Air Attack on the German Oil Industry

The swift focus of the Allied bomber campaign against the German’s oil industry had immediate and far-reaching effects, compared with the 175,000 tons of aviation fuel it produced in April 1944. In June of that same year, German oil production fell to just over 55,000 tons, less than a third of the previous years output. Unless something was done, and done very soon, the Luftwaffe could find itself with insufficient aviation fuel to continue to sustain air operations. As an initial move to change the situation, large numbers of anti-aircraft batteries were transferred from other areas inside Germany, to protect the oil industry refineries. The 14th Flak division was assigned responsibility for the defense of the industry district at Leipzig, which included the most vaunted oil production plants at Leuna-Merseburg, Bohlen, Troglitz, Espenhain and Mucheln. All would receive the bulk of the anti aircraft pieces, a move made in order to strengthen the Division. By the beginning of May, the Division had in its possession 374 heavy caliber guns, 342 of the 8.8cm caliber, 24 of 10.5cm and 8 of 12.8cm caliber. Immediately after the combined allied offensive against the oil industry commenced, the energetic General Adolf Gerlach was appointed to the command of the Division. He received a visit from Riechsminiter Albert Speer, who made it clear that unless the sector refineries were kept working, the war was as good as lost. When Gerlach assumed command of the Division, there had been 104 heavy guns protecting the large Leuna-Merserburg production complex, he demanded, and received, sufficient weapons to bring about a six fold strengthening of the flack defenses ringing that particular target.

Having secured as much of the larger guns he needed, Gerlach set about to increase its tactical effectiveness. During the attack at the plant, US heavy bombers dropped huge quantities of “chaff” and radiated a cacophony of noise jamming that effectively neutralized the German Wuzburg flack control radar system. As a result of this tactic, during day bombing, the gunners were forced to abandon the use of radar-laid fire and resorted to optical predicted fire. If the clouds and enemy countermeasures prevented accurate predicted fire, the gunners would put up a box barrage. All guns fire at the same point in the sky just short of where it was calculated that the bombers would release the bombs, by disrupting the bombing run in this way, the accuracy of the attack could be greatly reduced. This method was highly extravagant in the use of ammunitions, however, and it was permitted to be used only in the direct defense of high priority targets such as oil refineries. US bomber crews rated the oil refineries and chemical plants around Leipzig as the most heavily defended areas against air attack. In addition to these active defense measures, passive measures were also introduced to lessen the effects of the constant bombing. Concrete reinforced blast walls were built around items of vulnerable machinery, and a warren of deep shelters under the plants enable its workers to remain near at hand during the bombing attacks and emerge afterwards to extinguish the fires before they took hold. Although by this time the German Army was short of skilled manpower, they shifted seven thousand engineers for employment in rapid repair brigades at the refineries and a large number of slave workers, primarily Russian prisoners of war, were drafted in to assist with this work. Finally, to ensure that morale at these facilities did not flag under the intense Allied bombardment, the work force came under “special supervision” from Heinrich Himmler’s feared Security Service.

As a further measure to safeguard German’s precious oil production, Edmund Geilenberg was appointed head of a far reaching program to build a network of new refineries that would be far less vulnerable to air bombardment. For the indispensable production of aviation fuel, he and his staff laid plans for the construction of seven underground hydro generation plants. Lower grade motor fuel was to be produced in 41 much smaller facilities situated above ground but widely dispersed in woods and quarries, each carefully camouflaged and individually too small to make an attractive target to the bombers. Geilenberg made full use of the authority given to him to tale labor and materials from other industries, and his labor force was built up rapidly to more than a third of a million workers. He was planning to have several of the motor fuel producing plants ready to enter service by the autumn of 1944, but despite great efforts by Geilenberg and his staff, the first underground plant was not due to produce aviation fuel until well into the spring of 1945. In fact, no aviation fuel came from this source as the war ended on April 1945. During this period, German rocket fighters went into action several times in defense of refineries in the Leipzig area. On the 16th of August, the US Eighth Air Force, known as the Mighty Eight, put up a thousand bombers to attack a spread of targets in central Germany, including the oil refineries at Bohlen. Five Me 163s were scrambled, and two were promptly shot down without inflicting any damage to the raiding force.

The Messerschmitt 163 achieved its first aerial victory just one week after the event, on August 24th. Eight of the smaller fighters took off from fields on Brandis to engage a bomber force of some 185 B-17s running into attack the refinery at Marseburg. Feldwebel Siegfried Schubert carried out a successful interception of the force and shot down two Flying Fortresses, other pilots from the same unit shot down two more units. Two Me 163s were damaged, one by return fire from a B-17 gunner and the other by a landing accident. It had been a successful day for this new jet fighter and seemed to be important for its future as a bomber-destroyer airplane. But in the end, when the Me163s scored four bombers destroyed that day, were to be the high mark point of its operational career. On September 24, Squadron 400 reported that it had nineteen Messerschmitt Me 163s in operation, of which just eleven were serviceable. By that time over a hundred of these jet fighters had been delivered to the Luftwaffe, and it is clear that the factor limiting operational employment was not aircraft but trained pilots. Now it was clear that the hope for salvation for the German Fighter Force was not going to come from this quarter. During September, Squadron 400 operated on five different occasions, the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and the 28th. The largest of these operations was the last one, when nine of the diminutive planes were committed.

The relative short range of the Me 163 meant that accurate ground control was essential if the fighters were to be used effectively. Such controled operations was not always forthcoming, however, and only a small proportion of the fighters reached firing positions. During September 1944, the Me 163 program suffered a disaster from which it would never recover fully. In bombings attacks on the towns of Leverkusen and Ludwigshaven that month, two of the main sources of hydrazine and hydrate suffered serious damage and production was greatly reduced by it. For the remainder of the war, shortages of this chemical fuel would dog the 163. A major competitor for this limited chemical fuel was the Fi 103 flying bomb, which used it to power the catapult system that fires them into the air. The Fi 103 enjoyed a higher priority for supplies than the Me 163 programs. At the same time, the piston engine fighter units continued to mount defensive attacks against bomber formations, and from time to time they were able to pick their way past the American fighter screens and deliver their special brand of saturation attacks on an unexpected bomber. On September 27th, Squadron 4 delivered a sharp attack on the 445th Bomber group and in three furious minutes, it shot down 28 Liberator bombers out of a total of 37 dispatched. It would be the heaviest loss ever suffered by the US Bomber Group on a single mission. On the following day, the Squadron No. 3 assailed the 41st Combat Wing and shot down eighteen Flying Fortresses before the arrival of strong forces of escorts, preventing the slaughter to continue. Just over a week later, October 6th, a Squadron drawn from the 4th and 300th fought a similarly brisk battle with the 4th combat Bomber Wing and shot down fourteen B-17s.

Despite that such actions brought disaster upon the individual bomber units involved, their effect on the US bombing offensive as a whole was not. During the three days mentioned before, heavy bombers of the US Eight Army Air Forces flew a grand total of 3,275 successful sorties for a loss of some 81 units, less than 2.5 percent of the total. And that, it must be stressed, was on three days when the German defenders were relatively successful. Each passing day, when the weather permitted, the US Eighth and Thirteen Air Forces would send more than a thousand heavy bombers to attack targets across Germany and the occupied territories and on most days, losses were less than 1 percent of the total force involved. The German night fighter force had not recovered from the neutralization of its early warning radar system when it suffered a further calamity. The loss of French territory to the Allies had torn a gapping hole on Germany’s early tracking radar chain, which the Royal Air Force now exploited by routing bombers from that direction during attack on the south and western parts of Germany. Even as signals personnel struggled to reposition radar dishes to plug this breach there came a further blow; the fuel famine started to take effect and forced a curtailment of night fighter activities.

Then, to add to the worsening situation, No 100 Group of the RAF began to make its present felt during the night air battles. The Group operated five squadrons of heavy bombers modified into special jamming aircrafts, B-17 Fortresses, B-24 Liberators, Halifaxes and Stirlings. These aircraft were able to carry a large quantity of “windows” of all types, as well as noise-jamming equipment to counter the German’s Wurzburg fire control system and the Freya, Mammut, Wassermann and Jagdschloss radars that made up the German early warning chains. In addition, some of the aircraft carried “Jostle”, a high power jammer to blot out the night fighter’s radio communication channels. No 100 comprised of six squadrons of Mosquito night fighters carrying special systems to enable them to operate against their Luftwaffe counterparts deep inside the Third Reich. Homing on to radar emissions was a game that two could play, and in addition to AI radar some of the Mosquitos carried “Serrate”, which enabled them to home in on emissions from the German night fighter’s SN-2 radars. Other Mosquitos carried “Perfectos”, which transmitted interrogating pulses to trigger the identification friend or foe (IFF) sets of German aircraft in the area. When Germans IFF sets replied, their signals betrayed the range and bearing of the aircraft and identified it to the Mosquito crews as hostile. Several German aircrafts were shot down following “Perfectos” contacts, and many others were lost when German crews, having heard of the system, flew with IFF switched off and were shot down by their own flak.

