Cobweb Two Seven

Mission: Profile Fleet Support’s military target towing operations. Aim: Brief Australian Aviation readers regarding Fleet Support operations. Personnel: Sqdn Ldr Jorge Washington; Sqdn Ldr Bazz Turner; Flt Lt Alwyn Adkins; Flt Lt George Godfrey; Cdr (RAN) Pete Clark; Wg Cdr Jack Smith; Cdr (RAN) Tony Der Kinderen; Flt Lt Ray Whittman; Sqdn Ldr “Bomber” Brown; Cdr (RAN) Gary Northern; Wg Cdr Pete Condon; Wg Cdr Chris Mirow; Lt Cdr (RAN) Larry Mills. All now staff Fleet Support.

Following my arrival at NAS Nowra, I am immediately absorbed into a mission briefing concerning flying later this afternoon at 14:30 hours. We have been tasked to takepart in an Army Rapier missile firing exercise at Beecroft Point, Jervis Bay. We will be flying in Lear 35 VH-FOX, which will be called “Cobweb 27” for this particular mission.

Bazz Turner is handling our briefing session, and even as he speaks, an earlier Rapier firing is taking place with VH-FOX towing the target using almost 4,500 metres of cable (14,763 ft to be precise).

Bazz informs me that Fleet Support conduct their unique operation for all three elements of the Australian Defence Force, the RAAF, RAN and the Army. In times of joint exercise, this also extends to the Royal Malaysian and Republic of Singapore Navies, the Royal Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy, the United States Navy, and on occasions even to ships of visiting NATO countries.

Previously, joint exercises have been attended by Fleet Support target towing aircraft (now all Learjets) at Butterworth and Kuantan, both of which are Royal Malaysian Air Force Bases, and Singapore’s Paya Lebar airbase, and while working with the Kiwis . . . at both Whenuapai and Ohakea in New Zealand.

When involved with the RAN during the recent Gulf hostilities, Fleet Support conducted “follow the fleet” sorties where naval shipboard personnel were kept on their toes by the ever present threat of a surprise low level high speed attack by the Lears of Fleet Support. During Gulf preparations, up to four Fleet Support Lears were deployed with the sailing fleet. One aircraft, VH-SLJ, nicknamed “Sludge” by the men of Fleet Support, ended up on Cocos Island during September 1990, while VH-FOX was basing out of Diego Garcia during November as it wrapped up its involvement with the RAN.

When deploying overseas during exercises with the RAAF or RAN, Fleet Support aircraft deploy on an individual basis, not in company with the military aircraft involved.

So when did the ADF begin using civilian contractors for this type of operation? Lloyd Aviation kick-started the operation when that company was awarded the original contract covering the period July 1986 through till June last year. Warren Seymour’s Fleet Support then took up the reins on 1 July 1990 for a five year period.

So why did the government choose private contractors and they in turn Learjets? Low capital cost of the operation, as opposed to the military operating a target towing service of their own. Ease of Learjet maintenance, with ready spares access, and general high aircraft reliability. Unmatched structural integrity of the Learjet, which is also approved for wing hardpoint modification. T hen there is total compatibility of the Learjet 35/36 with the MT R-101 target reeling machines and the Hayes target system. T he Lear also has the ability to use a drag chute secure/release interface for banner towing. And last, but by no means least, Lear fuel economy and excellent overall target towing performance. T he Fleet Support operation from NAS Nowra proudly leads the world in successful target recoveries, working in close conjunction with Air Target Services Pty Ltd.

The full range of specialist air services provided for the ADF is:

Learjet radar targeting, tactical targeting and interceptor training, towing of Hayes air targets, Rushton LLHK targets, and banner targets. In addition, Electronic Warfare (ECM) targeting using specially modified and fitted Learjet aircraft, with MT R-101 reeling machines specially mounted under starboard wing hardpoints, and the specialised targets themselves, including custom modifications to these.

Fleet Support in conjunction with Air Target Services also provide target scoring systems, sleeve target systems, in addition to being able to provide an air target consultant service, along with air targeting operational training. Chief pilot Jorge Washington (different spelling from his cherry tree chopping namesake) leads a team of thirteen hand picked pilots, six engineers, a secretary and a storeman. Captain George Godfrey is in charge of Check and Training, with Bazz Turner overseeing Tactical Check and Training. All the crew either live in or near Nowra, with one exception, who commutes from the ACT. Each pilot logs between 70 and 80 hours a month and holds a current SCPL and are by CAA decree all ex-military fast jet pilots. They flew either F-111s, Mirages or even Phantoms with the RAAF, or Skyhawks with the RAN Fleet Air Arm. Almost to a man, they have each served 20 years plus in military service. The accumulated flying experience in the group amounts to 250 years of military flying, with over 300 years total flying logged.

