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HELMOED COMBAT AIRCRAFT Layout 1 Adequate, Affordable, Appropriate – COMBAT AIRCRAFT FOR SMALL AIR FORCES Researched and written by Helmoed Romer-Heitman IR POWER can be critical in its own presented by guerrillas, terrorists and even flying illegally mined cassiterite ore from the right for some small countries, and large criminal groups. DRC to neighbouring countries, using Let-410 Awill almost always be an immensely Some of these groups, however, will be well light transports landing on roads. valuable force multiplier. But air forces are armed and highly mobile, using “technicals” In 2008 there were reports of armed expensive, so the acquisition of aircraft, even mounting a range of heavy weapons, including personnel and “technicals” being flown into combat aircraft, must be handled rationally. twin and quad 14,5 mm machineguns and twin the Birao airfield, in the Vakaga province, of It will not do to buy aircraft incapable of 23 mm cannon and even, in a few cases, truck- the Central African Republic, after it was seized meeting the mission requirements just mounted twin 37 mm cannon. by local guerrillas. because they are cheap; nor should any air Although these are all intended primarily for That small air-landed force apparently then force chase the “latest and greatest” if that is use against ground targets, making them fanned out to cover the flank of a major not required for the missions likely to fall to it extremely dangerous to light forces, they also guerrilla force moving through the Vakaga – not even if it could afford to do so, as there present a real threat to aircraft that come province into Chad as part of the raid on the will always be opportunity costs to consider. within range. It is also increasingly likely that capital, N’djamena. Hence the sub-title of this article: rebel forces will have some form of shoulder- There have also been cases of irregular Adequate: Able to perform effectively the launched anti-aircraft missile, at least in forces developing an air attack capability: missions likely to fall to the particular air force limited numbers. From 2006 to 2009 the “Air Tigers” air wing without undue risk. To illustrate the point: The French Army lost of the Tamil Tigers insurgency used a number Affordable: Able to be acquired and supported an armed Gazelle in Mali to fire from a rebel of Zlin Z43 light aircraft and even some micro- in adequate numbers within available funding column it was attacking with its 20 mm lights to attack Sri Lankan air force, army and and without crippling other force elements. cannon; Chad has lost at least one SF-260 and naval bases, as well as strategic targets, such Appropriate: Optimal for the likely missions, one Mi-25 shot down in the 2000s; Cameroon as a fuel farm outside the capital. with some margin for the unforeseen, but not and Kenya have lost helicopters to ground fire; In one instance their ground forces also “over the top”. and rebels shot down a Sudan Air Force MiG- carried out an attack aimed at destroying an 29 in 2008. INDRA-II radar used to warn of Air Tiger OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENT In some cases irregular forces may also attacks. Considering just combat aircraft, and leaving present an “air threat” in the form of air supply During the Biafra War, Count von Rosen maritime operations for another day, most for irregular forces and the smuggling of high- used five very light Malmö MFI-5 aircraft African air forces, over the next two or three value goods: Aerial (landing and paradrop) armed with rockets for offensive counter-air decades, will not face a major conventional supply of Allied Democratic Forces and Lord’s strikes against the Nigerian Air Force, threat, and some are unlikely to ever face such Liberation Army elements in the northeast of destroying a number of MiG-17s and Il-28s. a threat. But many, perhaps even most, will be the DRC; smuggling of cocaine from South They also flew some attacks on Nigerian supply required to deal with lower intensity threats America into Africa for onward transport, and columns. 