Lebanon's Huey bomber

BIOGRAPHY

LTCOL YASSINE, JOINED L.A.F 1983

DEPUTY KLEIAAT AIR FORCE BASE CDR,AIR WING COMMANDER,BASE S2 CHIEF.

CURRENTLY CHIEF OF OPS SECTION IN THE A F HQ

COURSES:

1- IRWAC 1985, FT RUCKER,AL

2-REFRESHER COURSE UH-1H, FT RUCKER, AL.1995

3-SQUADRON CDR COURSE,SYRIA, 1998

4-COMMAND AND STAFF COURSE, LEBANON, 2004

5-AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COURSE, MAXWELL A.F.B.USA 2006.

OVERVIEW

BEGINNING OF THE CONFLICT WITH “Fateh Al Islam”.

MISSIONS EXECUTED BY LAF DURING THE CONFLICT.

THE SITUATION BEFORE THE AIR ATTACK.

THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF BOMBING STUDIES.

BOMBING EXECUTION.

RISK MANAGEMENT MEASURES.

STRATEGY OF EMPLOYMENT & MISSION EVALUATION.

Fateh - Al - Islam

In the 20 th of May 2007 a member of the terrorist

groups “Fateh Al Islam” attacked some Lebanese

army posts in the vicinity of camp Naher AL bared,

killing 20 troops and overtaking their posts.

This group was lead by shaker al absy, reports

about their strength and connections and their

supporters were not definite. They were ruling the

camp by being the most powerful armed and

organized group there since 2006.

“NAHER EL

BARED”

CAMP

90km

10 km

Beirut Air force Base

Naher Al Bared Camp

Kleyaat Air force Base

Naher Al Bared is a one of the Palestinian

refugee camps of 40000 p situated in the

north of Lebanon, at 80 km north of Beirut

and at 12 Km from KLAYAAT AIR FORCE

BASE where most helicopter missions were

launched.

“NAHER EL BARED” CAMP

AREA = 2 km2

POPULATION= 40.000 H

2007

Before the crisis the camp surface was less

than 2Km2.

NEW CAMP

OLD CAMP

“NAHER EL BARED” CAMP

The Camp is divided into 2 parts: the old part and the new one. The political negotiation with the Palestinian authorities between the 23rd and the 30th of May didn’t reach a happy end. This negotiation was aiming to hand over the terrorist members who did the attack at the army posts and at the same time to allow the civilian evacuation from inside the camp.

AIR FORCE CAPABILITIES

At the beginning of the conflict the LAF had

23 UH1H (50% were out of service due to

lack of spare parts), 2 of them were in

kleiaat and 4 raven R44 for training.

One month earlier the LAF has received

from UAE 9 gazelles (French anti tank

helicopters unarmed, and 3 of them were

flyable due to spare parts lack and checks

required, and during the battle 0.5 caliber

machine guns were installed on 2 ships and

anti-tank hot missiles on the third.

MISSIONS EXECUTED DURING

THE CONFLICT & EXECUTION STRATEGIE

OBSERVATION MISSIONS

Observation missions, started on the 20th of

may 2007.

TRANSPORT MISSIONS

MISSIONS EXECUTED DURING

THE CONFLICT & EXECUTION STRATEGY

Escort missions, start with the conflict

Preparing jets & V.I.P TRANSPORT

Even the R44 had participated in transport

and radio relay missions, and the air force

start to work on grounded jets

MEDICAL EVACUATION MISSIONS

Medical evacuation missions: daily

missions, day and night, good to mention

here that the execution of these missions

while trying to preserve the concept of the

“golden hour” had kept the moral of our

friendly troops very high. (130 MEDEVAC,

23 NIGHTS)



AIR-GROUND ATTACKS

The gazelle had participated in the combat

by the execution of some air attack missions

on special designated targets like anti-

aircraft machine guns, small artillery, fuel

tanks.

The gazelles had also participated in search

missions for terrorist members in the

northern mountain surrounding the camp.

STAGE I

STAGE II

THE SITUATION BEFORE THE BOMBING

The Lebanese armed Forces had initiated

different attacks on the camp, controlling

first the new part of the camp, and then the

east part of the old camp

THE FINAL AREA BEFORE THE BOMBING

The remaining surface was of 200-250

meters length and 200 meters wide

approximately

The remaining part of the camp is

considered to be the densest one and the

most dangerous

On the other hand the tiny small streets

inside this area and the immense

destruction created a big obstacle for our

ground troop’s advance in the camp.

Facing this situation it has become a priority

to find a solution out from anywhere .

The concept was to find a way to use the 50-250-

400 Kg bombs and to drop them over the camp in

a proper way. These bombs were first design to be

used on the MIRAGE and HUNTRER fighters 30

years ago and actually were supposed to be

demolished

The problem was to create an attachment

mechanism that allows a proper bomb release. A

quiet challenged task, because no body had ever

used a helicopter as a bomber before. .

THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF

BOMBING STUDIES.

A BLUE team of experience pilots and

technicians and engineers had initiated a

different studies and research projects in

order to make this idea realistic.


BOMBING STUDIES.

BOMBE ATTACHEMENT HUNTER

MISSILE ATTACHEMENT ARM GAZELLE

RELEASE PISTON

M113 ARMERD PLATE

HUNTER’S O2 BOTTELS

PRESSURED AIR

ELECTRICAL VALVE

COMPRESSED AIR

NAVY AXE

Thus, a helicopter bomber has been created

by using old fixed wing and helicopter and

navy vessels spare parts.


