| More CAS Fundamentals |
| THE FINAL CONTROL The actual control of a CAS strike is known as Terminal Control. Defined: The authority to direct the manuever of aircraft which are delivering ordnance, passengers, or cargo to a specific location or target. Terminal control is a type of air control. (Joint Pub 3-09.3) I will discuss some of the methods and techniques used to provide terminal control of aircraft delivering ordnance since that is what we do for CAS. Cargo and passengers is a Combat Control thing....woopee. THE FAC TO FIGHTER BRIEF When fighters arrive on station to conduct a CAS mission they must get their initial FAC to Fighter briefing known as a "Nine Line" in the States. Upon check-in the fighter will give his line-up and authenticate the controller to ensure everone is who they say they are. After those formalities are done, the FAC will send the aircraft to an Initial Point (IP) and, when the pilot is ready, brief the Nine Line. An IP is a predesignated point at which the aircraft will begin their attack run. Ideally, in today's enviroment, the aircraft will already have been briefed the Nine Line from the ASOC or ABCCC when they check in but often there are changes that must be given. The Nine Line is information pertinant and necessary to complete the mission. The following breaks it down. 1. IP - The Initial Point (see above explanantion) 2. HEADING - The azimuth given in degrees magnetic from the IP to the target. 3. DISTANCE - The distance in nautical miles from the IP to the target. 4. ELEVATION - The elevation in feet MSL of the target. 5. TARGET DESCRIPTION - A brief description of what the target looks like. For example: 8 tanks in the open 6. TARGET LOCATION - Given in either latitude/longitude or 6 digit UTM grids 7. MARK - What is the target being marked by? i.e. Willy Pete, Ground Illum. Also include the Laser Code and laser-to-target line if using a laser. (Note: For AF aircraft include the LTL on this line, for Marine aircraft, it goes in the first line of the remarks) Those Marines are so wacky! 8. FRIENDLIES - The distance and cardinal direction of the closest friendly forces from the TARGET. 9. EGRESS - The direction and/or location the aircraft should egress once the attack is completed. This is very important because often there are supporting fires coming in just as the aircraft pulls off. Don't want to put a mortar round through your airplane! You then brief the pilot any remarks you have such as threats, restrictions, danger close, etc. Now it is time to establish how you want the aircraft to initiate their run. There are two basic ways; Time On Target (TOT) or Time To Target (TTT). TOT is the preferred methid of synchronizing attacks. This is where the FAC will accomplish an agreed on HACK with the fighters for a specific amount of time. TTT requires that all individuals involved in the attack be running on the exact same time which can be difficult to coordinate. It is also important to mention that thes methods do not have to be followed. If it is safe to do, the FAC can simply request the fighter to call when departing the IP. Once the aircraft are inbound to the target, things start to get VERY crucial. It is the job of the FAC to visually aquire the aircraft and ensure they are attacking the correct target. The aircraft are required to make "in" calls which alerts the controller that the CAS aircraft has begun it's final attack heading. Thinking fast and having good situational awareness is crucial at this point. When the FAC is reasonably sure that the fighter has the right target, he will give the fighter a "Cleared Hot" call. This authorizes the aircraft the expend munitions on the target. If the FAC is not sure, he can abort the attack run using a predesignated code, or give a "continue dry" call. Continue dry tells the aircraft to complete it's attack run but he is not authorized to drop munitions. This is not preferred but it will work in a pinch. Other communications also take place during a mission such as updated target area descriptions, and calls of "Contact" and "Visual" by the pilot and controller. One of the most common calls is "Continue", which is a call made by the FAC to the aircraft to continue it's current action. Once the target is neutralized or the aircraft runs out of fuel (like when you are working with F-16s) the FAC will brief Battle Damage Assesment (BDA). This is important information that the fighter will take back and brief to the intel folks for future reference. It also gives the pilot a warm fuzzy to know what he did. Well, that wraps up basic CAS fundamentals. Ready to go out and control a mission yet? Believe me, there are a thousand other things that must be taken in account to successfully complete a CAS mission. These are just the BASIC components. We take our jobs very seriously in this profession. There has never been a case of fratricide (killed by friendly fire) by a TACP member. We train to avoid it and have so far. I hope this has given you a little insight into what a CAS mission is. Thanks for the interest! |