Tactical execution

Th e Hornets’ success at dropping their live 500lb HE (high explosive) munitions, however, does not depend on the aircraft’s pilot or systems alone.

Increasingly for the ADF, a key component of the kill chain is the ground or air based Joint Terminal Attack Controller or JTAC, taught and trained by the RAAF’s recently re-formed 4SQN.

Born Again

On July 3 2009, then Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Mark Binskin announced the re-formation of 4SQN at RAAF Williamtown after a hiatus of six and a half decades.

Having formed in 1940 at Richmond, 4SQN went on to see active service using its Wirraways and Boomerangs in army cooperation missions throughout the South West Pacifi c Area, working closely with the Australian 7th and 9th Divisions and the US Army’s 32nd Division.

On Boxing Day 1942, 4SQN gained wide fame when one its pilots, PLTOFF J S Archer, became the only Wirraway pilot to down an enemy aircraft (reportedly a ‘Zero’). PLTOFF Archer was awarded the US Silver Star for his actions and his aircraft, A20-103, can be found on display at the Australian War Memorial.

It’s entirely fi tting then that the squadron was called back to service as the RAAF’s centre of excellence in the training of Forward Air Controllers, Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, and in the establishment of an operational Combat Control Team (CCT) capability.

A press release announcing the decision stated that “Th e new squadron brings together the former Forward Air Control Development Unit (FACDU) and [the] RAAF’s Special Tactics Project. It will train specialists who can work on the ground alongside Army units, or in the air, to coordinate the delivery of air weapons. ” 4SQN’s mission, therefore, is tosupport the tactical execution of integrated air combat eff ects.

Recent ADF experience as part of coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan gave further impetus to the establishment of 4SQN, and the squadron’s CO, WGCDR Stuart Bellingham, observes that that experience has driven the evolution of FAC and JTAC positions.

“For me, the biggest driver is the increasing complexity of warfare, particularly the airborne component. Th e kinds of weapons and platforms that are coming into being…and the fact that the adversary in the irregular warfare is a lot more agile and mobile than you would see in a conventional fi ght [has] resulted in us developing a capability within Air Force that can better support Army and provide a lot more fl exibility and agility by having people trained to a fairly high level in ground combat and special forces. ” In 2006, Australia became the fi rst country to receive JTAC accreditation from the US Joint Forces Command.

USJFCOM is the parent organisation that oversees the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) which defi nes common training, qualifi cation and currency requirements for JTACS of the US armed services and its coalition partners.

Th e MoA defi nes a JTAC as “a qualifi ed (certifi ed) service member who, from a forward position, directs the action of combat aircraft engaged in close air support and other off ensive air operations. A qualifi ed and current joint terminal attack controller will be recognised across the Department of Defense as capable and authorised to perform terminal attack control. ”

Squadron Structure

4SQN is by no means a large squadron – 65 personnel operate just four Pilatus PC-9s – but it can rightly claim to teaching the broadest and most physically demanding skillsets in the Air Force.

Th e squadron is divided into fi ve sections – A, B and C Flights, Maintenance and Administration.

A Flight provides and operates slightly modifi ed PC-9s so that those undertaking JTAC training courses run by the squadron may have an airframe with which to practice.

Apart from the all grey camoufl age, the other key modifi cation to 4SQN’s PC-9s include a diff erent radio suite and pylons able to carry fuel tanks or smoke grenade dispensers. In addition, high pressure tyres are fi tted to the aircraft’s original undercarriage (the rest of the fl eet being fi tted with the landing gear off the PC-7).

