Defence

Air Force

Taking centre stage

Although air power has been used as an instrument of war for less than a century, rapid improvements in its application have brought air power to centre stage in military capabilities in a spectacular manner, according to the Air Commander Australia, Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife.

Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife
Photo by FSGT Mark McIntyre

Until a decade or so ago, it was relatively easy to define the capabilities that air power could bring to bear and therefore it was not difficult to fathom the effects that it could create. While some air power capabilities were perhaps more aspirational than immediately achievable, we find ourselves now in an era where the precision of our application, and our visibility and knowledge of the battlespace, allows us great confidence in the delivery of traditional air power roles and effects. However, we are also in an era where our security requirements are demanding that we, as leaders, foster the development of air-delivered effects in unconventional ways.

The dictionary defines convention as 'accepted usage, especially as a standard of procedure' and therefore unconventional would be something that is done outside such accepted norms, or actions out of the ordinary. When we tailor this definition to the Air Force, it would mean employing capabilities other than weapon systems that produce traditional heat, blast and fragmentation to achieve the desired effect. It could equally mean the application of these traditional kinetic effects in unusual or innovative ways, and it also translates to the increasing close cooperation and synergy that is emerging between air power and Special Operations. This is a sign of the times.

While the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) continues to be committed to carrying out its conventional roles in all its iterations, I will elaborate on a few of the unconventional roles that we have undertaken in recent times. While these operations could be termed unconventional at the moment, if they were to become a regular feature of our operations, then by definition they would gradually become part of conventional operations.

We in Australia are no strangers to the unconventional use of air power and have used air assets in unusual and innovative ways since World War I.

In 1915 our Army had a detachment of its flying corps operating with British forces in Iraq (then Mesopotamia). This detachment distinguished itself: once in a daring rescue of a British general whose aircraft had been forced down in enemy territory; on another occasion landing and blowing up telegraph lines near Baghdad to cut communications before a major ground attack; and also through the air-dropping of supplies (sometimes using parachutes) to British forces.

In World War II, Australian airmen took part in the elaborate deception and electronic warfare measures used to cover the Allied landings in Normandy, France. Australians were also well represented in the famous Pathfinder force, that perfected target-marking techniques for the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. In the South-West Pacific Area, Australian airmen pioneered Forward Air Control operations in New Guinea. They were engaged in psychological operations using leaflet drops and aerial broadcasting, and delivered and extracted Special Forces and informants in the lead-up to, and during, the recapture of Borneo.

During a variety of smaller conflicts since 1945, the RAAF has made use of air power in a range of innovative ways not involving the use of firepower. One of the most notable was the development of highly specialised techniques for aero-medical evacuation of casualties from forward positions, beginning in Korea and extending through the long years of the Vietnam conflict.

In recent times we have been operating within a difficult and complex environment. Our AP-3C Orion aircraft have been deployed in the Middle East region for a number of years. Throughout this time they have carried out their primary maritime surveillance role effectively and continue to do so. What is not so well known is that they also regularly engage in overland intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) activities in support of Coalition ground forces. Such engagements have proved to be extremely effective.

The RAAF's relationship with Special Forces has really been cemented in the past few years with the increasing application of special operations to complex counterinsurgency tasks. In some ways this symbiotic relationship has come to characterise the jointness of our forces and indicates the way forward for us. The interesting part in this combination is that, every time such operations are mounted, there are new lessons to learn and we come out with more innovative ways to optimise the effectiveness of the conventional mission. These lessons are an important operational driver for the transformation that is occurring in our doctrine, tactics, training and procedures.

The RAAF has also been involved in military operations other than war on a regular basis in support of national objectives. We recently carried out aero-medical evacuations on a large scale at short notice following the Bali bombings in October 2002 and again in October 2005, and we have also responded to natural disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 and the recent earthquake in Pakistan. At present I have C130 and Caribou aircraft engaged in a 'hub and spoke' operation to support the people of north-eastern Queensland to recover from the impact of Cyclone Larry. In the current international security scenario these operations are part of a broader national security paradigm that is supported by a number of government and non-government agencies. These operations clearly showcase the flexible and adaptable nature of air power.

