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B-1 FROM NUCLEAR TO TACTICAL SUPPORT
NOVEMBER 2014
ISSUE #320
STRIKING BACK AT ISIL
OVERVIEW OF
RISE OF THE
OPERATIONS
F-15C
Pilot
Officially the World's
NUMBER ONE
Authority on Military Aviation | www.airforcesmonthly.com
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THE
BADLANDS
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Contents
November Issue 320
news
All the world’s military
aviation news, by region.
4-5
Headlines
6-8 United Kingdom
10-13 Continental Europe
14-20 North America
21-23 Latin America
24-25 Middle East
26-27 Africa
28-31 Asia Pacific
32
Russia and the CIS
34
Australasia
35
AFM’s
Dave Allport
reports on the latest
contracts & deployments
Grim Reaper Pilot
36
70
NATo Summit 2014 –
RAF Fairford
Around 30 aircraft flew into RAF
Fairford, Gloucester to support
President Barrack Obama’s
attendance at a NATO Summit in
early September. Ian Harding was
there to witness the spectacle.
36
Grim Reaper Pilot
The US Air Force announced in
March an intention to reduce
the number of aircraft based
overseas, Dick Wels looks at
the impact this may have at
RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk.
42
Mission Rehearsal
Exercise (Part Two) –
RAF Marham
74
NATo Summit 2014 –
RAF Brize Norton
In the second of a two-part feature,
AFM’s
Glenn Sands describes
how RAF Marham’s 31 ‘Goldstars’
Squadron aircrew conduct a GCAS
and how the RAF’s Force Protection
team prepares for its deployment
to Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Ian Harding spent a week a RAF
Brize Norton watching the comings
and goings of aircraft participating in
and supporting the NATO Summit.
84
editorial
AirForces Monthly
has a new look
and a fresh commitment to doing
what it does best – reporting on
modern military aviation matters
– accurately, in detail and
illustrated with exclusive images.
You’ll notice some tweaks to the
magazine’s presentation and
contents from this issue and
the team hopes you approve.
There’s a revised design, more
technical detail and deeper
operational analysis. When I was
at school,
AFM
was the ‘must
have’ aviation magazine – if you
wanted to know who was flying
where in the world and in what
it could be relied upon to know.
The demand for this information
hasn’t changed, and although
the internet has revolutionised
the way we receive our news, I
strongly believe that the printed
magazine and web complement
each other rather than compete.
Over the next few months the
digital side of AirForces Monthly
will be enhanced to ensure
the
AFM
‘brand’ continues to
be the number one source
for modern military aviation
news, whether you want the
latest details on a breaking
crisis or an in-depth report on a
country’s capacity to respond to
ever-changing global threats.
Squadrons around the world
are dealing with an extraordinary
level of commitment to ‘real
world’ operations. Many
are stretched to their limits
and being asked to conduct
longer deployments far
from home with an ever-
decreasing defence budget.
It’s not just about the jets,
bombers, choppers and
transports but also about those
who maintain them, fly them
and plan the operations they
conduct. The ‘new’
AFM
will
be going beyond the perimeter
fence to speak to the personnel
on deployment and the decision-
makers who will shape the
future of modern airpower over
the next decade and beyond.
78
ExERcISE REPoRT
Hot Blade 14
Kees Otten, Wim Das and
Koos Heemskerk describe
the multinational helicopter
exercise Hot Blade 14.
46
Striking Back at ISIL
Over the past month 12 nations
have joined US air strikes against
ISIL. As Alan Warnes outlines,
it is now under bombardment
inside Iraq and Syria.
84
E-2 Hawkeye VAW-123
50
ATF-25 Home from
Afghanistan
Personnel and aircraft of the RNLAF
task force finally returned home
on July 12 after a dozen years in
Afghanistan. Martin Scharenborg
and Ramon Wenink/Global Aviation
Review Press report for
AFM.
As the airborne ‘eyes and ears’ of
the US Navy fleet for 50 years, the
E-2 Hawkeye has been a critical
asset within carrier air wings. Ted
Carlson/Fotodynamics explains
how it has been protecting the
battle group all these years.
90
operation Market
Garden – 70th Anniversary
Kees van der Mark attended
the commemorations at
Arnhem in the Netherlands.
56
Merlins Move
Alan Warnes was at RAF Benson,
Oxfordshire in September to see
the RAF Merlin helicopter fleet
transferred to the Royal Navy.
92
Attrition
58
FoRcE REPoRT
Malaysian Maritime
Enforcement Agency
AFM’s
Dave Allport reports on the
world’s latest military accidents.
96
Debrief
Dzirhan Mahadzir updates the
progress of this unique force.
Reviews of recently published
books on military aviation.
64
ExERcISE REPoRT
Pitch Black 2014
Nigel Pittaway ventured to
Australia’s Northern Territory
to report on one of the largest
air exercises in the region.
