RAAF Combat Training Philosophy

The Mirage lined up on its standard approach path and made the usual smooth high-speed touchdown; the drag-chute released it taxied back to the busy flight line. A minute later a USAF F5E Tiger II performed a similar ritual – the “enemy” was home!

Neither aircraft sported gun damage, just a few hundred feet of highly critical film, for instead of firing cannon shells these two aircraft had just fought a classic interception battle using film for verification of “kills” that the entire squadron would later share.

This was August 1978 and the RAAF Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) based at Williamtown RAAF base was in the pressure cooker of learning the art of Dissimilar Air Combat Tactics (DACT – see our full coverage of DACT in the June edition of AADR) from the world’s hottest tighter pilots – the men of the 64th Fighter Weapons School based at Nellis AFB, Nevada and now of the 26th Tactical Fighter Aggressor Sqn based at Clark AFB in the Philippines.

The experience gained in this three-week course was rich for both sides. As the Mirage Ill and F5E are fairly similar aircraft in terms of performance, radar image and visual silhouette and in turn both tend to be very similar to the Soviet MiG 21, then the USAF Aggressor Squadron pilots of the 26th Sqn also picked up a few extra tricks that added to their repertoire.

The RAAF had on many occasions fought against foreign aircraft in tactical exercises. Indeed the Mirage air-to-air effort against the USN F14s will long be remembered for the morale-boosting gun film that is still watched by smiling Mirage pilots! However, this exercise was entirely different. For nearly three weeks the leading Mirage pilots, the instructors themselves from the Williamtown-based OCU, were to match wits against the famous Aggressors.

How did they fare? Well, that is always difficult to exactly analyse as many factors have to be taken into account as in concept the primary purpose of the exercise is to highlight new air combat techniques that the RAAF would perhaps not have been looking towards.

As we stated earlier, both the Mirage Ill and the F5E are aircraft of basically similar performance. The Mirage has a little more “sting” and the Tiger II makes up for the lack of brute acceleration with its exceptionally tight turning ability. Another asset the Northrop aircraft possesses is its longer legs and this is where many of the USAF “kills” were bagged, with the Mirage disengaging (this is done by action rather than by voice authority) and low on fuel the F5E could get off a Sidewinder at the departing combatant. Though this may sound at first a little unfair, it is timely to remember that this is exactly what would happen in the majority of true combat situations and therefore is fair practice. On this basis, the established kill rate tended to favour the Aggressors, though not by a large margin by any means.

It has to be remembered that the Mirage pilot spends his time in an environment split 50/50 between air-to-air training and air-to-ground training whilst the Aggressor pilot is virtually a professional air tactics pilot specialising in pure air-to-air and fighting against a wide variety of skilled pilots from various nations. Furthermore, to simply join the Aggressor Squadrons you have to be the creme de la creme in the first instance.

Overall then, it is felt that our much-maligned (usually by “experts” in the mass media who wouldn’t know an elevon from an oleo!) Mirage and her RAAF aircrew performed very well.

“We certainly learnt a lot and we hope they did too,” commented Flt Lt Gerry Keogh who has been flying Mirages for nearly a decade and has been an instructor with the OCU for -tour-and-a-halt years. Gerry flew over a dozen sorties against the Aggressors and feels that from the beginning the RAAF held its own in a very intense environment. Gerry will certainly learn a lot more about “intense environments” as he has been chosen as an exchange pilot and has already departed for Luke AFB, Arizona to fly the F15. Needless to say, he is the envy of the OCU!

Sorties against the Aggressors took the form of classic 1 v 1, 2 v 1, 2 v 2, 4 v 2, 4 v 4 and finally 6 v 4 which resulted in a very crowded sky. Each pilot flew two sorties per day with the entire unit flying 10 or so missions daily. Following each flight, there would be an in-depth analysis via gun film viewing and discussion between rival aircrews.

Most combat took place between 10 and 20,000 feet with no limits on either “g” pulled except to remain within the airframe limits or supersonic speeds attained. It is reported that the air-to-air manoeuvring was so fierce that maximum “g” was pulled on numerous occasions by both sides. One USAF pilot commented that the near new F5Es would need to be rebuilt after flying against the RAAF – perhaps a trifle facetious but certainly indicative of the high stresses placed upon the aircraft at the time.

