Britain's flying tankers hailed as 'Godsend'
From today's Torygraph:
Britain's flying tankers hailed as 'Godsend'
By David Graves, aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and Neil Tweedie
AMERICAN pilots yesterday described the RAF's aerial refuelling crews as the silent "heroes" of the bombing campaign in Afghanistan.
While the American tankers were restricted to pre-arranged areas of operations over Afghanistan, the six RAF aircraft were prepared to "go anywhere they were needed" over the country, which enabled more targets to be attacked, the pilots disclosed. As a result, the British aircraft are preferred even over their American counterparts by the combat crews.
The pilots aboard the American aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, who have launched nearly 1,100 sorties against Taliban targets and terrorist positions belonging to Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda network, said they were "extremely grateful" for the service provided by the RAF tankers.
"They're my heroes. They don't have as many assets as the US, but every time I've flown they had a plane out there," said Capt Stephen Voetsch, the US Navy air wing commander aboard the Theodore Roosevelt.
Six RAF tanker aircraft, two TriStars from 216 Squadron and four VC10s from 10 and 101 Squadrons, were deployed to the Middle East at the start of the bombing campaign on Oct 7. While no British combat aircraft have participated in the air strikes so far, the unheralded role of the tankers has largely gone unnoticed.
Usually based in Oman, the tankers fly every day to ensure the American aircraft bombing targets in Afghanistan are able to fly above the country long enough to complete their missions. The Navy F-14 Tomcats and Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornets launched from the Theodore Roosevelt and its sister carrier, the Carl Vinson, are refuelled at least twice over the country, sometimes more.
With some of the targets up to 900 miles from the carriers, the pilots said the service offered by the RAF was vital to enable them to complete their missions successfully. They also said that the refuelling process used by the RAF was more compatible to their aircraft than that offered by the US Air Force.
One pilot said the RAF tankers were the first choice for the carrier aircraft. "The US Navy and Air Force use different refuelling systems, and we are much happier using the RAF tankers than the air force because their system is much more like ours," he said.
Rear Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, commander of the Theodore Roosevelt battle group, described the RAF tankers as "a Godsend" and said his pilots referred to them as "a basket of choice", a reference to the refuelling method involving a basket at the end of a fuel hose in which an aircraft sticks a probe to refuel.
A Marine Corps Hornet pilot said the RAF crews were prepared to go anywhere over Afghanistan, unlike the US Air Force tankers. "They will go with you wherever you want to go. With so many targets now being designated at a late stage it is vital we have that flexibility. "When we want to refuel, they are always there. Their contribution is absolutely immense," he said.
The 30-year-old captain, who has flown 13 sorties over Afghanistan, said the crew of one of the Tristars had "highly amused" him and his colleagues in VMFA-251 Squadron by putting a "cash only" sign in the windows of the tanker one night when they were refuelling.
The RAF tanker crews are pushing themselves to the limits of safety in operations over Afghanistan, flying at four times the rate they would normally achieve in peacetime, the Ministry of Defence said. They were currently flying 120 hours every 28 days, compared to the normal maximum monthly total of about 30 hours, a source said.
One fifth of US aircraft in ground attacks were being refuelled by the RAF.