Youngest pilot is Alwyn Adkins, 33, who took all the photographs included with this story. George Godfrey, who is near enough to 50, is the eldest flyer of the group. Speaking with George, we are amazed to find that his son John Godfrey and myself worked side-by-side in another service not all that long ago. It is a small world indeed.

The mission we are flying this afternoon will be with George Godfrey as Captain. T he passes off Beecroft Headland will be flown at around 500 to 1,000 feet, and the mission will be fairly “low profile”. I was hoping to score a ride to Williamtown for a manoeuvring target mission against a couple of F/A-18 Hornets. On this occasion though we are flying for the Army. Army personnel will be launching the second of two Rapier SAM missiles

It’s not really the usual manner in which profile stories I write for Australian Aviation come about. I usually contact them, but here was a case of reverse osmosis. They (Fleet Support) asked me if I would like to microscope their operation, and if I were to find it interesting enough, write a feature about it.

And there is certainly nothing dull about the operations of Fleet Support, based at NAS Nowra, NSW. So here we are at 10:00 hours local at the Naval Air Station.

Mission: Profile Fleet Support’s military target towing operations. Aim: Brief Australian Aviation readers regarding Fleet Support operations. Personnel: Sqdn Ldr Jorge Washington; Sqdn Ldr Bazz Turner; Flt Lt Alwyn Adkins; Flt Lt George Godfrey; Cdr (RAN) Pete Clark; Wg Cdr Jack Smith; Cdr (RAN) Tony Der Kinderen; Flt Lt Ray Whittman; Sqdn Ldr “Bomber” Brown; Cdr (RAN) Gary Northern; Wg Cdr Pete Condon; Wg Cdr Chris Mirow; Lt Cdr (RAN) Larry Mills. All now staff Fleet Support.

Following my arrival at NAS Nowra, I am immediately absorbed into a mission briefing concerning flying later this afternoon at 14:30 hours. We have been tasked to takepart in an Army Rapier missile firing exercise at Beecroft Point, Jervis Bay. We will be flying in Lear 35 VH-FOX, which will be called “Cobweb 27” for this particular mission.

Bazz Turner is handling our briefing session, and even as he speaks, an earlier Rapier firing is taking place with VH-FOX towing the target using almost 4,500 metres of cable (14,763 ft to be precise).

Bazz informs me that Fleet Support conduct their unique operation for all three elements of the Australian Defence Force, the RAAF, RAN and the Army. In times of joint exercise, this also extends to the Royal Malaysian and Republic of Singapore Navies, the Royal Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy, the United States Navy, and on occasions even to ships of visiting NATO countries.

Previously, joint exercises have been attended by Fleet Support target towing aircraft (now all Learjets) at Butterworth and Kuantan, both of which are Royal Malaysian Air Force Bases, and Singapore’s Paya Lebar airbase, and while working with the Kiwis . . . at both Whenuapai and Ohakea in New Zealand. circular and butterfly (figure eight) patterns are flown. When target towing for any service, much attention is paid to kill, hazard and safe zones, with the pilot at all times bearing these parameters in mind.

Numerous patterns are flown for infra-red air-to-air missile firings, using TVX-7 or TPT-4 Hayes infra-red targets, using tow cables of around 30,000 feet, or 9,144 metres. ( This is nearly five nautical miles. )

RAN low level Fleet Support missions are flown using a multicode system to identify the type of tasking required for brevity and ease of understanding, while standard multi-attack profiles are given the names of Sesame Street characters or similar easily remembered titles. Examples: Fozzie Bear, the Penetrator, Fleet Winder, Termites, ThreeAmigos, Funbuster, Fanjet, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Kermit, Oscar, Battle Box, Combat Split, Noah’sArk, Nutcracker, Polish Hand Grenade, Scissor, and Shark Bait.

