AirForces Monthly 2015-04

BRITISHAPACHES F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER 28PAGESOFNEWS-COLOMBIANGUNSLINGERS Officially the World's NUMBER ONE Authority on Military Aviation | www.air...

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APRIL 2015 ISSUE #325

28 PAGES OF NEWS - COLOMBIAN GUNSLINGERS

Officially the World's NUMBER ONE Authority on Military Aviation | www.airforcesmonthly.com

LIGHTNING HAS STRUCK Aircraft Profile pt.2

F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER

Force Report

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PLAYING CATCH-UP Taiwan's Air Force DUTCH ANTIPIRACY OPS Johan de Witt and Cougar Action

BRITISH APACHES BRITISH DARTS OVER APACHES GERMANY The Afghan Years BAE Systems A-4Ns

NEW

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Produced by Key Publishing with exclusive access to the Royal Air Force, and featuring articles written with and by RAF personnel, The Official RAF Annual Review 2015 is a 132-page special magazine that provides behind the scenes insight into the aircraft, equipment and people of one of the world’s premier air forces. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: TYPHOON FORCE: READY FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW Typhoon Force Commander Air Commodore Philip Beach provides an update on RAF Typhoon capability and details his vision for the aircraft’s future

MARHAM MATTERS: TORNADO AT THE HEART OF OPERATIONS Group Captain Harvey Smyth, RAF Marham Station Commander looks back on a busy year of operations over Afghanistan, Africa and Iraq, with exclusive 40th anniversary Tornado air-to-air photography

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CONTENTS April Issue 325 Force Report ROCAF 50

News All the world’s military aviation news, by region. 4-5 Headlines 6-7 United Kingdom 8-11 Continental Europe 12-16 North America 18-19 Latin America 22 Africa 23-25 Middle East 26 Russia & CIS 27-32 Asia Pacific 34-35 Australasia 35 Contracts

36 Apaches in Herrick

The war in Afghanistan was a baptism of fire for the British Army’s Apache AH1 attack helicopters. Tim Ripley examines the role of the Attack Helicopter Force during Operation Herrick.

56 FAC A-29 Super Tucano

Dutch Wildcats in Atalanta 70

The Colombian Air Force has been waging a war against the outlawed FARC for several decades. Joe Copalman explains how the A-29 Super Tucano is now at the forefront of the action.

42 AIRCRAFT PROFILE JSF Programmes Overview Part II

62 AIRCRAFT PROFILE Fairchild Aircraft C-26 Metroliner

In the second part of AFM’s Aircraft Profile on the JSF, Alan Warnes and Dave Allport detail current F-35 Lightning II operating bases and their allocated units.

Tom Kaminski provides an update on the status of the C-26 Metroliner within the US Armed Forces.

70 Dutch Wildcats in Atalanta

46 EXERCISE REPORT DACT Gando 2015

Stephan de Bruijn/Bluelifeavition.nl looks back at the Dutch Helicopter Command’s historic deployment of two AS 532 Cougars.

Mark Rourke and Marc Newitt travelled to the holiday island of Gran Canaria to record the Spanish Air Force’s annual two weeks of flying dissimilar air-to-air combat training.

78 Darts over Europe

Kees van der Mark looks back on the era of target-towing operations by Flight Systems, which included 13 years of A-4N Skyhawk sorties in the skies over Germany.

50 FORCE REPORT Republic of China Air Force

84 BRIEFINGS Carrier Air Wing Five: Part II

Gert Kromhout and Stephan de Bruijn recently visited Taiwan to bring AFM up-todate on what’s happening in the Republic of China Air Force.

As the US Navy’s sole forwarddeployed carrier air wing, CVW-5 takes pride in being at the ‘tip of the spear’. Tony Holmes looks at its Vietnam and Gulf War operations.

FREE DVD! Claim your FREE Rafale Cockpit DVD worth £12.49, when you subscribe to AirForces Monthly. See pages 20 and 21 for full details.

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93 Attrition

AFM’s Dave Allport reports on the world’s latest military accidents. Cover: An F-35B from MCAS Yuma, Arizona flies low over the desert. Yuma is one of seven bases currently flying the JSF. Joe Copalman

Apaches in Herrick 36

Glenn Sands AFM Brand Editor

#325 APRIL 2015

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HEADLINES

INDONESIA EDGES TOWARDS SU-35

Above: Indonesian Air Force Su-27SKM TS-2703 from Skadron Udara 11 at Hasanuddin over Australia on July 26, 2012, prior to landing at RAAF Base Darwin, Northern Territory, to take part in Exercise Pitch Black 2012. The TNI-AU is now leaning towards supplementing its mixed fleet of Su-27SK, Su-27SKMs, Su-30MKs and Su-30MK2s with an order for Su-35s to replace its F-5E/Fs. Commonwealth of Australia/Sgt Shane Gidall

AFTER YEARS of delaying a decision on an F-5 replacement, the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) is edging closer to selecting the Sukhoi Su-35 as its preferred type. Discussions are apparently under way with representatives from Russia aimed at formulating a technical contract for 16 aircraft. Although several of the TNI-AU F-5E/Fs serving with Skadron Udara 14 at Madiun-Iswahyudi are still flying, they are not expected

Singapore Closer to JSF Decision LIEUTENANT GENERAL Chris Bogdan, the head of the International F-35 Joint Project Office (JPO), told a media conference at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon on February 24 that Singapore is moving closer to a decision on the Joint Strike Fighter as its F-16 replacement. General Bogdan also said there has been increased activity from other potential Foreign Military Sales customers. The Republic of Singapore Air Force has been seeking information on all three F-35 variants, and General Bogdan said the JPO was responding to the most recent requests. “Over the past year, the discussions we have had have deepened [and] their request for information has gotten broader, so that would indicate to us that Singapore has begun to take the next step towards making a decision,” he said. Nigel Pittaway 

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to continue past early 2017. As a result, Russia is promising to deliver four aircraft by the end of next year in a deal that could lead to the procurement of two batches of eight. After the technical negotiations, which could take several more months to complete, a financial contract would then be drawn up. This latest development will come as a blow to other manufacturers bidding to replace the F-5E/Fs, which were

upgraded in the late-1990s. The aircraft on offer include the Boeing F-15 Silent Eagle, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter, Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 62 and Saab Gripen. Eurofighter GmbH has offered to enter into a production agreement with Indonesia’s local aerospace manufacturer, PTDI in a bid to bolster its bid, which was announced at last year’s Indo Defence exhibition (see Indo Defence 2014, January,

p30-31). Precise details of what this would have covered have never been revealed. The Indonesian Air Force already operates 16 Sukhoi Flankers, comprising two Su-27SKs, three Su-27SKMs, two Su-30MKs and nine Su-30MK2s delivered between August 2003 and September 2013. They are all operated by Skadron Udara 11 at Hasanuddin, Sulawesi. The TNIAU also operates F-16s and Hawks in the combat role. Alan Warnes 

XV(R) Squadron 100th Anniversary

Above: Royal Air Force/XV (Reserve) Squadron Tornado GR4 ZA461, in special markings for the unit’s 100th anniversary, flies in formation with another GR4 from the unit, ZA602 ‘F’/‘MacRobert’s Reply’, during a training sortie on March 2. MOD Crown Copyright/Sgt Peter George

A SPECIAL 100th anniversary paint scheme for the Royal Air Force’s XV (Reserve) Squadron was unveiled at the unit’s base at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, on March 3. To mark the unveiling, Tornado GR4 ZA461, which carries the special colours, was flown on a photographic sortie

over the snowy peaks of the Scottish highlands alongside the Squadron’s famous ‘MacRobert’s Reply’ GR4, ZA602 ‘F’, on the day before the scheme was revealed publicly. Formed on March 1, 1915, at Farnborough, Hampshire, the Squadron acted as a training unit supporting the Royal

Flying Corps in World War One. One hundred years later the modern incarnation of that unit, XV(Reserve) Squadron, marked the start of its centenary year at RAF Lossiemouth with a formal parade in front of their families, colleagues and the head of the Royal Air Force’s combat fast jet fleet. 

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Egypt Signs First Rafale Export Order UK Defence various weapons for the Rafales. EGYPT HAS become the first Cuts on Agenda export customer to place a firm The latter covers Mica missiles, AS THE UK heads towards a general election in May, the London-based think-tank, European Leadership Network (ELN) has revealed that the Conservative party does not intend to stick to a commitment to peg its defence budget at 2 % of Gross Domestic Product. Many MPs are rebelling against the Tory leadership’s budget cuts amid Russia’s stance in Ukraine, which is increasing tension between Vladimir Putin and NATO, and the continued threat posed by Islamic State (IS). ELN claimed in late February that the UK’s defence spending will fall from £36.4 billion in 2014/15 to around £35.5 billion in 2015/16. This would see the UK’s percentage of national income spent on defence, dropping from 2.07% to 1.88%. However, similar issues among other NATO countries highlighted by the ELN policy brief, A Preliminary Analysis of 2015 Budget Decisions in NATO Member States, shows that Estonia alone will hit NATO’s 2% GDP formula and six countries will cut defence expenditure this year. These include two of NATO's largest spenders on defence, the UK and Germany, plus Canada, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria. The report adds: “Behind the façade of NATO unity, real threat perceptions differ significantly among allies and this is reflected in their divergent approaches to budget decisions.” Unlike its health and foreign aid funding, the UK Government has not ring-fenced the defence budget so it is not protected from further cuts. Defence chiefs are aware of the situation, and have voiced their fears. It led the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron to place a gagging order on General Sir Nicholas Houghton, Chief of the Defence Staff, preventing him from speaking at a Chatham House, think-tank conference on the theme, Rising Powers and the Future of Defence Cooperation. Both Cameron and the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, have steered cleared of making promises about the next spending round after the election and the Strategic Defence and Security Review due by the end of the year. Alan Warnes 

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order for the Dassault Rafale. A contract was signed in Cairo on February 16 for 24 of the multirole aircraft. The deal covers 16 two-seat and eight single-seat aircraft for the Egyptian Air Force. The formal documents were signed by French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Le Drian had flown f to Cairo that morning from Base Aérienne 107 Villacoublay, accompanied by Dassault’s CEO Eric Trappier, DCNS CEO Hervé Guillou and the CEO of MBDA Missiles, Antoine Bouvier, specifically for the contract signature. The deal, worth €5.2 billion, also includes purchase of a DCNS FREMM-class frigate and

Sagem AASM air-to-ground precision-guided munitions and Scalp cruise missiles. The Scalp is expected to be the Black Shaheen version developed for the UAE. Equipment fit will be similar to current French aircraft, including the Reco-NG reconnaissance pod. To speed up initial deliveries, the first three Rafales will be diverted on the production line from aircraft almost completed for the Armée de l’Air (French Air Force). After removal of some French-specific equipment, they will be delivered to Egypt, in time to perform a flypast on August 5 at an event marking the start of the expansion of the Suez Canal. The remaining aircraft are due to follow at a rate of five per year. 

First Afghan Pilot Flies A-29B at Moody AFB

Above: US Air Force/81st Fighter Squadron A-29B Super Tucano 13-2004, the fourth aircraft delivered, undertaking the first sortie with an Afghan Air Force (AAF) pilot from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, on March 5. The aircraft is one of 20 that will be delivered to Moody for AAF pilot training, following which all 20 will be handed over to the AAF. The 81st FS was officially re-activated at Moody on January 15 specifically to train AAF pilots on the A-29B under the Light Air Support programme. USAF/Senior Airman Ryan Callaghan

Malaysia’s First A400M Handed-Over AIRBUS DEFENCE and Space has formally delivered the first of four Airbus A400M military transport aircraft ordered by the Tentera Udara DiRaja Malaysia (TUDM – Royal Malaysian Air Force). The handover on March 9 at the Final Assembly Line at Seville-San Pablo Airport, Spain, also marks the first delivery of an A400M to an export customer outside the original launch nations. The aircraft, M54-01 (c/n 0022), was accepted by Chief

of Malaysian Defence Force General Tan Sri Dr. Zulkifeli. Chief of the TUDM, General Dato’ Sri Roslan Bin Saad, said: “The A400M will give the RMAF the most advanced heavy transport capability in the region and enable us to undertake an extraordinary range of military and humanitarian operations.” The aircraft had made its maiden flight from Seville on January 30 – see Maiden Flight of Malaysia’s A400M, March, p33). 

India Likely to Exercise P-8I Options A SENIOR Boeing official has revealed that negotiations are currently under way with the Indian Government for the conversion of four P-8I Neptune options into firm orders. The Indian Navy has taken delivery of six of the eight P-8Is it ordered in 2009 and Boeing’s P-8 Business Development

Director, Maritime Systems, James Detwiler, said the company was talking with Indian officials about a production schedule should the options be taken up. “We’re currently talking with them about executing those four options,” Detwiler said at Avalon on February 25. Nigel Pittaway 

Brand Editor: Glenn Sands World Air Forces Correspondent: Alan Warnes Editorial contact: [email protected] Military News Editor: Dave Allport Chief Designer: Steve Donovan Assistant Chief Designer: Lee Howson Production Editor: Sue Blunt Deputy Production Editor: Carol Randall Advertising Manager: Ian Maxwell Production Manager: Janet Watkins Group Marketing Manager: Martin Steele Mail Order Subscription Manager: Liz Ward Commercial Director: Ann Saundry Executive Chairman: Richard Cox Managing Director & Publisher: Adrian Cox Copies of AirForces Monthly can be obtained each month by placing a standing order with your newsagent. In case of difficulty, contact our Circulation Manager. Readers in USA may place subscriptions by telephone toll-free 800-676-4049 or by writing to AirForces Monthly, 3330 Pacific Ave, Ste 500, Virginia Beach, VA234519828. We are unable to guarantee the bonafides of any of our advertisers. Readers are strongly recommended to take their own precautions before parting with any information or item of value, including, but not limited to, money, manuscripts, photographs or personal information in response to any advertisements within this publication. Postmaster: Send address corrections to AirForces Monthly, Key Publishing Ltd, c/o Mail Right International Inc. 1637 Stelton Road B4, Piscataway NJ 08854. Printed in England by Warners (Midlands) plc, Bourne, Lincolnshire. AirForces Monthly (ISSN 0955 7091) is published monthly by Key Publishing Ltd and distributed in the USA by Mail Right Int., 1637 Stelton Road B4, Piscataway, NJ 08854. The entire contents of AirForces Monthly is a copyright of Key Publishing Ltd and cannot be reproduced in any form without permission. The Editor is happy to receive contributions to AirForces Monthly. Please note that all material sent to the Editor is forwarded at the contributor’s own risk. While every care is taken with material, the publishers cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage incurred. All material rates available on request. Submitted material (especially illustrations) should have the contributor’s name and address clearly marked and a stamped addressed envelope should be enclosed if it is required to be returned. All items submitted for publication are subject to our terms and conditions, which are regularly updated without prior notice and are freely available from Key Publishing Ltd or downloadable from www.keypublishing. com. All digital imagery should be at least 300dpi and 10 x 8 inches (25.4cm x 20.3cm) in size and submitted on a CD/ DVD with thumbnail prints to the Editor at Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs., PE9 1XQ, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1780 755131 Fax: +44 (0)1780 757261 Subscription: [email protected] Website: www.keypublishing.com Distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PP. Tel: +44 (0)20 7429 4000 Fax: +44 (0)20 7429 4001

#325 APRIL 2015

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UNITED KINGDOM AW189s Ordered for Falklands SAR AAR AIRLIFT Group has signed a contract to buy two AW189 helicopters from Agusta Westland to undertake search and rescue (SAR) operations in the Falkland Islands on behalf of the UK Government. The deal was announced by the manufacturer on March 4 at HAI's Heli Expo in Orlando, Florida. AAR Airlift Group had previousloy announced on January 19 that it had been awarded a contract by the UK Ministry of Defence to deliver SAR services in the Falkland Islands (see Falklands SAR and Support Contract for AAR, March, p7). In addition to the two AW189s, it will also use two Sikorsky S-61Ns to meet the requirements of the contract. The MOD’s existing fleet on the Falklands comprises two RAF/1564 Flight Sea King HAR3s and two commercial S-61Ns, the latter operated under contract by British International Helicopters (BIH). All are based at the Mount Pleasant Complex. The AW189s will be delivered by the end of this year to support crew and personnel familiarization with the new type,. This will enable them to achieve operational readiness in April 2016, when the SAR service contract begins. AgustaWestland will also supply a comprehensive ten-year package of support and training services for the helicopters. Although already an established US Department of Defense service provider, this is the first deal to have been awarded to AAR by a European defence ministry. The order marks further success for the SAR variant of the AW189, following the Bristow Helicopters’ contract signed on July 18, 2013, for 11 of the type to meet the UK SAR requirement, replacing the RAF and Royal Navy Sea King helicopters. The Falklands AW189s will be operated out of Mount Pleasant Airfield with flight operations support from subcontractor BIH, performing missions in harsh environmental conditions. 

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Centenary Colours for RAF Hawk

Above: RAF/208 (Reserve) Squadron Hawk T1A XX350 in its new centenary colours, which were unveiled on March 3 at RAF Valley. MOD Crown Copyright/RAF Valley

NEW COLOURS have been applied to RAF Hawk T1A XX350 from 208 (Reserve) Squadron at RAF Valley, Anglesey, to mark the unit’s centenary. The scheme was unveiled at the base on March 3. The squadron will mark the anniversary next year, having been formed on October 25, 1916, as No 8 (Naval) Squadron, Royal Naval

Air Service. It was re-designated 208 Squadron, RAF, when the RAF was formed on April 1, 1918. As the aircraft was scheduled for a re-paint after a major service, the squadron came up with the special colour scheme, which was applied by the Valley-based Babcock spray bay team. The design incorporates old and new, the forward fuselage wears the current black training

scheme, while the rear carries a World War One-style dark green. The design was based on the colours worn by Bristol F2B Fighter D8096, which is housed at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden Aerodrome, Bedfordshire. This aircraft, which is still airworthy, saw active service with 208 Squadron in 1922 during the Chanak Crisis in Turkey. 

Second RAF A400M Arrives at Brize Norton

Above: The second A400M Atlas C1 to be delivered to the RAF, ZM402, arriving at RAF Brize Norton. Dylan Eklund

A SECOND A400M Atlas C1 has been delivered to the Royal Air Force. The aircraft, ZM402 (c/n 0017, ex A4M017), callsign ‘RR4015’, was flown from Seville-San Pablo Airport, Spain, to RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, on February 27. Its first training flight took place on March 4, using callsign ‘Ascot 407’. It joins the first aircraft,

ZM400, now named ‘City of Bristol’, which had arrived at Brize Norton on November 17 last year (see Atlas Arrives at Brize Norton, January, p8). Atlas ZM402 is the third built for the RAF, the second, ZM401, was handed over in December but retained in Spain to be fitted with its defensive aids subsystem. On March 3, the RAF’s first

A400M, ZM400, undertook its first operational mission, delivering freight to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. In the captain’s seat for this historic flight was pilot Flt Lt Jamie ‘JJ’ Jackson from 24 Squadron, the operational conversion unit. Later this year, 70 Squadron is scheduled to become the RAF’s first operational unit with the type. 

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AirTanker’s 13th Voyager Arrives for Conversion

Above: Airbus A330 EC-332 (c/n 1601), callsign ‘CASA 332’, arriving at Getafe, Spain, on February 17 for conversion as the 13th Voyager for the RAF/AirTanker. José Ramón Valero

AN ADDITIONAL A330 has been delivered to Getafe, Spain, for conversion to Voyager configuration for the RAF/AirTanker. The aircraft, EC-332 (c/n 1601, ex F-WWCC), callsign ‘CASA 332’, arrived there on February 17, from the factory in Toulouse, France. As conversion number MRTT028, it will be the 13th Voyager and

RAF Ends Chinook Mk 2 Operations RAF OPERATIONS with the Mk 2 variant of the Chinook helicopter have now ended. The last Mk 2 in the fleet was HC2A ZH891 ‘HF’, which left RAF Odiham, Hampshire, on February 18 for conversion into the upgraded HC4A variant. It is due to return to service later in the year. Under Project Julius, all of the RAF’s fleet of Chinook HC2 and HC2A helicopters are being upgraded to HC4 and HC4A standard, respectively, while the HC3Rs are being modernised to HC5s. Work is similar on all of these variants and is intended to bring them all up to the same standard of equipment fit. The upgrade includes new digital flight deck avionics based on the Thales TopDeck avionics suite, comprising new multifunction displays, a digital moving map display and an electronic flight bag, plus installation of a nosemounted FLIR sensor and upgrading the engines to the more powerful T55-714. This also brings them in line with the equipment fit on the new production Chinook HC6s now being delivered to the RAF. 

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is allocated ZZ342/G-VYGM. Eleven Voyagers have been delivered to AirTanker, the most recent being MRTT026 – ZZ340/G-VYGK (c/n 1498, ex EC-330, F-WWTR), which arrived at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, on February 5 (see Eleventh Voyager Delivered to AirTanker, March, p6 – note the correct construction number and RAF

serial for this aircraft, amending details in the previous report). As the first aircraft in the ‘surge’ fleet, it is now being demilitarised prior to being leased to Thomas Cook Airlines. The next to be delivered will be MRTT027/ZZ341/G-VYGL (c/n 1555), which arrived at Getafe on August 25, 2014, and is still under conversion there. 

New Chinook Support Deal DURING A visit to Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced a major service support contract that will reportedly sustain 450 jobs. He confirmed during the visit on February 17 that the Ministry of Defence has signed a £420 million contract with Boeing for the in-service support of the Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter fleet, which is claimed will save the taxpayer over £150 million. The contract will be for five years and the fleet will be maintained at the Vector Aerospace facility in Fleetlands, Gosport. Other technical support will be provided from RAF Odiham, Hampshire, and at sites across the UK. The Chinook is the UK’s only military heavy lift helicopter and the fleet will be 60 strong by early 2017, after all of the new HC6 variants have been delivered. 

RAF’s 17(R) Sqn Begins F-35B Operational Testing

Above: UK F-35B Lightning II ZM135 (BK-01) arrives at Edwards AFB, California, on January 13 to join 17 (Reserve) Squadron for the operational test and evaluation phase. Lockheed Martin/Darin Russell

A CEREMONY was held at Edwards AFB, California, on February 9, marking the start of operational testing of the UK’s first F-35B Lightning II, ZM135 (BK-01), with 17 (Reserve) Test and Evaluation Squadron. The event also marked the centenary of the squadron, which had been formed on February 1, 1915, at Gosport, Hampshire – most recently it was the Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire. On April 12, 2013, it officially took on responsibility for all testing and evaluation of the UK’s F-35B to bring the type into frontline service with the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm. This joint RAF/FAA squadron will conduct F-35B operational testing at Edwards in conjunction with the US military, but joint service pilots

and engineers will fly and maintain the aircraft independently of their US colleagues. The UK F-35B, ZM135, was delivered to the unit at Edwards from Eglin AFB, Florida, on January 13 and will remain based, operated under UK regulations. It is the first of three F-35Bs that will eventually be flown by the squadron. By early March, the second UK F-35B, ZM136, had also joined it at Edwards. Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford was one of a number of dignitaries who attended the ceremony. The type will provide the RAF and Royal Navy with fifth-generation capability from 2018. Commanding Officer of 17 (R) Squadron, Wing Commander James Beck, said: “For a pilot, it’s

a dream come true to fly from Edwards Air Force Base...we’re the first nation outside of America to fly the F35 independently under our own regulations.” The third UK F-35B, the first aircraft that will be used operationally, ZM137 (BK-03), arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, from Eglin on February 3 to join Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501) ‘Warlords’ (see UK F-35B Arrives at MCAS Beaufort, March, p6). UK personnel will fly BK-3, working alongside US Marine Corps colleagues. They will form part of the UK’s first frontline Lightning II unit, 617 Squadron, operating from RAF Marham and then the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth Class carriers from 2018. 

#324 MARCH 2015

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CONTINENTAL EUROPE Dutch Azerbaijan Fighters Exercise in Turkey Parliament Approves Eight F-35As DUTCH PARLIAMENTARY approval has been granted to buy an initial eight production Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs for the Royal Netherlands Air Force. An order is expected to be signed shortly. The decision was made on February 26 during a debate in parliament, when Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said: “This is the point of no return” regarding replacement of the RNLAF’s F-16s. She noted that it was “high time” the RNLAF had clarity on the fighter it will fly in the future. This decision now gives that clarity. The aircraft will be delivered in 2019. Although all later RNLAF aircraft will come from the new final assembly and check-out line in Cameri, Italy, these first eight will be built at Fort Worth. Six will be retained in the USA and operate from the multinational training centre at Luke AFB, Arizona, through to 2023, when the RNLAF transition to the F-35 is scheduled to be completed. They will be joined by the two trials aircraft currently at Edwards AFB, California, with 323 Squadron, at the end of initial operational test and evaluation. After 2023, just five RNLAF aircraft will remain in the US for training and trials work. There will be three RNLAF F-35A squadrons, of which the first operational unit will be 322 Squadron at Leeuwarden Air Base. The other two will be 312 and 313 Squadron, both based at Volkel Air Base. In addition to the two test aircraft already delivered, 35 production examples will be acquired by the RNLAF. After the order for the first eight, contracts will follow for three further batches of eight aircraft each in 2016, 2017 and 2018, with the order for the last three expected in 2019. These will be delivered between 2019 and 2022, at a rate of eight per year, with the final three following in 2023. 

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Above: Azerbaijan Air Force MiG-29 ‘12 Blue’ lands at Konya Air Base, Turkey, on March 3 to participate in Exercise Turaz Sahini 2015. Azeri News Agency

SIX AZERBAIJANI Air Force fighter aircraft began a joint exercise with the Turkish Air Force on March 3 after deploying the same day to Konya Air Base, Turkey. The arrival of three MiG-29s (‘12 Blue’, ‘14 Blue’ and ‘33 Blue’) and three Su-25s (‘02 Blue’, ‘16 Blue’ and ‘55 Blue’), along with an Ilyushin Il-76 support aircraft and 106

Azerbaijani personnel, marked the first time the country had sent fighter types to an exercise abroad. Exercise Turaz Sahini 2015 continued until April 2 and also involved Turkish Air Force F-16s. Additionally, four Azerbaijani Mi-17 military transport helicopters were deployed to Konya to participate seperately in the ISIK-2015

P.1HH HammerHead Maiden Flight and First Order

Above: Piaggio P.1HH Hammerhead Prototype 001 unmanned aerial system takes off for its maiden flight from Trapani-Birgi Air Base on December 22. Piaggio Aerospace

PIAGGIO AEROSPACE has achieved two major milestones with its P.1HH HammerHead multipurpose unmanned aerial system. First, the definitive prototype 001 (c/n XAV-5A-002), made its maiden flight from Trapani-Birgi Air Base, Italy, on December 22, although the company did not announce this until February 24 at the IDEX 2015 show in Abu Dhabi. Two days later at IDEX the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI – Italian Air Force) was confirmed as the launch customer for the new UAV, which is based on the P180 Avanti II business aircraft. The AMI is acquiring three HammerHead systems, comprising six air vehicles and three ground stations. They will be delivered to the AMI in an intelligence,

surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) configuration in early 2016. Other European nations have also expressed interest in the type. The sortie by prototype 001 follows completion of flight testing using the technology demonstrator P.1HH Demo air vehicle, XAV-5A-001, which first flew on November 14, 2013, at Trapani. The new prototype is representative of the final aerodynamic configuration of the aircraft. This includes a revised, extended span main wing and new on-board control systems. Developed in partnership with Finmeccanica-Selex ES, the P.1HH HammerHead UAS will now undertake a comprehensive development and certification flight test campaign at Trapani. 

international search and rescue exercise, which was scheduled to conclude on April 13. The deployments mark a further increase in military co-operation between the two countries and follow Turkish Air Force participation in large-scale exercises in Azerbaijan last September. 

GA-ASI and SENER Offer Predator B to Spain GENERAL ATOMICS Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) has teamed up with Spanish engineering company Sener to promote the multi-mission Predator B (MQ-9 Reaper) remotely piloted aircraft to meet Spain’s airborne surveillance and reconnaissance requirements. The teaming agreement was announced by GA-ASI on March 2. Complementing GA-ASI’s UAV capability, Sener will use its engineering experience to optimize Predator B data collection in support of the customer. Spain has been evaluating options for a medium-altitude long-endurance UAV to meet its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) requirements for some years. It would prefer an armed UAV, although this is not a hard and fast requirement. GA-ASI had previously teamed with Sener seven years ago to offer Predator B to meet Spain’s ISR needs, but no order was placed. By last year, Spanish officials had narrowed the choice down to either the Predator B or the IAI Heron TP. 