The lessons and experience learnt by the OCU pilots and guest squadron representatives will now be filtered through to the operational squadron level.

Since the exposure to DACT tactics via the Aggressors the RAAF has played host to pilots of the Republic of Singapore Air Force flying venerable Hunters and Skyhawks. In turn, the Singaporeans left rich in experience and will now pass this knowledge down through to their squadron level.

For the RAAF Mirage pilot where does it all commence? Firstly, upon joining up for aircrew with the RAAF you cannot be certain that you will be posted to a particular command, whether it be fighters or any other type depending on your flying record rather than personal preference. All pilots do their initial training in the CT4 at the No. 1 Flying Training School based at Point Cook in Victoria. It is often felt that if you survive the dreaded CT4 then you are a damn good pilot! In all seriousness, the CT4 is far from being a loved aircraft though it does the job satisfactorily and turns out a sharp pivot. Time spent surviving in the little CT4 is 65 hours.

Riding the Ultimate Rollercoaster

I must admit that one of my major personal ambitions in life was to ride in the rear seat of a modern jet fighter. The fact that this rare opportunity presented itself on a visit to the Mirage OCU at Williamtown now leaves me with the problem of how to adequately describe this absolutely mind-boggling experience in mere words.

I guess that one can say that while I was always keen to sample the experience of flying in say a Mirage, I often felt that it could be a mixed pleasure. Would I really enjoy it or would it be more akin to going through a brick wall without slowing down! Here was the opportunity to find out.

From the moment the flight is approved you begin to realise that this is really going to happen to YOU, not somebody else, not tomorrow but in a few short hours. There is certainly plenty of pre-flight preparation to be done which is good as this tends to dissolve the apprehension like the Mirage drinks Avtur.

Being fitted into the correct size flying suit, checking for the right helmet and being briefed on the myriad range of rescue and survival items in the small space of the life vest takes roughly 40 minutes. The best one is learning, and remembering, the ejection sequence. “Right hand firmly on the tween-legs ejection handle \there is another handle at the back of your headrest but as the tween-legs handle is used more frequently I concentrated my memory on it solely), left hand firmly placed on right wrist, head back into the headrest, pull for all you’re worth (at least 20 pounds force) and prepare for the ride of your life. ” On pulling the loop there is a one-second sequence of canopy ejection, which I am told is like a “lifetime”, before you too join the trajectory of the canopy.

If there is a loss of thrust on takeoff then it is a matter of hitting the crash barrier and physically departing. the aircraft in a minimum of time and on your own. By this time I was strapped in from every way and despite my sincere efforts to become familiar with the myriad number of toggles and straps I preferred to remember that the ejection seat is certified for use at zero altitude. I was also not only nervous but a lather of sweat.

The cockpit of a Mirage is a very warm place to be particularly when you are taxiing under a 26 degree sun. Two immediate things that I notice through the many sensations (just SITTING in an ejection seat KNOWING that it is like diving amongst sharks and being reassured that they aren’t man-eaters!) is that the Atar engine is very quiet from inside the aircraft and, secondly, that you are very high off the ground, particularly in the slightly stepped second cockpit of the Mirage I11D.

For the 100th time I check my ejection, procedure, Flt Lt Gerry Keogh will call, “Eject, Eject, Eject”. I go on the first “Eject” – how could I forget! Then I check the release buckle for the harness, and the exposure for the camera and refresh my memory on the instruments, particularly the altimeter, G meter and airspeed indicator. We are on hold now, Gerry asks if I am OK, I assuredly reply, “Great”, and we roll out to join another dual seat Mirage for a formation takeoff and climb-out.

We hold for several seconds, I sweat and try to discipline my mind to take all of this in, to photograph it for future reference and for my stomach to simply stay where it is. The engine rev counter races to 8460 revs, the yellow afterburner light comes on and we are away. The immediate acceleration is quite devastating and I am firmly pinned back in my seat, my camera ready for a quick sequence of lift-off shots of the accompanying aircraft as we rotate at 3500 feet and around 170 knots. Through the excitement of it all the first thing that hits me is the overall smoothness and lack of noise from the aircraft; exactly the opposite to what I had expected of a supersonic fighter.

