After years of considering a manned
airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (MAISR) platform to
support Special Operations Forces, the Department of National Defence has announced that it intends to procure
3 Beechcraft King Air 350ER aircraft and associated mission systems including
in-service support.
Canada
intends to purchase the aircraft and associated mission systems through the
United States government’s Foreign Military Sales program. This process was
launched in April 2018, and is expected to take up to 12 months to complete,
from the initial request to the acceptance of an agreement with the U.S. government.
According to spokespersons
for the Department of National Defence they do not have a timeframe for
aircraft delivery or their entry into service.
The
procurement is expected to include advanced, military-grade ISR mission
equipment. Government spokespersons are quoted as saying “Aircraft such as these will help enhance the ability of our Special
Operations Forces to improve their understanding of the operational
environment, the aircraft will be configured with military grade advanced sensors
and secure communications equipment. MAISR will have the capacity to be
deployed on short notice and will provide the Canadian Armed Force with better
situational awareness on the ground and thus positively affect the ability of
CAF leaders to make decisions leading to mission success.”
It’s
expected that the MAISR capability provided by these aircraft will economically
complement services provided by the CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft,
as well as its future replacement, the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA),
and remotely-piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), if and when they are acquired.
RCAF Shape doctrine
states that armed ISR platforms provide advantage and flexibility noting that “A platform that is both capable of
collecting information and acting upon it blurs the lines between intelligence
collection (Sense) and operations (Shape), emphasizing the flexibility,
versatility, and responsiveness of aerospace power”
RCAF Sense doctrine
states, “Surveillance and reconnaissance
activities are normally conducted by units that have significant
self-protection or stand-off capabilities. They are often assigned to support
other combat tasks by providing combat information”
The
acquisition of the new MAISR platforms gives the Air Force the opportunity to consider
the advantages of providing a precision-strike capability to these manned,
long-range/high-endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms.
By leveraging this new technology for targeting and adding weapons systems the
RCAF has the opportunity to build upon its existing strike capability.
The
use of Precision Guided Munitions in conventional, asymmetric and hybrid
warfare has seen a significant rise since Operation DESERT STORM in 1991. It is
expected that PGM use will continue to rise in the coming years, with the
focus on air strikes as the primary delivery method. Currently RCAF strike
capability is resident only within the CF188 Hornet fleet.
When
furnished with a PGM strike capability these King Air 350E platforms would be
capable of employing kinetic effects across a greater spectrum of missions. If
suitably equipped then, as well as providing support to SOF in the form of
aerial fire support and armed overwatch, they could also support counter-land missions
such as air interdiction, aerial fire support, CAS, tactical security and
direction and control of artillery fire.
The
lessons learned in Afghanistan, those of a counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign
with a permissive air environment where air power was able to be concentrated
and operate at will without a credible threat from opposition forces, may no
longer be applicable. To avoid the hazard of “re-fighting the last war,” any
future capability should be useful in a near-peer, hostile-force engagement.
Therefore it is essential that, as well as the ability to conduct kinetic
strikes, enhanced countermeasures are included that will make it possible for
these platforms were to be employed as part of a package in a non-permissive
environment that includes hostile air forces or area defence systems like
radar-guided surface-to-air missiles.
In
this regard a quote from BGen Michel Lalumiere, director general of Air Force
Development, saying “We will be in
contested areas with this aircraft and sometimes adversaries have a vote, this
aircraft needs to bring, definitely, a set of capabilities to be able to
operate in those types of environments.” is of particular interest. It should also be noted that preparation
for a near-peer engagement insures that COIN, asymmetric and hybrid warfare
conflict capabilities are still available.
While
few of the many King Air surveillance variants now flying are known to be
armed, with the acceptation of some maritime patrol variants, it is not
impossible to do so. Cranfield Aerospace Solutions Limited for one has designed and developed a
modification to the King Air 350 for the provision of hard points capable of
supporting gravity dropped unpowered weapons and rail launched powered weapons.
The King Air hard points are also designed to carry
external loads that can enhance the role capability of the platform, extend
that capability or change the capability into a new role and are suitable for
use with different payloads, including targeting pods, countermeasures and
sensors. This includes providing offensive and defensive capabilities to the
aircraft.
As
Major D.G. Jamond, CD, MDS has argued in the Canadian Air Force Journal
If
we are to establish this new capability in the near future, it should be in
numbers great enough that the RCAF can bring depth to kinetic options for
future operations, be they against a near-peer adversary or in a hybrid
context. To do this will necessitate more than the current three aircraft
envisioned. To bring the required depth it is essential that a squadron, i.e.
ten to fifteen platforms, be acquired. This
would allow land force commanders at the brigade level to work with these aircraft
as well as providing greatly enhanced resources at the national command level.
Establishing
a strike capability within the King Air MAISR fleet will require significant efforts
to overcome the barriers to implementation which include personnel, funding and,
most importantly, the development of political will. However, establishing this
capability in the near future will bring benefits both military and financial that should not be underestimated.
ISR
ASSETS FOR CANADA
Procurement
of new Manned Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capability
King
Air 350ER identified as solution for Special Forces ISR
CANADIAN
FORCES AEROSPACE SHAPE DOCTRINE
Royal
Canadian Air Force Doctrine: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
KING AIR WEAPONISING MODIFICATIONS
OVERVIEW
OF PRECISION STRIKE CAPABILITY FOR CP140 and CC130J BY MAJOR D. G. JAMONT, CD,
MDS