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Green Light for NH90 Sea Lions GERMANY IS to buy 18 NHIndustries NH90 Sea Lion (NATO Frigate Helicopters) to replace its naval air arm’s elderly Sea King Mk 41 fleet. Acquisition approval was granted by the Bundestag (German Parliament) during a budget committee meeting on March 4. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2017. The deal, intended to compensate Airbus Helicopters (the majority stakeholder in NHI) for previously announced cuts in other German helicopter orders, is subject to the manufacturer meeting contractual performance goals and delivery schedules. If it fails to meet these requirements, Germany may enforce penalties or cancel the contract. On March 15, 2013, Germany announced cuts to its Tiger UHT order from 80 to 57 helicopters. The NH90 TTH order will be reduced from 122 to 82 with options on a further 22. Of the Tigers, just 40 will be operational frontline helicopters, while the remaining 17 are to be used for attrition replacement, testing and training. Eleven older model Tigers already delivered are to be immediately grounded and cannibalised for spares. Two of the NH90 TTHs will be used for training only, leaving an operational fleet of 80. 

A400M Simultaneously Refuels Two Hornets

Above: Airbus A400M EC-404 (c/n 0004) refuels Spanish Air Force EF/A-18A Hornet C.15-56 ‘12-14’ and EF/A-18B CE.15-11 ‘12-74’ from Ala 12 at Torrejón off the Spanish coast on January 28. Airbus Defence and Space/A Doumenjon

AIRBUS DEFENCE and Space has further demonstrated the A400M’s tanker capabilities by successfully carrying out simultaneous air-to-air refuelling of two F/A-18 Hornets. Announcing the achievement on February 18, the company said that during four flights, the A400M performed 74 contacts and dispensed 27.2 tonnes of fuel to the Ejército del

Aire (Spanish Air Force) aircraft. Refuelling was conducted at 20,000-33,000ft (6,100-10,050m) and airspeeds of 180-300kt (333-555km/h) – the preferred refuelling envelope for fighters. The A400M has a basic fuel capacity of 50.8 tonnes which can be increased by the use of extra cargo hold tanks. The standard A400M aircraft has full

Third Italian Air Force HH-101A

Left: AgustaWestland HH-101A Caesar MM81866/ZR354 (‘CSAR03’) ‘15-03’ on a test flight at Yeovil, Somerset, on January 26. The helicopter is the third of 12 HH-101As on order for the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI – Italian Air Force) for combat search and rescue. It already wears the markings of 15° Stormo, which is based at Cervia. Ian Harding

Slovakia Considering UH-60M Purchase US STATE Department approval has been granted for a possible Foreign Military Sale to Slovakia of nine UH-60M Black Hawks. Including associated equipment, parts and logistical support, the estimated cost is $450 million. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of this possible sale on February 18. Slovakia has requested the helicopters in standard US Government configuration with designated unique equipment and Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). If it goes ahead, the deal will include 20 T700-GE-701D engines (18 installed and two spares); 20 embedded GPS/INS; two aviation mission planning systems; one aviation ground power unit; 11

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provisions for air-to-air refuelling (AAR) operations and only requires the rapid installation of the optional air-to-air refuelling kit to become a tanker. On a typical tanking mission where it would loiter for two hours at a range of 500nm (930km) from base, the A400M would have a potential fuel give-away of 75,000lb (34,000kg). 

AN/APX-123 Identification Friend or Foe transponders; 20 VHF/ digitally selective calling AN/ ARC-231 radios; 11 ARN-147 VHF omni ranging/instrument landing system (VOR/ILS); 11 AN/ ARN-153 tactical air navigation systems and 11 AN/ARC-201D single-channel ground and airborne radio systems radios. The DSCA notes this proposed sale will help improve the security of a NATO ally, enhancing Slovakia’s capability to deter regional threats and strengthen its homeland defence, as well as support counter-terrorism operations. It will bolster the country’s ability to provide border patrol, rapid reaction and humanitarian relief, adds the DSCA.

The US offer of UH-60Ms was first revealed earlier this year, at a press conference in Bratislava on January 12. Slovak defence minister Martin Givac said the Slovak Government would review the offer, but noted that similar helicopters were also being evaluated for the requirement by the Slovak Ministry of Defence. There has been little funding available for defence procurement for many years in Slovakia, but the need to replace outdated aircraft is now urgent. Investment has included signature of a contract for two C-27J Spartans on October 29, 2014 (see Slovakia Finally Orders Two C-27J Spartans, December, p12), to replace a similar number of An-26s. The new Black Hawks,

or whichever other type is selected, will replace the Slovak Air Force’s current Mi-17 medium transport helicopters, reducing maintenance costs and cutting down dependence on the supply of spares from Russia. Slovakia is also looking to replace its MiG-29 Fulcrums within the next few years and is examining options. Talks with Swedish authorities have been ongoing regarding a possible lease deal for 12 Saab JAS39 Gripens to replace them. The defence minister confirmed on July 28, 2014 during a radio interview, that this is the favoured option. With the surviving MiG-29s due for retirement from 2016, a decision needs to be made as soon as possible. 

#325 APRIL 2015

9

NEWS

CONTINENTAL EUROPE US Army UH-60s to Germany A DEPLOYMENT of 25 US Army UH-60Ls were due to arrive in Germany by mid-March for operations expected to last around nine months. The Black Hawks, along with about 450 personnel, come from the 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. They are in Europe on a rotational basis as part of the US Army’s commitment to ensure US Army Europe has the right capability to meet training and operational requirements. The helicopters will initially operate from Storck Barracks, Illesheim. The UH-60Ls will participate in Operation Atlantic Resolve exercises in several NATO countries in Eastern Europe. The unit will help offset a shortfall due to 12th Combat Aviation Brigade units still returning from Afghanistan and the Middle East and reintegrating into European operations. This rotation is consistent with the US Army’s Regionally Aligned Force. Since last April, US Army Europe has conducted continuous, enhanced multinational training and security co-operation activities with allies and partners in Europe. Operation Atlantic Resolve’s enhanced land force training and security co-operation activities are taking place currently in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland; with plans to expand to include Romania and Bulgaria in the near future. 

News Brief FRANCE'S DEFENCE procurement agency, the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) announced on March 9 that stealth flighttesting of the nEUROn UCAV technology demonstrator has been completed. The final sortie, which was also the 100th flight of the air vehicle, took place on February 26. DGA trials involved measuring radar and infra-red signatures to test stealth features. Additional testing will continue through to the end of this year at overseas locations, first in Italy and then Sweden.

10 APRIL 2015 #325

Theatre Support Package A-10Cs Arrive at Spangdahlem

Above: USAF/355th Fighter Wing A-10C Thunderbolt II 78-0651 ‘DM’/‘12 AF’ arriving at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on February 13. Oliver Jonischkeit

A PACKAGE of 12 US Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt IIs has arrived at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, to undertake the USAF’s first European theatre security package (TSP) deployment. Ten of the aircraft from the 355th Fighter Wing’s 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron ‘Bulldogs’ at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, landed at the German base on February 13. The remaining two aircraft, 81-0956 ‘DM’ and 81-0991 ‘DM’, callsigns ‘Tabor 33’ and ‘Tabor 34’, diverted into Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. This was because 81-0956 had declared an emergency on approaching the Dutch coast. On landing on Runway 22, the aircraft’s left tyre burst and it was also reported to have had brake problems with the same wheel, causing it to veer off the runway. The second aircraft, 81-0991, landed a couple of minutes later on Runway 24.

The following morning, 81-0991 departed from Schiphol using callsign ‘Hawg 01’ to complete its journey to Spangdahlem. The damaged 81-0956, however, was moved into a hangar at Schiphol on the same day for further assessment. It finally left there on February 19 for Spangdahlem using callsign ‘Evil 01’. The 12 aircraft involved in the deployment are: 78-0650 ‘DM’, 78-0651 ‘DM’, 81-0945 ‘DM’, 81-0956 ‘DM’, 81-0960 ‘DM’, 81-0965 ‘DM’, 81-0966 ‘DM’, 81-0988 ‘DM’, 81-0991 ‘DM’, 81-0992 ‘DM’, 82-0647 ‘DM’ and 82-0656 ‘DM’. Apart from the first two, all had previously been based at Spangdahlem with the 52nd Fighter Wing’s 81st Fighter Squadron ‘Panthers’ before it was disbanded in 2013. The aircraft, together with 300 airmen, are expected to remain in Germany for up to six months supporting Operation Atlantic Resolve, the increased

US commitment to security in Eastern Europe in the light of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The regular TSP deployments will augment US Air Forces in Europe’s existing efforts as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve by conducting flying training deployments and off-station exercises with NATO allies to further enhance interoperability. While in Germany, the A-10Cs will conduct training alongside NATO allies with the goal of strengthening interoperability and enhancing regional security. The unit will later forward deploy to locations in Eastern European NATO nations. The A-10s are the first of several TSP deployments to Europe. Rotations will generally last six months, depending on mission and US European Command requirements. Although a first in Europe, the USAF has been conducting similar TSP rotations in the Pacific region since 2004. 

Third Spanish Tigre HAD Delivered

A third Tigre HAD, HA.28-09/10010 ‘ET-709’, has been delivered to Spain’s Fuerzas Aeromóviles del Ejército de Tierra (FAMET - Spanish Army Aviation). It joined Almagro-based BHELMA I on February 9. The unit already has six Tigre HAPs and two Tigre HADs and will eventually receive a further 15 HAD variants. The latest helicopter is pictured during a pre-delivery acceptance flight on December 4. The first two HADs for the unit, HA.28-07/10008 ‘ET707’ and HA.28-08/10009 ‘ET-708’, were delivered in January. Roberto Yañez

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AW139 Ordered by Croatian Police THE CROATIAN Police has ordered a single AW139. Announcing the contract on February 18, AgustaWestland said the order follows a competitive tender issued by the Croatian Ministry of Interior to replace an older model. It is the first order for the type in the country. The acquisition is being co-financed using EU Internal Security Funds. The Croatian Police AW139 configuration incorporates the latest generation highdefinition FLIR turret, HD video link system, searchlight, rescue hoist and a cabin mission console. 

New Typhoon Fuselage Strakes Tested

German development Eurofighter Typhoon 98+07 (IPA7/GS0029) during a test flight on January 13 with new delta fuselage strakes below the cockpit, apex strakes and extended flaperons. The modified aircraft reflew for the first time on October 29 last year and went on to make more than 30 flights by the third week of February. The strakes provide improved performance when flying at angles of attack of between 25° and 35°. Dietmar Fenners

First Norwegian F-35A Takes Shape

Above: The centre wing body of F-35A Lightning II AM-1, the first for the Royal Norwegian Air Force, is lifted into place on January 30 in an Electronic Mate and Assembly Station on the F-35 production line at AF Plant 4 in Fort Worth. Lockheed Martin

PROGRESS CONTINUES apace on the first F-35A Lightning II for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Lockheed Martin announced on February 6 that the initial major components of the first RNoAF aircraft, AM-1, had been joined together in the mate process. It will continue down the

assembly line at Fort Worth, Texas, prior to roll out of the factory and delivery to Norway this autumn. AM-1 will eventually be based at Luke AFB, Arizona, to support F-35 pilot training. Norway plans to acquire 52 F-35As and authorised funding for its first two on June 15, 2012.

An advanced acquisition contract for these aircraft was awarded on June 15, 2012 as part of Low Rate Initial Production Lot VII. This was followed by a final contract award on September 27, 2013. Seven Norwegian companies supply parts for the F-35. 

First T-346A for Italian Air Force’s 61° Stormo AFTER MONTHS of operations with loaned aircraft, the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI – Italian Air Force) has received its first permanently assigned T-346A Master for training at Lecce Galatina. The aircraft, MM55154 ’61-01’, was delivered to the base on February 26 to join 61°

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Stormo’s 212° Gruppo Sculo Volo Basico Iniziale Su Aviogetti (Basic and Advanced Jet Training School). It will be used for Phase IV instruction. Previously, T-346As loaned from the Reparto Sperimentale di Volo (RSV – Experimental Flight Department) at Pratica di Mare had been

used for instruction. The first 61° Stormo instructors qualified last August and formed the entire crew for the initial training mission from the unit in October. More instructors are being trained while the syllabus and instruction manuals continue to be developed. 

TyphoonBrimstone 2 Integration Deal A CONTRACT worth 200 million euros (£165 million) was signed at IDEX in Abu Dhabi for the Eurofighter Typhoon Phase 3 Enhancements Package (P3E). The deal, announced at IDEX on February 23, includes MBDA Brimstone 2 air-to-surface missile integration, plus maintenance and mission avionics system improvements. The contract was awarded to Eurofighter Jadgflugzeug GmbH by the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) on behalf of the partner nations. BAE Systems said its share of the deal is valued at £72 million. The P3E upgrades are expected to be delivered for RAF service in late 2018. Each upgraded Typhoon can carry up to six Brimstones on two launcher packs, each with six missiles. In addition to introducing Brimstone 2, P3E will enhance the capabilities of the Typhoon’s Storm Shadow, ASRAAM, Meteor and Paveway IV. The Brimstone 2 integration order follows a successful feasibility study and trial installation commissioned by the UK Ministry of Defence and carried out last year by BAE Systems. Brimstone 2 integration opens up the aircraft's air-to-surface capability. 

#325 APRIL 2015 11

NEWS

NORTH AMERICA

‘Ghost Rider’ Flies Out of AMARG

Above: USAF B-52H 61-0007 ‘MT’/‘Ghost Rider’ leaving Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, on February 13. USAF/Master Sgt Greg Steele

US AIR Force Boeing B-52H Stratofortress 61-0007 ‘MT’/‘Ghost Rider’ has been flown out of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, after six years in storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) facility. It left for Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, on February 13 to be prepared for return to service. This is the first time a stored B-52 has left

One More E-2D Ordered by US Navy NORTHROP GRUMMAN Systems Corporation Aerospace Systems has received a contract from US Naval Air Systems Command for one full-rate production E-2D Advanced Hawkeye. The deal, awarded on February 27, is valued at $148.33 million and contract completion is anticipated in July 2018. Financing comes from FY15 US Navy aircraft procurement funding. The order is a modification to the E-2D multi-year contract of June 30, 2014, which covers Lots 2 to 6 manufacture from FY14-2018. 

US Army Orders 22 More UH-60Ms

THE US Army has exercised an option for 22 additional UH-60Ms. The deal, awarded to Sikorsky on March 2, is worth $241.7 million and a modification to the $8.5 billion five-year agreement signed on July 10, 2012, covering 653 US Army UH-60M and US Navy MH-60R/S helicopters, with options for a further 263 of both types. It is financed with FY15 other procurement funds which provides aircraft for contingency operations. Estimated completion date is December 31, 2016. 

12 APRIL 2015 #325

AMARG by air, all others to date having departed as scrap metal. ‘Ghost Rider’ will replace Barksdale-based B-52H 60-0049 ‘OT’ from the 53rd Wing’s 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron, which was damaged beyond economic repair by an on-board fire on January 28, 2014 (see USAF to Return Stored AMARG B-52H to Service, March, p16). Personnel from the 76th

Aircraft Maintenance Group will salvage modified components from the damaged aircraft and install them on 61-0007, while Barksdale maintainers conduct routine inspections and repairs. In late 2015, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, will induct the aircraft for a full Program Depot Maintenance before it re-joins the active fleet, which is expected in the summer of 2016. 

US Navy Orders Another MQ-8C Fire Scout US NAVAL Air Systems Command has exercised an option with Bell Helicopter Textron Inc for delivery of one additional Bell 407 analogue helicopter. The order also includes preservation and storage of seven aircraft in support of the endurance upgrade of the MQ-8C Fire Scout. The $8,431,030 contract, awarded on April 3, is a modification to the November 14, 2013, deal that covered three MQ-8Cs for the US Navy. Work will be performed in Ozark, Alabama, with contract completion expected in September of this year. Financing is being provided with Fiscal 2015 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds. The MQ-8C,an unmanned version of the Bell 407, is superceding the smaller MQ-8B, based on the Schweizer 333. 

US CBP’s First ex-USMC UH-1N US CUSTOMS and Border Protection’s Office of Air and Marine (OAM) have received the first of eight former US Marine Corps Bell UH-1Ns purchased from the US Navy. The handover, which was announced on February 12, followed a complete overhaul and missionizing for border security operations. The CBP said the overhaul would cost about $1.3 million per helicopter, compared with an estimated $9.8 million for a new replacement. OAM’s Logistics and Maintenance Division initiated the purchase and will continue to lead refurbishment of the other seven. Much of the cost was covered through the US General Services Administration Sale/Exchange Program, using funds from the sale of retired OAM assets.

Above: US Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine UH-1N N7255N seen on January 29 after completion of refurbishment, upgrade and painting. US CBP OAM

The helicopters were declared excess by the US Department of Defense after returning from overseas ops and sold to OAM by the US Navy in 2012. Seven of the eight had been in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, between 2010 and 2012

US CBP OAM UH-1Ns US Regn

Con No

USMC serial

AMARG arrival and departure

N7252N

31680

159204

Sep 1, 2010 – Unknown

N7253N

31687

159681

Dec 12, 2011 – Sep 19, 2013

N7255N

31720

160170

Aug 13, 2012 – Sep 19, 2013

N7256N

31730

160438

Aug 13, 2012 – Sep 19, 2013

N7271N

31735

160443

Aug 31, 2010 – Sep 19, 2013

N7272N

31744

160452

Dec 1, 2011 – Sep 19, 2013

N7273N

31748

160456

Sep 26, 2012 – Sep 19, 2013

N7274N

31454

160836

Not ex-AMARG

All were officially registered to the US Department of Homeland Security – the CBP’s parent organization – on July 11, 2014.

(see below) before leaving for refurbishment in September 2013. OAM inspected the first helicopter, N7255N (c/n 31720, ex-USMC/160170), for corrosion and made repairs, before missionizing it. The UH-1Ns will be employed in air mobility missions along the US border, enhancing ground searches and interdiction operations. The first helicopter underwent assessment in El Paso, Texas, before entering service in March at McAllen, Texas. Bases for the remaining helicopters have yet to be decided and will depend on mission requirements. The second, N7272N, is due in early April and the remaining six will be delivered at a rate of approximately one every six months through to 2018. 

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NEWS

NORTH AMERICA Sikorsky Begins Final Assembly of Second S-97 Raider SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT announced on March 4 that it has begun final assembly of the second S-97 Raider helicopter at its Development Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Along with a team of industry suppliers, Sikorsky is developing two Raider prototypes to demonstrate the new capabilities in improved manoeuvrability and flight speed. The company believes the rigid coaxial rotor Raider is ideally suited for armed reconnaissance and a spectrum of special operations missions. “Our teammates on the Raider programme have been answering our challenge to deliver a military helicopter with capabilities never seen before,” said Mark Hammond, S-97 Raider Program Manager. Sikorsky launched the S-97 Raider programme in October 2010 with the objective of maturing its X2 rotorcraft design and offering a helicopter to meet US Army armed reconnaissance and special operations needs. The company developed the first Raider

Above: The fuselage of the second S-97 Raider prototype arrives at Sikorsky’s Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. PRNewsPhoto/Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation

prototype as a test aircraft, built to prove the military application of Sikorsky’s X2 Technology. The second prototype will serve as a demonstrator aircraft, offering key customers an opportunity to experience the capabilities of X2 Technology first hand. Sikorsky is on track to complete final assembly and test flights of the second Raider prototype in 2015, followed by demonstration

flights beginning in 2016. The second Raider prototype entered final assembly with the delivery of the all-composite fuselage from supplier Aurora Flight Sciences of Manassas, Virginia. The Raider features a multimission configuration, capable of performing air assault or armed reconnaissance/ light attack missions. 

Second Oldest USAF Hercules Retired to AMARG

Above: USAF/71st Rescue Squadron HC-130P Combat King 62-1863 ‘Iron Horse’ taxies out for its final departure from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, on March 3, headed for storage at Davis-Monthan. USAF/Airman 1st Class Dillian Bamman

US AIR Force Lockheed HC-130P Combat King 62-1863 ‘Iron Horse’ has finally been retired after 52 years of service. The aircraft, the second oldest C-130 in the USAF inventory, was operated by the 23rd Wing’s 71st Rescue Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. On March 3, it was flown to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, to be placed in storage with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. The aircraft has flown 27,533

flying hours, the second most of any C-130 aircraft in the Air Force. Iron Horse began its USAF career as a C-130E Hercules assigned to the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing during the Vietnam War and ended with a final deployment in 2009 with the 71st Rescue Squadron. It first gained its nickname when stationed at Davis-Monthan in 1994 as an EC-130E airborne command and control centre. It was the only aircraft to undergo conversion to the HC-130P, in

September 2003, as after its completion, AFSOC decided to cancel the programme and buy new HC-130Js instead. Iron Horse joined the 71st RQS in 2007 and remained with the unit until the HC-130J Combat King II was introduced. The 23d Wing’s transition to the newer J Model began in 2011, so the older Ps have been slowly phased out. The next HC-130P due for phase-out at Moody is 65-0982, which is due to be flown to AMARG in June. 

Order for 35 More AH-64E Guardians for US Army BOEING HAS been awarded a US Army contract for 35 AH-64E Apache Guardians. The $591.25 million deal, which was awarded on February 19, covers

14 APRIL 2015 #325

full-rate production Lot 5 and uses FY15 funding. An initial $105,616,400 has been released and estimated completion is July 31, 2015. Two contracts

had already covered long-lead items for Lot 5 production, one on April 24, 2014, for $103.8 million and another for $14.58 million on January 22, 2015. 

US Navy Retires C-20A ‘Catbird’ US NAVY C-20A (Gulfstream III) 830500 ‘Catbird’ has been donated to Southern Illinois University following retirement from service. After being removed from the Navy’s operational inventory, it had been scheduled for disposal, but instead will gain a new lease of life teaching aviation technologies at the University. Its final flight was on February 2 from Cahokia, Illinois, to Carbondale, also in Illinois. The following day it was officially donated to the University. Built in 1982, it was originally used by the US Air Force as an executive transport, but was transferred to the Navy Reserve in 2004. During its career it accumulated 17,658 hours, of which its final 4,000 were as a ‘Catbird’, the name used for aircraft performing command and control missions for the US Navy. It was primarily used in Europe and North Africa, based at Sigonella, Italy, providing logistics support for senior leadership, dignitaries and fleet battle group commanders. Because of its age and general degradation, in November 2014 the Navy decided it was beyond economical repair. Instead of being flown to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group facility at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, the Commander, Naval Air Forces Reserve, agreed to its donation for ground instructional uses at the University. 

P-3 MLU Wing Production Restarted

LOCKHEED MARTIN announced on March 4 that it has restarted the wing production line for the P-3 Orion Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) programme for Canada and Chile. Production had previously ceased in August 2014. The MLU replaces the outer wings, centre wing, tailplane and tailplane leading edges. All necessary fatigue life-limiting structures are also replaced during the MLU, reducing maintenance and sustainment costs. The work gives the Orion an average of 20-25 more years of life for its operators. More customers are anticipated. 

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USAF Force Structure Changes DETAILS HAVE been released of USAF force structure changes that will result if its Fiscal Year 2016 Budget request is approved. The plans, announced on February 6, would remove 284 aircraft from the inventory between Fiscal 2016 and 2020 and would retire the A-10C and U-2S fleets by FY2019. Although the intention is for numerous units to receive additional aircraft, most would be transferred from elsewhere and few would be from new production or acquisition. Exceptions would be 34 UH-60s that will be acquired from the US Army and a small number of MQ-9A Remotely Piloted Aircraft. It should be noted that the plans do not reflect the addition of new F-35As and C-130Js to the inventory. The USAF had intended to begin retiring the A-10C in FY2015 but stipulations in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prevented this from happening. The retirements are now scheduled to span a four-year period and are aligned with the F-35A procurement plans. The final A-10Cs will be retired in 2019. This plan also re-phases the U-2S and E-3B/C withdrawals from FY2016 to 2019. Those disposals had been announced in FY2015, but similar stipulations in the NDAA will prevent the USAF from retiring any of those aircraft in 2015. The state-by-state effects of the changes are detailed opposite. Tom Kaminski  Notes 1 Aircraft reassigned as Backup Aircraft Inventory (BAI) status 2 New associate group will be activated 3 Reserve association to end 4 Two JSTARS Recap aircraft arrive in FY19 5 ANG to begin F-15E association with 366th FW at Mountain Home AFB 6 Active association to end

USAF Force Structure Changes Fiscal Year

Location

Organization

Gaining Current Comd Aircraft

Loss New Aircraft

FY16

Davis-Monthan AFB

355th FW/354th FS 357th FS

ACC

55

A-10C

FY16

Davis-Monthan AFB

55th ECG

ACC

EC-130H 7

FY19

Davis-Monthan AFB

924th FG/47th FS

AFRC

A-10C

28

FY16

Little Rock AFB

189th AW/154 TRS

ANG

C-130H

FY19

Beale AFB

9th RW

ACC

U-2S/T

FY19

Beale AFB

9th RW

ACC

T-38A

11

Beale AFB

940th WG

AFRC

N/A

0

FY16

Fresno-Yosemite Int. Airport 144th FW/194th FS

ANG

F-15C

Eglin AFB

AFMC

A-10C

96th TW/40th FLTS

-7 F-16C (Blk 40)

21

(Note 1)

2

Jacksonville Int. Airport

125th FW/159th FS

ANG

F-15C

Moody AFB

23rd WG/FG/74thFS, 75th FS

ACC

A-10C

48

FY16

Moody AFB

44nd FW/476th FG/ 76th FS

AFRC

A-10C

0

(Note 2) 0 2 -2 2

2 -48

(Note 3) 0

FY19

Robins AFB

116th ACW/128th ACCS ANG

JSTARS

FY16

Boise Airport-Gowen Field

124th FW/190th FS

A-10C

21

F-15E

22

F-16C

ANG

2 -11

RQ-4B

2

FY16

-7

-32

2

FY16

Gain or (Loss) -55

32

FY16 FY16

Gain

(Note 4) 2 (Note 5) -21

FY19

Fort Wayne Int. Airport

122nd FW/163rd FS

ANG

A-10C

FY16

NAS JRB New Orleans

159th FW/122nd FS

ANG

F-15C

FY18

Warfield ANGB/Martin State Airport, Baltimore

175th WG/104th FS

ANG

A-10C

FY16

Westfield Barnes Airport ANGB

104th FW/131st FS

ANG

F-15C

FY17

Selfridge ANGB, Mount Clemens

127th WG/107th FS

ANG

A-10C

21

KC-135R 8

-13

FY18

Whiteman AFB

442nd FW/303rd FS

AFRC

A-10C

27

F-16C (Blk 40)

21

-6

(Note 1)

2

2

16

16

2

2

21

FY16

Whiteman AFB

495th FG/Det. 303

ACC

A-10C

FY16

Rosecrans Memorial Airport, St Joseph

139th AW/180th AS

ANG

C-130H

FY1920

Creech AFB

432nd WG

ACC

MQ-9A

FY16

Nellis AFB

57th WG/53rd WG

ACC

A-10C

FY20

Holloman AFB

49th WG/6th RS

ACC

MQ-9A

-1 2

8

-13

2

2

(Note 6) 0

14

FY160 Kirtland AFB

150th SOW/188th SOS

ANG

RC-26B

FY16

109th AW/139th AS

ANG

C-130H

Schenectady County Airport

C-130J

21 2

-14

(Note 1)

2

2

2

2

FY19

Tinker AFB

552nd ACW

ACC

E-3B/C

7

FY19

Tinker AFB

513th ACG/970th AACS

AFRC

E-3B/C

0

(Note 3) 0

-7

FY19

Tinker AFB

507th ARW/465th ARS

AFRC

KC135R

4

4

FY16

Klamath Falls AirportKingsley Field

173rd FW/114th FS

ANG

F-15C

FY1720

F.E. Warren AFB

620th OG/37th HS, 40th HS, 54th HS

AFGSC

UH-1N

20

FY1718

Multiple locations

TBD

AMC

C-130H

28

FY16

Luis Muñoz Int. Airport, Puerto Rico

156th AW/198th AS

ANG

C-130H

6

UH-60L

9

9

34

14 -28

RC-26B

9

3

FY16

Osan AB, South Korea

51st FW/25th FS

PACAF

A-10C

24

-24

FY17

RAF Lakenheath, UK

48th FW/493rd FS

USAFE

F-15C

21

-21

Contract for 41 More US Army UH-72As A CONTRACT for 41 additional UH-72A Lakota helicopters for the US Army has gone to Airbus Defence and Space. The $220.56 million deal on February 12 also included 41 Airborne Radio Communications 231 Radios.

