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03 Sep 20. Singapore seeks adversarial training for local and US-based fighter pilots. One of the companies recently hired by the U.S. Air Force to support an adversarial role during training was also approached by Singapore to perform the same role its Idaho-based fighter training detachment, an industry source told Defense News.
The Asian country is also inaugurating a unit under one of its locally based fighter squadrons to perform an adversarial training function.
The industry source said Singapore requested that the program manager overseeing its Peace Carvin V training detachment in the United States approve the training support from Draken International. Funding was allocated for two training events that were scheduled for the spring and summer of this year.
“To date, the ADAIR II contract has not supported the 428 FS Republic of Singapore Air Force squadron. The ADAIR II contract was originally scheduled to support the 428 FS in April, but that support was cancelled due to COVID,” a U.S. Air Force spokesperson told Defense News, using an acronym for Adversary Air II, the service’s contract inked in 2018.
Had the events taken place, Draken International would have used its Aero Vodochody L-159E Honey Badger jets to support the Singapore detachment at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.
The industry source said the Republic of Singapore Air Force wanted its forces to face off against an aircraft with an onboard radar that could present a beyond-visual-range missile threat, and is equipped with a radar warning suite to allow it to react to a radar “threat.” However, a jet able to reach supersonic speeds was not required.
Four L-159E jets would have supported the detachment for two weeks on each occasion, the source added.
Draken’s L-159Es are equipped with the Italian Leonardo Grifo-L all-weather radar. It is understood Singapore has held talks with Draken about hiring the company since at least mid-2019.
The Peace Carvin V detachment is a joint U.S. Air Force-Republic of Singapore Air Force unit that provides training to Singaporean personnel assigned to 428th Fighter Squadron on Boeing F-15SG Eagle multi-role fighters. The squadron falls under the 366th Fighter Wing, the resident flying unit at Mountain Home AFB.
Draken is one of seven companies awarded adversarial training contracts by the U.S. Air Force in late 2019 under a five-year, $6.4bn contract. The company will support training at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina and Kelly Field in Texas, in addition to ongoing work with the armed service at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Domestic training
The land scarce island nation of Singapore is primarily made up of one main island of less than 280 square miles in area. The American ally maintains several other permanent aircraft detachments overseas for training, including a Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 52 Fighting Falcon training detachment at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.
The news of Draken potentially supporting the F-15SG detachment comes as the Republic of Singapore Air Force plans its own adversarial training activities at home. The Air Force has inaugurated an “aggressor” component that will reside within 140 Squadron. The unit is one of three locally based F-16 units and will use F-16s and F-15SGs in the training.
However, it appears the squadron will continue to fly F-16s from its base at Tengah in western Singapore, with the F-15SGs continuing to operate from nearby Paya Lebar in northeast Singapore, even when conducting adversarial training.
The training will take place on a part-time basis, with the involved squadron and personnel retaining their primary operational duties. It is unclear if the internal adversarial team will serve in a long-term role, or instead is a precursor to the Air Force eventually using contracted adversarial services.
“The RSAF task organises its units to meet operational requirements, and conducts robust day-to-day training and exercises to maintain operational readiness,” Singapore’s Ministry of Defence told Defense News in a statement. “To facilitate meaningful training, some units may be designated as the opponent, termed as ‘aggressors.’ Such two-sided training allows teams to pit their skills against each other, and is a common practice amongst many air forces around the world.” (Source: Defense News)
01 Sep 20. USAF and JASDF conduct bilateral training at Chitose AB, Japan. Airmen from the US Air Force (USAF) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) have conducted bilateral training at Chitose Air Base (AB) in Japan. The training focused on enhancing the defensive skills required to support air operations and Agile Combat Employment (ACE) capabilities during the Chitose Aviation Training Relocation event.
JASDF was represented by 2nd Air Wing and 1st Tactical Airlift Group, 2nd Tactical Airlift Group and 3rd Tactical Airlift Group during the training.
Approximately 200 personnel with six F-15 Eagles from USAF’s 67th Fighter Squadron and six F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 13th Fighter Squadron, Pacific Air Forces Command’s 35th Fighter Wing, 374th Airlift Wing and 18th Wing participated in the training.
The airmen and aircraft relocated to Chitose AB for the exercise.
USAF 67th Fighter Squadron commander lieutenant colonel Craig Van Beusekom said: “This Chitose (AB) Aviation Training Relocation provided a tremendous opportunity for the 67th Fighter Squadron’s operations, maintenance and support personnel to practice and perfect ACE capabilities with our US Forces Japan and Koku-Jieitai partners.
“Here at Chitose (AB), we demonstrated deployable, secure communications and empowered bilateral personnel to refuel a USAF F-15, F-16, and Koku-Jieitai F-15J Eagle aircraft with airlift-deployable fuel bladders.”
The training event, which was led by Fifth Air Force, also concentrated on creating multi-capable airmen (MCA) and tested the USAF and JASDF’s ability to collaborate and learn new skill sets.
MCA allows for efficient and quick response time to any possible threats.
USAF 13th Aircraft Maintenance Unit production superintendent Master Sergeant Stephen Morin said: “The MCA concept was implemented by utilising multiple career fields and merging them into performing each other’s duties.
“For instance, we had specialists, such as avionics, learning how to launch (aircraft) and then performing those actions, enabling us to free up other specialities to continue working on arising situations.” (Source: airforce-technology.com)
02 Sep 20. Indian Navy to conduct passex exercises with Russia. The Indian Navy is reportedly set to take part in passes exercises with Russia on 4-5 September this year. Set to be held in the Bay of Bengal, the exercise with follows India’s withdrawal from the Kavkaz military exercise, according to local media reports.
Participants will include Russian Navy destroyers Admiral Vinogradov and Admiral Tributs, tanker Boris Butoma, and Indian platforms Ranvijay destroyer, Sahyadri frigate, Kiltan corvette and Shakti tanker.
The passes exercise will be conducted as a ‘non-contact, at sea only’ drill and follows the postponement of INDRA NAVY–2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic, reported ANI.
INDRA NAVY–2020 was planned to be carried out in Vladivostok, Russia.
India-Russia (INDRA) exercises between their armies, navy and air force started in 2005.
The last INDRA Tri-Services Exercise was held in December last year in India.
Currently, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is on a visit to Moscow from 3 to 5 September.
The US Navy’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), along with its Carrier Strike Group (CSG), conducted a Passex with the Indian Navy.
In June, the Indian and Japanese navies reportedly conducted an exercise in the Indian Ocean amidst border tensions in Ladakh.
In July, the Indian Navy expanded its deployment of frontline warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). (Source: naval-technology.com)
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