02_88.qxd
17-09-04
11:06
Side 37
ELITE operated from Lechfeld Air Base near Augsburg, Bavaria. Tactical transport aircraft as well as helicopters were also active over the range. Electronic warfare (EW) was very much the theme of the exercise, and this included stand-off radar jamming, communications jamming and spoofing, and full use of aircraft survivability equipment such as chaff/flares and electronic countermeasures pods. A key role here was played by a Norwegian Da-20 from 717 Squadron at Rygge Air Station. This aircraft operated alongside four civilian-operated EW training aircraft from Neuburg Air Base near Ingolstad, Bavaria.
The Norwegian GBAD HRF deployed to ELITE 2004 with four fire units, although not in full warfighting configuration. “We have brought four fire distribution centres (FDCs) with their radars, power generators and new electro-optical sensors,” said the detachment commander, Lt Col Bjørn Tore Sneisen. “We’re simulating six launchers per fire unit, but for this exercise, bringing the launchers was not necessary. We only brought one for static display purposes.” “A very important piece of equipment we had in ELITE 2004 was the new tactical command centre (TKE – Taktisk Kontroll Enhet) that we have developed in partnership with Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. This should be seen as the engagement operations-part of our planned GBAD operations centre (GBADOC). The TKE sits above the NASAMS fire units and distributes targets to them; it is their interface to the higher-echelon command and control level.” With slightly more than 40 personnel (drawn from Bodø, Ørland and Rygge) on site, the Norwegian unit at Heuberg was rather lightweight — the full GBAD HRF has a headcount of 199. Sneisen: “For ELITE 2004, we settled on a light configuration, focused entirely on engagement operations. We deployed to southern Germany by road. That turned out to be more economical than travelling by rail. The main reason for our presence is to obtain high-quality training for our NASAMS operators. For them the exercise is fantastic due to the amount of aircraft, the heavy concentration of EW challenges, and the variety of scenarios to work in, ranging from low tension to highintensity warfare.” “The fact that we are together for two weeks, exercising in demanding conditions every day and staying in a local barracks, means that for us this is also a good teambuilding experience. NASAMS is a network-centric concept,
the team part is essential for how well we perform,” said Sneisen, who normally commands the GBAD Battalion of 138 Luftving (Ørland Main Air Station). In pouring rain outside the second NASAMS fire unit’s FDC, Lt Arnold Kristensen from Ørland explained that the scenarios were challenging indeed. “At home we usually get to see a maximum of four aircraft at the same time, here we see many more. We’ve already had several instances where we had more than 10 targets simultaneously in track. It is really challenging, sometimes even too much of a challenge.” According to ELITE 2004 project officer Maj Tomas Emig (German Air Force) COMAOs of up to 100 aircraft were planned for the later parts of the exercise. In addition to all these aircraft, frequently operating at ground-hugging, terrain-masking altitudes down to 250ft, the GBAD operators had to deal with the busy civilian air traffic overflying the area at higher flight levels. This gave them a significant identification task. In a bunker inside one of the Heuberg hills, the German Control & Reporting Centre (CRC) Messtetten (callsign “Sweetapple”) was acting as the higherechelon command authority for the GBAD forces in ELITE 2004. Here, Norway was represented by Capt Marius Lisø, a NASAMS tactical director and senior instructor at the Luftforsvaret Air Warfare Centre in Rygge. In the CRC, Lisø worked as a SAM allocator alongside German and Netherlands officers. “As a NASAMS tactical director, I constantly need to work with higher-echelon command authorities. A good way to find out how they work is to join the guys that are actually controlling us,” he explained. “The SAM allocator is the fusion point where all GBAD systems are integrated. It is a critical position, because the
LUFTLED
nr. 3 september 2004
37
