The tough and prestigious Exercise red flag formally began at Air Force Base Nellis, Nevada USA on 10 Aug 08 with inaugural briefings amp; mission planning by the participating Air Forces. 09 Aug was the day of lead in preparations. This was the first Indian participation at Red flag.br /br /The Red Flag 08 has the participation of IAF with eight Su-30s, two IL-78 tankers an IL-76 aircraft amp; 247 Air Warriors along with the French Air Force with Rafale, South Korean Air Force with F-15s amp; US AF with F-15s amp; F-16s. IAF amp; other visiting Air Forces along with a large USAF element would be part of the Blue Forces (friendly) which would engage in combat with the Red Forces. The Red Forces are the “Aggressors” with F-15s amp; F-16s aircraft of 64th amp; 65th Aggressor squadrons of USAF based at Air Force Base Nellis.br /br /Exercise Red Flag provides a realistic war situation in which the Blue Force pilots will have all possible odds `thrown` at them. Availability of a large air to air range with threat replication contributes to the tremendous training value of the exercise. The replication of the air war would see the IAF’s Su-30 aircraft participating in suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD) air to air amp; air to ground missions. The IL-78 tankers and USAF AWACS would be in active support role. The IL-76 would undertake tactical transport operations amp; large force engagements operations.br /br /During the exercise a set of Red Flag team forms the `white Force’ amp; use high tech instrumentation and mission debrief tools to evaluate the performance of the participants in a clinical and detached manner. During the exercise the Blue force are made to change their plans often to put them under pressure. The White Force watches the entire exercise in real time on monitor screens on ground. Kill removal (removal of the pilots and aircraft assumed shot by the enemy) makes the exercise more realistic.br /br /Addressing the participating Air Warriors, contingent commander Gp Capt D Choudhury said” we have trained long amp; hard for this day. It is the time to show case our professionalism. I have total faith amp; confidence in you. The world is watching us, so gentlemen lets show them what we are made up of.”
Archive for August, 2008
Russian Su-30 Fighter Planes Arrive In Venezuela
pAt least 24 Russian-made Sukhoi-30 fighter jets were delivered to Venezuela on Sunday as part of the country’s defense capability build-up. The purchase came after the Bush administration refused to sell parts for Venezuela’s aging F-16 jet fleet./ppVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez said of the delivery, “We received the Sukhoi aircraft as well as pilots, crew and missiles, and the aircraft will begin military practice with missiles soon.”/ppHe said the purchase of the aircraft from Russia was intended for defense capabilities only./ppChavez in 2006 announced his plan to buy the jets from Russia after the U.S. refused to sell Venezuela spare part for the F-16 fleet of the Venezuelan Air Force./ppThe Su-30, a multi-role strike fighter that can perform both air superiority and ground attacks, was dubbed by a German defense review magazine as the best combat fighter bomber plane ever built in the world./ppChavez said the purchase of 24 Su-30 is only the beginning as he hopes to buy the more advanced Su-35s from Russia./p
Raptor crews practice drive-through refueling
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SKO9PWcg_tI/AAAAAAAAAno/38lIQhO30es/s1600-h/1.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SKO9PWcg_tI/AAAAAAAAAno/38lIQhO30es/s320/1.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234235263355518674″ border=”0″ //aspan class=”maintext_large”Now that the F-22 Raptor arrival ceremonies are over and the anticipation of the arrival has subsided, Airmen here are on an aggressive training schedule to prepare them for combat operations.br /br /As part of that training, members of the 49th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron’s fuels management flight recently began hot refuel or hot pit training on an F-22 here./spanbr /br /span class=”maintext_large”The training is an ongoing initiative to get Airmen familiar with how to refuel the F-22 while the engines are still running, thus decreasing refueling time by more than half.br /br /Currently, Holloman instructors conduct hot refuel training twice weekly in what is referred to as ‘one go one.’ This means the pilot lands the aircraft after a flight, the jet gets refueled, the pilot takes off and lands, and the aircraft is fueled again, then parked.br /br /During normal refueling operations, the pilot lands the aircraft and parks and the engines are given the chance to cool. The pilot then exits the aircraft and the refueling t/spanspan class=”maintext_large”eam is called.br /br /”Hot refuels are used primarily in combat situations,” said Tech. Sgt. James Henderson, 49th LRS non-commissioned officer in charge of mobile distribution. “When the aircrafts land, (the pilots) don’t have to take time to shut down.”br /br /Other than the change in engine status, there are many other differences between a normal refueling operation and a hot refuel, which are due mainly to the heightened possibility of a fire occurring./spanbr /span class=”maintext_large”br /”We’re on scene earlier,” Sergeant Henderson said. “The whole team, to include maintainers and refueling operators, are on scene at least an hour before the aircraft is down.”br //spana onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SKO9UMD9bEI/AAAAAAAAAnw/8ld9vaRXo08/s1600-h/080723-F-5717S-463.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SKO9UMD9bEI/AAAAAAAAAnw/8ld9vaRXo08/s320/080723-F-5717S-463.