operational

Recently published imagery confirms that the A-10C attack jet is now operating in the Middle East with its new refueling probe fitted, something that has been achieved remarkably fast. As we reported at the time, the Warthog’s probe-type aerial refueling capability was first demonstrated in early April, and the adaptation comes as the jet cruises into the twilight of its career after it got a small reprieve from final retirement.

The U.S. Air Force has released images showing an A-10C using its Probe Refueling Adapter to take on fuel from an HC-130J Combat King II earlier this month, somewhere in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. The Warthogs in question belong to the 107th Fighter Squadron from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, which deployed to the Middle East in early April.

As we discussed in the past, the Probe Refueling Adapter could be of significant importance to the A-10 and the wider Air Force, during a future fight in the Pacific. Clearly, however, it is equally applicable to ongoing operations in the CENTCOM theater.

Indeed, the Air Force previously confirmed that the Probe Refueling Adapter effort was in response to an urgent combatant command requirement.

Adding the Probe Refueling Adapter is also relatively straightforward, since it makes use of the existing air refueling receptacle on the nose of the A-10. In turn, this means that the A-10 loses its regular nose-mounted receptacle.

As of April, the non-probe-equipped A-10 was only able to refuel from the KC-135, since the KC-10 had been retired, and the KC-46 was not yet certified to refuel the Warthog. This last issue is due to a long-running “stiff boom” problem, which runs the risk of damaging the receiving aircraft. The addition of the probe also means that the A-10s can now refuel from KC-46s too, which have a built in hose and drogue system, as well as a boom.

However, the A-10 can now take on fuel from Air Force HC-130s and MC-130s, or even Marine Corps KC-130s, as well as KC-130Js from other operators. Initial tests of the Probe Refueling Adapter involved an HC-130J from the 418th Flight Test Squadron.

These refuelers can operate from shorter runways and can offload fuel at very low altitudes, something the KC-135 is not able to do. Pairing the A-10 with these kinds of tankers, which can routinely operate from shorter fields and do so with far more flexibility, provides expanded aerial refueling flexibility for mission planners.

Working with the HC-130 and MC-130 is especially relevant for the A-10, bearing in mind its combat search and rescue ‘Sandy’ mission. This involves the jets providing escort and close air support for special operations helicopters working to retrieve personnel from highly contested territory. A-10s have flown this very mission over Iran. Already, HC-130s and MC-130s provide fuel to rotary-wing aircraft during these kinds of operations, and a probe-equipped A-10 would provide extended endurance and range in such scenarios.

The Probe Refueling Adapter also comes with a degree of flexibility. The Air Force describes it as “a field-configurable solution designed for installation by operational flight line personnel.”

“Units can install or remove the adapter in a matter of hours, allowing aircraft to be reconfigured between boom and probe refueling capability based on mission requirements,” the service says.

It is also notable that the Air Force imagery shows that the A-10s in CENTCOM are now also using the Angry Kitten electronic warfare pod.

The Angry Kitten had previously been test flown on the A-10, but had not been seen in an operational context. The store is also used operationally by Air Force F-16s and HC-130s and Navy F/A-18E/Fs. Angry Kitten was originally developed to replicate hostile electronic warfare threats during testing and training, as part of a cooperative effort between the Air Force and the Navy, but was so effective that it was adapted to operational use.

Using advanced Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) technology, Angry Kitten detects and ‘captures’ radio frequency (RF) signals. Those signals are then manipulated and retransmitted. For example, RF signals from an enemy air defense radar can be recorded and sent back in a way that creates false or otherwise confusing tracks. The same data can also be used for broader intelligence-gathering purposes. You can read more about the capabilities of the pod here.

As well as the Angry Kitten pod, the A-10C seen in the accompanying imagery carries a Litening targeting pod and a pair of 500-pound-series Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM).

Returning to the Probe Refueling Adapter, the A-10 is now putting it through its paces in an operational context in the Middle East.

But as we have discussed in the past, equipping A-10s and other combat jets with probes makes a good deal of sense for Pacific contingencies, too. They could also be operated alongside smaller tactical tankers, which could also play a very important role in that kind of conflict.

Simply put, the receptacle and boom mode of aerial refueling is optimized for plugging in at higher altitudes, for maximum efficiency and safety. However, in the Pacific, combat operations are likely to require fighters to take off with heavy loads from short runways, potentially battle-damaged ones, then immediately hook up to a tanker. Lower-level refueling using a probe is much more appropriate here and, indeed, is entirely in line with the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE) strategy. This envisages fighters hopping from one austere forward airfield to another, keeping them close to the action, but farther away from the enemy’s strikes. Such airfields can also be accessed by standard C-130 transports, which can also help support tactical jets with spares, weapons, crews, etc.

