Flying to the Front Line
The U.S. Air Force is Transforming Its Strategy for Providing Critical Air Mobility in Support of Conventional Military Forces Across an Unconventional Battlefield.
by Kenya McCullum, MLF Correspondent
The unconventional nature of current military conflicts has created new wartime challenges—including the use of unconventional airfields when delivering supplies to troops on the battlefield. These unusual conditions, along with the need to bring supplies as close to the frontlines as possible, has made it necessary to employ unconventional practices—including technology being developed by the U.S. Air Force Mobility Command that will help pilots drop supplies accurately and survey the conditions of the soil on the austere airfields to determine if it’s safe enough to land.
As the leading entity in providing DoD airlift support, Air Mobility Command faces timelines that only air mobility can support, underscoring the importance of strategic lift systems such as the C-17. The CH-47 Chinook provides the army with its tactical heavy lift.
VERTICAL LIFT
Transporting supplies to the battlefield would not be possible without the companies that manufacture the aircraft for these missions. Among the companies that sell these aircraft is Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, which makes a number of products that the military uses for this purpose. One of these aircraft is the CH-47, a medium-to-heavy helicopter that can transport a combination of internal and external loads of equipment, supplies and even troops. “The way the U.S. Army employs this aircraft is in a logistics manner and also in an offensive manner,” said Adam Patrick, manager of business development. “What they can do is fly into a remote area, set down the guns and ammunition, and land next to it and drop off the troops. Then troops can go over and set up the guns, shoot a fire mission, load the guns back up and load the troops back into the aircraft and take off in a relatively short amount of time. That way, once the enemy determines where that fire had come from, they’d already be gone. That’s a kind of blending of a logistics mission with an offensive mission.”
Although the CH-47, which can lift up to 25,000 pounds and is designed to be used in both hot and cold operations, is meeting some of the military’s logistic needs, Patrick said that Boeing is looking for ways to improve the aircraft to further assist the military’s missions. “We’re always at our limits with physical abilities of aircraft, but we can improve on other things. If we can improve the amount of time that the aircraft is idle on the ground, then it can be used more efficiently,” said Patrick. “The quicker you can unload the aircraft, the more time you have to upload the aircraft and the quicker you can get that done, the faster troops can get out of the area of operation and move to a supply.”
In addition, Boeing is also planning to add radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to the CH-47, which will allow members of the military to determine exactly where supplies are located on their way to the battlefield.
FIXED WING SUPPORT
Another Boeing product that the military uses is the C-17 Globemaster III, which can be used for both strategic and tactical purposes. On the strategic side, the C-17 can carry large quantities of military personnel and equipment over long distances while still performing tactical functions, such as moving smaller loads over shorter, harsher distances in the military theater.
In addition, the C-17 has survivability features and situational awareness software that are designed into the aircraft, as well as the ability to sustain combat damage and still remain operative—allowing military personnel to use the aircraft during less than ideal situations, such as in the event that some of the engines aren’t operational. And just as with the CH-47, Boeing is looking for ways to improve the C-17 so that it can be used more efficiently, which includes enhancing the aircraft’s offload capability.
“Being able to pull material off the aircraft and being able to deliver it either to the ground or directly to a truck or a ground vehicle is very important because you typically don’t have cargo handling, forklifts or cranes out in the middle of the field. Also you want to be able to quickly move the equipment off the aircraft to basically enhance your survivability. While you’re on the ground, there is an increased threat of being attacked,” said director of network mobility Jim Condon.
But Boeing’s commitment to selling the best products to the military does not end with the production of aircraft. The company also guarantees quality maintenance to its customers, a promise that Richard Whittington of C-17 GSP Business Development at Boeing sums up this way: “To support the C-17, we’ll go anywhere, anytime.” In fact, Boeing guarantees that when servicing planes that are used by the military, the company’s technicians will arrive at any location within 96 hours—although they frequently make it within 50 hours.
END-TO END SOLUTIONS
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems supplies aircraft to the military in order to get supplies to unconventional battlefield locations. The company offers a large menu of services that helps the military meet its needs, including integrated logistics systems and a life cycle partnership that allows the supply of parts, people and equipment to critical end points.
“One of our main thrusts is that partnership with not only our suppliers but with the Department of Defense to make sure that we can deliver the people and the training that’s necessary to support them, the equipment that’s absolutely essential, and the parts needed to be able to deliver that,” said Shaugnessy Reynolds, Northrop Grumman’s director of logistics engineering. “We do that in a total life cycle view to be able to make sure that from the beginning of the design to the end, we can have those logistics expectations achieved,” Reynolds—a retired Marine colonel who participated in combat operations during his military tenure—said that one key element of the life cycle services that Northrop Grumman offers is access to information. The company is currently developing systems that will allow the military to get more accurate information so that personnel can find out where Northrop Grumman’s parts, people and equipment are located.
“I remember in Iraqi Freedom getting literally thousands of e-mails, but only two or three of them that had true information that I needed. So, what we’re looking for and what we’re developing is an integrated data environment that allows the customer at all levels to know what is going on with those people, parts and equipment,” he said. “A key to any success is to be able to expect a valiant effort, and you want the performance that you’re paying for. We focus on being able to monitor that performance and exceed the requirement, so we need to have the right information to do it.”
And the right information is only a piece of the life cycle partnership that Northrop Grumman has created for the military. The company also provides modeling and simulation services to ensure that aircraft are manufactured to meet military standards, as well as training that ensures that soldiers are well-versed on how to use these products.
FORCE PROJECTION
Science Applications International Corp., specializing in logistics transformation, is assisting the military with the logistics of transporting supplies to the battlefield. A major part of this transformation is providing technology to the military that allows the visibility of assets, as well as movement of people and cargo throughout the supply chain. The company is also currently working to increase the amount of information that is available to its military customers. “SAIC is working on a program that will have military personnel here and abroad view information about force projection in their theater of operations from one portal. An SAIC-designed, Web-based tool is now operational and available to assist everyone—from commanders to action officers—seeking information about their resources,” said Laura Luke, SAIC’s vice president of media relations. “The portal correlates data from disparate force projection data sources and displays it as information in operator-friendly visualizations within a single Web-based portal. Now, military commanders at the strategic and operational levels have in one place the tools, decision aids and information needed to support the analysis, planning, execution and assessment of force projection processes.”
THE FUTURE NOW
Within timelines that only air mobility can support, the availability of airlift capability underscores the importance of strategic lift systems such as the C-17, able to support multiple simultaneous operations. Multirole aircraft such as the Globemaster III provide options for the joint force air component commander that include aeromedical evacuation capability, intratheater tactical airlift, or intertheater strategic airlift as dictated by operational requirements. “Through simple tactics and operational changes, AMC has eliminated the need to place 12,000 troops and 5,000 trucks in harm’s way each month in Iraq by elevating the supply chain above the threat of improvised explosive devices and delivering critical supplies by airlift rather than truck convoy,” said General Arthur Lichte, commander, Air Mobility Command. “And with the coming addition of the Joint Cargo Aircraft to the Air Force and Army fleets, we will enhance support to the joint warfighter in the last tactical mile.” ♦