Mission Present combat ready Air Force Special Operations Forces will conduct and support global special operations missions. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. You May Also Like. My Profile News Home Page. Insiders Guide to Joining. Special Operations Forces are the elite commandos of the U.
They are called upon to perform the toughest duties in the armed forces, and their actions directly affect the protection of America's freedom. Are you one of them? Established at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Special Operations Command for the readiness of Air Force special operations forces in the conduct of the War on Terrorism to disrupt, defeat and destroy terrorist networks that threaten the United States, its citizens and interests worldwide.
These forces provide global ability to conduct special operations missions ranging from precision application of firepower, to infiltration, exfiltration, resupply and refueling of SOF operational elements. Forces are organized under two active duty wings, one Reserve wing and one Air National Guard wing, two overseas groups and several direct reporting units. Skip to Content Hurlburt Field Community. Targets are visible and can be attacked throughout the entire orbit and attack run-in headings are usually not desired.
The gunship is particularly effective at troops in contact TIC fire support. Firing altitude depends on terrain, threat environment, and weather. Gun selection depends on target type and damage desired. To limit collateral damage, a live-fire area may be required to boresight weapons prior to employment.
The gunship weapons do not have a hard-kill capability against heavy armor or bunkers. However, the mm has Superquick fuses with both point detonation and 0. All 20mm, 25mm, and 40mm have point detonate fuses. Training : No-fire headings may be imposed or may be established by the aircrew, due to ordnance ricochet fans when the target is between the gunship and the friendly position. Although the ACH and ACU use very dissimilar avionics and other systems, fire support to the ground party is generally comparable.
The capabilities of the ACU will not be required for most fire support missions, but provide benefits under certain circumstances. The following describes some of the most important employment differences:.
This does not appreciably change the extent of collateral damage. Crew restrictions also apply. The 25mm is only effective against soft targets. Portions of the 25mm gun system are still under development, and this weapon is not as reliable as a mature system.
Upgrades to the IR on both aircraft are scheduled to occur within a couple of years. Detailed threat analysis must be accomplished for specific missions. It is extremely vulnerable during daylight operation and is most suited for operations in a low threat environment.
By operating over an overcast, the ACU can degrade daylight threats, but must rely on the radar as its only sensor. If radar threats are known or suspected, preemptive jamming or SEAD suppression of enemy air defenses is required. SEAD is preferable. This should be considered in mission planning, as sensor resolution decreases with altitude.
As range increases fire control accuracy degrades slightly, reducing the gunships ability to hit point targets. Normal tactical mission planning- to-execution cycle is approximately 24 hours.
Unimproved airfields are not acceptable due to high gross weights, performance limitations, and sensitive avionics. Crew requirements for ferrying are less. The ACH has limited adverse weather capability using its electronic sensors. A ground controller is required for ACH adverse weather delivery. Marking devices can expedite identification of friendly forces, improving fire support responsiveness and limiting the exposure time for the gunship.
Beacons provide a rapid means to identify and update the friendly position. During instrument meteorological conditions beacons are the only way for the ACH to locate friendly positions. Radar reflective items may also be used with the ACU radar. Offset firing is not as accurate as direct mode of fire and are normally used in poor weather conditions with the ground commander or team leader calling misses and corrections to the aircraft.
As a rule, the shorter the offset distance, the more accurate the weapon. Include all friendly locations. LPL , tracer, etc. The gunship can provide surgical fire support with limited collateral damage, and it can remain on station for extended periods of time.
The visual sensors and radar ACU provide real-time reconnaissance of the employment area. Unlike other fixed-wing aircraft, CAS assets which must have qualified forward area controllers FAC for ordnance delivery in proximity to friendlies, the AC self-FACs, so ordinance delivery can be controlled by fire support officers, team leaders, etc. Since the AC delivers ordnance through a pylon turn, the target is usually visible and may be engaged throughout the entire orbit.
As a result, run-in headings are not appropriate. The first consideration for CAS missions is to positively identify the friendly position. Various marking devices may be used by friendly forces to expedite acquisition. Radio contact with the ground forces will be maintained at all times during firing, unless preplanned comm-out procedures are coordinated in advance.
The following CAS guide is a briefing guide designed specifically for the gunship. To reduce communications during preplanned missions, coordinate as much of this information as possible in advance.
The J-Fire "nine-line" briefing may be used, but it is inefficient and less desirable. Air Interdiction is defined as air operations conducted to destroy, neutralize, or delay the enemy's potential before it can be brought to bear effectively against friendly forces. At such distances that detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of friendly forces is not required.
The gunship is best suited to strike small targets in a permissive environment where limited collateral damage is required. The gunship's accuracy, low yield munitions, and target identification capability reduces the risk of collateral damage.
However, the gunship lacks both great hitting power and area coverage capability, which limits the potential for damage to hardened or large area targets.
