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a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/112009 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

Speaker Pelosi is now reportedly will visit Taiwan on August 2, touching down at 10:20 pm local time, before going to Japan. In the meantime, the U.S. is grounding most if not all of its F-35 fighter jets due to ejection seat quality control problems.

 

diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/tell-nancy-pelosi-that-visi...

 

A petition to "Tell Nancy Pelosi That Visiting Taiwan Isn't Worth Risking WW3"

 

www.cnn.com/2022/08/01/politics/nancy-pelosi-taiwan-visit...

 

Pelosi expected to visit Taiwan, Taiwanese and US officials say

 

(CNN) US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan as part of her tour of Asia, according to a senior Taiwanese government official and a US official, despite warnings from Biden administration officials, who are worried about China's response to such a high-profile visit. The stop -- the first for a US House speaker in 25 years -- is not currently on Pelosi's public itinerary and comes at a time when US-China relations are already at a low point.

 

The Taiwanese official added that she is expected to stay in Taiwan overnight. It is unclear when exactly Pelosi will land in Taipei. The US official added that Defense Department officials are working around the clock on monitoring any Chinese movements in the region and securing a plan to keep her safe.

 

During a regular foreign ministry briefing Monday, China warned against the "egregious political impact" of Pelosi's planned visit to the self-governing island that China claims as a part of its territory and reiterated that its military "won't sit by idly" if Beijing feels its "sovereignty and territorial integrity" is being threatened.

 

"We would like to tell the US once again that China is standing by, and the Chinese People's Liberation Army will never sit idly by. China will take resolute responses and strong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters, when asked about the fallout from Pelosi leading a congressional delegation to Taipei.

 

"As for what measures, if she dares to go, then let's wait and see," Zhao added. Though China's military did not mention Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command said it would "bury incoming enemies" in a video posted online Monday showing off its weaponry and fighting tactics. "Firmly stand by and ready for the fighting command; Bury all incoming enemies," a message posted on Weibo said.

 

National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said Monday that the Biden administration will support Pelosi on a trip to Taiwan.

 

"We want to make sure that when she travels overseas, she can do so safely and securely and we're going to make sure of that. There is no reason for the Chinese rhetoric. There is no reason for any actions to be taken. It is not uncommon for congressional leaders to travel to Taiwan," Kirby told CNN's Brianna Keilar on "New Day."

 

"We shouldn't be as a country -- we shouldn't be intimidated by that rhetoric or those potential actions. This is an important trip for the speaker to be on and we're going to do whatever we can to support her," Kirby continued.

 

Asked if the US was prepared for fallout with China over the visit, Kirby said that "there is no change to our policy. No change to our focus on trying to keep a free and safe and open Indo-Pacific."

 

The issue of Taiwan remains one of the most contentious. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed it at length in a two-hour-and-17-minute phone call on Thursday, as tensions mounted between Washington and Beijing.

 

"The question of Taiwan is the most sensitive, important core issue in China-US relations," said Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang at the Aspen Security Forum in July.

 

While Biden has said publicly the US military did not believe it was a good time for Pelosi to visit Taiwan, he has stopped short of telling her directly not to go, according to two sources.

 

Administration officials have worked over recent weeks to apprise the House speaker of the risks of visiting the democratic, self-governing island of 24 million residents, including in briefings from Pentagon and other administration officials. But Biden did not believe it was his place to tell her she should not go, and he has avoided commenting publicly about her trip since his initial statement on July 21.

 

Biden said last month that the US military opposed Pelosi visiting Taiwan, though since then has refused to elaborate on the warnings. The White House has said it is up to the House speaker where she travels.

 

Still, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently said he'd discussed a visit to Asia with Pelosi.

 

The administration takes extra care for Pelosi's security when she travels overseas because she is in the presidential line of succession.

 

Administration officials are concerned Pelosi's trip comes at a particularly tense moment, as Xi is expected to seek an unprecedented third term at the upcoming Chinese Communist Party congress. Chinese party officials are expected to begin laying the groundwork for that conference in the coming weeks, putting pressure on the leadership in Beijing to show strength.

