The Flyer
Castellaw nurses an aging aviation fleet and plots the introduction of several new classes of aircraft
As the Marine Corps’ Deputy Commandant for Aviation, Lt. Gen. John G. Castellaw faces the challenge of managing an extensive modernization plan while fielding air units in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Marine Corps aviation is experiencing its highest operational tempo in decades, with one-third of its aviation forces deployed at any given time.
With the pressures of war and modernization, Castellaw — an enthusiastic advocate of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft — has been careful not to allow his force to be hollowed out in the face of an aging aircraft inventory, and is exercising a patient, measured approach to replacing some systems, including old electronic warfare aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). He has placed modern Litening electro-optical targeting pods on more classes of aircraft, and is assessing a variety of UAVs for the Corps, including the Army’s Shadow and Navy Fire Scout, which might fulfill some Marine requirements on an interim basis.
A native of Crockett County, Tennessee, Castellaw began his career in amphibious tractors and tanks. After becoming a helicopter pilot, he served in three CH-46 squadrons before commanding Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 264. He later commanded the 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade on Okinawa and the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing. During the Balkans War, he coordinated American air support during the siege of Sarajevo. Before assuming his current post a year ago, he served as the chief of staff for U.S. Central Command.
Castellaw discussed Marine Corps aviation issues with Managing Editor Richard R. Burgess. Excerpts follow.
What are the major challenges facing Marine Corps aviation today and in the near future?
CASTELLAW: No. 1 is sustaining the effort that’s under way now. At any one time, we have a third of our force’s aviation deployed, a majority of them in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Others are aboard carriers and still others are aboard amphibious decks as well as in the Western Pacific. The op-tempo has never been higher in my 34 years in the Marine Corps. We’ve got aircraft operating out there that are a few months old and others that are approaching 50 years.
The second challenge is to transition new systems while fighting a war. The first platform we did that with was the KC-130J [tanker/transport]. Marine Aerial Refueling Squadron 252 was rotating detachments at Afghanistan and Iraq with older versions and, at the same time, we were introducing the new KC-130J. I think the Marine Corps is about the only service that would try to do that, and we did it pretty successfully.
With two operational MV-22 squadrons, and one soon to follow, we are getting the Osprey ready to deploy. The H-1 [Upgrade] program is coming along in fiscal 2008. There is no community that’s more stressed in terms of op-tempo right now than the H-1 “skid” community, so we’re going to transition those guys to a new aircraft while we’re fighting the war.
A little further down the line will be the F-35B (JSF) and CH-53K (heavy-lift helicopter).
Will the fiscal 2007 budget slow-down in JSF development delay fielding the Corps’ JSFs?
CASTELLAW: For 2007, Congress funded advance procurement for six STOVL (short takeoff/vertical landing) F-35Bs and six conventional takeoff-and-landing versions to be procured in 2008. If that holds true, we’ll be able to field the JSF in 2012, which we planned to do all along. It’s extremely important that we do that.
We passed on the generation of fighters typified by the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and went straight to the F-35. That means that we’re going to continue to operate our legacy fighters — older Hornets and AV-8B Harriers. When you look at the numbers, we are, through attrition and end-of-service life, going into a bathtub and it gets pretty deep and pretty wide as you get past 2012.
What capabilities is the JSF going to give to Marine Corps aviation?
CASTELLAW: It’s going to be the centerpiece of Marine aviation. It has electronic attack and ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) capabilities. It has the capability to be a node that can pass and help retrieve information between all elements not only in Marine aviation, but of the other elements in the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. This is going to be a tremendous enabler.
What is the right mixture of STOVL F-35Bs and carrier F-35Cs for the Corps?
CASTELLAW: For the Marine Corps, the right mixture of JSFs is all Bs. The forecast radius of the F-35B is about 508 nautical miles. Compared to the F-35C, it gives you 10 times the number of airfields that you can operate from, and twice the number of decks — not only carriers but the amphib decks. Having an all-STOVL force will make us the most flexible and capable attack air force in the world.
Will the F-35 replace the Harrier or the Hornet first?
CASTELLAW: We’re looking very closely at that. We may start out maybe replacing some number of Harrier squadrons first because of attrition. We started out at 20 Harriers per squadron, then went down to 16, and now at 14. As Harrier numbers go down, and to avoid hollowing out Harrier squadrons, we might transition some Harrier squadrons first and re-invest the remaining Harriers in the other squadrons. Then we will turn to the F/A-18 squadrons and eventually back to Harriers or some combination thereof.
Will the Hornet force last until the JSF arrives?
CASTELLAW: We have an engineering effort under way right now to replace a number of the center barrels (fuselage sections). In 2007, we’re deactivating a two-seat Hornet squadron and a reserve single-seat squadron, and reinvesting the airplanes and people back into the fleet to mitigate the impact of attrition. The Marine Corps philosophy is not to hollow out squadrons. We intend to maintain squadrons ready to go to war. There are three types of squadrons in the Marine Corps: the ones that are getting ready to go, the ones that are gone and the ones that are just getting back.
Have you flown the Osprey?
