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 CAS Training
The war on terrorism may take us to many places around the world, some of which may require us to perform CAS again. We have a unique capability with our Block 50/52 F-16s to carry JDAM, JSOW, and WCMD—the inertially aided munitions. In OEF, we were dropping those weapons on visible targets and on planned coordinates. We have geared our training to use these weapons as part of our more standard training to suppress and destroy enemy air defenses. We need to reexamine our training and make sure our pilots can use those same weapons for a variety of missions, including for CAS missions.
– Col. Kanga,
379th AEW Commander
Limitations And Strengths
We could carry only two inertially aided munitions per F-16, either two WCMDs or two JDAMs, which was one limitation to the Block 52 F-16s in OEF. We could have used BRU-57 over there, which would have allowed us to carry four WCMDs. The bombers orbiting with us had twenty munitions or more. One advantage we had over both the bombers and the Navy aircraft, however, was our ability to deliver the GPS-guided weapons visually and to make visual corrections to GPS coordinates on the fly. This advantage improved the flexibility of our attacks, which was especially important for CAS missions.
– Col. Kanga,
379th AEW Commander
Strafe First
The first time I expended munitions in support of OEF was with the gun. My flight lead and I were talked onto a target area by a UAV. The UAV controller was acting as our FAC. My wingman and I were both cleared down below the hard deck and strafed a high-value target, a vehicle. We were then asked to expend our WCMD in the surrounding area. The first delivery was on preplanned coordinates. We dropped the next three bombs visually based on corrections off the first drop. A week or so later, my wingman and I dropped JDAMs on some cave entrances in the mountains. The British AWACs controller called the caves portals. We adjusted the impact angle of our bombs from ninety degrees to something much less than ninety degrees so we could send the bomb into the cave openings. We dropped at night and through the weather. All of our bombs were direct hits.
– Col. Kanga,
379th AEW Commander
- hard deck – minimum altitude prescribed by rules of engagement
Adapting
We train for multiple missions in the F-16, but performing CAS and dropping bombs into caves are types of missions that Block 50 pilots don’t expect to encounter. We adapted quite well.
– Col. Kanga,
379th AEW Commander
Training Issues
We learn lessons from every conflict. No conflict is exactly what we think it will be or what we think it should be. We should base our training, in part, on what the F-16 has been asked to do for the Air Force for the last twenty-five years, and we should make sure our training reflects potential war plans as well. Several factors complicate our training decisions. We have a limited amount of time to train. We also have a relatively inexperienced pilot force right now. Furthermore, commitments to Southern Watch, Northern Watch, and, more recently, to Noble Eagle impact our training time. Because the F-16 can perform so many roles so well, we also have to determine where to focus our training. We should take some lessons from OEF because the war on terrorism is going to go on for a long time. It is going to be a different kind of war. It may not be a classic force-on-force battle. It will involve using our airplane in ways we did not expect to use it. We need to be prepared.
– Col. Kanga,
379th AEW Commander
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