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Financing comes from FY15 procurement funds and estimated completion is July 31, 2017. This is the second contract for FY15 UH-72A procurement, following the $71.71 million deal awarded on November 6, 2014, for an

unspecified number of helicopters. Including the new contract, Airbus Helicopters now has firm orders for 411 Lakotas, this total including five for the US Navy and six for Thailand. The company has delivered 331 to date.

Funding for 37 UH-72As for the US Army was provided in the FY14 budget, followed by 55 in FY15. A further 28 Lakotas have been requested in FY16, which has yet to be approved and it is planned to order 18 in FY17. 

#325 APRIL 2015 15

NEWS

NORTH AMERICA

US Army UH-60s to replace USAF UH-1Ns FUNDS ARE being requested in the Fiscal 2016 budget to enable final retirement of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) Bell UH-1N Twin Huey fleet to begin. This follows several failed attempts to replace the 62 helicopters over the last few years. Rather than purchasing new aircraft, however, the USAF will acquire Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawks that are being retired by the US Army. Prior to entering service, the aircraft will be upgraded to UH-60L configuration through existing government contracts. Primarily carried out by the US Army’s Corpus Christi Army Depot in Texas, under the UH-60A to L recapitalization programme, the project installs more powerful General Electric T700-GE-701D engines, a stronger gearbox and an improved flight control system. The UH-1Ns are currently operated by

three squadrons that are assigned to the 620th Operations Group at F E Warren AFB, Wyoming, but are co-located alongside each of the command’s Missile Wings at F E Warren, Minot AFB, North Dakota and Malmstrom AFB, Montana. The helicopters are primarily tasked with nuclear security operations, which includes providing aerial security over each of the missile wing’s Minutemen intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch facilities, airlift for emergency security response (ESR) forces and providing surveillance of nuclear weapons convoys. The majority of the Twin Hueys have been in service for over 40 years and since entering service the helicopters have been equipped with upgrades that installed electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) sensors,

crew-served weapons and other modifications. However, the UH-1Ns no longer meet the command’s speed, payload or survivability requirements. The UH-1N replacement process is due to begin in fiscal 2016 with an initial expenditure of $2.5 million that will set up the programme office. Under the terms of the first five-year plan, the Air Force will spend $52 million in Fiscal Year 2017, $127.5 million in 2018, $127.4 million in 2019 and $127.1 million in 2020. The first 34 UH-60Ls will enter service in Fiscal 2017-2020, allowing the retirement of the initial batch of 20 UH-1Ns to begin in FY19-20. The command’s most recent plans to acquire new helicopters under the Common Vertical Lift Support Platform programme were

cancelled in 2013. Begun in 2009, the CVLSP was intended to replace all 62 of the UH-1Ns operated by AFGSC, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), Air Education Training Command (AETC), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) and the Air Force District of Washington (AFDW) with 93 ‘off-the-shelf’ helicopters. In addition to the AFGSC nuclear security support missions, the UH-1Ns assigned to the other commands are tasked with continuity of government/continuity of operations (COG/COOP) in the National Capital Region, formal training, senior leader airlift, test/ range support and survival/evasion/ resistance/escape (SERE) training. Ultimately, the USAF plans to spend around $980 million to acquire and refurbish 72 US Army Black Hawks. Tom Kaminski 

USAF Takes Delivery of 24th C-5M

Above: Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy 86-0022 departing from Marietta, Georgia, on February 13 on delivery back to the USAF. This was the 24th C-5M and was initially flown to Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, where it will undergo internal paint restoration. It will then be flown to Travis AFB, California, to rejoin the 60th Air Mobility Wing’s 22nd Airlift Squadron ‘Mulies’, becoming the sixth C-5M with the unit. Lockheed Martin/Andrew McMurtrie

Boeing Assembling Final C-17A

Left: Boeing has begun final assembly of the last C-17A Globemaster III. Joining of the major sections of the 279th and final aircraft, 14-0010/ N279ZD (c/n 50279), is seen here being completed on the production line at Long Beach, California, on February 26. It will roll off the line later this year. Boeing

16 APRIL 2015 #325

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Tangent F_P.indd 1

30/01/2015 14:34

NEWS

LATIN AMERICA New Carabineros de Chile AW139

Above: The new Carabineros de Chile AW139 being rolled out of the LASSA facility at La Reina-Tobalaba Airport, Santiago de Chile, on February 10. LASSA

ANOTHER NEW Black Hawk variant, the AH-60L Arpia IV, was unveiled by the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (FAC - Colombian Air Force) on February 26. Based on the FAC's previous Arpia III, the new model was presented in a ceremony at Comando Aereo de Combate 5 in Rio Negro, Antioquia. It is planned to convert 12 Arpia IIIs to the Arpia IV configuration, which will improve the capacity for ground attack. It can be equipped with a wide range of armament, including the Rafael Spike anti-tank guided missile and Nexter NC-621 20mm cannon pod, while new equipment includes Rafael Toplite III FLIR and Elbit ANVIS/HUD-24 helmets. Juan Carlos Cicalesi 

A NEW production AgustaWestland AW139 is due to be delivered to the Carabineros de Chile. The helicopter arrived by road in crates at the facilities of Línea de Aero Servicios SA (LASSA) at La Reina-Tobalaba Airport, Santiago de Chile, on January 28. It was then

unpacked and re-assembled, and rolled out on February 10. On December 23, 2014, the manufacturer had announced signature of a contract for this helicopter (see Carabineros de Chile Orders an AW139, February, p18). It was ordered through LASSA, the company’s

Brazilian Air Force Trains Pilots on 767

USAF Reaper Operating out of El Salvador

TEN PILOTS of the Força Aérea Brasileira's (FAB - Brazilian Air Force's) 2° Grupo de Transporte/2° Esquadrao ('Esquadrão Corsáiro') at Galeão have completed a training course on the Boeing 767 transport aircraft. The aircrew currently fly the elderly Boeing KC-137 with the unit. Announced by the FAB on March 5, the course had included lectures, exercises in a 767 simulator and 150 flying hours on the type. Three of the FAB pilots also qualified as 767 aircraft intructors. The training commenced in December 2013 and was completed in February 2015. An operational training contract with Brazil's ABSA-TAM Cargo airline enabled the aircrew to train on one of the carrier's 767 freighters. The KC-X2 Project Committee, which oversees the programme to find a replacement for the FAB's KC-137s, selected Israel Aerospace Industries to provide its Boeing 767 tanker transport conversion on March 13, 2013. No contract has yet been signed, but with the KC-137s having retired in May 2013, the requirement is now urgent. 

18 APRIL 2015 #325

local sales representative, at a cost of $12.5 million. The AW139 will be used to support a wide range of missions including public order and safety, crime control, counter terrorism, drug control and border security across the nation, search and rescue, and transport. 

Colombian Air Force Unveils New Arpia IV

Above: This US Air Force MQ-9A Reaper, carrying an unidentified sensor pod under the fuselage, was seen operating from El Salvador-Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, El Salvador, on February 24. Mario Theresin

First Peruvian C-27J Now Flight-Testing ALENIA AERMACCHI has begun flight testing the first C-27J Spartan for the Fuerza Aérea del Perù (FAP – Peruvian Air Force) at Turin-Caselle Airport, Italy. The aircraft FAP-328, also carrying test serial C.S.X62295, made its maiden flight in

the last week of January. It is the first of four on contract for the FAP. The first two were ordered in December 2013, while a deal for the additional two was signed on December 31, 2014. The first aircraft was scheduled for delivery in March or April,

while the second will follow before the year-end. The third and fourth will join them in 2016 and 2017. The C-27Js will be operated by Grupo Aéreo 8 at Lima-Callao Air Base, replacing old Antonov An-32s. Marco Rossi 

The first C-27J Spartan for the Fuerza Aérea del Perù (FAP – Peruvian Air Force), FAP-328/C.S.X62295, landing at Turin-Caselle Airport, Italy, on February 9, after a test flight. Marco Rossi

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Trinidad and Tobago Orders Five Bell Helicopters TRINIDAD AND Tobago’s National Operations Centre, Air Division (NOCAD), has ordered four Bell 429s configured for airborne law enforcement and one Bell 412EPI outfitted for search and rescue. NOCAD Executive Director Garvin Heerah signed the contract at the HAI Heli Expo in Orlando, Florida, on March 4. The aircraft will be used by NOCAD throughout Trinidad and Tobago to provide 24/7 air support for national security and a variety of parapublic missions, including disaster relief, SAR and medical transportation. Cabinet approval had been granted on May 8, 2014, to purchase six new helicopters and four small unmanned air vehicles for NOCAD. The new helicopters will replace four obsolete examples, of three different types, which are more than 30 years old. 

Peruvian KT-1P Programme Making Progress

Above: Peruvian Air Force KT-1P Torito 402 taxies out at Base Aérea Las Palmas, Lima, on October 21, 2014, during the hand-over ceremony for the first two aircraft. FAP

MAIDEN FLIGHT of the first locally assembled Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KT-1P turboprop trainer for the Fuerza Aérea del Peru (FAP – Peruvian Air Force) is expected during March. In association with KAI, the FAP’s Servicio de Mantenimiento (SEMAN) at Base Aérea Las Palmas, Lima, is assembling 16 of the 20 aircraft ordered by the FAP. The first four were built in Korea

by KAI, with the initial two (serials 400 and 402) then shipped to Peru and formally handed over on October 21, 2014. The second pair of KAI-built airframes (415 and 418) followed in December. They are entering service with Grupo Aérea 51, replacing Embraer EMB-312 Tucanos in the basic training role at the Academia del Aire at BA Pisco-San Andrés. KAI has developed the FAP

variant as a multi-role aircraft with strengthened wings to carry auxiliary fuel tanks, machine guns, bombs and rockets. In this configuration they will be used for close air support missions in the Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro (VRAEM) region. The VRAEM area is the primary theatre of operations for counter-narcotics and counter-terrorist missions. Currently, SEMAN is in the process of completing eight KT-1Ps. The type has been named by the FAP as the Torito (Little Bull), after Capitán FAP José Quiñones Gonzáles, a North American NA-50A Torito pilot and national hero. All 16 of the locally built aircraft should be completed by November 2016. The aircraft arrive at Las Palmas in kit form, with a bare fuselage shell, which is then fitted with the fuel system, power lines and all other equipment. It has taken 11 months to complete the first few aircraft, but this should reduce to nine months with experience. 

Honduran Air Force Receives UH-1Hs Colombian Mexican Air FOUR BELL UH-1H Iroquois and anti-narcotics missions. The donation was finalised helicopters donated to the Force Orders Air Force Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (FAH through a bilateral agreement signed in December 2013 and Honduran Air Force) by Taiwan Retires OV-10A 15 Bell 407GXs –have arrived in country. After forms part of plans to strengthen BELL HELICOPTER has sold Broncos being shipped to Puerto Cortés, the FAH fleet. A second-hand 15 Bell 407GX helicopters to the Fuerza Aérea Mexicana (FAM – Mexican Air Force). Announcing the signature of a contract for them on March 2, the manufacturer said deliveries are to begin this year. They will be configured for a variety of parapublic missions. The Bell 407GXs will be operated by the Escuadrón Aéreo 111, which is based at Base Aérea Militar 5 Capitán Emilio Carranza Rodríguez in Zapopán, Jalisco. The unit currently flies the Bell 206B-3, 206L-3 and 212. The FAM has been operating Bell helicopters since 1973, when it took delivery of its first Bell 206B JetRanger. The Bell 407GX acquisition programme is valued at $112 million, according to Mexican Government documents. It is intended to eventually replace the more than 60 Bell 206s in the FAM fleet with the Bell 407GX, so more orders are likely to follow.

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Honduras, they were roaded to Base Aérea Teniente-Coronel Hernán Acosta Mejía, Toncontín, Tegucigalpa, on February 15. By March 5, three of the four had been unpacked from their crates and re-assembled. All were devoid of Honduran nationality markings and serials. They were due to be ready for service by March 18 and will be used for humanitarian aid, counter-crime

19-seat Let L-410UVP, FAH-322 (c/n 871827, ex HR-AWC) delivered earlier this year (see Honduran AF Acquires Let L-410UVP, March, p23) is now undertaking regular missions to remote communities and supporting counter-narcotics operations. A Legacy 600 business jet has also been donated by Taiwan as the presidential transport. 

Above: One of the four UH-1Hs donated to the Fuerza Aérea Hondureña (FAH – Honduran Air Force) by Taiwan undertaking a test flight at Base Aérea TenienteCoronel Hernán Acosta Mejía on March 4. Mario Theresin

AFTER MANY years of operations, the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (FAC – Colombian Air Force) has finally retired its OV-10A Broncos. The Colombian Government was informed of the decision to cease operations with the type at the end of February by Lt Carlos ‘Vulcano’ Guio. He is the Commander of the last unit operating the type, Escuadrón de Combate 103/Esquadrilla de Combate 1031 at El Yopal. The FAC had been having increasing problems with the type for some time, after finding cracks in an undercarriage component on one aircraft about a year ago. Although efforts had been made to source replacement parts, they were found to be scarce and expensive. Ultimately, therefore, it was decided to withdrawn the remaining aircraft. The survivors are all ex-USAF examples that are now more than 45 years old. 

#325 APRIL 2015 19

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NEWS

AFRICA Egypt Delivers More MiG-21s to Libya

IT APPEARS that Egypt has supplied at least two additional MiG-21MFs to the Libyan Air Force, after providing an initial three of the type last year. A report from the country on March 10 indicated that one MiG-21MF, serial number '22', has been seen wearing Libyan nationality markings but retaining the Egyptian Air Force's (EAF's) distinctive camouflage colours. A second aircraft had still to have Libyan markings applied. Both of these were seen at Gamal Abdul El Nasser, Tobruk International Airport. Also operating from the same base are the three MiG-21MFs that were delivered from Egypt last year. Now carrying Libyan serial numbers '18', '26' and '27', they were first seen in service last November, when photographs of them began appearing on the internet. These also still retain their EAF camouflage. Egypt has delivered weapons and spares to Libya for the MiG-21s, including 550lb (250kg) NASR250 general-purpose bombs. Three ex Egyptian Mi-8 helicopters are now in service with the Libyan Air Force too. In a photograph taken on October 27 last year, one of the Mi-8s is seen armed with UB-16 rocket pods and also still wearing Egyptian camouflage colours. The transfer of these aircraft and helicopters has provided a much-needed boost to the depleted Libyan inventory, which was decimated during the NATO air strikes in 2011. 

US Army Ebola Response Helicopters Return

Above: A US Army CH-47F Chinook being towed onto the Military Sealift Command RoRo vessel MV Cape Race (T-AKR 9960) at the Port of Buchanan, Liberia, on February 16 for the return home after supporting Operation United Assistance. The helicopter is from the 2nd Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division, at Fort Bliss, Texas. US Army/Sgt 1st Class Mary Rose Mittlesteadt

US ARMY helicopters deployed to Liberia to help in containing the Ebola outbreak in West Africa are returning home as the Joint Forces Command – United Assistance mission draws to an end. Beginning last September, the US Defense Department delivered critical life-saving resources, built Ebola treatment units, trained care workers and provided logistical support.

New Chad An-12 A NEW addition to the Force Aérienne Tchadienne (Chad Air Force) is Antonov An-12BP 12148/TT-PAI (c/n 12148, ex EK-12148). Wearing a white/ blue scheme, but no national markings, it has been seen several times operating flights into Gao Airport in northeastern Mali.

Initial US assistance included four MV-22Bs from the Special Marine Air-Ground Task ForceCrisis Response Africa. These departed for Liberia on October 9 from their base at Morón, Spain, supported by two USMC KC-130Js (see USMC Deploys Ospreys to Liberia, December 2014, p27). Three Royal Navy Merlin HM2s from 820 Squadron also arrived in Sierra Leone on October 30,

This marks a further expansion of Chad’s transport capability, which has been boosted by the delivery of two new C-27J Spartans, 1401/ TT-PAG and 1402/TT-PAH (see Second Chad AF C-27J Spartan Now Flight Testing, October 2014, p27). Both were in service at N’Djamena by January. 

Spanish CN235 Completes 2,000hrs on Operation Atalanta

Above: An Ejercito del Aire (EdA – Spanish Air Force)/Ala 48/Escuadrón 803 CN235M-100 VIGMA taxies in at Ambouli International Airport, Djibouti, after a surveillance mission over the Gulf of Aden. The sortie marked completion of 2,000 flight hours by the aircraft as part of the EU’s Operation Atalanta anti-piracy mission. Announcing the achievement on February 16, the EdA said that since beginning the Atalanta missions its P-3 Orions and VIGMA aircraft have carried out more than 900 missions totalling more than 6,700 flying hours. EdA

22 APRIL 2015 #325

on board the RFA Argus (A135), to assist with the mission. The Ospreys were replaced by US Army UH-60s and CH-47Fs. These helicopters are now being returned home. Almost all personnel were expected back by the end of April, although a contingent of around 100 personnel will remain to assist in strengthening the disease response capabilities of national governments. 

Four AW139 Orders from West Africa FOUR UNDISCLOSED government customers in West Africa have placed orders for four AW139s. The contracts were announced on February 17 by AgustaWestland, which said they were all for passenger transport roles, but gave no further details. The orders bring the total number of AW139 sales in Africa to 60. These mark the continuing growth of AgustaWestland helicopters in the region, where they will soon be supported by a brand new Authorized Service Centre. To date, orders for almost 840 AW139 helicopters have been placed by over 220 customers from almost 70 countries to carry out a wide range of missions including offshore transport, law enforcement and homeland security duties, EMS/SAR, utility, firefighting, executive/private transport, and other government roles. 

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NEWS

MIDDLE EAST

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100th PC-21 Set for Saudi Arabia

MX-15 Turrets for UAE Archangel BPAs

Above: The 100th Pilatus PC-21, destined for the Royal Saudi Air Force, rolls out of the factory. Pilatus

PILATUS AIRCRAFT has manufactured the 100th PC-21 turboprop trainer. The aircraft, destined for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), rolled off the assembly line at

Stans-Buochs, Switzerland, on February 20 and was the 1,000th turboprop trainer to have been produced by Pilatus. The RSAF has ordered 55 PC-21s under a contract

announced on May 23, 2012. The first three Saudi aircraft left the factory in Stans on their delivery flight on June 2, 2014 and 22 have been delivered to date – see table below. 

Royal Saudi Air Force PC-21 Deliveries Serial Con Test Reg No

Delivery Date

901

155 HB-HWA

Aug 11, ’14

902

156 HB-HWB

Aug 11, ’14

903

157 HB-HWC

Sep 24, ’14?

904

158 HB-HWD

Sep 24, ’14?

905

159 HB-HWE

908

162 HB-HWH

Jun 9, ’14

916

170 HB-HWP

Nov 7, ’14

909

163 HB-HWI

Jun 9, ’14

917

171 HB-HWQ

Nov 28, ’14

910

164 HB-HWJ

Jun 9, ’14

918

172 HB-HWR

911

165 HB-HWK

Oct 13, ’14

Not yet delivered?

912

166 HB-HWL

Oct 13, ’14

919

173 HB-HWS

Jan 12, ’15

Jun 2, ’14

913

167 HB-HWM Nov 3, ’14

920

174 HB-HWT

Jan 12, ’15

168 HB-HWN Nov 7, ’14

921

175 HB-HWU

Feb 9, ’15

169 HB-HWO

922

176 HB-HWV

Feb 9, ’15

906

160 HB-HWF

Jun 2, ’14

914

907

161 HB-HWG

Jun 2, ’14

915

Nov 3, ’14

Charles de Gaulle Joins War on ISIL FRENCH NAVY aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R 91) has joined the war against ISIL in Iraq. Two Aéronautique Navale Rafale Ms destroyed an ISIL training camp in the Al Qaim area of Iraq, near the Syrian border on February 25 in the first air strike from the vessel. The carrier officially began operations against ISIL two days earlier when the first Opération Chammal sorties were carried out from the vessel operating off the French Navy Rafale M 19 prepares to launch from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R 91) on February 25 for one of the first air strikes on ISIL in Iraq from the vessel. French Navy

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Bahrain coast, but there were no air strikes that day. The Charles de Gaulle’s embarked air group includes 12 Dassault Rafale Ms, nine Super Étendard Modernisés and one E-2C Hawkeye 2000. The carrier had left its home port in Toulon on January 13 for a five-month cruise and was due to spend four to eight weeks in the Persian Gulf on missions against ISIL alongside US Navy carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70).

The French vessel is due to head for previously scheduled exercises in India in mid-April. France’s Armée de l’Air (French Air Force) already has six Rafales at Base Aérienne 104 (BA104) Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi, UAE and six Mirage 2000Ds at Azraq Air Base, Jordan, committed to Opération Chammal. A C-135FR tanker is providing support, with a a French Aéronautique Navale Atlantique 2. 

L-3 WESCAM has received an order from IOMAX USA Inc for 28 MX-15D electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imaging and designating turrets. Announcing the order on February 21, L-3 said they will be fitted to the UAE Air Force and Air Defence’s (UAEAF&AD’s) fleet of IOMAX Archangel Border Patrol Aircraft (BPA). The MX-15Ds will support close air support and armed border patrol missions carried out by the UAEAF&AD, which signed a contract at the end of last September for 24 Archangel BPAs. The order with L-3 covers 24 installed MX-15Ds and four spares. Turret deliveries are due to begin in May and are scheduled to be completed in 2016. Support services for the systems will be conducted in-country through an L-3 Wescam authorised service centre. The MX-15Ds will be configured with high-definition EO and IR imagers, a dual-channel colour and low-light spotter, a laser illuminator, a dual-mode rangefinder/designator and a laser spot tracker. The system will feature image blending and L-3 Wescam’s kinetic moving target indicator (MTI) tool, technology that detects multiple moving targets in an image stream. This capability increases the probability of detecting suspicious activity in any given scenario while significantly reducing operator burden and improving surveillance efficiency, said L-3. The Archangel BPA, based on the Thrush S2R-660 agricultural aircraft, will replace the UAEAF&AD’s earlier IOMAX Air Tractor AT-802U BPA Block I and Block 2 aircraft. These were operated by Joint Aviation Command and based at Falaj Hazza Camp, Al Ain, but six were passed on to Jordan just over a year ago. The UAE is reported by defence sources to have donated up to 12 more to Egypt for missions against Islamist militants in the Sinai Peninsula. As approval for transfer to the Egyptian Air Force has yet to be granted, they remain owned by the UAE and UAEAF&AD pilots are flying them on Egyptian operations. 

#325 APRIL 2015 23

NEWS

MIDDLE EAST UAEAF&AD Orders Nine AW139s The UAE Armed Forces has signed a 732 million dirham ($199 million) contract with AgustaWestland for nine AW139 medium-twin helicopters. The deal was confirmed at IDEX 2015 in Abu Dhabi on February 24 by Obadi al-Ketbi, chairman of the organising committee for IDEX. Six of them will be used for search and rescue duties and the rest for VIP transport. Deliveries have begun with three of the helicopters in SAR configuration and one VIP example being airfreighted out of Milan-Malpensa Airport, Italy, in two flights. The deliveries, by a United Arab Emirates Air Force and Air Defence C-17A Globemaster III, were made in January (see More AW139s for UAEAF&AD, March, p29). 

Saudi A330 MRTT Programme Almost Complete

Above: The Royal Saudi Air Force’s last A330-202 MRTT, EC-337, parked on the ramp at Madrid-Barajas Airport, Spain. José Ramón Valero

THE SIXTH and final A330-202 for conversion to a multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) configuration for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) has been completed. On February 19, the aircraft, EC-337 (c/n 1516, ex F-WWKS, allocated RSAF serial 2406), was

on the ramp at Madrid-Barajas Airport, Spain, where it had been modified by Iberia. The jet was due to be flown to Paris-Orly Airport soon afterwards for painting prior to delivery. The fifth RSAF aircraft, 2405/ MRTT031 (c/n 1478, ex EC-338,

Last UAE Twin Otter 400 Handed Over VIKING AIR has handed over the final Twin Otter Series 400 to Global Aerospace Logistics (GAL), of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. GAL is providing the aircraft to the UAE Government under a multi-year service contract. The aircraft are believed to be operated by the UAE Air Force and Air Defence’s Joint Aviation Command/Group 22, based at Falaj Hazza Camp, Al Ain. The Victoria, British Columbiabased Canadian manufacturer delivered it on February 18 to join eight that have been delivered to the UAE since 2013. The specially equipped aircraft are configured with paratroop provisions and intermediate flotation gear for operations on the loose sand in the Arabian Gulf region. At least four examples are believed to be in Guardian 400 configuration for the observation and surveillance role. This includes the installation of an electro-optical/infrared EO/IR) turret, low-light camera and digital recorder, plus an NVG-compatible cockpit. 

UAEAF&AD Twin Otter 400s Serial Con Previous US Regn No identities cancellation

2274

903 N401JF, C-GUVA

Still registered

2270

878 N514RN, C-FGAL

Aug 29, 2014

2276

876 N400GZ, C-FVIK

Dec 11, 2013

2271

882 N514QN, C-FAFI

Aug 29, 2014

22..

896 N896JF, C-GLVA

Jan 29, 2015

2272

888 N138MM, Still C-GVOT registered

22..

904 N400GZ, C-FVIK

Dec 8, 2014

2273

890 N400GZ, C-FMJO

22..

913 C-FAFI

No US Regn

UAE Orders Two More C-17As AN ADDITIONAL two Boeing C-17A Globemaster IIIs have been ordered by the United Arab Emirates Air Force and Air Defence (UAEAF&AD) to supplement six in service. Obaid al-Ketbi, chairman of the organising committee for the International Defence

24 APRIL 2015 #325

Israel Orders 14 More F-35A Lightning IIs

The final UAE Air Force and Air Defence Viking Air Twin Otter 400 prior to delivery. Viking Air

May 27, 2014

Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi, announced the deal at the show on February 26. The contract signed with Boeing is worth 2.27 billion dirhams ($618 million) and was one of the final deals broadcast at the show. The first UAE C-17 was

F-WWYT), is fully painted and was ready for delivery as Air Forces Monthly closed for press. After completion, it was flown from Getafe, Spain, to Orly on November 20, 2014 for painting. It returned to Getafe on December 7. 

handed over at Long Beach on May 10, 2011 with all six delivered by June the following year. The pair of ‘white tails’ are from the ten built by Boeing in anticipation of further orders as production has been wound down over the last year. 

ISRAEL HAS signed a contract for an additional 14 F-35A Lightning IIs. The deal, valued at $2.82 billion includes options on a further 17 aircraft and was signed over the weekend of February 22 during a visit to the US by an Israeli MOD delegation. The aircraft purchase was approved by the Israeli Cabinet on November 30 last year (see Israeli Cabinet Approves Purchase of 14 F-35As, January, p26). Israel had previously ordered 19 F-35As (locally designated the F-35I), for which a Letter of Offer and Acceptance was signed on October 7. The new deal brings firm orders to 33, plus 17 options. Although the first of the latest aircraft ordered will not be delivered until 2019, the initial F-35s from the earlier order will arrive in Israel at the end of next year, according to Aharon Marmarosh, head of the Israeli MOD delegation in the US. Deliveries will be completed by 2021. The ministry said the unit cost of each aircraft will be around $110 million. The contract includes logistical support, flight and ground crew training, spares and maintenance, plus integration of Israeli weapons systems and avionics. 

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UAEAF F-16E/Fs Resume Anti-ISIL Ops from Jordan

UNITED ARAB Emirates Air Force and Air Defence F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcons resumed air strikes against ISIL on February 10. The UAE suspended operations after Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot Lt Moath al-Kasasbeh was captured on December 24 by ISIL. His F-16 had crashed in Syria, leading to concerns about the safety of downed pilots. He was later murdered by ISIL. On February 8, the UAEAF&AD moved an F-16E/F squadron to Jordan in readiness to resume operations against ISIL. The UAE’s return to the fight followed assurances from the US, which said the previous week that SAR helicopters had been moved to Erbil in northern Iraq to be nearer the battlefield if a pilot needed to eject. 

IAI Offering Global 5000-Based MPA

Above: A computer-generated image of IAI’s proposed Global 5000-based ELI-3360 maritime patrol aircraft. IAI

ISRAEL AEROSPACE Industries (IAI) has developed a new maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) based on a modified Bombardier Global 5000 business jet platform. Unveiling the proposed new-generation ELI-3360 MPA on February 9, the company said it had been designed by its Elta Systems group to provide maritime domain situational awareness and superiority. The firm claims the new MPA provides the most sophisticated

surveillance, reconnaissance and armament systems to be installed on a business jet to date. The system incorporates the advanced ELTA ELM-2022 maritime patrol radar, an electro-optical sensor and the ELL-8385 ESM/ELINT system, plus a comprehensive communications suite comprising radios, broadband SATCOM and datalinks as well as an advanced electronic warfare (EW) and self-protection suite.