CASTELLAW: Several times. It’s a great aircraft, powerful, stable, twice as fast as a (CH-46) Frog and goes over six times as far. On good days, Frogs can go about 75 to 80 miles then turn around and come back. The MV-22B goes 450 miles. It has seven times the ballistic tolerance of a CH-46. The infrared signature is one-quarter that of a Frog and the acoustic signature is one-sixth, and it can go above 10,000 feet out of the threat regime. It’s an extremely survivable and capable aircraft. Everybody should be, as I am, extremely excited about getting the MV-22B operational.
What is being done to keep the CH-46 in the air until the Osprey takes over?
CASTELLAW: One of the best things that we did was extend the life of the engine. We also put in new avionics packages, lightweight armor and reworked the crew seats. I was in Iraq about three months ago and I flew all over the western Anbar province in that aircraft. It’s doing a tremendous job, particularly in the [medical evacuation] role.
Will Congress give you the budget support you need to field the new CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter?
CASTELLAW: They certainly have so far. We made a very valid argument about the Marine Corps of the future, sea basing and the requirement to move things 110 nautical miles and return. The CH-53K is the aircraft we need to do that. We’ve really ridden the [older] CH-53E hard, spending a lot of its life picking up the slack from the CH-46.
The four CH-53Es in the Horn of Africa range far and wide supporting the joint task force, enabling the governments in the region to oppose al Qaeda elements and to support the people. But it takes a lot of effort to keep those aircraft flying.
Are you confident the improved H-1 program is now on track?
CASTELLAW: When I get up in the morning and I look in the mirror, I feel guilty because the November (UH-1N) was introduced in 1971 and we haven’t done much to the airframe except put stuff on it — rockets and guns. Every time it takes off, it’s at maximum gross weight. If it loses an engine, the likelihood is it’s going to roll itself up in a ball because it really doesn’t have single engine capability much of the time, particularly in places like Iraq.
The Yankee (UH-1Y) has over twice the payload that you have with the November, and it flies about 50 knots faster, too. So what it gives you is a capability: it’s got armament aboard, can fly farther and is more survivable. We want to see it pick up some of the missions of the CH-46.
The Zulu (AH-1Z) — what a tremendous attack aircraft it’s going to be. The four-blade rotor will greatly increase the amount of ordnance capability. It will be a true partner with the Yankee. Both of them will have about the same speed. We like to operate the two of them together
Do you think the decision to build new UH-1Ys was the right one?
CASTELLAW: Absolutely. Of all the aircraft communities, the “skid” community is the most stressed. They’re either in the war or they’re training people that go to war. So we can’t pull the number out that would make a business case for remanufacturing the November. So it makes sense to build new.
We’re going to remanufacture the Whiskey (AH-1W) into the Zulu but we’re looking at whether or not we’re going to [build new Zulus]. What we should do is build new Zulus while the Whiskeys are in the fight. That’s the kind of decision that we’re looking at.
What are you looking for in future UAVs?
CASTELLAW: The Scan Eagle Tier II UAV has been a good stop-gap platform but what we need is something that’s probably a little bit better. So we’re engaged with Special Operations Command, Air Force, Army and others to look at a long-term solution to this, a platform that would give us a night-time capability. Probably it’s going to be 2010 before we get that out. In the meantime, we’ll probably compete for Tier II service contract again until we can get the program more formalized.
Are you committed to a vertical takeoff UAV for the larger Tier III UAV?
CASTELLAW: No, we’re not writing out anything. We’re going back more, looking at other opportunities out there. We’ll look at potentially some interim systems that would include sustaining the Pioneer with another motor or a different package for sensors. We might look at another platform like Shadow in the interim. The Army operates them and there’s a lot of value in operating systems that other services have. Fire Scout is slower, doesn’t have the range, and may be more vulnerable than what we want, but it may be an interim solution. It’s hard to undervalue what UAVs give us but they’re just a part of the overall ISR effort.
What are the other components of the ISR effort?
CASTELLAW: We’ve put Litening (electro-optical targeting) pods on Harriers and Hornets and now we’re putting them on the EA-6B (electronic warfare aircraft). The pod gives streaming video through a Rover 3 data link receiver to the guys on the ground.
What we are more interested in, right now, is not getting tied up with trying to find one silver bullet platform, but figuring out how to put it all together. We’ve got an effort under way called DICE (Dynamic Integrated Combat Environment), our effort with the Marine Corps on networking the unmanned aerial systems and attack platforms like the Harrier and Hornet. The JSF will be the centerpiece for that effort, where we can pull everything together: retrieve information, share data, open files, all those things that we’re just glimpsing at right now. That’s the future.
Regarding the EA-6B, what is the future of electronic attack in the Marine Corps?
CASTELLAW: We are looking very closely at that right now. We’re putting a lot of effort into supporting the ground operations, particularly in trying to have impact on IEDs (improvised explosive devices). EA-6Bs have played a role in that.
We will continue to look for ways that we can improve our capabilities whether it’s manned or unmanned. Electronic warfare is not just going downtown jamming integrated air defenses.
We don’t know how long we’re going to operate the Prowler. The F-35 is going to have an electronic attack capability. A combination with unmanned systems and other service’s systems might give us what we want. We’ve got a few years to figure it out.
