C-130 Hercules

by Martin W Bowman

  By the time the fighting was over, the Airlift Co-ordination Centre (ALCC) at HQ, Strike Command at RAF High Wycombe had despatched over 2,250 RAF and 550 civil air transport flights. In the main, these carried deploying forces and their equipments, or the vast quantities of supplies which were required to sustain them. In total the combined RAF/RNZAF Air Transport Detachment at Riyadh flew 2,990 hours on 2,231 sorties, delivering 19.9 million pounds of freight and over 22,800 passengers. Before the homeward rush began, the ATD notched up other firsts, as they flew the first fixed-wing aircraft into Kuwait itself, delivering the men to secure the British Embassy and then a mere two days later, returning the Ambassador himself to his rightful place.

  With the ending of the Gulf War most of the equipment used in the conflict was to come home to the UK by sea, but still an enormous amount was too expensive or valuable to be left too long. By May the main operation was complete, but the Hercules mission continued with a schedule every other day to Turkey in support of the Marines, then extending into Iraq itself, as the US forces opened the small airfield of Sirsenk in the Anatolian Mountains. The RAF Hercules detachment, now reduced to two crews and one aircraft, moved to Bahrain; there they continued until the end of June 1991 and 50,000 flying hours later, when it was all over. In July the plight of the Kurds of Northern Iraq, following their failure to overthrow Saddam Hussein, led to more effort and the RAF launched in to Operation ‘Warden’ (the UK contribution to the US-led ‘Provide Comfort’ relief operation for the UN ‘Safe Haven’).

  C-130K Hercules C.3 XV307 (66-13550) taxiing for takeoff at the Royal International Air Tattoo, RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire on 17 July 2006. (Adrian Pingstone)

  Where there is famine or when warring factions use food - or lack of it - as a weapon, as in the case of Bosnia, inevitably the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) attempts to provide the innocent bystanders with the basic essentials for survival. Lacking any resources, they quite naturally ask individual nations to contribute aid. In the case of the UK, that request comes to the Foreign 6k Commonwealth Office who, if they agree, will inevitably ‘contract’ the MoD to do the task, who in turn order Strike Command, who pass it to 38 Group and their Hercules’ fleet. The activities and personnel involved in 38 Group’s response to humanitarian tasks involved three very different categories: Operation ‘Martock’, the evacuation of British Nationals from Luanda in November 1992; Operation ‘Vigour’, the UK contribution to US-led Operation ‘Provide Relief’ involving the delivery of aid to Somalia, and Operation ‘Cheshire’, the on-going provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Sarajevo. In August 1992, the multi-national air operation known as ‘Provide Relief’ was launched to airlift supplies to feeding centres and clinics for Somali refugees. By 25 February 1993 28,050.86 tonnes of food had been delivered by the American, German and Royal Air Forces based at Moi International Airport, Mombasa in 1,924 sorties to Somalia and 508 to Kenya. During Operation ‘Vigour’ in three months two Hercules and four crews of 38 Group delivered 3,500 tons of supplies to all areas of Somalia, flying just short of 1,000 hours in the process.

  Operation ‘Cheshire’ began in the summer of 1992 when the UN asked nations to provide aircraft to deliver aid to Sarajevo. The UK Government responded with an offer of one Hercules and a 47 Squadron aircraft began flying into Sarajevo three times a day from 3 July 1992. Group Captain D. K. L. McDonnell OBE, Head of Air Transport and Air-To-Air Refuelling Branch, HQ 38 Group at High Wycombe, has written the following account of the operation:

  ‘Regrettably, the aircraft are regularly tracked by radar-layed AAA and occasionally pick up transmissions from potentially hostile systems. Clearly they are at their most vulnerable during approach and departure at Sarajevo; therefore the ground situation is continuously monitored. As at the end of October 1993 the RAF had delivered 12,500 tons of aid to Sarajevo in 880 visits and flown close to 2,000 hours in the process. This represented 18 per cent of all aid delivered by air - not bad when we represent only 12 per cent of the aircraft dedicated to the airlift ... We have been fortunate so far, in that there has been little damage to our aircraft - only two bullet holes. Others have been less so; for instance, the Italians lost a G.222 to missile fire in 1992 and it was only through the quick reaction of the crew that the Germans did not lose a C-160 in February 1994 [there were no UK casualties during the course of Operation ‘Cheshire’, but there were more than 260 security incidents involving other relief aircraft]. The hazards are evident. Our hope is that we shall continue to get the balance right and not exceed it. We get it wrong at our peril’.

