Extra Lift

So it comes as little surprise that the Abbott government is looking at acquiring additional KC-30 tanker transports and C-17 transports to bolster the current fleet. The first public suggestion of the additional aircraft came from Defence Minister Senator David Johnston, who told parliamentary press gallery media on a KC-30 flight during the multinational Exercise Pitch Black 14 in August that the government is considering the additional aircraft as part of the next Defence White Paper, which is currently in the final stages of development.

“When you get good service from a platform it prompts you to say, ‘why don’t you get some more?’” News Limited reported the Minister as saying during an interview aboard the KC-30.

“It [the KC-30] allows us to go anywhere in our region and far and away beyond that. ”The Minister was also quoted as saying acquiring additional C-17s is a “no-brainer”.

And it appears Senator Johnston’s comments are more than words, with industry and project, training and support elements across Defence and the RAAF reportedly spinning-up to support the possible acquisition and introduction of the additional aircraft. While no numbers have officially been mentioned, sources advise that four aircraft, two more of each type, are being considered.

Already the RAAF has undergone an amazing transformation of its airlift capabilities. Less than a decade ago it boasted a few second-hand 707s and 12 C-130J Hercules as its only strategic air transport assets, supported by tactical C-130Hs and the ageing Caribou.

Since 2006 six C-17s and five KC‑30s have provided real strategic airlift muscle, the 707s, Caribou and C-130Hs have all been retired, and the C-130Js have been primarily assigned to the tactical role and will soon be joined by the first of 10 C-27J Spartans.

The C-17s and KC-30s have the ability to provide significant uplift of materiel and people over intercontinental ranges in a matter of hours, but it is important to note that there is currently no published operational requirement for any additional KC-30s or C-17s.

However, the current Defence Capability Plan (DCP) hasn’t been updated for more than two years, and the previous Force Structure Review, Force Posture Review, and Defence White Paper commissioned by the previous Rudd/Gillard Labor governments have all but been left behind by rapidly changing world events and increased tensions in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Asia. So ministerial commentary provides our best measure of the government’s thinking ahead of next year’s White Paper and DCP.

Additional KC-30s

Despite being managed as a ‘Project of Concern’ by the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) because of ongoing delays in the airworthinessauthorisation of the aircraft’s new Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS), issues with the wing-mounted hose and drogue system, human-machine interface and other software-related development problems, and ongoing supportability issues the KC-30 has been performing an increasing number of strategically important transport and refuelling tasks.

In recent months the KC-30 fleet has operated a nonstop training mission from Darwin to Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas, and has flown nonstop from Sydney to Anchorage in support of a RAAF C-130J deployment to Exercise Red Flag Alaska. In June a KC-30 performed an 11-hour nonstop refuelling mission from Darwin in support of RAAF F/A-18A/B Hornet and F/A-18F Super Hornet training missions overhead Amberley, Woomera and Tindal, before landing back at Darwin. And in August, despite being reduced to an operational fleet of just two aircraft in recent times, KC-30s supporting Pitch Black 2014 missions out of Darwin and Tindal flew from Amberley onan almost daily basis to refuel aircraft over the exercise area.

AIR 5402 is now expected to be removed from the Projects of Concern list in the coming months following the successful completion of trials of a significantly upgraded boom and other enhancements, with the project proceeding towards delivering a full operational capability (FOC) in 2015.

To this end, two RAAF KC-30s have been specifically tasked to Airbus Defence & Space at the company’s Getafe facility near Madrid in Spain for trials of the enhancements which culminated in a successful inflight refuelling between the two aircraft using the boom in July. These two aircraft are due to receive the approved modifications in the coming months before returning to service with 33SQN at Amberley.

“With the boom we’re quietly confident that we’re moving in the right direction,” Commander of the RAAF’s recently re-named Air Mobility Group (AMG), AIRCDRE Warren McDonald told

Defence sources say seven or eight KC‑30s gives the fleet much more flexibility.

Australian Aviation in July. “Testing is progressing well and there have been no aberrations that we cannot resolve. 2014 is the year that AMG prioritises aircraft availability to DMO so as to support the project [to] provide the necessary resources and aircraft to Airbus so as to ensure success by December 2014 of the boom and pod programs, while ensuring we continually mature the capability back in Australia. ” “The mods include software drops, boom and refuelling pod upgrades, and there have been some physical changes too,” he added. “The important thing is it’s much improved and is meeting test expectations. Following the test modification programs the two aircraft in Spain will return to Australia by the end of this year or very early 2015. The focus will then shift to receiver clearance activities in readiness for the F-35, P-8 and Growler, while clearing in-service aircraft such as the E-7 and C-17 for AAR on the KC-30. ” So with the aircraft already successfully supporting one of itsprimary missions – the air logistics support (ALS) role – and soon to be cleared for the air-to-air refuelling mission, work can start on slowly ramping up the squadron to FOC.

“I must be careful as I move through the clearance program that we don’t try to ingest too many upgrades or modifications, as I must provide sufficient aircraft availability to 33SQN for them to expand AAR across AMG and Air Force,” AIRCDRE McDonald said. “But when 33SQN has gone from four aircraft and then drop back to one on occasion, it’s a big challenge – one of anything isn’t really a capability. The challenge for 33SQN will be in 2015 when aircraft availability improves and they’ll suddenly have to accommodate the complexities of maintaining four to five aircraft. ” A fleet of four or five large aircraft is seen by planners as a minimum in order to maintain a capability. This was proven in recent times with two of 33SQN’s KC-30s being in Madrid and one in maintenance, it wasn’t uncommon to get down to one aircraft due to serviceabilities. Defence sources say seven or eight aircraft gives the fleet much more flexibility, places less pressure on the maintenance workforce, and allows for a rapid surge in capability if required.

