Nick Lee-Frampton/WELLINGTON
WITH LITTLE MORE than 3,700 people on its payroll, operating seven squadrons and more than 50 aircraft, the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) takes personnel matters seriously. Indeed, Air Vice-Marshal Carey Adamson says that an RNZAF review called Manpower Required in Uniform Study is the ".... most important thing we're doing at the moment".
When appointed Chief of Air Staff (CAS) in September 1995, Adamson acknowledged that recent years had seen the greatest upheaval in the RNZAF since the Second World War with budgets, personnel and bases being cut.
Operational funding for the force fell by more than 14% between fiscal year 1991-2 and FY1994-5, and personnel funding fell from NZ$128 million ($89 million) during the same period. Overall, the RNZAF's budget has fallen from NZ$293.5 million in 1991-2 to NZ$259.6 million today, a drop of more than 11%, without taking inflation into account. Seeking to achieve more with less, the RNZAF increasingly is employing civilian companies to undertake work traditionally performed by military personnel. Staff from private security companies, are now manning base gate posts, and commercial companies, account for about 40% of the RNZAF's engineering.
OVERSEAS CONTRACTORS
Examples include Air New Zealand, responsible for Lockheed Martin P-3K Orion and Hawker Siddeley Andover engine maintenance and, at Blenheim in the South Island, SAFE Air attends to propeller maintenance for the Andovers, Lockheed Martin Hercules and Orions. Overseas contractors include Singapore Aerospace, which maintains the Bell UH-1H Iroquois helicopter engines.
As well as losing some of its experienced personnel, the RNZAF has had to relinquish half its bases, including (in 1995) Wigram in Christchurch where the RNZAF came into being in 1937. "We used to have six bases, now we've only got three," says Adamson. For the RNZAF to do that without compromising its operational capabilities has been a tall order, he says.
One of the benefits of having fewer bases is that there are correspondingly fewer postings, which is generally welcomed by personnel. If you have only got half the number of bases, traffic between them is going to come down, says Adamson. He accepts that two-income families are now the norm and that personnel mobility carries a price.
Nevertheless, the small size of the RNZAF allows it to change direction rapidly. "We are extremely flexible," claims Adamson. "We've traditionally given our young people a lot of responsibility at an early age and, from what I've seen, they respond to that."
In recent years, the RNZAF has deployed aircraft in Iran, the Sinai, Saudi Arabia and Somalia, as well as supporting the New Zealand Army in Bosnia. The RNZAF also has observers in Bosnia, Iraq and the Sinai. During such overseas missions, the RNZAF often has operational contact with the US armed services. "When we do get together on those occasions, there is no problem with doctrine, procedures, or understanding what each other is about," says Adamson. The New Zealand Government's rift with the USA over nuclear-weapons policy put paid to ANZUS, the Australia, New Zealand, US defence pact, and this has meant that the RNZAF has missed out on joint exercises with US forces. Yet Adamson says that the RNZAF has nonetheless maintained the same operational proficiencies. "It's just the actual physical exercising in the field we miss out on," he says. "In our contact with US forces, there are some things that they are permitted to do and some things they are not. Everyone understands that and we just get on with it." Although the two forces no longer engage in joint exercises, the RNZAF continues to send its personnel to the USA for training courses. These range from two-week programmes for technicians to year long studies at senior staff level.
No amount of training can alter the fact, however, that the RNZAF is down to its bare bones. "I don't think there is any fat left in there," says Adamson. On the present level of activity, the RNZAF is at the minimum. "Obviously there is a minimum-and, if you fall below that, you're in big trouble," he says, adding: "The higher the minimum level of capability, the more it is going to cost, so it becomes a matter of tradeoffs. If I do less of this, I can do more of that. It enables you to recognise deficiencies, and shift your resources accordingly."
AUSTRALIAN TRAINING
As part of their fighter pilot training, RNZAF pilots join the 2 Sqn Grumman/McDonnell Douglas (MDC) Skyhawks operating from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base at Nowra in New South Wales. Adamson is enthusiastic about this arrangement, saying: "Everyone wins so far as I can see." From FY1996-7, it is proposed that 2 Sqn's Skyhawks will provide 1,000h annually of fleet air training to the RAN.