  A Hercules crew of 47 Squadron, with two Hercules from the French and US air forces, carried out the last relief flight (IFN 94) into Sarajevo on 9 January 1996. The RAF contribution to the airlift, the longest in history, was immense: a total of 1,977 sorties carried 28,256 tonnes of relief supplies into the city over the 1,279 days of operation and overall, the UN effort totalled 160,370 tonnes of aid and included flights from the air forces of Canada, the US, Germany and France.

  Meanwhile, in 1995 Hercules crews from Lyneham were involved in relief missions to the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat which was threatened by volcanic eruptions. About 3,000 of the island’s 12,000 inhabitants left Montserrat for Antigua and surrounding islands. The first appeal for assistance was answered by a Hercules which left Lyneham in early August. This aircraft, crewed by 47 Squadron, spent a week in the area of relief duties. Its first flight carried food parcels and soft toys for children and thereafter three flights each day took in food, fold-up beds, pillows and tents; the aircraft finally returned to Lyneham on 10 August. Following a second personal request from the island’s governor, forty Royal Marines were flown from Lyneham on 24 August to help the beleaguered islanders. The aircraft flew to Goose Bay where it changed crew before flying on to Antigua.

  In addition to the humanitarian and logistics operations, there are other operational considerations each and every year which involve the RAF Hercules fleet. Each year Exercise ‘Dynamic Mix’ - involving land, sea and air forces from several NATO nations takes place in the Mediterranean. In order to support the substantial British participation in the exercise, a large amount of engineering equipment has to be transported to Turkey. As well as the equipment needed for the day-to-day operations of the Tornados, a spares back-up is also required to provide replacement parts for aircraft and bulky ground engineering equipment. A large proportion of this equipment is sent by sea, but smaller items of equipment and the support passengers, including engineers and suppliers as well as aircrew, all travel from Brize Norton to Akinci AB, Turkey in up to six Hercules.

  An RAF C-130 waits on the tarmac at a Middle Eastern airfield prior to taking off. This image was a winner in the RAF Photographic Competition 2008 for photographer Sgt Pete Mobbs.

  The overworked Hercules fleet had, by the early 1990s, reached a point whereby if the humanitarian and logistics support roles were to continue to function in times of extreme crisis, then replacement of the RAF’s senior citizens was due. (The RAF has been operating the C-130K since 1967.) The UK is the largest operator of C-130s outside the US, with a fleet of sixty C.Mk.1, C.Mk.1P and C.Mk.3P versions and it has the highest utilization rate of any operator because of its rigorous training schedules, worldwide commitments and involvements in many peacekeeping and humanitarian tasks. In 1992 an LS82 project team was set up to oversee the Hercules replacement project. The subsequent decision to opt for the C-130J model was an obvious one and twenty-five of the existing fleet were scheduled to be replaced by C-130Js/-30s. Of these, the first fifteen were the stretched C-130J-30 version, an option being held on the last ten to switch all or some of them to the shorter version, should requirements change for which this version would be better suited. They were re-designated Mks 4 and 5 respectively. With these aircraft the RAF became the first operator of these new versions.