BOMBING STUDIES.

Even new bombs had been fabricated by

the engineers


BOMBING STUDIES.

CENTER OF GRAVITY CALCULATION

WEIGHT MOMENT

A/C 5500 7953

CREW 600 356.8

CARGO 1060.72 1295.433

FUEL 1400 2131.5

TOTAL 8560.72 11736.73

- BOMB LATERAL ARM :

(96/2)+(50*0.394)=67.7 in

WEIGHT MOMENT

BOMB 550 37235

- LATERAL CG = 37235/8560.72= 4.34 in

(LIMIT IS 5 IN)

2- CENTER OF GRAVITY

CALCULATION

WEIGHT MOMENT

A/C 5500 7953

CREW 600 356.8

CARGO 1628 1994.07

FUEL 1400 2131.5

CG=133.3

CG LIMITE(132.6/143.3)

WEIGHT MOMENT

A/C 5500 7953

CREW 600 356.8

CARGO 1628 1994.07

FUEL 480 629.5

FUEL QUANTITY WITH max FW CG

CG=132.2

CG LIMITE (130/144)

At the same time a series of studies had

been lunched concerning the CG calculation

and the GPS features characteristics

TRIAL PROCEDURES

Trial time had begin using non explosives

external weights

TRIAL PROCEDURES

BOMB 250 KG

400 KG

RELEASE POINT CALCULATION

Alt/feet A/S Kts Dx

5 kts A/S

Error

100 feet

Alt.Error Time

3000 90 650 35.1 m 6.9 13.6

1500 90 447.1 24.84 m 9.8 9.6

RELEASE POINT

Dx

PROJECTILE

Dx = Dv + GPS CORRECTION + SYSTEM CORRECTION

Dv : distance ( 633 meters)

GPS Corr : 1/4 second ( 10 meters) (delay)

SYS Corr : 1/5 second ( 7 meters)

TRIAL PROCEDURES

ACTUAL RELEASE POINT

THIS DELAY ID DUE TO:

- NUMBER OF SATELLITES CAPTURED

- GROUND SPEED

- ACTUAL (AGL) ALTITUDE

GPS RELEASE POINT

At the same time finding a way to correctly calculate, define and properly identify the release point was a big concern, due to the delay in the GPS reception and the delay in the release system itself, bearing in mind that the margin of error is so small due to the small dimensions of the remaining area to be bombed, and that even small error is not allowed

Several trying sorties had been executed

and the results were impressive, at the

same time sorties over the camp at low

level, day and nights set the field ready.

Finally a mathematical procedure had been

reached and implemented.

07-08-2007

The trial had started on the 7th of August in

the Bekaa Valley in a fire field for heavy

arms

09-08-2007

Only Two days later we started bombing the

camp

5 BUILDINGS

COMPLETELY

DESTROYED

The efficiency and efficacy of the bombing

had been a dramatic surprise over the

terrorists whom they found themselves

forced to even try to escape from the camp

or to surrender. And that was achieved on

the 2nd of Sep 2007.

RISK MANAGEMENT MEASURES

Target selection (starting with the one away

from our friendly troops.

Protection measures taken from our ground

troops.

Cease of our indirect fire over the camp .

Measures taken to minimize collateral damage

and utmost safety for flights:

This issue was one of our priority concerns.

Examples of measures taken:

Target selection (starting with the ones away from

our front lines)

Protection measures for our ground troops.

Cease of friendly indirect fire during the bombing.

A cover ship for rescue and assess the raid result

STRATEGY OF EMPLOYMENT &

MISSION’S EVALUATION.

DIRECT COORDINATION.

TIME OF BOMBING

LIAISON OFFICERS..

TARGET PRIORITY.

DIRECT OBSERVATION.

AERIAL PHOTOS .

Strategy of employment & mission evaluation

The bombing missions were executed with a direct coordination with the ground troops through the presence of an air force liaison officer in the front lines and in the OR.

Different timing was implemented for the bombing with different gape of time between one mission and another.

The targets had been chosen according to a certain priority given by the mission commander officer starting with the anti-aircraft weapons, fortification, fateh al Islam main offices, water sources, fuel tanks, under ground shelters, arriving to designated area to easy our friendly troops advance.

MISSION EVALUATION

MISSION EVALUATION

MISSION EVALUATIONAxes of attack

- Evaluation of the bombing mission was done on aerial photos taken by helicopters due to the absence of drones.

- The air bombing contribute to victory on terrorism.

- It raises the morals of the ground troops after a long time of exhaustion.

- It opens the field for more inventions and tactics with the fact that no other means were available.

- winning the war on terrorism is possible when determination and sacrifice and will are present

- No area in Lebanon could be a blockade for Lebanese security and law enforcement.

MISSION’S DETAILS 20/5 – 4/9

MISSION SORTIES

NUMBER

DAY

HOURS

NIGHT

HOURS

MEDEVAC 165 179,05 32,10

OBSERVATION

& PHOTO76 62,35 7,25

BOMBING 98 41,55 4,35

ESCORT 13 22.4

Bombardement Helicopter.MPG

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Lebanon's Huey bomber