Exercise Willoh 95 — Aus/NZ Refuelling Inaugurated

On a practical level, this is how the Close Defence Relations (CDR) policy binding Australian and New Zealand defence forces has been implemented. The policy provides a blanket agreement to work together; the nuts and bolts are then defined by individual arrangements. Agreements signed last year included the areas of refuelling, air navigation and air electronic training at RAAF Base East Sale; and agreement to negotiate a common costing methodology to facilitate further practical CDR initiatives. These join more than a dozen other specific arrangements signed in recent years, including the agreement to base the RNZAF’s No 2 Squadron Skyhawks at NAS Nowra to work directly with the ADF.

Commander of the Australian detachment at Willoh 95-1, Wing Commander John Blackburn, believes joint training is a vital part of the Close Defence Relations (CDR) policy that has seen the Australian and New Zealand defence forces pursue an ever closer liaison in recent years. “If we get involved in any combat together, we must train together,” he says. His Kiwi opposite number, Wing Commander Gavin Howse, agrees. Howse is very enthusiastic about air refuelling. With the sort of capability the Australians can provide, the Skyhawks have a much expanded range of combat tactics and strategies open to them. No longer will they have to attack from predictable directions — they can circle around a target, refuel, and come in from behind, for instance. Or they could carry more weapons instead of external fuel tanks.

Howse believes there are also peacetime benefits. Skyhawks routinely deploy as far afield as Singapore. Normally that takes three days with up to five stops on the way to refuel, requiring the deployment and use of a massive amount of supporting facilities and equipment. With access to the Australian tankers, some Australian stops will be cut out. Implementing this will eventually save taxpayers money on both sides of the Tasman. Air refuelling was built into Willoh 95-1. The main strike exercises saw a mixed F/A-18 and A-4K strike force circle around the East Cape of New Zealand’s North Island and head south to make simulated attack runs against two mock airfields bulldozed out of the Central Plateau. They were supported by the 707 tanker. Defending forces, sortieing directly from Ohakea, were supported by TA-4Ks equipped with external tanks and fuel hoses.

Although the Skyhawk is slower than the Hornet — 420 to 450 knot (780 to 835km/h) cruise versus 470 to 540 knot (870 to 1000km/h) — the difference was not a significant issue. Typically, the Hornets flew air defence — either sweeping ahead to sanitise the skies of ‘enemy’ fighters, or running in direct support of the Skyhawk strike aircraft. Underlining their dual fighter-bomber roles, the Skyhawks also carried Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and were available for air combat while the Hornets were also involved in some of the strike activities. No live weapons were dropped, but Skyhawks and Hornets can carry munitions ranging from Hughes AGM-65 Maverick TV guided missile to various weights of LGB, ‘iron bombs’ and unguided rockets. The RNZAF doesn’t have laser targeting systems for its Skyhawks — they are a couple of years off — so plans are under way for the Australian aircraft to provide laser targeting for the Kiwis using the F/A-18’s FLIR pods. “Buddy targeting” worked well for the British during the 1991 Gulf War, though there are a number of limitations. FLIR pods on the F/A-18 are mounted on either the port or starboard fuselage stations, which limits the field of view to 150° because of the fuselage and wing of the F/A-18 itself. This will limit the kind of formations and tactics mixed forces can adopt.

Willoh 95-1 also featured dissimilar air combat training (DACT). Working with a dissimilar aircraft type is rare for most fighter pilots and both air forces eagerly seize the chance to utilise it. The 1980s era F/A-18 is a high performance fighter that would seem to be guaranteed easy victory over the 1950s vintage Skyhawk, which was originally a pure naval strike aircraft. Actually, the two are more evenly matched than raw statistics might indicate. Certainly the Skyhawk is often criticised for its subsonic performance and lack of radar guided missiles, but it is very agile, and the Kiwi examples have newer avionics than the F/A-18. Also, as Wing Commander John Blackburn of the RAAF’s No 77 Squadron pointed out, the real deciding factor is pilot skill. Blackburn added that the New Zealanders can hold their own against any other pilot in the world, and says there is a lot of respect for the upgraded Kiwi Skyhawks. I had the opportunity to watch a radar-controlled intercept between a Hornet and two Skyhawks. After several tense minutes, the Hornet “shot down” one of the Skyhawks, but couldn’t get the other. Before flying the strike missions during the second week of Willoh 95-1, RNZAF pilots had to qualify to refuel from the 707. This involved making a number of dry hookups and test transfers. I flew in the tanker on one of the early training flights, the only civilian permitted to do so, and was able to watch this process in action.

