bobdina
09-03-2009, 12:45 PM
First MC-12Ws hit 300 combat missions in Iraq
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 2, 2009 12:06:00 EDT
GREENVILLE, Texas —The Air Force traded wine chillers for advanced spy equipment aboard custom fit turboprops to help troops hunt down improvised explosive devices.
Two months after the service deployed the first MC-12Ws to Iraq, the same planes that once belonged to private citizens such as a doctor who designed his to ferry wine from his home in Texas to Mexico City are now saving American troops’ lives.
The first six MC-12Ws under Project Liberty surpassed 300 combat missions in Iraq on Monday. That day, Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the MC-12W production lines in Greenville, Texas, alongside Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Task Force Director Lt. Gen. Craig Koziol to receive updates on its progress.
Gates and Koziol launched Project Liberty, a $461 million program to deploy 37 MC-12Ws and about 1,000 airmen by 2010, in July 2008 to get more ISR aircraft over troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Each of these planes represents critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities badly needed in the field by our troops and their partners,” Gates told the airmen and L-3 Communications employees building the planes.
Koziol told Gates at the plant the Air Force would deliver the first MC-12W to Afghanistan in December. By September 2010, the Air Force will deploy 23 more to Afghanistan, said retired Col. Kim A. High, commander of the Big Safari Systems Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Four airmen fly the MC-12W — two pilots, one sensor operator and one signals intelligence specialist — with 14 aircrews deployed to Iraq. The sensor operator controls the full-motion video camera, and the SIGINT specialist operates “Pennant Race,” an advanced version of the SIGINT package found on MQ-9 Reapers.
“Our enemies often hide behind the population and use tactics like IEDs to avoid a direct fight upsetting our traditional advantages as they try to exploit our vulnerabilities,” Gates told the crowd of employees and airmen at the Texas plant.
“Platforms like the MC-12, though, give America distinct counter to their efforts. An unmatched advantage that gives our troops an eye in the sky and often helps us disrupt and hunt down our enemies often before they strike saving the lives of American troops while sparing innocent civilians.”
Gates has kept a close eye on Project Liberty. It was the first program under the ISR Task Force he stood up following his complaints it took too long to get ISR assets to Iraq and Afghanistan.
In June, he criticized Project Liberty for falling behind on delivery of later models, in some cases by as much as four months. L-3 Communications has since opened three production lines with plans for a fourth and runs 24-hour shifts, seven days a week to ensure the militarized Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350 airplanes arrive on time, High said.
Delays occurred because Air Force and L-3 engineers struggled to install the intelligence sensors on the first seven planes purchased from private citizens. Hawker Beechcraft will build models eight through 37 specifically for the Air Force.
These models will fly longer. Instead of three to four hour missions the first seven fly, the extended range MC-12Ws will fly four to five hour missions.
“They replaced the spot where the doctors used to put their golf bags with fuel tanks,” said Bob Spivey, L-3’s vice president of special programs.
Crews are already installing sensors onto the first extended range models.
“I hope that the planes sitting right here, the first, second generation MC-12 scheduled for deployment, will be flying combat missions in Afghanistan giving our troops a crucial asset as they engage a committed and deadly enemy in a new phase of that war,” Gates said.
The Air Force is training the crews that fly the MC-12W at Key Field in Meridian, Miss., where the Air National Guard’s 186th Refueling Wing is home to the MC-12W schoolhouse.
One of the first pilots to learn to fly the MC-12W is Maj. Todd James, who is a test pilot for the 645th Aeronautical Systems Squadron, which is overseeing Project Liberty for the Air Force.
“It’s nice to fly something that is making a difference,” James said.
His commander is proud of how far Project Liberty has come in just over a year.
“The fact we’ve delivered these planes as fast as we have this year is an amazing story,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Buddlemeyer, the 645th Aeronautical Systems Squadron commander.
tp://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/airforce_gates_090109w/
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 2, 2009 12:06:00 EDT
GREENVILLE, Texas —The Air Force traded wine chillers for advanced spy equipment aboard custom fit turboprops to help troops hunt down improvised explosive devices.
Two months after the service deployed the first MC-12Ws to Iraq, the same planes that once belonged to private citizens such as a doctor who designed his to ferry wine from his home in Texas to Mexico City are now saving American troops’ lives.
The first six MC-12Ws under Project Liberty surpassed 300 combat missions in Iraq on Monday. That day, Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the MC-12W production lines in Greenville, Texas, alongside Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Task Force Director Lt. Gen. Craig Koziol to receive updates on its progress.
Gates and Koziol launched Project Liberty, a $461 million program to deploy 37 MC-12Ws and about 1,000 airmen by 2010, in July 2008 to get more ISR aircraft over troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Each of these planes represents critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities badly needed in the field by our troops and their partners,” Gates told the airmen and L-3 Communications employees building the planes.
Koziol told Gates at the plant the Air Force would deliver the first MC-12W to Afghanistan in December. By September 2010, the Air Force will deploy 23 more to Afghanistan, said retired Col. Kim A. High, commander of the Big Safari Systems Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Four airmen fly the MC-12W — two pilots, one sensor operator and one signals intelligence specialist — with 14 aircrews deployed to Iraq. The sensor operator controls the full-motion video camera, and the SIGINT specialist operates “Pennant Race,” an advanced version of the SIGINT package found on MQ-9 Reapers.
“Our enemies often hide behind the population and use tactics like IEDs to avoid a direct fight upsetting our traditional advantages as they try to exploit our vulnerabilities,” Gates told the crowd of employees and airmen at the Texas plant.
“Platforms like the MC-12, though, give America distinct counter to their efforts. An unmatched advantage that gives our troops an eye in the sky and often helps us disrupt and hunt down our enemies often before they strike saving the lives of American troops while sparing innocent civilians.”
Gates has kept a close eye on Project Liberty. It was the first program under the ISR Task Force he stood up following his complaints it took too long to get ISR assets to Iraq and Afghanistan.
In June, he criticized Project Liberty for falling behind on delivery of later models, in some cases by as much as four months. L-3 Communications has since opened three production lines with plans for a fourth and runs 24-hour shifts, seven days a week to ensure the militarized Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350 airplanes arrive on time, High said.
Delays occurred because Air Force and L-3 engineers struggled to install the intelligence sensors on the first seven planes purchased from private citizens. Hawker Beechcraft will build models eight through 37 specifically for the Air Force.
These models will fly longer. Instead of three to four hour missions the first seven fly, the extended range MC-12Ws will fly four to five hour missions.
“They replaced the spot where the doctors used to put their golf bags with fuel tanks,” said Bob Spivey, L-3’s vice president of special programs.
Crews are already installing sensors onto the first extended range models.
“I hope that the planes sitting right here, the first, second generation MC-12 scheduled for deployment, will be flying combat missions in Afghanistan giving our troops a crucial asset as they engage a committed and deadly enemy in a new phase of that war,” Gates said.
The Air Force is training the crews that fly the MC-12W at Key Field in Meridian, Miss., where the Air National Guard’s 186th Refueling Wing is home to the MC-12W schoolhouse.
One of the first pilots to learn to fly the MC-12W is Maj. Todd James, who is a test pilot for the 645th Aeronautical Systems Squadron, which is overseeing Project Liberty for the Air Force.
“It’s nice to fly something that is making a difference,” James said.
His commander is proud of how far Project Liberty has come in just over a year.
“The fact we’ve delivered these planes as fast as we have this year is an amazing story,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Buddlemeyer, the 645th Aeronautical Systems Squadron commander.
tp://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/airforce_gates_090109w/