Last year's Iraq conflict was a solid test for the UK RAF after a decade that has brought it closer to industry. Its highest ranking officer discusses its performance
The UK Royal Air Force deployed more than 130 aircraft and over 8,000 personnel to the Gulf for last year's US-led Operation Iraqi Freedom, marking its largest offensive commitment since the first Gulf War, which liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991.
Although short in duration, the air phase of Operation Telic, as the most recent campaign was referred to in the UK, did much to prove the equipment and tactical advances since Operation Granby more than a decade previously.
"Between the Gulf War in 1991 and Operation Telic, the RAF nearly halved in size in terms of regular uniformed people," says Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, who became Chief of the Air Staff last August, shortly after the second conflict's combat phase was declared over.
Although the RAF had also contracted by several combat squadrons and deployed 30% fewer fast jets this time round, Stirrup says the service was "far more powerful and capable than its predecessor of 12 years earlier". He adds: "That was because in the intervening period we managed to focus on the things that made us better able to win. We had introduced modern sensors, improved our strategic and tactical mobility and had considerably increased our use of all-weather precision-guided munitions from just 15% to around 85%."
The dramatic reduction in the RAF's regular strength between the conflicts to a current total of about 53,000 personnel has been achieved partly through greater use of contractor support in running many of its bases and in providing training services and logistic support. This reflects a trend within the UK Ministry of Defence to pursue new equipment and services under multi-year partnership with industry.
The air force appears largely at ease with this process, which is set to expand further through multi-billion-pound private finance initiative (PFI) projects such as the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft and UK Military Flying Training System contracts. "I am interested in results," says Stirrup. "What matters to me is that we get the capability we need, where and when we need it, that it is usable in the operational circumstances in which we envisage having to employ it and that it is affordable. Provided those criteria are met, we are very open minded about how it's done."
While PFI deals can result in the RAF gaining capabilities beyond its means under conventional procurement methods, Stirrup cautions: "If you view PFI as a theology, you are going to get yourself into a number of difficulties. If you see it as a very useful tool and one of a number of options for delivering capability, then it becomes a much more sensible approach."
Stirrup also welcomes the move towards partnerships, rather than old-style contractual agreements. "As we engage more with industry closer to the frontline, for example through logistics, people have to operate as one team with one purpose. I have seen that work very successfully in the past and become win-win for both sides."
One of the closest relationships between the frontline RAF and industry has been operating for more than six months at BAE Systems' Warton plant in Lancashire, where the manufacturer is supporting the service's introduction of the Eurofighter Typhoon under a framework dubbed "Case White". But although this co-operation is delivering good results, Stirrup doubts whether a similar model will be adopted for the UK's next multirole platform - the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
"Case White has been a success, but whether it would be applicable to JSF is an open question. In the Typhoon programme, we are getting aircraft at the start of the production run and the build-up of support equipment is just getting under way, so there are a lot of good reasons of efficiency for starting RAF flying at Warton. But Warton is a factory and a company airfield, and we are very anxious to get Typhoon to an operational station as quickly as possible.
"JSF will be rather different, because it will have been in production for some time before we take delivery of our first aircraft. There should have been a substantial build-up of spares and support equipment, so the two situations are unlikely to be the same."
Contractor support
A different type of partnership has been established with US manufacturer Boeing, which has leased four C-17 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft to the RAF since 2001. A small team of Boeing personnel is located at RAF Brize Norton to provide contractor support to the service's 99 Sqn, and UK personnel were also able to call on the experience of the US Air Force when training on the type.
Given the tremendous operational utility the C-17 has provided, some within the service are calling for it to remain in use alongside the RAF's Airbus Military A400M, Airbus A330-200 Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft and Lockheed Martin C-130J fleets beyond the current nine-year lease agreement.
"One of the main reasons a multiplicity of aircraft types is usually unwelcome is the support bill," says Stirrup. "But if the logistic arrangements are more innovative and rely on a much wider global pool of those assets, then you don't bear all the overheads. We've got a small number of C-17s out of a very large global pool and we piggyback on a large global support network."
The UK's C-17 fleet is operating at about 7,000 flight hours a year - way above the 3,000 hours originally contracted. "The capability it has given us has been widely used and a critical success factor in many of our deployments," says Stirrup.
The aircraft played a vital role in transporting some of the RAF's new guided weapons to the Gulf last year, including MBDA-developed Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Storm Shadow was rushed into service in Iraq after an accelerated testing schedule and proved itself to be "a fantastic weapon" for the Panavia Tornado GR4, says Stirrup.
More widely, senior RAF officials have described the Enhanced Paveway II/III GPS- and laser-guided bomb as the service's "weapon of choice" in Iraq. Procured to address severe targeting shortfalls exposed during the air force's participation in the 1999 Kosovo campaign, the all-weather weapon was developed and fielded within just 10 months of a contract being placed with the UK's Raytheon Systems.
As well as introducing strategic airlift and advanced air-to-surface weapons, the RAF also fielded other vitally needed equipment in Iraq under a broad range of urgent operational requirement contracts, which in some cases placed great delivery demands on industry. "The air force was able to get everything it needed for the campaign that could be delivered within the timescale, and industry across the board responded magnificently to the challenge," says Stirrup.
The RAF is now entering another period of transition, which will place it within the UK's future network-enabled battlespace.
"We have to turn our attention to future wars, and a key issue here is speed," says Stirrup. "We saw the growing need in Iraq for time-sensitive targeting - to be able to find, identify, locate precisely and engage a target, all within a small number of minutes. We made a start on that in Operation Telic, but we have a great deal more to do in terms of technology, doctrine and concept in the years to come.
"We became more capable between the 1991 Gulf War and Operation Telic. My intent is to ensure that whatever comes in future years, we will be more capable still. The quality of our people and their training remains fundamental, but we rely on technology to give us our winning edge. While the kind of capabilities we need in the future will drive that development to a certain extent, we have to be alive to technological opportunities that arise and offer innovative ways of doing things that we haven't thought of before."
CRAIG HOYLE / LONDON
Source: Flight International
