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Feature Report
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F-111 operational to the end |
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ABOVE:
An F-111 on deployment to RAAF Base Darwin.
By Nigel Pittaway
Now in the final months of a 37-year career as the tip of Australia's offensive spear, the RAAF's mighty F-111 will bow out of service this December. Fittingly, Air Force plans to retire the F-111 in style but it will be a sad day when the skies of Southern Queensland are empty of the charismatic jet.
In early December this year the final F-111 of 6 Squadron will shut down its engines on the Amberley tarmac for the last time; coincidentally, the F/A-18F Super Hornets of 1 Squadron will take over the F-111's roles. The Officer Commanding 82 Wing, Group Captain Steve Roberton says that the F-111 will retain its operational capability to the very end.
GPCAPT Roberton previously headed the Air Combat Transition Office, charged with the introduction of the F/A-18F into service in what has been a remarkably short period of time. Now that the first Super Hornets are in place at RAAF Amberley he is responsible for the operational workup for the Super Hornet squadron and commensurate winding down of F-111 operations with 6 Squadron, which will re-equip with the Super Hornet through 2011.
GPCAPT Roberton says that sufficient F-111s will be kept operational to meet ongoing training commitments and operational tasking requirements.
The F-111 is still the RAAF's primary strike capability and there are no plans to change that until the end of the year; it's an incredibly capable platform, he said.
Inevitably, this capability will reduce as personnel are transferred out to either other ADF elements or to begin their own training on the Super Hornet.
We are now beginning to be limited by both the air and maintenance crews we have, said Roberton. But in its own right we're going to maintain a full squadron of aircraft and support, and enough aircrews and maintenance support to get us through to the end of year.
The F-111 has already starred at a number of final appearances at public events, an arena where the jet has been immensely popular with audiences at home and abroad. These include the Avalon Airshow in March last year followed by the final international displays at the LIMA show on Langkawi in Malaysia (December 2009) and the Singapore Airshow in February this year. This final show in Singapore was marred by an engine fire warning during a mid-week display, which necessitated an emergency landing. This resulted in a fleet-wide suspension of flying whilst an investigation took place.
Although a serious event, an initial inspection revealing signs of an engine fire which is now thought to be caused by a cracked fuel pump casing, it has not had a long-term effect on the operational use of the aircraft.
It did have temporary impact on operations while we made sure we understood what had actually gone wrong, but nothing long-term, GPCAPT Roberton said.
The aircraft was fully operational again only a matter of days after the incident. It wasn't a fleet-wide problem and we're able to crack on with the operational capability of the jet.
Other public events planned include the renowned 'Riverfire' display during the Brisbane Festival in September and the RAAF Airshow at Williamtown later in the month. Participation in both events is still to be confirmed.
From an operational standpoint the F-111 is still a force to be reckoned with and has much to offer the RAAF for some months yet.
There are some aspects of what the F-111 does that are still leading edge, explains Roberton, citing the expertise and experience with precision targeting using the 'Pave Tack' pods mounted in the bomb bay and image analysis.
Another example is the (Elta EL/L8222) Electronic Countermeasures Pod, which is a leading edge capability, and the bulk of the expertise resides here in 82 Wing in our people, and that remains very important to the development of those capabilities within the RAAF.
One of the last F-111 delivery of live weapons occurred during May when live Mk.80 series High Explosive bombs were dropped on the range at Puckapunyal in Victoria during exercise 'Chong Ju'. Other upcoming exercises include the 'Pitch Black' air power event to be held in Darwin in July/August, Exercise 'Kakadu' in the August/September timeframe and 'Singaroo' - also to be held in September, in Northern Australia.
82 Wing also retains a reconnaissance capability with the three surviving RF-111Cs but this is now somewhat limited by the diminishing numbers of air and ground crews who have the expertise in this area. The capability is still able to be deployed in a contingency according to GPCAPT Roberton.
Nothing is impossible but it will come down to the amount of lead time and notice that we have, but we are keeping a small recce capability.
Planning for contingencies that may require either/or strike and reconnaissance capability is challenging given the finite resources available to 82 Wing.
It's not simple, but we are planning and executing plans for the F-111 to remain the primary strike weapon through to the end of December 2010 when the Super Hornet will reach Initial Operating Capability, says GPCAPT Roberton.
From a training perspective, it's not just a matter of keeping things going until retirement, and a balance has to be maintained within the workforce remaining with the aircraft.
We've got several hundred men and women who fly the F-111, maintain them and support them, explains GPCAPT Roberton. We need to continue their professional and personal development, so they will be ready for conversion to the Rhino (Super Hornet) or other platforms in the ADF.
One of the advantages of operating the Super Hornet and F-111 side-by-side at Amberley is the excitement generated in the F-111 force by the proximity of the jet that many of them will transition to. In coming weeks, as Super Hornet work ramps up, the two groups will begin exercising together. That's going to give us a really good direction of the skill sets and the transfer of information that will make this a success.
The F-111 is a large, complex and above all ageing airframe so it's had its share of maintenance difficulties over the years. It's a credit to both 82 Wing and industry partners such as Boeing that a full squadron of aircraft is available for use.
The deeper maintenance program finished in November last year when Boeing handed the final aircraft back to the RAAF. GPCAPT Roberton says that the number of serviceable aircraft is adequate to meet requirements.
We actually expect that some of the serviceability issues and some of the challenges we've faced in the last couple of years will ease. As the deeper level maintenance comes up we will begin parking aircraft, but we will keep a full squadron at this stage.
The F-111 drawdown strategy is of course dependent upon the timely introduction of the Super Hornet capability. 1 Squadron needs to achieve IOC on the new aircraft commensurate with F-111 retirement. On that front, GPCAPT Roberton says that things are on track. Since the first five aircraft arrived at Amberley at the end of March not a single sortie has been dropped due to aircraft availability. It is planned to have at least 12 jets on the Amberley tarmac by December, completing the re-equipment of 1 Squadron. The reconstituted 6 Squadron will be operating Super Hornets under their own airworthiness authority by March or April of 2011 and be fully equipped by the end of that year.
Although plans to farewell the F-111 in December are still very much a work in progress, some details are now available. There will be a formal parade to mark the occasion and GPCAPT Roberton says that a large party is also likely to take place.
It's not just a party for the 82 Wing people that are here, he promises. It will embrace all those men and women who have served on the aircraft over all those 37 years, the industry employees of Boeing and Raytheon and others who have worked on supporting the aircraft and, like me, still feel a great affection for the beast.
GPCAPT Roberton offered a eulogy for the F-111: The Super Hornet is going to be a great jet but there's still nothing around that carries as many bombs as fast as does the F-111. It is an immensely capable aeroplane but warfare has moved on generations from the F-111 era. It is just not as operationally viable as it was 30 years ago. It will be a bittersweet farewell as it's been a fantastic jet, which has been of great service to Australia.
Certainly there will be no shortage of volunteers, in uniform, within industry or from the public to help farewell the 'Pig'.
Below: The first F-111s arrive in Australia in 1973. |
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