Whether the price includes training and logistics, spares, is in a multi-year contract, different variants or engines or development costs will determine the price, this makes making comparisons with what one nation pays with another, almost impossible.
What the US Army might pay for a Blackhawk is not the same as Columbia or the UK.
The same goes for Hercules, the Hercules is often touted as a cheap aircraft, usually when comparing it to the A400M Atlas.
With great timing, a couple announcements on the cost of the C130 (models various)
The US Air Force…
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Marietta, Georgia, has been awarded a $968,745,411 undefinitized contract action modification (P00005) to previously awarded contract FA8625-14-C-6450 for C-130J multi-year production aircraft. Contractor will provide 17 C-130J aircraft in the following configurations: six C-130J-30, one HC-130J, nine MC-130J, and one KC-130J aircraft.
If one wanted, it would be easy to do some back of a fag packet maths and come up with a unit price average of $57 million, or cheap as the proverbial chips.
At the same time, France has agreed on terms for the purchaseof two C-130J and two KC-130J.
How much, a whopping $650 million, using the same basic maths, $162 million each.
From two internet sources, a price from £57 million to £162 million for the same aircraft type.
But look carefully at the DCSA link, the Major Defence Equipment (aircraft and four spare engines) comes in at $355 million, or $88 million each. The rest is additional equipment, training and other support items.
It also provides an example rule of thumb that unit price is usually doubled, and this is even for a nation with an existing fleet of C130’s, albeit older versions.
This is the reason why anything that quotes a unit price should always be treated with caution, the devil is always in the details.
If one was in the market for a range of military equipment and wanting to indirectly support a potential ally to irritate and confound a potential enemy one might look at the defence market place in Ukraine.
A good starting point would be;
Nowadays, Ukroboronprom Ukrainian Defence Industry is the consolidation of a big number of multidisciplinary enterprises related to various fields of defense industry. The enterprises that conduct the economic activity in the area of development, manufacturing, sales, repair, upgrading and recycling of weaponry, military and special purpose equipment, ammunitions, and also participate in military and technical cooperation with foreign countries, have made the Ukrainian Defence Industry membership.
A few examples of things on the Ukraine shelf or development opportunities;
The Falarick 90 gun launched missile that is used by CMI with their various medium calibre turrets and gun combinations, also available in 105mm
Going up the scale is the Skif missile, imagine the endless hours of fun you could have saying you were going skiffing
Too obscure a reference, perhaps a more interesting option would be to look at Antonov.
The first aircraft that springs to mind is the brand new AN-178 currently looking for development partners in Europe. It does look increasingly like Poland will act as the bridge between East and West and Saudi Arabia also has an interest
The AN-178 could fill the gap between the RAF’s Chinook helicopter at 10 tonnes payload and the Atlas at 30 tonnes plus. It reminds me of a slightly larger BAE 146, in essence, it is an AN-158 with a ramp.
The AN-178 can carry 18 tonnes on a cargo deck that is sized to accommodate 463L pallets and ISO containers with what looks like an impressive short field and austere runway performance.
It is early days yes, the first flight only took place a few months ago, but it does look promising, investigate using a Rolls Royce BR700 series engine and it gets even more interesting.
These are kind of semi-serious suggestions but one that I think actually has some value is expanding and extending the Strategic Airlift Interim Service (SALIS). SALIS is a commercial arrangement managed by the Strategic Airlift Coordination Cell (SALCC) in the Royal Netherlands Air Force Base at Eindhoven.
The SALIS-Contract basically consists of two fundamental elements. Firstly, the assured access to strategic airlift capability for outsized cargo. Secondly the ownership and usage of Participants agreed quota of flying hours per annum. The assured access guarantees the assured availability of two (2) AN124-100 under part-time charter for any of the Participants national purpose, and the assured availability of up to six (6) AN124-100 aircraft on priority call for the rapid deployment of forces in support of NATO/EU operations. The SALIS Steering Board is the highest directing body for all SALIS matters.
SALIS has been recently extended to 2016 as the A400M project ramps up deliveries but even with a large European fleet of A400M’s in service there will still be a need for long range heavy strategic lift.
The SALIS participating nations are described below;
The consortium includes 12 NATO nations (Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the United Kingdom) and two partner nations (Finland and Sweden).
The AN-124-100 Ruslan is a hugely impressive aircraft; 120 tonnes payload and 4,800km range for starters.
The first thing Europe/NATO should do is extend the SALIS contract beyond 2016 to at least 2022, this provides Ukraine with a stable source of income and in reality, would not cost a great deal when spread across the SALIS nations.
In parallel with this would be an effort to ‘de-Russia’ the agreement comprising two parts, commercial and technical.
Antonov has also been trying to develop the next generation Ruslan for a while, there have also been concepts to create a version with a taller cargo bay for tall industrial loads and a Chinook helicopter without disassembly.