Basing RNZAF aircraft in Australia is part of what is known as the Closer Defence Relationship (CDR) between New Zealand and Australia. The CDR has been very good for the RNZAF, says Adamson. Certainly, there are clear signs of co-operation between New Zealand and Australia over acquiring new aircraft. For example, the RNZAF's timetable for replacing its Skyhawks, Orions and Hercules is very similar to the RAAF's plans for replacing its own MDC F-18s and its Orions and Hercules.
There is also significant operational co-operation between the two air forces on a daily basis, with paperwork and procedures harmonised, including air-to-air refuelling. The Skyhawks of 75 Sqn were recently qualified at air-to-air refuelling with the RAAF's Boeing 707 tanker.
No one is speculating on the cost of replacing the 20 A-4K Skyhawks, although the RNZAF is about to carry out a life-of-type study. "Once that is complete," says Adamson, "we'll have a much clearer handle on where to go and when to go. How we actually transition from the Skyhawks to another aircraft is a difficult issue."
Present RNZAF thinking is that detailed planning for the Skyhawk replacement will not begin until 2005-10. In RNZAF service since 1970, the A-4K Skyhawks are still a potent and credible force in the South Pacific, but age takes its toll. The US Navy has announced that it will no longer support the A4-K's turbojet, the Pratt & Whitney J52-P8B after 1997 - although Adamson does not believe that this is going to be a major problem. Options open to the RNZAF include upgrading the P8B to the P8C version of the more powerful P408A model.
Assuming the Skyhawk's continued service well into the next century, the RNZAF is keen to acquire laser-designator pods for the A-4K's use, with the GBU-16 unit attached to Mk83 230kg iron bombs. The intention is to fit all 20 Skyhawks, but only six aircraft with designator pods, should funding be made available.
During the 1995 Fincastle anti-submarine-warfare (ASW) exercise, the competing RNZAF's Sqn P-3 used a commercial personal computer as part of its electronic-warfare (EW) suite. The RNZAF is looking at the long-term integration prospects of that "prototype" and initial indications, apparently, are encouraging.
One project already well under way is Project Kestrel, the scheme to re-wing the RNZAF's Orions. It could have a fairly high New Zealand industrial involvement, says Adamson, although "-we haven't identified the integrators or installers yet". Tenders for the installation phase are scheduled for the middle of this year. While future RNZAF P-3 operations are expected to focus more on surface than sub-surface activity, an ASW study completed in 1995 confirmed the need for maintaining a credible ASW capability. Until the Orion's ASW sensors are upgraded, however, their ASW capability will remain below that required for the minimum level of capability, says the RNZAF 1995-6 strategic plan. The RNZAF intends to retain its P3-Ks in service until around 2015 - which (again) coincides with the RAAF's timetable for its Orions.
A similar blending of requirements is apparent with RNZAF and RAAF Hercules. RNZAF planning for a C-130H replacement is scheduled for 2005-10 and the New Zealand Government recently agreed to a non-binding option to acquire up to eight C-130J Hercules in conjunction with an RAAF order. The option covers spares and support equipment. Adamson says, however, that there is no requirement in the short-term future to make any decision about replacing five Hercules.
HERCULES IMPROVEMENTS
Among the improvements under way for the RNZAF's Hercules fleet is Project Delphi - equipping three Hercules with EW self-protection equipment, including missile-approach warning systems and flares/chaff countermeasure dispensers.
A match for the Hercules when it comes to versatility, 3 Sqn's fleet of 13 UH-1H Iroquois is a useful asset, says Adamson. "We're happy to see the Iroquois around for a long time yet. There is no problem in keeping them going."
While the single-engined Iroquois remain credible in their many roles - which includes supporting the New Zealand base in the USA, the remaining Westland Wasps of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) are almost 40 years old and offer limited operational capability.
The RNZAF has provided maintenance and training for the Wasps since they entered the RNZN service 30 years ago. The Wasp-replacement programme has narrowed to the Kaman SH-2G Seasprite and the Westland Super Lynx after the Eurocopter Panther and Sikorsky S-76N were eliminated from the competition. The successful helicopter is expected to enter RNZN service in 1997.
Its specification includes the requirement to operate at least 110km (60nm) from the parent ship for at least 90min. The Wasp, when loaded with two Mk46 torpedoes, has only enough fuel for 12min flying. At 90kt (170km/h), that equals a radius of action of only about 14km.
Source: Flight International