 

Officials also believe the Chinese leadership doesn't completely grasp the political dynamics in the United States, leading to a misunderstanding over the significance of Pelosi's potential visit. The officials say China may be confusing Pelosi's visit with an official administration visit, since she and Biden are both Democrats. Administration officials are concerned that China doesn't separate Pelosi from Biden much, if at all.

 

Pelosi has long been a critic of the Chinese Communist Party. She has met with pro-democracy dissidents and the Dalai Lama -- the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader who remains a thorn in the side of the Chinese government. In 1991, Pelosi unfurled a black-and-white banner in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate victims of the 1989 massacre, which said, "To those who died for democracy." In recent years, she voiced support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

 

The Chinese embassy to the United States has objected to her expected trip, which was planned for April before Pelosi tested positive for Covid-19, urging members of Congress to tell the speaker not to make it.

 

"I would say there's been a full-court press from the Chinese embassy to discourage a trip to Taiwan," Washington Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen, the co-chair of Congress' US-China working group, told CNN. "I just don't think it's their business to tell us what we ought to be doing. That was my message back."

 

Liu Pengyu, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the US, responded that his office is in "regular contact" with members of Congress, including Larsen.

 

"On the Taiwan question, we have made our stance loud and clear," Pengyu said. "The Embassy is making all our efforts to prevent the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the stability of China-US relations being damaged by the potential visit of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan."

 

"We hope serious consequences could be avoided," he added. "This is in the common interests of both China and the US."

 

Many Democrats and Republicans in Congress said it was Pelosi's right to travel to Taiwan.

 

"It is Speaker Pelosi's decision alone on whether or not to travel to Taiwan, not any other country," said Illinois Republican Rep. Darin LaHood, Larsen's Republican counterpart on the US-China working group. "In our democratic system -- we operate with separate but equal branches of government."

 

"It is inappropriate for foreign governments, including the Chinese government, to attempt to influence the ability or the right to travel for the speaker, members of Congress, or other US government officials to Taiwan or anywhere else around the world," he added.

 

Other members appeared to be more cautious about the diplomatically sensitive trip.

 

California Democratic Rep. Judy Chu, the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, said she has "always supported Taiwan."

 

But when asked whether a Taiwan trip now would send the wrong message, Chu said, "You could look at it two ways. One is that the relationships are very strained right now. But on the other hand, you could say maybe that's when Taiwan also needs to be shown the strength and the support."When asked what she thought, she said, "I leave it up to those who are going to make that decision."

 

breakingdefense.com/2022/07/air-force-grounding-f-35s-ove...

 

EXCLUSIVE: Air Force grounding F-35s over ejection seat concerns

The stand-down follows the Navy grounding an undisclosed number of jets due to concerns with ejection seat safety.

 

WASHINGTON: The Air Force is grounding the majority of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet today, due to a faulty component inside its ejection seat that could prevent the pilot from being able to safely egress from the aircraft during an emergency, Breaking Defense has learned.

 

In response to an inquiry, Air Combat Command spokeswoman Alexi Worley confirmed the temporary standdown of ACC-controlled F-35s.

 

“ACC’s F-35s do have Martin-Baker ejection seats, and on July 19, began a Time Compliance Technical Directive to inspect all of the cartridges on the ejection seat within 90 days,” she stated. “Out of an abundance of caution, ACC units will execute a stand-down on July 29 to expedite the inspection process. Based on data gathered from those inspections, ACC will make a determination to resume operations.”

 

Later on Friday afternoon, Air Education and Training Command announced it had also paused F-35 operations on July 29 “to allow our logistics team to further analyze the issue and expedite the inspection process,” said AETC spokeswoman Capt. Lauren Woods. AETC controls F-35 training squadrons at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, and Eglin AFB in Fla.

 

“Based on the results of these inspections and in conjunction with ACC, the lead command for F-35, AETC will make a decision regarding continued operations,” Woods said.