But despite the presence of the Mosquito in the night battles, the German night fighter force suffered a far lower rate of attrition than its day fighter counterparts. But No. 100 group’s operation imposed considerable pressure on the German defenses, which in combination with the other factors, allowed the RAF night bombers to operate at will over the German sky with minimal losses. Throughout this period, the German oil industry was hit hard and repeatly. An example of the fate of the German oil industry, in the hands of the Allied bombing offensive happened in the spring of 1944, when one of the largest producers of synthetic oil, the Amoniakwerk Merseburg plant at Leuna, who produced about one sixth of the total German production. The huge plant sprawled over an area of 757 acres, and in addition to liquid fuels it produced ammonia, methanol and various types of industrial alcohol from coke and brown coal. The first large scale attack that happened at the plant was from 224 Flying Fortresses of the Eighth Air Force, which took place on May 12th, even before the Allied main offensive against the German oil industry began. That initial attack brought a halt to fuel production. During the next six months, the plant was attacked twelve more times. Time after time the plant was hit hard and production halted, as if one of the prize-fighters had been knocked to the ground. But each time it picked itself up and production resumed. At first the recovery was quickly and almost complete, but as the accumulation of punishment began to tell, the recovery became progressively slower and less complete.

Compared with 175,000 tons of aviation fuel produced in April, in August there were only 16,000 tons and in September a mere 7,000 tons. Throughout that summer, the Luftwaffe kept going on its fat, the reserves of over half a million tons of aviation fuel it had accumulated previously. With consumption running far in excess of production, by the beginning of September more than half this reserve had been consumed; from a high point of about 580,000 tons at the beginning of May, stocks were only about 180,000 tons at the end of September. Now the harsh reality of the shortfall of fuel production could not be avoided. Operation by the Luftwaffes medium and heavy bombers were sharply curtailed, the use of aerial reconnaissance was limited, air operations in support of the Army were permitted only in decisive situations, and the number of night fighter sorties was cut back. Only day fighter operations in defense of the Fatherland were allowed to continue at their previous level. Meanwhile, in Germany the production of combat aircrafts, and in particular fighter types, had risen to unprecedented levels. The Luftwaffe was about to stage a remarkable recovery in fighting strength.

An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com

Project Tom-Tom

Project Tom-Tom was originated by the United States Air Force’s Strategic Air Command as a way to provide its long range heavy bomber fleets with a fighter umbrella by towing them on semi-fixed wing links.

The concept of the MX-1018, the programs official call-sign, was devised from the FICO (Fighter Conveyor) system. A program initiated by the US Air Force in the 1950s to test the feasibility of utilizing a B-29 Superfortress bomber as a ‘mother ship’ from which a pair of Republic’s F-84 Thunderfalsh fighters would operate. FICO became fully operational in 1955, but only a handful of missions were ever flown.

In the Tom-Tom structure, the parasite fighter plane would shut down its engine to save fuel while it’s been towed. It will restart and detach from the moving airplane to intercept enemy aircrafts, rejoining the bomber once it has accomplished the mission.

For this configuration, two F-84Ds (versions 48-641 and 48-661) from the BASUT based at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio were especially modified to carry a lance-like structure on their port and starboard wingtips platforms. The re-configurated aircraft was given the EF-84D designation.

For the initial test phase of the concept, a modified EB-29A-60-BN, tail number 44-62093 was selected. The bomber was fitted with booms installed at the wing tips onto which the F-84D’s lance would be attached to just before being withdrawn into the mother ship’s wing to lock both planes together.

The first hook-on trials were carried out on July 21st 1950 in the skies above Long Island, New York. With Major Clarence Anderson flying the starboard and Major John Davis running the port plane, the initial connecting test proved a resounding success. In the beginning both F-84Ds experienced heavy turbulence in their pitch and yaw while in the process of hooking into the booms, but after that the ride proved to be more smothering than many anticipated. Re-engaging the Thunderflash’s engine was also relatively easy and after several months, the program was ready for it next phase.

The morning of September 15th 1952 marked another milestone in the project’s life when the Thunderfalsh made their first, long lasting link up with the bomber. That was followed by another 43 additional connections. After a brief, inactive period, testing resumed in full swing on March 1953.

A month later, tragedy hit the program. On April 24th during an engaging maneuver, Major Davis’s F-84D lost surface control, rolling upside down hitting the upper wing structure of the EB-29A. Both aircrafts plummeted into the Peconic Bay with the lost of Davis and the entire bomber crew.

The news of the accident hit the program hard, but it did not end it. After several months, the program was back on track. Now two new RF-84s, this time an F variant (tail number 51-1848 and 51-1849) would attempt to connect, but not with a now obsolete B-29, but with the new and massive B-36 Peacemaker. JRB-36F, serial number 49-2707, was fitted with a new link up platform that would cope with the small fighter’s swept wing arrangement. The system consisted on a hinged arm on the ‘mother ship’ that trapped the fighter in a jaw-type position on its wingtip structure. The first test connection was made on April 24th 1956. With Beryl A. Eickson at the controls, the improved Thunderfalsh performed several quick, connection-detachment operations.

Almost 50 hookups were made during a five month period. Then, on the afternoon of September 26th, tragedy almost hit the program again. While engaging the connecting mechanisms, Eickson’s plane began to rift out of control, very much like Davis’ did three years before. Fortunately for both aircrafts, he was able to detach in time and both airplanes were able to land at Carswell AFB in Texas.

Although only minor damages were reported, most of them on the RF-84F, the AF decided to cancel the entire program soon after the incident.

Concept Aircraft: Prototypes, X-Planes and Experimental Aircraft, Editor Jim Winchester, Thunder Bay Press 2005
Air Power: The men, machines, and ideas that revolutionized war, from Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II, Stephen Budiansky, Penguin Books 2004
Air Power in the Age of Total War, John Buckley, Indiana University Press 1999

An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com

The Ejercito Del Aire - The Spanish Air Force

I. Early History

The Spanish Air Force has been around since the first operational balloons began to appear over the Iberian Peninsula back in 1895. But it was not until April 10th, 1910, that the country formally introduced the nascent military air service as part of its overall armed forces structure. On the afternoon of November 5th, 1913, a rudimentary fitted Spanish squadron had the distinction of being the first true organized force to stage an offensive operation. On that tragic day, Spanish airplanes dropped a few simple shrapnel-type bombs on a number of rebellious Moroccan villages.

After almost two decades of mitigating action, Spain’s military air force was completely unprepared when the country’s Civil War erupted on July 18th 1936. During the war, two distinct air arms existed within the integrated structure of the force. The Spanish Republic Air Force was developed by the Republican forces fighting with the established government. At the beginning, the Republican AF was understaffed and more importantly, poorly equipped to influence events on the ground. They were fitted with obsolete Nieuport-Delage NiD-52 fighters, Breguet 19 reconnaissance bombers, a small fleet of Vickers Vildebeest torpedo-bombers and other old foreign aircraft.

The other air force unit derived from the base force was the National Aviation Force. The ‘Aviacion Nacional’ was created by the Army formations that revolted against what they believed was a repressive government The Nationalist, as this group was called, were lead by the charismatic, albeit, ruthless general Francisco Franco. If the Republican AF was undermanned, then the Nationalist’s was a hallow shell.
Nazi Germany promptly figured out a theater of war where they can test their new equipment and tactics: the Spanish skies. By late July, scores of German-built Junkers Ju-52/3m bomber -transport planes were ferrying Nationalist troops from Spanish Morocco to the mainland. By mid August, Italian-made Savoia Marchetti SM-81, Fiat CR-32 and German Heinkel He-51 were filling the Iberian sky.

The Republican AF also got a boost from foreign countries. Sixty French Dewoitine (D.372, 372, 501 and 510) as well as twenty Potez 54s and a squadron of Bleriot-Spad S.510s; joined the force.

Before the war ended on March 28th 1939, Dorniers, Messerschmitt and other top of the line aircraft tilted the balance of power in favor of the rebels. Franco himself secured the victory when his forces entered Madrid on March 27th.

II. World War II

After the war ended, Franco and his staff, clearly impressed by the role air power played in their ascension to power, established the modern Spanish air force; the ‘Ejercito del Aire’ (EDA). Formed on October 7th, 1939, the ‘Ejercito’ would play a relatively small but significant part in World War II.

When news of the German invasion of Red Russia reached the Spanish government, the new Fascist government’s Foreign Ministry, Ramon Serrano Suñer; offered military assistance to the Nazis by way of the German Ambassador, Eberhard von Stohrer. Adolph Hitler wanted a full pledge declaration of war against the Allies, but Franco and Serrano were kindly aware that any such move will place the country’s struggling economy at the mercy of Great Britain’s oil embargo.

If they could not assist Germany directly, then Franco, though an all volunteer force, similar to the German-deployed Condor Legion during the Civil War, could be mustered. On July 1941, 18,000 men from all walks of life joined in what would be called the Blue Division; a ground force unit that would see heavy action in the Eastern Front. Attached to the division was a limited air expeditionary force known as the Blue Squadron or ‘Escuadrilla Azul’.

The Blue Squadron was part of the overall Army Group Center assets from 1941 until 1944. A total of five Spanish Squadrons flying BF-109 and later FW-190, flew a total of 1,918 sorties as part of Jagdgeschwader 51, also known as “Molders”. The squadrons worked in succession beginning with the first arriving on early June 1941 until the last official one on February of 1944. They had the distinction of being the only Spanish unit to have fought in the Battle of Kursk. Its combat record consisted of 277 air kills and 74 aircraft destroyed, with a total combined loss of seven Spanish pilots.

