The Labours of Hercules

Having itself accumulated 100,000 flying hours of service, the J model is entering a new phase in its service with RAAF Richmond-based 37SQN as it assumes the tactical airlift mission once the preserve of the (now retired) C-130H.

Australian Aviation profiles the status of the C-130J in service as it evolves to occupy the important space in Air Mobility Group’s order of battle between the heavyweight strategic airlift assets, the C-17A and KC-30A, and the future battlefield airlifter, the C-27J, due to enter service in the first half of 2015.

The labours of Hercules

The C-130J didn’t have the smoothest introduction into service, and the RAAF, the DSTO (Defence Science and Technology Organisation) and the DMO (Defence Materiel Organisation) would labour to rectify the myriad problems that plagued the newly introduced airlifter: immature software, lack of automated mission planning, high BITE false alarm rates, unreliable HF comms, deficient technical publication and propeller vibrations so severe the aircraft was prohibited from transporting explosive ordnance.

Fifteen years later, the J model is at the midpoint of its anticipated service life with the RAAF. Thanksto a concerted remediation effort by the DMO and Lockheed Martin, and a 10-year stint in the Middle East, the C-130J has now matured to the point where it is being entrusted with a range of roles beyond even those performed by its universally loved predecessor, the C-130H.

“It was a tortured entry, no-one is stepping away from that,” admits Commander of Air Mobility Group AIRCDRE Warren McDonald. “But now we’re living the dream of availability. A lot of credit goes to DMO and the joint industry team for that. It’s a much more reliable and capable aircraft than we’ve had in the past – it’s really well bedded down”.

It was the retirement of the C-130H, and the ongoing drawdown of Australian forces in the Middle East that provided the impetus for the J model’s role expansion. The 10-year deployment to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) has been transformative for the J model, according to Commander AMG.

“With explosive suppressive foam, armour, missile warning system and shortly LAIRCM, you can’t underestimate the impact of ops in the Middle East in making [the C-130J] a more tactical, hardened asset. ” AIRCDRE McDonald’s chief of staff, GPCAPT Carl Newman, observed how the C-130J’s expanding mission sets in the MEAO heralded the broader expansion of capabilities now well underway.

“Operating in a tactical combat environment, inter-theatre airlift, for which we traditionally used the E model was what the J was procured for. It was designed to fly to a main operating base and have a tactical asset move its cargo to a high threat area,” he said.

“The J model has morphed away from that and is doing direct delivery to a high threat area that involved a range of skill-sets that weren’t originally envisaged. And a whole bunch of capabilities like the armour and self protection…. it was already in that space, so the next level was to operate in a packaged, or heightened threat environment.

To act with our Special Forces required a role capability evolution again, and increases in skill levels and alsotraining in procedures and tactics for the crews. ”

Special Forces delivery

A newly-established position at 37SQN is the special operations air support (SOAS) flight commander, who is essentially concerned with applying the J model’s newfound capabilities at an operational, or squadron level, and ensuring they comply with airworthiness standards. One of the many essential capabilities his flight has overseen has been the J model’s assumption of Special Forces (SF) support.

The squadron leader currently posted to the role of SOAS flight commander at 37SQN has extensive experience with the Hercules on operations, and explained to Australian Aviation how the C-130J is being adapted to his demanding role.

“Can the J do everything we could in an H? My answer to that is ‘no’ and ‘more’,” the SOAS flight commander, who can’t be named, said. “We’ve not finalised clearances to do platform drop yet – but we’re working on it. But we can carry more weight out of shorter strips, are flying lower and operating with less limits in some areas than the H was. In terms of the physical limits of the airframe and how we’re employing it, we’re pushing the envelope of what’s achievable in some environments. ” Educating and engaging the SF ‘customer’ has been an important undertaking by 37SQN, which, the SOAS flight commander described, has best been done by demonstrating the C-130J’s tactical flying abilities. “A couple of months ago we took [some Special Forces personnel] out on a night flight. We were running profiles that would achieve a tactical insertion: low level, using NVGs into an unlit, unsealed runway. We were showing the customers what was achievable flying these profiles.

