around Now that production of the C-17A has the world with various loads and to my ended, the Airbus A400M becomes the knowledge we currently have the most Western world’s largest military airlifter flying hours of all A400M operators. The and the C-130J’s greatest competitor. Airbus RAF has taken delivery of nine aircraft, has said that it sees potential for more than and we routinely see five on the line at 300 orders in addition to the 174 currently Brize Norton. The other four are delivered booked, and they have already responded for modifications and upgrades and all the to a number of requests for proposals and other things that are required when you have several campaigns underway. One can field a new capability. It is a rolling modisafely assume that budget pressures will fication programme which means we have affect every programme; however, if a custo factor that into the way we do our busitomer desires a multi-role capability and ness. The A400M offers us the ability to the ability to transport oversize equipment carry an outsize load like that which fits on by air, then the A400M could be the only the Boeing C-17A Globemaster-III strategic game in town decades to come.

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 43

operational FOCUS

War Without End?

The Afghan National Army has made important strides in helping to bring peace to Afghanistan, but it remains heavily reliant on foreign assistance © US DoD

In January 2015, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) transitioned to a noncombat support role to assist the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIROA) following more than a decade of combat operations against the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

Andrew White

U

S-led combat operations in Afghanistan commenced on 7 October 2001 and were intended to dismantle the Al Qaeda (AQ) insurgent organisation and remove from power the Taliban Islamist guerrilla movement which had been ruling the majority of Afghanistan since 1996, in the wake of the AQ attacks against New York and Washington DC on 11 September 2001. Codenamed Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) by the US, the campaign in Afghanistan has been a steep learning curve for NATO members and other participating allies, particularly in regards to the development of Counter-Insurgency (COIN) missions, notably their rapidly evolving Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Concepts of Operations (CONOPs).

Additionally, the materiel used to fight insurgents witnessed significant changes across a broad range of systems including small arms and light weapons, precisionguided munitions as well as tactical ground vehicles, rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft and reconnaissance capabilities.

Although significant lessons were learned during this period, the current operat-

ing environment away from Afghanistan continues to quickly evolve beyond the CONOPs employed there, notably as regards ongoing US-led combat operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) insurgent organisation which has occupied significant parts of these two nations and which Western and Middle Eastern Special Forces are widely believed to be engaging. Nevertheless, there are some critical aspects of the Afghanistan campaign which continue to be used in other combat zones helping to save lives and optimising NATO and coalition operations on land, in the air and at sea.

ISAF Mandated on 20 December 2001 following the adoption of United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1386, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was initially tasked with supporting the efforts of the Afghan Interim Authority (the first administration following the fall of the Taliban regime after the commencement of US-led combat operations) to improve the security of the Afghan capital Kabul. From October 2003, the UN authorised the extension of ISAF’s remit beyond Kabul into Afghanistan writ large. Both

44 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

the ISAF mission and OEF saw coalition forces working in close collaboration across Afghanistan with the country split into geographical Regional Commands under the leadership of specific NATO countries.

ISAF’s mission was to enable the GIROA to provide “effective security across the country and ensure that it would never again be a safe haven for terrorists,” according to official NATO documentation. “ISAF helped build the capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).

As these forces grew stronger, in agreement with the Afghan authorities, they gradually took responsibility for security across the country, and ISAF’s mission was completed at the end of 2014.” At its peak, ISAF provided a 130,000-strong task force from 51 NATO and partner nations with the transition to an Afghan-led security strategy beginning as far back as 2011. NATO has stipulated its intention to provide financial support to the ANSF through to the end of 2017 with options available for further support until 2020.

At the core of NATO’s Afghan strategy is the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan (NTMA) which worked in close collaboration with the Afghanistan Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Interior Ministry. “The

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operational FOCUS

Routinely used by NATO units, ANSF formations have only just began to operate in dark hours to exploit the element of surprise over adversaries © US DoD

NTMA, which was set up in 2009, focused which had occurred on 23 April 2013. Such on training initial recruits and building incidents clearly illustrate the delicate sethe institutional training capability of the curity situation currently being witnessed Afghan security forces, while the ISAF Joint in Afghanistan and why NATO’s mission Command was responsible for developing to continue the training and assistance fielded units through advice and assistance. of indigenous forces remains vital to the These combined efforts helped build up the future of this Central Asian country.