14 WORLD AIRNEWS, FEBRUARY 2016. The Textron Airland Scorpion requirement, which brings the challenges of originally developed for dealing with irregular – a light weight fighter with a locating and catching up with an offending forces – the Viet Cong. The attack helicopter sting in its tail.... aircraft. will, in fact, be ideal for close air support and Secondly, guerrillas, terrorists and even for battlefield air interdiction, not least some criminal groups have access to because it can deploy with ground forces and MANPADS, which will require at least a flare be available at very short notice. system and preferably a missile approach It is also ideal for delivering very precise fire warning system. in complex environments, and it can be quite Thirdly, guerrillas are becoming more well protected against the most likely threats. proficient in using heavy machineguns and But attack helicopters are not suited to cannon against aircraft, which argues strongly long-range / long-endurance armed reconn- against any attack profile that requires aircraft aissance missions or to interdiction / strike to fly low and slow to acquire and engage missions. targets. Finally, there will be a growing demand for SMALL PRECISION WEAPONS precision attack, to reduce the risk of “blue-on- There is, however, good news in the form of a blue” incidents and to keep civilian casualties growing range of light precision weapons that and damage to a minimum. will enable a typical counter-insurgency Those challenges would seem to rule out aircraft or a fixed-wing gunship to deliver the typical counter-insurgency aircraft or precision fire from outside the range of most armed trainer as a single, multi-role type for weapons available to irregular forces. the envisaged mission set. Even fixed-wing Among those weapons are: gunships are likely to have become too n Laser-guided bombs, which are manu- vulnerable if they rely on machineguns or even factured by several countries, including the Al cannon, the obvious exception being the Tariq guided bomb kit developed in South Lockheed Martin AC-130 with its 105 mm gun. Africa and manufactured by Tawazun Dynamics in the UAE, which can also be used THE SOLUTION? in a powered version for stand-off up to 100 The obvious solution might seem to be to use km, making surprise attacks and multiple fighter aircraft, but they are too expensive for simultaneous impacts practical. The mission set that arises from these many air forces to acquire and support. Even n Small guided glide bombs, such as the US “threats short of war” will require aircraft the new South Korean FA-50 is hardly cheap at Viper Strike – GPS/semi-active laser; 20 kg with capable of: Armed reconnaissance; close air some $35-million. 1,05 kg HEAT warhead; 10:1 glide ratio. support; battlefield air interdiction; Inter- And, although they might be well suited to n Small guided missiles, such as: the Israeli diction/strike, and air policing. survive in the face of MANPADS and optically- Spike NLOS – INS/IIR/CCD; 70 kg with tandem Barring the air policing mission, the rest aimed machineguns and cannon, they are not HEAT warhead; 25 km range; the British look like missions that can be adequately met well suited to the business of finding and Brimstone – INS/mm wave/semi-active laser; with specialised counter-insurgency aircraft or engaging elusive targets in bush or rough 48,5 kg with a tandem HEAT warhead, 20 km simply armed trainers. terrain. Added to that, fighters need real range; the US Griffin: INS/GPS/semi-active airbases, or at least long, hard-surfaced laser; 20 kg with a 5,9 kg blast/ fragmentation REALITY runways, and those may be so far from the warhead; 20 km range; the South African But the reality is going to be a little different action that even a fast fighter takes too long to Denel Mokopa – semi-active laser, mm wave over the coming decade or two: respond. or IIR; 49,8 kg with a HEAT or Firstly, of course, there is that aerial policing Then there is the attack helicopter, a type blast/fragmentation warhead; 10 km range; The Paramount AHRLAC WORLD AIRNEWS, FEBRUARY 2016. 15 the South African Impi (in development) – The Textron Airland Scorpion prototype. semi-active laser; 28,5 kg with a tandem HEAT or multi-purpose warhead; 10 km range and the US Hellfire – semi-active laser or mm wave; 49 kg with a 9 kg tandem HEAT or blast/fragmentation warhead; 8 km range). Also in the small precision weapons are the Russian Vikhr (AT16) – Laser beam-rider; 45 kg with an 8 kg tandem HEAT warhead; 8 km range; the Israel Spike ER – IIR/CCD homing; 34 kg, with a tandem HEAT warhead; 8 km range (launcher = 55 kg); the Franco/German PARS- 3LR – IR/CCD homing; 49 kg with a 9 kg tandem HEAT warhead; 7 km range) and the Russian Taka (AT-9) – radio command link; 49,5 kg with a 7.4 kg tandem HEAT warhead; 6 km weapons used, the latter two aspects to an dedicated light attack aircraft that has been range. extent offsetting the higher cost. around for some time and has seen service in So these weapons will remain the weapons several air forces. Guided rockets such as: the US DAGR – semi- of choice where the opposing irregular force active laser, 15,8 kg with a warhead, 5 - 12 km has effective capability against “low and slow” SCORPION range (sea level / 20 000 ft).
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