UK Ministry of Defence,
The Royal Air Force's Typhoon aircraft marked another milestone in its capability today, Tuesday 1 July 2008, as it was declared operational in the air-to-ground role, becoming the Service's most advanced multi-role aircraft.
Last year Typhoons began contributing to the air defence of the UK by complementing the Tornado F3 Force at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire – one of two UK Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) locations. Earlier this year Typhoon fully took over the role of southern QRA at Coningsby and the F3 QRA force now operates from RAF Leuchars.
Following an exercise in the US, where XI Sqn Typhoons acquitted themselves well in a major Air-Land Forces exercise, the Typhoon is now officially declared multi-role and has considerably increased the RAF's war-fighting capability.
Said Station Commander of RAF Coningsby, Gp Capt Stu Atha:
“Today is another defining day for Typhoon, where potential has been turned into reality. It is a step increase in capability. What we have in Typhoon is a world-beating aircraft. It is agile, adaptable and capable, the three core elements of today's RAF.”
The multi-role capability means that RAF Typhoons can now carry out precision ground ttack or air fefence tasks as required before take-off, but before long will become “swing-role”, which means they will be able to alternate between roles within the same mission once airborne.
The declaration of the capability, officially known as the Multi-Role Operational Employment Date (OED), was announced by Commander-in-Chief RAF Air Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Clive Loader, who said:
“Typhoon is the most operationally flexible and effective aircraft the RAF has ever operated. In addition to Typhoon's current capability in the Air Defence role, it will allow us the ability to deliver a wide range of precision and non-precision weapons in the Ground Attack role wherever and whenever needed. It is most relevant to the threats we face today.
“Typhoon can now perform both roles and offers unparalleled combat persistence. During the recent trials it achieved virtually 100 percent serviceability. With a service life of many decades, Typhoon's time to deploy as a multi-role combat aircraft is still to come but the important fact is that this new capability is an extra club in the RAF's golf bag.”
The OED of July 1 2008 was set many years ago and meeting the date on time is as a result of effective teamwork between the MOD, BAe Systems and the RAF, said Gp Capt Atha.
The MOD team was led by Gp Capt Mike Smith of the Defence Equipment and Support's Typhoon Integrated Project Team, based at Abbey Wood near Bristol:
“Typhoon still has much more to contribute,” he explained. “In the future its capacity to deliver will improve as software improves and even better weaponry comes into service. You could say that today marks the end of just the beginning of Typhoon.”
To mark the occasion today a Typhoon equipped with its high-tech Litening III laser-designator pod flew over RAF Coningsby and demonstrated its ground-attack capability after having its theoretical fire directed precisely onto a target by Forward Air Controllers on the ground. Media attending then realised the target was their own tent when they saw themselves on the FAC's monitor.
A data link from the Litening pod enabled the troops exercising a combat role to receive on a laptop the air “picture” that was beamed from many thousands of feet above them, allowing them to interpret enemy activity and take action. Typhoon is now able to drop Paveway 2, Enhanced Paveway 2 and freefall 1,000lb bombs.
On the ground an example of the multi-role Typhoon armed with the latest ground attack munitions was shown off alongside the RAF's Lancaster bomber and Spitfire of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, also based at RAF Coningsby. The Lancaster was the best British ground attack bomber of World War Two, and the Spitfire was the air-defence fighter that defended the skies of Southern England against the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.
Today's announcement comes after several intensive weeks of trials in the US which culminated in exercise Green Flag in Nevada. Seven Typhoons dropped a variety of bombs with such precision and effect that plans for the aircraft to be declared combat ready were prepared as soon as they returned to the UK.
From today a number RAF Typhoons will be at operational readiness to deploy overseas if deemed necessary. There are no plans at present to deploy Typhoon to Afghanistan or Iraq; the RAF's Tornado GR4 Force is due to deploy to Kandahar next spring to replace Harriers.
The Typhoon has been operational since July last year when it started taking on the Air Defence role of “Quick Reaction Alert” (QRA), the 24/7 readiness to intercept and deal with threats to the UK's air space.
Mainland UK air defence is conducted from RAF Coningsby (Southern QRA) with Typhoons, and RAF Leuchars in Scotland (Northern QRA), currently with Tornado but within a few years with Typhoon also. The RAF also provides QRA over the Falklands with Tornado, but it is planned for Typhoon to assume that role next year.
Added Gp Capt Atha:
“Typhoon will be the cornerstone of the RAF's airpower capability for the next three decades and enable us to deliver a range of precise effects to defend the UK and support its aims globally.”
Wg Cdr Gav Parker, Officer Commanding XI Sqn, said of the new Litening III designator pod:
“I was able to track a car from high altitude, with the pod automatically following it as it stopped, started and travelled around bends in the road. During the Exercise Typhoon proved that it is an excellent ground-attack aircraft. The ability to deploy freefall weapons as well as precision munitions is still a key capability because they can be delivered very quickly and fused to achieve a wide range of effects.
“Due to Typhoon's inherent air-defence capabilities it has the advantage of being able to “self escort” whereas other older types of ground-attack aircraft often have to have a dedicated shield of air defence fighters with them for protection.
“Exercise Green Flag in Nevada allowed us to better understand how we can assist the land environment in a conflict. Understanding the situation on the ground is essential in order to carry out close air support quickly and efficiently while minimising the risk to civilians and wider infrastructure,” added Wg Cdr Parker.
“The Rover III technology links the pictures and data from our Litening III targeting pod to ground forces via a laptop-style receiver, allowing both pilot and soldier to see the same picture and jointly decide on the appropriate air response.”
