Page 3 - Aerotech News and Review, Aug 17 2018

Edwards chasing options for test support with Alpha Jet
by Kenji Thuloweit
Edwards AFB, Calif.
When a test aircraft takes to the sky, on many occasions it is accompanied by a chase airplane. The chase plane can provide safety support by giving visual feedback, serve as a flying target, and document the test sortie through photog- raphy and video taken by an additional crew-
member.
Testing new systems on almost every aircraft
type in the Air Force inventory, with several sor- ties each day, can be a grind and the demand for chase aircraft is higher than ever.
The 412th Operations Group at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., is exploring ways to aug- ment its chase plane fleet and one option is using Alpha Jets.
“The primary test support aircraft is the F-16, which is very capable,” said Christopher Klug, 412th Operations Group technical director. “The demand for test support, mostly safety chase and flying as a target, exceeds F-16 capacity. While the Alpha Jet isn’t as capable as the F-16, it can service the part of the test support mission that doesn’t require the higher-end capabilities of the F-16.”
Edwards currently has two Alpha Jets con- tracted through Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. and Gauntlet Aerospace to support certain test sorties as an experiment to see what they can offer.
According to Gauntlet Aerospace, the owner of the jets, the two-seat Alpha Jets were de- signed to be light attack and trainer aircraft in the 1970s through a partnership between French aircraft company Dassault and German company Dornier. The Alpha Jet was also designed to be launched quickly after each sortie and does not require ground-support equipment. The jets are still in military service in France, Belgium, Egypt, Portugal, Thailand, and are operated by French test pilot school EPNER and Britain’s Empire Test Pilot School, according to Gauntlet.
Klug added that Alpha Jets can be well-suited to handle shorter-length test support missions executed at around 30,000 feet and less than 0.8 Mach speed. So far, Alpha Jets have supported test missions with F-16s, F-15s, F-22s, B-1s and F-35s, he said.
The ability to capture visual data is another important role of a chase plane and the 412th OG hopes more test missions can be properly
documented with lower-priority test missions getting the necessary photographic documenta- tion needed.
“The F-16 is a much more versatile pho- to platform than the Alpha Jet, but there just aren’t enough D-models (two-seat versions) to
go around,” said Christian Turner, Media Fu- sion Aerial Photography manager. [U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School] is a pretty high pri- ority when it comes to getting D-models since they’re required to have instructors for most of their flights. Having access to Alpha Jets simply
Air Force photograph by Ethan Wagner
A Gauntlet Aerospace Alpha Jet flies above the Mojave Desert earlier this year. Two Alpha Jets have been contracted to serve as chase aircraft for test missions at Edwards. The 412th Operations Group is conducting an experiment to determine if the planes can successfully provide needed test support.
gives us greater access to a two-seat photo chase platform.”
As with all testing at Edwards AFB, data will be analyzed and leaders will decide if Alpha Jets can be used as permanent fixtures to support fu- ture tests.
BUDGET, from 1
Hercules, 25 AH-1Z Cobras, seven MV-22/CMV-22B Ospreys and three MQ-4 Tritons.
Afghanistan, Iraq
There is $5.2 billion in the budget for the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund, and another $850 million to train and equip Iraqi security forces to counter Islamic State of Iraq and Syria terrorists.
The budget accelerates research on hyperspace technology and defense against hyperspace missiles. It also funds development of artificial intel- ligence capabilities.
“In order to maintain America’s military supremacy, we must always be on the cutting edge,” the president said. “That is why we are also proudly reasserting America’s legacy of lead- ership in space. Our foreign competi- tors and adversaries have already be- gun weaponizing space.”
The president said adversaries seek to negate America’s advantage in space, and they have made progress. “We’ll be catching them very shortly,”
August 17, 2018
he added. “They want to jam transmis- sions, which threaten our battlefield operations and so many other things. Wewillbesofaraheadofthemina very short period of time, your head will spin.”
He said the Chinese military has launched a new military division to oversee its warfighting programs in space. “Just like the air, the land, the sea, space has become a warfight- ing domain,” Trump said. “It is not enough to merely have an American presence in space; we must have American dominance in space, and that is why just a few days ago, the vice president outlined my administra- tion’s plan to create a sixth branch of the United States military called the United States Space Force.”
The 2019 Authorization Act does not fund the military. Rather, it au- thorizes the policies under which funding will be set by the appropria- tions committees and then voted on by Congress. That bill is still under consideration.
Army photograph
President Donald Trump watches a demonstration of the 10th Mountain Division’s capabilities with Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt during a visit to Fort Drum, N.Y., Aug. 13, 2018. During the president’s visit to Fort Drum, he signed the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.
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