The conditions were poor, but not the poorest we can operate in. We demonstrated our ability to execute the landing with an operationally focused flight profile that could work for them. ”

84 Wing – the view from the top

GPCAPT Jim Ghee is the Officer Commanding 84WG, with responsibility for 34SQN, 35SQN, 37SQN and 285SQN.

He explained how the role expansion of the C-130J is evolving from an organisational perspective: “It’s a cooperative matrix. At the top is Commander Air Mobility Group. He will set some of theagenda, in terms of defining operational requirements. These are then outlined in the Capability Directive, which sets out what he wants the aircraft to do. For example, he might say ‘I want the capability for the J to do platform airdrop’. So it will be up to us to devise how this will be done. ” Platform airdrop, however, is not the only new capability the wing is in the process of introducing to the C-130J, which has seen a number of capability enhancements since its introduction. For service in the MEAO, these included fitment of a missile warning system (MWS) and countermeasure dispensing system (CMDS), along with explosive suppression foam (ESF). In 2005, the aircraft was made NVG capable, and recently added the ALR‑56M radar warning receiver (RWR) to its suite of self-protection measures.

Standard on the H model, but new to the J, the RWR was recently tested

Can the J do everything we could in an H? My answer to that is ‘no’ and ‘more’.

under simulated combat conditions in Red Flag Alaska by 37SQN and performed excellently.

One of the pilots of 37SQN at Red Flag Alaska described the environment in which it was tested: “It was all tactical flying, low level, by day. Airland delivery of stores on natural strips, and airdrop of personnel and CDS (container delivery system) stores.

All in a threat environment with ground simulated radar threats and hostile air threats. ”

Upgrade path

With the last block upgrade to its avionics a mere two years old, further enhancements to the C-130J’s hardware and software are being closely studied.

GPCAPT Ghee pointed to two significant upgrades, one planned and one mooted, that will further enhance the C-130J’s operational potency. The first is AIR 5416 Phase 4B2, the large aircraft infrared countermeasures (LAIRCM), which will see the RAAF’s large aircraft fleet equipped with this standard system of laser-based IR countermeasures. The other is AIR 5440, or the Block Upgrade Program (BUP), which is a series of upgrades being developed by international users of the C-130J, in conjunction with Lockheed Martin.

Currently, the Defence Capability Plan calls for two separate modification programs – Block 7 and Block 8. 1 – which will enable compliance with ever-changing air traffic management (ATM) regulations. Though the RAAF has, as yet, made no firm decision to adopt the upgrades, they would include fitting civil certified GNSS equipment, ADS-B, FANS 1/A datalink, which includes controllerpilot datalink communications (CPDLC) and air operations centre messaging. Also being considered are Link 16 and beyond line of sight (BLOS) satellite communication, vital to the Special Forces support mission.

For the moment, however, rigorous testing is underway to certify the J model for the airdrop mission. As GPCAPT Ghee explained: “Platform, or the dropping of heavy, palletised cargo from the back of the C-130J while airborne, is a vitally important capability that is currently being developed by the Wing. Initial airdrop trials commenced with the C-130J in 2008, but were curtailed by ongoing operational requirements imposed by its Middle East commitments and the fact that the C-17A was delivered with a baseline airdrop capability.

Nonetheless, operational test andevaluation of platform drop is currently underway for the J and is expected to be completed before year’s end, before being introduced to crew training in 2015. ”

Structural fatigue

With the J model’s move to the denser, more turbulent air of low-level tactical operations comes a concomitant increase in airframe fatigue. 84WG continues to pay close attention to the airworthiness of its aircraft as its range of duties expands.

“There’s a structural fatigue monitoring program that was put in place when the J was bought. That’s been ongoing,” GPCAPT Ghee outlined.