  During the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Operation ‘Iraqi Freedom’), the C-130 Hercules was used ope
rationally by Australia, the UK and the United States. After the initial invasion, C-130 operators as part of the Multinational force in Iraq used their C-130s to support their forces in Iraq. In 2002 the new US president, George W. Bush argued that the vulnerability of the United States following the September 11 attacks of 2001, combined with Iraq’s alleged continued possession and manufacture of weapons of mass destruction (an accusation that was later proved erroneous) and its support for terrorist groups - which, according to the Bush administration, included al-Qaeda, the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks - made disarming Iraq a renewed priority. UN Security Council Resolution 1441 passed on 8 November 2002 demanded that Iraq readmit inspectors and that it comply with all previous resolutions. Iraq appeared to comply with the resolution, but in early 2003 President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared that Iraq was actually continuing to hinder UN inspections and that it still retained proscribed weapons. On 17 March, seeking no further UN resolutions and deeming further diplomatic efforts by the Security Council futile, Bush declared an end to diplomacy and issued an ultimatum to Ṣaddām, giving the Iraqi president 48 hours to leave Iraq. The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and other countries objected to this buildup toward war.

  The Second Persian Gulf War, 2003-11 in Iraq consisted of two phases. The first of these was a brief, conventionally fought war in March-April 2003 in which a combined force of troops from the United States and Great Britain (with smaller contingents from several other countries) invaded Iraq and rapidly defeated Iraqi military and paramilitary forces. It was followed by a longer second phase in which a US-led occupation of Iraq was opposed by an insurgency. The 30 January 2005 RAF shoot down of C.3 XV179, call sign ‘Hilton 22’, which was probably shot down by Sunni insurgents, killing all ten personnel on board was, at that time, the largest single loss of life suffered by the British military during Operation ‘Telic’, the British Campaign in Iraq 2003-2009. XV179 took off from Baghdad at 1622 local time. It was to fly at low level to Balad to deliver freight and the single passenger Acting Lance Corporal Steven Jones of the Royal Signals. Six minutes later it reported a fire on board, Jones, stating: ‘No duff, no duff. We are on fire, we are on fire’ and it was confirmed ‘missing’ at 1655. American Apache helicopters located the crash site 45 minutes after the distress call. As the site was in a hostile area, the priority was for human remains, personal effects and classified material to be recovered at the time. Part of the right wing had been detached and it was found over a mile from the crash site. The investigating team was only able to spend a short time at both sites. By 3 February the site had been looted and the wreckage taken; it was decided not to attempt to recover the wreckage from the looters. Those killed included eight crew from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, another RAF serviceman and one soldier. The Board of Inquiry report in December 2005 identified the lack of a fire-suppressant system as a contributory factor. In September 2006 Channel 4 News aired an article criticising the Ministry of Defence for having fitted only one C-130 with a foam fire-suppressant system. The RAF had ordered a retrofit of this system to all front-line C-130s, a system which could well have prevented the loss of XV179 and its crew. On 12 February 2007 C.4 ZH876 was seriously damaged during a landing incident in the Maysan Province of Iraq near the Iranian border. The aircraft was subsequently destroyed as it was deemed too dangerous for coalition forces to repair and recover it. This was the first C-130J loss for any nationality since the new variant entered service in 1999. Although it is acknowledged that this was not a Special Forces aircraft, it carried secure communications equipment that could not be compromised.

  After violence began to decline in 2007 the United States gradually reduced its military presence in Iraq, formally completing its withdrawal in December 2011. On 30 April the United Kingdom formally ended combat operations. Britain handed control of Basra to the United States Armed Forces. On 28 July Australia withdrew its combat forces as the Australian military presence in Iraq ended, per an agreement with the Iraqi government. On 29 June 2009 US forces withdrew from Baghdad. On 30 November 2009, Iraqi Interior Ministry officials reported that the civilian death toll in Iraq fell to its lowest level in November since the 2003 invasion.

  In December 2001 the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which aimed to assist the Afghan Transitional Authority in creating and maintaining a safe and secure environment in Kabul and its surrounding area, was created. It went on to comprise 37 nations. In 2003 NATO assumed command of ISAF; Stage One and Two of ISAF expansion saw ISAF move into the North and West of Afghanistan. This support came in a number of different forms and comprised about 850 RAF personnel. Tactical reconnaissance and close air support is provided by Tornado GR.4 force; in-theatre airlift is provided by the RAF C-130s and supplemented by Comms Fleet aircraft, including the HS.125 and BAE 146; air refuelling support for Coalition aircraft was provided by the VC-10, while the Sentinel R1 and MQ-9 Reaper played a large part in delivering ISTAR support. RAF Chinook and Merlin Helicopters formed part of the Joint Helicopter Force in Afghanistan and were the backbone for the provision of tactical mobility for Land forces. Essential support was given by the RAF Strategic Air Transport fleet with the Voyager and C-17 moving essential men and material into and out of the region.