 

While ACC controls the majority of operational USAF F-35s, smaller numbers of jets are spread out among other major commands, including United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It was not immediately clear if those units would also be standing down their fifth-generation fighters for a safety check.

 

At issue are cartridge actuated devices — explosive cartridges used inside ejection seats to help propel the seat out of an aircraft during an emergency. According to the Air Force, certain production lots of CADs used in Martin-Baker ejection seats have been identified by the company as being defective and needing replacement.

 

“Since CADs are used in the ejection process, a faulty CAD may not allow all the functions necessary to take place that would allow a complete and safe ejection,” Michael Cisek, a senior associate at the aviation consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, told Breaking Defense on Wednesday. “While the aircraft are flyable, I don’t think too many pilots would be willing to fly knowing they may not be able [to] eject.”

 

This latest news comes days after the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command stated that it had temporarily grounded almost 300 training aircraft due to the CAD-supply issue, and the Navy separately acknowledged that it had grounded an unspecified number of its own trainers and combat aircraft.

 

Breaking Defense first reported the Navy groundings on Wednesday and Air Force Times first reported the Air Force groundings on Thursday.

 

The problems have left the US Navy and Air Force scrambling to understand the scope of the problem, which has also impacted the United Kingdom’s Eurofighter Typhoons and Red Arrow demonstration team, according to the Daily Express.

 

The Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) supplies CADs and Propellant Actuated Devices for the entirety of the joint force, including the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.

 

According to Naval Air Systems Command, the Navy was notified of a potential defect by Martin-Baker and began using “validated radiography procedures” to scan its available CAD inventory and verify that it was “properly manufactured.” NSWC IHD then began shipping cleared replacement parts on July 24 “to several fleet maintenance centers,” the NAVAIR news release stated.

 

The F-35 Joint Program Office has issued a “90-day Time Compliance Technical Directive (TCTD) inspection procedure” that F-35s will go through to be checked for defective CAD, the program office said in response to questions from Breaking Defense. International F-35 customers have also been made aware of CAD issue.“

 

The collective team is actively engaged in supporting the inspection process, providing supply as needed, and communicating with stakeholders,” the JPO stated.

 

A Temporary Standdown of Air Force Trainers

 

The Air Force initiated a standdown on July 27 so that maintainers could inspect the 203 T-38 and 76 T-6 aircraft suspected of being equipped with the defective CAD, Air Force spokeswoman Aryn Lockhart said in a statement. That number represents 40% of AETC’s T-38 fleet and 15% of its T-6 fleet, including trainers at the undergraduate pilot training bases and Naval Air Station Pensacola.

 

Once maintainers confirm the ejection seats are fully functional, those specific aircraft will return to service, with flying operations for unaffected aircraft expected to resume on July 28, Lockhart said.

 

However, Maj. Gen. Craig Wills, 19th Air Force Commander, emphasized that aircraft will not begin flying unless the service is “confident” its ejection seats are in proper working order.“

 

Our primary concern is the safety of our airmen and it is imperative that they have confidence in our equipment,” he said in a statement. “Our actions today were taken out of an abundance of caution in order to ensure the safety of our pilots and aircrew.”

 

Although Air Combat Command also operates T-38s, it flies the A and B models that do not have Martin-Baker ejection seats. Therefore, they are not impacted by the stand down, Worley said.

 

An Unknown Number of Navy Aircraft Affected

 

On Wednesday, a Naval Air Systems Command spokeswoman said the service “has made the decision to ground some fixed-wing aircraft due to an ejection seat cartridge actuated device (CAD) production issue.”

 

The spokeswoman declined to comment on how many aircraft were ultimately affected by the problem for “operational security” reasons, but the initial press release on the issue said the defective CAD was isolated to a “limited range of lot numbers” used in F/A-18B/C/D Hornets, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, E/A-18G Growlers, and T-45 Goshawk and F-5 Tiger II training aircraft.