“One of the departments that works for Director General Technical Airworthiness monitors this, and keeps in contact with 84WG, ALSPO and 37SQN, so they’re monitoring that all the way through the life to see what effect the missions have. Effectively, the different types of missions that would attract different levels of fatigue are all coded and they’reassessed in regard to that code. What we have is a statement of operating intent that outlines the different types of missions we are likely to undertake. That’s assessed in terms of the fatigue rate of accumulation we’re likely to see. That’s looked at annually. We stipulated that in terms of our expected mix of missions and every year that’s all crunched and looked at to see what the fatigue life [of the aircraft] is. And to be honest, it all looks very promising. No real issues from the RAAF’s perspective on the fatigue life of the J. ”

In house training

Aircrew training for the C-130J is the responsibility of 285SQN. Its commander, WGCDR Nicholas Hogan, who has extensive and broad experience on the Hercules, outlined the changing approach to C-130J training in line with its expanded tasking.

“We’re changing our training system markedly and moving to a tactical focus,” he explained. “Right now, we’re seat stable. We train pilots for the left hand seat or right hand seat. If you train someone straight from pilots’ school, they come to us and go straight into the right hand seat, which takes about six months. Then they can land the aircraft from the right hand seat. After 18 months they come back to [285SQN] and get trained again for the left hand seat. ” This approach was reflective more of airline practice and is giving way to ‘training remediation’, an approach that is decidedly more horizontal, and responsive to operational demands.

“The training system we’re moving to is a seat agile system, [aircrew] will be trained right hand and left hand seat in all manner of airdrop, formation and flying the aircraft low-level on NVGs. [New pilots] will come out in a shorter time span, trained ready to go on the line and deploy with 37SQN. To me, that will show how technologically advanced the aircraft is and how we can use that to speed training. The people coming in now are more astute with tech and trusting it more. ”285SQN’s training delivery will be enhanced by an innovation of its industry partner, CAE. The system, called ‘Flightscape’, harnesses data recording, animation and replay technology for students both before and after simulator missions.

“Flightscape will have the ability to record every flight parameter, that will make a difference in how we train. We can pre-record a session with our instructors, who can show a student how to fly the perfect circuit, at which point in the lecture package, that will pop up and they can watch it on their personal device,” WGCDR Hogan outlined.

Hi-tech training aids are not the sole preserve of aircrew. In a space once occupied by the Boeing 707 simulator at RAAF Richmond is the Tactical Airlift Crew Trainer (TACT). This immersive, virtual reality training device renders the ‘back end’ of a C-130J in three dimensions, allowing loadmastersto practise threat detection, evacuation procedures, airdrop scenarios and SAR.

In a major training advancement, the TACT has recently been linked up to the C-130J cockpit simulator, permitting full crews to practice an entire mission and greatly enhancing CRM (crew resource management).

Despite the strides being made in computer-generated simulation, heavy metal will still be required to help ‘loadies’ learn their trade.

WGCDR Hogan explained: “In Hangar 1, we had three E model cargo compartment trainers to assist in teaching loadmasters to chain things down, so they understood restraining patterns and weight and balance in the aircraft. However, these don’t replicate the J, which has a stretched fuselage. The system of locks for pallets is different and the way it locks is different, so we’re looking at acquiring a purpose-built fuselage trainer. ”

Ultimately as we’ve just demonstrated in Iraq, our job is to fly at night. WGCDR GOLDIE

‘Foremost’

37SQN has, since 1966, variously flown the C-130E, H and J (operating the latter two models simultaneously between 2006 and 2012), and therefore brings to bear almost half a century’s experience to the daily task of flying the Hercules.

Its current commanding officer is WGCDR Darren Goldie, who is presently engaged in managing the C-130J’s role expansion and equipment upgrades while still meeting the squadron’s mandated training and operational commitments.