The Flight

It’s 8.45am on a grey day. There’s 6/10 cloud over RNZAF Base Ohakea, and rain doesn’t seem far off — but that happens every time I fly with the military. Entering the tanker, I’m ushered from the cramped forward section through an empty roller-floored cargo compartment into the rear passenger compartment. This particular aircraft, City of Richmond, was converted from a Qantas 707, retaining the original 1960s print-pattern vinyl lining along with 96 seats. The RAAF intends to refurbish the interiors soon in a widebody configuration. I’m joined by two military cameramen, two loadmasters, and a flight steward. The tanker normally operates with a crew of five — the pilot, copilot, flight engineer, and the two loadmasters; but it’s a combi aircraft and when carrying passengers or cargo, flight stewards are also embarked. At 9.30 we taxi to the end of the main runway and take off. The 707s acceleration is less than sparkling — though good by 1960’s standards when the aircraft was built. Fully laden on a hot day, the tanker requires a 3000m (10,000ft) run. Even with today’s partial load, we use most of Ohakea’s 2135m (7000ft) runway to get airborne.

The Boeing climbs in a tight circle over Ohakea and we enter cloud, heading east. A region from Ohakea to the Central Plateau, and east across Hawke’s Bay to the ocean has been reserved for military activity over the next fortnight. It’s less trafficked than other parts of the country and conveniently close to Ohakea. Cloud cover is almost continuous, but we eventually reach Cape Turnagain and fly north. The two drogues and hoses are deployed, trailing behind the wing in the slipstream. The drag these create is enough to affect fuel consumption; they’re normally released only when fuelling is imminent. Shortly we’re joined by a pair of TA-4Ks, which are themselves used by No 75 Squadron as tankers. One pulls up to the port side. The tiny green aircraft bobbles in the vortices generated by the big Boeing’s wing. I estimate it’s no more than six metres (twenty feet) from the wingtip. Our airspeed is about 420 knots (780km/h). The two loadmasters switch to high gear, peering through windows on each side of the aircraft at the approaching A-4s. With headphones and microphone equipment they are a visual monitor, but have no direct part in the refuelling process. That’s handled by the engineer on the flightdeck. This is a significant difference from the KC-135 series — the dedicated tanker uses a flying boom method, relying on a “boomer” lying prone in the tail.

The Skyhawk pilot deftly pushes the refuelling probe on the nose of his aircraft into the basket. It’s a dry run; after a few moments the Skyhawk breaks away and sits beyond the wingtip. When the Skyhawk flies off, we head north through scudding cirrus towards Mahia, looking for clear air. Around 10.45am, Wairoa pops into view — along with most of northern Hawke’s Bay. The loadmaster points out the other window at what look like passing birds. Within a few minutes we’re joined by two Skyhawks and two Hornets. The Hornets are big aircraft, but their grey paint fades into the clouds. By contrast, the Skyhawks stand out sharply with their three-tone green and grey. One of the Skyhawk pilots is going through the refuelling manoeuvre for the first time. He nudges up to the basket, misses, and tries again. This time the basket rides up the side of the aircraft towards the canopy. After another few false starts he pulls right back, moves forward, and makes contact. He repeats the successful contact several times. Then it’s the turn of the F/A-18s. The Skyhawks formate off the port wing, and a Hornet plugs into the port side, right in front of me, sitting there for five minutes taking on fuel. When it breaks away, the four fighters formate and climb away above us. Our mission is over, and we return through clouds and turbulence to Ohakea, landing two hours forty minutes after takeoff. Like all Boeings, the 707 shudders and flexes during the landing roll as the thrust reversers slow us down.