The deterrent nature of air power has never been in doubt, and the precision capabilities that have become resident in air weapons in the past few years have made them capable of creating immediate coercive effects. Precision weapons are capable of creating effects that transcend the tactical and are truly strategic. The rhetoric that formed part of the air power debate just a few years ago has now translated to reality. Air power today is perhaps the most effective coercive diplomatic tool that is available to governments. At lower levels, the dispersion of the Taliban a few days into the Afghanistan campaign is a classic example of the coercive effect that air power can bring to bear in an unconventional manner. The ability to apply conventional kinetic effect and the ability to coerce with the threat of force remain important capability requirements of the RAAF. We are continuing to develop our F/A-18 Hornet force, and in the near future we expect to acquire an air combat force based on the capabilities of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

In the information domain, we are in the process of integrating Airborne Early-Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft with our extant surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. The Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft will be an integral part of a larger array of platforms that will form the networked air force operating within the context of a networked joint force. These aircraft, along with high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles will provide the Australian Defence Force with battlespace awareness of a quality that is not available now.

In Sydney, we have been working hard to deliver an Air Operations Centre (AOC) capable of managing the air operations of the Australian Defence Force. Over the next year we will begin integration of the AOC within a new joint headquarters. We require the AOC to gather, fuse and disseminate information and to generate the knowledge required to give the RAAF a war-winning combat edge. To my knowledge, this initiative to embed the AOC within a joint headquarters will take what is essentially a tool of the air environment further into the joint Command and Control (C2) environment than has been attempted by any other defence force. Our challenge is to achieve this move without diluting our effectiveness.

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. The RAAF is cognisant of the critical need to build capabilities in space, especially to further enhance C2 functions.

A primary basis of the ongoing transformation in the employment of air power is the now-accepted need to resort to effects-based planning for all our campaigns. By virtue of its inherent characteristics, air power is capable of influencing the physical, cyber and cognitive domains. The ultimate aim of any force projection activity is to achieve the desired effect in the cognitive domain—that is, in the minds of the adversary. In military terms this could mean influencing and changing the mindset of adversary commanders who would then be agents for changing the perceptions of the force as a whole.

In order to achieve cognitive changes, actions will have to be initiated or indicated in both physical and cyber domains. These actions could span the full spectrum of effects from physical destruction to the threat of force, as well as innovative ways in which cyber space can be manipulated to achieve the desired perception. This domain holds great attraction for a relatively small combat force such as Australia's.

Necessity is a reasonable basis for innovation, and necessity is shaping the role of air power in current operations that are predominantly counterinsurgent in nature. The most effective way to achieve the desired end state will be to target the total adversary system, but this theoretical approach may not always be possible in a counterinsurgency situation. Being able to perceive the system, or the insurgent network, is the fundamental challenge that we face in determining action. Knowledge of the adversary and the ability to share that knowledge with the right people at the right time should be our focus. The crucial role that ISR will play in this situation is very clearly apparent. Eavesdropping at the individual level and then carrying out timely targeting is just one method that can be employed to overcome the issue of confronting a dispersed adversary.

The complexity of insurgent networks is particularly challenging. To defeat such an entity requires the ability to deliver a multi-pronged strategy that exposes and attacks all elements of the network and neutralises its sources of emergence and support. Creating adequate situational awareness will clearly remain a central air power role.

Air power in the future will provide a significant contribution to operational knowledge by networking its ISR assets. The RAAF plans to use its newly acquired AEW&C capability as a binding element in a joint environment and to tailor its use to suit the context of the operation.

In the future, the RAAF will be increasingly called on to utilise its non-kinetic capabilities rather than traditional force-on-force air engagements, or strategic bombardment through precise and lethal strikes—although these same capabilities are the ones that make its evolution into an instrument of coercion possible.

In conclusion, I believe that air power is an evolving and dynamic force projection capability and that is one of its greatest strengths. The RAAF has always recognised this inherent flexibility, and so far we have managed to nurture the spirit of innovation in our airmen and airwomen. For a small force such as ours to be effective, it is important that we capitalise on this inherent trait within our people to ensure that air power in all its various forms is carefully and creatively applied.

In the application of air power, it is an easy proposition to strike and destroy a target system—if you have the necessary capabilities. Achieving diverse effects without necessarily resorting to kinetic action, through the innovative use of inherent characteristics, is a difficult and complex process. But air power is steadily moving into this arena. We, the practitioners of air power, would be naive to think any other way.

This is an edited version of a speech by Air Vice-Marshal Quaife at the recent Middle East Air Symposium.

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