What does not surprise me is the speed of the aircraft. The surrounding countryside just disappears as we head over the long Stockton beaches in a northerly direction, the second Mirage never more than a wing tip or so from our aircraft. I have never experienced such positive control of an aircraft, particularly with the two flying at such close quarters.

This is certainly what RAAF flying professionalism is all about.

At around 2000 feet we head north with the other Mirage floating around setting itself up for various photo shoots. By this time I am totally engrossed in the experience and wish I had an unlimited number of frames in my camera, alas after several minutes of air-to-airs culminating in a nose-to-tail shot with our aircraft formating just aft and below the other Mirage’s tailpipe in a sweeping turn, I am out of the film and the accompanying Mirage must break away.

In a second it is gone, banking away and under power, it seems to totally dissolve into a void as if it had never existed. Gerry Keogh suggests he put the aircraft through some relatively mild manoeuvres, being no hero I had specifically asked that things be kept fairly mild as there are few things I hate more in life than negative “g”. Trying to maintain agility while pulling just below 2. 5g in a Mirage is like winning the Pools and not grinning! Gerry does the right thing and I can’t help feeling that maybe I am making this all very boring for him.

After several moderate turns, we head for the coast for a sample of the brute acceleration available from the Mirage. Just north of Nelson Bay we bank, flatten out at 250 knots, the now familiar yellow light illuminates and again I am slammed back into my seat. As the afterburner cuts in, the airspeed indicator climbs beyond belief and the fishing boats 500 feet below us become a blur. My memory tells me that we accelerated from 250 knots to around 500 knots in a little under 25 seconds, just as quickly Gerry deployed the air brakes and we decelerated at a similar speed – incredible, absolutely incredible. Some may call her the “aging” Mirage but she is still one helluva performer!

By this time we have consumed around three-quarters of our fuel and it is time to head back to Williamtown. My highly untrained stomach is beginning to complain and this together with the heat and sweat, which by this stage seems to be running into my eyes and mouth in a torrent, tells me that a back-seat ride on a real air-to-air mission would probably be unbearable without first acclimatizing to the purely physical sensations of the flight.

Like everything about this beautiful aeroplane, the touchdown was silky smooth, better than most commercial jets, the ‘chute deployed, and we quickly slowed and taxied back to the flight line.

It wasn’t till the canopy was raised that I fully realised just how hot it was inside the cockpit or for that matter that my flying· suit was drenched in perspiration. One thing I know for certain – THAT was the flight of my life.

The survivors then progress to Pearce, just north of sunny Perth where they spend an additional 160 hours on the Macchi 326H and get their wings. The Macchi is widely held as a very fine aircraft and a true pleasure to fly. From here it is up to the wisdom of various Selection Panels as to whether our young pilot flies a Hercules or a Mirage. You do have the option to offer a preference and this is given serious consideration though the final short-term posting depends upon current aircrew requirements. There was a period when the top pilots were automatically channelled through to fighter squadrons though this has more recently been amended so that all squadrons receive a fair sprinkling of the leading graduates.

If the Pearce graduate then is chosen to fly Mirages he will fly an additional three months or 55 hours with the Williamtown OCU again flying the Macchi 326H. This course concentrates on the various aspects of air-to-air manoeuvring, dive-bombing, strafing and flying against the Mirage itself. The real test comes as the new pilot then flies the OCU Mirage ID and O aircraft for a further six months or 120 hours. If this course is satisfactorily completed our pilot is then posted to an operational Mirage 1110 squadron – either No. 3 or No. 75 Squadrons based at Butterworth, Malaysia or to No. 77 Squadron based at Williamtown.

The training doesn’t stop there, however. Each active Squadron pilot flies about 30 hours per average month, as each mission represents between 50 and 60 minutes which equates to quite a lot of operational flying in terms of preflight briefings and completing paperwork, etc.

Just as the Mirage was a quantum leap forward from the Sabre, the new TFF winner, regardless of which aircraft it is, will propel the RAAF into a new regime of air superiority capabilities. Now more than ever we know we have the pilots to match the world’s finest combat aircraft.