Ben Morgan’s Pacific Update: A simple explanation of this week’s military and political developments in the Pacific

Exercise Pacific Skies 2024, European aircraft exercise in the Pacific

On 8 July, Exercise Pacific Skies 2024 starts. Pacific Skies 2024 is a series of exercises involving German, Spanish and French aircraft, practicing deployment to and operating in the Pacific region. The exercise is led by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and is integrated with scheduled US, Japanese and Australian exercises. It finishes with visits to New Zealand and India where the aircraft will join Exercise Tarang Shakti in August.

The exercise focusses on air combat and supporting air warfare far from Europe.  The following combat aircraft are deploying:

• 12 German Tornado fighters.
• 12 Eurofighter Typhoons, eight German and four Spanish.
• Four French Rafale fighters.

The warplanes will be supported by transport and tanker aircraft;

• Seven A330 tanker aircraft from Germany and France.
• Nine A420 transport aircraft from Germany.
• Four small German helicopters.

This force will progress through the following separate activities:

• 8-18 July – Ex Arctic Defender an air-to-air combat exercise over Alaska.
• 22-25 July – An exercise involving joint training flights over Japan called Ex Nippon Skies.
• 22-30 July – Ex RIMPAC, during which the focus will be cooperation with German naval vessels involved in the exercise.
• 22 July – 1 August – A large multination air combat exercise in Australia called Ex Pitch Black.
• 7-14 August – Joining in with the Indian led Ex Tarang Shakti, and conducting joint training flights
• An A420 will also visit New Zealand.

My assessment is that this exercise is designed to meet a range of outcomes and demonstrates Europe’s interest in the Pacific region.  The first objective is likely to be building relationships. The European pilots, support staff and their leaders will work with colleagues across the Pacific and in India. In the future, if conflict arises these networks provide a basis for the human aspects of joint force inter-operability.

Secondly, the exercise is clearly designed to practice long-range deployment of fighter aircraft. The movement of large numbers of fighter aircraft is called ‘trailing’ and involves a squadron, or squadrons of fighters flying a standard route supported by tankers that refuel them as required. Trailing is a very difficult skill, that requires a high level of planning, training and practice to do well.  However, it allows for the rapid re-deployment of air power and is a key element of modern Western air warfare doctrine.  The US and NATO’s ability to move combat aircraft long-distances quickly has been demonstrated numerous times including in Operation Desert Sheild in 1990, the 2001 Invasion of Afghanistan, the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and more recently responding to Houthi activity in the Red Sea.

Further, trailing practices the practical skills required for air refuelling, an operational technique that is another characteristic of Western air warfare doctrine.  Air-to-air refuelling allows combat aircraft to stay ‘on station’ for much longer than if they are limited to the fuel they can carry.  This capability allowed NATO and US aircraft to enforce historic ‘No Fly Zones’ over Iraq from 1991-2003, Bosnia in 1993-95 and more recently over Libya.  It also extends the loiter time of attack aircraft, supporting ground troops.

My next observation is that this exercise is designed to practice inter-operability, specifically command and control.  Another feature of Western air power doctrine is the importance of Airborne Early Warning and Command (AWAC) or using large aircraft equipped with powerful radars to ‘look down’ on the air battle space, identify aircraft and manage the air battle.

European air operations are coordinated by a dedicated fleet of NATO AWACs aircraft.  Air combat training without some form of AWACs support is likely to be unsophisticated, therefore the exercises involving simulated combat will probably be supported by US or Australian AWAC aircraft. An opportunity for nations to work together to practice joint procedures.

Ex Pacific Skies indicates that NATO countries retain an interest in the Pacific region and are willing to invest in large and sophisticated exercises to ensure that if they deploy to the region they can work easily with the US and Australia.  Voice of America (VOA), recently interviewed Stephen Flanagan a RAND corporation academic who served as an advisor in the Obama Whitehouse. The interview was about NATO’s forthcoming 75^thsummit (that will be attended by Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) but highlights NATO’s interest in the region.  VOA reported that Flanagan’s assessment is that “NATO doesn’t play a major role in Indo-Pacific security, but that NATO and its allies are recognizing an increased need to take limited steps for cooperation in the region.”  Additionally, the article noted that NATO’s interest in the Pacific needs to balance with its existing commitments, so the alliance does not over extend itself. Ex Pacific Skies is probably an example of this approach, not basing forces in the region but practicing the skills to do so if required.

The article also noted that Japan is worried about security in the region and is keen to increase NATO’s presence.  In my opinion, NATO’s activity in the Indo-Pacific is likely to increase and is a trend worth studying because it will certainly influence security and stability in the region.

This link provides some more information – https://www.bundeswehr.de/en/organization/german-air-force/pacific-skies-24-

Here is a link to the VOA article – https://www.voanews.com/a/indo-pacific-ukraine-to-drive-talks-at-nato-summit/7685481.html

US Marine Corps new Amphibious Combat Vehicle

III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) received its first batch of new Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV). III MEF is based in Okinawa and these vehicles replace the older LVTP 7 tracked amphibious vehicle.  The LVTP 7, was a large and cumbersome vehicle but provided excellent service for many years including during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The ACV represents a developing trend in armoured vehicle procurement, as militaries start to favour large wheeled armoured vehicles.  Modern wheeled vehicles have excellent mobility and can move long distances with less mechanical support than tracked vehicles. However, the current generation are very large. For instance, the Boxer infantry fighting vehicle that is entering service with the UK, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands is approximately eight metres long, nearly four metres high and weighs 36 tonnes but carries only eight infantry soldiers. The ACV is a similar size, approximately nine metres long, around three metres high and weighing about 32 tonnes but carries 13 infantry soldiers.

This trend towards large vehicles is driven by experience in Afghanistan.  The vehicles are high to accommodate ‘V’ shaped hulls that protect the passengers from mines. Extra armour adds weight and size to this generation of vehicles.

There is no doubt that the ACV is a capable vehicle with excellent protection.  It swims well, can travel fast on land (up to 100kmph) and has a wide variety of weapon options.  However, a question needs to be asked about the size of the ACV within Pacific employment contexts.  People that have visited the South West Pacific or South East Asia will understand the difficulty of moving vehicles this large around.  Narrow roads, overhanging trees and lots of canals, rivers and streams will limit the deployment of large vehicles like the ACV. Tactically, this allows an opposition force to carefully target defiles or avoid engaging in areas that these vehicles can reach.  This trend is worth watching and learning from, procurement of armoured vehicles is expensive so learning from other nation’s experiences is very important.

Tonga’s Armed Forces Leadership Centre opens, part funded by New Zealand

This week, New Zealand Minister of Defence, Judith Collins travelled to Tonga to participate in opening the nation’s new Armed Forces Leadership Centre.  She is also visiting the National Disaster Risk Management Office to discuss how the New Zealand military supports emergency management training and disaster relief.

The centre is partly funded by New Zealand’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Defence.  It is a good example of New Zealand building relationships with its Pacific neighbours. New Zealand has a long history of working with the nations of the Pacific and activities like this build upon this legacy.

​Melanesian update

A regular update on the Pacific’s least reported trouble spot; Melanesia.

Fiji receives Bushmaster armoured vehicles from Australia

Last month, Australia delivered 14 Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles to the Fiji Defence Force.  Bushmaster is an armoured 4 X4 truck that is designed to protect its occupants from small arms fire, improvised explosive devices and mines. It has been used successfully in Afghanistan and in Ukraine.