Jaguar Force - 6 Squadron

and if cultish Allah has three Jaguars codons of switch six is the oldest our operations are threefold offensive support air interdiction and reconnaissance in brief offensive support operations directly in support of the army of the land forces air interdiction missions tend to be ones of those again in support of land operations but a long way behind enemy lines and reconnaissance is as required on the battlefield or beyond in support of the land or air commanders our operation of commercial deployment based the jagger is an aircraft that is designed to deploy and fight away from coalition we don't plan to stay a commercial and in support of any operations to that end in recent years we've been involved in three major operations for something operation Granby there's part of coalition forces the Jagger's were involved in removing Saddam Saddam forces from Kuwait here the jaggis flew 617 operational missions without loss again with great success removing Saddam's army or helping remove Saddam's army from Kuwait the second recent operation that we've been involved in was one operating from Incirlik in Turkey whereas again part of a coalition force we helped support the Kurds in northern Iraq just two months after that the Jaguars are yet again in operations this time on operation deny flight as we call it which was supporting UN troops on the ground of a bosnia-herzegovina that means from five years continuously they caught the short Acuras and six cotton specifically have been on continuous operation this period of two weeks for spending up here at Leuchars is to fine-tune and find on our skills basically in two areas firstly operational roofline which is low flying below our normal 250 feet minimum limit and also to drop heavy weapons real live weapons on the limited range available to us in the UK currently garvey island in the north west of scotland to conduct an exercise like we're doing at the moment here in scotland they need to have a room of 250 hours on the airplane until that milestone has reached they're not allowed to participate North authorized to participate in this operation all the flying so yes yeah it's not open to all of the squadron but the majority some 15 out of my 17 pilots operating here with us now find tremendous growth before we go to the Middle East later in the year to conduct a combined exercise were in Middle East country a typical exercise for instance with the Middle East country that we're doing with coming up would involve four six or eight jag us flying as and bombers they'll be supported by host country fighters acting both against us and with us to protect us so we do normal new level navigation live weapon earring some air combat perhaps with the host country perhaps some reconnaissance so it's a it's a difficult mixed exercise challenging for this trip we've actually used six four ton vehicles and two 40-foot trailer vehicles full of equipment we've had to drive up all our own MT to support us whilst were away we have no supply chain regular supply route we have to take all our own farewell oil weapons and other consumables away with us whilst were here at Lucas it's unique in that we're working in it has environment back at home we only work on the line where all our manpower and equipment is centralized in one area here we're spread around a mile square site we're then working having to lift heavy load where we need at least four people and we're working with pneumatics and hydraulics and general engineering ground equipment each sortie not just those on which alive weapon is dropped ends with a thorough debrief during the debrief every aspect of the flight and the weapon earring is analyzed and commented upon confirmation they can also just generally 44 I've managed to get a CIP solution but I have Bank on and it would be no damage you have to pop I mean 600 off target you went straight ahead I ended up having to off way I didn't hear you click so I assumed that I had to fly the entire plan I think might get to the coast and I ended up running a little bit early you called blind on me I just popped the heart of little bit you ain't good battle on me there but again one month later the squadron leave for their Middle Eastern destination the flight completed with the support of vc10 tankers from 101 squadron Brize Norton takes a total of 12 hours 5 hours spent on route to an overnight stop in Souda Bay Crete and then the next day the further seven hours on to their final destination with the final refuelling completed the Jaguars leave their tankers behind the following two weeks are spent low flying over stunning middle-eastern landscapes an essential element in a successful performance of an attack squadron is its ability to deliver weapons accurately on to the target to focus their weapon earing skills the squadron deploys to raf d mamanu sardinia DET she is also the home to the italian and german air forces flying star fighters and tornados well yes an intensive period of weaponry training it's good for a squadron and pilots to do this at least once a year and it's good for the pilots and for the aircraft as well because we get the pilots back up to speed at all weapon events it's our bread and butter job and we also get the Jets up to speed and get them harmonized I mean this is the end of this exercise the Jets will be as well harmonized as the as the are in a year and it goes astray away from that much time goes on but it's a it's a time to hold up your weaponry skills which is the important part but there's no point in fighting your way through the through the float defeating the air risk getting there and then missing the target by 200 feet wasted today not normal no not for re-echo difference that's a typical Italian addition this is a temperature at moment usually we're on the silly one out the back there the rain shower unfortunate that's got communications problems and they basic needs rewiring but so where we've had to move into here so throughout the detachment and as you can see every sortie is preceded by the brief given by the formation leader it is a flower walkthrough of all that will occur during the flight all aspects of timing procedures and weapon earing are discussed finally assurance is gained by the leader that none of his formation have any doubts over their duties or responsibilities during the impending spare please check and adjust upon from balls please and pass today a thousand feet for the level I suggest you switch it up a bit for the three degrees make it look more like at home and certainly flying a relatively flat pattern you've been the head of that and you're going to need a slightly higher about twelve hundred feet of tipping to make a picture that variety had to get going for three degree attack release it's good okay so summarize its limits only one dry its have some coupons and guns please interrogate what you don't on