Afghan security forces from scratch to approximately 352,000 soldiers and police offi- NATO Conference cers (the ANSF includes the country’s armed Between 10 and 12 November 2015, NATO forces, plus its national, local and border hosted its Twelfth Lessons Learned police services),” a NATO spokesperson Conference in Lisbon, Portugal which explained to Armada. “Since its creation in focused on strategic macro-issues and the 2002, the Afghan National Army (ANA) has “numerous challenges” associated with incrementally progressed from an infantry- involvement in the country, including the centric force to an army, developing both lack of appropriate military capabilities fighting elements and enabling capabilities of partner nations, the risk sharing of such as military police, intelligence, route partners, political and military asymmeclearance, combat support, medical provitries within the Alliance, multi-national sion, aviation and logistics. By December cooperation, and relationships with other 2014, the ANA numbered more than 175,800.” institutions and agencies. “One major Additionally, the Afghan National Police change concerned the military capabili(ANP) force had reached 153,000 by Decemties of allies and partners. While many ber 2014 with the Afghan Air Force (AAF) nations suffered considerable losses in accounting for a further 6900 personnel, the Afghanistan, the ISAF mission accelerated NATO source continued. the transformation of many nations’ Cold Following the culmination of NATO War legacy forces towards expeditionary combat operations across the country in missions. For many nations in ISAF, this late 2014, the importance of developing a mission amounted to their first combat mature and experienced ANSF was clearly experience in decades. Confronted with illustrated on 8 December 2015 when demanding tasks ranging from stabilisathe Taliban attacked Kandahar airbase, tion to COIN, the forces of many Allies and one of ISAF’s former Main Operating partner countries had to adjust their trainBases (MOBs) in southwest Afghanistan. ing and equipment. As a result, today’s Meanwhile during 2015, in Herat Province, NATO is more experienced in conducting western Afghanistan Taliban militants complex operations far from home than launched attacks in apparent retaliation it was before 11 September 2001 and the against ANSF and NATO following the ansubsequent Afghanistan mission. Morenouncement in July last year of the death over, the experience that NATO gained of its leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in training indigenous security forces

46 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

may also provide a valuable asset in other contingencies,” the NATO spokesperson speaking to Armada added. Such experience could yet pay dividends if NATO deploys troops in the future to help restore governance, law and order, and end the ongoing civil war in Libya.

Tactical Lessons Beyond the strategic lessons learned for NATO, the Afghanistan campaign witnessed significant technological improvements as well as enhancements to TTPs and CONOPs, particularly for ground forces engaging insurgents in a highly complex operating environment.

One of the most notable achievements has been the development of ANSF COIN teams, trained, advised and assisted by the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of contributing NATO members including Australia, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), France, Germany, Italy, Norway, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US. One of the most notable achievements was the development of Task Force 222 (TF 222) established to respond to guerrilla actions in the Afghan capital. TF 222 was established in 2009 and was mentored by Norway’s Forsvarets Spesialkommando (Special Forces Commandos) and Marinejegerkommandoen (Marine Commandos) SOF as well as New Zealand’s 1st Special Air Service. TF 222 is also supported by an additional, national SOF unit (TF 333) located in Logar province, close to Kabul as well as TF 444 located in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. Such units have been trained to respond to the types of attack which continue to be regularly witnessed in Afghanistan (see above), with a particular emphasis on the training of indigenous forces to execute such operations, namely, a CONOP currently being utilised in Iraq to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces in their operations against ISIS, and also to train the Iraqi Army; and the Free Syrian Army fighting the government of President Bashir al-Assad in that latter country. This allows NATO to minimise its footprint on the ground with the US, for example, admitting to having deployed a Special Operations Task Force of just 200 personnel in Iraq to this end.

