Air Power: Old dogs, new tricks | ADM Feb 2011
Nick Lee-Frampton | Wellington
This year, the patience of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has finally been rewarded with the operational debut of life extended C-130H Hercules and the first of the digitally enhanced P-3K2 Orions. Yes, there have been delays and the challenges are not yet over, but the old aircraft are now demonstrating new tricks.
With its crew standing rigidly at ease in a cool and gusting wind, C-130H Hercules NZ7004 polished and with all propeller blades aligned, was formally handed back to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) on 21 October 2010 at Whenuapai airbase in Auckland after completion of its life extension program (LEP) in North America.
However the second LEP Hercules, at sub-contractor’s Safe Air’s base at Woodbourne airbase in Blenheim, was in better shape than 04, Deputy Secretary of Defence Des Ashton told ADM. Ashton said that 04 was in servicing arrears due to its prolonged absence overseas, whereas the other LEP Hercules, 03, was fully serviced and needing only the latest software to be installed.
As is invariably the case, the LEP cost for the fleet of five Hercules’ has increased from the 2004 estimate of ‘up to NZ$170 million’ to almost NZ$255 million and the original timetable of deliveries between 2007 — 2009 has quietly slipped to 2010 —2013.
However, some aspects of the project have arrived not only within budget but on time too. The Hercules LEP part-task trainer (PTT), designed by CAE in Montreal, was delivered in October 2009. It includes a touch-screen cockpit with working control yokes, throttles and rudder pedals and is housed in a C-130 shaped nose shell with three large rear projection screens providing an effective sense of motion.
Before approaching the microphones last October, minister of defence Dr Wayne Mapp, flew a flawless circuit in the PTT from the co-pilots seat, accompanied by Squadron Leader Pete Saunders. SQNLDR Saunders told ADM that the PTT needed some final adjustments.
“Some minor functionalities aren’t quite there and we are just looking at getting them to 100 per cent. All 40 Squadron C-130 crews will come through the PTT as part of their formal ground training prior to flying the LEP aircraft,” he said.
Flying Officer Pete Barron told ADM that crews of the ‘legacy’ Hercules have had to travel to the US to fly a C-130H simulator.
Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae referred to ‘seeing and shaping the future,’ when he outlined progress to date.
“Two of our five C-130s have been undergoing the life extension upgrade, arguably the most comprehensive upgrade project ever undertaken on the Hercules worldwide. The three remaining aeroplanes will undergo the modification in a progressive schedule,” he said.
“Extending the life of this venerable - and, in the current circumstances for some of our aeroplanes, vulnerable - work-horse by another decade, or possibly more, certainly makes sense from a strategic point of view.”
Citing a Chinese proverb that you can only go halfway in to the darkest forest before you start coming out the other side, LTGEN Mateparae said “I have been reassured that for some time now we have been coming out from this darkest point of the forest, but we are not all the way there yet.”
Following LTGEN Mateparae’s remarks, Dr Mapp said “Today is a day we have waited six years for, six years since the contract was signed to upgrade the C-130 fleet and indeed it is five years since (‘04) left the shores of NZ to go to Canada and then to the US and finally to return to NZ.
“Some of you may have heard of putting old wine in to new bottles, it seems to me we have done much more than that. We also took the old bottles themselves, polished the glass, changed the labels, put new tops on them and then brought them back for your consumption.
“None of us could have reasonably anticipated it would take quite as long as it actually did. One of the remarkable things is that … I noticed we were up to the 5.116 version of the software. I presume it started at 1.0 and not some mid-way point; that indicates in itself the level of challenge involved.
“It is also worth noting that the RNZAF C-130 fleet is amongst the oldest in the world, dating from 1965. By 2020 they will really have reached 55 years of age, which is probably old enough for an operational aircraft,” Mapp said.
“Every single switch, button and control system has been replaced and 98 per cent of original wiring has been replaced. From now on the aircraft may be operated from unlit strips using night vision goggles. That may have already been done but I am sure it would have been pushing the boundaries to do so.
“It means there will be a higher sense of safety and security for those operating the aircraft and those aboard the aircraft. It means full compatibility with modern ATC systems at least through to 2020 and we are anticipating higher reliability and greater mean time between failures (MTBF).”
Dr Mapp praised the availability of Hercules aircraft with only three aircraft in the country in recent years.
“At every stage when we have absolutely needed an aircraft, even though only three have been available with two in the LEP, an aircraft has been available and I know that people have gone to huge lengths to ensure that has been the case.
“From the beginning of 2011, we will have four C-130 aircraft available at all times instead of the three we have been operating with over the last few years.”
