Swan song?

Under the Air 5190 Light Tactical Aircraft Capability (LTAC), serious funding for the aircraft’s replacement program finally started to flow in 1995, and following a planned 1997/98 down-select, $200 to $500 million was scheduled to be outlaid up until 2003/04 to fund the replacement capability. The Casa (now EADS Casa) C-295M and the Alenia/Lockheed Martin (now Alenia/L-3) C-27J Spartan were shortlisted while forward funding, and long term resources and personnel for the Caribou started to be drawn down in anticipation of the aircraft being withdrawn by 2002.

After further assessments, and despite the C-295M reportedly being recommended in early 1999, the ADF formally stated later that year that neither bidder was able to meet the requirement. Time consuming and expensive clarifications and re-bids by both manufacturers amounted to nothing when, in June 2000, the project was suspended.

The 2000 Defence White Paper again called for a Caribou replacement. Air 5190 was subsequently split into two phases; Phase 1A would address the urgent need to re-establish the aircraft’s support base and, to this end, the 2001 federal budget saw $100 to $150 million allocated to re-instate the spares and personnel pipelines, and to further extend the service life of the aircraft to 2010. The new Air 5190 Phase 2 re-commenced the process to replace the aircraft, but this program was replaced by Air 8000 Phase 2 in the 2004-2014 Defence Capability Plan. A decision on the Caribou’s successor was to have been made in the 2007/08 financial year, with service entry in 2012, although this milestone has since been deferred until the recommendations of the new Defence White Paper and accompanying Air Lift Review have been published.

In the meantime, sustainment of the Caribou fleet has become increasingly labour and cost intensive as the type is left behind by an air force which is in the process of rapidly moving forward and modernising itself. In his interview, AIRMSHL Binskin told us 38SQN’s workforce at Townsville was working “extremely hard” to keep the aircraft serviceable. “We’ve got an aircraft that was a great capability in its day, but is probably beyond its economical lifetime now,” he told us. “We’re just not getting the return for the hard work everyone’s putting in.”

Regardless of the results of the Air Lift Review and Air 8000, any new aircraft acquired to fulfil the light transport/battlefield airlifter requirement will undoubtedly be powered by gas turbine engines, and will have a comprehensive suite of modern avionics, navigation and self defence systems. In contrast, the current Caribou workforce supports radial piston engines, ‘steam gauge’ cockpit instruments, obsolete hydraulic and electrical systems, and has had little or no experience in working with modern communications and self defence systems.

“We’ve got an aircraft that was a great capability in its day, but is probably beyond its economical lifetime now,” CAF said. “We’re just not getting the return for the hard work everyone’s putting in.”

Therefore, the RAAF has proposed that the Caribou be retired by the end of 2009, and replaced by an interim capability of several leased King Air B350s to provide general transport duties, as well as a platform upon which the Caribou maintenance workforce and aircrews can be trained in how to operate an aircraft with gas turbine engines, glass cockpit FMS and other advanced systems to be found on modern types.

“The plan we are developing to be considered by government is for an interim aircraft based around King Airs to do that light tactical transport role, to supplement those with C-130s to do those larger loads that they need to do occasionally, and that will give the aircrews the skills with… modern systems… to be able to jump to the Air 8000 Phase 2” replacement aircraft,” AIRMSHL Binskin said. “The proposal is to take the three Army King Airs (from the Oakey based 173SQN) and supplement them with a lease of additional aircraft, and all of them will be 38SQN badged.”

As the modern King Air will require far less support than the Caribou, a portion of 38SQN’s maintenance workforce will be exposed to other, more modern types in the RAAF in order to increase their skill levels in maintaining some of the more advanced systems which will come with the Caribou’s eventual permanent replacement. “We’ll reduce the number of maintenance personnel dedicated to 38SQN to work on the King Airs,” said AIRMSHL Binskin. “Many of the maintainers will up-skill and transfer to other platforms such as C-17, KC-30, C-130 – so it gives us the chance to take some of the pressure off in introducing those current capabilities, and then have that workforce rolled across back into the Air 8000 Phase 2 capability when it comes in, so there are a lot of good things in this proposal.

“The proposal that Chief of Army and I have looked at together is to phase the Army maintainers into the rotary wing because they need that focus as they bring new aircraft on,” he added. “The Army pilots will stay Army as they come across to 38SQN, and in two or three years they’ll have the choice of being re-rolled into rotary wing because a lot of them are former rotary wing, or transferring across to the Air Force.”

The eventual Air 8000 Caribou replacement is still likely to be either the Alenia C-27J or EADS Casa C-295. The C-27J has long been reported to be the anointed choice with only the procurement method, force mix, and acquisition timetable to be decided upon. The Air Lift Review will no doubt have a major influence over this decision, especially in the final numbers when considered against additional CH-47D/Fs for Army. Other considerations will be wether to buy the C-27Js direct from Alenia or through the FMS route via the USAF/Army Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) program. Both have their advantages – the direct route would mean earlier access to airframes from Alenia’s Italian factory, while an aircraft common to the JCA would tie the RAAF into the US’s support network and upgrade program.

The future of the RAAF’s 12 aging C-130Hs, of which only about eight are currently available judging by the number of engine-less and sealed airframes noted on the ramp at Richmond in recent months, will also influence the final number of C-27Js to be acquired. These aircraft may be refurbished and retained until the early 2020s; they may be replaced by more C-130Js or perhaps the larger Airbus A400M; or alternatively additional C-27Js, some of which may be missionised, may be acquired to fulfil the C-130H’s primary tactical transport and special forces support missions.

“With airlift and Air 8000, we’re trying to work the timing – the availability of platforms that suit our needs, the ability to stand up project teams and the transition teams to go to it,” said AIRMSHL Binskin. “That’s the one we’re currently looking at quite closely as part of the White Paper to make sure we get the phasing right, not just from the dollar point of view but with people available to transition, and not have them stacked up on each other. I would prefer to be earlier rather than later with Air 8000 because we have the capacity to transition that one relatively easily, noting that we are building up the skills of the workforce from the Caribou so we can easily transition from that.”

No doubt many will miss the much loved ‘Bou’. The aircraft provided a sterling service during the Vietnam War, East Timor, The Solomon Islands, and during numerous civil defence emergencies in areas such as PNG. Its STOL performance remains remarkable compared to more modern, faster and less rugged types, albeit with light loads and, as the recent write-off of a Caribou in PNG demonstrated, with more consideration of the aircraft’s aging airframe.