Saudi Typhoons

Weapons display raises interesting questions

The weapons arrayed in front of the aircraft appear to be:

Storm Shadow
1,000-lb inert UK EPWII+ (blue body) 
MBDA Meteor BVRAAM
AIM-132 ASRAAM
500-lb Paveway IV
AIM-132 ASRAAM
BrimstoneDamoclès LDP 
Dual Mode Brimstone (on triple launcher?)
Brimstone

To the right, roped off
500-lb Paveway IV
500-lb Paveway IV
Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM

The aircraft appears to be carrying IRIS-T, AMRAAM, and 1,000-lb inert UK EPWII+s.

This is interesting. 

Quite apart from the inclusion of future weapons like Storm Shadow, Meteor and Brimstone, there are some unexpected features.

Saudi Arabia took IRIS-T because it was not allowed to take ASRAAM, and yet here is ASRAAM.

Saudi Arabia has not been allowed to purchase Paveway IV, and yet here is Paveway IV.

It would be easy to write the display off as a broad-brush, aspirational 'Farnborough Airshow' type of weapons display, except that it does seem to include only those weapons that are in service with the RSAF (those actually fitted to the aircraft) and those for which Saudi Arabia has expressed a requirement.

Saudi Arabia is pushing the pace of air-to-ground activity with the Tranche 2 Typhoon.

After a slow and disappointing start to the type's service in the Kingdom (thanks to problems with the buggy initial Tranche 2 SRP 5.0 software load), the introduction of SRP 5.1 allowed the RSAF to press ahead with the aircraft, declaring the type operational and on QRA (actually mounting QRA operations with its Tranche 2 aircraft before the RAF did!), and rapidly gaining a night AAR clearance.

But it was in the Air-to-Ground environment that the Saudis pressed hardest. When the RSAF was briefed on P1EA its representatives reportedly simply said: “That’s great! When can we have it?” Work is reportedly underway on incorporating P1EA software by UOR, even before a NETMA clearance is issued. 

When I spoke to Colonel Hammad Alhammad, deputy commander of the Third Squadron, at the Bahrain International Air Show he confirmed that the Third Squadron had begun air-to-ground operations late in 2011, dropping significant numbers of LGBs, and using Tornados equipped with the Thales Damoclès pod for target designation. He was coy as to exactly what bomb was involved, though it now seems clear that it was the Paveway II Plus, as seen in the photos at the top of this blog post.

The Paveway II Plus (also known as the 'Frankenbomb') is a hybrid developed under a UOR for the RAF Harrier force, and aimed to give a dual mode capability for use in Afghanistan, the Paveway IV then encountering delays due to problems with its advanced fusing system.

The Paveway II Plus was produced by combining the Paveway IV's Enhanced Computer Control Group (ECCG) with the body and aerodynamic control surfaces of a standard UK 1,000-lb Paveway II. This did not give the weapon all of the functionality Paveway IV had to offer, though I'm not clear as to how the Paveway II Plus differed, in capability terms, beyond the obvious fact that it used a 1,000-lb warhead and 'bang-bang', non proportional guidance. The latter limitation may well prevent Paveway II Plus from enjoying Paveway IV's ability to attack targets from almost any direction and angle.

Nor is it clear to me how the Paveway II Plus is exportable to Saudi Arabia, when it seems as though Paveway IV is not.

Writing in Defense News, Andrew Chuter reported that US opposition was threatening to halt Saudi plans to acquire around 1,000 Raytheon Paveway IV dual mode laser/GPS-guided bombs for its Tornados and Typhoons, citing Britain’s defense attaché in Washington, Major General Francis Hedley Robertson ‘Buster’ Howes as confirming the problem.

It's hard to see exactly how the weapon can be blocked by the USA, as it is a product of Raytheon Systems Limited of Harlow, Raytheon’s UK arm, which is the Weapon Design Authority for Paveway IV. The weapon is viewed as being UK intellectual property, though the warhead case was the responsibility of Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) in Tucson (filled by SEI in Sardinia), Arizona, and the Enhanced Computer Control Group (ECCG) uses technology provided by Raytheon Missile Systems. This seemingly gives the USA the power to dictate who will, and who will not receive the weapon. But Paveway II Plus presumably uses the same technology! 

Though the RSAF’s Typhoon’s will receive the P1E upgrade, they will not be equipped with the two items which together form the core of the upgrade for the air forces of the European partner nations - the Paveway IV bomb, and the Litening 3 laser designator pod (LDP).

The Litening 3 LDP is of Israeli origin, and is thus not acceptable, though it is built in the UK by Ultra, and UK offers of what some wags termed an ‘uncircumcised Ultra Pod’ (a Litening in all but name, with its origins obscured) were rejected. Instead (and not before reportedly considering the Lockheed Martin Sniper pod), the RSAF has opted for the Thales Damoclès pod – already being built in Saudi Arabia by AEC for the RSAF Tornado fleet. Integration work on the Damoclès pod is believed to be about to begin at Warton, probably using an existing test fleet aircraft, probably BT017 – though it could involve a Typhoon bailed back from the RSAF.

Instead, the RSAF is understood to be acquiring the Sagem AASM (Armement Air-Sol Modulaire) Hammer in place of Paveway IV, and is looking to integrate this on both the Tornado and on the Typhoon as well.

The AASM Hammer is a family of modular, rocket-boosted and winged bombs with a choice of GPS/INS guidance (SBU-38), or GPS/INS with imaging infra-red terminal guidance (SBU-54) or GPS/INS with laser terminal guidance (SBU-64), 

and with 125-, 250-, and 1,000-kg warhead options. The Hammer is significantly more expensive than unpowered Paveway-class weapons, with an estimated unit cost of $300,000 (€200,000). Moreover the weapon still lacks some fusing options (eg airburst) and other capabilities and development is continuing.

The Saudi plans to integrate Damoclès and AASM onto Typhoon demonstrate a hitherto unexpected capability for integrating new weapons and systems onto the Typhoon flexibly and in a rapid timescale, and seems to show that the hitherto slow pace of weapons integration has been imposed by funding constraints and not by any inherent technical difficulty.

It is believed that BAE Systems is offering further air to ground weapons options and integrations to the RSAF (perhaps including an early integration of the Storm Shadow cruise missile), and in shorter timescales, supporting the RSAF’s aspiration to keep the aircraft at the core of its future fleet plans. These could see the Kingdom ordering further Typhoons.

This ability to integrate new weapons quickly and easily could prove to be of pivotal importance to a number of potential Typhoon customers, including the UAE, who could perhaps see the Saudi example as evidence that a similar standalone integration of their ‘Black Shaheen’ stand off missile on Typhoon could be achieved before any NETMA clearance of a Taurus/Storm Shadow integration.

Saudi Arabia intends to grow its fleet beyond its current planned total of 72 aircraft*, and industry may be working hard to offer advanced weapons and capabilities in an effort to win further orders.

*Writing in the Washington Post, David Ignatius suggested that, as part of a wider more assertive policy, Saudi Arabia was planning to double its Armed Forces over the next 10 years while simultaneously modernising many capabilities. Ignatius said that the Royal Saudi Air Force would introduce between 450 and 500 new aircraft as part of this process, including 84 F-15SA Silent Eagles and a further 72 Typhoons.