U.S. Air Forces Central Command has just released some photographs from an “undisclosed location”: geolocation proves they are the first from a recently-built airbase in northern Syria.
CENTCOM has just published some interesting photographs of U.S. assets supporting Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. In particular, the images depict U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III and U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J operating from an austere runway at what the official captions refer to as an “undisclosed location”.
Here is one of those images:
A U.S. Marine Corps C-130 Hercules departs from an undisclosed location, June 22, 2018. The C-130 transported personnel and supplies to another location in the area of operations in support of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR). In conjunction with partner forces, CJTF-OIR’s mission is to defeat ISIS in designated areas of Iraq and Syria and set conditions to increase regional stability. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Corey Hook)
However, the new images, taken between Jun. 20 and 23, 2018 and released by CENTCOM Public Affairs earlier today, were immediately geolocated by the OSINT investigator and famous Twitter user Samir (@obretix).
Therefore, those you can find in this post are, to our knowledge, the very first photographs showing operations at a new U.S./Coalition military base in Syria’s northeastern province of Al-Hasakah whose construction works were exposed by OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) analysis of satellite pictures in 2017 and completion appeared to be imminent or just finished at the end of April 2018:
Another U.S. airfield is located in northern Syria: Sarrin. The base was built in 2016 and the first aircraft appeared to operate from there in July 2017. Here below you can find a tweet with some recent images from there:
Noteworthy, the images released today of the operations at the new airfield in Syria show an interesting KC-130J. This airframe (serial 167110), whose main role is to act as an aerial refueler, has a pretty career: back in 2010, the aircraft deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, and was fitted with what was been dubbed the Harvest Hawk weapons system. Along with the traditional air-to-air refueling, and cargo and troop transportation tasks, the KC-130J from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California carried out several Close Air Support missions earning many mission markings firing AGM-114K and Griffin missiles.
A U.S. Marine Corps C-130J Hercules flies over an undisclosed location after departure, June 22, 2018. The C-130 was transporting personnel and supplies to another location in Combined Joint Task Force’s area of operations. The KC-130J Hercules supports expeditionary operations by providing air-to-air refueling, rapid ground refueling and logistic support to operating forces. Tactical transportation of personnel or cargo includes aerial delivery or austere landing zone operations. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Corey Hook)
Aircraft May Have Been Carrying Explosives, Witnesses Reported Midair Explosion.
The U.S. Marines and news outlets have reported the crash of a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130 Hercules four-engine turboprop aerial tanker and tactical transport aircraft on Monday Jul. 10, 2017. The crash occurred in a rural area of Mississippi over farmland. Witnesses reported a “loud explosion” before the aircraft hit the ground. There are 16 fatalities according to reports.
“The debris field spanned a five-mile radius.” according to a report on The Clarion Ledger, and that, “4,000 gallons of foam were used to combat the blaze.”
A Lockheed KC-130J Hercules tactical transport and tanker aircraft. The C-130 family has a good safety record across all branches of the U.S. military. (Official Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Tanner M. Iskra)
According to a report from local news station WNBD, a Mississippi airport official was quoted as saying, “The plane was being tracked by air traffic controllers in Memphis [Tennessee] and suffered structural failure at 20,000 feet that caused it to plunge into the field.”
Although the photos from the accident scene show the wings, fuselage and elevators of the aircraft still partially attached in the burning wreckage, eyewitness reports and accounts of local first responders suggest the aircraft “may have exploded in mid-air”. Some Investigators on the scene have described to media outlets that “debris was found on both sides of the of the highway” leading them to believe an explosion may have happened prior to the crash.
A Mississippi State Police Officer indicated the “aircraft is loaded with ammunition”. This may have prevented emergency crews from approaching the aircraft since unexploded ordnance could be detonated in a fire.
“There’s a lot of ammo in the plane. That’s why we are keeping so far back. We just don’t know what it’ll do. It burns a bit then goes out, burns a little more then dies down,” A State Police officer told local media outlet WMC Action News 5.
As with all aircraft accidents, the official cause of the accident will be determined following a formal investigation and issuance of an accident report. Until that report is published reports about the cause of the accident are speculative.
The KC-130 accident is somehow unusual since the Hercules family of multi-role aircraft has had a better than average safety record in both U.S. and international service compared to other military aircraft.
Only two fatal accidents have occurred in C-130s across all U.S. services since July 2012 when an Air Force C-130H crashed during forest fire fighting operations in South Dakota. Since then, only one other reported fatal accident has happened with the crash of a C-130J in Afghanistan in 2015 when a total of 14 people including ground personnel were killed.
The aircraft appeared largely intact in photos despite reports of a midair explosion from some witnesses. (Photo: WLBT News.)
One of the most difficult aviation evolutions made more difficult: incredible aerial refueling footage showing the extended refueling probe of the CH-53E move significantly from vibration and the boundary layer passing over it at speed…
Pilots will tell you midair refueling is a challenge. Add midair refueling a rotary wing aircraft like this U.S. Marine CH-53E Super Stallion carrying a 5,200-pound sling loaded HUMVEE vehicle while using a flexible drogue system and you have a very difficult refueling exercise.
