The eight men who flew in joined a larger group to complete the complement of 24 American aviators now at Tindal. They would take turns flying the same four aircraft, making the logistics of the exercise a little more economical and easier on the host Australians. At precisely 4 p.m. that afternoon, all of the men were called into a closed-door briefing session. As the men took their seats, their commanding officer walked up to the dais with the base commander behind him.
“Welcome to Australia,” said the American colonel. He went on to spend the next fifteen minutes reviewing the standard rules for this exercise. There would be a hard floor of flight level 140, or 14,000 feet, except while on bombing runs over Delamere. They would be taking off to the southeast, into the prevailing winter winds. There was a steep landing approach corridor from the north to reduce time and noise over the township of Katherine. All of the rules were of the type that these men were well accustomed to — intended to keep the local civilian population happy, or at least to minimize their agitation.
Next, the RAAF base commander stood to introduce himself. “G’day gentlemen,” said Group Captain Peter Wells. He thanked his American counterpart and added some information about local navigation beacons, communication frequencies and call signs. He reminded the men that Tindal has civilian aviation as well as military and that contact with Tindal air traffic control and strict use of established military corridors was critical to avoid mishaps. All of the men kept notes.
Finally he turned to a matter that was anything but routine for the aviators in this briefing. “I have another topic to cover today. Every man in this room is an officer and has classified clearance. I remind you of that fact because you will be flying alongside some other guests of Australia. Tonight five Israeli Strike Eagles will land here. Tomorrow another forty Israeli aviators and twenty-seven mechanics and technicians will arrive on a transport flight. I tell you this because you will certainly run into these men during your time here. But this information is strictly classified. From an official point of view, no Israeli aircraft or crewmen are in Australia or participating in Talisman Sabre in any way. You are not to refer to or mention this information to anyone. Is that clear?” The men all nodded in agreement.
Their commanding officer stood up. “I have forms that must be signed by everyone here,” he said. His job was to drive home the seriousness of this situation. “As Group Captain Wells said, this information has been classified Top Secret. If any man reveals what you have just learned or anything that you see or learn regarding this matter, you will be violating Article 104 of the Code and you will be prosecuted under the Code. The form I am passing out is your acknowledgement of the situation. I do not want anyone here to have any misunderstandings.” The two senior officers had discussed the best way to handle having Israelis secretly operating side by side with them and concluded that this up-front acknowledgement was the best way to stop rumors and speculation from starting on the base and spreading from there.
28 — Tindal
Slightly after midnight that night, five IAF F-15I Ra’am fighter bombers landed at Tindal. All five aircraft had been painted gunship grey, the same color as the American F-15s at the base. No national insignia could be found on any of the F-15Is, leaving any observer to assume naturally that these were American aircraft. Only the mechanics who daily worked on the F-15E could pick up on the subtle external differences between a F-15E and a F-15I. Likewise, the Israeli pilots, mechanics, technicians and officers who were arriving on base all wore American flight or duty suits, just without any national flag or squadron patches. There would be no display of unit pride that was ordinarily a central practice for military aviators the world over.
Early the next morning, two USAF C-17 Globemasters touched down about five minutes apart. Each of the big cargo aircraft taxied to the military apron. Through the forward port-side passenger door of the first plane, 77 of the most highly trained assets of the nation of Israel exited, joining the 10 men already on the base. Another ten Israelis exited the plane. They would form the security detail to protect the airplanes, pilots, mechanics, technicians and specialists. From the rear cargo doors of the second plane, crewmen of the USAF’s 437 Airlift Wing unloaded two large crates, each containing a Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 jet engine, and another eight pallets of tools, instruments and spare parts — all of the items necessary to support five F-15Is for two weeks.
But the cargo that was the reason these precious assets of the IAF had travelled more than 7,000 miles, would not arrive until later that day. At 5:17 p.m. on July 13, 2011, a C-17 touched down at Tindal. The flight originated from Elgin Air Force Base in Florida 36 hours before. It flew to Seattle to pick up its human cargo and some related equipment. After a 14-hour layover, it flew from Seattle to Tindal non-stop, being refueled three times over the Pacific. The last leg had taken 16 hours. On board, in addition to the crew, were half a dozen USAF officers and technicians along with four engineers from the Boeing Corporation. Also on board were two live BLU-121B bombs. Each bomb was just over 12 feet long and weighed 2,015 pounds. They were designed and built to penetrate thick steel doors and surrounding earth in order to detonate at precisely the right moment inside a tunnel or bunker complex. They had been designed by Boeing and developed by the USAF over the prior eight years to be dropped from a plane travelling at high speed and very low altitude. With the proper training and the assist of targeting computers and laser designators, a good pilot could launch the bomb horizontally into the entrances of underground tunnel complexes.
The two live bombs were for one test run that would be the culmination of the training to take place over the next two weeks — the Israeli pilots would be in competition to determine who got to fly the live bombing mission. But live BLU-121 bombs were too expensive to use for basic training. So the C-17 also carried twenty-five inert bombs identical to the live bombs on the outside but with their weight coming from concrete instead of the thick Elgin steel alloy shell of the real bombs. In addition, 225 lighter practice units were on board. These inert bombs were the same length as the live bombs but only weighed 378 pounds each. To maintain the same flight characteristics of the live units when released, these practice units were narrower in diameter, the reduced surfaced area calculated to offset the impact that any crosswind would have on the unit due to its reduced mass. Every plane that flew with these inexpensive practice bombs would also be fitted with a centerline mounted shroud that mimicked the aerodynamic drag of the real bomb and added 1,600 pounds of weight to ensure that the pilot felt all of the impact of having a live unit mounted underneath his airplane.
Work began that night with a briefing session starting at 9. Almost the entire Israeli contingent of 97 was in attendance, excepting only three men who were on the tarmac watching the five F-15I aircraft. Three IAF officers sat up front, the commander of 69 Squadron and two junior officers whose job, along with the commander, would be to review and rate the performance of each aircrew over the training period. Unknown to anyone outside the group of Israelis, the two senior “technicians” present were actually two of the senior IAF officers comprising the Olympus planning team. It would be their job to understand exactly what the BLU-121 would be capable of in the hands of the IAF and to plan its usage in Project Block G accordingly.