The list of improvements in the AN124-100M-150 includes (from the Antonov website)
payload increased from 120 tons to 150 tons;
take-off weight increased from 392 tons to 402 tons;
flight range increased, including for cargo of 120 tons from 4650 km to 5400 km;
aircraft assigned service life is increased to 24,000 flight hours; works on its extension up to 50 000 flight hours/10 000 flights/45 years service life are being performed;
the new PO-500 schedule of maintenance has been introduced (maintenance every 500 flight hours);
onboard crane equipment providing loading-unloading operations of a single piece of cargo up to 40 tons weight;
fuselage structure had been strengthened to enable airlift of a single piece of cargo up to 150 tons weight;
Navigation System and radar have been updated;
digital anti-skid braking system allowing to reduce landing distance up to 30% have been installed;
crew reduced from 6 to 4 members, and the comfort level of the crew rest cabin has been improved;
military oxygen equipment has been exchanged for the civil one;
reinforced wheels and tires have been installed;
new devices for engine control have been installed;
modernized systems of reverse control and engine vibration state monitoring have been developed;
the SRPPZ-2000 ground proximity warning system installed;
A826 inertial navigation system upgraded;
Enhanced observation (EHS) has been applied;
Minimum Equipment List has been developed and is now being implemented
Added to this list should be an effort to remove any Russian sub-contractor or equipment components and replace with them home-grown or European manufactured items. The objective would be to move away from any reliance on Russian industry and upgrade the existing aircraft in the SALIS availability pool. This might also reveal opportunities for further development to improve performance or reduce in life costs, Rolls Royce Trent engines perhaps. They would still be civilian owned and managed with no military features.
Funding for this development would be on a loan or shared equity basis, binding Antonov into the European aerospace industry.
Once this non-Russian Ruslan design is available the SALIS partners should fund modifications to any existing aircraft and seriously consider increasing the airframe assured availability number from 6 to 12, or even 15.
This would be a smart move by Europe and/or NATO, a strategic investment in industrial cooperation with Ukraine that supports indirectly their security operations in the East and much less provocative than sending military aid.
The obvious spin-off is a significant improvement in the ability of the SALIS nations to project power and respond to humanitarian disaster relief operations, regardless of the A400M’s fine qualities.
None of this would be ‘easy’ but some obvious joined up thinking between overseas development assistance departments and shared funding models would reduce the overall impact on European defence budgets even further.
12 of the 150M version would be able to move a maximum 900 tonnes in a single lift cycle (assuming the receiving airport has the capacity), or put another way, more than double the entire lift capacity of the RAF’s C17 entire fleet.
Let’s not get too ambitious, but who knows, it might even make the original medium weight FRES concept viable and trade is always better than aid!
Whilst researching for the logistics series I cam across this but didn’t include it.
The image below shows a system for double stacking 463L pallets and LD3 containers on the Japanese C2 transport aircraft.
It looks like an ingenious way of maxing out the volume of the cargo hold. Aircraft rarely max out on payload but with pallets, it is floor space that is the limiting factor, especially with low density payloads.
Although 463Lpallets can be double stacked there are restrictions.The rack system would add some weight but could be demountable and only used when required.
Air Despatch, air drop, heavy drop or aerial delivery, makes use of a range of specialist equipment such as containers and platforms (pallets) to get stores and vehicles directly to the point of need, quickly, from the air, exploiting one of the characteristics of air power, immediacy.
Air despatch, or air dropping stores, is yet another of those subjects where the past is chock full of British military and industrial innovation but the present is hanging on by the skin of its teeth due to continued budget erosion and changing priorities.
Anyway, enough griping, start with an amusing video.
We might all laugh at the amusing incidents in the video but air despatch needs the utmost precision and skill, it can be very dangerous for personnel and equipment, as this video illustrates;
Those working in the front and back ‘office’ need perfect synchronisation, it is one of the most demanding tasks we might ask of the air and ground crews involved.
UPDATE
This post has been updated a few times in response to some excellent feedback from a number of posters on PPRUNE, Dragartist, Ancient Aviator and VX275, thank you gentlemen
A Short History
There is a rich history of UK air despatch, from Arnhem and the Rhine crossings to Afghanistan with all points in-between but probably the first significant air despatch carried out by the UK (and anyone) was in Iraq during the disastrous 1916 Defence of Kut Al Amara in Iraq by members of 30 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps some some RNAS seaplane pilots. This scratch force also included Henry Aloysius Petre, the founder of the Australian Flying Corps.
WWI Iraq
In the first few days of the resupply effort success was patchy, the first package of detonators fell onto enemy lines and the makeshift bags used would often burst. The effort subsequently went on to deliver 13 tonnes of supplies in 140 sorties over a couple of weeks. Stores included food, ammunition, tobacco, fishing nets, wireless set spare parts and even £10,000 in gold and silver coins. Food was generally free dropped but one request was for a millstone, the defenders having discovered a mill where enemy forces had removed the stone. The 70lb millstone could not be free dropped without damage and so a parachute and rig were made at Basrah from old aircraft fabric.
RNAS Iraq 1916
Although the air supply operation did not alter the outcome it marked the first time forces in the field had been re-supplied by air despatch.
[the_ad id=”53382″]
Air despatch was used on the Western Front and in the inter war years developed by all the major nations in one form or another, building capabilities in line with parachute assault techniques.
The interwar years saw some development of parachuting in general;
In World War II air despatch was used by extensively and for British forces, notably in Burma in support of General Orde Wingate’s Chindit force. Whilst the military effectiveness of the Chindit’s is an ongoing debate what their operations did prove decisively is that ground forces could be sustained by both tactical transportation aircraft operating from austere locations and parachute air delivery.
The Douglas C47 Skytrain (Dakota in RAF service) was the preferred aircraft for air despatch for the allied air forces because it was stable at low level and its handling was not unduly affected by cargo loads being, literally, kicked out of the side door.
