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Subject:
Fifth-Generation Thinking: The View from the Cockpit
Phaid
10/5/2010 8:28:49 AM
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| This is an excellent article from a pilot's perspective on what fifth-generation aircraft really bring to the table.
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What is the Fifth Generation Aircraft All About? The View From The pit
Discussing Fifth Generation Aircraft with the USMC Pilot of the F-22
In a recent discussion with Lieutenant-Colonel Berke who is based at Nellis AFB, the only USMC pilot of the F-22, the role of fifth generation fighters and how they are being used was discussed with Second Line of Defense.
Lieutenant-Colonel Berke has been an F-18 pilot, an F-16 pilot, a TOPGUN instructor and served as ground Forward Air Controller with the US Army for a year. He gained his Viper experience in an F-16A?flying aggressor tactics at TOPGUN; so you have a Marine Hornet Driver flying ?foreign tactics? in a Navy training squadron in an AF Fighter. He is currently flying the Raptor and shaping tactics for the plane in its joint force role. He will become the second squadron commander at Eglin for the USMC version of the F-35.
SLD: Could you explain why a USMC pilot is flying the Raptor?
Lieutenant-Colonel Berke: The decision was made a few years ago to put joint pilots into the Raptor. The Navy did it in 2006 and the Marine Corps wanted to as well. For the USMC, the transition to the JSF is a critical issue. We can learn from the operational experiences of the Air Force F-22 transition. So an exchange billet with the Air Force at Nellis was created in the Operational Test squadron to give a Marine exposure to the process. The intent was to get someone into the fifth-gen world; to see what the Air Force has done with the F-22 for the last few years and thereby get some fifth-gen perspective. Then that pilot would hopefully be value-added to the Transition Task Force and the JSF team at Headquarters, Marine Corps. Also, it?s important to get some perspective on what the Air Force lessons learned have been with the introduction of the Raptor and to learn some of their roadblocks in moving from legacy to fifth gen. We (USMC) are the lead for the IOC for the JSF and have a lot to gain from that experience. I have been selected to Command our JSF Squadron, VMFAT-501 at Eglin AFB. I will replace the first Marine JSF Skipper who is there now.
SLD: Obviously there are two advantages to this. I mean first of all the one mentioned, which is to begin to understand what the fused sensor experience is all about and the whole capability of an aircraft is not really an F series but a flying combat system. And second you get operational experience working the fifth generation capability with legacy aircraft.
Lieutenant-Colonel Berke: I think you?re hitting the nail on the head with what the JSF is going to do, but it?s also what the Raptor mission have already morphed into. The concept of Raptor employment covers two basic concepts. You?ve got an anti-access/global strike mission; and you have the integration mission as well. And the bottom line is that integration mission is our bread and butter. When I say ?us,? I?m talking about the Air Force and the F-22. Most of our expected operating environments are going to be integrated and success depends on how we play with other four-gen assets.
The joint operational role for the Raptor is significant. I?d say 80% of our funded testing since I?ve been here in the last two years in some way, shape, or form involves integration; whether it?s integration with other airplanes like F-18s, F-15s and 16s, or integration with Aegis. Maritime Interdiction Integration is a key element of what we?re doing. Virtually all of our tests are about how to make the airplane value-added to the conventional fleet, and that?s pretty much all we?ve done recently.
SLD: But let me just puzzle over something for a moment, which is the whole experience of flying an F/A-18 and shifting to an F-22. Just what?s that whole experience for you?
Lieutenant-Colonel Berke: It?s a major evolution. There?s no question about it. My career has been in F-18s, but I also flew F-16s for three years. I was dual operational in the Hornet and the Viper when I was a TOPGUN instructor. I am now coming up on three years flying Raptors. I was also on carriers for four years, so I?ve done a lot of integration with the Navy and a lot of integration with the Air Force. Three years flying with the Air Force has been pretty broadening.
For me, it?s a great experience to see the similarities and difference between the services. Navy and Marine aviation is very similar. USAF aviation is very different in some ways. I actually was with the Army for a year as FAC in Iraq as well. So from a tactical level, I?ve got a lot of tactical operator experience with all three services ? Navy, Army, and the Air Force. This has been really illuminating for me having the experience with all of the services in tactical operations. Obviously I will draw upon that experience when I fully engage with the JSF. But flying a Raptor, the left, right, up |
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