Iran Unveils New Twin-Seat Saeghe II IRAN HAS publicly revealed a new version of its HESA Saeghe (Thunderbolt) fighter based on the Northrop F-5 Tiger II. The latest fighter-bomber and trainer variant, dubbed the Saeghe II and based on the two-seat F-5F, was revealed on February 9. Earlier Saeghe I aircraft had been based on the single-seat F-5E. The aircraft, 3-7182, wears the markings of Tactical Air Base 2 (TAB-2) at Tabriz-Shaheed Fakouri on the fin. The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force’s 23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron

at Tabriz operates the earlier single-seat Saeghe I aircraft and it is presumed the new variant will join that unit. While still a standard F-5F, this airframe had been damaged in an accident on October 21, 2000, when operated from TAB-4 Dezful-Shahid Vahdati. It was used for spares until the fuselage was eventually transported to the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA) for rebuild as the first Saeghe II. On January 7, Iran’s FARS News Agency announced that

several squadrons of the original Saeghe I version were operational with the IRIAF. Previously, just a handful of the type was thought to be in service, but the latest report says the aircraft is now in mass production. All are being converted from existing IRIAF F-5s, with the most obvious external modification being a new twin tail fin configuration. It is reported that all of the IRIAF’s remaining F-5E/F aircraft are to be converted to one of the Saeghe variants by around 2030.

The first Iranian-developed Saeghe II, 3-7182. Unlike the earlier single-seat Saeghe Is, which wore a demonstrator-style colour scheme, the new aircraft is painted in a more appropriate three-tone tactical camouflage. MEHR News Agency

UAE Air Force Operating GA8 Airvan GIPPSAERO GA8-TC320 Airvan serial number 2311 has been acquired by the United Arab Emirates Air Force and Air Defence (UAEAF&AD).

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The aircraft was first noted in service during January at Al Ain Air Base. It is reportedly based at Fujairah, where it is used as a

training aircraft by Group 28. No further details are known about the aircraft or whether additional examples are being acquired. Gert Kromhout 

The integrated multi-mission command and control suite includes multi-purpose operator workstations and a weapon and stores management system which controls the under-wing weapons that could include torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-ship missiles for anti-surface warfare (ASuW), and deployable search and rescue stores. Elta says it is already in negotiations with a number of potential customers for the aircraft. 

Egyptian F-16 Air Strikes in Libya EGYPTIAN AIR Force F-16s bombed ISIL targets in Libya in a series of dawn raids on February 16. The missions came as retaliation after ISIL published a video the previous night showing 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians being beheaded. Targets struck included camps, training sites and weapons storage areas. All the aircraft returned safely, according to Egyptian military officials, who said the air strikes were, “to avenge the bloodshed and to seek retribution.” A second wave of Egyptian air strikes was carried out, again with F-16s, lateron the same day. This time they struck targets in Darma, an extremist stronghold in eastern Libya. Separately, Jordan’s Information Minister confirmed on February 16 that Royal Bahrain Air Force F-16 fighters had been deployed to Jordan to join the fight against ISIL. Bahrain state media said an unspecified number of aircraft had deployed to Jordan the previous day. RBAF aircraft had previously been making attacks from their home base.

#325 APRIL 2015 25

NEWS

RUSSIA & CIS

Russian Il-76 ‘Bomber’ Training

Above: Russian Air Force Ilyushin Il-76MD RF-76714 carrying a P-50T practice bomb under the wing during training flights in the Tver region. Announcing details of the exercises on January 30, manufacturer Ilyushin said that at least 30 bombs weighing up to 1,100lb (500kg) had been dropped from Il-76s during the trials to test the aircraft’s capabilities as a bomber. Ilyushin

Russia Accepts New Mi-8MTPR-1 EW Helicopters THREE EXAMPLES of a new electronic jammer variant of the Mi-8, designated the Mi-8MTPR-1, have been delivered to the Russian Air Force. Russian radio electronics company KRET announced on March 4 that the helicopters, based on the Mi-8MTB5-1, had been handed over the previous day in Kazan. They are fitted with new Richag-AV electronic warfare equipment, a radar and sonar jamming system that can be mounted on helicopters, ships, unmanned air vehicles and ground vehicles. The company says it will protect them from air attacks and enemy air defences within a radius of several hundred kilometres. The system uses multi-beam antenna arrays with digital radio frequency memory technology to actively jam and ‘blind’ radar systems, providing defence against radio-electronic guided weapons systems. KRET believes Richag-AV can break through virtually any defence system in a large force combat situation, blinding anything up to and including US Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries. Effective jamming is enabled by radar-based intelligencegathering, the Richag-V seeking out sources of enemy electromagnetic radiation to quickly determine the type of target. Russia is scheduled to receive 18 Mi-8MTPR-1s by October 2016. The cost of these acquisitions was quoted by KRET as 11.5 billion rubles ($186 million). 

26 APRIL 2015 #325

First Belarus Yak-130 Now in Flight Test IRKUT CORPORATION has begun flight testing the first of four Yakovlev Yak-130 combat trainers for the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defence Corps. The unmarked aircraft, still in primer, made its maiden flight from the factory at Irkutsk on February 27. On the next day, Belarusian pilots and technicians arrived at the factory to begin a month of training on the type. When they return to Belarus, they will fly the Yak-130s back to Lida, where the type will replace the Aero L-39C Albatros. Specialists from Irkut Corporation will also be based at Lida for 12 months to provide technical support. The Belarusian Defence Ministry signed a contract for the aircraft

on December 18, 2012. The order is in accordance with the agreement on the development of military-technical co-operation between Russia and Belarus signed on December 10, 2009. The four aircraft are reported to be factory serial numbers 130.11.00-1001, 130.11.001002, 130.11.00-1003 and 130.00-11-1004. Speaking on February 10, Major General Oleg Dvigalev, head of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defence Corps, said the L-39s will start to be phased out once the Yak-130s have successfully entered service and their performance has been fully assessed. It is also then planned to order additional Yak-130s. 

Kazakhstan to Buy Su-30SMs KAZAKHSTAN IS to purchase Sukhoi Su-30SM multi-role fighters from Russia. The acquisition was revealed on February 4 in a press statement from the Kazakhstan Defence Ministry during a visit to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant by Major General Nurlan Ormanbetov, Commander-in-Chief of the Kazakhstan Air Defence Forces. It was unclear whether a contract has yet been signed, but the general said: “Thanks to the policy of the President, we have the opportunity to replace our combat aircraft with modern types. 

Lughansk People’s Republic Forming an Air Force

Above: The self-proclaimed Lughansk People’s Republic, an unrecognised breakaway state in eastern Ukraine, is attempting to form its own air force. This Su-25 Frogfoot appeared recently at Lughansk-Voroshilovgrad Southeast Airport with new Lughansk nationality markings, while on January 17 an L-29 Delfin operated by the Republic was also rolled out for the media.

Belarus to Order 12 Mi-17s

RUSSIA IS to sign a contract with Belarus for 12 Mi-17s for the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defence Corps. The deal was revealed on February 23 at the IDEX 2015 exhibition in Abu Dhabi

by Russian state corporation Rostec, which said an agreement had been reached the previous day and would be signed by its Russian Helicopters subsidiary. Although Belarus is thought to

still have around 80 older Mi-8s of various variants in service, it has not purchased any new helicopters since its military forces became independent from the Soviet Union. 

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NEWS

ASIA PACIFIC Indian Air Force Orders 14 More Dornier 228s HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS Ltd (HAL) has gained a contract to supply the Indian Air Force (IAF) with 14 Do-228s. The 10.91 billion rupee ($176.3 million) deal, announced on February 5, includes six spare engines, one flight simulator and associated equipment. The aircraft will be manufactured by HAL’s Transport Aircraft Division at Kanpur, which has already produced 125 of the type for various defence forces and other customers. These have included 40 previously delivered to the IAF. 

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First HAL-Overhauled Su-30MKI Redelivered

Above: The first HAL-overhauled Su-30MKI, SB-027. HAL

HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS Ltd (HAL) has returned the first Sukhoi Su-30MKI to be overhauled by the company to the Indian Air Force. The jet, serial number SB 027, was delivered

back during a ceremony on January 9 at the HAL Nasik facility. Dr R K Tyagi, HAL’s Chairman, said the second aircraft was also ready for delivery. During the ceremony, defence

minister Manohar Parrikar, also handed over acceptance certificates for the 150th Su-30MKI to be manufactured by HAL (SB 190) to Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Chief of the Air Staff. 

Su-30 Brahmos New Indian Air Force Mi-17V5 Bids in for Korea’s Integration KF-X Programme DURING AN event at Aero India on February 19, the first Su-30MKI on which the BrahMos missile has been integrated was handed over to the Indian Air Force. The Flight Clearance Certificate and Aircraft Acceptance Certificate were handed over during the ceremony. BrahMos is a two-stage, supersonic cruise missile with an 154nm (290km) range. The IAF has 216 BrahMos As on order to equip 42 of its Su-30MKIs. 

Above: Indian Air Force Mi-17-V5 ZP5192 on show during Aero India 2015 at Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bangalore, on February 18. This is the first time this helicopter has been noted and it is probably a recent delivery. Kazan Helicopters has to date delivered 121 of a total of 139 new Mi-17-V5s ordered by the IAF, with the final examples expected to be in service by the end of this year. Aidan Curley

Final Japan GSDF Enstrom TH-480Bs Delivered

The final four Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Enstrom TH-480Bs, 62377, 62378, 62379 and 62380, awaiting delivery at the Aero Facility Co Ltd premises. They have joined the JGSDF’s Utsunomiya Section at the Aviation Training School. Enstrom Helicopters

ENSTROM HELICOPTER Corporation has completed delivery of 30 Enstrom 480B helicopters to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) to meet its training requirements. The company announced on February 25 that the final four (62377, 62378, 62379 and 62380) had been handed over

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by the company’s authorized sales representative in Japan, Aero Facility Co Ltd. The Japanese Ministry of Defence had announced on February 10, 2010, that the type, which is designated the TH-480B in JGSDF service, had been selected to provide basic rotary-wing training, replacing legacy helicopters. An initial order

for one helicopter was placed at that time. A contract for a second was signed on March 6, 2011. The remaining 28 were ordered under a further contract signed on February 13, 2012. All 30 were delivered over a five-year period. Service support for the JGSDF programme is provided by JAMCO Corporation in Japan. 

TWO BIDDERS have submitted proposals for Korea’s KF-X fighter programme. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) teamed with Lockheed Martin and Korean Air in partnership with Airbus Defence and Space made their offers on February 24. A preferred bidder was expected to be chosen in March, with contract negotiations due to be finalised around July. The bidding process had earlier stalled after only one proposal was submitted by the original deadline of February 9. The state arms procurement agency, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said that only KAI had made a bid and that under Korean law, at least two bidders are required. Korean Air had announced on February 5, that it was teaming with Airbus Defence and Space to submit a bid, but failed to do so. On February 10, DAPA announced launch of a new tender, with the deadline extended to February 24. The 8.5 trillion won ($7.95 billion) development programme will run from 2015 to 2025. The indigenous KF-X, a new twin-engined design, is being developed jointly with Indonesia, which is funding 20% of development. The type will replace the Republic of Korea Air Force’s F-4D/E Phantom and F-5E/F Tiger II fleets, with an expected order for 120 aircraft. Indonesia plans to order 80 of the type. 

#325 APRIL 2015 27

NEWS

HEADLINES ASIA PACIFIC EXCLUSIVE!

The Karakorum Eagle h The Pakistan Air Force finally stood up 4 Squadron and the Karakorum Eagle AWACS in late February, as Alan Warnes reports.

T

he Pakistan Air Force stood up its latest operational unit, 4 Squadron, in a ceremony at PAF Base Masroor on February 26. At the same time it inaugurated the Chinese-designed Karakorum Eagle (KE-) 03 AWACS aircraft, more than three years after the first example was delivered on November 26, 2011.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif and PAF CAS, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, attended. ACM Butt told the audience: “Induction of the Karakorum Eagle AWACS will revolutionise the PAF’s operational concepts. With its induction, PAF is transforming into a modern versatile and capable force.”

Above: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PAF CAS, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt, sit alongside personnel of 4 Squadron in front of one of its KE-03s.

28 APRIL 2015 #325

The squadron has been involved in operational duties and training flight crews since the aircraft arrived in Pakistan, A parallel test and evaluation programme provided a comprehensive tactical overview, leading to operational procedures being drawn up. No other air force flies this AWACS aircraft, tailored by the PAF to meet its own requirements, PAF personnel along with their Chinese aerospace counterparts ensured everything on board worked operationally. The sensors and datalinks had to properly communicate with the ground stations or other airborne assets. There have been several upgrades to the system since the four aircraft were delivered. The focus of operational evaluation was left to the PAF because China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), which developed the Shaanxi Y-8WG into the ZDK-03, as it is known locally, is not an aerospace company. The experience was nothing new for the PAF as it has been working

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Left: The Karakorum Eagle, seen flying over the Arabian Sea, will add a new dimension to Pakistan’s air defences. All photos, PAF Below: The squadron colours are presented to the 4 Squadron CO at the ceremony.

e has Landed extensively with Chinese aerospace on the JF-17; another aircraft born from the PAF’s own operational needs that is not flying with any other air force in the world. The KE-03 has been developed to detect aerial, as well as sea surface targets, at fairly long ranges. Sensors can find and identify electronic emissions from enemy aircraft and downlink the information to ground and control centres, to provide the PAF AHQ with a recognisable air picture. According to the PAF, the introduction of the KE-03 into service “will allow Pakistan air defences to look deeper into enemy territory, monitoring aircraft activity over the deep sea and comb the air over mountains”. The ability to detect sea targets will improve the Pakistan Navy’s situational awareness. Karakorum Eagle marks another significant milestone for the Pakistan Air Force and its special relationship with the Chinese aerospace industry, which is set to continue into the future. 

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Right: The Pakistani Prime Minister is briefed about the command and control centre on board the Karakorum Eagle. Below: One of the KE-03s flies low over the static aircraft at the 4 Sqn ceremony. The unit disbanded in March 1969 when flying the amphibious SA-16 Albatross, so the maritime environment is part of the squadron’s heritage.

#325 APRIL 2015 29

NEWS

ASIA PACIFIC Second Indian Special Mission Global 5000 INDIA HAS taken delivery of the second of two special mission Bombardier Global 5000 business jets. The aircraft, GB8001 (c/n 9424, ex 4X-COF, C-GHVB), which was the first to be converted, arrived at Palam Air Force Station, New Delhi, on February 12. Although painted in full Indian Air Force colours, it still wore Israeli test registration 4X-COF for its delivery flight. The first aircraft, GB8002 (c/n 9431, ex C-GHYK), was first noted in service at the end of January (see Indian Special Mission Global 5000 Operational, March, p30). They are operated by the Aviation Research Centre (ARC), which is part of India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, under the control of the Cabinet Secretariat. 

India Clears Order for 38 More PC-7 Mk IIs

Above: The 62nd Pilatus PC-7 Mk II for the Indian Air Force (IAF), P-162/HB-HLJ (c/n 751), performing engine tests on February 15 outside the factory at Stans-Buochs, Switzerland. Pilatus has delivered 59 of the IAF aircraft to date and plans to deliver the last of the initial 75 on order in August. Stephan Widmer

INDIA’S DEFENCE Acquisition Council (DAC) has given clearance for the purchase of 38 more Pilatus PC-7 Mk II trainers for the Indian Air Force (IAF), adding to the 75 already ordered. The acquisition was approved at a meeting of the DAC on February 28. Pilatus

had announced signature of the contract for the first 75 PC-7s on May 24, 2012, under a deal that included options for a further 38, which will now be exercised. To date, 59 of the original 75 aircraft ordered have been delivered. The IAF wants 181 new basic

Thai Air Force’s First SAR/CSAR EC725

Above: The first Royal Thai Air Force EC725, 20301, which will be used in the SAR/CSAR role. RTAF

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS has delivered the first of six EC725 tactical transport helicopters to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) for the search and rescue/ combat search and rescue (SAR/ CSAR) role. The RTAF announced hand-over of the first helicopter,

20301, at the factory in Marignane, France, on February 18. The RTAF ordered an initial four SAR/ CSAR EC725s under a contract signed on September 18, 2012. A further order for two more was announced by the manufacturer on October 22, 2014 (see Royal

Thai Air Force Orders Two More EC725s, December, p31). The latter pair will be delivered in 2017. All six will be flown by 2 Wing at Lop Buri Air Base, where they will replace the elderly UH-1H Iroquois that are currently used by the RTAF in the SAR role. 

training aircraft, of which 113 will be PC-7s, including the additional 38 that have now been approved. The remaining 68 will be the indigenous HAL HTT-40 turboprop trainer, the prototype of which is expected to make its maiden flight in June. 

Bangladesh's First Yak-130s Due in May IRKUT CORPORATION plans to begin deliveries of Yakovlev Yak-130 operational jet trainers to the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) in May. Vitaly Boroditch, Senior Vice-President of Irkut Corporation, which manufactures the type, confirmed the delivery schedule at Aero India on February 25. He also said that a total of 16 aircraft will be delivered to Bangladesh. When the deal was first announced in January 2014, it was reported that the contract was for 24 aircraft (see Bangladesh Finalises Contract for 24 Yak-130s, March 2014, p25). They will replace the BAF's L-39s and FT-6s as lead-in fighter trainers.

Second Indian LCA Naval Prototype Flies

The second LCA Naval prototype, two-seater 3002 (NP-2), during its maiden flight. HAL

30 APRIL 2015 #325

HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS Ltd has undertaken the maiden flight of the second LCA Navy prototype, 3002 (NP-2) from its facility in Bangalore. The aircraft took off at 1227hrs on February 7, for a flight lasting about 35 minutes. The flight was piloted by Captain Shivnath Dahiya, an Indian Navy test pilot with the National

Flight Test Centre (NFTC). This second LCA Navy is a single-seat aircraft, the first, KHN-T-3001 (NP-1), being a two-seater. The latter had made its maiden flight on April 27, 2012. NP-2 incorporates several refinements to correct systemic deficiencies identified during flight-testing of the first aircraft. 

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Light Combat Helicopter Cold Weather Trials

Above: Second prototype HAL Light Combat Helicopter ZP4602 (TD2) on a test mission during the cold weather trials held at Air Force Station Leh. HAL

Boeing JASDF E-767 Upgrade Contract BOEING HAS signed a Foreign Military Sales contract to modernise the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force’s four E-767 airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft. The $402.78 million deal, awarded on February 13 by the US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center will upgrade the mission computing system. The award, modifies an earlier contract, also includes upgrade of three ground support facilities. Work will be performed at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and should be complete by June 30, 2020. This is the second JASDF E-767 upgrade contract awarded recently. Boeing had also gained a $25.64 million deal on October 28, 2014, to provide new mission control units, including mission computing, electronic support measures, traffic alert and collision avoidance system, interrogator friend or foe transponder, next-generation IFF, automatic identification system and data link upgrades. 

India Approves Replacement C-130J-30

INDIA WILL purchase an additional Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules as an attrition replacement for the aircraft lost in a fatal crash on March 28 last year. Approval was granted at a meeting of India’s Defence Acquisition Council on February 28. 

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HINDUSTAN AERONAUTICS Ltd (HAL) has recently undertaken cold weather trials with its Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) at Air Force Station Leh. Announcing completion of the tests, HAL Chariman, T Suvarna Raju, said on March 2: “The trials covered engine starts with internal batteries after overnight cold soak at 3km altitude and 4.1km altitude”. The engine starts were satisfactory at a temperature of minus 18 degree C at 4.1km. The flights were also carried out to assess high altitude performance and low speed handling. The second LCH prototype, ZP4602 (TD2) was ferried

from Bangalore to Leh for the flight trials, which were carried out with customer pilots from the Indian Air Force and Army and with the participation of representatives from the Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness (Helicopters) and Director General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (Helicopters). Three LCH prototypes are currently involved in development flight testing, the latest being ZP4603 (TD3), which first flew on November 12, 2014 (see HAL Flies Third Light Combat Helicopter Prototype, January, p32). A fourth prototype, TD4, is currently being completed and is expected to

fly shortly, speeding up trials for the certification process. Initial operating capability is anticipated before the end of this year. 

Thai Army Orders Six EC145T2s SIX AIRBUS Helicopters EC145T2s are being acquired by the Royal Thai Army. Signature of a contract for them was announced by the manufacturer on February 23. They will be in a VIP configuration to meet the Army’s Light Utility Helicopter Type II requirement. Deliveries are due to begin in 2016. 

Additional Japan Coast Guard EC225LP Delivered

Above: Japan Coast Guard EC225LP JA691A/MH691 during its formal hand-over ceremony on January 16. Airbus Helicopters/Chikako Hirano

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS Japan has delivered an EC225LP to the Japan Coast Guard (JCG). Announcing delivery of the helicopter on March 2, the manufacturer said that the EC225, JA691A/MH691, was acquired as replacement for AS332L1 JA6685/MH685, which was damaged beyond repair on March 11, 2011, when Sendai Airport was flooded after the Great East Japan Earthquake. This is the last of three EC225s ordered by JCG in July 2011; the earlier two having been delivered last year. With the three additional

helicopters, JCG now operates a Super Puma fleet that includes five EC225s and three AS332 L1s. The new EC225s are equipped with the most advanced search and rescue mission systems, and will also be used for security enforcement, territorial sea guard duties and anti-disaster operations. “We are very honoured that our helicopters are operated by JCG, one of the world’s leading maritime security organizations, and contributing to life-saving and enforcement

missions,” said Stephane Ginoux, Managing Director of Airbus Helicopters Japan. “This handover is especially significant, as it is the 3000th rotorcraft to be delivered from our hangar since we commenced operations in 1971, marking a new milestone in the history of Airbus Helicopters in Japan.” A total of 23 Super Puma family helicopters are operating in Japan, utilized by both civil and military users in search and rescue, offshore operations and passenger transport. 

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NEWS

ASIA PACIFIC Early Delivery for Philippine's First FA-50s DELIVERY OF the first two Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 light attack aircraft to the Philippine Air Force (PAF) is expected in December, well ahead of schedule. Their planned early arrival was revealed by Undersecretary of Defence Fernando Manalo on March 3, when he said they would be combat and mission ready upon arrival. A contract for 12 FA-50s was signed on March 28, 2014 (see News Briefs, May 2014, p23), with deliveries then scheduled to begin within 18 months and all 12 due to enter service within an agreed 38-month period. 

Second Vietnam Air Force C295M Delivered

Above: Vietnam Air Force C-295M 8902/EC-003 (c/n S-128) departing on March 5 from Seville-San Pablo Airport, Spain, to begin its delivery flight. Antonio Muñiz Zaragüeta

AIRBUS C-295M 8902/EC-003 (c/n S-128), the second for the Không Qûan Viêtnam (Vietnam Air Force), departed on March 5, from Seville-San Pablo Airport, Spain, to begin its delivery flight.

Also test flying from Seville on the same day was the third and final Vietnamese aircraft, 8903/‘132’ (c/n S-132). The first Vietnamese C295M, 8901 (c/n S-123), had been

formally handed-over at the factory in Seville on October 17. It was then retained in Spain for crew training. After completion of this, it was delivered through Malta on December 2. 

Second Korean Navy Wildcat in Flight Test Right: AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat Mk 210 15-0602/ZZ542 (c/n 512), the second for the Republic of Korea Navy, undertaking a flight test from the factory airfield at Yeovil, Somerset, on February 26. The first helicopter, 16-0601/ZZ541 (c/n 511), began test flying in January (see Republic of Korea Navy’s First Wildcat Now Flying, March, p30). Eight have been ordered following selection of the type on January 15, 2013. Ian Simpson

S-76D Enters Japan Coast Guard Service

Above: The second SAR-configured S-76D for the Japan Coast Guard, MH911/N7611T (c/n 76-1011), prior to delivery. Sikorsky

SEARCH AND Rescue operations by the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) with its new Sikorsky S-76D have now begun. Sikorsky announced on February 26 at Heli Expo in Orlando, Florida, that company executives recently attended a

32 APRIL 2015 #325

ceremony with representatives of Mitsubishi Corporation and the JCG to mark service entry. The first JCG S-76D was delivered to Mitsubishi last July (see First Japan Coast Guard S-76D Delivery, September,

p27), becoming the first of the new variant to be configured for SAR. It is also the first S-76D to enter service in Japan. To date Sikorsky and Mitsubishi have been contracted for eleven SAR S-76Ds for the JCG. 

Philippine AF C295 Delivery Imminent DELIVERY OF the first Airbus C295M to the Philippine Air Force was expected to take place before the end of March. Undersecretary of Defence Fernando Manalo confirmed the proposed delivery schedule in a statement released in Manila on March 3. The announcement also confirmed that the remaining two of the three on order would be delivered by the end of this year. The first delivery comes five months ahead of schedule. The C295Ms are replacing the PAF's three Fokker F27 Friendships, which have been in service for over 30 years - see also Philippine Air Force's First C295M, March, p33. 

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Aero India Report

Update on Indian Hawks

HAL plans to deliver a further 26 Hawk Mk 132 AJTs over the next two years, completing the current orders. HAL officials, speaking at Aero India 2015 in Bangalore on February 21, said 19 will be delivered to the Indian Air Force (IAF) and seven to the Indian Navy by the end of Fiscal Year 2017. The IAF initially ordered 66 Hawks, of which the first 24 were built in the UK, while the remaining 42 were assembled by HAL. On July 23, 2010 HAL was contracted to produce 40 more for the IAF, plus 17 for the Navy. HAL has already delivered ten of the 17 Hawks for the Navy and 21 of the additional 40 aircraft for the IAF. During a ceremony in the HAL pavilion at Aero India on February 20, HAL symbolically handed over the 75th HAL-built Hawk, although according to its own figures, the company says it has only delivered 73 aircraft to date, comprising 63 to the IAF and ten to the Navy. Presumably the additional two have been completed but not yet delivered. BAE Systems announced on February 18 that it has secured a five-year contract, worth £18.5 million, to provide HAL with a package for the Hawk Mk 132 AJT, including ground support equipment, spares and training. Indian Hawks have clocked up over 70,000 flying hours, according to Air Marshal Ramesh Rai, AOC-in-C, IAF Training Command. BAE Systems says it has begun negotiations with HAL on a potential order to supply products and services to build a further 20 Hawks. These are also to be completed by HAL in Bangalore to fulfil the IAF’s requirement to re-form its prestigious aerobatic team, the Surya Kiran. The team previously flew Kiran Mk 2 jet trainers, but was grounded in 2011 to enable its aircraft to be transferred to normal training duties, due to a shortage of the type. The team’s Hawks will be flown, as before, by 52 Squadron ‘The Sharks’ at Air Force Station Bidar, Karnataka. It was thought the team would be renamed when it re-equipped with the Hawk, but it is now likely to continue as the Surya Kiran.

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Indian EMB145 AWACS Progress

Above: Indian Air Force Embraer EMB-145i AWACS aircraft KW3556 on display at Aero India 2015. Aidan Curley

DELIVERY OF the first Embraer EMB-145i airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) to the Indian Air Force (IAF) is expected in June, according to officials speaking at Aero India 2015. After the first aircraft is transferred to the IAF for testing,

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will fine-tune the second aircraft, according to the head of the DRDO’s aviation division, K Tamilmani. The second aircraft should then be handed over to the IAF in

Still No Indian Rafale Contract THREE YEARS after the Dassault Rafale was selected as the winner of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) competition for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), a contract has still not been signed. During the Aero India show there was much discussion over the fate of the deal, said to be worth up to $10-12 billion. On the opening day of the event, February 14, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said a decision would be made after March, as he was awaiting a report from the Contract Negotiating Committee and had asked for this to be speeded up. French Defence Minister JeanYves Le Drian arrived in New Delhi on February 23 to meet his Indian counterpart and other officials for two days of talks, officially concerning “international affairs and defence industry issues”,

however the Rafale deal was likely to have been high on the agenda. Speaking at Aero India on February 19, Dassault CEO Eric Trappier expressed confidence that the deal would be signed “very soon.” There had been suggestions in local media that there had been a price increase since the offer was submitted, but industry sources believe Indian Ministry of Defence officials had not fully understood the life cycle costs included in the tender. There have also been rumours that Dassault was unwilling to stand as guarantor for the Rafales produced by HAL. Trappier said that nothing had changed in this respect. Dassault was selected as the preferred bidder for the contract on January 31, 2012. If finalised, an initial 18 aircraft will be purchased direct, with all deliveries due 36 months after contract

September. Trials with the first two have already taken place at IAF bases in Agra, Bangalore and Jamnagar. The third and final aircraft is scheduled to arrive from Brazil in June or July and, after systems integration, it is planned to enter service in July 2016. 

signature, while the remaining 108 will be assembled under licence in India at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd’s facilities in Bangalore. It is expected that additional orders will follow later for up to 80 aircraft. With the Rafale deal hanging in the balance, there has been speculation India may instead opt to buy more Sukhoi Su-30MKIs. However, at Aero India IAF head Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said the MMRCA and Su-30MKI have slightly different capabilities and would complement each other. He said that no alternative to MMRCA is being considered at present. However, he added that MMRCA did not necessarily have to be Rafale. He noted that even if a contract was signed immediately, it would be three years before the first squadron was equipped, and five or six years before subsequent units received the type. 