Fuel, ammunition, food, weapons and medical supplies were regularly dropped using simple ‘free dropping’ or with parachutes and woven basket containers. As the techniques developed the range of cargo expanded, live poultry and pigs were dropped and even eggs. US forces in Burma and India calculated the costs of these operations and whilst air landing was obviously the cheapest, free dropping was not much greater but parachute delivery was nearly $2,000 per tonne, compared with $50 per tonne for air landing.
C47 releases rations near Myitkyina
C47 releases rations near Myitkyina
The image below shows an RAF Dakota acting as both resupply and gunship!
RAF Dakota over Burma
In response to the needs of SOE in occupied Europe and the realisation that D Day would require significant air delivered supplies led to the creation of the Air Despatch Group, Royal Army Service Corps,in April 1944.
Air Despatch RASC
RASC Air Despatchers went on to support operations in mainland Europe.
Up until this point the containers were fabric bags or various sizes and configurations of wicker baskets
As volumes for air delivery operation in mainland Europe were expected to rise significantly more research and development was directed to the containers used for the delivery of stores by air dropping.
One such item of equipment was the CLE.
CLE’s went through a number of revisions and the MkIII’s were still in service 40 years after the end of WWII. CLE stood for Central Landing Establishment but eventually changed into Container Land Equipment and then Container Light Equipment.
CLE’s went through a number of revisions in size and construction with some specialised units developed for radio equipment for example. Dimensions were similar, 1.7m long and 0.4m diameter.
Their parachutes were colour coded so personnel in the ground could quickly identify their content without having to open them first, an ingenious but simple development.
Red; ammunition
Yellow; medical supplies
Light Blue; food and water
White; general stores
Green; signals equipment
Low powered lamps were used for night drops to aid location.
CLE could be carried in singles or bundles and launched from the side door or underwing racks, the latter a technique often used by the Halifax and Hasting aircraft.
CLE Loading containers on Halifax bomber for Warsaw Air Drop Brindisi Italy 1944
CLE
CLE Stores Containers
The famous Welbike had a dedicated CLE
There was a lighting system used on the CLE for identification during night drops consisting of 4 small lamps mounted on a frame and powered by a battery. There were also experiments with smoke generators to highlight containers in the daytime. Most were painted in light colours, such as white, to aid recovery.
The containers provided much needed extra supplies to the lightly equipped Airborne Forces and were used post war, including Op Musketeer.
An oft overlooked but important requirement was the need to rapidly move CLE’s away from the drop zone. One device used was the folding airborne trolley, designed to fit inside a CLE, it was used extensively for both stores and medical evacuation.
Folding Airborne Trolley
Toggles were used to allow additional men to pull the trolley
There was also a larger version, the Airborne Handcart, used by glider forces.
Dakotas were used extensively for operations in Arnhem and supporting US forces in Bastogne.
Although vehicles were mostly air landed in gliders, some air dropping of vehicles did take place, they would be slung underneath the aircraft (Halifax, Lancaster, Hastings etc), making use of the crash pans under each wheel and the parachute developed for the airborne lifeboat. Other heavy items like artillery guns were also delivered using this method.
These were not entirely satisfactory techniques and after the war the ‘Paratechnicon’ was developed, a specially designed vehicle container that was mated with the fuselage of a specially adapted Halifax and dropped at the appropriate point.
It used inflatable ‘balloons’ and 6 or 8 parachutes to control descent. Although it was able to accommodate a payload weighing a little over 2.7 tonnes it was aircraft specific and following a fatal accident where one of the parachutes was caught on the aircraft, it was withdrawn.
The next major advance in air despatch came with the introduction of dedicated cargo aircraft with rear cargo doors and an up-swept tail, rather than modified passenger aircraft or bombers. Aircraft like the C-82 Packet, Fairchild C-123 Provider, Nord Noratlas and Blackburn Beverly for example, although slightly earlier aircraft like the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar could be used for air despatch if the rear cargo doors were completely removed before flight.
Test of drag chute ‘reefing’ technique in dropping a 75mm pack howitzer from a C-82 Packet
1956, of course, saw Operation Musketeer, Suez.
3 PARA secured El Gamil airfield on the 5th November 1956 using 18 Valetta and 7 Hastings aircraft for personnel and 7 Hastings used in the heavy drop role. Although the Medium Stressed Platform was in service it was not cleared for the Bevereley and so the older ‘crash pan’ method had to be used for the 3 PARA vehicles and artillery guns, the crash pans being recovered from a number of museums in an echo of Black Buck many years later.
The introduction of the Blackburn Beverley in 1956 heralded a number of innovations including reversible pitch propellers for short field performance and reverse taxiing and cargo floor rollers but the main one was a large boxy body equipped with hydraulic clam shell doors and ramp. It had a payload of just under 20 tonnes but a very short range so typical air despatch loads would be in the order of 16 tonnes. The cathedral like cargo box was slab sided and large enough to carry large plant vehicles.
Relying on gravity and an upward flying angle, loads could me manually extracted with the parachute deploying only when the load was clear of the aircraft. As loads got heavier relying on gravity would not be enough and so parachute aided extraction was developed. This is dangerous because if the parachute deploys and the load gets stuck on the cargo floor there is a danger of causing a fatal stall.
The rear cargo doors and single cargo deck of the Beverly and Argosy provided an opportunity for a step change in heavy equipment delivery.