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 47

operational FOCUS

NATO special forces helped introduce red dot sights and laser designators to Afghan special forces providing enhanced accuracy in COIN operations © US DoD

Such units have been trained by NATO SOF in weapon handling, marksmanship, small team tactics, sniping and coordinating fire support (from both ground and air). Equipment used by formations such as TF 222 has included upgraded Kalashnikov AK-47 7.62mm x 39mm assault rifles fitted with Picatinny Rails for the integration of accessories including the Insight Technology AN/PEQ-15 Advanced Target Pointer/ Illuminator/Aiming Laser (ATPIAL), Surefire tactical torches and optical gun sights. In terms of optronics, units such as TF 222 employ night vision monocular goggles, which when used in collaboration with the AN/PEQ-15, provide a ‘Black Light’ capability allowing assault teams to enter a target building in darkness; a significant advantage over Taliban and Haqqani Islamist combatants equipped with standard AK-47 assault rifles, PKM 7.62mm machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades such as the Bazalt/Degtyarev RPG-7. The ANSF also employ the RPG-7 along with ‘flash-bang’ stun and high explosive grenades for room clearance and specialist demolition equipment for Method of Entry (MoE) purposes.

Rapid reaction drills, enabled by Ford Ranger trucks, allow ANSF COIN units to respond to an incident within the city limits of Kabul within minutes with engagements usually lasting no longer than a day.

Similar to the TTPs developed by NATO Special Forces teams operating elsewhere in the country, the respective task forces discussed above learned to adopt urban drills to counter deliberate

ambushes positioned by Taliban cadres in compounds and building complexes. Such tactics seek to drag ANSF and NATO forces into a killing zone or the “fatal funnel” as former USSOCOM commander, Admiral William McRaven explained.

Although such equipment as that discussed above provided the ANSF with a mature capability to counter Taliban attacks, NATO SOF continue to be involved in supporting their ANSF comrades in such actions, with SOF sources explaining to Armada how sometimes it was necessary for NATO SOF teams to lead ANSF units during an assault.

Airborne Tactics Another significant lesson learned during the Afghan campaign was the optimised utility of airborne reconnaissance assets, used to create Patterns of Life analysis of high value targets; perform the over-watch of areas during helicopter and ground assaults; and provide critical Communications Intelligence capabilities to find and fix enemy combatants.

ANSF special mission units and SOF teams are now supported by their own organic airborne reconnaissance assets including five Pilatus PC-12 COMINT aircraft. These aircraft will also support the ANA’s 9 Special Forces Commando Battalions or Kandaks, all of which were mentored by US Special Operations Forces in COIN, special reconnaissance and direct action missions.

Copying more mature TTPs demonstrated by their NATO counterparts in both Afghanistan and Iraq, the Kandaks performed their first night operation in July 2012 with the Afghan Air Force’s Special Missions Wing (SMW); a dedicated aviation unit which supports SOF operations, flying troops to their target using Mil Mi-17 medium-lift utility helicopters.

Founded in 2012, the SMW is tasked to conduct day and night operations in support of direct action, reconnais-

48 armadainternational.com - february/march 2016

sance, COIN and Counter-Narcotics (CN) operations on behalf of the Afghan MoD and Interior Ministry. Two squadrons are located in Kabul with a third in Kandahar with the latest addition to the SMW being an operational squadron located in Mazare-Sharif, northern Afghanistan. Squadrons are equipped with Mil Mi-35 attack helicopters, fitted with Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 23mm guns, Yak-B 12.7mm machine guns and S-5 57mm rocket pods for air-toground fire support.

The deployment of helicopters represents a significant enhancement in Afghan SOF capabilities, learning from their NATO counterparts how to use such aircraft for insertion, extraction and re-supply missions. Additionally, pilots were trained to discreetly deliver Helicopter Assault Forces (HAFs), offset far enough from their target (typically beyond eight to ten kilometres/4.9 to 6.2 miles) so enemy forces remained unaware of troop deployments in their area.

This allowed the teams to ingress a target area under the cover of darkness thus maintaining the element of surprise.

Protected Mobility Another lesson learned from NATO has been the utility of protected patrol vehicles. For over a decade of operations in Afghanistan, NATO forces have relied heavily on Mine Resistant/Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to minimise the casualties and fatalities associated with insurgent bombs.

