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Case Studies

The MOSKIT portable airfield lighting system used by the UK RAF.

Since the first development MOSKITs were supplied to the UK Royal Air Force in 1990 the lighting system has been deployed on all RAF overseas deployments.

The first operational deployment of MOSKIT was during the Gulf War in 1991 at the Tabuk Air Base in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; since then it has been deployed operationally in Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and most recently Iraq.

MOSKIT allows the UK and other allied nations to support 24-hour air operations, under visual and NVG flight rules, from repaired, temporary and emergency airfields. It can be transported by military aircraft such as the C-130 or C-17 and is certified for helicopter sling load transport. The system can be rapidly deployed within 20 minutes of arrival at the airfield to form a 1500m minimum operating strip. A tactical air traffic controller working on the ground or from a temporary or permanent air traffic control tower can operate light units remotely.

The highly mobile "Tactical Communications Wing" of the Royal Air Force regularly uses MOSKIT when supporting overseas deployment of UK military forces.

MOSKIT and SALKIT portable airfield lighting systems used by the US Marine Corps.

After witnessing the potential of MOSKIT first hand during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the US Marine Corps tested the system in 1992 before carrying out further testing under the Foreign Comparative Testing programme.

The first production order was placed on Metalite in 1997 and since then sufficient numbers of MOSKITs and SALKITs have been supplied to support 14 MOSLS - minimum operating strip lighting systems. A MOSLS system is comprised of 2 MOSKIT trailers and 3 SALKIT trailers and is air transportable in one C-130 aircraft. The principal of MOSLS is to support both fixed and rotary wing operations at expeditionary airfields. A single MOSLS system can be used to allow dual approach of a single runway as well as marking taxiways and parking areas.

US Marine Corps MOSLS systems were first deployed operationally in 2001 during Operation Enduring Freedom. Since then they have been used extensively during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the support of forward and rear expeditionary airfields.

MOSKIT, SALKIT & CALKIT™ portable airfield lighting systems used by the US Air Force.

During 2002/3 the US Air Force purchased a number of systems from Metalite to support Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

Products supplied included MOSKITs, SALKITs, CALKIT™s and CORELs. These are being used to mark runways and taxiways at airfields where no permanent lighting is installed and also as emergency back up to unreliable permanent airfield lighting systems.

Lighting meets NATO STANAG specifications as well as ICAO, FAA and CAA standards ensuring safe airfield operations. They can be controlled remotely from the ATC tower or from the airfield ensuring instant black out capability in emergency situations.

MOSKIT used during evacuation missions by both the UK RAF and the Belgium Air Force.

The UK Royal Air Force Tactical Communications Wing (TCW) has used MOSKIT during the evacuation of UK, EU and other Nationals during the Sierra Leone crisis in 2001, when the UK military went to the aid of the United Nations. The MOSKIT was used at Freetown Airport to support the use of RAF Chinook (CH-47) and Hercules (C-130) aircraft when foreign nationals were evacuated to Senegal.

The Belgium Air Force 15th Wing based in Brussels have used one of their MOSKITs for the evacuation of Belgium, EU and other nationals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) formerly Zaire in 1997. Since then their MOSKIT has been used on a regular basis for missions and operations within and around the DRC and other parts of Africa for humanitarian missions.

A single MOSKIT can support a 1500mtr (5,000ft) runway for use by fixed and rotary wing aircraft. It contains sufficient runway edge lights, PAPIs and approach lights to support both VFR and NVG flight operations. Two trailer mounted generators remove the need for a local mains power supply. All equipment can be operated by radio control from the ATC tower or from a tactical air traffic controller on the airfield itself. It can be deployed in less than 20 minutes by three personnel and can be redeployed in a shorter time once the lighting is no longer required. MOSKIT is C-130 transportable and can be towed behind standard utility vehicles such as a Land Rover, HUMVVE and normal commercial utility vehicles.

MOSKIT demonstrations.

Metalite has undertaken many MOSKIT demonstrations worldwide for military end users who have a requirement for portable airfield lighting. A MOSKIT, and additional ORELS, can be sent to a country and with the support of a Metalite employee the system can be deployed to relevant military personnel such as Air Traffic Controllers, Airfield Operations personnel, Pilots and Engineers. The potential customer can undertake flight trials with fixed or rotary wing aircraft.

Such trials have been undertaken in over 12 countries and have lead to 10 military users placing orders for MOSKITs and SALKITs.