Indian DRDO’s New Do228

Above: The recently acquired Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) HAL-built Dornier 228-202K, KD-707 ‘Nabhrasthna’, on show during the first day of Aero India 2015, February 14, at Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bangalore. The aircraft was handed over to the DRDO on May 1 last year (see Indian DRDO Dornier 228 Test Bed Delivered, August 2014, p25) and is used for testing airborne radars and systems being developed by the DRDO. Aidan Curley

#325 APRIL 2015 33

NEWS

AUSTRALASIA

RAAF Deploys F/A-18As for Ops Against ISIL

Above: Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18A Hornet A21-2 departing from RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory, for Al Minhad Air Base, UAE, on March 3. Commonwealth of Australia/Cpl Terry Hartin

A CONTINGENT of six Royal Australian Air Force /A-18A Hornets and support personnel departed for the Middle East on March 3 from RAAF Base

Tindal in the Northern Territory. They will replace elements of the initial Air Task Group which deployed to Al Minhad Air Base, UAE, in September

RAAF Triton and Poseidon Plans THE FIRST Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon crews are now training at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. They will train with VP-30 before the first RAAF aircraft is delivered in early 2017. “Seven aircrew arrived there in January this year, they have commenced their training and they will stay and become P-8 instructors with the US Navy,” explained RAAF Group Captain Roger McCutcheon, director of the Australian P-8 transition office, during the Australian International Air Show at Avalon

on February 26. He continued: “Three technicians will arrive in Jacksonville in mid-year to do the same thing and become instructors on the maintenance side of things and then tactical operations centre personnel will begin their training towards the end of this year.” The RAAF has eight P-8As on order for 10 and 11 Squadrons at RAAF Edinburgh, and McCutcheon revealed that options held on a further four will be considered as part of Australia’s forthcoming Defence White Paper.

2014 under Operation Okra for missions against ISIL in Iraq. They will take-over from the six RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornets currently operating from Al

Australia is also interested in entering a co-operative agreement with the US Navy to influence the operational configuration of the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton maritime UAV, which will be acquired by the RAAF around the turn of the decade. Australia has committed to up to seven Tritons, and Group Captain Guy Adams, Director of Unmanned Aerial Systems for the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) said at Avalon that a formal order will be placed in 2016. Nigel Pittaway 

Global Hawk Makes Show Debut at Avalon

US Air Force Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk 07-2029 ‘BB’ landing at Avalon Airport, Australia, in the early hours of February 21. The UAV had flown in from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, where it is deployed with Detachment 3 of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing/9th Operations Group’s 12th Reconnaissance Squadron. It made its international debut at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon, held from February 24 to March 1. Commonwealth of Australia

34 APRIL 2015 #325

Minhad, which were part of the initial deployment for the mission. The F/A-18F Super Hornets were due to return home to Australia later in March. 

IAI offer Heron TP to RAAF SENIOR IAI officials have revealed that discussions are ongoing with Australia regarding the purchase of the Heron TP medium-altitude long-endurance UAV system, which has been operational with the Israeli Defence Force for several years. Senior director and head of international marketing Asia-Pacific, Doren Horesh, said at the Australian International Air Show in Avalon on February 26 that IAI was keen to promote the Heron TP as an alternative to the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. Although Australia does not yet have a formal requirement for a replacement for its existing Heron I UAV, the Chief of the RAAF, Air Marshal Geoff Brown said at Avalon that capabilities, including an armed UAV, are being considered by a Force Structure Review. On February 23, Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Daren Chester announced that the RAAF has begun aircrew training on the Reaper in the United States. The training is intended to increase Australia’s understanding of complex UAV operations and assist in gathering information for future acquisition decisions. Nigel Pittaway 

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New Zealand Still Considering C-17A NEW ZEALAND is still evaluating a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III purchase. The New Zealand Government announced on February 16: “The Ministry of Defence is in the process of receiving price and availability information on the C-17 from the United States Government as part of its long-term review of airlift capability.” NZ Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said: “Consideration of New Zealand’s continuing engagement in the Antarctic and our ability to respond to natural disasters and provide humanitarian aid in the Pacific, means options for future airlift capability need to be explored. The need for replacement airlift capability has been long anticipated and is foreshadowed in the Defence Mid-Point Rebalancing Review.” A Royal Australian Air Force C-17A visited Wellington on February 16 to deliver almost 50 tonnes of sandstone for construction of the Australian World War One memorial, which will be located in Pukeahu National War Memorial Park. Defence Minister Brownlee and Members of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee inspected the aircraft at the invitation of the Australian Defence Force. Brownless said: “While there is no commitment to purchase any C-17s, it seems sensible to view the Australian aircraft while it is in the capital. 

Last RAAF KC-30A Arrives in Australia

Above: The last RAAF Airbus KC-30A MRTT to arrive in Australia, A39-001/MRTT01, on the ramp at RAAF Base Amberley on February 24 after its delivery flight from Spain. Commonwealth of Australia/LAC Brenton Kwaterski

THE FINAL Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) KC-30A multi-role tanker transport has been delivered to Australia. The aircraft, A39-001/MRTT01, was the first RAAF KC-30A to be built, but had been retained in Spain for test flights related to development and certification of refuelling systems and other mission equipment. An Airbus Defence and Space crew flew the aircraft from Spain, arriving at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, on February 24. It will now join the other four KC-30As operating with 33 Squadron at the base.

Speaking on February 25, at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon, Air Commodore Warren McDonald, Air Mobility Group commander, said the KC-30A should achieve final operational capability this year. While admitting that the programme was behind schedule, he said it had become the tanker of choice for hose-and-drogue refuelling missions over Iraq, where one is deployed by the RAAF under Operation Okra. Clearance for hose-and-drogue use had been given in 2014 and McDonald said it performed

flawlessly. In March clearance was given for refuelling trials to begin with the Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS), development flights of which were completed last year - see News Brief below. Initial clearance will be for the KC-30A as a receiver from the ARBS, followed by trials with the E-7A Wedgetail. Discussions were then intended to take place in March regarding clearance for the KC-30A to carry out ARBS refuelling of Singapore F-15SGs and F-16C/Ds. Refuelling trials with the F-35A at Edwards AFB, California are scheduled for July. 

Formal RNZAF Seasprite Hand Over

Left: A ceremony was held at Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Base Auckland, Whenuapai, on March 6 to mark the official hand-over of the first three SH-2G(I) Seasprite helicopters (NZ3611, NZ3612 and NZ3613) for the RNZAF by Kaman Aerospace. A total of eight are on order for operation by 6 Squadron in a joint Navy-RNZAF effort which will see them regularly embark on Navy frigates and patrol vessels. Seen here is the first flight by one of these helicopters in New Zealand, which took place on March 4. The crew were Cdr Owen Rodger, Lt Ben Melville and Lt Mark Sharples. RNZAF

News Brief

New Contract Award Summary Air Force

Company

No and Type

Date

Delivery Date and Notes

THE ROYAL Australian Air Force's (RAAF's) KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport has been removed from the Projects of Concern list. The decision to remove it from the list was announced on March 6 by Australia's Defence Materiel Organisation. Acquired under Project Air 5402, the KC-30A had been on the list since February 2010 due to delivery delays. Following an extensive development and testing programme, the issues previously identified with the introduction of the Aerial Refuelling Boom System have been resolved and the capability has been formally accepted into service.

AAR Airlift

AgustaWestland

2 x AW189

Mar 4

By Dec 2015, for Faklands SAR contract

Croatian Police

AgustaWestland

1 x AW139

Feb 18

Not announced

Egyptian Air Force

Dassault

24 x Rafale

Feb 16

From 2015

Indian Air Force

HAL

14 x Dornier 228

Feb 5

Not announced

Israeli Air Force

Lockheed Martin

14 x F-35A

Feb 22

From 2019

Italian Air Force

Piaggio Aerospace

6 x P.1HH HammerHead

Feb 26

Early 2016

Royal Thai Army

Airbus Helicopters

6 x EC145T2

Feb 23

From 2016

Trinidad & Tobago NOCAD

Bell Helicopter

4 x Bell 429, 1 x Bell 412EPI

Mar 4

Not Announced

UAEAF&AD

Boeing

2 x C-17A

Feb 26

Not announced

UAEAF&AD

AgustaWestland

9 x AW139

Feb 24

From Jan 2015

US Army

Airbus Helicopters

41 x UH-72A

Feb 12

By Jul 31, 2017

www.airforcesdaily.com

US Army

Boeing

35 x AH-64E

Feb 19

By Jul 31, 2015

US Army

Sikorsky

22 x UH-60M

Mar 2

By Dec 31, 2016

US Navy

Northrop Grumman 1 x E-2D

Feb 27

By Jul 2018

US Navy

Bell Helicopter

1 x Bell 407/MQ-8C

Mar 3

By Sep 2015

West African Governments

AgustaWestland

4 x AW139

Feb 17

Not announced

#325 APRIL 2015 35

Apaches Herrick

The war in Afghanistan was a baptism of fire for the British Army’s AgustaWestland Apache AH1 Attack Helicopters. Time after time, the Army Air Corps (AAC) gunships turned the tide of battle. Tim Ripley looks back at the role of the Attack Helicopter (AH) Force in Operation Herrick.

W

hen news emerged in January 2007 that four British Royal Marines and soldiers had strapped themselves onto the outside of two Apache helicopters and then flew into enemy territory in southern Afghanistan to rescue a missing Royal Marine, it was greeted with incredulity. Warrant Officer Class 1 Ed Macy and Staff Sergeant Keith Armatage, both Army Air Corps pilots, along with Captain David Rigg of the Royal Engineers, all received the British armed forces third highest decoration for gallantry for their part in recovering the body of Lance Corporal Mathew Ford. The medal citations need little embellishment.

36 APRIL 2015 #325

“On 15 January 2007 Macy and Armatage were the Apache pilots supporting a raid into a Taliban stronghold. Despite a heavy preparatory air and artillery bombardment, the ground assault had resulted in five British casualties around the walls of the fort. Following the confusion of the withdrawal, one of the casualties, Lance Corporal Ford, was reported missing in action. A plan to rescue him was made.” “Macy demonstrated selfless gallantry and leadership as he helped inspire a hastily drawn together team to recover Ford. Macy’s courage, quick-thinking

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APACHES IN HERRICK

The moment rescuers strap themselves onto an Apache before taking off on the mission to rescue a missing Royal Marine in January 2007. TF Helmand Media Pool/ Crown Copyright

and determination to find and recover Ford, with complete disregard for his own safety, were an outstanding act of valour and leadership.” “During the mission to recover Ford’s body Armatage was unable to land [his helicopter] where planned. The rescuers were disorientated and, seeing this, Armatage armed only with a pistol, got out of his aircraft to lead them to the casualty. Almost immediately, they came under enemy small arms fire. Throughout this audacious mission, Armatage’s flying was impressively courageous and skilful. However, the fact that he [left] his Apache, armed only with a pistol to bring coherence

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to Ford’s recovery was truly extraordinary.” “Rigg, despite thinking he was about to be thrown into a deliberate enemy ambush, volunteered immediately to take part in the rescue of Ford [by strapping himself to the outside of an Apache]. He knew that he would be returning to face an aggressive, determined and lethal enemy, who were already alert to the [British] presence and were very likely to anticipate their return to find Ford. In the ensuing action Rigg displayed outstanding valour, clarity of thought and purpose to recover Ford and return him to his comrades, in the face of a lethal and determined enemy,

with deliberate disregard for his own safety.” Over the summer of 2006, and into 2007, the Apache AH1 crews of 9 Regiment AAC were in action daily helping to protect isolated detachments of British Paratroopers in Helmand province. These battles have entered military folklore as time after time, the arrival of pairs of Apaches saved the day by driving off hundreds of Taliban fighters besieging the British bases. The first combat mission by 9 Regiment’s Apache AH1 was flown in May 2006 when a pair of the helicopters was ordered into action near the Afghan town of Kajaki. The

#325 APRIL 2015 37

APACHES IN HERRICK 2006

2007

Operation Herrick 4 16 Air Asl* Brigade

Operation Herrick 5 3 Cdo** Brigade

2008 Operation Herrick 6 12 Mech Brigade

9 Regt AAC

3 Regt AAC

656 Sqn

662 Sqn

664 656 664 Sqn Sqn Sqn

Operation Herrick 7 52 Infantry Brigade

2009 Operation Herrick 8 6 Air Asl Brigade

Operation Operation Herrick 9 Herrick 10 3 Cdo 19 Light Brigade Brigade

4 Regt AAC 663 Sqn

2010

664 654 Sqn Sqn

656 Sqn

Operation Herrick 11 11 Light Brigade

3 Regt AAC 662 Sqn

663 653 Sqn Sqn

2011 Operation Herrick 12 4 Mech Brigade

Operation Herrick 13 16 Air Asl Brigade

2012 Operation Herrick 14 3 Cdo Brigade

4 Regt AAC

3 Regt AAC

664 Sqn

662 Sqn

654 Sqn

663 Sqn

Operation Herrick 15 20 Armd*** Brigade

2013 Operation Herrick 16 12 Mech Brigade

4 Regt AAC 653 654 Sqn Sqn

664 Sqn

Operation Herrick 17 4 Mech Brigade

2014 Operation Herrick 18 1 Mech Brigade

3 Regt AAC

4 Regt AAC

662 Sqn

653 Sqn

663 Sqn

654 Sqn

Operation Herrick 19 7 Armd Brigade

Operation Herrick 20 20 Armd Brigade 3 Regt AAC

664 Sqn

662 Sqn

Note: Asl* Assault. Cdo** Commando. Armd*** Armoured

mission to destroy French special forces vehicles captured by Taliban insurgents was over in a matter of minutes after AGM-114 Hellfire missiles demolished them. The first phase of the Taliban offensive was against a small contingent of French and US special forces training Afghan army troops near the Kajaki Dam in the far north of Helmand province. In face of this advance they began a rapid retreat by road to the NATO base outside Sangin on May 20. The convoy had barely gone a few miles when it was ambushed. A hundred troops of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 PARA) were scrambled from camp Bastion in RAF Chinook HC2s, escorted by AH1 Apaches of 656 Squadron, to try and search for the missing Frenchmen and Afghan troops. The Apache crews had only just rebuilt their helicopters after they had been air freighted into Kandahar Airfield and were in the process of making their final Hellfire missile qualification firings when the call to Kajaki came.

Combined Ops

The Paratroopers found the abandoned vehicles and an AAC Apache AH1 was called up to destroy one of the French jeeps to stop its highly secret position-tracking equipment falling into Taliban hands. It later emerged local villagers had joined the ambush and helped mutilate the bodies of the dead soldiers.

News of the Taliban ‘victory’ spread quickly. With road convoys still liable to be ambushed or hit with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the safest way to resupply the British troops in isolated district centres and bring out the wounded was by helicopter. This was not as easy as it seemed. The district centres in the middle of urban areas did not have room inside them for helicopter landing sites in which to land the big Chinooks safely. The British troops had to mount patrols out of the district centres on to open ground to secure landing sites for in-bound helicopters. This meant every helicopter mission into the district centres was high risk for ground troops and helicopter crews alike. Often, only the presence of Apache gunships circling above the landing sites allowed the Chinooks to get in and out securely.

“We were busy but it ebbed and flowed,” said an Apache AH1 pilot from 656 Squadron, in September 2006. “In general our tactics were very different from the Chinooks, they had to go to lower levels but there was still the rocket propelled grenade (RPG) threat and terrain [problems]. The enemy usually knew we were coming so we were always evolving our tactics. Ideas were always coming from the ground troops on better ways to flush out the enemy. Finding them in the first place was the most difficult thing. This was very small-scale stuff, but highly dangerous.” “We used close-in fire support [CIFS] in one operation when the Paras were moving through an area flushing the [bad] guys out when they came up on [radio] net asking us to engage enemy in wood line – it did work,” said the

“The enemy ran when we appeared. If they did not [run] and were seen, they went to pieces – literally. The gun was our weapon of choice; it can be engaged quickly and accurately.”

38 APRIL 2015 #325

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APACHES IN HERRICK

Above: The Attack helicopter flight line at Camp Bastion was a hive of activity 24/7 throughout Operation Herrick. UK MoD Left: A 656 Squadron Apache heads out from Kandahar Airfield on a mission over Helmand Province in 2006. Tim Ripley

pilot. “The enemy ran when we appeared. If they did not [run] and were seen, they went to pieces – literally. The gun was our weapon of choice; it can be engaged quickly and accurately. You just kept your eyes on target. You only got a ten- to 15-second glimpse of the bad guys. If you chased them into a building then you put in a Hellfire and if they were hiding in a field you would use rockets.” Major General Gary Coward, who was head of the Joint Helicopter Command in 2006, said: “Apache is as good as I ever hoped for,” he said. “We spent longer than planned developing the capability but, now it is deployed, I think it has shown its utility. It is the capability of first resort whenever our troops come into contact [with the enemy]. They have taken hits and survived. The

Apache is as robust as it says on the tin. Every Apache flying hour I can afford is being flown in theatre. It is a capability in use in a whole variety of roles – over watch, reconnaissance, ISTAR, show of force and escort. The only thing it does not do is lift kit and troops.”

A combined attack approach

Praise for the high level of integration between land forces and helicopters was repeated by Brigadier Ed Butler, who commanded British troops in Helmand in 2006. He said: “3 PARA would not go anywhere without attack helicopters because of the effect they had on the enemy. There is an unprecedented bond between 3 PARA and the helicopter crews.” Other British officers described the level of cohesion between aircrew and ground troops as similar to that

in the UK’s special forces helicopter wing. The seriousness of the situation in Afghanistan was starting to sink in back in the higher echelons of the AAC, the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command which had day-to-day control of the AH Force and the Defence Logistics Organisations (DLO) (now the Defence Equipment and Support DE&S organisation). Preparations had to be rapidly made to sustain the generation of required aircrew, ground crews and weapons for Afghanistan for several years to come. The AAC also needed to re-organise the AH Force to speed up aircrew and ground crew training. In the summer of 2006 just two Apache squadrons were combat-ready and by the end of 2007 only four squadrons would be fit to go to war. This put at risk

Above: The only major upgrade to the UK Apache force was the introduction of the Lockheed Martin M-TADS/PVNS (Modernised Target Acquistion Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor) along with the TEDAC (TADS Electronic Display and Control) systems. Tim Ripley Left: The Jugroom Fort mission, to recover the body of Lance Corporal Matthew Ford was launched from a forward arming and refuelling point in the desert close to the Taliban stronghold. TF Helmand Media Pool/ Crown Copyright

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#325 APRIL 2015 39

APACHES IN HERRICK

Above: An Apache returns to Camp bastion after a combat mission. The empty missile rails indicate that this helciopter has fired at least one of its AGM-114 Hellfires. AgustaWestland

the ability to continuously rotate personnel through the war zone and prevent ‘burn out’. The first move to turn this around took place in July 2006, when the Ministry of Defence announced that the AH Force would be concentrated at Wattisham, Suffolk, between June and September the following year. The two Apache squadrons at Dishforth in Yorkshire, 656 and 664 Squadron, would be transferred to 4 Regiment, turning 9 Regiment into a pure Lynx unit. While the 3 and 4 Regiment would each eventually boast three Apache squadrons. All the AAC Apache airframes were held centrally in a pool and allocated to specific tasks. Between 2010-12, at the height of Operation Herrick, 22 air frames were assigned to the UK-based regiment at Wattisham, six were permanently based in Arizona for Crimson Eagle twice-yearly live firing exercise, and ten were in Afghanistan. A further 12 Apaches are based at Middle Wallop, Hampshire for conversion-to-type training and trials. At any time ten to 12 helicopters undergo scheduled major servicing at the AgustaWestland-run Depth Support Unit (DSU) at Wattisham and five are held in climate controlled storage at the Suffolk base as attrition reserves.

A stretched force?

By the middle of 2009 the AAC had set up a two-year ‘roulement’ or formation cycle to allow each of its AH squadrons to spend four months at a time in theatre. Until the last AH sub-unit, 653 Squadron, finished its conversion to the Apache in April 2009, this cycle could not be fully up and running. Many personnel from 9 and 3 Regiment in 2006 and 2007 were spending two four-month tours a year in Afghanistan because the full force of six squadrons had not been fully fielded. Regiments 3 and 4 became the core of the Attack Helicopter Force at Wattisham Flying Station. Each regiment took turns to be responsible for providing personnel in Afghanistan for 12 months. Within that period, each of the regiment’s three squadrons did a four-month tour in Afghanistan and regimental headquarters personnel served in the Joint Helicopter Force (Afghanistan) organisation throughout the year. The Wattisham regiment was responsible for flying UK operations and supporting a range of training activities around the world. The most important of which was the pre-deployment training (PDT) for AH Force personnel heading

to Afghanistan, the twice-yearly Exercise Crimson Eagle, for which six airframes located in Arizona. Apache aircrews graduating from this exercise were declared combat-ready. Apache squadrons based in the UK did not deploy with their own aircraft and equipment to Afghanistan but took over a pool or set of ten helicopters, ground support equipment, vehicles and spares based at Camp Bastion and a series of Forward Arming and Refuelling Points (FARPs). Helicopters and other items were rotated home to the UK according to maintenance and a repair schedule not synchronised with unit handovers. Ammunition consumption was the biggest difference between operations in Afghanistan and routine training in the UK, and in theatre during ‘routine’ and ‘deliberate’ operations. The former, consisted mainly of small top ups of weapons but during major operations consumption shot up. A system of hot refuelling and re-arming is what one AAC officer described as being, “like a Formula One pit stop”. “On deliberate operations the aircraft came in and out of [landing spots to re-arm]” an Afghan veteran recalled. “You got use to deliberate ops. We would build lanes of ammo next to the spots ready to load on the helicopters when they came back. In the command post we’d listen to the battle on the radio and so could predict when we needed to pre-position ammo to re-arm the helicopters.” Weapons statistics for the AH Force released by the Ministry of Defence show the intensity of fighting in Afghanistan. They showed that Apache AH1s fired 183 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles in 2007, compared with 97 in 2008. Consumption of 30mm cannon ammunition was equally heavy with some 29,800 shells being fired between August and October 2006. In the next six months, the AH Force fired 21,000 rounds of 30mm ammunitions. This rose to 27,800 over the next six months; 15,700 in the following six months; 34,400 between April and October 2008 and 43,200 in the six months up to April 2009. Several UK Apaches were hit by Taliban fire in Afghanistan but none sufficiently badly to put any out of action and no aircrew were killed in action during the campaign, proving the

Above: This dramatic image was taken during the Jugroom Fort rescue mission from one of the Apache's night-vision systems. One of the rescuers can be seen strapped to the Apache's fuselage. TF Helmand Media Pool/Crown Copyright Right: The Attack helicopter Force packed up and left Camp Bastion in the autumn of 2014, ahead of a move to Kandahar Airfield to cover the final withdrawal from Afghanistan. UK MoD

40 APRIL 2015 #325

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APACHES IN HERRICK

Above: Several Apaches were hit by Taliban fire in Afghanistan but none badly enough to bring down the helicopter. Aircrews constantly revised their tactics during Operation Herrick to counter the threats, which also saw the introduction of a number of upgrades to the Attack Helicopter Force. AgustaWestland

survivability of the helicopter. The only major loss was of helicopter ZJ177 in an accident at forward operating base Edinburgh outside Musa Qalah on September 4, 2009. The aircrew survived and the airframe was air freighted to the UK for repair. Combat operations in Afghanistan resulted in UK Apaches undergoing several modifications with urgent operational requirement (UOR) funding. These included long-range communication upgrades and fitting armoured CRV-7 rocket pods after an Apache’s were damaged by Taliban machine gun fire. The most high-profile addition was adopting the AGM-114N1 Metal Augmented Charge (MAC) variant of the Hellfire, fired in anger for the first time in May 2008. Some 20 were fired that year and 23 during 2009. The missiles were purchased with UOR funding after AAC Apache crew in Afghanistan reported in late 2006 that the UK inventory of Hellfire high-explosive/ fragmentation (HE/frag) and High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warheads at the time had limited effectiveness against fortified Taliban insurgent positions and walled compounds. The only major, non-UOR, upgrade of the UK Apache force since it entered service in

2001, has been to incorporate the Lockheed Martin M-TADS/PNVS (Modernised Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor) along with TEDAC (TADS Electronic Display and Control) systems. Just over 40 UK Apaches had received the upgrade by late 2009 and in October that year the last of the modified helicopters required in Afghanistan were air freighted to theatre. Perhaps the most famous British Apache pilot to fight in Afghanistan was Captain Wales, AKA Prince Harry, who served a four-month Operation Herrick tour in 2012 with 662 Squadron. By that time the war had changed dramatically from the situation in 2006, when the bulk of the British Army’s 10,000 troops were massed to occupy the so-called Green Zone in central Helmand. Calls for air support were now less frequent as the Taliban had changed tactics from massed attacks against British convoys and patrols to using roadside bombs or IEDs to injure troops. One of the most ferocious of battles of 2012 occurred when a force of Taliban suicide bombers penetrated the defences of Camp Bastion to try to destroy UK and

US aircraft. British Apache helicopters were scrambled during the fighting to hunt down and kill the attackers, only a few hundred metres from 662 Squadron’s flight line. By October 2014, the British forces were in the process of handing over Camp Bastion to the Afghan Army. To cover the retreat, the last Apache unit in theatre, 662 Squadron, had already relocated to Kandahar airfield and flew top cover from the final road convoys and helicopter lifts out of Camp Bastion. With this successfully completed, 662 Squadron packed up its helicopters for loading onto RAF C-17 Globemasters and the unit home in Wattisham by the end of November 2014. Britain’s army aviators were combathardened by nearly nine years of operations in Afghanistan, flying some 29,000 combat hours in the central Asian country. Almost a decade ago, the Apache was at the heart of negative media coverage, with the National Audit Office issuing a highly critical report of its delayed procurement. This is now well and truly a thing of the past and the British Army has had its money’s worth from afm its Apache helicopters and their crews.

“In the command post we’d listen to the battle on the radio and so could predict when we needed to pre-position ammo to re-arm the helicopters.”

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#325 APRIL 2015 41

AIRCRAFT PROFILE JSF Programme Overview Part II

Lightning has Struck In the second part of AFM’s Aircraft Profile on the Joint Strike Fighter Programme Overview, Alan Warnes and Dave Allport detail the current F-35 Lightning II operating bases and their allocated units.

Below: US Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II 168719 ‘VK-01’ from VMFA121 ‘Green Knights’ at MCAS Yuma tops up its tanks from a Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) ‘Raiders’ KC-130J during a training exercise on August 27, 2013, over eastern California. USMC/Lance Cpl Raquel Barraza

42 APRIL 2015 #325

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even bases are now hosting the 120+ F-35 Lightnings delivered to date from the Fort Worth production line. Edwards AFB in California is the main facility for testing the US Air Force F-35A and the mission systems of all three variants, while NAS Patuxent River, Maryland is where all the flight sciences trials are carried out for the two naval variants. The Patuxent River-based F-35 Integrated Test Force is also charged with STOVL and carrier integration flight test and the F-35 Integrated Training Center at Eglin AFB, Florida teaches

pilot and maintenance personnel on all three F-35 variants. Operational aircraft have so far been delivered to Eglin AFB, Florida; MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina; Luke AFB, Arizona; Nellis AFB, Nevada and MCAS Yuma, Arizona. Meanwhile seven foreign JSFs are now flying: the two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-35As are based at Luke AFB; one UK F-35B is at MCAS Beaufort and two Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35As, along with the first two UK F-35Bs, are at Edwards AFB. Between them, the various locations will be training personnel and testing the aircraft that will one day defend the skies of at least 12 countries.

MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina

Traditionally the home for frontline US Marine Corps aircraft, Beaufort is now becoming established as the USMC’s F-35B pilot training base. In addition, F-35B pilots from Italy and the UK will also train at Beaufort. Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501) ‘Warlords’ stood up in 2010 at Eglin AFB, Florida, where it trained the first group of USMC F-35B pilots. VMFAT-501 is now in the process of moving to its permanent base at Beaufort, a transition that should be completed by mid-year. The first VMFAT-501 F-35B moved from Eglin to Beaufort on July 17, 2014. Under current USMC plans, a second F-35B training squadron will be established at Beaufort, along with two operational F-35 squadrons. Beaufort will also house the first USMC squadron with the F-35C variant, when Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 (VMFA-115) ‘Silver Eagles’ stands-up, which is scheduled for 2019.

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The first UK F-35B that will be used operationally, ZM137 (BK-03), arrived at Beaufort from Eglin AFB on February 3, 2015, to join VMFAT-501. Working alongside US Marine Corps colleagues, UK personnel will fly BK-3, which will form part of the UK’s first front-line Lightning II unit, 617 Squadron, operating from RAF Marham and then the Royal Navy’s new Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers from 2018.

Edwards AFB, California

The base houses five trials units involved in the JSF programme: the US Air Force’s 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron and 461st Flight Test Squadron, both primarily flying the F-35A, plus the USMC’s Test and Evaluation Squadron 22 (VMX-22) ‘Argonauts’ with the F-35B, the UK’s 17 (Reserve) Test and Evaluation Squadron, also with the F-35B, and the Royal Netherland’s Air Force’s (RNLAF’s) 323 Squadron, with the F-35A. The 461st FLTS undertakes the System Development and Demonstration phase of JSF flight testing, using six F-35As as part of a joint military, government and contractor team. It is responsible for ground and flight test of the USAF F-35A variant. In addition,

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Above: The first USAF Weapons School/16th Weapons Squadron F-35A, 12-5049 ‘WA’/‘16 WPS’, approaching the Lake Mead National Recreation Area during its delivery flight from the factory on January 15. It is accompanied by another of the unit’s aircraft, F-16C 93-0533 ‘WA’/‘16 WPS’. USAF/Senior Airman Cody Griffith

two F-35Bs and one F-35C are also currently at Edwards for mission systems testing. The 31st TES carries out the operational testing of the F-35A. The unit has four of these aircraft which are used to evaluate the variant, its support equipment and the logistics supply system. Ultimately, the intention is to determine the best use of the F-35A in real-world combat. Tests will include evaluating the F-35A’s survivability in specific situations and the execution of flight ops both at home or in a combat zone. Some operational testing of the F-35A is also being carried out at Nellis AFB, Nevada. VMX-22 is the newest US unit at Edwards to receive the JSF. The Argonauts received their first fixed-wing aircraft, an F-35B for operational testing and evaluation, on October 9, 2014. Previously,

they had only undertaken rotarywing testing with the MV-22B Osprey and CH-53E Super Stallion. Operational testing of the F-35B by VMX-22 will also be carried out at Edwards Air Force Base, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division China Lake, California; Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona; and aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1). The UK’s 17 (Reserve) Test and Evaluation Squadron received its first F-35B for operational testing when ZM135 (BK-01) arrived at Edwards on January 13, 2015, from Eglin AFB and it has now been joined by ZM136 (BK-02). The unit will conduct F-35B operational testing at

Known Serial Batches to Date USAF F-35A: 07-0744 (AF-06) to 07-0751(AF-13); 09-5001 (AF-14) to 09-5007 (AF-20); 10-5009 (AF21) to 10-5018 (AF-30);10-5020 (AF-31) to 10-5051 (AF-62) USMC F-35B: 168057 (BF-06) to 168062 (BF-11); 168308 (BF-12) to 168314 (BF-18); 168717 (BF19) to 168732 (BF-33); 168838 (BF-34) to 168840 (BF-37) US Navy F-35C: 168733 (CF-06) to 168736 (CF-09); 168841(CF10) to 168848 (CF-17); 169030 (CF-18) to 169033 (CF-21) Royal Air Force/Fleet Air Arm F-35B: ZM135 (BK-01) to ZM142 (BK-08) Royal Australian Air Force F-35A: A35-001 (AU-01) and A35-002 (AU-02) Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A: F-001 (AN-01, USAF/ 09-5008) and F-002 (AN-02, USAF/10-5019)

#325 APRIL 2015 43

AIRCRAFT PROFILE JSF Programme Overview Part II Current F-35 Disposition, as of January 27, 2015

Edwards in conjunction with the US military, but UK joint service pilots and engineers will fly and maintain the aircraft independently of their US colleagues. The Squadron will eventually fly three F-35Bs. The RNLAF’s two F-35As arrived at Edwards from Eglin AFB on January 16, 2015, to join 323 Squadron, the RNLAF’s operational test and evaluation squadron for the type.

Eglin AFB, Florida

Eglin houses the F-35 Integrated Training Center, providing instruction for pilot and maintenance personnel on all three variants. The US Air Force (33rd Fighter Wing/58th Fighter Squadron ‘Mighty Gorillas’), US Navy (VFA-101) and US Marine

Corps (VMFAT-501), together with international partners, were all co-located at the base. VMFAT-501 is, however, in the process of moving to Beaufort. The ‘Mighty Gorillas’ received its 26th and final F-35A on May 28, 2014. The first F-35C variant for the USMC arrived at the base on January 13, 2015, to join VFA-101, which will eventually receive five USMC F-35Cs. Two Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) F-35As and three UK F-35Bs were also located here, but the RNLAF F-35As moved to Edwards AFB, California, on January 16, 2015, to begin their operational test and evaluation phase. All three UK F-35Bs have also now moved on: ZM135 (BK-01) and ZM136

(BK-02) to Edwards, while ZM137 (BK-03) left on February 3 for Beaufort to join VMFAT-501.

Luke AFB, Arizona

The primary F-35 activity at Luke is pilot and maintenance personnel training for the US Air Force and international partners. Training is undertaken by the 61st Fighter Squadron ‘Top Dogs’, which re-activated on October 27, 2013, as part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke. The first F-35A arrived at the base on March 10, 2014, and the first training sortie with the type took place on May 5, 2014. Currently, there are 17 USAF and two RAAF F-35As at Luke, which is scheduled to eventually receive 144 USAF F-35As, split between six squadrons.

Nellis AFB, Nevada

Personnel at Nellis provide test support, drive development evaluation and support the initial operational test and evaluation programme. These assessments assist the teams that are establishing how the F-35A will be used in theatre. The 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) is to design the tactics that the JSF will use in airto-air and air-to-ground combat. It will also determine how to integrate the F-35 with other USAF aircraft. Working in conjunction with the US Air Force Warfare Center and 422nd TES, is the USAF Weapons School’s (USAFWS) 16th Weapons Squadron ‘Tomahawks’. On January 15, 2015, the unit received its first F-35A, which will be used to drive tactics development and create the curriculum for the first F-35 course at the school. The first F-35A USAFWS student course is tentatively scheduled for January 2018.

NAS Patuxent River, Maryland

Development F-35C CF-03 ‘SD-73’ on the flight deck of the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during trials on November 10, 2014. The aircraft is operated by VX-23 ‘The Salty Dogs’ based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Lockheed Martin

44 APRIL 2015 #325

The Integrated Test Force (ITF) at Pax River is involved in testing the F-35B and F-35C variants. Aircraft are assigned to the US Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) ‘Salty Dogs’. Personnel with the ITF come from the US Navy, US Marine Corps, Royal Air Force Royal Navy and industry. Over the last year the ITF has deployed to the

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Production Orders LRIP Lot 1

US Navy F-35C

CF-16 (168847) and CF-17 (168848), plus CF-18 (169030) to CF-22 (169034)

LRIP Lot 2

Italian Air Force F-35A

AI-01 to AI-03

USAF F-35A

AF-08 to AF-13 (08-0746 to 08-0751)

RAAF F-35A

AU-01 (A35-001) and AU-02 (A35-002)

US Marine Corps F-35B

BF-06 (168057) to BF-11 (168062)

LRIP Lot 7 USAF F-35A

AF-71 to AF-90

USAF F-35A

AF-14 to AF-20 (09-5001 to 09-5007)

US Marine Corps F-35B

BF-44 to BF-49

RNLAF F-35A

AN-01 (F-001)

US Marine Corps F-35B

BF-12 (168308) to BF-18 (168314)

Royal Air Force/Fleet Air Arm F-35B

BK-01 (ZM135) and BK-02 (ZM136)

USAF F-35A

AF-06 (07-0744) and AF-07 (07-0745)

LRIP Lot 3

LRIP Lot 4 USAF F-35A

AF-21 to AF-30 (10-5009 to 10-5018)

US Marine Corps F-35B

BF-19 (168717) to BF-34 (168732)

US Navy F-35C

CF-05 plus CF-06 (168733) to CF-08 (168735)

RNLAF F-35A Royal Air Force/Fleet Air Arm F-35B

US Navy F-35C

CF-23 to CF-26

Royal Air Force/Fleet Air Arm

BK-04 (ZM138)

Italian Air Force F-35A

AI-04 to AI-06

Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35A

AM-01 and AM-02

LRIP Lot 8 USAF F-35A

AF-91 to AF-109

US Marine Corps F-35B

BF-50 to BF-55

US Navy F-35C

CF-27 to CF-30

AN-02 (F-002)

Israeli Air Force F-35A

First two aircraft

BK-03 (ZM137)

Italian Air Force F-35A

AI-07 to AI-08

LRIP Lot 5

Japan Air Self-Defence Force

First four aircraft BK-05 (ZM139) to BK-08 (ZM142)

USAF F-35A

AF-31 to AF-52 (11-5020 to 11-5041)

Royal Air Force/Fleet Air Arm

US Marine Corps F-35B

BF-35 (168838) to BF-37 (168840)

LRIP Lot 9

US Navy F-35C

CF-09 (168736), plus CF-10 (168841) to CF-15 (168846)

USAF F-35A

AF-53 to AF-70 (12-5042 to 12-5059)

Final numbers are yet to be confirmed. A contract has been awarded covering only long-lead funding for 57 aircraft. However, it was to include 60 aircraft: 32 F-35As for USAF, six F-35As for Norway, three F-35As for Italy, two F-35As for Japan, plus four more unspecified international F-35As; six F-35Bs for USMC, six F-35Bs for UK and the first F-35B for Italy.

US Marine Corps F-35B

BF-38 to BF-43

Abbreviation: LRIP - Low Rate Initial Production

LRIP Lot 6

amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) for shipboard trials and to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, for F-35C catapult and arrestment testing. This was followed by two VX-23 F-35Cs completing the type’s first ever arrested landings and take-offs from an aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz (CVN 68), on November 3, 2014.

MCAS Station Yuma, Arizona

Yuma is home to the first operational US Marine Corps JSF squadron, Marine Fighter

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Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) ‘Green Knights’, which received its first F-35B on November 16, 2012. Four days later, Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA[AW]-121), which had previously flown the FA-18D Hornet, was formally redesignated VMFA-121 as an F-35B unit. Its first operational flight took place on February 22, 2013. Eventually, MCAS Yuma will host five F-35B squadrons, each with 16 aircraft, together with one operational test and evaluation afm squadron with eight aircraft.

Above: Royal Netherlands Air Force F-35A Lightning II F-002, wearing a newlyapplied ‘OT’ tail code, arrives over Edwards AFB on January 16, after a ferry flight from Eglin AFB, Florida. Dutch MoD Below: UK F-35B ZM137 (BK-03) arrives at MCAS Beaufort on February 3. USMC/Pfc Samantha Torres

#325 APRIL 2015 45

DACT GANDO 2015 Left: Spanish Air Force KC-130H Hercules TK.10-05 '31-50'' from Ala 31 gets airborne on February 10 for a mission. All photos, Mark Rourke Below: Two Spanish Air Force Hornet pilots walk out to their aircraft at Gando.

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DACT GANDO 2015

From the desk to the dogfight Mark Rourke and Marc Newitt travelled to the holiday island of Gran Canaria to record the Spanish Air Force’s annual two weeks of flying dissimilar air-to-air combat training (DACT).

Above: The busy ramp during the DACT, with various EF-18Ms from Ala 12 at Torrejón and Ala 15 at Zaragoza, together with a Typhoon from Ala 14 at Los Llanos visible in the background. Main image: Spanish Air Force EF-18M C.15-60 ‘12-18’ from Ala 12 tucks up its undercarriage as it lifts off the runway at Gando during the DACT exercise.

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#325 APRIL 2015 47

DACT GANDO 2015

T

he DACT for the Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) is hosted by Ala 46 (46th Wing) at Gando Air Base, Gran Canaria, in the Atlantic Ocean. This year’s exercise ran from February 3-18 and brought together assets from the Ejército del Aire and NATO to hone their skills in advanced air-toair combat against other aircraft types – hence the term ‘dissimilar’. The two weeks of flying are an essential part of pilot training and Mando Aéreo de Canarias (Canary Island Combat Command), which has the facilities – including a vast ramp – and a large exercise area nearby, hosts the event. Not all assets are based at Gando, Aérodromo Militar de Lanzarote (Lanzarote military airfield) is also used as a base of operations during DACT. The Canaries are chosen due to the vast exercise area south of the islands, which has very few flight

Participants – DACT 2015, Gando, Gran Canaria Aircraft Type/Serial

Code

Ala 12, Torrejón AB Boeing E/F-18M C.15-46

12-04

C.15-54

12-12

C.15-57

12-15

C.15-60

12-18

C.15-62

12-20

CE.15-08

12-71

Ala 14, Los Llanos AB Eurofighter 2000 Typhoon C.16-35

14-02

C.16-36

14-03

C.16-38

14-05

C.16-44

14-09

C.16-48

14-12

C.16-49

14-13

C.16-33

11-12

Eurofighter Typhoon C.16-49 ‘14-13’ from the Spanish Air Force’s Ala 14 at Los Lllanos taxies out for a DACT mission.

restrictions and no commercial traffic. It allows fighter pilots to fly supersonic, release chaff and flares and provides a setting that is as close to a ‘real’ dogfight as some may get in their careers.

Aeródromo Militar de Lanzarote (Lanzarote Military Airfield)

A steady approach

Grupo Mixto 47, Torrejón AB

The first two days are based in the classroom with lectures and conferences on the latest weapons, tactics, and the safety restrictions. Students then move onto the flight phase with basic one-on-one scenarios at the start and progressively increasing in aircraft and complexity as the days go by. At the end of the first week there is a pilot exchange to allow as many Spanish aircrews as possible to experience DACT. It is not just the fighters that get in on the action either. Supported by a KC-130H Hercules tankers, an electronic intelligence Boeing 707, Casa 212 and Falcon 20E electronic warfare aircraft the exercise includes air-to-air refuelling, electronic warfare afm and high-value asset protection sorties.

Aircraft Type/Serial

Code

Boeing 707 (ELINT) TM.17-4

47-04

Dassault Falcon 20E TM.11-4

47-24

CASA C.212 Aviocar (Electronic Warfare) TM.12D-72

47-12

Grupo de Escuelas Matacán AB CASA C.101 Aviojet E.25-43

74-13

E.25-51

74-07

E.25-57

74-12

E.25-72

74-26

E.25-88

74-39

Ala 15, Zaragoza AB Boeing E/F-18M C.15-15

15-02

C.15-25

15-12

C.15-28

15-15

C.15-29

15-16

C.15-39

15-26

C.15-47

15-31

CE.15-01

15-70

Ala 31, Zaragoza AB Lockheed KC-130H TK.10-05

31-50

TK.10-07

31-52

Ala 46, Gando AB

Above: Two of the Ala 14 Typhoons make a paired departure from Gando for another mission during the DACT exercise. Below: Resident Spanish Air Force CN235-100 MPA D.4-04/T.19B-08 from Ala 46 was one of two examples at Gando providing SAR coverage for the duration of the DACT exercise.

Boeing F/A-18A C.15-75

46-03

C.15-79

46-07

C.15-80

46-08

C.15-85

46-13

C.15-86

46-14

C.15-87

46-15

C.15-88

46-16

C.15-89

46-17

C.15-92

46-20

C.15-94

46-22

C.15-95

46-23

CN-235M-100 (MPA) (D4) T.19B-08

D.4-04

T.19B-09

D.4-02

NAEW&CF, Geilenkirchen AB Boeing E-3A Sentry

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INVENTORIES

FORCE REPORT Republic of China Air Force

An F-CK-1C taxies out of its shelter at CCK AFB, where the 3rd TFW/427th TFW is located. The Indigenous Defence Fighters (IDF), as it is also known, was built by Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC). This example is used for solo displays at local airshows, hence its specially marked tail.

S

ituated just 100 miles (160km) from the coast of mainland China is the island of Taiwan. It is regarded by its giant neighbour as a ‘rogue province’ that should come under the control of the government in Beijing, a view that might one day be backed up with military action. Not surprisingly, Taiwan’s air force, the ROCAF, has to be on a high state of alert. Air defence is its primary mission. New fighter aircraft are urgently required but no nation is willing to supply them. The rapidly growing economy and military might of the People’s Republic of China

50 APRIL 2015 #325

means countries are now reluctant to deliver weapons to the ROCAF. Even Taiwan’s major weapon supplier, the United States, has reduced its support in recent years. For a long time the technological and tactical superiority of the ROCAF was sufficient to match the numerical superiority of China’s air arms. The situation ended ten years ago, but Taiwan is not concerned, for now, that China will enforce reunification. The political relationship between the two countries is ‘warming’ and economic co-operation is close. Many see the possibility of a voluntary reunification one day.

According to Jack Lee, once the highest official in the Taipei Representative Office in the Netherlands (Taiwan has no embassy there as the Dutch do not recognise it as a country), there are three conditions that determine whether China will invade or not: “If we [Taiwan] develop a nuclear weapon (the project was stopped a few decades ago due to enormous pressure from the US); if we declare independence; or if, for whatever reason, large-scale civil unrest develops in our country.” Taiwan has a population of 23 million. Its defence budget stands at £6.15 billion (€8.3 billion),

2.2% of GDP (gross domestic product), the percentage having steadily decreased over the years. Accounting for almost £960 million (€1.3 billion), the air force is the highest spender of the three armed forces. The navy’s budget is marginally less while the army is well behind at £382 million (€517 million). The Ministry of National Defense does not disclose what the remainder of the £6.15 billion is spent on.

Air superiority

The Taiwanese defence doctrine is that the ROCAF is the first responder against any hostile

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Playing Catch-Up Gert Kromhout and Stephan de Bruijn recently visited Taiwan to bring AFM up-todate on what’s happening in the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF).

action from China, tasked with gaining air superiority quickly. While smaller than the Netherlands, Taiwan nevertheless has a fleet of around 400 fighter aircraft – many in the air defence role – assigned across six wings at six air bases. Two are equipped with Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs; two with the locally-developed Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF); one with Dassault Mirage 2000-5Ei/Dis; and one with Northrop F-5E/F Tiger IIs. Four of the air bases are positioned on the western side of the island, facing China, and

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two are on the other side of the north to south-running mountain range that dominates two-thirds of the country. The two IDF wings also maintain a detachment on the island of Penghu, 31 miles (50km) west of the main island. All the bases have armed fighters on quick reaction alert (QRA) status 365 days a year and are scrambled frequently to intercept intruders. But not all the ‘targets’ are Chinese – often they are USAF and US Navy aircraft, such as EP-3Es and RC-135s operating in the Taiwan Straits from Japan on intelligence-gathering missions. The ROCAF also has a composite

wing with 20 Lockheed Martin C-130Hs, six Northrop Grumman E-2K Hawkeyes and 11 Grumman S-2T Trackers. The Trackers – currently being replaced by 12 Lockheed Martin P-3 Orions – were, until the summer of 2013, the property of the RoC Navy but a reorganisation of the armed forces has since brought them under control of the ROCAF. Six airborne early warning (AEW) Hawkeyes were upgraded to Hawkeye 2000 standard with new radars and software. They fulfil a crucial role in early detection of hostile or unknown aircraft and are supplementary

to a network of land-based early warning radars. One of these is the Raytheon AN/FPS-115 Pave Paws near the city of Hsinchu. Raytheon says it’s capable of detecting aircraft and low-flying cruise and ballistic missiles and has a sophisticated jamming capability. Pave Paws can track up to a 1,000 targets and has a range of 3,100 miles (5,000km). Taiwan cancelled a second such radar because of its high cost.

Mountain hideaway

The ROCAF’s biggest fear is that any first strike by China would destroy its runways while

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FORCE REPORT Republic of China Air Force launching hundreds of ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan. For this reason, the air force has invested heavily in rapid runway repair kits along with taxiways and highways that could, in times of rising tensions, be used as runways should airbases be destroyed. Four air force bases (AFBs) have unusual infrastructures. The most southerly, Pingtung, consists of two parts, each with a single runway: Pingtung South and Pingtung North. The taxiway and runway systems are connected by a pair of 2 mile-long parallel taxiways each wide enough to operate aircraft such as C-130s and P-3 Orions. Pingtung South is home to these types while the north side houses S-2 Trackers and E-2 Hawkeyes. In the northeast of the island, near the city of Hualien, is Chiashan AFB. It is composed of two parts, its western side only activated during large scale exercises. Connected to the other part by a 1.5 mile-long (2.5km) taxiway, the western section features large underground hangars adjacent to mountains and can accommodate at least 100 fighter aircraft. Zhihang AFB near the city of Taitung has a similar cave complex. ROCAF officers acknowledge the presence of the caves but refuse to say how many fighters they house. In times of tension, Chiashan and Zhihang serve as the operating airfields for aircraft normally based on the west coast.

Biggest base

According to the ROCAF, Ching Chuan Kang (CCK) Air Force Base is the largest in Southeast Asia. During the Vietnam War the US Air Force stationed KC-135 tankers, F-4 Phantoms and B-52 bombers here in the early 1970s. At 4,300ft (1.3km) long and 920ft (280m) wide, the dimensions of the main hardstand are immense for an Asian

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country. They are a 4,300ft (1.3km) long and 920ft (280m) wide. Although the Americans left Taiwan decades ago, their influence is visible everywhere. The ROCAF command structure is along the same lines as the USAF’s; and on an air base the wing is the predominant unit. It is the umbrella under which the different groups (called squadrons until some years ago) are aligned – and the wing commander is the senior officer on base, not the base commander. The bases are all kept in immaculate condition and are well equipped. It’s the same for the aircraft. Many are ageing, but externally they appear new – surprising considering the F-5s are nearly 30 years old and the S-2 Trackers more than 40 years old.

New fighters

The acquisition of a new weapon system is a long-term issue for Taiwan. In the early 1980s the United States was Taiwan’s main supplier, but as the People’s Republic of China and the US improved economic and diplomatic ties, obtaining new fighter aircraft and weapons systems has proved difficult. Other countries have also chosen not to sell arms to Taiwan. So Taiwan decided to develop its own fighter jet to replace the F-5E/Fs and Lockheed F-104 Starfighters. It became the AIDC IDF (F-CK-1), later named the Ching Kuo after the President of Taiwan who initiated the programme. The IDF, as it is more commonly known, entered operational service in 1994. The fighter was developed with foreign assistance and has

never been exported. General Dynamics played a huge role in its design, and it has many features from the F-16. It’s powered by twin ITEC F125-70 jet engines developed in association with US engine manufacturer Garrett. The IDF’s primary weapons are the Tien Chien 1 (TC-1) and Tien Chien 2 (TC-2) air-to-air missiles, which resemble American AIM-9 Sidewinders and AIM-120s. Its GD-53 Golden Dragon multi-mode monopulse Pulse Doppler radar is based on the General Electric AN/ APG-67 with components from the Westinghouse APG-66.

Dream not delivered A planned production run of 256 IDFs was quickly reduced due to unexpected thawing in the relationship between China and

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Left: A member of the 2nd TFW ground crew, acknowledges the pilot of a Mirage 2000-5Ei at Hsinchu. Right: Gangshan is the ROCAF’s main training base, where this AT-3 is used for training pilots to fly fighters. Below: An F-16B of the 455th TFW prepares to touch down at its home base, Chiayi AFB. Bottom left: A dual seat F-1CK-1D comes into land at CCK. Bottom: An F-5E and F-5F sit at the end of the runway ready to depart at Zhihang AFB.

Republic of China Air Force (Chung-Hua Min Guo Kong Jun) Order of battle Tainan

1

1st TFW - 443rd TFW 1st TFG

F-1CK-1C/D

3rd TFG

F-1CK-1C/D

9th TFG

F-1CK-1C/D

Hsinchu

2

2nd TFW - 499th TFW) 41st TFG

Mirage 2000-5Ei/Di

42nd TFG

Mirage 2000-5Ei/Di

48th TFG

Mirage 2000-5Ei/Di

Ching Chuan Kang

3

3rd TFW- 427th TFW 7th TFG

F-CK-1A/B

28th TFG

F-CK-1A/B

Chiayi

4

4th TFW - 455th TFW 21st TFG

F-16A/B

22nd TFG

F-16A/B

23rd TFG

F-16A/B

Rescue Sqn†

S-70C, EC225

Chiashan (Hualien)

the West, and production ended at just 130. But the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in 1989 and the violent reaction taken by the Chinese authorities brought a halt to the improving relationship with the West in 1992. Taiwan took the opportunity to order 150 F-16s under the Peace Fenghuang programme from the US; and 60 Mirage 2000-5s from France. The first two F-16 wings received their aircraft in 1997, and were declared operational on December 18, 2002 with three squadrons. The second wing acquired its F-16s in 1998 and was operational on January 16, 2002, again with three squadrons. It added a fourth a short time later. In the US, 14 ROCAF F-16s fly with the 21st FS at Luke AFB, Arizona, for pilot training. The ROCAF’s F-16s

are Block 20s and have mid life upgrade (MLU) specifications. Originally, they did not have the software to launch AIM-120 AMRAAMs – their air-to-air armament comprising AIM-9M Sidewinders and AIM-7M Sparrows. In 2004, Raytheon delivered the first AMRAAMs, but in such limited quantities that the Sparrow remains in use today. The F-16s’ air-to-ground weapons are ‘dumb’ bombs, AGM-65 Mavericks and the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile. The ROCAF also has Pathfinder/ Sharpshooter night navigation and targeting pods, but currently no laser-guided bombs are in service.

F-16 update

A major update programme is planned for the F-16s, after which the type will be renamed the F-16V.

Originally, the upgrade of the 145 ROCAF F-16s was to include the US Air Force Combat Avionics Programmed Extension Suite (CAPES) programme– under which 300 F-16s would have been modernised – but the USAF withdrew from it in early 2014 as a cost-saving measure. The modernisation for the ROCAF will, however, proceed as planned but F-16 upgrade will not be as comprehensive. Important components of the programme are the Northrop Grumman Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) AESA radar, an embedded Global Positioning System inertial navigation system and the Terma ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management System. Additionally, the ROCAF F-16s will get the Boeing GBU-31 and GBU38 Joint Direct Attack Munition

5

5th TFW - 401st TFW 12th TRG

RF-5E/F-16A/B

17th TFG

F-16A/B

26th TFG

F-16A/B

27th TFG

F-16A/B

Pingtung

6

6th CW - 439th CW Anti-Submarine Warfare Group 33rd Sqn

P-3C*, S-2T**

34th Sqn

P-3C *, S-2T**

20th Electronic Warfare Group 2nd EWS

E-2K**

6th EWS

C-130HE*

10th Tactical Airlift Group 101st TCS

C-130H*

102nd TCS

C-130H*

Zhihang/Taitung

7

7th TFW - 737th TFW 44th TFG

F-5E/F

45th TFG

F-5E/F

46th TFG

F-5E/F

Gangshan

8

Basic Training Group T-34C Fighter Training Group AT-3 Airlift Training Group Beech 1900C Songshan (Taipei)

9

Special Beech 1900C/ Transport Sqn Fokker 50 Presidential Flight Section Makung

Boeing 737/ Fokker 50 10

Detachment F-CK-1 of 443rd TFW or 427th TFW *located at south base. **located at north base. † maintains detachments at several air bases including Zhihang.

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FORCE REPORT Republic of China Air Force (JDAM), AGM-154 Joint Stand-off Weapon (JSOW), laser-guided bombs, Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, new AIM-9 Sidewinders, improved targeting pods, upgraded ECM systems and more powerful engines. The first two test aircraft are now being readied for evaluation at Edwards AFB, California. The remainder of the fleet will follow from 2016.

‘For more than eight years, the ROCAF has been trying to purchase 66 F-16C/Ds to replace the Mirages, but the US has already refused the sale three times.’ This C-130H moves slowly along the taxiway at Pingtung South AFB. The ROCAF has a fleet of 20 C-130s, one of which is used for electronic warfare.