that previous possibly next also making proven throughout the year throughout salty and it's two hundred liver at the bomb and firemen deliver the strange its detail I would say this one this particular detachment is is slightly different in that respect to know that because it's we're here to practice bombing and strafing and you can actually see tangible results at the end of every mission you can look at it and and we've got a score sheet you can see who's who's winning the bombing and who's winning strafing and and so to that end I think this is what perhaps one of the more competitive I against each other detachments I've been on I think we're all competitive by Nature I think its inherent in the character of the man chosen to fly fast jets and but it never really is never gets to the point where it becomes a problem what all people are only competitive to the point where it causes arguments or disagreements I think it's also me very good naked the exercise is now underway and the Jaguars in the company of f-16s taxi out for the first of many sorties why latecha mamanu with the American f-16s and German tornado gr1s share the allocation of range slots with the jaguars of six squadron it is the beginning of a long week for six squadron as the pilots begin their range sorties there are acutely aware that each score be it a bomb or a bullet is recorded against their name these scores are averaged and then displayed for everyone to see there is nowhere to hide following the pure performance whether it be the individuals or the aircraft's fall try to cut the research didn't work so I came back went back how's it make you feel man frustrated one trip quite psyched up for it unhhhh serviceability z' will result in long hours for the squadron's team of dedicated engineers to prepare for the next day they will often work long into the night working on the squadron's allocation of aircraft Saturday this allocation is no longer solely in 6 squadron markings each of Kult assures three squadrons are better served sharing its aircraft both at home and overseas number three of the poor ship going off to do trip number eight for the range and had a normal engine start went out to the ORP just before we lined up on the runway and everything was fine just wait - for the time to take off and once we got onto the runway around the engines Duff had an OP to caption which they had a snag with this jet before without that problem so I tried resetting it allowed to read attempts at 100% and that didn't work so I had to try another couple of 85% reduce loading on it and that didn't work either so I had to taxi back unfortunately it shut down the jet so thankfully being down to absolutely no aircraft it doesn't happen that often in actual fact my time on Jaguar I don't think about ever known at a time that bad has happened it's one of those things it does put an extreme amount of pressure on the ground crew there's a lot of running around and and I was trying to get jets into the air the time out here is obviously very valuable and valuable for the aircrew to try and get there their skills and and scores up to standard and so it does cause us a lot of running around and we try our best to try and get them serviceable to meet the rain slot but really we are tied by that rain slot if you'd be that an aircraft is on service of all four for an hour then it's on serviceable for an hour and whether we get it up is quite irrelevant if the slot is mixed its most in the aircraft doesn't get apply the activity you see around here is the results of a particularly difficult day in terms of aircraft box-and-one that's not typical of Jaguar serviceability across the whole but can you can occasionally have days where airplanes won't play the game and you end up with lots of faults we've got airplanes in here because as a result of the discovery of loose articles in the complex which necessitates the removal of the seats the airplanes in here that have had undercarriage problems in flight necessity necessitates the aircraft going on to aircraft jacks and our airframe technicians actually going through all the system to make sure this is function well first of all to help diagnose with the system to find the fault and then to put it right and then to functionally check that all the work that they've done or will ensure that the integrity of the system maintain plans are afoot as the squadron's mission impossible' team set out to leave their mark on deti mamanu the stenciled number-6 he's carefully cut out as preparations are made to place the six on a 100 foot water tower in clear view of all visiting squadrons and locals alike the squadron are now away from coal to shore for the fourth time in 12 months and with the exercise now moving into the second week the pilots bide their time in between flights talking about earlier range results and thoughts of family and friends back at home last night we saw you getting a bit of banter from the lads and you obviously not too fazed by it is that something that you've found a problem over here or is it very much the same at home it's a very English thing the banter we don't we don't do that but we don't head to the level here and it's knocks you back initially when we first get to the UKB get used to it and I can give as good as I get so I'm learning you feel you go through a number of emotions you go through the guilt of being in better weather often the guilt of being on a sunny beach windsurfing water skiing occasionally that weekend you go through the frustration of being separated from your family but certainly obviously as they grow up and you can't pick and choose the exercises that you and the detachments that you go on so invariably there will be clashes with children's birthdays wife's birthdays wedding anniversaries it's all part and parcel of the job unfortunately you have to have a family that appreciate what's involved you have to have a strong life the Brits are teeth a tradition which goes back as long as anybody can remember in the air for something which it is that wherever we go if it's to a major exercise area that RAF squadrons go to every year we tend to leave a squadron mark or scored an emblem and four six quadrant this is as we called the flying can openers a name that dates back to the first world war doing a bit of tank busting six corner and their emblem is in fact the can opener with our jet the Jaguar right in the middle so we thought what better emblem to leave in debt see then the flying can up the symbol so here it is yeah there's a pretty good book in here which is good to see very large Buccaneer picture are there in black and white which is excellent is the Buccaneers now long since gone at the Aria RAF inventory so it's good to see narrow play in there that we don't see flying anymore as an excellent 74 scored and Tiger which is worth having a look at if you haven't already seen it 7410 