The Boscombe Stressed Platform (BSP) it was developed further into the Stores or Supply Stressed Platform deployed using an extractor parachute after which the main parachute opened.
Supply Stressed Platform
Still in service, the MSP is 2.14m wide and 4.88m long, it can accommodate loads between 2.722 tonnes and 8.165 tonnes. They can also be daisy chained.
Medium Stressed Platform (Image Credit – Beverley Association)
The HSP could be used with stores or vehicles to a maximum weight of just under 16 tonnes for Hercules and 19 tonnes for the Beverley. It was 2.6m wide and 7.5m long.
Heavy Stressed Platform
The demand for higher weights and lower deployment altitudes (to stay below radar cover) meant supporting the platforms was no longer possible with conventional parachutes and a series of innovative sectional parachutes were developed by the G.Q. Parachute Company.
To improve accuracy for heavy loads and as a successor to the Ground Proximity The Ultra Low Level Airdrop (ULLA) was developed at Boscombe for use with the Beverley and C130, similar in operation to the US Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System (LAPES). The ULLA platform was a development of the Stores/Supply Stressed Platform (SSP)
Beverley ULLA
As can be seen in the image above and video below (and the second one from the beginning), the parachutes are fully reefed (or opened) and the aircraft must fly very low, ULLA for example, required 10 feet + or – 5ft.
LAPES and ULLA left service with the USAF and RAF respectively by the end of the nineties, aircraft, equipment and personnel risk, coupled with a reduced demand meant it simply faded away in importance. The video at the head of this post shows a LAPES demonstration at Fort Bragg in which three people died as a result of the load hitting the tail of the C130 as it extracted.
The Medium Stressed Platform is still in service with the RAF but the other containers have been replaced with the Container Delivery System (CDS).
The Blackburn Aerial Delivery System, developed in the late fifties and early sixties in conjunction with the armed forces and GQ Parachutes, was an important milestone because it was an automatic system that allowed the payload to be released with the despatcher at a safe point, i.e. in front of the load. It also paid a great deal of attention to the safety of the aircraft and had a number of design concepts that are still used today.
US forces have made considerable use of air delivery or air despatch with some notable operations including the support of Khe San in Vietnam, Panama, Haiti and Iraq. A good overview is here.
Essential items were air dropped to the Task Force in 1982 from RAF Hercules aircraft and since then RAF Hercules have air dropped supplies for military and humanitarian aid disaster relief, the latest over Mount Sinjar in Iraq.
Although Air Despatch has a relatively short history in the major military powers such as the UK, France, Russia and the USA it is an enduring requirement to air drop supplies, although heavy drop of equipment and vehicles, less so, at least for the UK.
Post 2010 SDSR 47 Air Despatch Squadron RLC (47 AD Sqn) are now part of 13 Air Assault Support Regiment RLC (13 AASR), located at RAF Brize Norton.
JADTEU‘s primary role is to conduct operational trials and evaluation to develop the delivery by air of manpower, machines and materiel on behalf of sponsors, read more here
Techniques and Equipment
Whether it is deploying relatively small door bundles to dropping an entire aircraft of humanitarian supplies there are many factors to consider.
Flying low reduces dispersion and increases accuracy, good for ground personnel that have to recover the stores, but it puts the aircraft at greater risk from ground fire and might in some cases alert enemy forces that ground forces are in the area.
Night drops improve aircraft survivability and reduce detection of the stores but can also be hazardous to those on the ground.
Different factors also apply if the drop is for humanitarian assistance, risk of the loads creating casualties as stores may drop onto people rushing to recover the food or water, for example. This happened in Timor when the Royal Australian Air Force conducted a HADR drop, a child lost their leg after a parachute load hit him. An air drop of supplies to the Yazdi refugees on Mt Sinjar had to be suspended because of risk of injury to them, difficult choices being made by the aircrew.
Stores and equipment hanging around in the air whilst they serenely descend means they are exposed to enemy detection and fire so the general objective is to get them on the ground as soon as possible, this also improves accuracy and reduces dispersion. However, some loads may be less resistant to higher velocity impact and so may have to use low velocity techniques.
Some stores can even be free dropped, without the aid of a parachute.
Heavy Drop
A catch all term for heavy loads such as vehicles, artillery guns, small boats and ammunition pallets.
The main piece of equipment used for heavy dropping (apart from the parachute deployment system and parachute(s)) is a pre stressed platform. Of the Supply, Medium and Heavy Stressed platforms described in the history section, only the 8 tonne payload Medium Stressed Platform remains in service
Medium Stressed Platform for air dropping vehicles
CVR(T) Scorpion on a Medium Stressed Platform (MSP)
CVR(T) Scorpion on a Medium Stressed Platform
MSP Image Credit 16 PARA RAOC Site)
MSP Image Credit 16 PARA RAOC Site)
Medium Stressed Platform with two Light Guns
Even though it is a fifties design, the MSP is still a very capable piece of equipment with a number of advantages over the newer Type V, especially in its ability to load multiple items on a single platform, two light guns or light gun and Pinzgauer for example. This obviously reduces the number of aircraft required for a given force size.
The MSP is not compatible with the floor of the C130J or A400, both of which use the Dash 4a Cargo Handling System from AAR Corp. With the C130K now out of service the Medium Stressed Platform has bee rendered obsolete. Unless the UK purchases a compatible platform, it is out of the vehicle heavy drop business.