 

In light of the Air Force’s public disclosure of the number of T-38 and T-6 aircraft that were grounded, Breaking Defense sought more information from the Navy about the number of aircraft it grounded. A service spokeswoman again declined to provide any specific information, saying the Air Force disclosed numbers of training aircraft, rather than those operational or deployed forward.“

 

Disclosing the number of total aircraft (with or without specifying Type/Model/Series) poses an OPSEC risk,” the spokeswoman told Breaking Defense on Thursday. “At any given time, we will have an undisclosed number of aircraft being serviced, but stating the total number of aircraft affected by this issue effectively alerts our adversaries to limitations in our ability to respond should the need arise.”

 

While the Hornets, Super Hornets and Growlers do remain operational in deployed squadrons, the T-45s are primarily used for training Navy pilots. Meanwhile, the service bought nearly two dozen F-5s in fiscal 2020 to “provide air-to-air training for strike fighter and electronic warfare advanced readiness programs, large force exercise, unit-level training and fleet replacement squadron training,” according to budget justification documents.

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a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

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a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/112019 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

Дві години під "Градами" нищити танки рашистів або ще раз про те, чому навіть мінімум HIMARS змінює ситуацію t.co/h8YGY5eMNV t.co/WloZzml7Pb Armed Forces of Ukraine by UkrainianTelegramFreaks via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/139358 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

" December 9, 2019

"PRN soldiers have now counterattacked against the SF, and Russia's troops in Canada. "We will not stop helping our allie until all enemy soldiers LEAVE!" -President Cochran. PRN soldiers have taken meduim casualties and have been starting a new Guerrilla war against the enemy. This has been Channel 4 news."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I LOVE THIS SHOT AND BUILD! =D

Ukrainians have organized a public action outside the embassy of Turkey in Warsaw, urging President Erdogan to save Ukrainian civilians from #Azovstal. t.co/xWRvKd0TGS Ukraine Trusted Sources by @ukrainetrustedsources A @rtptme project - Other backups: swiy.so/tme via t.me/ukrainetrustedsources/70506 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #россия #русский #украинский #украина #война #вторжение

a/c 11-04, 111 Esquadrón, Ala 11, Free Spanish Air Force

Al Mahbes, Spanish Sahara, March, 1972

Personal mount of Captain Raúl Jiménez (pilot) and Lieutenant Janner Corozo (observer/ECM operator)

 

The Spanish Republic maintained a neutral stance when WW3 broke out in mid-1950. However, in December Spain joined the Moscow Pact as the European Red Revolutions culminated in the ousting of US forces from mainland Europe. Ejected from the UN, Spain was now at war. In response, the US occupied Spain's Atlantic territories, including the Canary Islands, and Free French troops based in Morocco took control over Spain's northern and southern Moroccan protectorates and its Spanish Sahara colony. A Free Spanish government was established at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in February 1951, which subsequently resumed authority over Spain's Atlantic and African territories. As a result, Free Spanish forces would see considerable combat against the Reds until 1980.

 

The colonial administration of Spanish Sahara was propped up by UN troops and funding, by the active support of the Spanish diaspora and the recruitment of foriegn mercenaries. After the Reds liberated northern Morocco in 1954, Free Spain and its UN allies defended Spanish Sahara until the colony was liberated in August 1980. Enemies included the Red Army and the insurgencies of the Moroccan Liberation Army and later the Polisario Front. It was the latter that established full control over the former colony as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in August 1980.

 

The air war over Spanish Sahara was fought in two distinct arenas. Peer operations saw several campaigns of attrition fought between Red and UN airpower. Meanwhile, UN air forces maintained an ongoing COIN effort against insurgents and the Trotsky Trail, the latter forming the routes through which the Reds supported anti-UN forces in sub-Saharan Africa. While fast jets used Spanish Saharan air bases to engage the enemy up-north, those same airfields hosted a range of slow movers mounting tactical COIN missions across the broad swathe of the western Sahara.