Tankers For The Raaf

The RAAF made the decision to obtain tankers shortly after purchasing its F/A-18s. These aircraft required inflight refuelling support to increase their effectiveness in operating across Australia’s wide northern expanses, and to extend their range in the maritime strike role. After considering a range of possibilities, the RAAF bought two additional Boeing 707 airliners from Saudia bringing its total to six. Four were converted to tankers, while two remained as multipurpose transports, the tankers returning to service during 1991 and 1992. Predictably there were a few teething problems bringing the tankers into service, initially there was a low mean time between failure (MTBF), but these have been resolved and the tankers have been described as “overall a good product”. Tragically, one of the transports — an ex Saudi aircraft — crashed during a training mission in October 1991 with the loss of all five crew, when the aircraft entered a flight configuration that rendered it uncontrollable.

As a combi aircraft, the 707’s internal arrangements can be switched between passenger seating or cargo space, or a mixture of both. Using the aircraft dually as a transport is cheaper than providing specific aircraft for tanking and transport, but carries the disadvantage that the aircraft may not always be available. In its role as tanker, the 707 uses standard airliner fuel tanks, with additional piping from the centre wing tanks to the drogue pods on the wings. The pods are the only visible aspect of the conversion. Maximum takeoff weight is 152,545kg (336,000lbs), of which 71,730kg (158,000lbs) is fuel. With full fuel and a flight time of no more than one hour, the tanker can offload up to 54,480kg (120,000lb) — but that ideal performance is normally not required. Fuel is pumped from the two wing tanks, fed when necessary from the main fuselage tanks. Transfer is either triggered by micro-switches on the drogue, or manually by the flight engineer. In the latter case, specific weights of fuel can be supplied. The transfer rate is limited by fuel system pressure limits on the receiving aircraft — the Hornet can run up to 50psi, which would transfer 910kg (2000lb) of fuel a minute. Normally the rate isn’t that fast. Manoeuvres while fuelling with a turn rate of up to 20°/sec are possible during the day. Night tanking is performed only straight and level because of the risk of pilot disorientation by the 707 wing dihedral.

These days, tanker operations are relatively routine and do not require massively extensive or lengthy training. The prospective tanker pilot first undertakes an intensive two day ground course, then flies two or three missions to qualify to fly the tanker. To qualify to refuel, fighter pilots are given a briefing session, then make six “dry plugs” under the instruction of a qualified pilot. Tanker missions fall into two categories; extending the range of aircraft on ferry missions; or providing a “towline” for aircraft engaged in strike, close air support (CAS), interdiction, combat air patrol (CAP), escort or other military missions. A typical ferry mission was the deployment flight to New Zealand for Willoh 95-1. The 10 Hornets from RAAF Base Williamtown deployed with the tanker and were given 1360kg (3000lb) fuel on the flight over. The Hornet can fly direct from Williamtown to Ohakea without refuelling, but the top up increased the safety margins, extending time in the air by around forty minutes.

Refuelling during strike or air-to-air missions involves a variety of manoeuvres. The combat aircraft can rendezvous with the tanker during the outward leg, and may do so again during the inward leg; or, if on combat air patrol, the combat aircraft can move to a prearranged rendezvous zone for refuelling, then return to their patrol area. In peacetime, the tanker can typically double the combat radius of a strike aircraft. Peacetime safety requirements mean that the fighter must retain enough fuel to land safely if the hookup goes wrong and no fuel is transferred. On an actual combat mission, the risk of failure to link would have to be weighed against the value of striking a particular target or remaining on patrol. The tankers are valuable force multipliers for the RAAF. Officially they are described as having “limited operational capability” in wartime. Actually, they would probably be used to their maximum capability in that event. Currently the RAAF is looking at options to extend the life of its tankers. Either way, the capability is firmly set to remain in place with the Australian Defence Force.