Obviously we can’t examine all of these multi-attack profiles, so I have picked up on one in par ticular, which sounds interesting . . . “The ThreeAmigos”:

A low level attack by three Lears, side by side, at 250-290kt IAS, and at 30nm, aircraft 1 climbs. Positioning is thus 3-1-2, and at 20nm, aircraft 3 weaves over to 2 position on the opposite wing, while No 1 descends and accelerates to 280 knots IAS. No 1 then zig-zags at 15nm while No 2 weaves, and this process continues up to 5 nautical miles, the “kill” zone. The aim is to get at least one aircraft inbound undetected, even if the warships’s radar operators find the other two amongst the melee. Bazz Turner tells me that rarely do the Lears penetrate closer than 10 nautical miles before they are ID’d by the warship radar personnel. A sobering thought indeed!

I look over the figures for flying hours accumulated per annum on behalf of the three services. It is approximately 3,200 with the RAAF occupying 53%, the RAN 45%, and the Army just 2%, so I guess I am lucky to be going to be involved in Army Rapier firing activity later this afternoon. (These figures are based on Lloyd’s figures, as Fleet Support at the time of writing had yet to compile one full year’s stats for its own operation. )

For the radio buffs like myself who follow military flying, all RAAF missions are callsigned ‘Spider’, ‘Redback’ or ‘Cobweb’, with RAN tasking always callsigned as ‘Baldock’. One of the three RAAF callsigns, ‘Cobweb’, is also employed for all Army work. In formation, aircraft identify as ‘Spider 1 ‘, ‘Spider 2’ etc, but individually they use the last two digits of that aircraft’s serial number after the callsign rootword.

The following table shows aircraft in use at the present time, manufacturer’s serial numbers, military individual callsigns, sel cal and transponder codes.

The company radio frequency used by Fleet Support is 13. 3 MHz. When working with the RAAF F/A-18s, operational frequencies change periodically throughout the UHF military aviation band, so put your scanner into search mode and ye shall find. You may find them anywhere between 225 and 399. 975 MHz in AM mode.

While Fleet Support were unable to assist me with dogfight terminology, we have been compiling a glossary of terminology atAA and we believe that we have most of the information right. You will hear these words bandied around on the _ air during Fleet Support activity for the RAAF on UHF operating frequencies. ACM-Air Combat Maneuvering; Bag-Flying Suit; Bandit – hostile aircraft; Bingo – minimum fuel for safe return; Bogey. ­ approaching aircraft not identified; Break-sharp turn to avoid attacker; Buster- full power without afterburners; Check Sixlook behind you (also a greeting); Dash 2 -second aircraft in a two aircraft formation; Drone- gunnery or missile target; ECMElectronic Counter Measure; Elint – electronic intelligence gathering; Feet Dry- over land; Feet Wet- over water; Fights On – beginningof dogfight; FOO-Foreign Object Damage (ingested by engines); Furball- dogfight; Gas Passer- aerial refuelling aircraft; GIB-guy in back (in two seater); Gomer-dogfight adversary; Hack-aircraft used to ferry pilots/call to start stopwatch; Hangar Queen-aircraft always requiring maintenance or continually used as a source of spare parts; Jock- pilot; Knock I t Off -end of dogfight; Loud Handle- ejector seat handle; Mergedpoint where two aircraft come together; No Joy- no visual sighting; Nugget – new pilot; Nylon Letdown – parachute to safety; Poser – put down for bad pilot; SAM – Surface-to-Air Missile; Scooter -A-4 Skyhawk; Sierra Hotel – pilot’s swear slang for great; Speed Of Heat – Mach 1 (also said as Warp 1); Whiskey Delta – poor pilot, seldom used very cutting remark indicating weakness; Wingman-second pilot in two-aircraft pair, ensures leader’s six (rear) is covered.

At 14:31 hours, VH-FOX, callsign ‘Cobweb 27’ departed NAS Nowra with your writer on board, climbing to 1,000 feet and orbiting east of Beecroft headland. After five orbits, our Marquardt MTR-101 reeling machine had disgorged it’s target some seven kilometres behind us, allowing the Army it’s Rapier missile firing practice. A further five orbits permitted us to reelin the target. Crewing on this mission was two pilots, two Air Target Services personnel, one being in training, and myself.

Our thanks to the team at Fleet Support and also to the Department of Defence and the Royal Australian Navy for their permission to document so closely the activities of Fleet Support NAS Nowra.