The US DoD contracted with Triton Composites in 2003 to develop a composite platform called the Triton Composite Airdrop Platform (TCAP).
The current Type V metal platform used for low velocity airdrop (LVAD) is expensive because of its heavy and complex modular design. Triton Systems Inc. proposes to develop a lightweight, low cost, environmentally-friendly composite airdrop platform (CAP)to replace both the current Type V and DRAS platforms. The approach is to engineer advanced thermoplastic composite (TPC) materials based on Triton’s extensive experience in the transition of metallic structures to cost-effective, structurally-efficientpolymer matrix composites. Triton will explore a range of composite platform designs, ranging from inexpensive, single-use, throwaway platforms, to platforms that will provide a greater level of durability and reusability than the current Type V. Low costfiber, matrix, and core materials, and affordable manufacturing methods will be employed. Triton has teamed up with a current Type V and DRAS supplier to develop this future generation composite airdrop platform. The developed composite airdrop platforms can be used to improve mission effectiveness for Future Combat System LVAD missions. These platforms would also benefit humanitarian relief work involving airdrop of food and other supplies. Meeting thedifficult impact and durability requirements would allow the validated composite constructions to be applied to other missions requiring lightweight, damage-tolerant materials.
It does seem to have progressed beyond development though.
The current market leader for heavy drop platforms if the Type V from Capewell, available in a number of configurations and dimensions. It was developed to replace the A/E 29H-1 (LAPES) and the Type II (LVAD) airdrop platform.
It comes in a variety of sizes and capacities from 8ft long to 32ft and can carry up to 19 tonnes although ramp limits might limit the payload (16 tonne single load, 25 tonnes multiple load on the A400M for example)
JATE Testing at Brize Norton
Capewell also make a smaller platform called the Multi Drop Platformthat can carry a 1.36 tonne payload.
Others include the Zodiac DRAS platform and the Aeronet PD8/PD9 platforms, the latter of which was recently used by the French in their operations in Mali.
Aeronet platform in Mali
The Russians have an interesting approach to heavy drop, rocket assisted parachutes and dropping with the crew inside!
Although things might look a bit threadbare for the UK in the vehicle heavy drop department at the minute, boats are another matter entirely.
In 2010 the MoD placed a contractwith Babcock for the Small Boat Aerial Delivery System (SBADS).
Babcock is currently delivering 186 units of its innovative aerial drop system, SBADS, to the MoD. The system has been designed by Babcock’s Integrated Technology team to deliver small rigid and inflatable hulled boats safely to the ocean from military transport aircraft. It was selected by the MoD after competitive trials, in which it out-performed other air-drop system solutions.
The modular system features a novel deceleration mechanism that can be adjusted to control deceleration rates on impact with the water, to avoid damage to the payload on landing. A unique, patented, twin V-form flexible sheet provides low deceleration and hence low landing forces initially, and then higher deceleration to prevent payload submersion.
The system is modular to handle larger payloads, or to enable a variety of payloads to be dropped, from life rafts and medical equipment containers to boats over 12ft long with outboard motors fitted ready for action. The modules are designed to be compatible with the Hercules and Airbus A400M or other aircraft equipped with the standard 108 inch cargo handling system, and could easily be modified to suit other aircraft. The modules can be fitted with floats to allow recovery and re-use during training exercises, or can be configured to sink during operations.
Babcock has developed a manufacturing process for the SBADS using a range of purpose designed welding jigs and fixtures that ‘standardises’ production, to enable rapid delivery while maintaining quality. 186 SBADS units are to be delivered to the MoD by February 2011. Approximately 90 have been delivered to date.
Also in service with the UK, Norway and the USAis the Airborne Systems Maritime Craft Aerial Delivery System (MCADS) and Small Boat Modular Platform (SBMP) that uses the PRIBAD and PURIBAD platforms although these may be replaced with SBADS.
Atlas K loader and Pacific 24 on SBADS
SBADS
PURIBAD
Door Bundles
Smaller items can be packed and despatched from the aircraft side doors as paras exit but of course, they have to fit. They usually weigh between 30kg and 300kg.
A technique called ‘South East Container Despatch’ is also used to deliver small bundles from the side door of a C130 that uses a small plywood ramp intruding into the slipstream.
One on the ground they are de-rigged and the stores moved.
Container Delivery System (CDS)
Container Delivery System (CDS) is the most common system, used by pretty much everyone that air drops supplies
It uses a lightweight 48″ square plywood ‘skidboard’ onto which is mounted a layer or two of cardboard honeycomb energy absorbing material, other sizes are available but the 48″ square skidboardis compatible with the widely used Capewell Center Vertical Restraint System (CVRS).
The load or load bag is rigged to the baseboard and the parachute attached. This is usually a time consuming break bulk process, transferring from one land pallet to the skidboard, as mentioned in the previous post, the worlds of land, sea and air logistics have yet to fully converge.
47 Air Despatch Squadron RAF Brize Norton Exterior
47 Air Despatch Squadron RAF Brize Norton. 15 tonne travelling beam crane and payload preparation bay
CDS Bundles being prepared at RAF Cyprus by RLC personnel for 47 AD Squadron
CDS rigging in Kandahar Afghanistan by 47 AD Sqn RLC personnel in 2010
After rigging and checking they are transferred to the aircraft
UK aid being loaded on to a RAF Hercules C130 at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
UK aid being loaded on to a RAF Hercules C130 at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
47 Air Despatch
Dropping (in single or two rows) is initiated by cutting a webbing retaining strap or using wireless release mechanism and the loads simply fall out of the back as the aircraft pitches up and a static line deploys the parachute. A number of variations exist that use different packing materials and for different loads. Small loads can be deployed as door bundles and CDS bundles are generally no more than 1 tonne but can include quad bikes, small boats and light engineering plant.