98
Nice Picture
Glenn sands
AFM
Brand
editor
Cover: An RAF Tornado GR4 in its
sunshed at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus
being loaded with a Paveway IV in
preparation for another strike over
Iraq as part of Operation Shader.
© UK Crown copyright, 2014
www.airforcesdaily.com
#320 NOVEMBER 2014
3
NEWS
HEADLINES
UNITED AGAINST ISIL
Two Royal Australian Air Force
F/A-18F Super Hornets over Iraq
on October 5/6. This was their first
strike mission, although no targets
of opportunity were found. The
Australians have been operating out
of Al Minhad Air Base, UAE, since
October 1.
RAAF
S
INCE LAUNCHING air
strikes on August 7, the US
has persuaded many of its old
coalition partners to join it in the
war against the Islamic State of
Iraq and Levant (ISIL). Together
they will have to shoulder most
of the burden of air strikes in
Iraq, as that country’s military is
still building up its strike assets,
which include recently delivered
Mi-35M
Hinds,
Mi-28NE
Havocs
and Su-25
Frogfoots,
with L-159
Advanced Light Combat Aircraft
and F-16s also set to arrive.
Australia, Belgium, Denmark,
France, The Netherlands and
the UK have all committed
fighters since mid-September
that will focus on ISIL targets in
Iraq. A Middle Eastern coalition
comprising Bahrain, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates has also been
committed to striking ISIL in Syria.
driver from Manchester, was
delivering aid to the people
Syria when he was kidnapped
and Moslem leaders pleaded
with his captors to spare his life
on humanitarian grounds – but
their words fell on deaf ears.
Maliki’s legacy
Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nouri
al Maliki is being widely blamed for
ISIL’s ascendancy. Maliki, a Shia,
lost support from many Sunnis
because they were side-lined in his
Iraqi Government. He was ousted
and a new leader, Prime Minister
Haidar al-Abadi, formed a unity
government on September 8 with
Kurdish and Sunni deputy prime
ministers. This was intended
as a first step to undermine
support for ISIL in Sunni areas of
northern Iraq. Iraqi forces fled
and the Kurdish Peshmergas
were not strong enough to stop
the ISIL advance back in June and
July – when there were believed
to be 30,000 fighters in Iraq.
The next step is to train and arm
local armies with sophisticated
equipment. This will include
other regional troops, as well
as the Iraqi Army and Kurdish
Peshmerga, because ‘boots on
the ground’ will be required. Until
then, air strikes set out to destroy
the headquarters buildings,
command and control nodes and
finance centres run by ISIL. Once
these targets have been softened,
Middle Eastern troops will move
in as part of the overall strategy.
Broader coalitions
ISIL fighters in both Syria and
Iraq are targeted by two separate
coalition forces, with the US
playing a part in both. In Iraq,
Fourth Execution
Aircraft Involved in Iraqi Operations
Aircraft
USAF/USN/
USMC
Australia
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
France
The Netherlands
UK
Base
B-1B, F-15E, F-16A, F-22A,
F/A-18, EA-6B, AV-8B
KC-135R, RC-135
F/A-18F, E-7A, KC-30A
F-16AMLU
CF-18As
F-16AMLU
Rafale, KC-135FR,
Atlantique II
F-16AMLU
Tornado GR4, Voyager
KC2/3
RC-135W
al Minhad, UAE
Al Azraq, Jordan
not known yet
probably Ali al Salem, Kuwait
Al Dhafra, UAE
Al Azraq, Jordan
RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus
probably Al Udeid, Qatar
Notes
various Middle East bases
In its ambition to form an Islamic
caliphate across Iraq and Syria,
ISIL’s Sunni fighters have allegedly
slaughtered thousands of
people – many of them Moslems.
US journalists James Foley
and Steven Sotloff, and British
aid worker David Haines, were
reportedly beheaded in August
and September. Their deaths
were followed by the murder of
British aid worker Alan Henning.
A video purporting to show his
killing appeared on the internet
on October 3. Henning – a taxi
where the US began air strikes
against ISIL on August 7, jets from
six other Western nations have
joined an allied force. They are:
Australia (seven F/A-18F Super
Hornets based at al Minhad, UAE),
Belgium (six F-16AMLU forward
deployed to Al Azraq, Jordan),
Denmark (four F-16AMLUs to
Kuwait, probably Ali al Salem),
France (nine Rafale Cs), The
Netherlands (six F-16AMLUs
based at Al Azraq) and United
Kingdom (eight II [AC] Sqn
Tornados at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus).
Canada has said it is also willing
to send CF18s. None of these
countries have demonstrated any
appetite to attack targets in Syria.
That is being left to a coalition
of regional powers, including
Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
UAE, working alongside the US.
These Sunni states are regarded
as having brought credibility
and legitimacy to the campaign
against ISIL. They also illustrate
the divide within the religion and
illustrate that this is not a holy war.
