Force multipliers

The C-17 is rapidly becoming a true force multiplier for the RAAF, and the challenge for the Richmond based Air Mobility Command Centre and for 36SQN will be to ensure this amazing but expensive asset is used to its full potential. So far, missions such as the carrying of two Puma helicopters from South Africa to Thailand, or the 30-odd tonnes of medical and relief supplies to Papua New Guinea and to Burma in recent months, have demonstrated the potential applications of this Globemaster.

Likewise, the A330 based KC-30B tanker transport promises much when the first of five aircraft start arriving from next year. But with no upstairs cargo capacity and only limited opportunities to carry large numbers of passengers or to ‘drag’ squadrons of F/A-18s around, the RAAF is going to have to be innovative in its efforts to find meaningful day-to-day work for these large aircraft.

Suggestions for the acquisition of a reconfigurable low density interior for long range VIP missions have been made in recent months, and this would certainly help to offset the cost of buying a specially equipped VIP aircraft, but there is also the danger that it may detract from the KC-30B’s primary tanker/transport mission.

If only the cargo option had been available when we ordered the aircraft… At the lower end of the transport scale, the oft-delayed Caribou replacement finally looks set to be decided upon early next year following the release of the White Paper, and there is a real opportunity for the RAAF to maximise the potential of this aircraft. While we’re never going to replace the short field capabilities offered by the remarkable Caribou – except perhaps with more Chinooks – what we’ll get in exchange will be an aircraft with much more flexibility in terms of payload, speed, and compatibility with other transport assets such as the C-130 and C-17. With many of the operational missions currently flown by the C-130H/Js in the Middle East going out less than half loaded, a twin engined C-27J or even a C-295 could operate these far more efficiently and effectively than the much larger Herc.

Over in the fast jet world, there have been pushes from various interest groups and from within Defence to acquire force multiplying capabilities too. Witness the recurring calls for the RAAF to acquire some STOVL F-35B JSFs for use aboard the Navy’s forthcoming Canberra class large deck LHDs as part of the larger 100-aircraft New Air Combat Capability order. Proponents of the idea claim a fleet of a dozen or so F-35Bs would be used to equip an amphibious task force with four to six aircraft with which to provide sufficient strike, ISR and air cover capability until more substantial land based air components could arrive.

“Like it or not, the ADF’s new amphibious capability will be used at some stage and when used will mean the situation is a serious one, requiring serious and decisive firepower,” The Navy League wrote recently in its The Navy magazine. “However, without an airborne fire support capability, then all the LHDs can do is deliver our troops into the waiting gun sights of the enemy, in many respects just like at Gallipoli. ” While the Gallipoli analogy may seem a little extreme, the fact remains that the two Canberra class ships will be delivered with a ‘ski-jump’ bow specifically designed for launching STOVL jet aircraft.

And whilst not employed aboard an LHD, the F-35Bs would presumably have the ability to be operated in ‘conventional mode’ alongside their F-35A cousins.

But opponents say that any move to put F-35Bs on these ships will drastically undermine the core mission for which they were acquired, that being the embarkation of about 1000 troops, armoured vehicles, landing craft and about six to 10 MRH and ARH helicopters for the support of amphibious operations. They say an F-35B would take up two precious helicopter positions in the ship’s hangar, and that the ships have not been designed to carry sufficient air launched munitions and fuel to sustain air combat operations.

There is also reported to be considerable interest in acquiring a small number of EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft, assuming these would be available for sale to foreign powers, possibly as part of a larger second buy of Super Hornets should the F-35 slip any further to the right. While a Growler capability would certainly enhance the survivability prospects of the RAAF’s current Classic and forthcoming Super Hornets by being able to escort strike packages ‘downtown’, this is a very specialised niche capability that few air arms can afford to operate effectively without potentially compromising core competencies.