to paint Tigers wherever they go Tiger than everything we're out here on what's called a nominal armament practice camp which is an APC it's essentially to to use the bombing range which is just near dacha mamanu to practice our low angle and high angle bombing and also strafe then we use practice weapons to simulate real weapons that we would deliver and and also practice bullets to simulate real high explosive bullets there's also a secondary aiming as much that we have to try and harmonize the aircraft to to try and get them bombing as accurately as possible because within the aircraft is a is a inertial navigation system which assists us with bombing but it's only as good as its harmonization so we also come out here to try and to perfect that on the aircraft and make sure they're bombing where we're we're asking them to bomb it's basically a last-minute check for the pilots conference check on the state of the aircraft the ladies have been at it probably four hours before we even get near it doing the before flight maintenance on a ton no maintenance on their car so it's already been crawled over thoroughly but it's just a last minute check of the pilot just don't ship things yes look at you start off by going in the cockpit and you do a basic safety checks on the seat take all the pins out don't make a seat live then you go around the cockpit telling whatever needs to be turned on some of the equipment needs a couple minutes warm-up time then you go back down the ladder and just go around the jet starting off the more the most critical thing specially out here in a bombing range is to go up underneath the nose Bay and check the EMU weapons switches that's what kills the aircraft well it's got on the pylons and that affect the ballistics and you can be an embarrassing situation if you've got the wrong thing set up on the little black box and then those will be then the wrong thing will fall off the jet and we've had incidences of practice bulb falling off the entire sea BLS will come off that's an important check and then you just roam around the aircraft looking for things that are out of order leaks you're checking the tires are in good condition and you're just checking all the stores are secure on the aircraft I just looking around for anything parts type damage from some things be missed and just in a last-minute confidence check pulling all the pins out as well which is usually done by the lady as the pilot approaches the jet and then you're off in strapped in startup keep the tires like pharmacy as the chief sweat Meister on the squadron I can confirm that these conditions are as you can see are very very hard work once you've got the full kick on you've got about two layers of cotton and then you've got endless layers of plastic to go over the top of it it gets very very hot especially the Jaguar where will be taxi we can't put air conditioning on until once were airborne because of the lack of thrust in these hot conditions so we sweat today and every cockpit out here is a little Sun trap all of your very own and when the when the canopy comes down it's just a little greenhouse great and perking just affirm again your going for a hot fr a on target 12 level and shallow dive on target to a trayful target okay thanks sir from high altitude the range can clearly be seen and the pilots prepare for a series of bombing and strafing runs monitored from a tower by the RSO the Range Safety Officer okay call me leaving the IP will be clear through Natori okay ask that person one your score was a bull's-eye good start shortly after rolling out after pointing at the target the pilot will begin fine-tuning the aircraft's weapon delivery system firstly the aircraft is maneuvered to place the bomb fall line the line running from top to bottom of the display through the target the pilot then takes control I can move the target bar the much shorter horizontal line seen here next to the letter R this is achieved using the hand controller moved or at all by the pilots left thumb in theory the bomb will now impact at the point on the ground directly behind the intersection of these two lines also displayed in the HUD our top left the aircraft speed top right the aircraft's height and down at the base of the display the aircraft's heading down the left hand side is an alpha display the aircraft's angle of attack down the right hand side the Russian speed in different aspects giving an accurate indication of the aircraft's a rate of either climb or descent three your score was a bull's-eye or your score with the bullseye so 1 1 0 at 11 before you got a tips as a grant serviceability we've been pretty lucky over all the speakers that we have a couple of bad patches where our one trade group particularly has had to work very hard and the difficulty there is it's been armament engineers they're the ones that are working hard routinely anyways because of the nature of that attachment down here and additionally some of the aircraft snags we've had have been Almont related so the same small pool specialist to do all the hard work I think a lot of people are very well aware how useful the exercise is to the aircrew simply because they manage to do the things that they need to do should they ever have to go and use the kit operationally but also it's a great value to the ground group because we tend to come away as a formed unit and we get used to working together as a formed unit and encountering the sort of problems that you would encounter deployed on operations such as the problems with resupply using other people's toolkits making do in many respects and it's very much a first line perspective so they need to come away on a regular basis and be involved in this sort of detachment and when I think I'm particularly lucky being invited in to stand in for the Jenko while he's taken bit of leave so I've had a great time thoroughly enjoying myself and it's enabled me to get my hand in on the first line again so a good time more than often difficult to sum up in there in one go really it's been there it's been very enjoyable from the word go there have been as being periods of frustration where I've perhaps wanted to to get on and gain qualifications and and it hasn't been there hasn't been available but but it's all swings and roundabouts one stage you feel like you're being held back and then the next the next time you look round you've suddenly you know you've become a pairs leader you're a child combat ready and some of these things have stuck started to pick up pace again so overall it's been it's been fantastic and I've been to about 10 different countries and flown around in those countries and that and had a great time

Channel: Joe Catterall

Views: 234,604

Keywords: Jaguar, RAF, Coltishall, 6 Squadron, SEPECAT Jaguar (Aircraft Model)

Id: yX3l6i6BKfM

Length: 49min 59sec (2999 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 28 2014