Defence

Air Force

Forging a seamless force

By Sanu Kainikara

C130 Hercules transport aircraft taxis after landing at RAAF Townsville.
Photo provided by Public Affairs

The Air Force vision is "To be a balanced expeditionary Air Force capable of achieving the Government's objectives through the swift and decisive application of air and space power in joint operations or as a part of a larger coalition force."

This is an enduring vision, and the three key attributes that can be distilled from it are the requirement for the Air Force to be balanced, to be expeditionary and to be able to create the desired effect at the time and place of our choice. The first two attributes determine the third and are therefore the most crucial part of building an effective Air Force.

A balanced force is one that is capable of operating through the entire spectrum of the threat environment as well as from the high end of technology to low-level operations. Australia is a nation of vast distances and therefore expeditionary capabilities have always been important to the Air Force. With the recent change in the nuance of national security interests, this capability has become critical to the success of all operations in support of national security interests. With its inherent characteristics of reach and penetration, air power is obviously in the vanguard of ensuring adequacy of expeditionary capabilities.

The operations that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has conducted recently are indicative of the ones that it will undertake in the future. The Air Force will need similar capabilities to the ones that it possesses now but suitably modified to cater for the emerging threat scenario. The Air Force's operational capability can be broadly classified into engagement, mobility, battlespace awareness, command and control, and combat support.

The engagement capability encompasses both air combat and maritime patrol and response. Air combat capability will provide control of the air and also strike capabilities in support of air operations as well as in direct support to other joint surface operations. It is more than likely that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will become the future backbone of air combat capability, transitioning to effects-based operations with the delivery of precision effects. The JSF will also make a significant contribution to battlespace awareness by being a node in the networked system. The maritime patrol aircraft will need to be able to detect and respond to threats both in the maritime and the littoral environment. In providing this capability, the Air Force will have to ensure that critical mass of these assets is maintained.

Air mobility is provided by transport and tanker aircraft. The latter directly increases the reach of combat elements and transport aircraft provide the lift capability necessary to retain expeditionary capabilities. Tankers and transport aircraft form the two pillars on which the rest of the capabilities can build towards becoming a force capable of extended expeditionary operations. The ADF is already feeling the need to own heavy-lift capabilities to ensure their ready availability, as opposed to the current practice of chartering them. Reach and persistence are both underpinned by these capabilities.

The Air Force is in the process of networking the Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) into already extant surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. While the AEW&C will be primarily an air defence asset, it will also be an integral part of the larger array of platforms that will form the networked air force operating within the context of a joint networked force. These aircraft, along with high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), will provide the ADF with battlespace awareness of a quality that is not available now.

92 Wing AP-3C Orion surveillance aircraft over Darwin.
Photo by Leading Aircraftman Allan Cooper

The Air Force currently operates an Air Operations Centre (AOC) at Glenbrook. However, this facility will be incorporated into an integrated AOC that will become functional in the new headquarters near Bungendore and will exercise command and control over all the capabilities. The AOC will gather, fuse and disseminate the information that is gathered and will generate the knowledge required to give the Air Force and ADF the war-winning combat edge. In creating adequate battlespace awareness, capability in space is a fundamental requirement. The importance of space for gathering intelligence, facilitating communications and ensuring command and control is increasing at a rapid pace. There is a critical need to initiate 'space thinking' and to start building capabilities in space, especially to further enhance command and control functions.

Combat support is the third pillar on which true expeditionary capabilities are built. It is not only the capability to facilitate forward deployment, but also the sustainment of operations through the joint logistics system as well as air base protection to ensure uninterrupted projection of force.

The capabilities mentioned above can only be successfully used by people who have been trained and educated adequately. This is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the Air Force. Capability is the end product of the optimum combination of equipment, support, knowledge and people. It is people who build joint capabilities and it is people who create the knowledge that provides the winning edge to the Air Force. The right personnel attributes take time and special training and education to develop. Therefore it is imperative that these attributes be nurtured within the ADF at all times.

Today's Air Force is at the beginning of an exciting era of transition and transformation. It has always been an agile force, constantly adapting to emerging situations. The current international security scenario requires the Air Force to adapt and operate under greater uncertainty. This situation brings with it few challenges as well as great opportunities. Since globalisation has made technology available to almost everyone, the technological edge that has so far been available to the Air Force is fast diminishing. The major challenge facing the Air Force is to be able to harness the rapid changes in capabilities that technological innovations are bringing about to ensure that a combination of technology and knowledge will provide the edge that will create a war-winning force. However, the very same challenge provides the Air Force with the opportunity to combine its formidable capabilities and become the bedrock to forge a networked, seamless force capable of delivering the desired effect when and where required.

[ top of page ]