F-16s meet Gripens in Hungary
The partnership of the US state of Ohio with Hungary was established on 14 July 1993 with the signing of a bilateral agreement. The Ohio-Hungary pairing was chosen in part due to the large population of ethnic Hungarians throughout Ohio as well as shared geographic features. Confirming this relationship, the 180th Fighter Wing out of Toledo Express Airport deployed six F-16s to Hungary for the Load Diffuser 2017 joint exercise.
Line up of Hungarian Gripens at Kecskemét
Change of wind
The first Load Diffuser (LD) had been held in 2008 and was set up as a Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) exercise to hone the skills of pilots after the introduction of the Saab JAS-39 Gripen into Hungarian service just two years earlier. Hungary joined NATO in 1999 and at that time was flying MiG-29 Fulcrums that it had acquired from Russia in the early 1990s as part of re-payment of Russian debts to Hungary. In a major move toward modernisation, Hungary decided on a ‘lease-to-buy’ arrangement for 14 Saab Gripen fighters in 2001. The first group of these Swedish-built aircraft arrived at the resident 59th Tactical Fighter Wing in Kecskemét on 21 March 2006. The introduction of the Gripen was a major change for the squadron, with a senior squadron pilot, who had flown the MiG-29 and now flies the Gripen, remarking that the transition “from the MiG-29 to the Gripen was just unbelievable! Except for the MiG’s amazing WVR (close combat) capabilities, like the R-73 missile that can be cued by a helmet-mounted sight (HMS) and the power of its two engines, the Gripen is superior in all aspects. The glass cockpit with all the available information helps us to get better knowledge of our surroundings and build better situational awareness. In the MiG you were lost compared to the Gripen!”
Expanding to multirole
After mastering the air-to-air combat capabilities of the Gripen, the Hungarian Air Force wanted to expand the employability of both man and machine by shifting focus to air-to-ground roles. Major Gróf, chief of air operations and project officer for LD, explained what the exercise meant for the Kecskemét wing: “Apart from improving our air-to-air skills during LD, the international scene also calls for airto-ground capabilities. In 2010 we slowly started to integrate Close Air Support (CAS) missions in our training syllabus and during this LD we can use the expertise of both the American and Slovenian aircrews to broaden our capabilities on CAS.”
Slovenian PC-9Ms were keen participants at ‘Load Diffuser 2017’
With establishment of the Air Ground Operations School (AGOS) in August 2016, the Slovenian Air Force would like it to be a centre of excellence on CAS as elaborated by 1st Lt Gomboc, pilot of the Slovenian 152 Letalska Eskadrilja (152nd Fixed Wing Squadron): “AGOS is our international Joint Terminal Air Controller (JTAC) school and our squadron is highly involved in the courses given by AGOS. Our squadron is specialised in CAS and apart from flying renegade QRA profiles it is the primary task of our squadron and our Pilatus PC-9Ms. Contrary to other Air Forces, we fly and train for CAS operations daily so I can say we have quite a bit of experience, which we are happy to share with Hungary and other partners.”
Stingers
For the men and women of the 180th Fighter Wing / 112th Fighter Squadron nicknamed ‘Stingers’ from the Ohio Air National Guard (ANG) and their six Lockheed Martin F-16s, it was the first time in Hungary. Their sister fighter unit from Springfield Ohio, the 178th Fighter Wing, which has converted to the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, was the last Ohio unit to visit Hungary during LD in 2010. The delay in return had different reasons but one in particular, explained Lt Col Greg Barasch, 112th FS commander and Detachment Commander (DETCO) for LD, “The primary reason for not getting back sooner was the operations tempo and busy schedule including an operational deployment in 2013 (Operation Enduring Freedom) and a Theatre Security Package (TSP) to Guam in 2016. But it is great to be here.
Specially-painted ‘flagship’ F-16 from the 180th Fighter Wing
“This type of deployment gets us out of our comfort zone where the repetition of our daily grind back home can at times stunt our growth as a fighter wing. We had some problems with one of our jets, which got stuck at Iceland and in the end did not make it at all to Hungary. So instead of eight F-16s we only had six here in Kecskemét, but maintenance did a great job in making sure we could deliver and we were still able to fly six jets in the morning and afternoon as planned. Building relationships is the basis of this exercise, but these multinational training engagements not only strengthen relationships, they also help maintain joint readiness and reassure European allies and partners.”