The US is keen not to be portrayed
as invaders or crusaders.
The UAE military, not known
for its openness to the media,
released images of a female
F-16 pilot, Major Mariam
al-Mansouri, who took part in
the raids on the first night. And
it was also announced that
Saudi Crown Prince Khaled bin
Salman had flown one of the
Royal Saudi Air Force F-15S
during the same strikes.
4
NOVEMBER 2014 #320
www.airforcesmonthly.com
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news stories. E-mail the news team
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Aircraft Involved in Syria Operations
US
Bahrain
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
UAE
as per Table 1
F-16A
Mirage 2000-5
F-15S
Mirage 2000-9/F-16
various ME bases
Isa, Bahrain
Doha, Qatar
unknown
Al Dhafra, UAE
Right:
An F-22A Raptor operating out
of Al Dhafra, UAE, pulls up behind a
KC-10 for more fuel after strikes on
ISIL targets in Syria during September
23. This aircraft was part of a
large coalition strike package which
included fighters from the Middle
East.
USAF – Major Jefferson S Holland
The Pentagon announced that
by October 3 there had been 334
air strikes against ISIL, which it
said was forcing the terror group
to change tactics. There had been
248 attacks on targets in Iraq
and 86 in Syria. Pentagon Press
Secretary Navy Rear Admiral
John Kirby told reporters: “Not
surprisingly, they have got better
at concealment. Before the air
strikes…they pretty much had
free rein. They don’t have that
free rein anymore, because we
are now watching from the air.”
Strikes inside Syria have
forced the terrorist group to
disperse due to the bombings
on September 22/23. Kirby
said ISIL was being “degraded
but continued to threaten areas
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in Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq,
and parts of northern Syria
on the border with Turkey.”
He added: “We expect they
will continue to change their
tactics based on increasing
pressure, not just from the air,
but from the ground, with Iraqi
security forces. While the enemy
changes, coalition forces will
adjust too.”
Alan Warnes
For more on ISIL strikes
see pages 46-49
UK Tornado Strikes
MPs VOTED by 524 votes to 43 in
favour of military action against
ISIL in Iraq after a seven-hour
debate in the House of Commons
on September 26. It came two
weeks after the RAF deployed three
II (AC) Squadron Tornado GR4s
on August 12 from RAF Marham,
Norfolk, to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus,
initially for ISR missions over Iraq.
Operation Shader, as the mission
is known, saw three aircraft
deployed, later supplemented
by three more, with another
pair arriving in early October.
Within 24 hours of the vote, two
RAF Tornado GR4s left Cyprus
on a mission over Iraq. An
MOD spokesman described the
Tornados, armed with Paveway IV
and Dual Mode Brimstone (DMB),
as “now ready to be used in an
attack role as and when appropriate
targets will be identified”. The
aircraft returned after a seven-hour
mission which saw them refuelled
by an RAF Voyager KC2/3.
Six more missions passed
until they launched their first
weapons on September 30, after
two Tornados flew on an armed
reconnaissance mission to assist
Kurdish troops in north-west
Iraq under attack from ISIL.
The RAF patrol, using their
Litening III targeting pods,
identified an enemy heavy weapon
position engaging Kurdish ground
forces. One Paveway IV INS/GPS
guided bomb was used to attack
Above:
A II (AC) Squadron Tornado GR4 armed with Dual Mode Brimstone departs
from Akrotiri for the first UK strikes on September 30.
RAF-Cpl Neil Bryden
the ISIL position. Following this
engagement, the patrol identified
an armed pick-up truck in the
same area and conducted an
attack on the vehicle using a DMB.
Overnight, two more Tornados
went into action, supporting
Iraqi government forces west of
Baghdad. They were tasked to
examine a location suspected of
being used as an ISIL command
Above:
This targeting imagery shows
a DMB fired from a Tornado GR4
(possibly the above aircraft) on
September 30 making a direct hit on
an ISIL pick-up truck in Iraq.
RAF
and control position. They
identified ISIL activity and two
vehicles, one of which was an
armed pick-up truck. Four DMB
missiles were used to conduct a
precision attack on the vehicles.
A third air strike occurred on
October 1, as described by an MoD
spokesperson: “two RAF Tornados
on patrol over north-west Iraq, as
part of a coalition force, being tasked
to assist Kurdish ground forces
engaged in combat with ISIL. Our
aircraft pin-pointed the location from
which ISIL fighters were directing
heavy fire on the Kurdish troops
and conducted a precision strike
with Paveway IV guided bombs”.
Overnight on October 2, two
GR4s supported Peshmerga forces
advancing on an ISIL position and
attacked an armed pick-up truck
with a Paveway IV guided bomb.
Meanwhile it was announced
that II (AC) Squadron will not
now be disbanding as planned
on March 31, 2015, because
of the battle against ISIL.
www.airforcesdaily.com
#320 NOVEMBER 2014
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