Personnel on the ground then recover the stores, most of the time the pallet will land the right way up, but not always. Because the skid boards do not have forklift slots, the job on the ground cannot be assisted with mechanical handling equipment, unfortunately
Night Time Airdrop Resupply in Afghanistan
Here are skid boards, with energy dissipation pads sandwiched between an over-turned bundle of fuel barrels . (DLA Aviation Photo)
A parachute extracted delivery method for Container Delivery System (CDS) bundles has been developed and deployed the USA.
Accuracy and speed of delivery is said to be much improved with dispersion reduced by two thirds.
Free Drop
If the stores are robust they can be free dropped like this example from the RAF in Ethiopia, Operation BUSHEL in the early eighties.
Operation BUSHEL Ethiopia 1985
Op BUSHEL Ethiopia
The RAF delivered over 14,000 tonnes of food aid using this method, a method pioneered in the 1972 Nepal famine relief operations. In recognition, 47 Air Despatch Squadron Royal Corps of Transport won the Wilkinson Sword of Peace.
In 1993 the RAF tested a systems called Snowdrop from GR Woodford Co that combined two sachets into a single pack, one sachet containing a dehydrated stew and the other, a vitamin and mineral rich fruit drink. These were packed 24 to a carton and when the carton entered the aircraft slipstream it would break up and allow the sachets to fall to the ground. Read the patent here
The US Operation Provide Hope in Bosnia in 1993 depleted war stocks of USAF air drop equipment and cost in excess of $30m, none of the equipment was recovered.
In response, a system called Tri-wall Aerial Delivery System (TRIADS) was developed.
TRIADS is very simply, a cardboard box that is launched into the aircrafts slipstream at high altitude where a tether rips open the box, allowing the individual food or water packets to fall to the ground. These packets were initially MRE’s but have since evolved to the Humanitarian Daily Ration or HDR.
Humanitarian Daily Ration
An airman prepares containers for humanitarian daily rations Oct. 4 at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The containers were placed on board a C-17 Globemaster III and airdropped Oct. 7 over eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. (USAF Photo by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Lock)
U.S. Air Force people build Tri-Wall Aerial Delivery System (TRIADS) that will hold the Humanitarian Daily Rations. C-17 Globemaster IIIs deliver the HDRs in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The C-17s airdrop the HDRs to Afghan refugees who have massed inside the borders of Afghanistan. C-17s can carry more than 35,000 HDR’s packaged in 84 TRIAD boxes, measuring 80 inches tall and 48 by 48 inches square, each filled with 420 HDRs. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock)
Aerial port people at Ramstein Air Base, Germany use a K-loader to load containers with humanitarian daily rations onboard a C-17 Globemaster III on Oct. 11. The humanitarian supplies are airdropped over Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. (USAF Photo by Staff Sgt. Jocelyn M. Broussard)
Soldiers from the 5th Quartermasters Company, Rhine Ordinance Barracks, Germany, help load a C-17 transport plane with Tri-Wall Aerial Delivery (TRIAD) containers full of humanitarian daily rations Oct. 10 at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The C-17 Globemaster III, from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., is supporitng Operation Enduring Freedom with humanitarian relief airdrops ove Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo)
TRIADS Afghanistan
TRIADSwas used to deliver 2.5 million HDR’s during initial operations in Afghanistan in 2001 for Operation Enduring Freedom. Because they are deployed at high altitude the aircraft is not placed under the same risk as for low level free drop methods.
Each C-17 can deliver up to 14,000 HDR’s using TRIADS.
There is still some risk for people on the ground, not least from the plywood skidboard, which makes its use unlikely in some situations
The latest US development is Humanitarian Operations Packaged Essentials, or HOPE, package. Each contains a water pouch and energy bar. A single C-17 could drop 125,000 HOPE packages in a single pass and dispenses with the cardboard box completely.
As part of the US Low Cost Aerial Delivery System (LCADS) the U.S. Army Logistics Innovation Agency (LIA) developed the Freedrop Packaging Concept Project (FPCP) for use in Afghanistan.
Ultra Low Level Extraction
Although not strictly air dropping, a transport aircraft can land, slow to taxi speeds and simply roll cargo pallets or vehicles off the ramp. This minimises time on the ground and doesn’t need anything but the most basic of rigging. The cargo, usually on 463L pallets or equivalent, is simply picked up by ground forces and the aircraft flies off.
A pallet is combat off-loaded from a C-17 Globemaster III June 20 at Tarin Kowt Airfield, Afghanistan. The 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is the first unit to conduct a combat off-load in theater. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller)
If no runway exists the aircraft can still fly at very low altitude (less than 10m) and offload cargo pallets, bundles or vehicles using a number of low or zero altitude extraction systems in which the cargo is dragged out of the aircraft by drogue chutes or arrestor wires.
Vertical descent speeds are very low but the cargo will have the same horizontal speed as the aircraft which will need retarding.
Little used now due to decreasing demand and risk issues.