 

In the late 1950s the UN established a series of defensive lines south of the Maghreb, from the Atlantic in the west to the border of neutral Libya in the west. Characterised by minefields, berms, fortifications, artillery fire bases, airfields and extensive surface and air patrolling, this forward positioning was expensive to maintain and constantly proved to be porous. With the growing prowess and reach of Red airpower, UN airpower within and to the north of these lines became increasingly challenged during the late 60s and into the 70s. By 1969, it had become apparent that the UN's nocturnal campaigns against Red movements in the Maghreb, collectively actioned under the umbrella of the DAMIT (Denied Area Mobile Interdiction Techniques) program, was unsustainable. To stem crippling losses, senior UN officers concluded that new systems and tactics were needed. A call went out for innovative solutions.

 

111 Esquadrón of the Free Spanish Air Force was formed in July 1953 at Laayoune as the first flying squadron of Ala 11. Flying US surplus North American AT-6D Texans, 111 Esq deployed detachments to forward airfields to conduct FAC and light attack missions throughout the colony, into southern Morocco and western Algeria. As with its sister squadron, 112 Esq (formed in 1954), the unit drew heavily on the Spanish diaspora for its personnel. The Texans were replaced by North American T-28D Nomads in 1962. In 1968, another North American product was introduced, the OV-10A Bronco. By then, most of the aircrew were foreigners from throughout the Hispanosphere.

 

Consulted on DAMIT's issues and informed of the funding available for new proposals, the personnel of Ala 11 responded with a novel concept. They noted that a critical problem was deteriorating situational awareness during DAMIT missions. This, they argued, was due to the loss rate of fast FAC aircraft being higher than the loss rate of the slow FACs they replaced. The failings and increasing timidity of the fast FAC force was compounded by DAMIT's standoff surveillance and EW platforms being forced to fly further south than was useful for effective support. The solution, the Free Spanish personnel figured, was to replace these planes with ones that flew slow and low. They knew from experience that a low flying Bronco was hard to shoot down with a fighter, even in daylight, but what the OV-10A didn't have was the range of targeting sensors and ECM to fulfil DAMIT night FAC missions alone. What was needed, they suggested, were Broncos with LLLTV, FLIR, ground mapping/MTI radar, Elint and ECM capabilities. As the OV-10 had a cargo and passenger compartment in the rear fuselage, Ala 11 argued that the Bronco could feasibly (if uncomfortably) accommodate a third crew member and their black boxes if needed.

 

When the Ala 11's proposal (The Multispectral OV-10 DAMIT FAC) was considered by UN brass, it was warmly received by Canadian officers, but not the Americans. Although all were aware of the USMC's recently let contract for 2 of the complementary YOV-10D NOGS (Night Observation Gun Ship), the relevant US officers failed to see the potential synergies. Instead, the US focus was on stealth (specifically the Lockheed YO-3A Quiet Star), special forces, RPVs and precision guided weapons. Nethertheless, UN funding was made available and Canada and the Free Spanish collaborated to define a new Bronco variant, to be manufactured by North American Rockwell as the YOV-10D NEWT (Night Electronic Warfare & Targeting).

 

Given access to the NOGS program and a commitment for the supply of 6 NOGS for combat testing on DAMIT missions, the Free Spanish Air Force ordered 6 NEWTS from North American Rockwell. Intending to use the two types as a DAMIT FAC and attack team, NEWT required a ground mapping radar with MTI, plus a sufficiently powerful ECM suite to provide joint protection. Not limited to using American equipment, NEWT featured the Turquoise Oval SLAR in an elongated nose and the Heliotrope Sail escort ECM suite, which included a ventrally mounted pod. Both systems were produced by the Canadian Marconi company. At the tip of the nose was an internally mounted AAA-4B Pave Mouse IR/UV beacon detector, while under the fuselage was a fairing housing the Pave Bounce direction finding radar receiver. LORAN-C provided both navigation and geolocation data for third-party targeting. Both versions of the YOV-10D were issued to 111 Esq, while 112 Esq upgraded to the OV-10F (which, like the NEWT, featured 4 .50 cal Brownings, more powerful engines and upgraded air-conditioning).