III. Post War Organization

Following the end of the War, the Spanish government allied themselves with the Western countries in their struggles against the Soviet Union. On March 18th 1946, Spain’s first dedicated paratroop unit was formed. The establishment of a mobile force and key changes in the Ejercito mid level structure made it possible for the country to receive, on a continuing base, top flight aircraft from the United States.

Between the fall of 1950 and the spring of 1959, the Ejercito incorporated its first jet powered platforms; US-built F-86 Saber fighters, Lockheed T-33 trainers and DC-3s and 4s transports were delivered to the Spanish government. Most of those first generation jet systems were replaced in the mid-to-late1960s. It was in the spring of 1968 that the Spanish government initiated an aggressive re-armament effort that culminated with the incorporation of top shelf F-4Cs Phantoms and F-5s Freedom Fighters.

The 1970s brought in another refurbishing phase with the assimilation into the Ejercito of French-developed Mirage III and F-1s. Dassault’s deltas, as the III was commonly refer to, formed the backbone of the Spanish AF for much of the 1970s and early 80s. The Mirage III was one of the biggest success stories in the field of post-WW II combat aircraft design. The vaunted Mirage III first flew on November 17th, 1956 which made the system more than a decade old when it joined the Ejercito.

The other major platform utilized by the AF was the Mirage F-1. The F-1 is a single seat strike fighter which made its maiden flight on December 23rd, 1966. It became operational with the French Air Force in the spring of 1974. The F-1 was one of Dassault’s biggest export success stories.

In the middle of the 80s, the Ejercito received its most advanced air weapon up to date, the US-supplied F/A-18 Hornet. Since its operational deployment in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Hornet became the cornerstone of Spain’s air deterrence and offensive strike capability. A fact that became apparent during NATO’s air war over Kosovo.

Spain made its movement into full pledge membership to NATO in 1982.

IV. Current Structure and base location

The Ejercito del Aire is divided into five operational commands. The first is the Battle Air Command (BAC) based at Torrejon Air Base, Madrid. General Air Command (GAC) has its headquarters in Madrid. Personnel (PC) and Logistic Commands (LC) are also located in the Spanish capital. The only other active command posted outside the Madrid region is the Canary Island Air Command, which reside at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands.

The Ejercito utilized 15 operational Air Bases.

1. Alcanatarilla

2. Armilla

3. Four Winds

4. Gando

5. Getafe (built in 1911 and widely consider the cradle of Spanish aviation)

6. Los Llanos

7. Matacan

8. Moron Air Base is located in southern Spain, roughly 35 miles southeast of the city of Seville. Negotiations for US bases in Spain were conducted between June 1951 and September 1953 under the direction of a Joint United States Military Group, commanded by Major General A. W. Kissner.


In 1957, the Sixteenth Air Force was realigned under the Strategic Air Command. Main operating bases in Spain were used for SAC B-47 rotational alert aircraft until April 1965. 16th AF also operated SAC bases in Morocco from 1958 through 1963. In 1966, a year after SAC withdrew its B-47 alert force from Spain, 16th AF was reassigned to US Air Forces in Europe. On 13 May 1958, the first flight of B-47s were assigned to Morón Air Base to conduct Reflex operations and 6 weeks later the first rotational fighter squadron, F-100s from George AFB CA, arrived for temporary duty to conduct air defense alert.


In April 1960, Morón was placed under the command of Colonel Henry C. Godman. Morón kept operating primarily as a “Reflex” base until 29 April 1962, when the first Chrome Dome KC-135 aircraft arrived.


On November 1971, Morón was relegated to a “modified caretaker status. Torrejon Air Base was designated as the Primary Support Base (PSB) with support services to start in April 1972. Military personnel were reduced to a staff of approximately 100 members of the 7473 CSS. All flying activity was halted except for occasional exercises.


On May 14th 1983 US Spanish bilateral Agreement of Friendship, Defense and Cooperation authorized the United States to station up to 15 tanker aircraft at Morón Air Base. A manpower change request was developed to increase blue-suit manning, based on the tanker task force and the increased War Reserve Materiel (WRM) requirements. The Morón Air Base work force, including all military, civilian, contractor and tenant personnel, was approximately 300 personnel.


In 1984, Morón became NASA’s Space Shuttle Transoceanic Abort Landing Site. Since that time, Morón and NASA have developed a lasting partnership in service to Shuttle ventures. In March 1984, Morón Air Base was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) site for the space shuttle program. Special navigation and landing aids are in place, and personnel are highly trained to recover landing of the orbiter vehicle. Major enhancements were completed in 1986, and included the permanent installation of a Microwave Landing System. Morón Air Base is the only TAL site in the world situated to support high, mid, and low inclination launches. For this reason, Morón Air Base activates for almost all space shuttle launches.


In August 1990, SAC deployed 22 KC-135 and KC-10 tankers to support Operation DESERT SHIELD. In January 1991, SAC changed Morón Air Base from refueling to bomber operations for DESERT STORM. The 801st Bomb Wing (Provisional) at Morón Air Base consisted of 24 B-52s, 3 KC-135s and over 2,800 personnel. This was the largest deployed bomber wing during the war.


Since January 2000, Morón is a critical link in supporting the rotation of Aerospace Expeditionary Forces (AEF) — deployed in EUCOM and CENTCOM Areas of Responsibilities. Tanker Task Forces (KC-135 and KC-10), Fighter Units from the Air Force and Marine Corps, and airlifters (C-141, C-17 and C-5s) use Morón as a staging base for AEF operations. The base also frequently welcomes rotating US Army personnel.


Moron currently housed F-18 Hornet fighters and P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft - was once one of three bases the US used in Spain and home to about 2,000 active-duty people and their families. The Defense Department closed Torrejon and Zaragoza Air Bases, and trimmed Moron to little more than a handful of people keeping an eye on the runway and buildings in case the Air Force needed to return to the Iberian Peninsula.

9. San Javier

10. Santiago

11. Son San Joan
12. Talavera

13. Torrejon Air Base was a major military airport in Spain. During the hey days of the Cold War, Torrejon was headquarters of the United States Air Forces in Europe Sixteenth Air Force as well as the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing. Aircrafts stationed at Torrejon were usually rotated to other USAFE airbases located in Italy and Turkey.
The Air Base was originally the home of the Spanish National Institute of Aeronautics, but after the U.S.-Spanish Defense Agreement of 1953, the US funded the construction at Torrejon of a brand new 13,400′ concrete runway in order to replace the 4,266-ft grass airstrip. A massive concrete apron and other necessary maintenance and shelter facilities were erected to accommodate the biggest of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command’s bombers which mainly supported the Command’s strategic Reflex missions.
Today, among other things, the base housed the Torrejon-Madrid Airport.

14. Villanubla
15. Zaragoza

V. Operational Activity

The main Spanish air formation is the Wing or ‘Ala’. Each Wing is composed of up to three squadrons (escuadrones). Between 19 and 24 aircrafts are housed in an escuadron or air unit. The Ejercito also operates a number of Groups and special operation squadrons.

Total aircraft inventory is estimated to be around 660 operational airframes. Here’s a list of current air activity platforms and base units.
a. Fighter Attack Planes
” Dassault Mirage F-1M (36 units) Wing 14th
” Dassault Mirage F-1BM (3) Wing 14th
” McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornet F-18M (68) Wing 12th & 15th
” McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornet F-18A (17) Wing 46th
” Eurofighter Typhoon EF2000 (36) Wing 11th
” Eurofighter Typhoon EF2000T (14) Wing 11th

b. Maritime Reconnaissance Systems
” Fokker F-27 (3) 802nd Squadron
” Lockheed Orion P-3A (2) Wing 11th
” Lockheed Orion P-3B (2) Wing 11th
” Lockheed Orion P-3M (3) Wing 11th

c. Transport Aircraft
” Airbus A310 (2) 45th Group
” Beechcraft C-90 (4) 42nd Group
” CASA C-212 T.12 (74) Distributed on various commands such as Wing 37th, 801st Group, 47th Group, Wing 48th, and 721st Squadron.
” CASA C-212 T.12B (10)
” CASA C-212 T.12B modified (6)
” CASA CN-235 (20) Wing 25th
” CASA C-295M (13) Wing 35th
” Dassault Falcon 900 (2) 45th Group
” Dassault Falcon 900B (3) 45th Group
” Lockheed C-130H (6) Wing 31st
” Lockheed C-130H-30 (1) Wing 31st
” Lockheed KC-130H (5) Wing 31st

d. Aerial Refueling Airplanes
” Boeing 707-300KC (3) 47th Group

e. Trainers
” Beechcraft Bonanza F-33C (23) 42nd Group
” CASA C-101EB-01 (73) General Air Academy
” Northrop F-5BM (20) Wing 23rd
” LET L.13 (5) Wing 79th
” PZL Bielsko SZD-30 (4) Wing 79th
” Schiebe SF-28A (1) Wing 79th
” ENAER T-35C (37) General Air Academy

f. Helicopters
” Aerospatiale SA 330J (4) 801st Squadron
” Eurocopter EC 120B (15) Wing 78th
” Eurocopter AS 532UL (2) Wing 46th & 48th
” Eurocopter Super Puma AS 332 (9) Wing 46th & 48th
” Sikorsky S-076C (8) Wing 78th

Other aircrafts included (6) CASA 127 VIP transports, (2) Cessna Citation V C-560 recon platforms, (4) Dassault Falcons 20D and E naval survey aircrafts, (12) Canadair CL-215 fire attack planes. Ten additional Canadair, version CL-415 acts as firefighting systems. The Ejercito operates one IAI B-707 351C Intelligence gathering aircraft.

