Two types of practice bombs can be
carried in the CBLS. Cylindrical ‘high-
drag’ stores simulate the kinematic
characteristics of retarded bombs such as
the Snakeye. These are used for low-level,
glide ive or glide 10 events, when the
slant range is short and the maximum
drop altitude is 5,000ft. For the higher-
level attacks — 5,000ft or above — ‘low-
drag’ bombs are used.
It’s worth noting that RAF Tornados
no longer carry practice bombs or the
CBLS. Instead they train with simulated
weapons. The AM still uses its ‘legacy’
systems because the attack proiles are
considered to be valid for training in
how to deliver modern smart weapons.
New Italian Tornado crews learn theirare easily identiiable wooden pyramids
or cubes that are located on the north of
a peninsula inside various white circles to
distinguish them from one another during
radio communications with the RSO
(range safety oicer). A series of cameras
are used to triangulate the impact of the
practice bombs on the targets, while
microphones detect the shockwaves from
the rounds during straing events.
Each target is assigned a speciic pattern,
an attack proile and inal approach
heading designed to ensure the weapons
cannot fall outside the perimeter of the
range. They are optimized for the various
weapons. For instance, the two straing
panels are conigured to minimize the
risk of ricochets. During Combat Aircraft’s
mission, all runs were made on target ive,
with level bombing that saw the Tornados
approaching the target at 200ft (gauged
on the radar altimeter) and 480kt
indicated air speed, with wings swept
to 45°. Even though this range is only
used in visual meteorological conditions,
Tornado crews still employ radar ixes on
surface features. They originally needed
such ixes to align the inertial navigation
system and compensate for ‘drift’. The
advent of GPS has negated this, although
it is still practised for training purposes
in case the ‘kit’ fails. The radar is also used
to mark the target — handy metal plates
are installed underground in the target
area to create a nice relective return. In
the inal target run the crew will utilize
the radar to ‘paint’ and mark the target
to make sure the bars in the head-up
display (HUD) are aligned correctly for
weapons release.‘PANTHER’SPECIALISTSThe 155° Gruppo ‘Panthers’ is one of
just a handful of squadrons in Europe
that specializes in the suppression of
enemy air defenses (SEAD) mission.
For this it relies heavily on the
Sezione Obiettivi e Guerra Elettronica
(Targets and Electronic Warfare
Section), a unit responsible for
compiling, updating and managing
the electronic warfare threat libraries
used by the ECR leet. Another
department — ReSTOGE (Reparto
Supporto Tecnico Operativo Guerra
Elettronica, the Electronic Warfare
Technical Support Department) —
deals with updates to the threat
libraries of the particular AM aircraft.
It is this information that is pivotal
to successful SEAD. Col Stefano,
commander of the 155° Gruppo,
says of the night operations at PISQ
that this location lends itself better
to night vision goggles, with less
light pollution. ‘The PISQ is really
dark and this helps us prepare
night SEAD scenarios tailored to
our needs. The basic training for
all the aircrews that are assigned
to the squadron takes place at the
Polygone [range]. This range ofers
a lot of threats, including real and
simulated air defense systems, and
provides immediate feedback on the
efectiveness of our tactics. The type
of scenarios the Polygone ofers are
quite basic in terms of complexity, so
we carry out the most advanced part
of our training during multinational
exercises. We deploy to Deci for niche
training — night SEAD with NVGs
— that would be diicult to arrange
and perform abroad.’http://www.combataircraft.net // November 2018 41