F-15E live weapons drop - an explosive first

by Airman 1st Class Erin O'Shea
48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

2/25/2014 - ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- In order to become fully prepared for their upcoming Air Expeditionary Force deployment, the 492nd Fighter Squadron pilots must meet an annual requirement of participating in one live weapons drop.

Before a deployment, the 492nd FS pilots would typically attend a temporary duty in the U.S. to meet their weapons employment requirement. Due to sequestration, their mission was postponed and was more cost efficient to be held here in the United Kingdom. The mission was intended to last a week and was the first-ever live munitions drop along the far northern border of Scotland at Cape Wrath.

"Dummy bombs were dropped several years ago for practice, but never live munitions to this magnitude," said Capt. Steven Smith, 492nd FS pilot.

The British Military and U.S. Military have been working together for several months to make it possible for the 75 aircrew members to practice dropping these live weapons for their pre-deployment practice.

Each week, pilots convene to coordinate and plan missions in order to meet all United States Air Forces in Europe safety requirements and regulations.

The proposed mission was to have 48 live air-to-ground munitions flown on F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets to Cape Wrath and dropped at a precise target location after given the go-ahead from British counterparts.

"We knew about the mission approximately six weeks prior to the operation," said Master Sgt. Shawn Osbourn, 492nd FS weapons section chief. "We started working with munitions control, in which they built all munitions and were then responsible for loading them."

The munitions group is comprised of three main crews - a team chief, a two-man and a three-man team, each with a different responsibility. The team chief is in charge of the loading operation while the other two prepare the racks which hold the munitions and prepare them to be loaded onto the aircraft. This exercise gives maintenance and weapons troops the ability to build and load bombs which serves as valuable practice for performing their mission.

For this particular exercise, the best-suited munitions were Guided Bomb Unit-12s. "GBU-12s are a good choice because of their laser accuracy," said Osbourn. "The laser is spot-on and can be easily directed, compared to dummy bombs which are free falling."

The live bombs were dropped on a large rock in the ocean, desolate and away from the population. Because weather and wind can be a factor, using the laser guided bomb adds assurance to the accuracy of where the bomb is hitting.

To make this mission successful, pilots had to work closely with Joint Terminal Air Controllers from the Air Ground Operations School in Germany. JTACs are a valuable asset in the control aspect, including directing the laser at the rock target standing from the ground and working closely with the pilots to ensure their mission goes as planned.
Six aircraft were scheduled to fly up to the site in the morning and another six in the afternoon, each aircraft carrying two live bombs.

With these particular munitions, once the live GBU-12 is dropped, the weapon enters into terminal guidance, falling from the sky on its own course. With 10 seconds remaining in time of flight, the laser is turned on and then spotted on the projected target. The bomb contains a seeker and is able to guide itself to the designated point.

"A pass of the area is cleared before any activity in order to make sure nothing is affected in the surrounding area," said Smith. The explosion creates a large cloud of dust and creates an infrared signature. Therefore, the pilots have to wait for the cloud to die down before they can easily see the target again to drop the next bomb.

The weather always plays a part in the mission's overall elapsed time. Due to rain and clouds blocking visibility, the exercise continued into the following week in order to have all 48 bombs successfully dropped and each pilot up to date with their pre-deployment training.

Once the jets landed back at RAF Lakenheath, the 492nd FS weapons load crew ensured all the bombs worked correctly and were accurate. They inspected all the wiring and the bomb racks and are notified by the pilots if any issues occurred while in flight.

For members of the 48th Munitions Squadron, their work does not end here. Each month, they must attend weapons load training to ensure they are up to speed and can accurately and proficiently load live munitions. They are assessed and given a time limit to properly load munition with their assigned crew. Once the task is complete, they repeat the process over again so when tested, they are able to quickly perform when time may be limited in a deployed environment.

"The F-15 is like a small bomber because of the amount of ammo it can carry and how many munitions it can hold," said Osbourn. "The F-15E fighter jets contain fifteen loadable stations which is much more than the usual aircraft, which makes working with this model much more complex. Ensuring each member knows how to properly construct and load any kind of munitions when needed is crucial."

The 492nd FS continues to carry on their mission and ensure each pilot is ready to go for their next AEF deployment. With support of British Forces, U.S. military members can prepare and train for upcoming deployments and ensure readiness at all times. With a firm foundation and trusted relationship, all forces will remain forward, ready, now.