combat aircraft

A

PAIR OF F35Bs

assigned to the ‘Wake

Island Avengers’ of

Marine  ghter attack

squadron VMFA-

carried out the  rst

combat strikes by a US variant of

the Lightning II on September 27.

Operating from the amphibious

assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) in the

Arabian Sea, the Lightning IIs struck

Taliban targets in Afghanistan’s

Kandahar province in support of

a ‘ground clearance operation’

as part of Operation ‘Freedom’s

Sentinel’. Following the strikes,

the F-35Bs recovered to Kandahar

Air eld before returning later to the

Essex. The F-35B detachment is a

component of marine medium tilt-

rotor squadron VMM-166(R), which

is tasked as the aviation combat

element (ACE) for the 13th Marine

Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

Meanwhile, Royal Navy Cdr

Nathan Gray made history when

he became the  rst pilot to land an

F-35B aboard the new Royal Navy

aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth

(R08) when  rst of class  ight

trials —  xed-wing commenced

on September 25. Full details of

this story appear on pages 76-81 in

this issue.

Above: F-22s that were able to

escape the storm have taken

up temporary residence at Joint

Base Langley-Eustis. USAF

TYNDALL RAVAGED

BY HURRICANE

TYNDALL AFB IN Florida was heavily

damaged when Hurricane Michael

struck the Florida panhandle region

on October 10. Although the 325th

Fighter Wing had evacuated at least

33 of its more than 50 assigned

F-22A Raptors and 17 T-38As to

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, several

of the aircraft in varying states of

maintenance were forced to remain

at the base, and could not be safely

moved in time. The 475th Weapons

Evaluation Group also evacuated

the bulk of its QF-16 full-scale aerial

targets and two E-9As Widgets, but,

like the Raptors, several jets had to

remain behind.

The category 4 storm, which came

ashore packing winds in excess

of 155mph (249km/h), caused

‘widespread catastrophic damage’

to the base. In fact, nearly every

building was damaged including the

hangars where the aircraft had been

stored. As Combat Aircraft went to

press the US Air Force had not been

able to fully assess the damage to

the aircraft that had remained at

the base, although it is thought that

17 Raptors were still at Tyndall. It

is also unclear how long the base

will remain closed or how much

the repairs to the infrastructure will

ultimately cost. In August 1992,

Hurricane Andrew struck south

Florida as a category 5 storm and

virtually destroyed Homestead AFB,

south of Miami. Due to the high cost

involved in making repairs that base

was never fully rebuilt.

reliable aircraft and that it is ready

and available in a short timeframe.

It combines a 737-700 fuselage with

the wings and undercarriage of

the 737-800. Above the fuselage a

 xed mounting houses a Northrop

Grumman multi-role electronically

scanned array (MESA) radar.

Boeing has only received limited

orders for its 737 AEW&C, having

delivered six to the RAAF under the

E-7A Wedgetail designation, four

‘Peace Eye’ E-7s to South Korea, and

four ‘Peace Eagle’ E-7Ts to Turkey.

There has been no stated domestic

interest from the US Air Force.

Each of the three variants su ered

signi cant delays in service entry

due to mission system problems

and each is unique, with systems

integration carried out in-country

and largely bespoke in design.

Australia is already in the process

of signi cantly upgrading its

Wedgetails with new combat

identi cation sensors, tactical

datalinks, and communication

and encryption systems. Boeing

Defence Australia is leading the

three-phase upgrade, which should

be complete in 2022.

Why go Wedgetail?

The MoD says that the E-7 is a low-

risk, readily available, solution to

replace the E-3D, which is su ering

in terms of operational readiness

having been overlooked for major

upgrades. It’s worth noting that the

o cial news release from the MoD

speci cally referred to the Australian

Wedgetail-standard aircraft, rather

than the generic E-7 or 737 AEW&C.

This is due to a desire to make use of

commonality and the huge amount

of E-7 fault correction work (dubbed

risk reduction) completed by the

RAAF, which also operates the P-

Poseidon and F-35, mirroring the

UK. The ability to tap into existing

battlespace networks alongside F-

and P-8 will be a major consideration.

However, the assertion that the

E-7 is the only option as it is the

only suitable AEW&C aircraft in

production is misleading. The last

737 AEW&C that Boeing delivered

was to the Turkish Air Force in 2015.

Speaking to the House of

Commons Defence Select Committee

on October 17, Gavin Williamson said,

‘Other options that were there didn’t

have the same capability and level

of risk [that] had been taken out of

the Wedgetail program,’ adding that

the E-7A, ‘seemed the most logical

and cost e ective long-term route

to deliver a capability the nation will

need, with the greatest speed.’ He

was challenged that parts of the 737

AEW&C are ‘obsolete’ — indeed, the

Northrop Grumman MESA radar is

not currently being built and the 737

airframe on which the E-7 is based is

nearing the end of production.

AVM Richard Knighton, assistant

chief of defence sta (capability and

force design) argued that the Saab-

Airbus aircraft ‘doesn’t exist’, adding

that the A330-Erieye combination

was not ‘in manufacture’ and systems

integration was a complex proposal.

Williamson also dismissed the A330-

Erieye as a ‘paper aeroplane’.

Key questions will surround

cost and potential UK industry

involvement. It’s worth noting

that all current E-7 customers

were able to conduct considerable

in-country work, which included

 tting-out of the airframes after

initial examples were completed

by Boeing. Indeed, work for UK

industry is already on the table as

the ‘green’ airframes (whichever

variant of 737 is available) will

clearly need signi cant conversion

work to accommodate the required

mission systems.

An F-35B departs from the deck ski ramp of the Royal Navy

aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08), while a second

waits its turn to take off. Crown Copyright/Connie Hempel

ALSO

THIS

MONTH...

T-X winner

Boeing scoops USAF trainer deal.

See US News

UK Sea Kings retired

Last call for Royal Navy ASaC7s.

See World News

HEADLINES [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // December 2018 07