On standby orders, the Spanish AF have 71 single-seat Typhoon fighter/attack aircrafts. Sixteen two-seat dedicated attack Typhoons are also expected to join the Ejercito within a ten year radius. Between 25 and 28 Airbus A400Ms are also ordered.

VI. Current Deployments and Future Operational Profile

The Ejercito del Aire has been very active since the end of the Kosovo War. Spain’s F-1s has been employed in the skies over Iraq and more recently, Afghanistan. It’s believed that some of Spain’s powerful Typhoon aircraft will soon see action in the Afghan theater of operations. Based on Herat Air Force Base, Ejercito’s F/A-18s and transport airplanes had been operating since the early 2005.

Spain also has a small detachment in the former Soviet republic of Kirgizstan. Elements of the 35th Wing are stationed there for logistic and medevac support operations.

As for the immediate future, the Spanish Air Force is fast becoming one of the better equipped units in the European Continent. It ranks 9th in total combat power, just below Poland and on top of countries such as the Ukraine and Finland. The country’s rank will likely remain the same as other European nations incorporate new types of air platforms to its active inventory.

References
How to Make War: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Warfare in the 21st Century, James F. Dunnigan, HarperCollins Books 2003
Air Power: The men, machines and ideas that revolutionized war, from Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II; Stephene Budiansky, Penguin Books 2004
Modern Military Aircraft in Combat, Editor Robert Jackson, Amber Books 2008
www.globalsecurity.org
www.ejercitodelaire.mde.es

The Red Air Force: 1974 - 1985

The years between 1974 and 1985 brought many changes to the Soviet Union’s Air Force (SAF). Changes that augmented the SAF’s overall combat capability almost to a point of challenging the West’s invaluable air dominance in the projected battlefield. This was a dramatic shift that caught many Westerner observers by surprise. After decades of overall decay in the SAF’s structural profile, the 1970s ushered in a new era in air operational planning. The Kremlin had finally awoken to what conventional air power was really about.

Since its creation, the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) had planned to counter the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Warsaw Pact ground and air forces with their high tech air forces. At the front point of this assumption rested the idea that the Western powers could bring heavy concentration of fire to bear with extreme speed and unmatched accuracy at any point in the battle. It was always understood that even if NATO had the manpower in strategic reserves to counter an all out attack by the Warsaw ground forces, the incorporation of those forces into the defensive forward positions would have taken time. It would not arrive in time to stall a Soviet-lead push into Western Europe.

For NATO, air power filled this gap. It offered the ability to strike hard and repeatedly at the choke points along the two German frontiers where the Warsaw land offensive would have to squeeze through. At the same time, tactical implementation of air power would be projected strategically because a large amount of American tactical aircraft would fly to Europe in the event of an all out attack. The concept of Allied air power holding the front against a Soviet ground incursion, provided there were enough deployed aircraft to do it. This was valid and reassuring, especially since the performance of modern tactical Allied aircrafts and the effectiveness and accuracy of their weapons had climbed exponentially on the back of commercially competitive Western technology to achieve an overall capability undreamt of. Inside NATO’s war planning, this air superiority had long been a comfortable thought of state that many believed would endure forever. But by the early 1980s, the situation looked different.

Red Air Force combat aircraft made its world debut in the Korean skies during the 1950s affair. By the early 1970, all of those first generation aircraft, were withdrawn from active service. The second generation of fighters and bombers, originally designed in the late 50s and early 60s, reached its developmental peak in the early 70s.

By the mid 80s, only about 10 to 15 percent of second generation air platforms remained in front line service as the third generation began to assert itself on the overall force structure. Third generation fighters and bombers made their debut in the early 1970s thus its numbers rose steadily through the decade. It was this generation that gave the Red Air Force a broad force structure comparable to that of its Western counterparts, although the later were still reckoned to have a margin in detail capability in all aspects, especially where this was dependent on electronics and weapon technology.

On sheer numbers of available airframes, the Warsaw Pact had always outstripped those of the Allies, in the mid 80s; broad parity in performance was also within its grasp. Added to the equation was the Soviet’s monumental investments in research and development dwarfed that of all NATO nations combined, with the exception of the US. A fourth generation platform was well under development by the middle of US President Ronald Regan’s first term. By 1985, the Red AF was in the process of completing pre-evaluation of its fourth generation air superiority fighter. A platform sorely intended to out maneuver the premier US air superiority aircraft, the vaunted F-15 Eagle. The Soviets were also working on a dedicated V-STOL aircraft for naval operations.

In the summer of 1985, analysis estimated Russian tactical air forces in the western section of the country had increased by 35 percent. The Soviet naval air arm was also climbing. The number of strategic airlift airplanes and attack helicopters quadrupled between 1974 and 1985. In twenty five years, 1970 onward, the Red AF increased their operational scope and war-load capacity by a staggering 1000 percent. The air force progress was as equally impressive as the Red Navy’s. Admiral Gorshkov gets much of the credit, and deservedly so, for the development of the Navy’s Blue Water aspects; but Soviet AF generals are to be praised for the formation of a top rated force.

With its overall new power projection capability, the Red Air Force possessed the capability to venture into the Atlantic and engage NATO’s European targets, including the most important air bridge base in the Continent; the United Kingdom. A thought inconceivable in 1970. The newfound Red air power could, if the pattern continued for one more decade, have made the deployment of US strategic reserve units into Continental Europe that much more difficult, if not impossible. In conclusion, Soviet generals believed that they were just 10 to 15 years away from having a war winning air strategy.

An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com

Nasa’s F-15 Program

There are few fighters that capture the imagination in the same way that the F-15 Eagle does. Almost all the pilots who flew the Eagles in peace and in war, acknowledge that it was a completely ‘different beast’. Its handling capability and its sheer power will be difficult to duplicate in a platform-era base. To resume, the F-15 will most likely end up in history as the most feared and respected fighter of all time.

The Eagle had been working for peace now for more than a quarter of a century. It forms the backbone of not only the United States Air Force, but most of the Allies air dominance capability. The majestic ‘Bird’ has also been a fixture on NASA’s flying circles since the mid 1970s. The National Air and Space Administration had and still operate a small fleet of modified F-15s, most of them for experimental purposes.

The first F-15 operated by the Administration was serial number 71-0281. The unit was utilized in December 1975 to test the thermal tiles implemented on the Shuttle program. The unit was sent back to the USAF in the spring of 1983. Sample 74-0141, an F-15B version, was used by NASA as an Aerodynamic Flight Facility from the summer of 1994. Those ‘B’ platforms were known inside the space agency as NASA 836 units. Their primary function was to carry a Flight Test Fixture (FTF) on its center pylon.

Inside each FTF were research systems, materials for testing and advanced instrumentation. An example of this was the X33 Thermal Protection System which was tested in FTF-II. The system calibrated, monitored and instrumented the many materials destined for the X-33 flight experimentation profile.

On January 5th, 1976 NASA acquired an F-15A (71-0287), the eighth ‘A’ ever produce, designated NASA 835. The 835, which is NASA’s top operating Eagle, served as a test bed for futuristic propulsion systems, aerodynamics, control mechanisms, flight techniques and fly-by-wire integrated computers. In 1982, the unit was modified to test the highly advanced DEEC Engine Control System (ADECS). The ADECS was a platform utilized to evaluate and to achieve stall control of the engine’s margin under different operational parameters.

After completing the evaluation with ADECS, the 835 was fitted with the Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control (HIDEC), a new system intended to use computer power to detect loss of, or degradation of control surfaces. It was expected that after the problematic area was indentified, HIDEC would re-configure the remaining control sections to compensate. At the same time, it would alert the pilot of the problem and generate a new, real time flight package to assist the pilot in keeping the plane flying.

NASA 835 also tested the controversial Self Repairing Flight Control System (SRFCS) in the autumn of 1989. The SRFCS was, in some ways, very similar to the HIDEC, but one thing that the Self Repairing system offered was an in depth analysis of failures other than that of the control surfaces. Hydraulics, mechanical and electronic systems were all monitored by SRFCS, which will make any correction needed to failing systems in order to keep the aircraft airborne.

In the summer of 1991, the 71-0287 was redesigned to be part of the Performance Seeking Control (PCS) program. The programs main function was to optimize engine performance and assure safe operation of the power plants through digital monitoring of failures and digital control of the inlets, nozzles and flight control sections.

835 ended its long and distinguish NASA career flying as a Propulsion Controlled Aircraft (PAC). PAC was initiated because a series of crashes caused by loss of flight control prompted the agency to commence a program to determine whether it was possible for a system to be designed to maintain control of an aircraft by altering thrust parameters on a single power plant.

Initial results with PAC showed promise as it proved the concept of control through pitch with one engine, though an asymmetric application of thrust from two engines was needed to alter heading and induce roll. NASA 835 was the only aircraft using PAC. In one test flight, the unit flew down to less than 10 feet above a runway at 150 KIAS utilizing thumbwheels. Successful landings at Edwards AF base in California proved the soundness of the concept.