But with talk of possibly acquiring an additional two KC-30s, the momentum being built up in 33SQN may need to be further extended and maintained for another few years. While the time required to modify a ‘green’ A330 into a KC-30 is a relatively modest six to eight months, it will be the availability of A330s from the Airbus commercial line in Toulouse as well as any tanker conversions backlog the company has at Getafe that will primarily inform the availability of any new aircraft.

But that timing may work in well for the ADF which will be replacing its VIP special purpose aircraft (SPA) fleet from 2017. The two leased Boeing 737BBJs and three Bombardier Challenger 604s currently in service are beginning to show their age. In recent yearsavailability rates of the SPA fleet have fallen, and thus they are unlikely to be extended beyond the current lease terms. There has also been a push for a larger VIP aircraft with longer range and greater capacity for support staff and press gallery media, particularly after the March 2007 crash of a Garuda 737-400 at Yogyakarta in Indonesia in which 20 passengers died, including five Australians from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Federal Police and media who were following then Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on a tour of that country.

It is therefore possible at least one and possibly both of the additional KC-30s could, if acquired, be equipped with a more appropriately configured forward cabin designed to support long-range VIP missions.

A VIP-configured KC-30 could retain its boom and wing pods as these are not easily removed and do not significantly affect aircraft performance. The aircraft could remain based at Amberley and either reposition to Canberra for VIP missions, or the passengers could be brought to Amberley on a smaller aircraft. It would still be necessary to retain smaller aircraft in the SPA fleet for domestic and near-regional missions, although these would not necessarily need to be as large or as long-ranging as a BBJ. The future of the SPA fleet is currently being studied by a team within Air Force Headquarters.

Industry sources indicate a team is already working on defining a revised KC-30 configuration with a view to accommodating a VIP cabin and possibly an aeromedical evacuation (AME) capability as well. But without a Defence White Paper, updated DCP, or indeed any clear direction from government, it is still considered early days.

Additional C-17s

The acquisition of additional KC‑30s remains a possibility as long as the commercial A330 donor aircraft remains in production and deliveries or sales prospects for the military version to France, Singapore, India and South Korea remain unfulfilled. But C-17 availability is more problematic, with Boeing announcing in September 2013 that it will close its C-17 line at Long Beach in California in early 2015.

“Our customers around the world face very tough budget environments,” said Dennis Muilenburg, CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security at the time. “While the desire for the C-17’s capabilities is high, budgets cannot support additional purchases in the timing required to keep the production line open. ” The closure comes after the completion of the delivery of 223 C-17s to the USAF in 2013, and a drying up of further export orders after the 42 aircraft built for Australia (6), Canada (4), India (10), Kuwait (2), Qatar (4), NATO (2), the UAE (6), and the UK (8) are delivered. In the hope of gaining a few extra sales, Boeing took the initiative to build an extra 15 ‘white tail’ C-17s, 13 of which are yet to find customers (‘white tail’ comes from the commercial world and refers to airliners built without a customer, and hence have white tails).

Boeing representatives told Flightglobal at the Singapore Airshow in February that it is speaking to “five or six” potential customers for these aircraft, “two to four” of which are not current operators. India is reportedly interested in ordering an additional seven to 10 aircraft, so it is fair to assume that any extra orders for Australia will likely need to be placed soon.

Any extra orders for Australia will likely need to be placed soon.

For a RAAF that once framed its view of airlift around the C-130, the C-17’s utility, reliability and strategic reach has been an extraordinary increase in capability. The idea to acquire the C-17 arose from the Bali bombings in 2002 and gained much more momentum after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 where the RAAF’s C-130s found it difficult to maintain an ongoing air-bridge between Australia and northern Sumatra.

The ADF quickly realised it needed a larger aircraft which could travel at jet speeds which could make a return trip from Darwin or Perth into Asia without encroaching on crew-rest limits – the C-17 was really the only choice.

Ten years later, the C-17 is now the ADF’s strategic workhorse, more than living up to its ‘Globemaster’ name. Today, where once the ADF’shub at Butterworth was the furthest a C-130 could realistically expect to fly in a day, a C-17 can now fly double that distance into the hub at Al Minhad in the UAE, with at least three times the payload. That effectively represents a six-fold capability increase.

Amberley

But big aeroplanes require big supporting infrastructure, and the acquisition of any additional KC-30s and C-17s will necessitate further upgrades at RAAF Base Amberley. The home base of 33SQN and 36SQN, Amberley’s new northern ramp area of the base has parking for just eight large aircraft and thus is already at capacity, so will require a significant extension in concrete ramp space and taxiway access to accommodate up to 13 aircraft.

But parts of the northern ramp area and nearby car parks were flooded in the catastrophic January 2011 floods when the Bremer River, which encircles the northern end of the base, broke its banks. So extensive flood remediation work in the form of levees and drainage channels would also be required.

And if the northern ramp were to be extended further north, the base’s explosive ordnance storage area would likely need to be relocated. Alternate options include an extension of the ramp into vacant ground towards the south, or a redevelopment of the former air movements ramp south of 82WG’s Super Hornet ‘carports’ in order to accommodate overflow aircraft parking. A second hangar for 36SQN’s C-17s alongside the new air movements terminal is already planned.

Still, finding space for additional airlift assets is a problem almost every air force would love to have. As the old adage goes, ‘you can never have too much airlift. ’