Page 20 - RAF Lossiemouth Special Report

Visiting RAF Lossiemouth: The RAF Shapes a Way Ahead

“We need to deliver a SHADER standard Typhoon to the Middle East operation and that drives a lot of intra-
fleet movement.

“It is things like moving Laser Designator pods around within the fleet, to make sure that we have the right
configuration at the right place at the right time.

“The key disconnect which we have to manage is between the need to deliver the SHADER standard aircraft,
and the presence of variable configuration Typhoons in the overall fleet.

“A lot of our support challenges are driven by not having enough aircraft at the same standard.

“If all of our fleet was to the same standard, the challenge would be much easier.

“There is steady progress towards increasing numbers of key variants (specifically the P1E aircraft and
standards beyond) but this takes time.

“Of course, this is somewhat of a historic challenge that has always affected armed forces across the world,
which have strived to deliver the best military capability within the resource available.”

TYPHOON GROUND SUPPORT SYSTEM: A PERSPECTIVE FROM RAF
LOSSIEMOUTH

During a June 2016 visit to RAF Lossiemouth, there was a chance to discuss the GSS or Ground Support
System approach for the Typhoon with an RAF officer involved with GSS.

This digital system is a key part of both maintaining the Typhoon and enhancing its performance going
forward.

According to a publication by Eurofighter Typhoon, the system is described as follows:

“The implementation into the aircraft of advanced Built-In Test and diagnostic features has substantially
reduced the number of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) compared to previous aircraft.

The remaining suite of state-of-the-art GSE was developed according to the same stringent standards as the
aircraft, thus ensuring performance and reliability…..

The Ground Support System (GSS) gives all operators a leading edge mission and engineering data
management.

This provides rapid seamless bi-directional data flow from the operational and maintenance centres to the
aircraft and back. The GSS is linked to the National Support Centre and Industry, thus facilitating continuous
on-line data and intelligence transfer.”

The RAF added this insight with regard to GSS:

“Information Communication Technology (ICT) Technicians play a pivotal role supporting, operating, and
maintaining vital ICT subsystems essential to the support of Typhoon.

This is achieved by empowering Mechanical, Avionic and Weapons trades with the ICT capability to diagnose
the critical engineering data produced by the aircrafts advanced computer systems.

Additional ICT expertise is also utilised by supporting aircrew and operations staff through the management
of Mission Support Systems that are vital to the operational functionality of the aircraft.
Second Line of Defense

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