Aerial Combat Unit

The Aerial Combat Unit (ACU) is the core aerial warfare force of the White Wolves. The Aerial Combat Unit is known as a "founding unit", since it was established alongside the White Wolves itself.

Marine Air Arm
The Marine Air Arm, known internally as the Naval Flying Squad (NFS) provides air firepower to the Naval Combat Unit

Special Air Force (SAF)
Main article: Special Air Force

Search & Rescue (SAR)
An ad-hoc, non-permanent unit of the Aerial Combat Unit, in conjunction with the Naval Combat Unit and Support Unit, the Search & Rescue Unit is tasked with locating and assisting those in danger, internationally. These operations are typically at sea, with the unit often being deployed to search for missing or fallen aircraft.

The SAR unit has no dedicated air-fleet of its own, so will just employ whatever the Aerial Combat Unit has to spare, usually the SH-3 Sea King or AW101 Merlin helicopters or the Beriev Be-200 amphibious plane.

Aircraft
See full list: List of active White Wolves military aircraft

All aircraft of the White Wolves are owned and maintained by the Aerial Combat Unit, but are used by their various units.

Combat Air
The attack arm of the Aerial Combat Unit is headed by the American Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, alongside the Eurofighter Typhoon, with 20 of the former and 15 of the latter. The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is slowly being replaced by the F-35, however, 7 are still in service. These three jets aim to gain the Aerial Combat Unit air superiority in combat, they can also scramble in emergencies to assist both other White Wolves, and other allies.

Ground attack roles are fulfilled by the Lockheed Martin AC-130 and Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. The former, of which there are 2, provide aerial fire support to infantry, while the latter, of which there are 6, target enemy armoured infantry and strongholds.

3 Bell-Boeing V-22 Ospreys, heavily modified by the Research & Development Unit, carry much more armament than conventional units, and supply fire support to air, ground and naval targets. On occasion, the Ospreys can be used for passenger transport, mainly if the dedicated aircraft are unavailable.

Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR)
During active combat, the Intel Unit is feed live battlefield data, gathered by a Raytheon Sentinel R1, which uses IRIS, alongside its onboard equipment, to gather, analyse and process data and make decisions.

Airborne warnings come from the Boeing 737 AEW&C, which alert the White Wolves to incoming threats from above, these warnings help form missions for the Aerial Combat Unit to complete.

Helicopters
The image of the helicopter fleet of the Aerial Combat Unit is the set of 20 Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawks, a helicopter which serves many purposes, in particular, tactical insertion and extraction, transport, fire support and ground attack.

The attack arm of the helicopter fleet consists of 20 Boeing AH-64E Apache "Guardians" and 5 Bell AH-1Z Vipers. These helicopters can rain down on ground targets and provide effect fire support for dogfights and aerial targets.

Cargo operations are handled by a set of 10 Boeing CH-47 Chinooks and 3 Mil Mi-26 Halos. These are often used to carry vehicles and troops into the battlefield.

The Motherbase Security Force operate 5 Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopters which patrol the base and supply air support in the event of an attack. The helicopters are armed with one .50 calibre machine gun and are stocked with 1 pilot and 2 gunners. In the event of emergency, the helicopters can also serve as extraction units. Sometimes, the Security Force will follow incoming ships to both survey and protect them.

Maritime
The Maritime Fleet of the Aerial Combat Unit serve the Naval Combat Unit, supplying carrier-borne and amphibious aircraft.

20 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, 15 de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen and 15 BAE Sea Harriers provide the offensive capability of the fleet. Each jet is carrier-borne and can take-off and land on the SMV Ascension and SMV Horizon. The two latter planes were purchased from the British Armed Forces as they were upgrading their own fleet.

The 3 Beriev Be-200 amphibious planes are used for reconnaissance, cargo and transportation to remote locations. They often land beside the SMV Ascension for refuelling and to protect her. The Be-200 units can also be retrofitted for aerial firefighting in under 24 hours.

10 Agusta Westland AW101 Merlin and 15 Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopters each serve many roles for the Naval Combat Unit. As the Sea King helicopters are amphibious, they are used for emergency search and rescue missions, while the Merlins are typically reserved for personnel and cargo transportation. The Sea Kings are slowly being phased out to make room for the newer Merlins.

Following the introduction of SMV Ascension, the Aerial Combat Unit purchased two Lockheed P-3 Orions, fitted with surveillance and anti-submarine equipment.

Air Mobility
In order for the Aerial Combat Unit to expand operations and function smoothly, four plane types are employed to handle transport, cargo and aerial refuelling.

The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III is used as the workhorse of the Support Unit, transporting passengers and cargo of all kinds to all corners of the world. The unit is limited to three Globemasters not due to monetary impact, but due to size restrictions.

Aerial refuelling operations are handled by the two Vickers VC-10 jets, which supply emergency fuel to jet fighters and helicopters. The VC-10 pair are only deployed for White Wolves missions expected to last multiple days, or when planes are set to long-distance journeys.

Transport duties are fulfilled by two Boeing 727-200s and four BAE 146-300 jets. These planes carry a multitude of different cargo, typically passengers and civilians. The narrow-bodied 727-200s have been deployed multiple times to transport stranded airline passengers after incidents. Due to their size, the BAE 146s are often used to shift cargo to and from Manchester Airport and Motherbase.

Training aircraft
The Aerial Combat Unit own a fleet of 7 Grob 120TP propeller planes and 5 Dassault Alpha Jets used for training new pilots. Recruits start with the propeller planes, spending 200 flying hours onboard, then progress on to the jet planes at the decision of their trainer.

Experimental aircraft
Over the years of the Aerial Combat Unit, the Research & Development Unit have attempted to produce and modify planes into their own creations.

One of these was a Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde airliner converted into a bomber, given the name Concorde B1. The project was set up to make a super-sonic, narrow-bodied bomber aircraft, which also wouldn't look out of place in the sky. The project started with acquisition of a Concorde unit for £120 million, which was then stripped of its interior furnishings, and fitted with bombing equipment. The bottom of the fuselage was modified to add a set of bomb-bay doors. When the Concorde B1 went into testing, the added weight of the armament and required equipment severely affected its speed, pushing it from the desired cruise speed of Mach 2.04 to 1.76. The project was abandoned when the White Wolves looked toward established solutions, and the aircraft was indefinitely stored at Ascension Island.

After the failure of Concorde B1, the Research & Development Unit set their sights on modifying a jet airliner to hit speeds previously unattainable. They purchased a Boeing 747-400 for £155 million, later called the 747-400Ex, which immediately went in for engine modification. Rather than attempting to enhance the existing General Electric GF6 engines, the unit replaced them with White Wolves after-burning ramjet engines. They hoped this upgrade could take the plane into super-sonic speeds, however, they were still nervous about the structural integrity during the transonic speed stage. Along with the engine upgrades, the plane also had its interior stripped and now unnecessary avionics and luxuries removed, as a replacement, the 747-400 had a simple IRIS flight computer installed. On testing runs, the plane managed to reach speeds of Mach 1.22, however, the sonic boom and pressure on the air-foil nearly destroyed the plane mid-flight, the decision to persist with the speed test was in the interest of safety, to accelerate past the transonic range and normalise pressures and airspeeds around the plane

Other aircraft
A Supermarine Spitfire HF Mk. VII, owned by Jack, is held at the Motherbase. It sees no active service, nor any ceremonial appearances, and is only flown by its owner. The World War II era fighter was purchased from a collector for £1.8 million in 2001. It was lovingly restored by Jack into fully working order. While Jack owns the plane, the Aerial Combat Unit is responsible for its maintenance and, more importantly, security.