IDF updates

Another fighter due for modernisation is the IDF, enabling it to soldier on for at least another 20 years. The type was originally an air defence fighter but modifications gave it improved attack capabilities. The upgrades focus on avionics, radar, flight control and a new stand-off weapon while new software provides multiple target tracking and better jamming resistance. The IDF’s official type designation changed to F-CK-1 C/D Hsiang Sheng. The improved IDFs are now capable of employing the new Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) Wan Chien (Ten Thousand Swords) stand-off air-to-surface missile, which has similar capabilities to the AGM-154 JSOW. It is primarily developed for use against air bases, ports, missile and radar sites at distances of up to 124 miles (200km). Conformal fuel tanks on top of the fighter’s fuselage were considered but, according to aircrews, costs meant they were not purchased. The 443rd Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) at Tainan has now fully converted to the F-CK-1C/D while the 427th TFW at CCK recently commenced transition to the type.

New indigenous fighter There doesn’t seem to be much of a future for the Mirage 2000. Costs per flying hour are much higher than the F-16 and there are no plans for an update programme. For more than eight years, the ROCAF has been trying to purchase 66 F-16C/Ds to replace the Mirages, but the US has already refused the sale three times. It is said the ROCAF will now opt for the F-35B Lightning II. Not only is it much more modern,

the ’B variant can operate from very short runways. But the chances of the US selling the F-35B to the ROCAF are remote. With no replacement for the Mirage 2000, the fighter will remain in service for the time being. It has to, because the number of available F-16s will drop sharply during their modernisation programme – the equivalent of a whole squadron will not be available for at least five years. Repeated unsuccessful attempts to get new US fighter aircraft have

again forced Taiwan to develop its own ‘new’ fighter aircraft. While still in its early stages, the jet will be stealthy, capable of flying long distances, equipped with in-flight refuelling and able to attack air, ground and maritime targets.

Training Training for young pilots starts at Gangshan Air Force Base in the city of Tainan. The facility is also home of the Air Force Academy where Beech T-34C

Above: A P-3C Orion wearing the emblem of the 33rd Anti Submarine Warfare Squadron, parked on the ramp at Pingtung South. Twelve aircraft are on order (the first two in the high visibility marks) and are due to be delivered by the end of this year. Left: The ROCAF’s Air Rescue Squadron flies with the Sikorsky S-70 Blue Hawks and three Eurocopter EC225s. Right: All the E-2Ks serve the 20th Electronic Warfare Group at Pingtung North. The aircraft still wear the original E-2C designation under the horizontal tail plane above the US BuNo.

54 APRIL 2015 #325

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Above: A Beech T-34C comes into land at Gangshan. The ROCAF is seeking a replacement for these basic trainers. Below: Eleven Grumman S-2Ts soldier on with the Anti-Submarine Warfare Squadron at Pingtung South AFB. They will be retired when the Orion work-up programme has progressed sufficiently.

Turbo Mentors are used by the Basic Training Group. For pilots selected for fighters, the training proceeds on the AIDC AT-3 Tzu Chiang jet trainer with the Jet Training Group. Successful students then go to Zhihang AFB for lead-in fighter training on the F-5E/F. After that it could be the IDF, F-16 or Mirage 2000. Pilots heading to other fixed-wing types such as the C-130 and P-3

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Orion continue their training on the twin-engine Beech 1900C, flown by the Airlift Training Group. The ROCAF intends to replace the T-34C soon. It is over 30 years old and just passed its projected useful service life of 16,000 hours per aircraft. A replacement is also needed for the AT-3 and F-5, the ROCAF looking to replace both with a single type capable of flying combat

missions in the event of a conflict. One wing with three tactical fighter groups is equipped with the classic F-5; current plans call for the type’s retirement in 2019.

Expensive

Replacing the trainers will be relatively easy. Taiwan’s isolated position on the arms market will, however, create problems with the replacement of its navy’s

submarines and frigates. Like the purchase of a new fighter, the ROCAF has initiated a development programme for a maritime aircraft too. The cost for the trainer for the air force, submarines and frigates for the navy is estimated at US$16bn. Considering the magnitude of these needs, it would come as no surprise if the costs rose beyond this, but Taiwan has to maintain a potent ‘defensive force’ that is able to counter any afm threat from its neighbour.

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FAC A-29 SUPER TUCANO

Gun-Slingers Colombia’s

The Colombian Air Force has been waging a war against the outlawed FARC for several decades. Joe Copalman reports on how the A-29 Super Tucano is now at the forefront of the action. Below: Super Tucano 3109 returns from a rescue escort (RESCORT) sortie, with USAF A-10 Weapons Officer Captain Aaron ‘Geezus’ Cavazos in the back seat. Captain Cavazos was part of the US mobile training team that worked with the FAC to refine its attack tactics and procedures in the months before exercises Maple Flag in Canada and Angel Thunder in the US. All photos author, unless stated

56 APRIL 2015 #325

T

he Embraer A-29B Super Tucano has played a critical role in fighting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) since entering service with the Colombian Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Colombiana, FAC) in 2006. In less than a decade, the A-29 is credited with helping turn the tide against the narco-terrorists, participating in every major operation in which FARC leaders have been killed. Colombia seeks to play an influential role in South American security policy and forges strategic ties far beyond its borders. Its air force has worked with western air arms to align tactics, techniques, and procedures with those employed by NATO in preparation to work in

Above: Somos la Fuerza – ‘We are the Force’. Colombian A-29B aircrews are keen to demonstrate their capabilities to other nations through largescale exercises.

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FAC A-29 SUPER TUCANO The crew of this A-29 prepare to exit after a mission. MCpl Marc-André Gaudreault, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

coalitions. The A-29 has been a centrepiece of this outreach, having participated in two major international exercises in 2013 and 2014.

The ‘Alpha-Twenty-Niner’

Colombia’s A-29 fleet consists of two attack squadrons – 211 Squadron ‘Griffons’ at ApiayVillavicencio, and 312 Squadron ‘Dragons’ at Barranquilla, each with 12 aircraft. The A-29 has been credited with helping gain significant ground against FARC as part of a new strategy targeting its leadership. Captain Miguel Sepulveda, a Colombian A-29 pilot, said: “The ‘Alpha-Twenty-Niner’ changed the conflict because we introduced the element of surprise. We’ve made the FARC retreat in some parts of the country due to air operations in conjunction with army operations. There were also a lot of missions where we killed their leaders.” Munitions used by the FAC’s A-29s would be familiar to Vietnam-era attack pilots – Mk.81 (250lb/227kg) and Mk.82 (500lb/454kg), general-purpose bombs, 2.75in rockets and a

‘Colombia’s A-29 force has the most combat experience of any Super Tucano operator in the world, having employed the type on hundreds of attack missions.’

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FAC A-29 SUPER TUCANO pair of wing-mounted 0.50-calibre machine guns, each with 250 rounds. Colombian A-29s can carry Israeli-built Rafael Python 3 air-to-air missiles, but Captain Sepulveda acknowledged this was not a priority mission and that other FAC aircraft were better-suited to counter-air operations. “We can perform air-to-air missions with missiles, but not very well,” he commented. In late 2010, the FAC conducted tests to provide the A-29 with a precision-strike capability. IAI Griffin Laser-Guided Bombs (LGBs) were used in concert with a FLIR Systems Brite Star II EO/IR sensor turret mounted on the centreline hardpoint, but this capability has not found its way to either of Colombia’s two Super Tucano squadrons. A lack of an operational precision ordnance has not impaired the A-29’s effectiveness against the FARC, with the Elbit mission avionics providing a Constantly-Computed Impact Point (CCIP) targeting aid allowing for near-precision delivery of unguided bombs. The FLIR, along with NVG-compatible cockpit displays, give Colombia’s A-29s a robust night attack capability, allowing them to bring the fight to the FARC day or night. There is also talk of enhancing the reconnaissance role of Colombia’s A-29s by adding a Sideways-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) pod that could detect targets through the dense jungle canopy blanketing many areas where FARC takes refuge. Colombia’s A-29s sport a defensive systems suite including a missile approach warning system and a radar warning receiver, making the A-29 more survivable against conventional air defence threats. Colombia’s A-29 force has the most combat experience of any Super Tucano operator in the world, having employed the type on hundreds of attack missions. Most notable among the A-29’s accomplishments have been attacks against the FARC leadership. The Colombian Air Force launched Operation Phoenix on March 1, 2008 attacking a terrorist encampment just over the Ecuador border. FARC second-in-command Raul Reyes was

Below: Groundcrew give the ‘launch signal’ to an A-29B as it taxies out for an afternoon attack sortie over the vast weapons range at Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, Alberta in May 2013. MCpl Marc-André Gaudreault, Canadian Forces Combat Camera Bottom: The FAC brought three Embraer A-29B Super Tucanos to Davis-Monthan AFB for Angel Thunder 2014. Most of the pilots were hand-picked for the exercise having previously participated in Maple Flag the year before.

killed, along with 16 rebels. Attacks over the next four years destroyed the FARC’s leadership and combat effectiveness. In most cases, strikes involved A-29s attacking terrorist bases followed by Colombian Army and National Police attacking from the ground. Strikes against the FARC leadership were enabled by signals intelligence provided by the US, which precisely located FARC encampments, as well as which commanders were present.

American Amigos

United States co-operation with the Colombian military is nothing new, going back to the 1992 manhunt for Medellín Cartel leader Pablo Escobar. Beginning in 1999, a programme called Plan Colombia provided US assistance in helping Colombia fight the drug cartels and the guerrilla groups such as FARC. Progress made over a decade of US co-operation, and with the cartels

and the FARC in decline; Colombia began looking beyond its borders, with the vision of becoming a major regional player in South America and the Caribbean. Beginning with exercise Cooperación 1 in Chile in 2010, the FAC has participated in an increasing number of international exercises. Lieutenant Colonel Ruben Torrenegra, a FAC C-130 pilot, explained the importance of participation in these exercises: “Colombia has an interest in being a major player in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. We’ve had the opportunity to be in different international operations, such as Cooperación 1, 2, and 3, CRUZEX, Red Flag, Maple Flag, and Angel Thunder. We are also trying to attend Green Flag and (Air Mobility) Rodeo.” While learning valuable tactical lessons is an obvious draw with multinational exercises, the FAC pilots interviewed by AFM stressed interoperability with other air forces was the primary learning

“Our main objective is being interoperable, to obtain experience operating with NATO countries.”

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FAC A-29 SUPER TUCANO

With Colombia attempting to align its own close air support doctrine with that of NATO, learning how to integrate with JTACs and Airborne Forward Air Controllers is critical. To assist with this process A-10s of the 354th FS ‘Bulldogs’ provided forward air control support to the A-29Bs during Angel Thunder. Left: A FAC Bell 212 deployed to Angel Thunder in 2014 as part of the CSAR element of the exercise. The FAC's dedicated CSAR unit, Escuadrón de Combate 411 ‘Rapaz’ has extensive combat experience. Below: Leaving no questions as to the aggressive manner in which the type is operated by the FAC, all the A-29s wear this ferocious shark’s mouth. MCpl Marc-André Gaudreault, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

objective. Lt Col Torrenegra said: “Our main objective is being interoperable, to obtain experience operating with NATO countries as a co-allied force in case we need it, to be trained to execute missions with the United States or any other country as a multi-national task force.” Torrenegra’s mention of NATO is particularly relevant, as Colombia became the first South American nation to sign a treaty of co-operation with NATO in August 2014. The US Air Force has assisted the Colombian military since 2011 in transitioning from primarily oriented at internal threats to focusing externally and operating as part of a coalition. Mobile Training Teams (MTTs), consisting of tactical experts, have guided the adoption of new tactics, techniques, and procedures. One MTT was run by Captains Aaron ‘Geezus’ Cavazos and David ‘Fife’ Nagle, both A-10 weapons officers with the 355th Fighter Wing. Captain Cavazos explained his MTT’s primary mission in working with the FAC: “In 2011, there was a decision to send two attack aviation experts down to provide an overarching improvement to their tactics and instructional development techniques to... not really write any tactics, techniques, or procedures for them, but rather point them in a good direction and just kind of solidify some of the things they’re doing in their internal conflict. But more so, we’re getting them to think about

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external conflict stuff, so what happens if they’re asked to be part of a coalition, then they start operating and understand some of the things that the people they’ll have to work with do.” The ultimate goal, he continued, was in ten to 15 years, to “have a much more improved ally down there, a much more competent air force”.

(7,000km) from Colombia and provide logistical support to keep the detachment operating in an expeditionary capacity for two weeks. To support this detachment, the FAC sent a C-130H carrying all the tools and spare parts needed. It also acted as a pathfinder on the long flight from Colombia because the A-29 lacks weather radar.

Northern Exposure

Angel Thunder – New Roles, New Tactics

In 2012, Captains Cavazos and Nagle helped prepare the FAC for Red Flag 12-4, which involved Colombian IAI Kfir C.10s supported by Boeing KC-137 and KC-767 tankers. After that, the MTT focused on preparing a group of A-29 pilots for Maple Flag 46, which ran from May 27 to June 7, 2013 at Cold Lake, in Canada. Major Roberto Patiño, an A-29 pilot who participated in Maple Flag, described the year-long preparation for the exercise. A-29 pilots “began flying different training missions in Colombia in order to verify procedures and tactics, know the necessary information about air threats including aircraft, weapons systems, radars, and surface-to-air threats”. Maple Flag 46 was the first deployment outside of Colombia for the FAC’s A-29s (six were sent), with the objectives to integrate with a multinational coalition in a conventional conflict facing an enemy with modern air defence systems and aircraft. Additionally, Maple Flag provided the FAC an opportunity to test its ability to deploy six A-29s nearly 4,500 miles

The next major exercise planned by the FAC was Angel Thunder 2014, a personnel recovery simulation held at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. The North American OV-10 Bronco was the FAC’s designated fixed-wing combat search and rescue (CSAR) support aircraft and the initial plan was to send three of the types to Tucson. Captains Cavazos and Nagle – who as A-10 pilots had significant CSAR expertise – worked with the OV-10 crews to prepare them for the exercise. Two months prior to Angel Thunder, Colombia’s ageing OV-10 fleet was grounded due to concerns over airframe cracks. Captain Cavazos said: “We had to make a critical decision ...and we decided just to do an MTT down with the A-29s. We specifically – by-name – requested the A-29 pilots, at least the majority of them, that we had worked with for Maple Flag, so they’re already used to hearing us, they already understood some of the concepts, and we knew what we were working

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FAC A-29 SUPER TUCANO with.” The Maple Flag experience helped the A-29 crews compress nine months of work-ups into two months, as did the assistance of the OV-10 crews who worked with the A-29 pilots to ensure they could pass the MTT’s Flight Competency Assessment – the final readiness review for a multinational exercise like Angel Thunder. The primary learning objective of the A-29 contingent during Angel Thunder was the escort of rescue helicopters (RESCORT). Captain Cavazos explained: “We wanted to take them away from low or permissive threat personnel recovery and force them to learn contested combat search and rescue. Everything they knew about CSAR involved helicopters and Special Operations Forces going in with little to no escort and picking up the objectives. “To this end, the FAC sent a single Bell 212 to put into practice the lessons learned in Colombia during work-ups for Angel Thunder. Captain Esteban Cabrejo, a B212 pilot assigned to 411 Squadron ‘Rapaz’ based at Tolemaida Air Base, said: “Training on joint procedures with A-29 pilots is not very common in Colombia. Helicopters are mainly used with other helicopters, so a gunship will escort one rescue helicopter, with no fixed-wing aircraft involved. Our training began with that kind of co-ordination, with the aid of the A-10 pilots.” A-29 pilot Captain Sepulveda elaborated: “In Colombia, we just perform attack missions, and now we are learning how to escort rescue vehicles during search and rescue missions. That’s important.” With the remaining service life of the FAC’s OV-10s uncertain, the RESCORT mission, adopted on-the-fly for Angel Thunder, is likely to remain an A-29 tasking for years to come. Angel Thunder also gave Colombian A-29 crews the opportunity to work on airstrike co-ordination with Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs), Joint Forward Observers (JFOs), and Airborne Forward Air Controllers, or FAC(A)s, which is something the FAC has not prioritised until recently. With the combined arms capabilities being built with the assistance of the MTTs (another MTT staffed by US Air Force JTACs has been working with Colombian Army JFOs), and with Colombia’s aim to participate in coalition air operations with NATO members, the need for such a capability is apparent. Given that Colombia’s ability to integrate infantry attacks with fixed-wing and rotary-wing fire is still in its infancy, the decision was to train Colombia’s ‘JTACs’ to the standard of a JFO, rather than a full JTAC capability. In explaining the responsibilities of a JFO versus that of a JTAC, Captain Cavazos

Below: Along with its well-established ground attack role, options are now being explored by the Colombian Air Force to provide the A-29s with a reconnaissance capability through the use of a SLAR pod on the centre line pylon. John Bezosky.

told AFM: “There’s a lot less minutiae, there’s a lot of stuff taken off your plate. You don’t have to give a full nine-line, you don’t have to battle track absolutely everything, you’re just solely responsible for your immediate given area, and really you’re just conveying a ‘if I’m here, the bad guys are this way for this direction marked by this, go’ kind of thing.” Both in Colombia and in the US, Cavazos and Nagle took the A-29 pilots through a series of escalating call-for-fire scenarios that started out in a permissive threat environment with time for talk-ons of both friendly and enemy positions prior to the call-for-fire being made. It climaxed with an immediate troops-in-contact, with the JFO on the ground making urgent and abbreviated calls for fire that boiled down to ‘I’m here, the bad guys are over there, HELP ME’. During Angel Thunder, Colombian A-29 pilots worked with JTACs and JFOs from the Marine Corps’ 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO), as well as A-10 FAC(A)s from the 354th Fighter Squadron ‘Bulldogs’. The A-29s primarily flew in the Tombstone Military Operating Area in a scenario described by Captain Cavazos as “an East-West war in which the bad guys are winning, and it’s only going to get harder as the week goes on”. It was in this setting that the A-29 crews practised both RESCORT with the Bell 212 and responding to calls-for-fire from the ANGLICO Marines and A-10 FAC(A)s. Exercise ‘injects’, such as downed airmen, helicopter aborts, and multiple sources of enemy ground fire progressively, culminating in the A-29 pilots having to respond to multiple calls for fire while protecting the helicopter during ingress, pick-up, and egress, as well as defending the survivor and the pararescue jumpers on the ground. Summarising the gains made by A-29 and B212 crews in working as a cohesive rescue force, Cavazos

said: “There were definitely some trials and tribulations and some frustrations, but in the end, it was pretty successful. They’ve got a concept they can shape and mould, and they’ve made it their own.” With the MTT run by Captains Cavazos and Nagle being disestablished last year, and with no replacement, it truly is up to the FAC to sustain the implementation of these new tactics and additional mission sets. For as many international exercises the FAC has participated in, Colombia remains a nation at war, with victory over the FARC being priority one. When AFM asked Captain Sepulveda about any training the A-29 community did with the Colombian Army outside of the framework of the MTTs or exercises, he replied: “We fly real CAS missions for them in Colombia. Due to the war we have, we have to do real missions with them against the narco-terrorists.” The time and resources available to train on the capabilities gained through working with the MTTs are limited, but are apparently continuing where operational commitments permit.

Leading the Way

Colombia’s A-29 pilots are among the most experienced light-attack experts in the world. The ability for them to integrate with coalition partners in the air and on the ground will make that experience and expertise available for multinational missions outside of Colombia. This will bring not just more guns to the fight, but competent gunslingers that allied forces can rely on. And with more air arms around the world acquiring Super Tucanos for their ground-attack needs, the Colombian Air Force will surely serve as an example on how to effectively employ the type across an increasingly afm broad spectrum of missions.

Bottom: Maple Flag 46 was the first deployment outside of Colombia for the FAC’s A-29. The six Super Tucanos flew nearly 4,500 miles (7,000km) to attend the two-week exercise at Cold Lake, Alberta. MCpl Marc-André Gaudreault, Canadian Forces Combat Camera

60 APRIL 2015 #325

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AIRCRAFT PROFILE Fairchild Aircraft C-26 Metroliner

VIPs to IEDs Tom Kaminski brings AFM up to date on the status and operational units of the C-26 Metroliner within the US Armed Forces.

Below: One of five RC-26Bs modified to the Block 20 configuration, serial 91-0504 (DC-803M) was operated by the West Virginia Air National Guard’s 130th Airlift Squadron when it visited Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, on April 25, 2010. Matt Ellis

62 APRIL 2015 #325

I

n 1988 the US Air Force purchased ten SA227-AC Metroliner IIIs from Fairchild Aircraft to fulfil the Air National Guard Operational Support Transport Aircraft (ANGOSTA) role. Often unflatteringly referred to as the ‘San Antonio Sewer Pipe’ because of its long, narrow fuselage, the SA227 was based on the earlier SA226-TC Metro – which traces its history to the SA26-T Merlin II, originally developed by Swearingen Aircraft and first flown in April 1965. Subsequently two SA227-BC

aircraft were purchased for the Army National Guard in 1987 and another for the Air National Guard in 1989. Designated C-26As they were delivered between March 1989 and August 1990. Early Metroliner IIIs were powered by a pair of Honeywell (Garrett-AiResearch) TPE331-11UA turboprop engines, these aircraft were equipped with uprated TPE331-12UA engines, but retained their original

designation, the C-26A. Subsequently, between 1989 and 1994, both the Air and Army National Guard acquired 37 SA227-DC Metro 23 models, which were assigned the designation C-26B. Powered by TPE33112UAR engines, the C-26B featured an electronic flight instrumentation

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Above: Departing Joint Base Andrews NAF Washington, Maryland, on October 13, 2012, C-26E serial 94-00259 (DC-857M) is operated by the District of Columbia Army National Guard’s OSACOM Detachment 4. Joseph G Handleman

system (EFIS) flight deck and was the first military aircraft equipped with Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) II and Global Positioning System (GPS). A quick-change interior enabled

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it to be rapidly configured for passenger, medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) or cargo missions. Although the first C-26B was delivered in January 1992, by late-1997 the entire fleet of C-26As and 15 of the C-26Bs were divested. The Army and Air National Guard each retained 11 C-26Bs and seven were acquired by the

US Navy; most of the aircraft were transferred to foreign air arms in Latin America and the Caribbean between 1996 and 1999. Currently, the fleet comprises 29 aircraft, including 11 RC-26Bs operated by the Air National Guard, seven C-26Ds by the US Navy and 11 C-26Es by the Army National Guard Managed by the US Department of State, the foreign transfers were conducted under the auspices of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Under a programme managed by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Office of Aviation (INL/A), Provincial Aerospace Ltd in St John’s, Newfoundland, equipped most of the aircraft with a suite of surveillance sensors to support counter-narcotic surveillance and

interdiction. Air arms receiving the aircraft included Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and Barbados, which operates the Regional Security System Air Wing in support of the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States. The seven C-26Bs transferred to the US Navy in 1998 were assigned the designation C-26D to reflect changes in configuration made to meet navy operational requirements. Currently, four of the C-26Ds operate in the Operational Support Airlift (OSA) role in Europe and the rest are stationed at Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands, Hawaii, tasked with range surveillance, electronic missile range clearance, electronic communications/surveillance and logistical support. Two of

#325 APRIL 2015 63

AIRCRAFT PROFILE Fairchild Aircraft C-26 Metroliner the latter aircraft were modified and made compatible with a Litton AN/APS-504(v)5 range surveillance aircraft (RANSAC) radar and other telemetry and test instrumentation equipment removed from retired Beech RC-12F range clearance aircraft. The third received RANSAC electromagnetic compatibility (EC) and safety of flight systems. Those modifications were developed and carried out by ATS Engineering (now Ventura Aerospace) in Van Nuys, California. The aircraft entered service in 2001 following a protracted period of developmental (DT) and operational testing (OT). Although formally assigned the designation C-26D, the two variants are unofficially known as the RC-26D and EC-26D respectively. Whereas equipment from the latter can be installed in the former, the radar cannot be installed on the EC-26D. The Army National Guard C-26Bs’ cockpits were updated with Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) modifications by Yulista Aviation Incorporated at its facility on Madison County Executive Airport, north of Huntsville, Alabama, and delivered between July 2007 and January 2010. Developed by the US Army Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center’s (AMRDEC) Prototype Integration Facility (PIF) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, the GATM modifications replaced flight management (FMS) and EFIS as well as the weather radar, cockpit voice and flight data recorders and identification friend-orfoe

64 APRIL 2015 #325

C-26 Operators – November 2014 USAF Wing/Group

Squadron

Location

Aircraft

Air National Guard (ANG) Units – JB Andrews-NAF Washington, Maryland 115th FW/OG

176th FS

Dane County Regional Airport – Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin

RC-26B

125th FW/OG

159th FS

Jacksonville International Airport, Florida

RC-26B

130th AW/OG

130th AS

Yeager Airport, Charleston, West Virginia

RC-26B

141st ARW/OG

116th ARS

Fairchild AFB, Washington

RC-26B

144th FW/OG

194th FS

Fresno-Yosemite International Airport/ANGB, California

RC-26B

147th RW/OG

111th RS

Ellington Field JRB, Houston, Texas

RC-26B

150th SOW/OG

188th SOS

Kirtland AFB, New Mexico

RC-26B

162nd FW/OG

148th FS

Tucson International Airport, Arizona

RC-26B

174th ATKW/OG

138th ATKS

Syracuse Hancock International Airport, New York

RC-26B

187th FW/OG

100th FS

Montgomery Regional Airport – Dannelly Field, Alabama

RC-26B

US Navy Commander, US Naval Forces, Europe, Commander, US Naval Forces, Africa (COMUSNAVEUR/COMUSNAVAF) – NSA Naples, Italy

PMRF

AOD

NAS Sigonella, Italy

C-26D

AOD

NSA Capodichino Airport, Naples, Italy

C-26D

AOD

NS Barking Sands Kauai, Hawaii

EC-26D, RC-26D

US Army Operational Support Airlift Agency (OSAA) – Davison AAF, Fort Belvoir, Virginia Fixed Wing Aviation Training Site (FWATS)

AAFA North Central West Virginia Airport, Bridgeport, West Virginia

C-26E

Operational Support Airlift Command (OSACOM) – Davison AAF, Fort Belvoir, Virginia Arkansas SFD (OSACOM Det. 30)

AASF Robinson AAF, North Little Rock, Arkansas

C-26E

Colorado SFD (Det. 33)

AASF Buckley AFB, Aurora, Colorado

C-26E

District of Columbia (Det. 4)

AASF Davison AAF, Fort Belvoir, Virginia

C-26E

Georgia SFD (Det. 9)

AASF Dobbins ARB, Marietta, Georgia

C-26E

Hawaii SFD (Det. 55)

AASF Wheeler AAF, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

C-26E

Massachusetts SFD (Det. 12)

AASF Otis ANGB, Falmouth, Massachusetts

C-26E

North Carolina SFD (Det. 17)

AASF Raleigh-Durham Airport, Morrisville, North Carolina

C-26E

Ohio SFD (OSACOM Det. 21)

AASF Rickenbacker International Airport, Columbus, Ohio

C-26E

South Carolina SFD (Det. 24)

AASF McEntire JNGS, Eastover, South Carolina

C-26E

Wisconsin SFD (Det. 52)

AASF Dane County Regional Airport/Truax Field, Madison, Wisconsin C-26E

Abbreviations: AAF - Army Airfield, AASF - Army National Guard Aviation Support Facility, ANGB - Air National Guard Base, AOD - Air Operations Department, ARB - Air Reserve Base, ARS - Air Refuelling Squadron, ARW - Air Refuelling Wing, AS - Air Refuelling Squadron, ATKS - Attack Squadron, ATKW - Attack Wing, AW - Airlift Wing,, Det - Detachment, FS - Fighter Squadron, FW - Fighter Wing, JB - Joint Base, JRB - Joint Reserve Base, NAF - Naval Air Facility, NAS - Naval Air Station, NS - Naval Station, NSA - Naval Support Activity, OG - Operations Group, PMRF - Pacific Missile Range Facility, RS - Reconnaissance Squadron, RW - Reconnaissance Wing, SFD State Flight Detachment, SOS - Special Operations Squadron, SOW- Special Operations Wing

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Above: One of 11 C-26Es used in the Operational Support Airlift mission, serial 91-0513 (DC-815M) is used by the South Carolina Army National Guard's OSACOM Det.24. Matt Ellis Right: Mission System Operator (MSO) console installed in the RC26B main cabin. USAF Below: Originally delivered to the District of Columbia Army National Guard, C-26A serial 87-1001 (BC-766B) was transferred to the Colombian Air Force in 1997. Author’s collection Left: The Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii operates three Metroliners. C-26D serial 90-7038 (DC-836M) is one of two configured as range clearance platforms and equipped with AN/ APS-504 radar. Joseph G Handleman

(IFF) transponders with Rockwell Collins ProLine 21 equipment, including an enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) and a new emergency locator transmitter (ELT). The designation C-26E was assigned to the updated aircraft on November 28, 2006. Operating in the OSA role, Army National Guard (ARNG) aircraft continue to provide on-call, rapid response movement of time-sensitive personnel and cargo as well as limited medical evacuation and have been tasked in support of worldwide missions. Completed in 2011, a cockpit upgrade carried out by Yulista Aviation updated the seven C-26Ds to the same cockpit configuration as the US Army C-26E model, enabling the aircraft to meet mandated (GATM) requirements.

