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For the first time ever, one Air Force squadron in New Jersey has been tasked with transporting two military “chase cars” to the U.K. so the vehicles can help U-2 spy planes land.
The 305th Aerial Port Squadron out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is expected to ship the Dodge vehicles overseas for the first time, a challenge due to the logistics of sending them across the Atlantic to Royal Air Force Mildenhall air station.
The cars are to be used to help U-2 Dragon Lady high-altitude reconnaissance planes make safe landings.
Two chase cars for the U-2 sit in the cargo area at the 305th Aerial Port Squadron. (Photo by Senior Airman Jake Carter)
Each plane has a long wingspan, making it difficult to fly close to the ground. When it comes time to land, chase cars have been crucial in order to "catch" the plane and help the pilot guide the aircraft safely onto the landing strip. In essence, they serve as visual aids to help facilitate the specialized planes' landings.
In order to be transported, the cars must be certified to ensure crews load them properly and fasten them securely as cargo on military aircraft.
A U-2 performs a touch and go with a chase car last year. (Photo by Airman 1st Class Tristan D. Viglianco)
“The chase vehicles we received have no Air Transportability Test Loading Agency [ATTLA] certification,” 305th load planning supervisor Staff Sgt. Ryan Murray said in an Air Force release Wednesday.
“They have no fixed area to be restrained or tied down in the aircraft, so there’s no black-and-white way on how to transport them,” he pointed out. “When they arrive to our area like that, they are deemed non-airworthy, and that’s when we have to figure out how we can load them safely or we may have to make the call that we can’t load it.”
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In order to be certified by the ATTLA, the vehicles must meet certain requirements.
“We have to do a full inspection of the vehicle to see how much weight is on each individual tire, both axles weighed together, the total weight of the vehicle, ground clearance and check the overhang on the front and rear of the vehicle to see if it can go up an aircraft ramp or not,” Murray explained. "Once we have those measurements, an ATTLA engineer takes the info to create a certification on how to move that cargo.”
ATTLA is based out of Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, which means members of the 305th Aerial Port Squadron must take measurements and ensure the vehicles will meet standards. Working together with ATTLA is crucial.
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“We act as the middleman between the shipper and the receiver. For us, we work with ATTLA for the cargo movements to make sure we move it the safest way possible and won’t cause damage to the aircraft or shipment,” according to Senior Airman Jorge Chaparro Valentin, a customer service representative with the 305th.
In addition to obtaining certifications for the vehicles to be transported, it’s also important that a sense of urgency is stressed at the end destination, Murray said, noting that the 305th has been working to have the cars “green sheeted” once in the U.K.
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“Green-sheet items take your cargo from a Priority 1 status to Priority 1 over all other cargo. We can have 200 pieces of cargo that all say Priority 1, but if you ‘green-sheet cargo,’ it will move to the top of the list to be moved,” Murray said.
If the two vehicles can’t be certified to fly, they might have to be sent on a ship or sourced locally in the U.K.