This video shows a CH-53E from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 464, the “Condors” of Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina operating as part of Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 29. The helicopter is taking on fuel from a U.S. Marine KC-130J from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 234 on Feb. 23, 2017.
Midair refueling with a large vehicle sling load could be a necessity for small U.S. Marine teams conducting special operations in a denied environment. This is especially important for the Marine’s own reconnaissance units, who provide tactical and strategic level intelligence in support of larger Marine operations as seen in the Gulf wars. Additionally, this type of unusual aviation operation would support the newest Marine Corps special operations asset, the Marine Special Operations Command or “MARSOC”.
Finally, a more mundane application of this type of midair refueling may simply be recovering a vehicle that broke down in normal operations.
Regardless of the reason for an operation like this, it is a difficult bit of flying. The KC-130J Hercules, assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 234, has a published stall speed of 100 knots (115 MPH, 185 KPH) while the top speed of the MH-53 helicopter is about 170 MPH without the sling load, and probably almost 30-40 MPH slower with the added drag of the big HUMMV hanging below the aircraft. This gives the two flight crews only about 25-40 MPH of airspeed variance between the aircraft in this configuration to work with. Add some unfavorable winds and this can be a difficult bit of flying.
When you watch the above video carefully you see a number of the risks inherent to midair refueling helicopters. Watch both the refueling basket or “drogue” oscillate in the boundary layer of air at speed and the extended refueling probe of the CH-53E also move significantly from vibration and the boundary layer passing over it at speed. In the instant prior to contact you may notice a bright spark of static electricity discharged into the refueling drogue. The charge is created by the rotation of the rotors. Finally, when the refueling drogue disconnects from the probe on the helicopter a significant mist of vaporized fuel is released. The entire inside of the MH-53E helicopter may smell like aviation fuel after the release of the drogue, making flight crews particularly concerned about any sparks igniting remaining fuel vapor.
This video certainly isn’t the first time this technique has been practiced, and Marine aviators will tell you it isn’t an unusual capability for them, just part of their mission set. Here are some even more remarkable photos taken over a year before this video of a Marine CH-53E with multiple sling-loaded vehicles, an extremely unusual mission requirement.
These photos and video support the Marine claims that they are among the very best and most versatile rotary wing, and fixed wing, aircrews in any air force in the world.
The French Air Force has conducted the first night HAAR (Helicopter Air-to-Air Refueling).
The following video shows a 352nd Special Operations Squadron MC-130J refueling French Air Force Airbus Helicopters H225M Caracals from the Escadron d’Hélicoptères (EH) 1/67 Pyrénées, during the night HAAR (Helicopter Air to Air Refueling) qualification flights conducted at the end of February.
French helicopters rely on foreign partners to conduct this peculiar kind of aerial refueling: along with the MC-130Js, the FAF Caracals often train with the Italian KC-130J tankers of the 46^ Brigata Aerea (Air Brigade) from Pisa. The FAF should be able to perform autonomous HAAR once the two ordered KC-130Js will be delivered in 2019.
According to Jane’s, in October 2015, France conducted its first operational HAAR mission, when a Caracal based in N’djamena, Chad, was refueled by a U.S. KC-130J.
On Jan. 10, I had the opportunity to take part to a refueling mission of a KC-130J of the 46^ Aerobrigata (Air Brigade) of the Italian Air Force involving several combat planes. The tanker version of the Super Hercules launched from Pisa to refuel its receivers in a reserved airspace located above the Adriatic Sea, off Cervia airport.
Along with the KC-767A, the strategic tanker asset of the Italian Air Force, the KC-130J was extensively used during the Air War in Libya refueling all the Italian planes supporting NATO’s Operation Unfied Protector: Eurofighter Typhoons, Tornado IDSs and ECRs, and AMXs.
The same types that were refueled using the two wing-mounted hose and drogue pods during the mission I was invited to attend, as the small selection (of thousand images) below shows.
Considered its speed and ceiling, the aircraft is perfectly suitable for Helicopter Air to Air Refuelling (HAAR) and the Italian KC-130J has already been certified with the EH-101 Merlin and the French Air Force Eurocopter EC-725 ‘Super-Cougar’ (Caracal).
The Italian KC-130Js are identical to those of the USMC that, along with the already served F-18, AV-8B and V-22, have performed some plugs with the Lockheed Martin F-35B, the stealthy 5th generation combat plane, expected to replace the Marine’s Hornets and Harriers. Actually, the F-35B was expected to be ordered by the Italian Air Force and Navy, the latter to replace the AV-8B Harrier on board the Cavour aircraft carrier.
Although the outcome of the Defense Review is almost unpredictable, a plausible hypothesis sees the Italian Air Force receiving about 80 F-35s (A and B variants) and the Navy 20 F-35B STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) combat planes.
In this case, there are some stealthy interesting receivers in the future of the KC-130J of the 46^ Brigata Aerea.
Above image: Lockheed Martin
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