In September 2015 the US government announced that ANA SOF would be receiving an additional 55 Commando Select vehicles from Textron Systems. The $56.2 million deal, under a US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) initiative, will augment the circa 600 vehicles already operating with the ANSF since an initial FMS contract was signed to this effect in 2010.

These latest vehicles will be delivered to the ANSF by the end of February, and will be equipped with 40mm automatic grenade launchers and .50cal machine gun turrets. They represent a significant increase in capability compared to legacy Ford Ranger four-wheel drives and AM General High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles also used by these units.

armadainternational.com - february/march 2016 49

operational FOCUS

Textron has been contracted by the US DoD to provide an additional tranche of Commando Select protected patrol vehicles to ANSF units © Textron

Small Arms Another major trend emerging from NATO’s campaign in Afghanistan is the emergence of sharp-shooting rifles with assault rifles proving insufficient to engage enemy combatants who would routinely ambush at ranges of one kilometre (0.6 miles) or beyond.

Unlike their counterparts in units such as TF 222 (see above), ANA SOF continue to rely upon US small arms including Colt Defence’s 5.56mm x 45mm M4 carbine, FN Herstal’s M240 7.62mm x 51mm machine gun, M249 Minimi 5.56mm x 45mm light machine gun, and Beretta M9 9mm x 19mm handguns, but they lack a longer range system.

The need for a long range weapon saw the British Army issued with Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) sharpshooter rifles like the Lewis Machine and Tool L129A1 7.62mm weapon providing long range firepower with sharp accuracy.

A total of 400 of these semi-automatic weapons were procured by the force as part of a $2.1 million contract in 2010.

Such a concept was not lost on NATO

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SOF who began to use a mix of these larger assault rifles to not only satisfy longer range engagements but also to increase the ’stopping power’ required to kill enemy combatants.

Traditional NATO-standard 5.56mm x 45mm assault rifles had come in for criticism for failing to kill enemy combatants, despite significant enhancements to ammunition. 7.62mm assault rifle variants such as FN Herstal’s Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle-Heavy and Heckler and Koch’s HK417 assault rifle have since been widely adopted by NATO SOF with the Netherlands Maritime Special Operations Force (NL-MARSOF) now pursuing a strategy to move away from its standard Heckler and Koch HK416 5.56mm x 45mm assault rifle/ carbine towards a non-standard NATO 7.62mm x 35mm weapon.

A Request for Proposals (RFP) was released by the Netherlands MoD in July 2015 for a total of 200 carbine variants of a 7.62mm x 35mm rifle, capable of engaging targets beyond 700m (2296.5ft), in comparison to 460m (1509.1ft) for 5.56mm x 45mm variants. The RFP has also called for the provision of accessories including Thermal Imaging (TI) and Image Intensification (I2) optics, laser designators, and tactical torches.

As one NATO SF source suggested to

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Armada, “As a platform for a lethal effect, SOF are always looking for overmatch.

Whilst strike operations may require short, lightweight and silent weapons with no need for long range capability, the reverse side for more conventional SOF such as Long Range Desert Patrols, will be for more accurate, longer range and larger calibre capabilities.” Reflecting on lessons learned from Afghanistan and considering the future operating environment, he continued, “Tomorrow’s SOF forces are going to have to contest a whole host of threats and their roles are ever expanding as governments seek to reduce the size of their armed forces, whilst still wishing to have the ability to maintain a strike force with strategic global reach.”

Conclusion NATO’s tenure in Afghanistan represented the bloodiest chapter in the Alliance’s history. Nevertheless, lessons learned regarding TTPs, equipment and training remain critical in today’s fight against insurgent groups worldwide with CONOPs generated in the Afghan theatre being heavily utilised and modified further for ongoing and future operations in Africa, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, there is no end in sight regarding the cessation of hostilities in this troubled country and at the tactical level, after-action reviews involving the ANSF and NATO will continue to highlight shortcomings in missions which will quickly be tweaked in order to maximise operational efficiency and reduce fatalities in future operations.

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