08 Dec 2015, 14:36
Netherlands Preparing For F-35 Introduction [LONG ARTICLE - BEST READ AT SOURCE]
F-35 buy will quicken evolution of Netherlands air force, says commander
08 Dec 2015 Tony Osborne
"With plans to purchase just 37 aircraft, the Netherlands fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) is likely to be one of the world’s smallest.
Yet the fighter’s introduction is seen as a catalyst for change, transforming not only the way the Netherlands thinks about airpower but also prompting cohesion, with bilateral and trilateral discussions with other European operators.
“We need to be suitable to operate in a modern agile and ever-changing environment,” Gen. Alexander Schnitger, commander of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), tells Aviation Week.
He says the rapid pace of technological development, the changing security environment and the increasing role of cyber-technology and information has evolved the modern battlefield, and his air arm needs to reflect this.
The F-35 buy is just part of that evolution. “The trick is to build an air force around the ability to at least react proactively and engage in those areas,” says Schnitger.
Without such thinking, he adds, the force could “run the continuous risk of using the F-35 as simply a one-on-one replacement for the F-16 and to use it as bomb truck. But it [the F-35] can do so much more.”...
...Schnitger says that 37 aircraft was the maximum number acceptable to ministers at the time, but he expects the number to rise, albeit not in the short term.
“Behind the number 37, I tell my people, there is not a period, but a comma,” explains Schnitger. “The security situation in Europe is changing, [defense] budgets are recovering and every day we take a hard look at our [projected] needs five, 10, 20 years from now,” he adds.
The two operational aircraft are currently being flown out of Edwards AFB, California, where they form part of the joint U.S.-led JSF operational test team.
With the RNLAF planning for the F-35’s service entry in 2019, the Dutch team there has been accelerating testing with recent trials proving interoperability with the F-16, the KDC-10 refueling aircraft, navy vessels and joint tactical air controllers.
The F-16 and F-35 will be “operating side-by-side for quite a while,” says Col. Albert De Smit, commander of the RNLAF detachment at Edwards. Part of the testing has been to understand and develop tactics for fourth- and fifth-generation fighters to work together more effectively.
“Analysis on the exchange of information is far from complete,” adds De Smit. “But F-35 capabilities definitely enhance fourth-generation fighter effectiveness by providing increased situational awareness.”
“In Europe, for a long time to come, we will be working with this mix [of] fourth-, fifth- and even third-[generation] aircraft and dwindling numbers of airframes and weapons,” says Schnitger. “We have to make the most out of that construct.”
Schnitger says the Netherlands will have to make its transition to the F-35 at a “fast and furious” pace, as the RNLAF cannot afford to operate both the F-16 and F-35 for an extended period of time. Some of the F-16s have high airframe hours and sustainment issues....
...He points out that the pace of transition will allow the air force initial operating capability in 2020.
The air arm is also planning to deploy one of its F-35s, with support from an RNLAF Douglas KDC-10 tanker, to the Netherlands in the summer of 2016, to allow communities living near F-35 bases to experience the aircraft’s noise profile. The air arm will use the opportunity to take noise and vibration measurements to support F-35 operations from hardened aircraft shelters.
The same aircraft is also set to make the F-35’s international public debut at the air force’s Open Days at Leeuwarden in June....
...The F-35 procurement has opened up other, more immediate, concerns regarding pilot training as well. In order to get the most operational capability out of the F-35, the RNLAF is transitioning to a 2:1 ratio of pilots to aircraft from 1:1. But the current budgets do not stretch to giving all of those pilots the annual flying hours they need to be combat-ready.
Commanders are looking at a number of options, including the amount of training that can be performed in the simulator and use of a companion training aircraft, downloading F-35 training software to a type that is cheaper to operate.
They are also considering how well the current training in the U.S.—using the T-38 Talons of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training—will prepare pilots for the fifth-generation fighter, given that the next-generation T-X trainer will not be operational until 2023.
“Simulation will be a big part of the training program for the pilots,” says Schnitger. “Fighter pilots prefer to strap on a jet and not a simulator, but things are about to change, and they understand that. They are working with me to optimize what we have,” he adds...."
Source: http://aviationweek.com/defense/netherl ... troduction
A4G Skyhawk: www.faaaa.asn.au/spazsinbad-a4g/ & www.youtube.com/channel/UCwqC_s6gcCVvG7NOge3qfAQ/videos?view_as=subscriber