This he does with 12 C-130Js at varying levels of availability. At any given time, two of his C-130Js will be in a form of scheduled heavy maintenance, two based in the Middle East, leaving the remaining eight aircraft for unscheduled maintenance, training, tasking, or other deployment.

It’s a hectic time for the squadron, though no more so than usual, with aid flights in Iraq being conducted alongside test and evaluation (T&E) flights of airborne platform drops.

Reflecting on how the J model is evolving into a multi-role airlifter, WGCDR Goldie observed: “We’re there in terms of bits and pieces you can strap to the aircraft. We have missile warning, radar warning receiver, we are doing the final stages of T&E on dropping a platform, flying with different light levels at night with NVG. We’ve got the full suite of aircraft fit that we need to fulfil the mission. Some of our more senior crews are really approaching the stage that the H was at in its ability to go all day, all night and in all weather. And the junior crews are catching up – it takes a couple of years. The key part is the international exercise – so Cope North in Guam, Red Flag in Alaska and Nellis, and Green Flag in Little Rock. “The C-130J is a great aircraft, so beyond the capability the H had, we have navigation instrumentation that is layers above that again. It’s our ability to understand them and apply them, and it will in some areas push us well past what we could do with the H. ” Flying the J model tactically, with its highly-automated cockpit, equipped with wide-angle HUDs, places differing demands on its two-pilot crew than those experienced by the analogue era H model and its crew of four.

WGCDR Goldie explained: “The H brought a lot of capability, purely [thanks to] the numbers of people on the flightdeck. These days, from the financial perspective, the drive is to limit that. Lots of people brought a certain amount of load sharing, which made the H a very capable platform, but you were making up for some older technology – it was a very ‘mandraulic’ way of moving things around. The J has a higher workload on the pilots, but far greater performance in terms of carrying more load, climbing steeper up and over a mountain…. . it can get out of a valley better, carry extra pallets and has more modern engines and props. ” Flying the large C-130J at low level, in low light and low cloud in a task-saturated environment is a skill-set that takes ample practice to acquire. This, according to WGCDR Goldie, explains the importance of 37SQN’s participation in large-scale exercises such as Cope North and Red Flag.

“I think [exercises] are about the fusion of lots of information. Red Flag Alaska, for example, is referred to as a 100-aircraft war. We really learn a lot about two pilots on an automated flightdeck. It teaches the pilots to use the system, control fuel, use all the C-130J’s different navigation systems. It also teaches the two pilots to aviate, navigate, communicate and administrate. It’s an exercise where you have someone tell you on the radio ‘there is a fighter coming to shoot you, fly that way not that way’. The co-pilot has to understand that, has to read the map, navigate, manipulate the aircraft to get the captain to fly it the other way. It’s things we’ve always been able to do but turning up the volume, making it harder.

“The next stage is Red Flag Nellis, and that’s done at night. By definition, that’s harder. Ground is closer, margins tighter. It needs more work-up, and ultimately as we’ve just demonstrated in Iraq, our job is to fly at night, it’s the most tactically sound way to resupply forces or drop someone, so those high end exercise will really test skill-sets. That’s where we’ll work out where we’re at. ” And it’s a challenge that flightcrews and loadmasters are relishing, according to WGCDR Goldie, as the squadron as a whole embraces the J model’s newfound versatility. “We’ve gone from having, for example, a loadmaster sitting down the back for a 10-hour flight to Bali, to a loadie in the dead of night supplying cargo to a humanitarian zone, or moving stores around the Philippines, or flying in formation with fighter planes in Alaska. It’s fascinating, it’s exciting. To a person from the hangar floor to the most senior pilot, everyone’s excited about it, people want to be challenged. ” No doubt there are more challenges to come before the aircraft’s planned withdrawal date of 2030, but with the type having now entered the bloom of its service, these can be expected to be met and surmounted with confidence. It is indeed a remarkable thought that by the time that date comes, RAAF Richmond and its surrounds will have thrummed to the sound of the Hercules for over seven decades.