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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 0078.PDF
Above An F-lllC with four Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Below F-lll crews will get only 20hr a month training, reducing role proficiency The RAAF F-l 11C is claimed to be the only aircraft in service able to make full use of all of these Harpoon 1C features. The US Navy's updated Viking, the S-3B, will be the next to use it in service. The F-l HC's third role is battlefield interdiction, although the tactical economics of using such a large, expensive, and rela tively unagile aircraft over a battlefield are questionable. The aircraft can carry up to 24 5001b bombs on pylon-mounted multiple ejector racks, or the Australian Kuringa cluster bomb. Pop and dive attacks are prac tised, although a high-speed low-level retarded lay-down or toss would be more survivable if circumstances permitted. If the RAAF concept is to go for "aircraft packaging", rather than strike packages to ensure penetration to target, there are other areas of the F-lll that need to be brought up to date. The present suite of penetration aids, electronic countermeasures pod, chaff, and flares needs to be modernised. Also, the RAAF F-lll does not have any form of anti- radar missile and only an early-generation air-to-air missile for self-defence. The current penaids are the ALR-62 radar homing and warning receiver, which the crews describe as "OK", and the ALQ-94 electronic countermeasures pod, which needs replacing by an electronically more extensive, faster, and more agile jammer pod. The chaff and flares are disposables, and can easily be improved on as necessary. As for defensive weapons, the Vulcan cannon have been replaced either by Pave Tack or by the reconnaissance pallet. Although the aircraft have AIM-9 Side winders, these are the limited-aspect "B" models. "We want to put AIM-9Ls on a shoulder-pylon installation so we keep the pylons free for offensive weapons, but the flaps get in the way, so we are looking for another method at present," says Fit Lt Trevor "Boomer" Taylor, an F-lll instructor. "Of course, our job is to penetrate and put the bombs on the target, not mix it with fighters. We do not want to get into a fight. Our tactics are not to be seen, but, if we are, to go like hell and leave the threat behind." Tankers? The primary method of F-lll evasion, very low and very fast, uses a lot of fuel (up to 128,0001b/hr in full afterburner), and with out a tanker force, fuel regains the magical aura of pre-tanker days in other air forces. The F-l 1 Is can carry 600gal drop tanks, one each on up to six stations, including the fixed pylons. In practice they carry one each on stations 2 and 7, which do not swivel as the wing sweeps. These pylons are toed-in from the chord line, so they are streamlined at 26° wing sweep. The fuel from them is used first and then they are ditched, allowing the wing to be swept further back for higher speed. The RAAF is having four VIP Boeing 707s converted to tanker configuration by Israel Aircraft Industries, but these will be drogue-equipped and so will only be able to tank the probe-equipped F-l8 Hornets. The F-l 11 is a female receiver, and in its present configuration can only take fuel from a boom-equipped tanker such as the US Air Force KC-135 or KC-10. The Australians could fit a boom-and-drogue configuration, or a bolt-on probe, but this then puts the scheme into the loony world of politics. Tanking the defensive F-l 8s is OK, but tank ing the offensive F-l lis is not, apparently. It might also make sense to pass on the RF-lllAs' reconnaissance role to the F-l8 Hornets. These, with the 707 tankers, would have the range for strategic reconnaissance, freeing four airframes for modification to F-l 11C status with Pave Tack. The core of experience intheRF-lllAsis dwindling fast. This is allied in part to the continuing exodus of experienced RAAF pilots to more lucrative jobs with the airlines, and partly to the continuing cutbacks in flying hours for the RAAF in general. In the next financial year the F-lll fleet's flying time is to be cut by ten per cent to save money. With individuals flying only about 20hr a month it will be difficult to maintain crew currency on type, let alone in role. Pass ing on the reconnaissance role to the F-l8 would therefore improve role proficiency by concentrating valuable training hours on the strike mission only. As industry vies for the F-lll avionics update contracts, the Defence Ministry might take more heed of the aircrew. The updated F-lll will be a potent weapon well into the next century, but it will be of little use if the aircrew are not given the means of practising its use. 20 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 14 January 1989
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