NOTHING TOO MUCH
- Aviation Features
- Nothing too much
8th November 2024
FEATURE
Turkish Air Force Air Transport Capability
Cem Dogut takes a detailed look, with some stunning air to air photography, of the Turkish Air Force’s transport fleet
The C-130B gains altitude at maximum climb angle while passing over the runway at high speed
All images Cem Dogut
The Turkish Air Force (TurAF) first acquired air transport capability with the C-47 Dakotas procured in 1946. In a short time, the C-47 squadron expanded with the addition of these aircraft granted by the US and a total of 110 C-47s were included in the inventory, the C-47 remaining in active military service until 1998.
These aircraft were used by a unit named the Liaison and Transport Group at the outset. In 1948, this became a separate unit called the Air Transport Regiment. In this way, all Air Transport activities required by the Turkish Air Force were gathered under one roof. In 1951, Air Transport Regiments such as these were renamed as the 11th (Etimesgut/Ankara) and 12th (Erkilet/Kayseri) Air Transport Main Base Command. In 1959, two C-54D Skymasters were included in the inventory, yet the aircraft used for long range transport missions were retired in 1973.
The 12th Air Transport Main Base Command consists of the 221st Squadron, which operates the A400M and C-160D, and the 222nd Squadron, with the C-130B/E. The 12th ATMB Command’s three different types of aircraft are being prepared for flight at the Erkilet runway for the A2A session
Turkey’s Hercules
By the 1960s, due to the turmoil in Cyprus, there was a need to enhance air transport and airborne capabilities. To meet this, five C-130E Hercules aircraft were acquired in 1964, and the Tactical Air Transport Squadron Command was established with these aircraft. One of them, the C-130E with serial number 64-17949, crashed while landing at Akhisar Airfield Command on the evening of October 19, 1968, resulting in the death of the seven crew members on board. Between 1971 and 1974, three more C-130E aircraft were acquired. Since 1968, the 2nd Air Maintenance Factory Directorate at Erkilet-Kayseri has had depot-level maintenance (DLM) capability for C-130 aircraft. The C-130B/E Hercules aircraft of the 222nd Squadron Air Transport Command undergo DLM every five years. The 1st Air Maintenance Factory Directorate currently has the DLM capability for Rolls-Royce T56 Turboprop engines. Under the T56-A-7/15 conversion project, initiated in the second half of the 1990s, the T56-A7 TP engines used in C-130B/E aircraft were converted to the T56-A-15 model.
Between 1991-1992, six second-hand C-130B aircraft, previously flown by the US Air National Guard, were added to the inventory. To support the fleet, six used C-130E transport aircraft were purchased from the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) in 2010 for $26.3m. The transfer of these aircraft from Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia to Erkilet Air Base in Kayseri took place between November 20, 2011 and January 21, 2012. Unlike the C-130E aircraft in service, the C-130E Hercules aircraft purchased from the RSAF do not have the AN/AAR-47(V)1 missile warning system (MWS) sensors or chaff/flare launchers in the nose and tail sections. Today, a total of 19 C-130B/E aircraft continue to operate with the 222nd Squadron.
The A400M has demonstrated outstanding performance in Turkey since it entered service in 2014. By April 2024, the A400M fleet of ten Turkish Air Force aircraft had completed more than 15,000 flight hours (as of April 2019, this was 4,000 hours) and achieved an impressive mission readiness rate of 75%
The A400Ms have replaced the ageing C-160Ds. After the C-160Ds are removed from the inventory, the C-130Bs will likely be next. Turkey continues negotiations to purchase C-130Js from the UK. If an agreement is reached, the C-130Bs will gradually be removed and replaced
Battlefield testing in Cyprus
Since its foundation, the Air Transport Squadron has constantly increased its power and in 1974 was entrusted with its most critical test. Twenty C-47s, six C-130Es and 12 C-160Ds joined in the Cyprus Peace Operation.