Precision
To improve survivability aircraft are forced to drop at night and from higher altitudes and speeds, this results in dramatically reduced accuracy and dispersion of loads. Using GPS guidance and parafoil type parachutes loads can also be launched some distance from the target point.
Various US and NATO studies looked at the issue of precision airdrop and combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq have accelerated developments.
The SPADES system from Dutch Space used a steerable parafoil, the Firefly. It could deliver a 1,000kg payload within 50m of the target from stand off distances and high altitude with the Dutch MoD being the launch customer.
This Cassidian (Airbus Defence, I think) as is the Paralander. The German Luftwaffe have used the Paralander in Afghanistan where it was cleared for use on the C-160. A Paralander can deliver up to 1,000kg loads 26 nautical miles (50km) from the launch point.
Atair Aerospace have the Onyx range, the Canadian company MMIST have the Sherpa and Snow Goose
SPADES
Altair Onyx
The well known US Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) is a family of equipment to deliver precision air drop delivery including Firefly steerable parachutes from Airborne Systems and others.
Payloads go from 90kg to 4,500kg
Looking at these videos what is interesting is that some of the designs use a parafoil parachute to get to within the drop zone after which it is collapsed (or de-reefed) and a conventional round parachute deployed for the final journey to earth. The last video in the group also shows a vehicle being dropped using JPADS.
Less well known but equally critical is the JPAD Mission Planning software which is run on a standard ruggedised Panasonic Toughbook laptop and is used to collate data about the payload, weather and other variables to ensure the correct drop point is selected.
The PADS system from QinetiQ(and now Capewell) is with standard freefall parachutes to hugely improve accuracy and reduce dispersion. To verify weather conditions a drop sonde is used that relays atmospheric information back to the mission planning software which uses the data to calculate the optimum release point.
The video below shows an RAF Hercules dropping supplies in Afghanistan, CDS and PADS in action. The second video is an overview from QinetiQ
The RAF video also shows one of my hobby horses, the lack of containerisation and materials handling vehicles meaning that the 20 personnel had to work all night to recover 60 tonnes of rations, that is for another post.
A recent innovation with the JPAD’s precision air drop system is using a small UAV launched from the cargo aircraft to precision drop the sonde. The USAF have carried out a number of proof of concept trials with the Silver Fox UAV. The UAV flies ahead of the cargo aircraft so that it does not have to fly over the drop zone as it does when manually dropping the sonde.
No amount of precision can help though, if the ground conditions are such that enemy forces have access to the drop zones, as this recent video from the Middle East shows
Low Cost
Whilst the Container Delivery System (CDS) is robust and effective it is expensive so unless the equipment can be can be returned it is a significant overhead and in many cases, the packaging will cost more than the contents.
In Afghanistan, the threat of IED’s and operations in remote locations meant aerial supply went through a renaissance but if overland logistics was difficult and dangerous going forward (the reason for air dropping) then it would be just as difficult and dangerous going in reverse. The reverse supply chain for CDS equipment also meant there would end up being a significant and expensive stock holding of parachutes, bags and securing items at remote forward locations. These locations had enough on their plate without managing CDS equipment and so the need arose for a much cheaper, single use system.
LCADS gets the components needed for low altitude air dropping to about $100 by using low cost materials such as woven polypropylene parachutes and rigging. Not having to recover the parachute and other materials simplifies logistics planning a great deal.
Out of LCADS came the Low Cost Low Altitude (LCLA) system.
The Low-Cost, Low-Altitude (LCLA) aerial resupply programme required system that allowed supplies of up to 75kg to be dropped from low altitude low speed aircraft (fixed wing or rotary).
LCLA bundles are small and designed to be handled without mechanical handling equipment, between 110kg and 250kg and can be dropped from smaller aircraft like a CASA 212.
US forces used the LCAD/LCLA system extensively in Afghanistan.
All types of equipment for all types of requirement, high, low, medium, low velocity, high velocity. cheap and cheerful, heavy and light or high precision.
The Jordanian Airbus/ATK/KADBB C295 gunship is a fascinating study in delivering effects for a modest outlay.
Jordan has effective armed forces and a growing defence industry, especially the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB), but these two developments show an ability to obtain effective and ‘right sized’ capabilities at relatively modest costs.
In 2011 JADBB and ATK announced a development partnership that would seek to convert two C235 transport aircraft into AC-235 light gunships.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — ATK (NYSE: ATK) announced it has received a contract from the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) of the Kingdom of Jordan to modify two of the country’s CASA-235 transport aircraft into highly-capable and cost-effective special mission aircraft, according to the combined modification designs of both KADDB and ATK. Subject to U.S. government export licensing approval, the modified aircraft are expected to be delivered by the late spring of 2013. Terms of the contract were not announced.
ATK’s special mission aircraft offerings integrate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors, fire control equipment, and a LW30mm link-fed gun system. These capabilities are controlled by ATK’s STAR Mission System which provides both day and night reconnaissance and fire control capabilities, and the ability to acquire, monitor and track items of interest. The CASA-235 gunship provides customers an enhanced capability to conduct responsive defense, counterinsurgency, and border surveillance and security missions.
“Weaponized aircraft is an emerging international opportunity specifically tailored for ATK’s unique capabilities,” said Mike Kahn, President of ATK Missile Products Group. “Our expertise in mission systems architecture and design, and aircraft integration and certification of complex subsystems positions us well for growth in this area.”