The last PCA flying program attached to the 835 was that of the Landing/Maneuvering Technology Demonstrator (S/MTD) for testing emerging technologies for suitability to the USAF’s Advance Tactical Fighter program. Technologies used on the F-22 Raptor and the new F-35 Lighting II.

Jane’s Aircraft Recognition Guide, Gunter Endres and Mike Gething, HarperCollins Publishing 2002
Skunk Works, Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos, Back Bay Books, 1994
Concept Aircraft: Prototypes, X-planes and Experimental Aircrafts, Jim Winchester, Editor; Thunder Bay Press, 2007

Air Defense of the Giuk Gap: F-15 Eagle Territory

The Greenland, Iceland and United Kingdom air defense sector, better known as the Giuk Gap, was routinely utilized by the USSR’s long range heavy bombers and maritime reconnaissance platforms as a transit point towards the Atlantic Ocean. The pattern started when the Soviet Union decided to deployed their bombers or recon aircraft from bases located at Archangel and Murmansk. After departing USSR’s airspace, the planes would stream down to the North Cape in Norway towards the Gap which was use as a doorway to the vast Atlantic. Most of the Soviet missions were destined to probe United States’ air defense along the North Atlantic and in the Caribbean where Cuba, the USSR’s most important satellite state outside continental Europe, rested. Such was the perceived treat from the Soviet incursions that it became a priority for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to demonstrate to that the strategic Giuk passage would be monitored at all times. The best way to achieve this was to intercept and shadow all Soviet transit in and from the Gap.

The best opportunity to do this was when the formation flew through the relative narrow space that separates Greenland and Great Britain. In the middle of this ‘gap’ lay the small country of Iceland. Iceland became a full time member of NATO in 1949, but due to its complete lack of military resources and the treat of Soviet air power, the country’s leaders officially agreed on May 5th 1951 to house what would become NATO’s most important North Atlantic base out side its UK circle, Keflavik. The new facility immediately became the home of the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) or the ‘Black Knights’, in the fall of 1954. At first, the 1951 agreement called for the FIS to take direct action only if the country’s territory was penetrated but things changed a decade later when Fidel Castro’s Cuba became a communist nation. From that moment on, Soviet aircraft utilized more frequently the Gap in order to make calls to Cuban airbases and airports in an attempt to probe deeper inside the US eastern seaboard defensive area. To meet this treat, the US Air Force fitted the 57th with advance fighter aircraft. In 1962 the FIS was augmented by the amazing F-102. In 1973, the big F-4C Phantom replaced the 102 as the force mainstay. A new Phantom, the F-4E, was incorporated to the 57th in the summer of 1978.

By 1984, the USSR had amassed a considerable submarine launched ballistic missile capability which complemented their already powerful ICBM force. The vas majority of the Soviet SSNB submarines, known as ‘boomers’, were based at Archangel and Murmansk. Their pre-launch stations were usually in the White Sea sector. Because of this, the US Navy devoted a large portion of its SSN submarines or ‘hunter killers’ to located and then follow the movement of all Soviet SSNB boomers in the White Sea. To perform this task, US SSNs ran through the Giuk Gap in route to their patrol areas. To counteract the Americans, the Soviet navy began a pattern of deploying an ever increasing numbers of modified Bears, call sing ‘F’, in an effort to track the US SSNs boats before they enter the Sea.

In another countermove, the US assigned its best fighter jet, the impressive F-15C/Ds to the 57th FIS. In November 1985, the first of twelve F-15C/Ds arrived at Keflavik. The Eagles stationed at the Iceland base were different from its North American counterparts. They were fitted with Conformal Fuel Tanks (CFT). Each CFT could add up to 9,800 extra pounds of aviation fuel. Enough fuel to extend the overall operational range of the Eagles thus giving the aircrafts of the Black Knights the ability to intercept the Bears at a longer range. More fuel also meant that the planes from the 57th could shadow its target for a much longer time than before. The CFT became an integrated part of the F-15 deployed at Keflavik.

From January 1962 to the winter of 1991, Black Knights intercepted almost 3,000 Soviet long range aircrafts. The most active period was between 1985 and 86 when Iceland Eagles netted 340 interceptions. Nearly all Soviet inbound air traffic towards the Gap was detected and tracked by the Norwegian Royal Air Force’s air defense centers. The NRAF, with the strategic support of USAF’s Boeing E-3A AWACS from the 552nd Airborne Warning and Control Wing, painted all Soviet air movement in and around the Giuk Gap during their incursions. It was relative easy to spot a Bear. Its massive Kuznetsov NK-12MV turboprop engines contra rotating four sets of large diameter propellers made a huge radar reflection. After the NRAF notified NATO command, the E-3s fleet was scrambled to acquire and track the inbound bogy. At the same time, the F-15s would be placed on high alter status. Well prior to the Soviet aircraft’s incursion into the Iceland Military Zone, two Eagles would be dispatched to meet the intruders. A KC-135 refueling tanker would follow half an hour later to keep the Black Knights topped off thus maintaining their ability to divert and re-engage.

Early on the Bears, which were the Soviets most visible platform at Giuk, flew a very predictable pattern flying at an altitude of 25 to 27,000 feet at a relative low cruising speed. The low altitude profile coincided with the aircraft’s primary operational goal: the proving of the other rims of the American Defense Zone in the North Atlantic Sector. On one occasion, a night flying Bear turned up its powerful spotlight which was mounted on the empennage, in an effort to disorient an intercepting Eagle pilot. The pilot did not enjoy the sight and race out ahead of the Bear, turning around and pointed at the huge bomber nose to nose. He proceeded to lower his gear which shinned its landing light in the faces of the Bears’ pilots. The two aircrafts flew at a ‘too much for comfort combine speed of 500 knots in a pitch black sky. It safe bet that Bear’s pilot never attempted the maneuver again.

Such as this there many more stories of encounters between Soviet aircrafts and Black Knights interceptors. But the fall of Red Russia in 1991 signaled the end of the Cold War. After 1991, no Bear or any other type of Russian airplane approached the Iceland Defense Zone. As for the 57th, they maintained their twelve plane strength for another three years before eight were re-assigned to US continental bases. On March 1st 1995, the Black Knights were officially disbanded as its mission was taken over by rotating Air National Guard units. The Guard maintained Keflavik alert status until 2005 when the last detachment of USAF aircrafts departed Iceland. But with recent Russian flybys is not out of the realm of the possibility the Air Force will once again deploy interceptors to the remote country.

An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com

The Martin Baker Designs

One of the most obscure piston powered aircraft projects ever conceived by a British corporation has to be the Martin-Baker MB series. The small English company, founded by James Martin and Val Baker in the early 1930s, was at the outside looking in terms of the British Royal Air Force’s design and development programs. But that changed in the summer of 1938 (August 3rd) when the company’s MB-2 single seated fighter, powered by a Napier Dagger engine, took to the air on its maiden flight. The aircraft flew flawlessly prompting the RAF to take a hard look at the, by that time, unknown corporation. Martin-Baker followed the success of the MB-2 with the MB-3. The new air platform was design around a May 1939 Ministry of Defense (MoD) specification, F-18.39, which called for an aircraft that can ascertain speeds above 400 mph within a heavily armed airframe. The new 3 version would have been able to achieve the stated speed at an operational ceiling of 15,000 feet. It was designed with a powerful six 20mm cannons fitted along its wing structures. Only one MB-3 sample, unit R2492, flew. It did so on August 3rd 1942. Unfortunately the unit was lost a month later when during a routine testing exercise; the aircraft staled in mid air prompting the sample to plumb to the ground. The crash, not only put the entire MB-3 program in jeopardy, but the death of the test pilot, company founder Baker; was a serve blow that would have dire consequence for the small company in the years ahead.

Constant development and production delays assured that the MB-3 would never achieve full production status. In the sprig of 1943, the MoD canceled its pre-production order for the 3 version. With the end of the company’s biggest contract up to that date, James Martin was finally free of government constraints. Free to pursue his life log dream. Free to design the company’s greatest air structure, the MB-5. The version 5 of the basic MB concept was basically a redesigned MB-4, an air platform that was never developed past mockup status, with a more powerful engine base and a streamline fuselage. The new power plant planned for the 5 version was the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. The engine, coupled with a new teardrop canopy design and rear fuselage radiator gave the 5 a distinct flying capability.

Although different in many aspects from the 3 unit, the 5 was also loosely based on the same 18.39 specification. Martin’s new airplane made its maiden flight on the morning of May 23rd 1944. It only took one flight for Martin and the rest of his dedicated staff to know they had something special in the aircraft. With a top speed profile of 460 mph, the MB-5 was able to outrun the best of the Luftwaffe’s piston engine fighters. It flight operational ceiling was 20,000 feet which again, was better than any German piston aircraft of the times. The 5 unit was an overwhelming success that an Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment’s Boscombe Down report called the basic MB-5 design “an excellent and infinitely better, from the engineering and maintenance point of view, than any other similar type of aircraft”. The plane was also a big success with all the pilots who flew it. Its streamline airframe made it easy to maneuver it and its reinforced wing structure gave it the stability to become one of the world’s best gun platforms. Despite the high acclimates the aircraft ran into the same problem as the 3 version, delays. Add to this the fact that World War II has just ended, and the “writing was on the wall” when it came to the future of the whole 5 program. In the fall of 1945, the company finally pulled the plug on its most successful aircraft design.