 

NEWT external loadout options included CBUs (4 Mk.20 Rockeye IIs are seen here), rocket pods, Mk.82s and GBU-12s. SideARMs or AGM-45B Shrikes were carried for SEAD, with a Phillips Canada Sable Latch chaff/flare dispenser mounted on each tail boom as standard. The NEWT's capabilities and weapons complimented the FLIR, laser designator and turreted 20mm M197 cannon of the NOGS.

 

The airfield adjacent to the northern Spanish Saharan town of Al Mahbes was one of 112 Esq's forward positions. This aircraft, 11-04, was photographed there in April 1972, alongside a NOGS, prior to a night FAC team mission. Seen beside the NEWT Bronco was its crew, pilot Captain Raúl Jiménez (a former Mexican Air Force C-130B pilot) and systems (radar and ECM) operator Lieutenant Janner Corozo (a former electronic warfare operator with the Ecuadorian Navy). According to the article in Soldier of Fortune magazine that accompanied the photo (DAMIT! Hispanic NEWTS and NOGS, September 1972), neither men had seen combat before recruitment to the Free Spanish Air Force. They were said to have volunteered for "the adventure and to kill Commies." Capt. Jiménez was quoted as saying they flew "CSAR FAC and DAMIT kill box FAC patrols, SEAD, heckler diversion and harassment raids and special forces support." According to the story, their "memorable missions" included "successful CSAR efforts" (one to save a downed USAF F-111A crew and another to rescue a Canadian F-4M crew) and a "particularly productive sortie where they busted a pair of BTR-60s, took out a BMP-1 and flamed a few trucks." Both men were killed on 3 November 1972, when 11-04 was shot down by an FLIR-assisted, radar guided ZSU-23-4 Shilka mobile AAA system near Fam El Hisn in Morocco. Their loss brought an end to YOV-10D operations.

 

Both the NEWT and NOGS versions of the YOV-10D were experimental and no more were built. The Free Spanish YOV-10D DAMIT teams achieved limited success and after 10 months of combat were withdrawn. By then, only 3 NOGS and 2 NEWT YOV-10Ds remained to be sent to the boneyard. Of the 2 USMC NOGS, both saw service in SEA during 1972's Operation Half Back Flanker, where they were shot down. Production OV-10Ds were built to an entirely different standard and delivered to 111 Esq in 1974.

 

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Ukraine’s Armed Forces Conduct Counteroffensive, Coordinate Resistance Movement in Kherson Region t.co/2jESrg39Sl t.co/pGxv3U9IxQ Armed Forces of Ukraine by UkrainianTelegramFreaks via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/136589 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

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via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/34833 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

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Скільки техніки рашистів з початку війни знищив один протитанковий підрозділ 81-ї бригади ДШВ ЗСУ t.co/q2SMDglqJi t.co/FmZvJlOXW9 Armed Forces of Ukraine by UkrainianTelegramFreaks via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/139355 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

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Harpoon настільки налякав рашистів, що вони вирішили "сховати" свої кораблі t.co/gjXCK7TpFR t.co/LTbg3WEv0q Armed Forces of Ukraine by UkrainianTelegramFreaks via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/133653 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/137995 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

Щодня Херсон покидають сотні людей. Але є ті, хто залишаються, аби допомагати місту пережити час окупації. ⠀ З початку окупації міста команда провідного телеканалу «Херсон+» змінила свою діяльність. Тепер замість камер і мікрофонів у їхніх руках - ліки і продукти, які журналісти передають мешканцям навколишніх міст і сіл, що постраждали від обстрілів.⠀ ⠀ Команда медійників стали волонтерами. На чолі цього руху - керівники каналу Ірина Мезенцева та Володимир Косюк: «Ми готові волонтерити стільки, скільки буде потрібно. І зараз, і після звільнення Херсона від окупації, в чому ми впевнені на 100%»⠀ ⠀ Реквізити для допомоги волонтерам Херсона: ⠀ ⠀ Монобанк⠀ 5375 4114 1089 8816⠀ Ірина Мєзєнцева⠀ ⠀ Приват⠀ 5169 3600 0083 5219⠀ Володимир Косюк⠀ SPRAVDI закликає ділитись цим постом з друзями та заохочуйте їх розповідати про волонтерство. Нехай весь світ знає, які сильні українці у своїй єдності! Telegram | Сайт| Instagram | Twitter| Facebook via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/86142 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