Armed Reconnaissance is flown with the primary purpose of locating and attacking targets of opportunity i. The gunship can effectively search LOCs, however the narrow field of view of the sensors limits the gunship's ability to search large areas. The time required to perform armed reconnaissance must be considered with respect to the threat. Mission accomplishment is achieved through a joint pre-brief of route, special procedures, and establishment of a communications net fire support coordination net.
The gunship can assist helicopters in search and rescue missions as necessary. Helicopter use of beacons greatly aids in vectoring. The gunship can also destroy unrecoverable loads that have landed off a DZ and should not fall into enemy hands. Fighters can operate with the gunship as part of a strike package. Fighter assets provide additional strike capability with greater standoff, hard-target kill capability, and larger area suppression weapons.
Fighters can also provide real time threat suppression in the target area and during enroute portions of the mission. Operations with fighter aircraft require effective teamwork between the dissimilar aircraft and increases the complexity of crew coordination on the gunship. Flexibility and situational awareness must be maintained at all times. The gunship normally acts as a Forward Air Controller FAC for its fighter escort, and may be used to control other strike aircraft.
The gunship's FAC capabilities include:. This mission is essentially a preplanned CAS mission. The situation may allow for in-depth planning and coordination, but procedures are the same as for any CAS scenario. Another version of CAS is escort. Communications with the supported commander are essential. Mission accomplishment is achieved through a joint brief of route, special procedures, and establishment of a communications net. Ground parties using electronic beacons greatly aid in force vectoring.
The night capabilities of the gunship, combined with its range and endurance make the gunship a viable reconnaissance platform. The gunship has the capability to record all the sensors, with audio and video imagery. The gunship is more vulnerable to enemy threats than other tactical reconnaissance platforms. The gunship can support combat recovery operations in a permissive environment.
These missions include combined operations with helicopters and fighters. Because of the potential complexity of these missions, thorough mission planning is essential. The gunship can be used to relay information between ground parties, or as a ground-to-air or air-to-air liaison on a limited basis. Planners must realize that any planned use of the gunship in this capacity could adversely affect the gunship's tactical mission and therefore must be weighed carefully.
They operated from main bases and remote locations. Their missions included air refueling of special operations forces helicopters over friendly and hostile territory, psychological operations, and leaflet drops. To perform these missions, the primary emphasis is on night vision goggle NVG operations, but they can be accomplished during the day. The MCP primarily flies missions at night to reduce probability of visual acquisition and intercept by airborne threats.
Secondary mission capabilities may include airdrop of small special operations teams, small bundles, and combat rubber raiding craft; as well as NVG takeoff and landing procedures, tactical airborne radar approaches, and in-flight refueling as a receiver. These modifications will greatly increase the range and navigational accuracy of the MC P.
The aircraft normally carries eight crewmembers. Depending on mission profile and duration, additional crewmembers are carried. The profile is flown at feet above ground level using terrain masking. If necessary, the mission can be flown with visual and electronic-controlled emissions. The range of the mission depends on several factors: length of time on the low-level route, enroute weather, winds, and the air refueling offload requirements see Planning Factors.
Portions of the profile may be flown at high altitude to minimize fuel consumption. NTC procedures will be used to avoid enemy detection in a non-permissive environment to get the aircraft to the objective area.
The MCP normally flies in a formation of aircraft to provide the capability of multiple simultaneous refueling of large helicopter formations. An airborne spare tanker is also a part of the formation.
This is the primary mission of the MCP. To significantly decrease the amount of time required to refuel helicopters, the MCP can simultaneously refuel two helicopters. Minimum refueling altitude is 1, ft AGL for training. For operational missions, lower altitudes may be used. Refueling is accomplished on NVGs. The MCP airdrop personnel or equipment. The drop zone point of impact PI must be marked. The location, size, and marking of drop zones must conform with AFI Normally the navigator determines the release point using.
He visually directs the pilot to the release point. All static line jumps must be accomplished from the paratroop doors. With two loadmasters, one per door, the maximum number of jumpers that can be deployed is six per door per pass, or 12 per pass with 15 foot static lines, a U-clamp must be used on the anchor cable.
The purpose of the U-clamp is to effectively shorten the static line to prevent fouling of the static lines on the external rails of the MCP cargo door. Both are flown at KIAS.
Parabundle and free-fall door bundle drops are aircrew directed at very low altitudes. Both of these drops are flown at KIAS. Infiltration and exfiltration may be conducted at overt landing zones.
Landing zones and lighting must conform to AFI The landing zone should be hard surfaced. Requires one additional Aircraft Commander, Navigator, Flight Engineer, and Communications Specialist for overwater flights in excess of 16 hours.
This one-of-a-kind aircraft is consistently improving its capabilities. The next few years should see continued enhancements to the EC and its world-wide mission. Their missions included broadcasts of "Voice of the Gulf," and other programs intended to convince Iraqi soldiers to surrender. Most recently, in , Commando Solo was utilized to broadcast radio and television messages to the citizens and leaders of Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy. President Aristide was featured on the broadcasts which contributed significantly to the orderly transition from military rule to democracy.
0コメント