Martin will go on with the design and development two jet powered aircrafts, but by the late 1940s the company shifted its overall philosophy towards the production of ejection seats and area that made this little British company a household name.

The Royal Air Force and Aircraft Design 1923 to 1939, Colin Sinnott, Frank Cass 2001
Bristol Aircraft since 1910, C.H. Barnes, Putman Books 1964
Planemakers II, David Mondey, Jane’s Defense, 1982

A Brief Look at China’s Current Air Capabilities

In the past few years, The People’s Republic of China’s growing military capability has attracted a great deal of interest, but major details regarding China’s near-future military strength have been hard to come by. At this moment, China is spending massive amounts of financial resources in order to improve its overall military capability. This spike of budgetary expenses by China is setup in the background of the country’s need to upgrade its low-tech arsenal. Current reports have placed the number of deployable nuclear weapons the country possesses at four hundred. Of these, around twenty are deployed in the Intercontinental ballistic missile configuration. Nearly two hundred and twenty of them are reported to be deployed in various delivery platforms such as aircraft, submarines and short-to-medium range missile systems. All of these weapons are of tactical capability. The remaining weapons are believed to be held in tactical reserves for short range missiles, low yield attacks and demolition purposes.

The country has several delivery systems for their ever growing nuckear stockpile. The main component of the system is the Dong-Feng 5 liquid-fuelled missile, with an estimated range of 13,000 km and can carry a single use, multi-megaton warhead. The Dong-Feng 5 was first deployed in the summer of 1981 and has remained the backbone of China’s ICBM force for the past two decades. Twenty, frontline Feng 5’s are believed to be stationed in full alert somewhere in central regions of the country. The Feng 5 was a drastic departure from the early versions of China’s ballistic missiles systems. Those early missiles were mainly stored in caves and were rolled-out for launch. The Feng 5 can be launched from vertical silos after just a few hours of the order being received by their launch crews. The Feng 5 operational range give China the capability to launch a small nuclear attack against most of Continental Europe, Asia and some parts of the United States, mainly the southeast part of the country. Today, two additional missile platforms are deployed or being tested for possible deployment. They are the medium range DF 31’s, which entered first-line operation in 2005, and its long range variant, the DF 31A, formerly called the DF-41; which is expected to be fielded by late 2010. Both missiles are going to be propelled by solid fuel cells and based on mobile launchers. China is expected to attempt producing a multiple re-entry vehicle (MVRs) for their new missile systems. An attempt to produce the more technical challenge multiple independently-targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) is underway.

China also deploys intermediate range ballistic missiles and medium range ballistic missile systems. These weapon platforms are capable of threatening the security of many countries in Asia, including India, but its effects on the overall strategic security of Russia are minimal. China’s intermediate missile systems are also capable of hitting targets on Japan’s coastal cities and United States bases in South Korea and Japan. The oldest missile platform deployed by China is the “near stationary” DF 3A missile system. This platform is being phased-out in favor of the more modern DF 4 and DF 21 systems. The DF 4, with a maximum operating range of 4,750 km, is still the backbone of China’s regional deterrence force. The DF 4 is a liquid fueled system that operates mainly now out of fixed launch sites. With the deployment of the DF 21 in 1986, China’s regional ballistic missile capabilities increased twofold. The operational DF 21 has an estimated range of 1,800km and is carried in mobile launchers for security reasons. The DF 21 is also the base of China’s sea-launch ballistic missile systems. The older, liquid fueled missiles can carry a single nuclear warhead of an estimate 3.3mt yield. The newest missiles also carry a single warhead with maximum yields in the hundreds kilotons range. China also possesses a limited number of short-range ballistic missile batteries. The DF 11/M 11, with an operational range of 300km, and the DF 15/M 9, with a range of 600km, are the backbone of China’s tactical force. Its believed that most of these missile platforms are configured to carry only a small nuclear or conventional warhead.

China’s bomber force is based on the local production of Russian made aircraft first deployed in the early stages of the 1950s. With the overdue retirement of the Ilyushin IL-28 bomber from front-line, nuclear delivery role, the Tu-16 Badger will most likely assume the role of a medium range, nuclear strike bomber. Being a product of the 1950s technology, the Tu-16 could only carry two or three nuclear bombs over a range of 1,5,00 to 3,100km. China is believed to have over 130 of these vintage planes in operational conditions. The Chinese Navy also operated the Tu-16 in a reserve role primarily. Although the Chinese Air Force possesses a great number of other possible nuclear carrying aircraft, such as the venerable MiG-21, the Russian supplied Su-27, and the newly designed JH-7s; they are not believed to be used for such a role. The Chinese Air Force also has a large inventory of strike and fighter aircraft at their disposal. It is estimated that by 2004 China has a total aircraft inventory of around 4,200 operational aircraft of many types. This inventory includes all the variants of the J-6 or MiG-19 fighter, J-7 or MiG-21, Su-27, IL-28 and Tu 16 bombers. Of these aircraft, the vast majority entered service with the Chinese air force before 1970. The tactical airlift aspect of the air force is at a diminishing capability. Over the last two decades, Chinese leaders have stressed the development of a localized aerospace industry sector capable of designing and developing advanced avionics needed for military aircraft. Despite the investment of large amounts of budgetary and human resources, the Chinese had not shown the ability to promptly design, develop and mass produce an indigenous combat aircraft. The recently revealed J-7, and the J-8, both of which took so long in their developmental stages that by the time they were ready to enter front-line services they were already obsolete by Western standards, showed China the need for more investment in financial and human resources as well as the training of experienced technicians to work in all aspects of the technical design of a combat aircraft. The same holds true of the most vaunted of China’s aircraft developments, the J-10.

China is not alone in this area, other countries had tried in the past to design and mass-produce indigenous aircraft systems, most notable Israel, South Africa, India, Taiwan and south Korea; all abandoned their programs in favor of purchasing existing and proved aircraft types from the five largest weapons producers: the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France and Germany. The main reason is the fact that the economic resources needed, not only to design a generation-leaping aircraft, but to be mass produced for local consume, are so massive that developing countries with a small industrial base simply can not afford to spend the necessary resources for a long period of time. This also holds true of large economies with a small gross national product output such as Russia, which is lagging far behind the Western countries in military technology designs. As a direct result of their failure to establish a permanent industrial base capable of producing front-line aircraft, China has renewed its imports of combat airplanes from Russia.

The reality is that China is investing massive amounts of money to modernize its armed forces, but the current force structure is so old and that the rate of retirement will surpass the rate of acquisition in all major weapon platform systems. This fact means that China overall military force would decrease in size. Aircrafts and missile systems would decrease in numbers. Also, the modernization process is slow due to the massive investment needed to accomplish it. China is also adding a small number of new technology weapon systems to its overall arsenal. New weapon platforms are purchased in small quantities, which can not dramatically alter the balance of power. China current acquisitions of Russian systems are not as impressive as they might look. Those systems are not comparable to the ones fielded by the United States or Japan. The main problem of China’s militarization might be their inability to produce a continuous indigenous weapon industry to produce next-generation military technology. Which could be used on their existing or newest systems? The recent reversal of policy from the Chinese government, from developing its own weapon systems to purchasing systems, mainly from Russia and Israel; has left the government in Peking without control over the military they so desperately desire. For the foreseeable future, China’s potential military action, mainly against Taiwan, is limited, let alone branching out of the regional setting they are now. Overall, the balance of air power in East Asia would remain the same for the next fifteen years.

1 John W. Lewis and Hua di, China’s Ballistic Missile Programs: Technologies, Strategies, Goals, International Security, Original: July 1997 - Updated December 2006.
2 Jeffrey Lewis, The Ambiguous Arsenal, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, May-June 2003.
3 Bill Gertz, China Advances Missile Program, Washington Times, June 22, 2005.
4 NTI and The Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, China Profile: Nuclear Capabilities, Nuclear Treaty Initiative, Fall 2003.

French Nuclear Deterrent

France had possessed nuclear weapon systems since the 1950s. In the beginning, France’s Nuclear Posture was based on three key points: Instability, Strategic Security, and Nuclear Independency. France’s regards instability on a state and/or sub-state level and their technological breakthroughs possible threats to the “strategic stability” balance in the world. Because of this the country has identify four major theaters of operations as their main areas of concern:

1. The Arc of the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. This area is regarded as a breeding ground for nuclear and other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) proliferation. 2. The Sub-Sahara Africa. This is an area filled with the so-called fail states which are a prime territory for terrorist cultivation. 3. Eastern Europe. With the new and assertive Russian Federation, this theater is rapidly moving up in France’s strategic vision list. 4. The Asian Continent. As the current economic environment continues to grow in the area, so does the possibility of a regional conflict.

At the heart of France’s military and political vision lay its objective of maintaining a credible and powerful nuclear strategic force as deterrence. The force compromised the backbone of the Nation’s strategic and tactical vision. With the removal of its tactical surface-to-surface missile platforms, France was left with two fully operational Nuclear Delivery Systems: the nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine and the nuclear carrying fighter/bomber.