There is also the fact that higher-level aerial refueling puts the tanker and receiver at higher risk of detection and engagement by the enemy. Aerial refueling assets, in particular, will be among the highest-priority targets for China in any confrontation in the Pacific. Indeed, there is a whole Chinese development thread focused on air defenses to engage aircraft like these, and other critical force-multipliers. Having refueling operations and tankers operate at a lower altitude puts them below the radar horizon, providing another layer of survivability, especially when working from islands closer to major target areas.

While the A-10 continues to evolve, the Air Force is still committed to its plans to retire the type for good before the end of the decade. For the time being, however, the Warthog is still in demand in combat theaters.

If the Probe Refueling Adapter concept could be extended to fighters like the F-16 and F-15, and potentially even future versions of the F-35A, these aircraft could rely more heavily on C-130 tankers, which are, at least in some cases, better suited to the ACE concept. Meanwhile, the larger KC-46s and KC-135s could operate somewhat further from the battlespace, including dragging tactical aircraft to and from the theater of operations, as well as supporting bombers and transports.

For some time now, the Air Force has also been looking at the possibility of acquiring the kinds of tankers that would be better suited to the kinds of mission likely to be encountered in the Pacific theater, albeit retaining the boom and receptacle method.

Now that the Probe Refueling Adapter is being proven in a combat theater, its success there could help keep the A-10 relevant throughout the last few years of its service, and perhaps even longer.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Deliveries of the CH-53K King Stallion to the U.S. Marine Corps are starting to ramp up, with the planned 16-aircraft annual milestone now expected for Fiscal Year 2029. The Marine Corps also says that, for the future, they are open to developing a mine countermeasures version, something that would be able to replace the current MH-53E.

Updates on the latest developments within the Marine Corps’ CH-53K program were today provided by Col. Kate Fleeger, a program manager for the H-53 Helicopters Program, at the annual Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, D.C., at which TWZ is in attendance.

Fleeger confirmed that, while the legacy CH-53E and MH-53E are “both still healthy and viable” and critical components of the Marine Corps fleet, the focus is now very much on the CH-53K as the future of heavy lift.

Currently, four Marine Corps squadrons have CH-53Ks as part of their stable, and Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461 (HMH-461), which was the first fleet squadron, is fully outfitted with Kilos.

“We also have our training squadron, HMHT-302, which has received multiple CH-53Ks and will continue to be a dual type/model series training squadron throughout the transition from the Echo to the Kilo,” Fleeger explained. “We also have the CH-53K in our developmental test squadron, HX-21 at Patuxent River, and with our operational test squadron, VMX-1, in Yuma, Arizona.”

With the CH-53K “rocking and rolling across the board,” the 25th example off the Sikorsky production line in Stratford, Connecticut, was delivered earlier this week. Fleeger said that the service expects to add another eight aircraft for the rest of the year. This is part of a total Marine Corps program of record of 200 aircraft, a figure that has not changed. On top of this figure, Israel has procured 12 CH-53Ks, and Fleeger confirmed that the country is “in conversations” about the potential for additional aircraft.

As part of ongoing training work, HMH-461 has been putting the CH-53K through its paces “in every clime and place in CONUS,” Fleeger said. This has included taking the aircraft on detachments at the Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) school in Yuma, and in exercises out of Twentynine Palms, California.

Fleeger said she is “extremely happy with how the aircraft is performing” with the operational fleet.

Meanwhile, the CH-53K is also still being tested, with the two units covering operational and developmental tests. “We are continuing to expand the envelope of the baseline aircraft that’s been delivered to the fleet, whether it’s expansion of the envelope with the existing equipment, or whether it’s modifications that allow for additional capability moving forward, and ultimately providing those modifications to fleet aircraft,” Fleeger explained.

Part of the recent mission expansion saw one CH-53K lifted by another example of the same type, to broaden options for the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel, or TRAP mission. The aircraft that was lifted had its gear boxes and engines removed, but this is common practice, Fleeger said. The purpose of the test was not only to set up and document the flight characteristics, but also the rigging procedures. In the test, the aircraft that provided the sling load weighed about 28,000 pounds, which is well below the 36,000 pounds maximum external load for the CH-53K.

“When you talk to the pilots that lift something like that, even something that heavy, there’s very little ‘feel’ in the cockpit that you have a significant load underneath,” she added.

