AH-64 Apache
I don't know if this will scare the enemy, but by God it scares me. You can spend as much as you like on precision weapons; but if you can't or won't find the right people to the designation and train and equip them properly................
I also find ther concept of only qualifying only half the AH-64 crews strange. Unless they mean 50% of each crew?
Janes INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE REVIEW - JUNE 01, 2002:
The UK armed forces are planning to expand both the number and size of their tactical air control parties (TACPs). According to UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) sources, the future vision is of an enlarged matrix of TACPs dedicated to forward air controlling (FACing), each with a full equipment set (including terrestrial and satellite communications facilities, plus target location/designation systems) and a full complement of personnel, of which at least one is qualified as a primary FAC.
As a complement to the TACPs, it is foreseen that designated secondary FACs, currently trained to the same standard as the primary controllers found within the TACPs, will in future undergo a shortened course (two weeks instead of four) with the object of proliferating the total number of 'eyes' on the battlefield able to understand target location and marking. Among them would be secondary FACs aboard Apache attack helicopters, Warrior OP vehicles and reconnaissance vehicles who, by exploiting digitization, would be able to feed additional target data into the TACP matrix.
The long-sought increase in the personnel establishment of UK TACP from two to four personnel (see IDR 6/1999, pp56-61) has now been officially authorized and the necessary manpower found (in most cases). The British Army's 16 Air Assault Brigade already has its quota of three TACPs, as does the Royal Marine 3 Commando Brigade and the UK-based 3 Division. The Germany-based 1 Armoured Division has none as yet. The next step, still an aspiration, will be to double the number of divisional TACPs to six, bringing the overall number to 18.
It has been decided that 1 Division's TACPs should be carried in Warrior tracked vehicles, as opposed to the smaller and less mobile Spartan carriers or Land Rovers currently available (3 Division will have to persevere with the smaller Spartan). The Warrior OPV (observation post vehicle) variant already has an integral target location facility, and though a laser target designator would not entirely be operable from under armor, there is an existing blanking plate to which the mounting bracket for the FAC's LF28 designator could be secured.
The officer commanding a TACP (OC TACP), normally its primary FAC, desirably has bi-service experience. The majority are ordinarily drawn from the British Army. However, the latter currently has insufficient captains with the right qualifications, while the Royal Air Force (RAF) no longer has pilots to spare to send on ground tours.
At the moment, therefore, the RAF Regiment, the air force's ground defense organization, provides the majority of OC TACPs (albeit paid for by the British Army). 3 Division has two RAF and one Army OC TACP, while 3 Commando Brigade's three OC TACPs are found from the Royal Marines, and all three of 16 Air Assault Brigade's OC TACPs are from the RAF Regiment. The Army has been tasked to find three suitable captains for 1 Division.
The CAS (close air support) applications of the British Army's Longbow Apache AH Mk1 attack helicopter fleet are the subject of a current evaluation, the feasibility and utility of ground FACs calling upon the Apaches for support being assessed, as well as the use of the Apache crews themselves as airborne FACs (ABFACs). The intention is that 50% of Apache crews should be ABFAC capable, their aircraft already being fitted with designators and IDMs (improved data modems), and their crews already being able to operate "in the third dimension" (ie being attuned to air matters). However, it remains to be determined what the optimum split between FAC and Apache crew training should be - "there's a lot they already know, but they still have to understand how to pass information to the other agencies".
The standard issue ground-radio is currently the UK/PRC346 TacGA V/UHF transceiver intended to replace the old AN/PRC-113 HaveQuick and UK/PRC344 sets. Continuing problems encountered with both the TacGA's receive and transmit ranges are understood to have led to the raising of an urgent operational requirement (UOR) for a new multiband radio specifically for FACs.
Desirably this would have the multirole capabilities of a radio such as the Harris AN/PRC-117F (C) or Raytheon PSC-5, including satcoms. However, the worsening capacity problem in the UHF satcoms band that both of these use may compel a move to a higher frequency range. Meanwhile, the authorized link to the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) remains the existing unencrypted, fixed-frequency Clansman HF radio (UK/PRC320, VRC321), which has been supplemented by 'borrowed' satcoms radios such as the PRC-117D model.
(ps. The correct data code for Airborne FAC is FACA - not ABFAC)