 

France operates two fully equipped sea-based squadrons with the sole purpose of nuclear deterrence. The squadron is part of the Charles de Gaulle nuclear power aircraft carrier’s air wing. The Charles de Gaulle is France’s most advance and capable aircraft carrier design. It is also the flag ship of the French Navy and a powerful symbol of the country’s ingenuity and sense of national pride. In September 1980, the French government approved the design and development of two next generation nuclear power aircraft carriers to replace its aging Clemenceau Class fleet which dated back to the mid 1950s. As the program progressed it became obvious to many inside the Ministry of Defense that the whole program was to be plagued by constant cost overruns and major technical difficulties, nevertheless, the CVN de Gaulle project continued. The carrier’s hull was launched in April 1989. Five years later, on May 1994, the Charles de Gaulle was officially launched. As the sea trial period commenced, a number of construction errors began to surface delaying the commissioned of the carrier until May 2001. Even after completion, the carrier’s construction mistakes, most noticeable its mistaken catapult measurements; prevent it from utilizing the US-made E-2C Hawkeye Electronic Surveillance Aircraft. Between the fall of 1999 and the autumn of 2000, the carrier’s angled flight deck area was lengthened accordingly to the E-2C’s takeoff characteristics. There were plans to develop a second Charles de Gaulle class of carrier, most likely a conventional powered version, but the government experience with the first prototype and the public reactions to the continuing delays had probably put to rest the idea for the time being.

• Dimensions

LENGTH	BEAM	DRAUGHT	DISPLACEMENT (Tons)
857′-8″	211′-4″	27′-10″	30000 empty/40600 loaded

• Crew Compliment and Basing: The boat can accommodate up to 1,150 officers and crewmen, plus 550 aircrew compliment. It can also carry nearly 800 Marines and fifty flag ranked officers.
• Machinery: Two Type K-15 nuclear reactors, the same ones that powered the Le Triomphant class of submarines, deliver 300 MW (402,145 shp) and two turbines delivering 56845.21 kW (76,000 shp) powering two massive shafts. Top speed is twenty five knots but sea trials had placed the maximum speed closer to the twenty seven knot level. The aircraft carrier has two 246′-0″ US-type C-13F catapults which were able to launch a 23 ton aircraft. A below deck hangar facility is capable of storing twenty to twenty five airframes.
• Armament: The Charles de Gaulle is fitted with an advance Integrated Weapons Systems centered on four Sylver octuple VLS launchers. The launcher carries the ASTER 15 anti-missile missiles. Two Sadral PDMS sextuple launchers for the MISTRAL Surface to Air Missile augment it. There are also eight powerful Giat 20 mm heavy machine guns for close quarter’s engagements. The ship also posses an impressive array of countermeasure devices. Chief among them are four Sagaie ten barrel decoy launchers. A LAD off-board decoy mechanism serves as backup. There are plans to fit a SLAT torpedo decoy platform.
• Electronics Package: The Charles de Gaulle is fitted with a vast array of sensors and radar system. The main defensive radar is the DRBJ 11B Air Search Radar which is supplemented by a DRBV 26D Jupiter Air Search Radar a DRBV 15D Air-Surface Radar, two DRBN 34A Navigational Radar and a second generation Arabel 3D Fire and Control Radar System.
• Air Complement: Up to forty aircrafts including 24 Super Etendard, 2 E-2C Hawkeyes, 10 Rafale M and 2 SA 365F Dauphin search and rescue platforms.

Currently, the Charles de Gaulle currently operates two fully operational, nuclear capable Super Etendard strike fighter. The Dassault Company Super Etendard (Standard) Program was designed to meet French military standards following the air combat experiences of the Korean Conflict. The Etendard program had its origins in the mid 1950s and the program ran un-eventually until the first production unit, the Etendard IV-M took to the air for its maiden flight in May 1958. Before the IV-M variant first flight, Dassault had developed four other prototypes that were deemed un-fitted for the French Air Force, but the IV variant enticed the Navy. French Admirals, seeing the potential of this new air platform as a multi role strike-capable fighter, pushed hard for the model to enter production which the aircraft did in the fall of 1959. Between 1961 and the spring of 1965, the French Navy took delivery of 69 IV-M units plus 21 modified frames used as reconnaissance-tanker platforms. All of the Etendard’s 90 units served aboard France’s two deployed aircraft carriers: the Foch and the Clemenceau. The IV-M would serve the Navy for thirty years, being last unit retired from active service in July 1991. The unexpected successes of the IV-M variant embolden Dassault to develop a replacement for it. They named the Super Etendard, the new fighter/bomber featured a redesigned Atar 8K-50 engine as well as a strengthened airframe for high speed operations. Revised flaps were installed on the wing structure to ease the aircraft’s takeoff motion. Modern navigational systems as well as the revolutionize Thomson Multi Role Radar Array was also fitted into the new platform.

On the morning of October 28th 1974, the first Super Etendard prototype took to the air for the first time. After an extended testing phase, the Super Etendard when into full production mode. By the summer of 1978, the French Navy had received 71 units and was expected one hundred more. Massive budgetary over expending curtailed the program.

• Specifications

Power Plant	SNECMA 11005lb afterburning thrust Atar 8K-50 turbojet engine
Armament	Two internal 30mm DEFA Cannons, six hard points. Up to 4630lb of bombs and rockets
Airframe Dimensions
	Length	14.3m
	Height	3.86m
	Wingspan	9.6m
	Total wing area	28.4m/2
	Weight
		Empty 6500kg
		Fully Loaded 12000kg
Air Performance
	Top Speed	1205kph
	Ceiling	13700m
	Operational Range	650km
	Climb Rate	6000m/per minute

• Basing

The Super Etendard, are based on the Charles de Gaulle. When the French carrier is not on patrol, its main operational base is at Rade Toulon (43 degrees .08′ N and 5 degrees 55′ E). Toulon is a southern French city of enormous naval heritage. Conceived initially to be a major military storage facility, the first blocks were put on in 1599. The facility was upgraded by the infamous Cardinal Richeliu, who wanted to make France a major naval player, between 1604 trough 1610. Known as the Arsenal, the base is home, not only to France’s only nuclear powered carrier, but to a complement of submarines and small vessels.

When not on deployment, the Charles de Gaulle air complement sits at station alert in Landivisiau. It was there that France maintains a force of nearly forty available aircrafts with twenty more on strategic reserve. The base was first developing in 1963. By February 1965, President de Gaulle inaugurated the facility which had been the center for naval air operations since then. It is expected that by 2012, Landivisiau will be home of sixty Rafale strike platforms.

• Future

The French Navy is receiving deliveries of its newest carrier-based fighter/bomber: the Dassault-designed Rafale MK-3. Originally, France was a leading member of a European consortium assigned the task to develop the Continent next advance fighter/bomber platform, the Eurofighter. The country decided to withdraw from the project and to pursue an indigenous program instead. In 1982, France disclosed to the public its new aircraft program now called the Rafale (Squall). A technological demonstrator was rolled out on December 1986. The (A) version first took to the air on July 4th 1986. The Rafale is a single seat (a two seated variant is also available) aircraft based on a compound sweep delta wing structure similar to that of the Mirage. It posses an all moving canard configuration, a single fin and semi-vented intakes. It has a state-of-the-art fly by wire systems, augmented by an advance avionic package. The plane’s cockpit is fitted with the HOTAS and FLIR, touch sensitive system that allows the pilot a greater degree of integration with the platform than on any previous French aircrafts. The Rafale was first fitted with F1 software packed. The software was updated in the late 1990s to a F1.1 which add more compatibility with the IR-homing version of the Mica AAM and MIDS data-link to allow the Rafale prompt communication with its supporting air package (most likely the E-2C Hawkeyes). Fifty percent of the Rafale’s airframe is made up of aluminum-lithium composites.

The Rafale made its first naval testing during 1987 when it clearly demonstrated its ability to handle carrier duties. The flight testing phase of the program concluded in January 1994. The first production version, C-01 introduced a new level of autonomy and stealth to the French fighter. A reshaped wingroot fairing and a goal-coated canopy were introduced as part of France’s first true attempt to develop stealth technology. Also, the airframe was littered with antennas attached to the SPECTRA self defense system. A multirole RBE2 radar array was fitted on the recontoured nose cone. The C-01 also, for the first time, demonstrated France’s ability to utilize dry-thrust (supercruise). The first navalized version of the Rafale was the M-01 which took to the air for its maiden flight on December 12th `1991. The M version had an strengthened undercarriage, an arrest hook and a jump strut nose wheel. The M made its first carrier landing on the Foch in the morning of April 19th 1993. The next Rafale prototype, the two seated B-01, made its maiden flight on April 30th 1993. On December 4th 2000, the first sixty Rafale Ms were accepted by the French Navy.

These aircrafts will be part of Flotilla 12 aboard the Charles de Gaulle. It is expected that the Rafale platform (MK-3 for nuclear delivery) would replace the outdated Super Etendard strike aircraft as the Navy’s main nuclear delivery platform commencing in the summer of 2010. Reduction in the number of carriers planned by the Navy (only one will be constructed) will also curtail the Rafale’s production run.

• Specifications

Power Plant	Two SNECMA M88-2 turbofan 16424lb thrust
Armament	One 30mm DEFA 791B cannon, 12 hard-points
Airframe Dimensions
	Length	15.30m
	Height	5.34m
	Wingspan	10.90m
	Total wing area	28.4m/2
	Weight
		Fully Loaded 19500kg
Air Performance
	Top Speed	2130km/h
	Ceiling	16765m
	Operational Range	1854km
	Climb Rate	6000m/per minute

 

The only nuclear offensive platform employed by the French Navy’s Super Etendard fighter/bombers is the advance, medium range ASMP Ballistic Missile System. The ASMP is designed and produced by Aerospatiale, Space and Strategic System Division at Les Mureaux.