  Operation ‘Herrick’ was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted, 2002-2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATOled International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and support to the American-led Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’ (OEF). Since 2003 Operation ‘Herrick’ had increased in size and breadth to match ISAF’s growing geographical intervention in Afghanistan. Operation ‘Herrick’ superseded two previous efforts in Afghanistan. The first of these was Operation ‘Veritas’, which consisted of support to the war in Afghanistan in October 2001. The last major action of this was a sweep in east Afghanistan by 1,700 Royal Marines during Operation ‘Jacana’, which ended in mid-2002. The second was Operation ‘Fingal’, which involved leadership and a 2,000 strong contribution for a newly formed ISAF in Kabul after December 2001. Command was subsequently transferred to Turkey several months later and the British contingent was scaled back to 300. Since then, all operations in Afghanistan were conducted under Operation ‘Herrick’.

  On 24 May 2006 Hercules C.1 XV206 of 47 Squadron Special Forces Flight was carrying the new British ambassador, Stephen Evans when it crash landed at a dirt landing strip outside the town of Lashkar Gar in Helmand Province after hitting a landmine on roll-out which holed the port external fuel tank and set the number two (port inner) engine on fire. All nine crew and 26 passengers aboard safely evacuated, but the airframe burned out. It was later revealed that the Hercules was carrying a large number of SAS troops as well as a large amount of cash described as being one million dollars in some sources and as ‘more than £1 million’ by others, while the MoD only admitted to a ‘sizeable amount of cash’. The money was apparently destined for local warlords in exchange for their influence and intelligence.

  In December 2012 Prime Minister David Cameron announced that 3,800 troops - almost half of the force serving in Helmand Province - would be withdrawn during 2013 with numbers to fall to approximately 5,200. Combat operations were projected to end sometime during 2014. Between 2001 and 12 December 2014 a total of 453 British military personnel have died on operations in Afghanistan. The UK ceased all combat operations in Afghanistan and withdrew the last of its combat troops on the 27 October 2014.

  Sixty-one year old Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpey GCB CBE DSO, commander in Operation ‘Telic’ and Chief of the Air Staff from April 2006 to July 2009 admitted that the 19-year operation in the Gulf, which began in 1990 and ended in June 2009 and the war in Afghanistan had taken its toll on the RAF, from which it would take years to recover. Referring to the Second Gulf War, the former fast jet pilot in the late 1970s and 1980s who saw active service during the Gulf War on the Tornado and then went on to higher com
mand, highlighted the difficulties of targeting and destroying mobile Surface-to-Air and Surface-to-Surface missiles and the way this forced a change to the start of the campaign. ‘Gaining air superiority is not, therefore, plain sailing. It needs investment and training. The introduction of Typhoon will significantly enhance the RAF’s airto-air capability but the aircraft also has a significant multi-role capability and in time will take over the offensive role from the Tornado GR.4. Looking more broadly, the RAF’s frontline is undergoing a significant modernisation programme, including more C-17s, Sentinel R.Mk.1, Harrier GR.9, more helicopters, Nimrod MRA.4, A400M, FSTA, Reaper (Remotely Piloted Air System) and, in time, JSF (Joint Strike Fighter). As a consequence, I believe we currently have the capabilities required to fulfill our key roles, which I would summarise as: gaining control of the air; rapid deployment and sustainment; battlefield mobility; precision strike and offensive support; ISTAR; Force Protection; and Command and Control. More to the point, there are few other Air Forces in the Western World that have such a range of capabilities - aside from the USAF - and this gives the UK a unique ability to deploy rapidly over strategic distance, either to conduct offensive operations or deliver humanitarian relief.