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"Vanagas", the Lithuania-purchased Bayraktar Drone for Ukraine t.co/CB6fBV84mR t.co/QCWuJmpGLf Armed Forces of Ukraine by UkrainianTelegramFreaks via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/130519 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

Міноборони оголосило яку орду скувало боями на Донецькому та Слов'янському напрямі t.co/MyYQtSIlDu t.co/fBu9ThSMKS Armed Forces of Ukraine by UkrainianTelegramFreaks via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/138105 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

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Коротко. Війна. День 122. ВідеодайджестBriefly. War. Day 122. Video digest t.co/4ZIPzWUk09 Armed Forces of Ukraine by UkrainianTelegramFreaks via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/139396 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

Сержант Нацгвардії зумів зберегти життя своїх побратимів, внаслідок чого отримав тяжкі вогнепальні поранення 🔹Гвардієць пережив п’ять операцій. На щастя, хлопець почувається бадьоро і планує продовжувати службу. За героїзм і мужність Антон нагороджений відзнакою Національної гвардії України - нагрудним знаком «За доблесну службу». 💬«Найбільше було страшно за побратимів. Ворог почав вести щільний вогонь і не давав нам можливість перегрупуватися. Артобстріл тривав майже три години. Для збереження життя бійців, після отримання наказу командира, ми почали виводити своїх. Особовий склад працював злагоджено, без метушні й завдяки цьому ми всі повернулися живі. Збереження життя моїх бійців – моя найбільша нагорода», - розповідає Антон. FB | TW | IG | Сайт via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/139186 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

Navy Men of Russia’s Caspian Flotilla Refuse to Fulfill Combat Tasks Because Their Ships are Not in the Condition t.co/XcaUeE6J3e t.co/JLXliKciyt Armed Forces of Ukraine by UkrainianTelegramFreaks via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/112351 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

«Разом сильніші 2.0» 🔹Все важке дається ще важче, якщо на твоєму боці немає підтримки. Саме тому, крок за кроком та спільними зусиллями для малечі творимо дива далі. 🔹Так, завдяки вам та вашій допомозі під час попередньої акції "Разом сильніші" ми змогли втілити в життя та подарувати для 263 дітей часточку добра. На цьому ми вирішили не зупинятись та відсьогодні стартує новий етап - "Разом сильніші 2.0". 478 діточок чекають нашої допомоги! 🔹Кожен з вас може підтримати дітей та долучитись до акції, яка триватиме до 15 липня 2022 року. Для цього потрібно виконати декілька нескладних кроків: 🔹Перейдіть за посиланням: cutt.ly/FKuDqp3 (там ви побачите список дітей, які потребують допомоги). 🔹Оберіть дитину, бажання якої ви б хотіли здійснити! 🔹Запишіть свої контактні дані у відповідних комірках документа дитини якій ви хочете допомогти. Ви можете надіслати допомогу "Новою Поштою" або будь-яким іншим чином. Для уточнення деталей контактуйте з нами: - Яніна, 096 261 83 02 - Роксолана, 073 500 11 55 via t.me/UkraineArmyForce/134459 #russia #russian #army #military #ukraine #ukrainian #war #worldwar #ww3 #ww #ucraina #russland #russia #militare #guerra #krieg #війни #война #guerre #ukraine #украина #ucrania #україна #Rusia #Росія #Россия #Russie #ukrainearmy

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