One of the other elements of additional testing has involved aviation ground fuel delivery. This involved a CH-53K landing with fuel and then providing this fuel to a V-22 tiltrotor that landed next to it.

At the same time, the transition to the CH-53K has involved training pilots with four Containerized Flight Training Devices (CFTD) now delivered. “They are state-of-the-art, fully immersive environments that have some of the highest fidelity visual databases and digital acuity that you’ll see in flight simulation today,” Fleeger said.

“The pilots have every opportunity to see exactly what’s going to happen in the aircraft before they even get in the aircraft. The idea here is the first time a pilot sits in that cockpit on the flight line is kind of a non-event, because he’s basically seen everything he needs to see along the way.”

These new CFTDs consist of a mobile box with the “guts of the simulator inside.” As Fleeger explained, “Gone are the days of the big dome, fully motion-based simulators that we’ve had previously. The motion platform is no longer a big portion of what provides the training fidelity. The majority of that fidelity actually comes from the visual systems, the realism of the visual system, and the haptic cueing to the pilots.

Another training aid is the Advanced Aviation Training Device, or AATD, new for the H-53 community, but loosely based on some of the early developmental training systems that arrived with the V-22, with its interactive cockpit learning environment.

“This is a lower fidelity,” Fleeger said, “There’s just screens, computer monitors, if you will, that show the pilot the outside visuals. But the pilot also has a see-through virtual-reality goggle set that he puts on. It’s absolutely amazing technology that really allows you, with very little additional cost, to be able to get that immersive and simulated environment.”

The AATD is designed primarily as a familiarization training device or for refresher-level training. “You got a few minutes, you go spend some time in here,” Fleeger explained. “You brush up on some stuff. It can also be used for some of the more advanced activities, like tactics, techniques, and procedures development. You can get in there and try some things out before you get to the aircraft and do it in the real world.”

The AATD has been so successful at its current location in New River, close to the training squadron, that the Marines expect to expand throughout the rest of the fleet as it works through the CH-53K transition.

Concurrently, Fleeger says the service has been “very forward-leaning with our Marines in the maintenance shed and making sure that they have the training tools that they need in order to prepare for a state-of-the-art, very data-intensive, data-rich aircraft.”

Maintenance of the fleet benefits from a fully condition-based maintenance model, at least for some of the CH-53K’s components.

“We can look at the vibratory signatures, the temperature signatures on gearboxes, for example, and we can understand when that gearbox might be approaching the end of its life.” The result is that the fleet is increasingly able to manage the maintenance rather than having the maintenance manage them. They can decide when they want to change that gearbox, for example, depending on operational commitments, the amount of flight time they may have planned, the criticality of that flight time, the availability of spares, and so on.

All of this training, including shipboard evolutions, is building up toward the first operational deployment, with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, in Fiscal Year 2027. Last month, the CH-53K fleet hit 10,000 fleet flight hours, a big milestone considering there are currently only 25 aircraft in the fleet.

At this stage, there are 12 aircraft sitting on the production line in Stratford, in various phases of completion.

“The fact that there are 12 aircraft is a big improvement as we move forward in the ramp-up through low-rate initial production,” Fleeger explained.

Once Sikorsky hits the milestone of 16 production aircraft per year, this will trigger the start of the Marine Corps CH-53K transition from East Coast to West Coast, and thus across the entire heavy-lift fleet.

Fleeger said that the line will be “getting up there” toward full-rate production at the end of Fiscal Year 2028, with the milestone to be achieved in FY29.

“The East Coast squadrons will complete transition, and then the transition plan will move out to the West Coast, and we will start transitioning the West Coast squadrons there as well,” Fleeger added. The CH-53E is slated to be retired in 2032.

As for the Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon, it is slated to be withdrawn in 2027. Exactly what will happen with its primary airborne mine countermeasures mission, a general capability set that is increasingly in the spotlight, is unclear. Currently, the Navy is beefing its MH-60 Seahawk mine countermeasures capabilities to help offset the loss. Still, the unique heavy countermeasures sled-towing capability that will be gone when the MH-53E leaves the inventory is likely to be felt, as will the heaviest vertical lift capability organic to the U.S. Navy.

According to Fleeger, “there have not yet been conversations about the Navy procuring the CH-53K or producing a minesweeping variant.” However, she added that “we are certainly open to that in the future, should that need arise.”

Whether or not the CH-53K eventually adopts another new mission, the type is clearly keeping busy for the time being, as the Marine Corps looks forward to taking it on its first operational deployment next year.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com