Gert Kromhout/CAZAUX AB, FRANCE
While The USA has been convinced of the value of combat search and rescue (CSAR) for years, European countries have only shown serious interest since the war in the former Yugoslavia. The French air force has now established a CSAR capability with modified Eurocopter Pumas and is leading Europe in embracing the hazardous CSAR mission.
CSAR usually involves rescuing aircrew downed behind enemy lines. The mission was given a strong push by the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, which led the French air force in 1994 to deploy three Pumas to Brindisi AB in southern Italy. This was, and still is, the base for US special operations in the region and home to US Air Force special-mission Lockheed Martin C-130s and Sikorsky MH-53J Pave Low helicopters assigned to CSAR and other missions. France withdrew its Pumas from Brindisi in July 1997, but has remained on alert to redeploy the helicopters within 48h.
At Brindisi, the French air force laid the foundations for its tactics and procedures. "What we do now, we have learned from the Americans," says Lt Col Jean Causse, commander of Escadre d'Hélicoptère 1/67 "Pyrénées" at Cazaux AB, on the Atlantic coast south west of Bordeaux.
EH 1/67 has seven SA330 Pumas at its disposal for SAR and CSAR. "Our first lesson was the equipment of the Puma," Causse says. "The Puma is smaller, lighter and older than the MH-53, so we had to adjust its equipment and our pick-up team. We had to train the crews step by step and learn formation flying at night, at low level, using night vision goggles [NVGs]."
The CSAR Puma is a development of the regular SAR version. For the SAR mission, the helicopter was already equipped with a rescue hoist and automatic-hover flight control system. For the CSAR mission, it has received a GIAT AA52 machine gun mounted in the port door; night vision-compatible lighting; a Thomson-CSF Chlio forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor; flare dispensers; armour plating to protect the crew; a precision location system (PLS) to find a downed aviator and a global positioning system (GPS).
The crew consists of two pilots, a flight engineer and a cargo operator. A pick-up team of four men comes along for the rescue. This team consists of a diver - for rescues at sea - and three commandos, to secure the landing zone and identify the aviator.
HAZARDOUS MISSION
CSAR missions are not without danger, as the helicopters have to operate over enemy territory. Consequently, careful mission preparation and strong support is rule number one. "We only conduct the mission if the chance of success is at least 90%," says chief sergeant Frédéric Gonzalez of EH 1/67's intelligence department. Causse acknowledges that "-the mission is unfeasible when the threat level is high, such as when the nature or concentration of the ground threat poses too big a risk for the safety of the helicopter and crew. For instance, ground troops in the neighbourhood of the pilot, and/or anti-aircraft artillery [AAA] or SAMs [surface-to-air missiles]."
The mission is feasible when the threat level is low or medium. Causse describes a low threat level as when few or no ground troops are near the landing zone and the SAMs are first-generation models. "Then, we only need a brief planning," he says. More careful planning is required when the threat is medium level - when "-the SAMs, AAA and ground troops constitute a realistic threat. The planning then not only concerns the CSAR helicopters but also the provision of adequate support.
"We need a Rescap [rescue combat air patrol], Rescort [fighter escort] and assets to suppress enemy air defences, close air support to suppress ground troops, Elint [electronic intelligence] assets to generate the electronic order of battle and to warn of radar-guided air defences, tankers and, of course, reconnaissance assets," Causse says.
Reconnaissance is vital for CSAR planning. "We need all the information we can get," says Gonzalez. "The mission is dependent on the tactical situation. Before we start the mission, we have to know the position of the pilot and, very importantly, the positions of the ground-to-air threat. If we do not have that we do not execute the mission."
Information on the surroundings where the pilot is hiding is important. Causse explains: "We need to know beforehand if it is safe, if we can land, if we have to use the hoist. Perhaps the rescue demands a fast-rope action by the commandos who subsequently have to bring the aviator to an area where the helicopters are able to pick them up safely. There are many scenarios."
Most information comes from the intelligence cell in the Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC). Planning for, and employment of, the support assets is mostly the responsibility of the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in the CAOC. The execution of a CSAR mission has to be quick and precise, according to Causse.
THREAT ENVIRONMENT
Planning a CSAR mission in a medium-threat environment takes two days, says Maj Yves Genty, deputy commander of EH 1/67. He says: "Leading a CSAR mission is the most difficult part. It takes a long time to learn and depends on the experience of the new pilot." Genty entered the squadron with 1,000h on the Puma and qualified after a year. "Staying current demands at least two night-CSAR missions a month and two SAR missions over the sea," he explains.
EH 1/67 conducts a 15-day exercise eight times a year to train new personnel and maintain currency of qualified crews. The exercises follow a building-block approach, with the level of difficulty increasing as they advance.
The first day is devoted to CSAR procedures and methods, and the students get a basic introduction to CSAR. They soon get a taste of the real thing, as a night flight is scheduled on the second day. The two weeks culminate in a CSAR exercise that is as realistic as possible.
"We co-ordinate this final exercise with the air force combat survival school. This way, the students of this school also come in to contact with CSAR," says chief of operations Capt Jean-Pierre Collinet.
For self-defence, the Puma has only a machine gun on the port-side door. The hoist is attached on the starboard side, preventing the installation of another gun. "That, and the fact that we can only take three commandos because of weight, is why we operate with two aircraft. This way one helicopter covers the other when it picks up somebody with the hoist, says Causse.
"But we prefer a landing with two helicopters," Collinet explains. "The commandos secure the landing zone and identify the aviator before he comes to the helicopters while the machine guns of both helicopters give cover. What is more, it is the fastest way to pick somebody up. But there are many possibilities - which method we choose depends on the situation."
The French regularly flew in US special-operations aircraft from Brindisi, particularly when a Dassault Mirage 2000N was shot down near the Serbian town of Pale. French crewmembers were embarked as liaison in case their downed countrymen reported in French. "The AC-130 is perfect for Rescort," a Puma pilot says. "From above, you see everything and its weapons can attack targets from medium altitudes with extreme precision."
In 2000, EH 1/67 will receive the first Eurocopter AS532A2 Cougar Mk2 to be specially equipped for CSAR. The Cougar will be better prepared for its task, with a Doppler groundspeed sensor, GPS and inertial navigation system, Sextant Avionique Nadir navigation computer, NVGs, PLS, a weather radar, FLIR, route display, defensive-aids subsystem, crew armour, secure radios, and two FN 7.62mm machine guns placed in windows on both sides. The range of about 500km (270nm) is more than twice that of the Puma. The French air force version does not have an aerial-refuelling system, although it is desirable and may be added later, says Causse.
MORE CSAR COUGARS NEEDED
By 2002, the squadron will have four CSAR Cougar Mk2s. "That is too few. When we deploy, we need two, plus a reserve, so only one remains for training. Possibly, we will have 14-15 Mk2s in the future," Causse says. The Cougar Mk2s will enable rescues under more difficult circumstances.
"With the Puma, CSAR missions are only possible under low-level threat conditions. With the Mk2, we can also undertake missions of medium level threat," says Causse. Eurocopter will deliver the first Cougar Mk2 at the end of 1998.
Source: Flight International