Management of such a small fl eet of non-standard aircraft is one of the squadron’s challenges. SQNLDR Troy Denley, 4SQN’s senior engineering offi cer, explains effects the juggling act: “We’re the only service unit that maintains PC-9s, but when we lose one aircraft, we lose a quarter of the fl eet. Also, we’re situated a long way from the main warehouses of stores (at East Sale and Pearce), but at the same time we don’t have the space to store the big ticket items like propellers etc. Th e other thing is, when we send aircraft away for maintenance, we can’t borrow another aircraft to replace it, because for Army and JTAC support, we need those specially modifi ed aircraft. ” Flying close air support (CAS) training missions is challenging and demanding work, involving much low fl ying between 150 and 3000ft and demanding acute situational awareness of the airspace above and the battlespace below. As the aircraft is essentially a trainer, it comes unequipped with mission specifi c avionics and is not, like the USAF’s FAC platform the OA-10A, combat capable. (However, the scope for Air 5428 states that the eventual replacement for the PC-9 “will also be assessed for their suitability for use by 4SQN and Air Operations Support Group (AOSG). If suitable, these aircraft will be acquired. ”) In the meantime, the squadron’s pilots operate the relatively unsophisticated PC-9 in the FAC role, calculating their run ins to the target area with a coaming mounted GPS and stop watch. During mission simulations, a number of fl ight profi les are fl own, in which the level of SAM threat is varied. If the ‘threat’ is negligible, thePC-9 will fly in a ‘wagonwheel’ pattern until called into the target area by a JTAC student, who may ask for a target to be visually marked.

“We carry six smoke grenades on each wing. In the PC-9, we have two different types of profiles that we fly,” 4SQN’s FLGOFF Scott Rushworth details. “When we fly we work out our height profile and our speed profile, because unlike a fast jet, we can’t exactly predict where our round will fall. It’s all about flying as accurately as you can and releasing at a certain time frame. Once we’ve come in and identified and marked the target, we get out of there and it’s over to the fast jets. ”

B Flight

SQNLDR Harvey Reynolds is the commander of B Flight, which trains and maintains the combat control team capability.

Its purpose is to integrate, synchronise and coordinate elements of advanced air and space power, which facilitate advanced force and precision strike operations. “It’s a long way of saying we coordinate air power from the ground. Basically, we’re on the forward command and control (C2) elements, embedded into a ground unit. ” 4SQN conducts the training for the RAAF and draws its students from within Air Force ranks. Students come from a variety of backgrounds, with the current course comprising physical instructors, air defence guards, pilots, ACOs and air traffic controllers.

The training is particularly rigorous, taking some 18 months to turn out a mission ready combat controller. “Our primary ground customer unit is commandos and SOC, so we do nine months of commando re-enforcement training, which includes the commando selection training course, learning their weapons, tactics, procedures, insertion, amphibious insertion, close quarter battle techniques and demolition. On top of that we have our air power courses, then a JTAC course. We do air weapons training at SAW (School of Air Warfare), where we do the aviation meteorological course that the ATC guys do, and we do airspace deconfliction training working with the School of ATC. ” The need to avoid friendly fire and noncombatant casualties have been a major driver of CAS and infantry support tactics.

As such, risk management and aversion is central to many countries’ rules of engagement (RoE), and part of being a combat ready controller means understanding the operational ‘caveats’ their coalition partners are working under. In practice, each country adopts their own RoE that are theatre specific, and the qualified controllers turned out by 4SQN will be briefed on them when deployed.

Collateral damage, or the avoidance thereof, has also propelled the major advancement of precision guided munitions (PGM) and precision strike in general.

SQNLDR Reynolds remarked on the impact of stand-off weapons and targeting pods: “The Litening pod, as fitted to the Hornet, is now pretty common across a lot of CAS aircraft, and it’s a significant force multiplier, especially when you put JHMCS (Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System) on it. If you have that system, it becomes a lot more rapid in terms of target acquisition. I can give a fix to a pilot who can then slave the targeting pod. Standoff weapons are changing the fight in that pilots can launch them sight unseen, and you have to trust them – that happens in Afghanistan with the B-1. You can use ground lasers or airborne lasers to correlate, or buddy lasing from ISR aircraft. There’s a lot ways to skin the cat. ”The differing lengths of training periods reflects the differing roles executed by JTACs and combat controllers. In accordance with current doctrine, ADF combat controllers are trained to plan entire operations, which oftentimes includes talking with liaison officers (usually a pilot from ACG) to establish communications with customer units, ensure appropriate ISR assets are available, and work with joint fires (for example, Army artillery or Naval gunfire). Whereas a JTAC will be responsible, as the name suggests, for the terminal phase of an attack, combat controllers, as SQNLDR Reynolds explains, are “responsible for coordinating all the information between the aircraft and the ground, the insertion platforms if we’re using helicopters, we may be directing other helicopters while in flight or in vehicles on the ground, and once we’re on the ground we’re on the move and talking to the ISR or EW aircraft, and if we need CAS we’ll talk to those aircraft as well. We’ll also have to deconflict that from ground, artillery and mortar fire and coordinate CASEVAC [casualty evacuation]. ” Since many of the recipients of B Flight’s training are deployed in combat zones overseas, the squadron has embarked upon capturing lessons learnt and folding those into future syallabi, a process overseen by 4SQN’s standards officer.

