Airforces

88 // MAY 2018 #362 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Column

that perform them. Strategic
transport aircraft would have been
categorised as those fixed-wing
platforms capable of long-range,
heavy-lift tasks into prepared, well-
established airfields. Meanwhile,
tactical fixed-wing and rotary
aircraft would be optimised for
shorter-range, rough strip/landing
zone operations, and far more likely
be close to, or in, actual combat.
However, aircraft such as the
C-17 Globemaster III, A400M Atlas
and V-22 Osprey now challenge
those binary and rather misleading
definitions, as they are equally
comfortable cruising the airways
at speed as they are landing on
rough terrain in hostile conditions.
Such platforms now deliver tactical
or strategic effect at range and
at pace, evoking and espousing
the very essence of air power.

Survivability
But recent operations have also
seen militarised airliners flying
directly into war zones, equipped
with all the countermeasures
necessary to evade and decoy
modern surface-to-air threats. It’s
now fair to say that the soldier’s
lament that air forces never get
them anywhere on time or in good
order is a thing of the past. UK
troops found themselves moved
from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
to Helmand via an eight-hour RAF
Voyager flight in comfort and on
time – the only thing that troubles
them now is the movie selection!
These new developments
have provided much greater
mission flexibility and allow
large volumes of equipment
and manpower to be flown ever

quicker and closer to the point

of employment. This has meant

that on-board equipment such

as electronic countermeasures,

ballistic protection and fuel inert

systems are increasingly being

designed into all airlift platforms

from the outset, in order to

maintain maximum flexibility, in any

scenario, and avoid the need for

costly and slow retrofits in a crisis.

The specialists

While the movement of large

quantities of people and kit

through what is known as the ‘air

bridge’ is the major driver for airlift

force design and structure, there

remain a number of niche military

air transport roles that require

specialist types or variants, and/

or role equipment and training.

One of the most quintessential is

airborne delivery, which includes

both paratroopers and equipment.

It might have been forgotten by

some, but the RAF’s most recent

campaigns in Iraq and Syria

actually began with extremely

skilful and potentially hazardous

air-drops of palletised supplies

to displaced civilians on Mount

Sinjar in northwest Iraq. That these

were conducted so accurately

and safely is testament to the

development in air-drop technology

and the skill of the crews.

Another role that’s the preserve of

the most experienced and skilled

in their trade is the support of

special forces. Here operations

can include night-time insertion

into remote and high-risk areas in

small teams, often working alone.

In such missions, the stakes are

high and the room for error small.

So next time you see a fixed-

or rotary-wing transport aircraft

fly past, don’t assume that it’s

on some mundane trip from A to

B, carrying the proverbial rubber

dog**** out of Hong Kong. It

is just as likely to be taking a

precious cargo into an operational

theatre, humanitarian aid to a

crisis zone or flying a group of

soldiers or marines into harm’s

way. The thing is, you’ll rarely

be able to tell, and anyway it

might do something completely

different on the way home.

Versatile, inherently flexible

and always ready to respond,

airlift capability might look like

the soft end of air power, but it

packs just as important a punch

and, more often than not, gets

the first and the last one in.

NEXT MONTH:

Light attack aircraft

Above: An RAF Voyager takes off from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, during a Red Flag exercise. The Voyager is the RAF’s sole air-to-air refuelling tanker and
also operates as a strategic air transport, with cabin capacity for up to 291 personnel and a hold available for freight. Crown Copyright

Above: Airmen from the 9th Airlift Squadron and 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron and personnel from the

Marine Expeditionary Brigade load vehicles into a C-5M at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan in October 2014. The US Air

Force’s C-5 is the largest military airlifter in Western service. USAF/SSgt Jeremy Bowcock

AFM