Stewart Penney/GILZE-RIJEN AB
When the Netherlands ordered Boeing AH-64D Apaches in 1995, it became the first international customer for the updated version of the US Army's attack helicopter.
The AH-64D has new digital avionics, an improved cockpit and other enhancements - not least the Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman APG-78 Longbow millimetre-wave (MMW) radar, which improves the battlefield picture and provides guidance for the MMW-guided version of Boeing/Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire.
Selecting an attack helicopter was part of the Dutch armed forces' shift away from fixed-base, heavily armed Cold War warriors to smaller, more flexible units able to deploy worldwide rapidly. Key to this change was creating an airmobile force, with the attendant formation of the Tactical Helicopter Group (THG) which operates the Apache. The Apache provides the group's "eyes and ears" and the firepower to support lightly armed airmobile troops lacking tanks or similar heavy equipment.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) ordered 30 Apaches, with an interim lease of 12 AH-64As. The first NAH-64D was delivered in 1998, and 302Sqn was formed to operate the type. A core of US-trained officers at Gilze Rijen AB is preparing for the arrival of the first flight in April, when a second group of aircrew will travel to the USA for training. The first flight will bring with it four more NAH-64s, taking the total so far to six.
Squadron commander Lt Col Ron Hagemeijer says six pilots were trained in the USA. One was Hagemeijer himself - then executive officer on 301Sqn, which operates the 12 leased AH-64As. Two have stayed in the USA as exchange pilots with the US Army at Fort Hood, while the others were 302Sqn's executive officer, a standards pilot and a maintenance test pilot.
The transition began in 1996, when the leased AH-64As arrived to "bridge the gap" between unarmed scout helicopters and the Apache. The step-change in capabilities between elderly Eurocopter Bo105s and Aerospatiale Alouette IIIs and the Apache has been a major challenge. "This was a major part of the procurement, gaining experience with armed helicopters," says Hagemeijer. AH-64A operator 301Sqn has created a cadre of pilots with attack-helicopter experience. This has included training in the USA and deployments to Bosnia, where small RNLAF elements have operated as part of a US Army unit.
The two squadrons, when operational, will consist of three four-Apache flights, as well as "headquarters" functions, first and second-line maintenance and the other elements of a front-line unit. Hagemeijer says three flights allow rotation, with one deployed on operations, one resting and one working up. A similar system is in place for the RNLAF's Lockheed Martin F-16 units. Following its return to the Netherlands, 302Sqn's first flight will work up and become operational by next January. A second flight is due to become operational in September next year, with the third following in April 2002, by which time 302Sqn will have its 15 Apaches. The squadron will be declared fully operational in July 2003, a date linked to the formation of 11 Air Manoeuvre Brigade.
Hagemeijer says 302Sqn has 137 personnel, but this will increase. Avionics technicians are required to maintain the machine's extensive electronics. Personnel levels in the THG will rise by 300 from 1,700 following last year's defence white paper, reflecting overall demands in the helicopter force. A major difference between the RNLAF's two Apache variants is the D's extra avionics, says Hagemeijer, which increase the maintenance manpower requirement. He adds that many of the systems that cause problems on the AH-64A have been replaced in the AH-64D. He says the reliability of the two aircraft at Gilze Rijen has been so good that a group of maintainers had to be sent to Fort Hood to gain experience.
RNLAF helicopter pilots will complete initial training at Fort Rucker in the USA before moving to Fort Hood for Apache experience alongside the US Army's AH-64 trainees. RNLAF pilots will then return home for "theatre training" and integration into the THG, which includes six months of developing operational procedures and working with the army and other units. Four 301Sqn pilots are in transition to the AH-64D with four new crewmen. The less experienced pilot flies the Apache from the back seat, while the other acts as mission commander and gunner in the front seat. Each pilot has 180h flying a year, some of which will be in the 'other seat' to broaden skills and develop an understanding of the other role.
"Fort Hood is a winner," says Hagemeijer. Its western training area, at 41,000km² (15,800 miles²), is almost the same size as the Netherlands, providing room for representative training. This allows "invaluable" manoeuvre training, with the pilot able to fly around the landscape, day and night, making full use of the Apache's sensors - for now limited to infrared on the RNLAF machines, although Longbow radars are to be procured, following a recommendation of last year's white paper. The ratio of Longbow-equipped to non-radar Apaches is being discussed.
At Fort Hood, a force of targets moves around the training area and there are ranges suitable for firing Hellfires, Hydra 70 rockets and the 30mm gun. A future challenge is finding a suitable training area in Europe, Hagemeijer says. The RNLAF has visited Greece, Hungary, Norway, Poland and the UK, but most areas seen to date are too small for manoeuvre training, and firing ranges tend to employ fixed targets, which have limited training appeal. One option is to continue training at Fort Hood.
Because of the challenges in the shift from scout to armed helicopters, the RNLAF's helicopter tactics and operational doctrine have been completely reappraised. A new thought process is also required to integrate army and air force operations to make best use of the Apache, says Hagemeijer. Three pilots in 302Sqn's first flight are army personnel, to develop that service's helicopter experience.
The approach has been "not to reinvent the wheel" when developing tactics and techniques for 302Sqn's three key operational tasks: security, reconnaissance and attack. Each task must be carried out through the spectrum of conflict - from peacekeeping to all-out war - anywhere in the world, apart from the Arctic - and, as part of an army operation, an autonomous deployment or a coalition force, he adds.
The RNLAF has worked closely with the US Army in developing tactics, and Hagemeijer believes that this will continue. As well as training and exercises, this will include aircraft modifications, as the RNLAF Apaches are little different to their US counterparts, keeping costs to a minimum. As the US Army takes additional weapons or updates systems and sensors, the Dutch have the option to follow.
Links with the British Army Air Corps (AAC) are not as well developed, although there have been talks about logistics. Operationally, the AAC's doctrine is different, so the ties are not well established, although Hagemeijer predicts the links will become closer as the two air arms gain experience.
Like other Apache pilots, Hagemeijer acknowledges the limitations of the first-generation infrared systems used in the Pilot Night Vision Sensor (PNVS) and the Target Acquisition/Designation System (TADS), saying that the TADS/PNVS is "old technology that does not match the radar and weapons' capability, particularly at night and in bad weather".
Hagemeijer says experience in Bosnia means the RNLAF is developing "air policing operations", which include showing force to dissuade aggressors, intelligence gathering, VIP security, convoy protection and air combat with a yet to be selected air-to-air missile. These additional roles must be considered before the squadron needs to employ them, says Hagemeijer: "If you're providing VIP protection, do you simply hover over the car? Probably not."
Source: Flight International