 

Length	5.38 m
Diameter	300 mm
Propulsion	One solid propellant booster and one ONERA Kerosene fueled ram jet engine
Weight	860 kg
Payload Capacity	35000 kg
Operational Range	80 km (Low altitude) 300 km (High altitude)
Guidance Mechanism	One Inertial Standalone Computer System
Operational Accuracy	500/350 m
Warhead	One- TN-81

The ASMP was first fired in May 1986. In 1988 the missile system became operational with the French Navy. The TN-81 is a miniaturized and hardened nuclear warhead designed specifically for the ASMP platform. The TN-81 is similar to the TN-70/71 in technical sophistication. It is a higher yield warhead though, roughly similar in yield and weight to the W78 Minuteman III warhead. The TN-80/81 has a yield of 300 kt, and a weight of around 200 kg. Development of the TN-81 commenced in late 1974. The improved TN-81 was first tested in 1984 and went into production in 1985. It entered service on July 1988 on the Mirage 2000N platform. It was later deployed on the Super Etendard, and finally replaced the venerable TN-80 on the Mirage IVP in 1991. France is currently developing an improved version of the ASMP, suffixed -A. The -A version will have a larger area of operations (estimated to be between 500 to 600 km) and greater trajectory capabilities at all altitudes. The system is expected to become operational by late 2000. As with the missile, the TN-81 warhead is expected to be replaced by the decade’s end.

The French Air Force, most accurate, its Air Army, possessed of fifty nuclear deterrent aircrafts. As of today, those are the Mirage 2000N version.

Designed to replace France’s aging fleet of Mirage IVP bombers which provided the country’s sole aerial nuclear capability. Dassault Company designed the 2000 around the after mentioned ASMP missile. The fist design of the 2000 was revealed to the French government in the summer of 1974. By December 1975, the design had gather the approval of the government and work commenced in earnests. The first prototype flew on March 10th 1978. The two seated (B) version took to the air for its first flight on October 11th 1980. Meanwhile, the (N) version flew for the first on February 2nd 1983. The N version airframe is based on the (B) training type. The frame was strengthened to withstand the high levels of stress associated to high-subsonic, low level flight profile. The N had several modifications that make its unique among France air platforms. For example, the nose cone housed a Dassault Electronique-Thomson CSF Antilope V radar array which replaced the common RDM/RDI system. The V offered the N version an all terrain following air-to-air, air-to-sea, air-to-ground; advance ground mapping system. The aircraft is also fitted with Dassault Electronique Sabre jammers and a Serval advance warning radar system. It also possess a MATRA Spirale integrated decoy mechanism. Initial order for the N version ran to 100 units, however, constants delays on the Rafale program and the pressing need to replace the outclassed Mirage IIIE, forced the government to procure seventy more units. These were to be employed as conventional delivery platforms.

All of the Mirage N versions are schedule to be replaced by the Rafale F3 bomber beginning in early 2009. As with the Navy air strike arm, all of the Air Force’s nuclear strike platforms carry the ASMP missile system.

• Specifications

Power Plant	One SNECMA M53 turbofan 16424lb thrust
Armament	No internal gun set. Nine hard points.
Airframe Dimensions
	Length	14.50m
	Height	5.10m
	Wingspan	9.10m
	Weight
		Fully Loaded 16005kg
Air Performance
	Top Speed	2338km/h
	Ceiling	18000m
	Operational Range	1480km
	Climb Rate	17080m/per minute

• Basing

Air Army currently operates fifty Mirage 2000N aircrafts on three squadrons. Two, squadrons La Fayette and Dauphine; were based at Luxeuil. Luxeuil is one of France’s main operational bases. Located at 47 degrees 66′-59″ N and 006 degrees 21′-51″ E. The base posses two runways parallel (2433mm and 2315m respectively). The most prominent facility of the base is the Depot Atelier Munitions Specialisees or Special Amounitions Storage facility. The Depot is a hardened bunker utilized to house the ASMP stand off missiles.

The other squadron, Limousin, sits at Istres. Located at 43 degrees 31′-28″ N and 4 degrees 56′-30″ E, north of Marseilles. The base housed another Depot for nuclear weapons storage facility. It also the home base of two multirole squadrons as well as other support units.

It is estimated that the current French Nuclear Weapons Inventory is about 300 warheads diverted into two main delivery systems. There are estimates that the country carry up to 50 more warheads as a strategic reserve force. As impressive as this total is, it pale in comparison to the country’s 1992 estimated warhead total of 538 units.

Nuclear Deterrence Force

Platform	Delivery System	Warheads
Mirage 2000N	ASMP	50
Super Etendard	ASMP	10
SSBN	SLBM	240
CURRENT ACTIVE INVENTORY		300

Because President Sarkozy’s pledge of reducing the country’s nuclear arsenal. It is expected that before the year 2011, France will have a total of 290 operational warheads in its inventory. Still a powerful inventory. One that is only rivaled by the US, Russia and China.

As for the future, France is in the process of establishing an advance simulator computer-based program, featuring the TERA super computer, that will assure the reliability of their nuclear stockpile. France’s main nuclear simulator center is located at Bruyeres le Chatel. This simulator, in conjunction with the Accelerateur a Induction radiographie pour L’Imagerie or AIRIX; will provide test data for future nuclear weapons design and development programs

The Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft, editor Paul Eden, Amber Books 2007 Air Power: The Men, Machines and Ideas that Revolutionized War, From Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II, Stephen Budiansky, Penguin Group 2004 Jane’s Aircraft Recognition Guide, Gunther Endres and Mike Gething, HarperCollins Books, 2002 Jane’s Submarines: War Beneath the Waves From 1776 to the Present Day, Robert Hutchinson, HarperCollins Publishing 2005 The Illustrated World Guide to Submarines, John Parker, Hermes House, 2007 Aircraft Carriers: the World’s Greatest Naval Vessels and their Aircraft, Chris Bishop and Chris Chant, MBI Publishing, 2004 The French White Paper on Defence and National Security, French Government

Story By: Raul Colon e-mail:rcolonfrias@yahoo.com

The Brains of the F-15 Eagle

The vaunted American air superiority fighter, the F-15 Eagle, was a product of years of research and development. Its advanced and integrated systems were the central part of the Eagle’s ability to dominate the skies since its introduction three decades ago.

From the outset, the F-15 design team planned to incorporate the aircraft with the most sophisticated avionics and weapons packages available. In a departure from previous aircrafts designs, the F-15 would integrate those two systems through a complex Central Computer (CC). The initial batch of Eagles were fitted with IBM’s CP=1075-AYK central computer system. The AYK was a 48.5lb, high speed, and all purposes, analog platform that, at the time, had no equals in term of pure analytical and processing capability. The AYK possessed a “hard wired” memory chip of 16.K (34 bit) words, expandable to 24.6K, in order to store the weapons envelops for both air to air and air to ground ordinance deployment. The CC would also store all kinds of flight performance data. It had an amazing 340,000 per second instruction computation pattern that remained unrivaled for almost a decade. The CC used the impressive computation rate to convert data emanating from subsystems onboard the Eagle into coherent and readable information which was displayed to the pilots on three main displays. The Heads Up Display (HUD), the Vertical Situation Display (VSD) and the Horizontal Situation Indicator (HSI) which is the aircraft’s primary navigational instrument.

The CC concept was the brainchild of the innovating design team at McDonnell Douglas, McAir division. The original requirement sheet for the F-15 called for a “more deadly platform with just one occupant at the controls than the F-4 Phantom II had ever been with two”. In the late 1960s, it became apparent to Douglas’ engineers that computer technology had reached a point where it could be applied successfully to an integrated air combat platform such as the Eagle. The CC communication with the rest of the aircraft’s systems is done through an H-009 multiplex bus called MUX, which gave the means of data traveling and the scheduling of the transfer to two separate avionics interface units. The units operated as interfaces between all the F-15’s complex systems and the MUS.

Among other ingredients, the new CC housed the Weapons Engagement Zone (WEZ) data for the AIM7 Sparrow missile system which calculated the dynamic launch zone on a real time basis. The WEZ also contained all the ballistic and release information for a possible deployment of the F-15’s vast air-to-ground arsenal. Unfortunately, the integration of the ground component to the WEZ-CC platform meant that little memory was available for the aircraft’s main defensive weaponry: the Sidewinder missile. But since the missile was a rear aspect weapon (also at the time), this did not represent a major problem. Nevertheless, the Air Force wanted to increase the size of the AYK’s memory. Before the very first units of the F-15, the A/B versions, rolled out; they were upgraded with a new 24.6K bulk memory in order to expand the WEZ capacity to assimilate new data from “Lima”.

The “other” system which integration with the CC proved a pivotal step in the development of future fighter concepts was the Tactical Electronic Warfare Suite or TEWS. The TEWS, along with the Eagle’s powerful new radar array, was the eyes and ears of the F-15. Without either of them, the vaunted Eagle would not have been the air dominance weapon it became.

Story By: Raul Colon
e-mail:rcolonfrias@yahoo.com

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