09/10/2014
As we see in the
Guardian a White House admission that the US air strikes against the "militants" in Iraq have their limitations, this
interesting snippet has come my way.
At a ceremony held in late September, we are told, Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) and Embraer rolled out the first US-produced A-29 Super Tucano. Unsurprisingly, says
Defense News, it looks an awful lot like the traditional Super Tucano, of which Embraer has produced more than 170, but it's still a milestone for the team behind the aircraft.
Without rehashing the tortured history of the light air support contract, says the paper, suffice to say this has been a long time coming for the companies. The aircraft pictured above will eventually go to Afghanistan to provide the Afghan military much needed air superiority as it continues to fight with local militants.
The term here, "tortured history" is highly appropriate here. We picked up the news of the Afghan order
in 2009 so here we are, five years later, and only now are the aircraft beginning to come off the production line.
But even worse is the situation in Iraq. We were actually talking about acquiring Super Tucanos
in 2007 and Lady Ann Winterton was up front in Parliament extolling their virtues. Privately, we were talking to No10, arguing that the RAF should operate these aircraft in Iraq, working alongside (and training) Iraqi pilots in composite squadrons, ready to hand over the aircraft once we were ready to leave.
Otherwise, we would have the absurd situation where coalition forces were dependent on air power yet, when they left, were expecting the Iraqis to suppress the insurgency without effective airpower.
We articulated this more clearly in respect of Afghanistan, but no more were the military prepared to listen there than they were with Iraq. As a result, we are in that absurd position, with the RAF vainly trying to provide close air support with Tonkas flying out of Cyprus, and the Americans flying off carriers in the Gulf, augmented by Apaches, supposedly deployed on embassy protection duties.
Thus we have the generals and the air marshals strutting around in their fancy uniforms, bedecked with gold braid and gongs, having made a complete Horlicks of the situation. And only now are they bemoaning the wholly predictable fact that, without close integration with ground forces, air power is not very effective.
That then leaves Rear Admiral John Kirby, calling for "strategic patience" in assessing Isis progress in Syria. "Air strikes alone are not going to save the town of Kobani", he says. "There's an element of strategic patience needed".
At least, maybe, the situation might be partly recoverable in Afghanistan, but I doubt it. Tucano composite squadrons should have been flying many years ago. The few aircraft that will be available by the time the bulk of NATO troops quit will be too little and, as far as Iraq goes, in the wrong place. And there is no pleasure at all in saying, "We told you so".
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