Arctic Challenge Exercise 2019 Typhoon aces interview

over the last decade, the Swedish Air Force has been working increasingly with its Finnish and Norwegian neighbours in cross-border training. Today, this is a regular feature of Sweden’s weekly military drills, with an especially tightknit relationship with Finland. Politicians in both Stockholm and Helsinki are keen to foster a closer military relationship to counter Russia’s increasingly aggressive posture. There’s also a need to develop stronger working bonds with other forces. In 2013, Finland, Norway and Sweden launched the now biennial large-force Arctic Challenge Exercise (ACE), which includes foreign assets. From May 22 to June 4, more than 100 fighters flew from three bases: Rovaniemi (Finland), Bodø (Norway) and Luleå-Kallax (Sweden). The foreign forces included eight US Marine Corps F/A-18s (Rovaniemi), 12 South Carolina Air National Guard F-16CJs and five No 6 Squadron Typhoons (Luleå-Kallax), plus four French Air Force Mirage 20005Fs and ten Rafales and ten Luftwaffe Eurofighters (Bodø). hosted two NATO E-3A AWACS, two AEW1s and three Guard KC-135Rs. RAF’s Ørland (Norway) hosted two NATO E-3A AWACS, two RAF E-3D Sentry AEW1s and three US Air National Guard KC-135Rs. Each country takes its turn leading ACE – last time it was Norway, this year it was Sweden and in 2021 it will be Finland. leading ACE – last time it was Norway, No 6 Squadron, as this year it was Sweden but as was proved this year they are not insurmountable.” According to the South Carolina ANG commander, Lt Col Michael Ferrario, a Flaglevel exercise “builds in a large number of Flag level? Lt Col Tobhias Wikström, commander of F 21 wing at Luleå, and the deputy director of ACE 19, compared the vast 4,000-sq-mile Vidsel training area to the range used by the Red Flag exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. He said: “We have been working up ACE to try to reach Flag-level status, having been able to draw on the experiences of Frisian Flag and Red Flag. We have now stopped participating in them because we prefer to spend our time and finances on our own.” Wikström, a Gripen pilot, added: “Operating across three countries might pose some complications, Above:  Typhoon FGR4 ZK334 ‘334’ taxies at Luleå-Kallax on its return from a sortie on May 30. The   ghter is   tted with a single ASRAAM training round under the port wing; carriage of Meteor BVRAAMs was simulated.  All images US  Navy/Chief  Mass  Communication Specialist  John  M  Hageman  unless  stated Inset:  Alan  Warnes aircraft and countries. In terms of aircraft, ACE 19 but as was proved this year they are not insurmountable.” According to the South Carolina ANG commander, Lt Col Michael Ferrario, a Flaglevel exercise “builds in a large number of aircraft and countries. In terms of aircraft, ACE 19 is definitely a Flag-level exercise”. While the UK’s Cobham and Germany’s DLR provided the usual Dassault 20s and Learjets, respectively, equipped with jamming pods, the role of Red Air fighters was passed around the participating units. Wikström continued: “Everyone here is more interested in Blue Air tactics, but they do take a turn with the Red Air. We don’t have the manpower in Sweden to be able to man a dedicated Red Air squadron, but we have a ground unit dedicated to Red Air tactics.” UK involvement Heading up the UK detachment was Wg Cdr Matt D’Aubyn, who took over as officer commanding No 6 Squadron just three weeks prior to ACE 19. D’Aubyn heads up the unit he flew with a decade ago, when he was the last RAF pilot to qualify on the Jaguar. He brought along five Typhoon FGR4s, deploying overseas on a multinational exercise for the first time with their new Project ‘Centurion’ P3EA capability enhancements. He said: “We are training here with the Meteor BVR [beyond-visual-range] airto-air missile and it provides a really good opportunity for us to operate Meteor alongside our Swedish partners. It gives us a chance to share tactics, lessons and interoperability and the more we can develop joint capabilities the more that contributes to our collective security.” D’Aubyn added: “It’s the first time we have had the chance to really test Meteor within a challenging and complex scenario against a large number of threat aircraft.” However, Meteors were not carried; instead, simulated firings made use of the onboard computer system.

air combat, the weapon was restricted to a 30-mile (48km) range, according to a Swedish Air Force participant flying the Gripen, the first fighter to use the weapon operationally.As UK detachment commander, D’Aubyn was responsible not just for the Typhoons, but also a Hercules, ground-based air defences from RAF Spadeadam, and a Voyager air-to-air refueller that flew into the exercise area each day. He told AFM: “The challenges of exercises this size are to ensure they are fairly scaled with complex and realistic training. There are few exercises that deliver this scale and complexity. The real challenge is the planning, execution and debriefing and, once you deliver that effectively and safely, it becomes a great training opportunity for us. It makes us interoperable with our allies and partners and ultimately that helps our defence and security around Europe and the broader region.”The wing commander, who brought five other Typhoon pilots with him as well as up to 50 technicians and engineers, admitted that working alongside other nations also engenders some healthy competition: “You want to prove yourselves and, so far, the UK has performed well.”His view was confirmed by Lt Col Wikström, who told AFM with a smile: “The Typhoon with its two powerful engines performs well, but it’s heavy – you have to find its sweet spots.” The Typhoon was used in the defensive counter-air (DCA), offensive counter-air (OCA) and air interdiction (AI) roles while the Hercules performed electronic warfare training.D’Aubyn went on: “Typhoon is a multi-role aircraft – so as well as OCA, DCA and AI we have the capability to roll into some CAS [close air support] and some dynamic tasking as well. In the morning missions every day, we focused on smaller packages and bespoke skill sets. We did some BFM [basic fighter manoeuvres] and DACT [dissimilar air combat training] with our Gripen and F-16 partners here at Kallax.” And on air-to-ground simulation, D’Aubyn added: “The large-force exercises bring in elements of air interdiction and Typhoon’s new air-to-surface capabilities, like Paveway IV and Brimstone.”He continued: “One of the great benefits is that the squadron can bring a great blend of experience and increase the learning curve of the younger individuals. They are not just learning from our partners but from senior members of the squadron, too. And of, course, it’s about generating our own capabilities as well as sharing them with our own partners.”Air threats from jets simulating MiG-29s, Su-27s and Su-34s, as well as SA-6, SA-8 and SA-10 surface-to-air missiles from the Polygon ranges near Ramstein in Germany, Spadeadam and Norway would have made life difficult for the whole of the Blue Air force. D’Aubyn concluded: “The identities of the threat are less important than the training objectives and the tactical problems to those planning and executing it. In an exercise of this scale, it’s right and proper to manage the complexity with a relatively low start and then build it up. We came out here to ensure we were interoperable with our allies and partners and we have been – we plan, execute and fly as a team.”Left: Wg Cdr Matt D’Aubyn, Typhoon pilot and of cer commanding No 6 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland. He was the UK contingent commander on ACE 19. SAC Anna Lythgoe RAuxAF/Crown Copyright Below: A Typhoon taxies behind a Swedish Air Force JAS 39D Gripen prior to launching from Luleå-Kallax. RAF Typhoons  ew alongside and against Swedish Gripens; Finnish and US F/A-18s; F-16s from Norway, Denmark and the US, and Rafales and Mirages from France.One of the jets brought to Sweden by No 6 Squadron was serial ZK314 ‘314’, marked as the commander’s jet for No II (Army Co-operation) S