“Since its inception, KADDB has established itself as the preferred global partner in the Middle East for the defence industry, initially in land systems, and most recently in aircraft modification. KADDB is well situated and experienced with all the required technical knowledge and infrastructure to move into this field,” said “Shadi Ramzi” Majali, KADDB Chairman and CEO. “We are proud to embark with our well recognized and esteemed partner ATK to modify aircraft for the Jordan Armed Forces and the MENA region, and look forward to establishing this capability in Jordan.”
“We are pleased to partner with the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau of Jordan to develop and enhance the military aircraft capability for the Jordan Armed Forces,” said Robert Faille, ATK Director of International Business Development for the Middle East & Africa region.
For the KADDB on behalf of the Jordan Armed Forces, ATK will install and integrate electro-optical targeting systems, a laser designator, aircraft self-protection equipment, and an armaments capability that includes Hellfire laser-guided missiles, 2.75-inch rockets, and a M230 link-fed 30mm chain gun. ATK’s M230 family of guns serves on the Apache helicopter.
ATK’s scope of work includes development, systems integration, aircraft modification, and testing. Work will be performed in Jordan and at ATK facilities in Fort Worth, TX, Mesa, AZ and Pelham, AL.
Although the light gunship represents KADDB’s first endeavor in aircraft modification, it lays the foundation for further potential growth with experienced partners to accommodate Jordan and the MENA region’s requirements.
The light gunship capability package is the latest addition to ATK’s Special Mission Aircraft product portfolio, which provides affordable, responsive and advanced capabilities to customer-preferred platforms. ATK’s expertise includes outfitting various aircraft — including Cessna Caravans, Lockheed Martin C-130s, Bombardier Dash-8s, Hawker Beechcraft King Airs and others — with integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
After much development effort the two aircraft were delivered to Jordan in March and May 2014, ready for the SOFEX trade show.
In addition to the m230LF 30mm chain gun, Hellfire II missiles and unguided 2.75″ rockets, the BAE APKWSguided rocket had also been integrated.
The aircraft were fitted with a range of defensive systems, MX-15 electro optical sensor, Thales I Master SAR/GMTI (same as Watchkeeper) selected armouring and various tactical communications systems.
With a full weapons load the AC-235 has a range in excess of 4,000km.
It seems like KADBB, ATK and Airbus did a great job on the AC-235 because soon after taking delivery Jordan announced intent to push forward with a C295 conversion.
June 2014 press release from Airbus
Today His Royal Highness Prince Feisal bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan attended the announcement that the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB), ATK and Airbus Defence and Space signed an agreement to cooperatively work together on a C295 gunship version.
A C295 currently operated by Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) will be converted to gunship by ATK of the USA and join two AC-235 gunships that were delivered to Jordan by ATK at SOFEX.
The AC-295 gunship configuration will be based on the AC-235 Light Gunship which includes integrated mission and fire control systems, electro-optical and radar sensors, Hellfire missiles, ATK’s side-mounted M230 30mm chain gun, an integrated defensive suite and 2.75 inch guided rockets.
Head of Commercial for Military Aircraft, Antonio Rodriguez Barberán said: “We greatly appreciate Jordan’s continued confidence in our aircraft and look forward to supporting the industrial partners involved in this programme which will result in a cost-effective and powerful addition to the Jordan Armed Forces.”
A small fleet of C235/295 would provide the UK with a flexible tactical transport aircraft, VIP, ISTAR, Gunship, parachute training and possibly a maritime patrol capability.
So here is the question, if the AC-235 has DAS, EO/Target Designator, SAR/GMTI, Hellfire, 70mm laser guided rockets and ATK M230 30mm cannon, what is the difference in flight and acquisition costs between it and an Apache?
Just asking, you know, what with decisions on Apache Block III looming.
Basically, the AC-235 is a fixed wing Apache, or perhaps more accurately, a fixed wing Hind.
Am not proposing we bin the Apache upgrade but split purchase, keep Apache for when austere location and amphibious operations are needed and use the money saved from a smaller Apache upgrade and purchase a dozen or so C295/235. They fit perfectly beneath the A400M and deliver the same capability as the Apache when operating from large main operating bases like Bastion. Plus of course, a range of extra capabilities like VIP, tactical transport, air despatch and ISTAR when not in the gunship role.
A collection of images from Brize Norton showing humanitarian aid being loaded onto RAF C130 Hercules aircraft in preparation for air dropping over Iraq.
UK Aid being loaded ready for Iraq
UK Aid being loaded ready for Iraq
UK aid being loaded on to a RAF Hercules C130 at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
UK aid being loaded on to a RAF Hercules C130 at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
UK aid being loaded on to a RAF Hercules C130 at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
UK aid being loaded on to a RAF Hercules C130 at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
Included in the package are;
Supplies include reusable filtration containers filled with clean water, tarpaulins and basic shelter equipment, and solar lights that can also recharge mobile phones to enable communication.
The UK is releasing an £8 million package of emergency humanitarian assistance to get lifesaving aid to tens of thousands of people across northern and central Iraq who have fled ISIL terrorists. This aid includes £2 million of emergency humanitarian supplies for 75,000 people.
Good to see Lifesaver water filtration being included
I wonder why the RAF’s C17 fleet is not being used?
Could it be they are not cleared for air despatch, surely some mistake?
Think Defence 