Later, while inspecting 04, Dr Mapp told the senior engineering officer for the project, Wing Commander Frank Dyer, that he was keen to get new aircraft to replace the Hercules in a decade’s time.
“We do want to make sure you can get new ones in 10 years time. We are trying to de-couple, separate by time, all the major acquisitions,” Dr Mapp said.
WGCDR Dyer told ADM that the LEP included installing a flight data recorder, extra cooling and renewing the centre wing.
“We replaced the 40ft centre wing box, we had to make the tooling for that, it has never been done before.”
The LEP aircraft have gained weight, said WGCDR Dyer.
“We knew it was going to be a little bit heavier, the main thing was keeping the centre of gravity from shifting no further aft than it was originally.”
Modification of the remaining three Hercules was due to begin at the end of January at Blenheim and is expected to take some three years, working on one aircraft at a time, ADM understands.
“What we will probably try and do is overlap those,” WGCDR Dyer said. “It depends on the availability of aircraft and how we want to balance that. It’s going to be a bit tight the next couple of years as we get the upgraded aircraft through their operational test and evaluation (OT&E) and released for operational service.”
The Hercules Flight Commander, Squadron Leader Andy Scott, told ADM of the challenge of recent years with only three Hercules available for tasking.
“With a fleet of five aircraft we do about 2,400 hours a year, now with three we are still doing about 2,000 hours, so proportionally it is obviously a lot busier on the three legacy aircraft. That has to be very carefully managed with the maintenance personnel but it is a good jigsaw puzzle. It has provided daily challenges!”
ADM asked SQNLDR Scott how the operating costs of the LEP aircraft will compare with the older aircraft.
“Costs are around the same,” he confirmed. “Obviously any new equipment you add to the inventory will start attracting depreciation costs, which have to be factored in. With the original aircraft of course that has all been depreciated out. But the actual MTBF will increase. We don’t now have to worry about replacing individual gauges and maintaining stocks, so that is where savings will be made.”
It is not clear what costs will be involved in completing the LEP as the project delays wreaked havoc with Air New Zealand-owned, Woodbourne-based Safe Air that was contracted to modify the three remaining Hercules, from August 2008.
After waiting more than 18 months in impotence, Safe Air withdrew from the contract and more than 90 company personnel were made redundant, although both Ashton and Mapp stressed that Blenheim remains the best place for the remaining LEP work to be done.
“It’s not the only place, but it’s the best place,” Ashton said.
And Dr Mapp agreed as “all of the kit’s there to complete the next three aircraft, all the people with the expertise are there”.
The minister expressed the hope that upgrade work for the Hercules of other air forces would be contracted to Blenheim. Such an outcome appears to rest on ad hoc foundations however.
Responding mid-January 2011 from overseas to ADM, Ashton said “The program management of the C-130 LEP production phase at Blenheim will be handled by a Ministry team … for at least for the first aircraft.
“The principal aeronautical labour services provider will be the Aviation Labour Group, possibly supplemented by other providers.”
Safe Air, added Ashton, “will continue to provide a range of services including specialist services, labour services, and supply support.”
From Texas, where he is overseeing work on the systems upgrade for the P-3K2 Orions, Assistant Secretary of Defence Kevin McMahon, who has also monitored the LEP, told ADM last month that the Hercules LEP is going well.
“The RNZAF are getting good utilization out of the couple we have delivered, we have a team up at L-3 at the moment getting the next software load and the production phase is getting along quite well. I think we are not far from inducting the first aircraft in to the production phase.”
Three months before the Hercules LEP contract was signed, another contract was signed for a systems upgrade to the RNZAF’s six P-3K Orions to bring them to P-3K2 standard, based on Elta’s EL/M 2022A(V)3 radar. While the prototype aircraft itself is inching through the upgrade tunnel, the P-3K2’s radar trainer, utilising the same controls and displays as the operational version, was delivered on time and on budget last October by Beca Applied Technology.
Wing Commander Brendon Pett, CO of the Integrated Mission Support Squadron (IMSS) told ADM last month that two other major support systems for the P-3K2 are scheduled for delivery this year.
These include the P-3K2 Flight Deck Trainer (FDT), a full motion simulator that will be located at IMSS at Whenuapai and a P-3K2 Systems Testing and Integration Laboratory (SITL) which replicates the ‘back end’ of the P-3K2 and will enable software systems engineering and testing; software release and acceptance testing; equipment and systems fault verification and mission crew training and replay.
The first ‘production’ Orion was inducted into Safe Air for modifications in August 2009. Modification work is on hold awaiting further progress on testing of the prototype Orion in Texas.
Speaking as ADM went to press, McMahon sounded positive about the P-3K2 project: “We’re moving ahead. We’re moving ahead quite well actually. Progress is good.”