6 NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2007
‘Delivering in spades’
N
AVAL aviators
also be on the tarmac at Kandahar,
hold the right of
ready to scramble in a flash should
the line in the skies
an emergency flare up.
Typically, a jump jet can cover The story so f
of Afghanistan,
ar...
the distance between Kandahar
providing the aerial punch
and the Helmand provincial town 2007 has been an ev
entful year for the Fleet
against the Taleban.
of Garmsir in around 15 minutes. Air Ar
m’s fast jet community
. The Naval
The Harriers of the Naval
The Harriers are a mix of GR7 Strike Wing, NSW was of
fi cially formed
Strike Wing have deployed to
and GR9s; the latter has improved on the 9th Marc
h 2007, in a ceremon
y
Kandahar air base until February
avionics and weaponry, although attended by the Second Sea Lord, readil
y
to give direct support to Allied
outwardly the jets appear almost accepting its new identity and taking its
ground troops grappling with
identical. place as a front line unit alongside its
fundamentalist insurgents.
As well as improved guided RAF counterpar
ts, 1 (F) Sqn and 4 (A
C)
The burden falls upon eight
bombs being available for this Sqn as part of Joint F
orce Harrier.
jets, their pilots, and the 120 men
deployment, one crucial new piece
and women who stand behind
of kit is the ‘Sniper Pod’ video and Since then, NSW has been par
ticularly activ
e,
them.
targeting system. taking part in sev
eral high profi
le exercises,
At every hour of every day,
The pod system beams live TV both afl oat and ashore, and preparing itself f
or the
the bomber variants of the fabled
images of the ground on to a challenges of Afghanistan.
jump jet will be expected to wade
display in the cockpit – and also
in against the enemy should the
back to headquarters. In April, the wing embark
ed in HMS Illustrious f
or
men on the ground demand it.
It means the fighter controllers a Neptune Warrior ex
ercise in the N
orth Sea, before
Although the jets and the men
directing the aerial battle have a Illustrious and her attendant air g
roup ventured into
in them are Brits, the troops on
pilot’s eye view of events – and the Baltic, taking par
t in major NATO war g
ames, N
the ground are drawn from all
might spot something the flier has Mariner
oble
. The Harriers par
ted company with the car
nationalities.
missed. The footage can also be in Estonia.
rier
● Naval Strike Wing CO Cdr Kev Seymour and First Sea Lord Admiral
“We want to beat the drum.
saved for more detailed analysis.
Jonathon Band discuss the Afghanistan deployment
The flag will be flying and we
And that might take some time:
Picture: LA(Phot) Des Wade, Naval Strike Wing
June saw the N
aval Strike Wing bac
k at RAF Cottesmore,
will deliver for the guys on the
from a range of three to four and once again engrossed on the business of aircrew
ground,” said Cdr Kev Seymour,
miles, it’s possible to make out
electricians and bombheads, the despite the best efforts of the
training, an activity suppor
ted by the engineering team
Commanding Officer of the Naval
individual people moving around
working regime at Kandahar will team, the Afghan dust created
who worked hard to ensure suf
fi cient aircraf
t were
Strike Wing.
so good is the Sniper Pod.
be no less demanding. mini sand dunes in the open
available to meet the task.
“Whether we’re dark blue or
The improved kit should mean
Many of the wing have been to Harrier cockpits.
light blue, it doesn’t matter to the
enhanced support for the ground
Afghanistan before, but some have Oh, and the hard standing
Essentially a strik
e aircraft, the Har
rier’s main role
troops. The important thing is that
forces, who were full of gratitude not; by the end of the deployment, needed repairing almost daily.
is close air suppor
t, which means numerous training
we can do the job just as well as
for Fleet Air Arm support 12 most of the formation will have Still, mustn’t grumble...
sorties fl own ag
ainst various tar
gets throughout the UK,
the RAF.”
months ago when naval jets last been rotated through Kandahar. The infrastructure now at
including some rang
e work with liv
e weapons.