New mission
While the previous LD aimed primarily at DACT this edition had some new goals and missions scheduled to benefit all involved. The exercise started during the first out of three weeks involving Basic Fighter Manoeuvres (BFM) and Air Combat Manoeuvring (ACM) to get to know each other, the airspace and European weather conditions. Almost daily the Czech Air Force participated with two Aero L-159 ALCA and two Gripens, which would land at Kecskemét during lunch time for face-to-face debriefing. During the second and third week CAS and SCAR (Strike Coordination and Reconnaissance) were increasingly scheduled for the morning missions while in the afternoon Large Force Employment (LFE) exercises were flown building up to 30 aircraft (in the third week) including Slovakian MiG-29s.
Czech Gripen on the apron
“The
Hungarians requested to be trained in the planning and execution of an LFE.” Lt
Col Barasch elaborated. “At first our pilots were mission commanders for those
LFEs and later on in the exercise the Hungarians took over. They did very well
considering the steep learning curve involved.”
These kind
of exchanges are very important for the Hungarian Air Force as explained by Maj
Gróf: “The way we execute BFM/ACM missions can be different. The same goes for
CAS, but SCAR in particular is [rather] new to us. What we have learned in this
exercise we can share among our colleagues and build it into our training
syllabus. Leading an LFE as mission commander was also high on our priority
list. With the experience we gained from the Americans we can send two pilots
to the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) in Spain next September in order to
further develop experience and become well trained mission commanders.”
The
biggest ever
With around
200 international participants on base, LD 2017 was the biggest edition to
date. Originally a Hungarian-American exercise, this year was different with
Czech, Slovakian, Croatian and Slovenian aircrew participating with helicopters
and jets. During the last week Royal Air Force (RAF) Eurofighters of 3
(Fighter) Squadron, currently based in Romania for Southern Air Policing
duties, joined the exercise, but operated from Pápa air base acting as Red
forces while fighter control for the LFE was provided by a NATO E-3 AWACS.
“The current
size of the exercise was just enough to handle from one airfield if you look at
available aprons and buildings although it was considered to use Pápa air base
more extensively for Red forces during the exercise not only for two days for
the RAF Eurofighters,” stated Maj Gróf. “Also, other units not based at
Kecskemét were involved in the exercise like Hungarian Ground Based Air Defence
(GBAD) with SA-6 ‘Gainful’ mobile surface-to-air missile systems at the
Hejmasker weapons range near Lake Balaton and JTACs from four different
countries including Germany. Unfortunately the Serbian Mil Mi-17s cancelled and
the invited Romanian MiG-21 unit had no interest in the exercise. Maybe next
time!”
A
bright future
Considering
the growth and interest in the exercise it is more than likely that a future
edition will occur. With the experience of the Americans and other forces
involved, the Hungarian Air Force hopes to organise a LD sooner than the seven
years gap between the last two. “From a Hungarian point of view this exercise
has been very valuable for us,” said Maj Gróf. “We have been able to bring
[younger] guys to a higher standard on different kinds of aspects of combat
aviation. With 370 missions flown, totalling 460 flight hours in three weeks
for all assets involved we can say it has been a great success. Between the
seven years since the last exercise people have moved from their position and
therefore we lost valuable experience in organising an exercise of this
magnitude so we hope to realise a LD within the next two to three years to
maintain a high organisational level.”
Lt Col
Barasch was also impressed by the exercise: “After our spring deployment to
Florida and ahead of the upcoming TSP this winter, LD was a great work-up for
us in an international training environment. Hungarian support has been
outstanding. For example, we had a myriad of logistical issues moving equipment
around the world and had some delays in delivering some of the equipment we needed
for our operations. The Hungarians were quick to offer assistance and fill
these voids so we could move on with our missions. We would love to come back
soon!”