On the first day of the operation, the C-47s took off from the Erkilet base at 0500hrs, followed by C-130Es and C-160Ds at 0545hrs and the airdrop C-130Es and C-160Ds at 0600hrs. The paratrooper drop into the Gönyeli zone in Cyprus was at 0705 with supplies dropped at 0718hrs.
While executing the mission’s secondary echelon in the Gönyeli zone, hostile anti-aircraft fire was launched, and several aircraft were hit. So, the third echelon’s airdrop activities were conducted at the Kırnı drop zone. On the first day, nearly 2,100 paratroopers and 140 tons of supplies were dropped at the Gönyeli and Kırnı (northeastern part of Nicosia) zones.
The Cyprus Peace Operation proved the importance of having a robust Air Transport Squadron capable of rapidly dispatching numerous staff and supplies required to long-distance ranges.
Erkilet Air Base takes its name from its location – at the foothills of Mount Erciyes. Here, A400M salutes the mountain
Strategic transport capability acquired
The Air Transport Squadron carried out light transport missions first with the C-47s and then the CN235M-100s and acquired tactical transport capability with the C-130Es and C-160Ds procured in the 1960s and ’70s. In 1995, the Air Forces Command was involved in the development process of the A400Ms and with this project it acquired a strategic transport capability.
Turkey joined the A400M New Generation Transport Aircraft programme, launched as a multi-national programme with the participation of countries such as Germany, Belgium, France, UK, Spain and Luxembourg in 1988. Turkey announced a purchase of ten A400M transport aircraft for the Air Forces Command. After several technical changes by the six countries were carried out in 2009-2010, the project was revitalised and the first A400M aircraft was delivered to French Air Forces at the end of September 2013. The second aircraft was intended to be delivered to Turkey in November 2013, but as a result of a difference in technical specifications and financial issues, the first delivery incurred a fivemonth delay and it didn’t take place until April 16, 2014. The tenth and final aircraft was delivered on March 30, 2022.
The retrofitting activities that will elevate the aircraft to their final configuration were launched in 2020 at the 2nd Air Maintenance Factory Directorate in Kayseri.
With the entry of the A400M aircraft into the inventory, the TurAF will be able to carry supplies heavier or greater in volume and weapon systems and vehicles (such as helicopters and armoured personnel carriers) will now be carried. With the A400M, the TurAF has now increased its operational radius range to 3,000km with a 37-ton capacity, and to 9,000km with ten tons without air-refuelling. So, it is now possible to fly nonstop from Turkey to North America. The TurAF’s power projection capability and reaction speed has increased remarkably because of the A400Ms, with their payload capacity of 37,600kg and cruising speed of 800km/h.
The decommissioning of the C-160D from cargo tasks and establishment of Turkey’s bases abroad in recent years resulted in the need for more A400Ms. flights to bases with A400Ms, particularly to those in Libya and Somalia, have intensified. The A400M is capable of executing the tasks of two or three cargo aircraft and this has significantly increased the Turkish Armed Forces’ deployment power.
C-130 Erciyes modernisation
The C-130 Erciyes avionics modernisation project was initiated to make the existing C-130B/E aircraft compliant with the rules implemented in European and US airspace from 2005 onwards, enabling their use in these airspaces. Additionally, it aims to replace obsolete systems that threaten flight safety and reach the end of their service life with modern systems. Under the Erciyes project, led by TUSAS (Turkish Aerospace) and signed in December 2006, 13 C-130E and six C-130B Hercules transport aircraft will be modernised. As part of the project, 14 aircraft have been modernised and delivered to date with the 15th due for delivery later this year.
