Protecting POTUS

Indeed, the aerial squadron that accompanied Barack Obama to Australia last moth was worthy of any king – and more than enough to make the October visit of Queen Elisabeth II look rather like a budget tour by comparison. Obama’s Air Force One was one of a dozen plus aircraft retinue that also included a US Air Force C-32A (757) a Delta Airlines 767-300ER carrying the White House press gaggle and six US Air Force C-17 and one C-5 transports (see Traffic this issue for details).

Those, among other things, were presumed to have carried Obama’s helicopter and a pair of his apocalypse-defeating armoured limousines – known as ‘The Beast’ – vehicles that bear a relationship to the average car similar to the relationship between an F/A-18 Hornet and the average Cessna single.

Speaking of which, the RAAF deployed a dozen F/A-18s to patrol the skies above Obama, just in case any propeller planes or other aircraft got any crazy ideas. That was just one part of a massive security rollout that saw Canberrans stuck in traffic jams (for once,) forced ‘First Bloke’ Tim Mathieson to walk home from Parliament House, and generally lent a certain unmistakable irony to a visit by the Leader of the Free World. Good thing this Leader of the Free World is largely popular, at least in Australia.

Planning for POTUS was a similarly exhaustive affair, beginning roughly six months before his arrival and building on plans that started months before each of Obama’s two previously cancelled visits, giving the RAAF plenty of time to liaise with another famous element of the presidential entourage.

“It was a unique experience to engage with the Secret Service,” Air Commodore Bill Henman, the RAAF’s director general of Air Command Operations, told Australian Aviation. “They’re obviously a very professional outfit. ” Under the Defence Act, flying armed fighter jets above Australian airspace in the absence of a military emergency requires the Governor General to certify that such an operation is for the “protection of Commonwealth interests. ” Not all heads ofstate make the grade, but neither are such operations particularly rare. For example, the RAAF patrolled above the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in late October.

“With CHOGM we had a longer period of time and a broader area of interest,” AIRCDRE Henman said. “With POTUS, it’s pretty simple. When he moves, we move. ” The planning began in meetings with Airservices Australia to determine whether and how much to restrict civilian airspace, which led to a two-tiered set of restrictions.

The first tier, within an 11 nautical mile radius of Canberra Airport, amounted to a civilian no fly zone with only security aircraft, scheduled commercial services, emergency medical flights and approved media allowed in the air during the POTUS window on November 16 and 17.

The restriction extended beyond traditional aircraft to include such flying objects as model rockets and unmanned drones.

The second tier of restrictions, covering a 90nm radius, required transiting aircraft to file a flightplan and contact air traffic control prior to entering the restricted zone.

Similar sets of restrictions were imposed over Darwin on November 17 as Obama stopped there briefly on his way to Bali.

Another set of regulations establishing an Air Defence Identification Zone laid out the procedures for aircraft failing to heed the restrictions. Under those procedures, aircraft wandering into restricted airspace were to be contacted by air traffic control – and those failing to respond, or failing to turn around, risked interception by F/A-18s.

The fighters’ main purpose, AIRCDRE Henman said, was deterrence. “In the end, if someone wanted to contravene the restrictions, they could. They could just get in an aeroplane and do it,” he said.

“What the Air Force brings, in addition [to the airspace restrictions], is the ability to respond. ” Aside from fighter jets, the RAAF also had an AP-3C Orion surveillance aircraft on standby during the visit and contributed several transport planes. Less visibly, the RAAF coordinated an effort tapping into military and civilian radar and intelligence networks that allowed commanders to quickly access a wide range of information about any aircraft that neared or crossed into restricted airspace.

The F/A-18s, of course, provided the pointy (and, for Canberra residents, noisy) end of the stick. Depending on the behaviour of an aircraft that entered restricted airspace, AIRCDRE Henman said, the fighters would run through set airspace procedures in concert with air traffic control, potentially leading to escalation of force actions by fighters if required. A typical intercept would include attempting to contact the pilot by radio, moving closer and making visual contact, and deploying flares or aggressive flying tactics to drive home the point. “If the situation progresses and we become more certain that there is intent on their behalf to threaten commonwealth interests,” he continued, “then we are cleared to employ lethal force. ” Fortunately, AIRCDRE Henman said, it never came close to that during Obama’s visit.

“We had the odd person who had not read or probably not appreciated some of the procedures. We had a number of people who came close to operating in restricted airspace. But we never had to escalate past the investigation phase. We never got to the point of being aggressive. ”

Travelling light

Technically, Air Force One is just a callsign, signifying any US Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States.

But to most of the world, Air Force One is a very distinctive blue-and-while 747 with the words ‘United States of America’ and the Presidential seal printed along the fuselage and an American flag on the tail.

Anyone watching the skies over Canberra and Darwin in November would have recognised it. In fact, they might have recognised it twice.

Since redundancy is never a bad idea, the President gets two version of the aircraft the world knows as Air Force One.

Substantially identical except for their tail numbers, both are heavily modified Boeing 747-200Bs, known by their US Air Force VC-25 designation.

Both Air Force Ones were delivered in 1990, during the term of then President George H W Bush, and replaced modified Boeing 707s (VC-137s) that had served since the early 1960s. The current planes are themselves expected to be replaced by 2017, likely by modified versions of Boeing’s upcoming 747-8 Intercontinental.

The stock version of the 747-8I features an upgraded interior with such amenities as LED mood lighting, but the President probably already has mood lighting, so who know what he’ll get.

For now, the President has to make due with simple amenities like a medical centre with an on-call surgeon, a pair of galleys capable of serving 100 people at a time, and a hardened communications room capable of withstanding an electromagnetic pulse.

The aircraft’s 4000 square feet of floor space, spread out over three decks, includes an Presidential suite with a conference room, a bathroom and an ‘Oval Office in the sky’ where POTUS can conduct important meetings in his Presidential wind breaker.

There’s also some private space, including Presidential sleeping quarters. Cue the mood lighting.