88 // AUGUST 2018 #365 http://www.airforcesmonthly.comColumn Commander’s Update Briefing
NEXT MONTH:
Airborne command and controlthe Nimrod MRA4 airframes being
scrapped. The passing of the
Nimrod – which served the RAF
from 1969 until 2010 in MR1 and
MR2 maritime reconnaissance
form – is still mourned by many.
Since then, the UK has decided
to reinstate the fixed-wing maritime
patrol role with the arrival of the P-8
Poseidon, which, due to its maturity,
and the RAF’s selective placement
of maritime patrol specialists in
allied air forces/navies since 2010,
will enter service fully combat-ready
next year. Indeed, this is one lesson
that should not be lost: buying
platforms off the shelf does not a
capability make, and the creation
and retention of the crew skills
necessary to master the cat-and-
mouse nature of ASW is the most
demanding element to acquire.
The timing could not be better for
a return to UK fixed-wing maritime
patrol, as we see an increasingly
active and aggressive Russia
operating around and in UK and
NATO waters, and China doing
similar in the South China Sea- both with a significant surface
and even more significant sub-
surface component. Also, as the
UK sets about reintroducing its
carrier strike capability with the
Queen Elizabeth-class vessels,
the protection of the composite
task force will hinge to a significant
degree on the reach and capability
provided by the P-8 and its crews.
But no element of warfare stands
still and threats against surface fleets
can now come from a wide variety
of sources, most with increasing
standoff that can be measured in
hundreds, if not thousands, of miles.
Submarines too are becoming
increasingly quiet and harder to
detect. Ultimately, the maritime
patrol role is both becoming more
critical to sea control but also more
demanding as the world’s major
maritime powers increasingly flex
their muscles and contest the seas.
While the Nimrod was respected
as a ‘mighty hunter’, in keeping
with its biblical namesake,
Poseidon was the ancient Greek
god of the sea. In any future major
maritime conflict, the P-8 will surely
have to live up to his name.Above: A pair of Russian Navy Be-12s over Kronstadt, near St Petersburg.
Amphibious maritime patrol aircraft are now a dying breed, and the few
examples remaining in Russian service are operated exclusively from land
bases, to preserve airframe life and avoid accidents. Russian Ministry of Defence
Below: A classic Cold War-era maritime patroller, the P-3 Orion’s capabilities
have been sustained by a range of modernisation programmes. Brazil
acquired nine P-3As from US stocks in 2006, together with another three for
spares use. Airbus Defence and Space installed a Fully Integrated Tactical
System (FITS), as well as new mission sensors, communication systems and
cockpit avionics. Cb Silva Lopes/Força Aérea BrasileiraAbove: In the absence of a fixed-wing maritime patrol capability, the UK has relied on Royal Navy
helicopters to fulfil the mission in its home waters. On June 1, an 815 Naval Air Squadron Wildcat HMA2
helicopter from HMS ‘Diamond’ (left) shadowed the Russian Navy spy ship ‘Yantar’ as it passed through
the English Channel. Crown Copyright
Below right: As the major maritime nations increasingly project power over seas and oceans, the job of
the patrol aircraft is becoming potentially more hazardous. On August 19, 2014, this armed Chinese J-11B
fighter intercepted a US Navy P-8A over the South China Sea, in international airspace around 135 miles
east of Hainan Island. US Navy
AFM