This officer is responsible for the training conducted by C Flight, which teaches the JTAC course.

C Flight

4SQN’s C Flight conducts the training of the ADF’s JTACS, and adheres to the requirements laid out in the JTAC MoA.

SQNLDR David Macready is the course’s chief instructor and the ADF STANDO for JTAC, and it’s his job to ensure that JTAC students leave the four week course able to talk to aircraft or artillery, are aware of performance characteristics of delivery systems, can pass standard format information to a pilot in order that the right profile be flown to the target.

At the time of Australian Aviation’s visit, SQNLDR Macready was overseeing the final exercise of a course, while the Flight’s training was being audited by representatives of the MoA’s executive steering committee.

Such visits confirm that the intent of the agreement is being complied with and ensure that Australian JTACs are fully trained for mission essential tasks.

According to SQNLDR Macready, students from the course come to the course from the Army, quite often the artillery, or from special forces such as Commandos or SASR. The balance of students are drawn from the Air Force, including pilots.

“We have pilots who generally get trained as a JTAC and as a FAC-A who is effectively a JTAC in an airborne environment.

They can coordinate the aircraft, find targets, pass information in a standard format, which is called a nine line, then they can prosecute a target either communicating with a ground JTAC or by themselves. ” According to SQNLDR Macready, planning is underway to have qualified FAC-As trained and deployed with Super Hornets and the Army’s ARH Tiger. Currently, aircrew having undertaken JTAC training can embark on one of two paths. “They can either stay at 4SQN where they’ll become a JTAC instructor, and they’ll also become a FAC-A on the PC-9, and the other half are people who are going to perform a ground role in Afghanistan, and once they’re finished, they go back to their Hornet squadron. ”

The Future

With the PC-9 to be replaced under the Air 5428 Pilot Training System project, a new platform for 4SQN appears to be on the way. And while the Pilatus PC‑21 is strongly placed as a contender, the competing Hawker Beechcraft T-6 (being offered by Raytheon and BAE Systems) is available in the armed AT-6 form which could suit 4SQN’s requirements nicely.

Developed in response to the USAF’s stalled Light Attack Armed Reconnaissance (LAAR) proposal, the AT-6 is a FLIR equipped, Hellfire and Sidewinder capable platform that comes equipped with a mission computer developed for the upgraded A-10C and one that would give the AT-6 a smart weapon interface and the ability to operate in a network centric combat environment. It is, however, a heavier version of the baseline T-6, and thus features an uprated version of that aircraft’s PT6A-69 turboprop, which may pose commonality challenges were the RAAF to consider operating a small number of these highly specialised types.

Certainly, the USAF has recognised that armed, propeller driven aircraft operating in combat theatres have several advantages over fast jet alternatives. Chief amongst them is loiter time and cost per hour of operation, and it is therefore not inconceivable that the RAAF would contemplate exposing a well armed and armoured CAS capable turboprop to a hostile battlespace sooner than it would a $100m F-35.

For now, 4SQN can look forward to conducting more JTAC training using increasingly complex simulators. In 2008, the US Joint Forces Command committed itself to expanding the scope of JTAC simulator training using such systems as portable flat screen displays and head mounted displays that give students unrestricted fields of views, and incorporates inputs from modified laser designators and binoculars.

In a parallel development, DSTO in Melbourne is developing synthetic environments in which JTACs can be trained in scenarios that involve aircraft ‘flown’ by pilots in simulators situated hundreds of kilometres away.

Such measures ensure that the ADF will continue to deploy a steady number of JTACs capable of operating with allied forces in any number of theatres, thanks to dedicated personnel of 4SQN who are not only good at meeting targets, but blowing them up as well.