The first prototype aircraft, 63-13188, with the completed new design, integration, production, ground and flight tests, and qualification activities, was delivered to the TurAF at a ceremony held at Turkish Aerospace facilities on August 8, 2014. The second and final prototype aircraft (tail number 634) was delivered to TurAF in December 2016. Post-modernisation, the aircraft were renamed C-130EM and C-130BM. This upgrade will enable the C-130s to safely remain in service until the 2040s. The C-130BM/EM Hercules aircraft are equipped with a digital cockpit – featuring four colour multi-function displays (MFD) with moving map capability, two central display units (CDU), and two multi-purpose central control computers (MCC) – a national flight management system (FMS), a ground mission planning unit integrated with Havelsan HvBS (MEIS – military enterprise information system), and night-vision goggles (NVG) compatible instrument lights. The C-130 Hercules aircraft typically operates with a crew of five, including two pilots, a navigator, a flight engineer and a loadmaster. However, thanks to the FMS software developed by TUSAS engineers under the Erciyes project, which replaces the navigator, the crew size of the modernised C-130BM/EM Hercules aircraft has been reduced to four.
221st Squadron’s A400M & 222nd Squadron’s C-130B fly over the Yamula reservoir. A400M, tail number 21-0118, was the last aircraft delivered to the Turkish Air Force
One of the last three C-160s suffered engine failure on January 25, 2024 and was later written off. The aircraft is pictured on the Konya runway during a recent Anatolian Eagle exercise
Two C-160D await their fate on the Erkilet ramp, a yellow C-130E purchased from Saudi Arabia is also visible. The C-130E, 65-0451 will be the last aircraft of the Erciyes project. It will fly again after it undergoes comprehensive modernisation
Transalls
Further increases to the air transport and airborne unit capabilities came in 1971 when 20 C-160D Transall aircraft were procured after the German Air Force began downsizing its inventory – surplus assets were delivered to the Turkish Air Force.
The C-160Ds being delivered were not equipped with an airdrop system and this led to the 12th Air Transport Main Base Command developing a unique system with its own facilities that was subsequently integrated into the aircraft. These are still being used by the 221st Squadron.
C-160s – in service for more than 50 years – have been gradually withdrawn recently due to spares issues. One of the last three remaining C-160s was involved in a mishap on January 25, 2024; shortly after take-off, it had an engine failure and the crew was forced to make an emergency landing. The aircraft, serial 69-036, was an interesting C-160D, one of two special mission aircraft, in the so-called MilKar-2U configuration for EW (electronic warfare) radio-frequency jamming systems. Unfortunately, the aircraft was written off due to the damage.
afm
As the A400M gains altitude at a steep angle, the city of Kayseri and the old smoky C-130B are visible in the background
The 2nd HBFM Aircraft FASBAT Directorate (Hava Bakım Fabrika Müdürlüğü – Air Maintenance Factory Directorate and Fabrika Seviyesi Bakım ve Tadilat – Factory Level Maintenance and Renovation) in the 12th Air Transport Main Base Command campus, was certified by Airbus Defence and Space to provide C-level overhaul (C-check) service for A400M Aircraft. CL (intermediate level) and CH (depot level) maintenance have been carried out for A400M aircraft by the 2nd HBFM since 2017
Major role in operations
Turkish A400Ms were used in the Dakar and Africa missions as well as the Somali mission of the Turkish president between 2014-2015.
In the Dakar mission, 13-0009, departed with the maximum take-off weight of 141 tons on a direct one-day flight from Wunstorf in Germany to Dakar, in Senegal, West Africa. A water treatment plant for the advisory group of the German Armed Forces and additional material was transported on the mission. On the way back, nine tons of material from the UN Mission for Ebola Response was taken back to Europe.
The first real logistics operation as well as the longest Turkish A400M flight took place during the Dakar mission. The trip was supposed to validate different functionalities and performance of the aircraft. The aircraft took off with 11 officers (four pilots, three loadmasters, four technical engineers) and flew approximately 23.000kms, transiting five countries. During a stop in Abu Dhabi, UAE, a temperature of 52°C and 60% humidity was recorded inside the aircraft.
The A400Ms also transported S-70 Black Hawks from Ankara to Kabul, Afghanistan, in a non-stop flight, and brought an unserviceable helicopter back to Turkey. Before the A 400M, these kinds of operations and flights were performed with USAF support. In the same period, the first transatlantic mission was completed with a direct flight from Istanbul to the US.