This is the first combat
deployed to Kandahar. They are expected to ensure Kandahar is much improved;
deployment for the Strike Wing
“The fighter controllers of 3 six of the eight Harriers in theatre two ‘clam shells’ protect man
In addition to training, time was also set aside f
or the
– comprising 800 and 801 Naval
Commando Brigade could not are ready for action at any given and machine from the elements
Strike Wing’s aircraf
t to participate in sev
eral high-
Air Squadrons – based at RAF
praise the support of our naval moment. for some of the more demanding
profi le events, including the
fl y-past to commemorate the
Cottesmore in Rutland. guys in the air too much last year,” That means shifts of 12 hours maintenance jobs, alongside six
Falklands victor
y, and appearances at various air sho
The wing spent the final said Capt Jon White RM. on, 12 hours off, with a switch- more traditional shelters for the
including Y
ws,
eovilton Air Da
y.
fortnight before deploying He deploys to Afghanistan as over every ten days to provide a jump jets.
conducting a strenuous series of a ground forces liaison officer, a little extra rest. And for the men and women of
Mindful of for
thcoming operations, the last f
ew months
training missions, chiefly honing vital link between the troops in Such shifts would be demanding the Strike Wing, there are most,
have seen the f
ocus move towards preparation f
or
their night-flying skills. the front line – be they Dutch, enough in themselves... but then if not all, mod cons: satellite
deployment.
In a pep talk to thank the Strike Canadian or the Brits of 52 Brigade you throw the Afghan environment TV, a cinema, internet access,
Wing for its continuing efforts and their ‘jewel in the crown’, 40 into the melting pot... even a Burger King and Dunkin’
For the aircrew this has meant re
fi ning a variety of
ahead of its return to Afghanistan, Commando (see opposite) – and “Maintenance is not an easy Donuts.
aerial skills, and attending specialist brie
fi ngs and
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir the Naval Strike Wing. task even back here, but out there Creature comforts take second
practical courses.
Jonathon Band praised the team. “Last year’s deployment it’s a lot more difficult,” says place to the mission: this is a
“This force, these aircraft, you rejuvenated the importance of air Lt Stephen Offord, Deputy Air matter of life and death.
The engineering and operations teams ha
ve also
people have delivered in spades,” power,” Capt White added. Engineer Officer. “If a jet is unserviceable here at
undertaken additional training, mostl
y centred on
he stressed. “Close air support was key to LAET Rob Hunt was in Cottesmore, then you miss out on
the learning and application of militar
y knowledge to
“There is no other force that the mission. Kandahar two years ago supporting a training sortie,” said Lt Offord.
prepare for operations in a c
hallenging environment.
can do what you do.” “If you have troops in contact RAF 3 Sqn when facilities at the “If you miss a sortie out in
Overseen by the R
AF Regiment, these courses ha
v
The wing takes over from the with the enemy, and our jets come airbase were rather more, shall we Afghanistan, there can be
both rigorous and inf
e been
ormative, and when combined with
RAF; the jets themselves remained roaring over the enemy’s heads, say, ‘rudimentary’. trouble.”
the naval sense of humour
, have allowed the wing to
in theatre, while the Strike Wing it’s a massive lift for the troops.” “We didn’t have the facilities we The four-and-a-half-month
handle most things...
personnel flew out from the UK to ... And it probably scares the have now,” he says. “We had the deployment to Kandahar raises
take over responsibility for them. pants off the insurgents. billy basics. the curtain on 13 months of frantic
Although predominantl
y RN in composition, the wing
For typical sorties, pilots will be Such missions place huge “The working area tents were activity by the Strike Wing.
does include a percentag
e of RAF personnel – and one
airborne for four to five hours at demands on the operations team infested with vermin and spiders Upon returning from
Royal Marine (in the f
orm of Capt Jon White, the Ground
a time, using tankers to refuel in- and the pilots. – you had to carry a torch with Afghanistan in February, the fliers
Liaison Offi cer). The usual inter-service banter is readil
flight, intervening on the ground The key, says Cdr Seymour, “is you at night just in case.” enjoy a brief period of leave before
apparent, but is good-natured, and underpinned by a
y
with rockets and bombs when to get the aircraft off the ground In the height of summer, joining HMS Illustrious for a
desire to perfor
m well as a team; the na
val character of
required. first time, every time.” mechanics kept tools in deployment east of Suez.
the unit remains apparent though, with a White Ensign
A rapid reaction Harrier will And so for the engineers, buckets of water and, After that it’s back to
fl ying proudly outside the wing’s hang
ar.
Blighty, before a return
to Kandahar in the
As the autumn ‘ter
m’ commences N
aval Strike Wing is in
summer.
excellent shape – and looking f
orward to the f
orthcoming
challenges.
● A check for a Fleet Air Arm GR9 protected by a shelter from the Kandahar rain
Picture: PO(Phot) Sean Clee, RN Photographer of the Year
006_NN_Oct.indd 1 19/9/07 17:20:27
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