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234235346467515458″ border=”0″ //abr /span class=”maintext_large”The crew also has a meeting beforehand to discuss operations and to let every/spanspan class=”maintext_large”one know where to find safety equipment and where to meet if something goes wrong, he added./spanbr /span class=”maintext_large”br /Also, during a normal refueling operation, the refueling unit operator controls the “dead man,” which is the trigger used to start and stop the flow of fuel entering the aircraft. During a hot refuel, the crew chief handles the dead man because he or she is in direct communication with the pilot.br //spanbr /span class=”maintext_large”"We don’t have radio contact with the pilot but the main crew chief does,” said Staff Sgt. Erin Palmer, 49 LRS NCOIC of fuels facilities. “If something were to happen on the pilot’s gauges, he could relay that via radio to the crew chief.”br /br /”If something goes wrong, the response time is a lot quicker,” Sergeant Henderson said. “If you let go of the dead man, fuel flow is stopped in less than 30 seconds.”br /br /According to Sergeant Henderson, the /spanspan class=”maintext_large”goal for the training is to get every member of fuels management qualified and able to execute a hot refueling. This is important because it gives the younger Airmen hot pit experience that can be used during deployment.br /br /Due to the safety risks, each Airman is properly prepared before he or she steps on site for a hot refuel.br /br /”Because the hands-on training means you’re already entering the danger zone, we do pre-training ahead of time,” he said.br /br /But training personnel is only one end of the spec/spana onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SKO9sih4QPI/AAAAAAAAAn4/oF_XCvsmKTs/s1600-h/3.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SKO9sih4QPI/AAAAAAAAAn4/oF_XCvsmKTs/s320/3.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5234235764815446258″ border=”0″ //aspan class=”maintext_large”trum as far as hot refuel readiness goes.br /br /”Before we can even refuel, the site and truck being used have to be certified by the MAJCOM,” Sergeant Henderson said. “They have to meet certain criteria.”br /br /The site is chosen based on size, aircraft accessibility and truck accessibility.br /br /Out of the fleet of refueling trucks, fewer than half are hot-pit qualified but this isn’t stopping the fuels management flight and aircraft maintenance squadron from going forth.br /br /”We’re not waiting,” he said. “We’re getting the personnel spun up now so when the squadron of aircraft comes on scene, we’re ready to go full tilt.”br /br /Source: a href=”http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123110279″USAF/abr //span
UAVs may soon eavesdrop on Brit homes
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) could soon be hovering over many British cities to spot people inside their homes and to eavesdrop on their conversations.pAccording to the Daily Express, British lawmakers have backed the use of the eight million pound machines by police forces and other agencies including MI5./ppCrowd control, anti-terror surveillance, maritime searches and support for the Coastguard, police, fire and intelligence services are all uses being considered./pp”If they are used to simply hover to gain random information then that would obviously be a matter of worry and a civil liberty issue,” warns Gareth Crossman, the director of policy at the civil rights watchdog Liberty./ppThe planes will be able to stay up in the sky longer than police helicopters and fly up 50,000ft – much higher than an airliner – making them invisible from the ground./pThe Commons defence committee has backed their use by the Ministry of Defence but one major problem is that almost all UK airspace is already in use. There are also fears about crashes in built-up areas. For that reason, UAVs are currently restricted to military installations in Salisbury Plain.br /br /Source: a href=”http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20080807/882/twl-uavs-may-soon-eavesdrop-on-brit-home.html”Yahoo! News/a
Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare (EW) is the use of the electromagnetic spectrum to effectively deny the use of this medium by an adversary, while optimizing its use by friendly forces. Electronic warfare has three main components: electronic support, electronic attack, and electronic protection.br /br /Electronic support (ES) is the passive use of the electromagnetic spectrum to gain intelligence about other parties on the battlefield in order to find, identify, locate and intercept potential threats or targets. This intelligence, known as ELINT, might be used directly by fire-control systems for artillery or air strike orders, for mobilization of friendly forces to a specific location or objective on the battlefield, or as the basis of electronic attack or electronic protection actions.br /br /Because ES is conducted passively, it can be performed without the target observing any electronic activities. ES’s strategic counterpart, SIGINT, is continuously performed by most of the world’s countries in order to gain intelligence derived from other parties’ electronic equipment and tactics.br /br /An older term for ES is electronic support measures (ESM).br /br /br /Electronic attack (EA) is the active or passive use of the electromagnetic spectrum to deny its use by an adversary.br /br / * Active EA includes such activities as jamming, deception, active cancellation, and EMP use.br /br / * Passive EA includes such activities as the use of chaff, balloons, radar reflectors, Faraday cages, winged decoys, and stealth.br /br /EA operations can be detected by an adversary due to their active transmissions. Many modern EA techniques are considered to be highly classified.br /br /An older term for EA is electronic countermeasures (ECM).br /br /Electronic protection (EP) includes all activities related to making enemy EA activities less successful by means of protecting friendly personnel, facilities, equipment or objectives. EP can also be implemented to prevent friendly forces from being affected by their own EA.br /br / * Active EP includes such activities as technical modifications to radio equipment (such as frequency-hopping spread spectrum).br /br / * Passive EP includes such activities as the education of operators (enforcing strict discipline) and modified battlefield tactics or operations.br /br /Older terms for EP include electronic protective measures (EPM) and electronic counter countermeasures (ECCM).