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The C-26Ds and ’Es used in the OSA role can carry a maximum of 5,760lb (2,613kg) of cargo or up to 18 passengers – or a combination. For MEDEVAC missions the quick-change interior means the aircraft can accommodate six standard 90in-long (2.29m) litters and three medical attendants, with additional space available for medical equipment and supplies.

Condor

In 1989 both the California and Texas Air National Guards specified a requirement for an aerial interdiction platform capable of intercepting aircraft crossing the southern border with Mexico and detecting marijuana cultivating areas. After determining the C-26 series could satisfy the requirement, in April 1991 the ANG Acquisition Directorate acquired a modified

SA226-AT Merlin IVC equipped with AN/APG-66 air-to-air radar and sensors which included cameras and a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) system. Between January and April 1992 the aircraft, designated the UC-26C, was found to be ‘operationally effective’ in supporting federal and state law enforcement agencies for the counter-drug role – in which it was evaluated for reconnaissance and surveillance and as an airborne command post. Initially assigned to the Texas Air National Guard’s 147th Fighter Wing, the UC-26C was later passed on to the Puerto Rico Air National Guard’s 156th Fighter Wing, but was withdrawn from service in February 2006. The UC-26C modifications were carried out by General Dynamics at its Fort Worth, Texas, facility and the project was managed by the USAF’s Big Safari Project Office Operating Location Detachment 2. On November 24, 1992, the Chief, National Guard Bureau directed the Acquisition Directorate to equip ten C-26Bs with counterdrug sensor equipment. Because the aircraft would still be needed in the OSA role, the counterdrug sensors were installed in a removable pod – and a removable mission system operator (MSO) console was installed in the cabin. The pod contained a retractable Wescam 14QS turret incorporating infrared and daytime colour television sensors, a 955mm spotter scope and a laser rangefinder (LRF) as well as two KS-87B framing film cameras. One of the cameras could be replaced by an F-985 ultra high-resolution electro-optical imaging unit. The capability was developed by General Dynamics (which became Lockheed Fort Worth Company in March, 1993), under a contract awarded by the Air Force Materiel Command’s Special Activities Contracting Division. While General Dynamics/Lockheed performed engineering design and analysis and fabricated the sensor pod, the required aircraft modifications were carried out by Fairchild Aircraft in San Antonio. Ultimately 11 C-26Bs were modified, initially referred to as C-26B(CD)s, and assigned to Air National Guard units across the US. In April 1997, seven were registered to ex-Ashly Aire Inc in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and assigned civil registrations. Subsequently, in July 2000, eight were registered to Cereberus Aviation in Arlington, Virginia,

#325 APRIL 2015 65

AIRCRAFT PROFILE Fairchild Aircraft C-26 Metroliner

RC-26B serial 92-0369 (DC-831M) operated by the Florida Air National Guard, 125th Fighter Wing, is one of five Condors modified to the Block 20 configuration. The aircraft’s imaging and communications equipment was designed to assist law enforcement, but it can also be used to provide support during natural disasters and national special security events (NSSE). Florida Air National Guard

and two to ex-Pioneer Aviation in Phoenix Arizona; one was later registered to Merlin Aviation in Tucson, Arizona. Although the RC-26Bs originally wore the standard OSA white paint scheme, several received civil liveries before finally acquiring the current subdued grey paint and regaining their air force serial numbers. The aircraft, known as Condors, received the designation RC-26B on June 2, 2005. They are normally operated by a crew of three – two pilots and a mission system operator (MSO) – but can also accommodate two additional personnel. The MSO operates the situational awareness display system, which integrates sensor information with moving maps and aerial charts. Since it was fielded, the RC-26B has supported the National Guard Counter Drug programme by providing aerial observation, photo imagery, full motion video (FMV) and interagency communications. Considered a ‘Low Density/ High Demand’ (LD/HD) platform, the RC-26B has also taken on additional duties and now operates both in the US and overseas. Besides Incident Awareness and Assessment (IAA) for disaster response, National Special Security Events (NSSE), Southwest Border operations (SWB), and CD missions, the aircraft supports Combatant Command (COCOM) Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO).

Block 20/25 modifications

Managed by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s RC-26 Program Management Office, the

66 APRIL 2015 #325

Condor fleet is currently fielded in two different configurations, Block 20 and Block 25. Both variants are capable of providing day and night FMV for IAA and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) requirements. Although these missions are similar, the former is conducted in the homeland during Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) operations and the latter over foreign territory or within the United States during Homeland Defense events. Operations of the IAA are primarily focused on providing information to local, state, civil and federal leaders to save lives, reduce human suffering and protect property. Its three mission sets include: broad area coverage (BAC), damage assessment (DA) and situational awareness (SA). Among the capabilities that support the mission are electro-optical (EO), Infrared (IR), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), multi-spectral/ hyper-spectral imagery (MSI/HSI) and full motion video (FMV). After Hurricane Katrina struck the US Gulf Coast in August 2005, seven RC-26Bs were tasked to support recovery operations, and over a 17-day period they flew 55 DSCA missions totalling 139 sorties and 297 flight hours. Later that year, five RC-26Bs were upgraded to Block 20 configuration using National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account (NGREA) funds. The so-called ‘Katrina Modifications’ replaced the aircraft’s sensor pod, including the EO/IR turret and the digital and film cameras, with a FLIR Systems AN/AAQ-22 Star SAFIRE EO/IR system; and a line-of-sight (LOS) downlink system was added. The

Above: Marketed by Fairchild Aircraft and General Dynamics Fort Worth, as a multi-mission surveillance aircraft, SA227AC N614AV (c/n AC-614) currently carries the civil registration C-FIOC. Lockheed Martin

Current C-26 Series Aircraft Model

Serial or Civil Reg.

MSN

Model

C-26E

89-0515

DC-799B

C-26E

90-0527

DC-794M

ex-Pioneer Aviation Inc N61050 / Ashley Air Inc N372CD

C-26D

90-0528

DC-795M

RC-26B*

90-0529

DC-791M

ex-Air Cerberus Inc N90956 / ex-Ashly Aire Inc N529CD C-26D

90-0530

DC-796M

C-26D

90-0531

DC-798M

RC-26D

90-7038

DC-836M

C-26D

91-0502

DC-801M

C-26E

91-0503

DC-802M

RC-26B

91-0504

DC-803M

RC-26B

Serial or Civil Reg.

92-0373

MSN

DC-835M

ex-Pioneer Aviation Inc N30193 C-26E

94-0259

DC-857M

Dept of the Army and Air Force (exN529CD) RC-26B*

94-0260

DC-858M

ex-Air Cerberus Inc N6091F / ex-Ashly Aire Inc N402CD RC-26B

94-0261

DC-859M

ex-Air Cerberus Inc N6135Y / ex-Ashly Aire Inc N261CD

ex-Pioneer Aviation Inc N6131Z

RC-26B*

C-26E

91-0505

DC-804M

C-26E

91-0506

DC-806M

ex-Air Cerberus Inc N61045 / ex-Ashly Aire Inc N262CD

C-26E

91-0507

DC-807M

RC-26B

C-26E

91-0509

DC-810M

C-26E

91-0511

DC-813M

C-26E

91-0513

DC-815M

Merlin Aviation N70753 / ex-Air Cerberus Inc N60947 / ex-Ashly Aire Inc N3028L

EC-26D

91-0514

DC-816M

C-26E

91-0572

DC-828M

ex-Air Cerberus Inc N9098V / ex-Ashly Aire Inc N264CD

RC-26B

92-0369

DC-831M

RC-26B*

RC-26B*

94-0262

94-0263

94-0264

94-0265

DC-860M

DC-861M

DC-862M

DC-863M

ex-Air Cerberus IncN6105L / ex-Ashly Aire Inc N203CD

ex-Air Cerberus Inc N9117A / ex-Ashly Aire Inc N265CD

RC-26D

92-0371

DC-833M

SA-227DC N55CE

RC-26B*

92-0372

DC-834M

US Army Corps of Engineers

DC-903B

* Block 25

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work was carried out by Alliant Techsystems (ATK) Mission Support Services at its facility at Meacham Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. In December 2006, US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) partnered with the National Guard Bureau to develop SOCOM Modification Block 25 for the Condor. Intended to support the Global War on Terror, it provided the RC-26B with an SOF-peculiar communications and sensor suite as well as Aircraft Survivability Equipment (ASE). The six Block 25 RC-26Bs are equipped with a MX-15 forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and video system which replaced the Wescam 14QS electro-optical sensor. The ISR modification also provided LOS downlink capability, voice satellite communication and signals intelligence (SIGINT) capability and the cockpit was made compatible with night-vision

Above: RC-26B serial 94-0265 (DC863M) equipped with the earlier removable sensor pod, as seen at Alexandria International Airport, Louisiana, on July 7, 2006. Matt Ellis Right: Honeywell TPE331-12UAR engines power the RC-26B, C-26D and C-26E variants of the Metroliner. Matt Ellis Below: UC-26C serial 89-1471 (AT549B) (left) and C-26A serial 860450 (AC-743B) (right) at Ellington Air National Guard Base in Houston, Texas, in 1992, while assigned to the Texas Air National Guard’s 147th Fighter Group. Tom Ring

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imaging system (NVIS). Due to overseas commitments, between 2006 and 2013 only five of the RC-26Bs were available for CD and homeland operations. Air National Guard crews assigned to the 45th Expeditionary Special Operations Squadron began deploying the Block 25 RC-26Bs to Southwest Asia in mid2007. When operations concluded in July 2013, the unit had flown more than 45,000 combat hours and around 10,000 combat sorties in support of Operations ‘Iraqi Freedom’, ‘Enduring Freedom’ and ‘New Dawn’. In preparation for the deployment, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) activated the 745th Special Operations Squadron (Provisional) at Hurlburt Field, Florida. It was deactivated on August 23, 2013. According to USSOCOM, the Block 25 model was so successful

that it became the model for the USAF’s MC-12W Liberty aircraft.

Operations

The Air National Guard’s 11 RC-26Bs are operated by units from three commands – Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command (AMC) and Air Education and Training Command (AETC) – and are assigned to units in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia. Although a plan authorised by the Fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would have consolidated the 11 RC-26B under s single organisation at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the USAF included a new plan for the aircraft with its proposed Fiscal 2016 force structure changes. It would assign nine RC-26Bs to the Puerto Rico Air National Guard's 156th Airlift Wing and two would support training with the New Mexico Air National Guard's 150th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland AFB. In Lieu of RC-26B's the Oklahoma unit will receive 13 MC-12W Liberty aircraft from Air Combat Command's 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California. URS Corporation Federal Support Services EG&G (Lear Siegler Services) has provided Contractor Logistics Support for the RC-26B since 2007. The ANG had planned to update the Block 20 and 25 aircraft to a single Block 30 configuration. The modifications were developed by Borsight in Ogden, Utah, which was selected by URS as the aircraft system integrator. In addition to replacing the RC-26’s flight deck avionics with a new integrated cockpit, the project would have upgraded the onboard communications suite by incorporating civil/law enforcement radios and updated data links. Besides new and upgraded avionics and sensors, the Block

#325 APRIL 2015 67

AIRCRAFT PROFILE Fairchild Aircraft C-26 Metroliner

Although the California Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing operates a single RC-26B from Fresno-Yosemite International Airport, there are plans to centralize the fleet at one or two locations by 2016. California Air National Guard

30 upgrade includes a weight reduction, video link, mission computer upgrades and upgraded defensive systems. The US Army’s C-26Es Operational Support Aircraft (OSA) are flown by ten Army National Guard Operational Support Airlift Command (OSACOM) detachments in Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Wisconsin. Training for both Army and Air National Guard C-26E and RC-26B pilots is carried out by the Fixed Wing Army National

Guard Training Site (FWATS) in Bridgeport, West Virginia. Flying approximately 60 hours a month, the Metroliners provide on-call rapid response, air transport for high-priority resupply and movement of key personnel. They are used to deliver repair parts, equipment, technical and crash and accident investigation teams and for MEDEVAC duties. C-26E flight safety and aircraft structural integrity programmes are managed by the C-26 System Program Office at Tinker AFB but the Metroliner fleet is maintained by Elbit Systems of America’s San

Antonio Operations (formerly M7 Aerospace), which was awarded the C-26 Life Cycle Contractor Support (LCCS) contract in July 2009. Additionally, the C-26 Depot Facility provides heavy maintenance via the San Antonio Operations in San Antonio, Texas. Four C-26Ds support US Navy operations in Europe by providing rapid-response cargo and passenger transportation from two operating locations in Italy. Two are assigned to the Air Operations Department at NAS Signonella, in Sicily, and two to Naval Support Activity Naples, operating from

Above: Moments away from landing at Ellington Airport Texas on August 20, 2014, RC-26B serial 94-0261 (DC-859M) arrived using the mysterious callsign ‘Voodoo 92’, perhaps indicating its secretive intelligence-gathering role? The Condor is one of five Block 20 variants in service. Matt Ellis Below: RC-26B serial 94-0260 (DC-858M) on the ramp at Alexandria International Airport, Louisiana, on December 4, 2008. This is one of six Condors upgraded to Block 25 configuration. Matt Ellis

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Capodichino Airport. Flown by a pilot, co-pilot and utility aircrewman, the C-26Ds and RC/ EC-26Ds are maintained via CLS by Elbit Systems. Training for C-26D pilots is provided by Flight Safety International in San Antonio, Texas, and the aircrew are trained by fleet logistics support squadron VRC-30 at NAS North Island, California.

MMSA

In August 1992, Fairchild Aircraft and General Dynamics Fort Worth Division announced plans to jointly develop and market a Multi-Mission Surveillance Aircraft (MMSA). An SA227AC Metro III (c/n AC-614) was modified as the demonstrator and featured a centreline pod containing high-resolution FLIR and electrooptical sensors and an infrared line scanner (IRLS). Registered N614AV, the aircraft, which had previously been operated by American Eagle Airlines, was displayed at the Farnborough Airshow in September 1992 and the Paris Air Show in June 1993. It was later returned to airliner configuration, exported to New Zealand and is currently operated by a commercial operator in Canada.

US Army Corps of Engineers

Between 1971 and 2008 a single SA226AT Merlin IV (c/n AT004) was operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District. In 2008 the aircraft was replaced by a pre-owned SA-227DC (c/n DC-903B) and later sold to a commercial operator. Based at Offutt AFB, Nebraska the Metro 23 is operated and maintained by Dyna-Tech Aviation Services and flies up to 600 hours annually. Both aircraft carried the afm civil registration N55CE.

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OPERATION ATALANTA

Flares were a necessary safety requirement for the Cougars in case pirates fired surface-to-air missiles. On the final days of the JWIT deployment, 300 Squadron’s two helicopters jettisoned the old flares. This one released almost 80 at the same time. All photos, author

Dutch Wildcats in E

uropean Union (EU) countries have, for several years, been concerned with the effect of Somali-based piracy and armed robbery off the coastlines of the Horn of Africa. These include the waters of the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the western Indian Ocean (often called the Somali Basin). The piracy was characterised by groups of Somali criminals aggressively attempting to take control of commercial and private vessels transiting the high-risk areas in the region. After a successful hijack, the pirates would try to extort ransom money for the crew, the vessel and sometimes its cargo. During the early 2000s, this bore all the features of massive organised crime, with rich

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criminals in other countries acting as investors in piracy. Crews held hostage by pirates often faced lengthy periods of captivity – the average was 145 days but in some cases they were held for more than 1,000 days. Moreover, piracy impacts on international trade, maritime security and the economic activities and security of not only countries in the nearby African region, but also those of the Middle East, Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia.

Atalanta

With the piracy increasing, in December 2008 the EU launched the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) Somalia – Operation Atalanta as part of the so-called

“Comprehensive Approach to Somalia”. Within the framework of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) and international law, EU military ships started patrolling the area. Their mandate was extended in late November 2014 to December 12, 2016. Operation Atalanta’s main focus is the protection of World Food Programme vessels delivering humanitarian aid to Somalia – along with the deterrence, repression and disruption of piracy off the Somali coast. In addition, it contributes to the monitoring of fishing activities off the coast of Somalia. Since the mission started, piracy attacks

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OPERATION ATALANTA

s in Atalanta “Flying assets like MPRAs, maritime helicopters and UAVs are almost indispensable in maritime counterpiracy operations. They enhance significantly the effectiveness, and especially the flexibility, of a maritime force. Most of all, however, they provide speed in dealing with critical situations, whether it’s gaining more ‘real time’ information on the spot or providing an immediate reaction unit.” (Captain Frank Foreman, commander JWIT)

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Stephan de Bruijn/ Bluelifeaviation.nl looks back at the Dutch Helicopter Command’s historic deployment of two AS 532 Cougars to Operation Atalanta in 2013. have declined and the number of captured hostages and vessels has decreased dramatically. During early 2009, almost 120 ships were hijacked, which led to more than 700 hostages. In 2013, the penultimate pirated ship, anchored off the coast of Somalia, sunk – the hostages and pirates escaping to the mainland – and during the year only nine suspected piracy attempts were logged. The very last pirated ship, the FV Naham III, snatched in March 2012, was beached on August 22, 2013 after its anchor ropes broke. Its hostages were brought to the mainland, but the ship remained under the criminals’ control. As it was beached, the EUNAVFOR mission was not allowed to take military action

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OPERATION ATALANTA

HMNLS Johan de Witt From August 6 to December 6, 2013, Royal Netherlands Navy Commodore Peter Lenselink led the EUNAVFOR mission. He and his international staff were aboard HNMLS Johan de Witt (L-801, call-sign JWIT) commanded by Captain Frank Foreman. JWIT is a Landing Platform Dock (LPD) amphibious warfare ship, 578ft (176m) long and 82ft (25m) wide. It has a displacement of 16,800 tons and carries some 400 sailors, two Eurocopter AS532U2 Cougars and six ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Captain Foreman navigated his ship from its home port, Den Helder, to the Mediterranean Sea (Malta and Crete) via the Suez Canal and Red Sea to Djibouti. The Dutch relieved the Portuguese Navy’s NRP Álvares Cabral on August 6, and from the 8th it sailed as the staff ship through the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. After passing the Horn of

Africa it set a southbound course through the Somali Basin to Mogadishu, then passed the Equator to Kenya for a port visit at Mombasa. After a week in Kenya, the Johan de Witt re-entered the Somali Basin to continue its operation, followed by a mid-term port visit to the Seychelles (Port Victoria) where the Dutch Air Force supported the vessel with a logistical KDC-10 flight. Meanwhile, the Wildcats Detachment One swapped with a completely new crew and new sailors were brought in too. With Wildcats Detachment Two the JWIT continued the mission via the Somali Basin and Gulf of Aden to Oman, with two port visits at Muscat and Salallah. The final part of the mission saw the vessel head to Djibouti where the French took over command on December 6. After the ceremony, the JWIT sailed home in two weeks, arriving just before Christmas 2013.

A Cougar hovers above the flight deck of the JWIT.

as “no boots on the ground” are allowed. Between 2010 and 2013 when the piracy was at it highest, EUNAVFOR could not do anything, as negotiations to free the hostages were continuing and the negotiators feared for their lives if military action took place. Other military missions are in the area too: NATO has its own, named Operation Ocean Shield (formerly Allied Provider and later Allied Protector), with several member countries rotating their ships through the counter-piracy mission. Some countries execute their own independent missions – including China, India, Iran, Japan, Pakistan, Russia and South Korea, which have deployed their own ships to the Somali waters to protect their ‘merchant’ vessels. The area around Somalia affected by piracy is huge – about 1,864-plus miles (more than 3,000km) of shoreline and 2.5 million sq miles (6.5 million km2) of surrounding waters – and there are never enough military ships to protect the whole area. The best way to compare the size of the piracy area is to imagine ten police cars trying to guard the whole European continent. It means ships are only the tip of the spear: many helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft (MPRAs) also deploy to the area of operations. The helicopters and most of the UAVs are embarked on ships to extend their reach, but the MPRAs are land-based in nearby countries such as Djibouti, Oman, Kenya and the Seychelles. All these flying assets are needed, not only to extend the quick response range of the few ships in the area but also to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), search and rescue (SAR), medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) logistical support, transport and

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“Next to their significant role in direct counter-piracy operations, the maritime helicopter on board a navy ship is also most valuable in taskings like logistic transport, SAR and medical evacuation – especially in geographical areas, where in general the availability of maritime helicopters is minimal.” (Captain Frank Foreman, commander JWIT) www.airforcesmonthly.com

OPERATION ATALANTA

Above: Cougar, S-453, flies over the Somali coastline searching for a pirate bastion near Hobyo. The flying assets serving Operation Atalanta were not allowed to go over land – the so-called base line (where the waves break) was their limit. Left: Flying low level with the Cougars along the Somali coastline can be spectacular. You can clearly see the door gunner with his 12.7mm machine gun. Below: The Cougar’s flotation gear is a necessity when flying over water.

anti-surface warfare (ASuW) capabilities. The military ships of Atalanta and Ocean Shield position themselves at strategic locations along the massive shorelines and the helicopters, UAVs and MPRAs fly daily missions, so pirates probably know there is a good chance they will be caught when they depart their bastions.

Wildcats Cougar

As the Dutch Marine Luchtvaartdienst (MLD, naval air arm) was integrated into the Dutch Defence Helicopter Command (DHC) in July 2008, the

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final dedicated naval helicopter of the MLD, the Lynx, was retired on September 11, 2012. The brand new NH90NFHs had not reached fully mission-capable status by 2013, so the DHC assigned two AS532U2 Cougars, two pairs of crew and some 30 supporting personnel of 300 Sqn Wildcats to the JWIT 2013 deployment. One of the Cougars acted as an operational reserve helicopter, but on several occasions during the deployment both flew together during specific missions. They were equipped with inflatables on each side of the fuselage

in case (during ‘blue water’ ops) a land-base was not in range, forcing a landing at sea. Their main tasks during the anti-piracy deployment were to provide an over-thehorizon solution for the JWIT with coastal patrols, acquiring (non-traditional) ISR, logistical support and transport (ship-tomainland and ship-to-ship), fire support, fishery control and search and rescue. Major Spiros Koutsopodiotis, commander of Wildcats Detachment One, told AFM the Cougars performed very well within the maritime domain. “The crew and technical department were well prepared, with a custom-made training programme before the deployment. The Cougar helicopters were treated against the elements and, with good care from technicians, a high level of mission capability was reached. There was no damage to the helicopters due to salt deposition.” Major Spiros Koutsopodiotis, or ‘K13’ as he is known, is a very experienced Cougar pilot. He has flown the helicopter for more than eleven years and logged 1,830 flying hours on the type. The Dutch Cougars flew their missions with a crew of six – an air force pilot and co-pilot, an air force loadmaster with a secondary task as door gunner, an army door gunner and an army or air force photographer and a sniper. During the mission the helicopters were continuously armed with standard fixed 12.7mm machine guns for self-protection, placed on either side. The sniper was equipped with a handheld 0.50 rifle. When necessary, the Cougar could be equipped with a removable hoist. The hunt for pirates in their small speedboats is extremely hard. The whalers and skiffs, as their speedboats are called, normally depart during darkness and find themselves way

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OPERATION ATALANTA

“Every mission brings a kind of tension, but the MIA mission brought [it] to another level. Everybody involved remembered the movie ‘Black Hawk Down’.” (K13)

Above: The Cougars were also used for vertical replenishment missions and can lift around 3 tons (3,000kg).

out at sea during daylight hours. The pirates navigate by handheld GPS and can travel unseen for days. When they find a shipping lane, they can wait at the spot for hours or even days before deciding to attempt a hijack. The tiny skiffs are difficult to detect, even for commercial and military ships, helicopters and aircraft with surface search radars. The Dutch Cougars are not equipped with such radar, so pilots must trust their ‘mark one eyeball’ when searching. During the deployment many small and large vessels were approached or, when necessary, boarded by military personnel from Atalanta. The JWIT mostly send rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIBs) and landing craft vessel personnel (LCVP). If they were flyinging a mission, they were directed to the area of the boarding in case support was needed. They seldom flew directly over the area to avoid provocation. But when necessary, the Cougar crews could, as trained, provide SAR, medevac or fire support at any time. A highlight of the Wildcats’ deployment was executing a complex mission to Mogadishu International Airport (MIA) to pick up the Somali President, some officials and the commander of EUNAVFOR for a two-day meeting aboard the JWIT, which sailed off

the coast of Mogadishu. The mission had to avoid the existing ground-to-air-threat from the al-Shabaab terrorists near the city. K13 explained: “The mission to MIA was not a surprise. During the work-up period of the JWIT, some secret high-level negotiations were already held, but everything was uncertain due to the political and agitated situation in Somalia. When it became clear the mission could take place, actual planning started a month before the two-day meeting.

ScanEagle

Despite carrying Royal Netherlands Air Force roundels, the six Boeing Insitu ScanEagle UAV systems on board the JWIT were assigned to the Dutch Army which embarked a maritime joint intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) module of 25 personnel to the vessel. Twelve were dedicated to ScanEagle operations. Two variants of the ScanEagle flew daily missions, one variant equipped with a daylight electro-optical camera and another with an infrared camera. The ScanEagle is pneumatically launched from a catapult, can fly some 22 hours (fully hand-controlled but also pre-programmed by GPS) and is recovered by a Skyhook system – a 49ft (15m) vertical cable that catches a crocodile hook on the ScanEagle’s wing.

An early morning launch of a Scan Eagle UAV

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OPERATION ATALANTA Left: The two Cougars participate in dual spot operations onboard the JWIT. With a range of 300 miles (480kms) and an endurance of 2.5 hours, the helicopters Below: Six Scan Eagles, equipped with a daylight or infra-red camera, were deployed aboard the JWIT for Operation Atalanta.

Keeping ATC alert

The JWIT is equipped with its own air traffic control (ATC) cell which controls all flight movements from, to and nearby the ship. Helicopters from other ships and land-based maritime patrol aircraft check in, just as with any other ATC. When other aircraft were nearby, JWIT’s ATC would sometimes request low-level fly-bys for the ship’s crew’s enjoyment. During 2013, Atalanta’s MPRAs were based in Djibouti (French Falcon 900, Spanish CN235 or P-3C and German P-3C) and the Seychelles (Luxembourg Merlin IIIC).

Exercises

Several exercises were held during the JWIT deployment. The most impressive was ‘SplashEx’, when French Mirage 2000C/ Ds of EC03.011 Corse, based at BA188 Djibouti-Ambouli, acted as targets for the JWIT air-defence systems (the goalkeeper), simulating incoming missiles and bombing a target towed behind the JWIT. The jets flew very low around the JWIT’s deck and caused huge splashes dropping their exercise-bombs on the towed target a few hundred feet behind the JWIT. Meanwhile two HH-60Gs of the US Special Forces Command at Djibouti-Ambouli carried out deck landings and a USAF HC-130P of 71st RQS dropped special forces near the JWIT off Djibouti’s coast. 

Pirate hunt Despite the optimal positioning of all assets in Operation Atalanta and Operation Ocean Shield, a few pirate skiffs successfully bypassed the military lines in October 2013. They positioned themselves some 560 miles (900km) off the Somali coast and attacked two commercial ships. Fortunately, these attempts failed because of the ships’ security measures, which included firing water from fire hoses, shooting flares, increasing speed and then creating waves by sharp turns. After a dramatic hunt lasting nearly 40 hours, the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Melbourne (which sailed under Operation Ocean Shield), closely assisted by the JWIT, located the pirate group’s skiffs and a whaler. The Melbourne, with its highly-capable SH-60B Seahawk helicopter, eventually found the pirates near their last hijack attempt location, but they dumped their weapons and incriminating equipment into the ocean. After being captured and brought on board the Melbourne, the Seahawk destroyed the skiffs and whaler. The pirates could not be prosecuted, due to lack of evidence, and were, under international rules, taken back to the Somalia shore. 

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OPERATION ATALANTA

Atalanta 2013 Top: An Armée de l’Air Mirage 2000D carried out a simulated attack on the JWIT during SplashEx. The French fighter was assigned to Djibouti/Ambouli with EC03.011, which flies the Mirage 2000C and ’D. Above: One of the highlights of the deployment was the arrival of a seldom-seen Turkish Navy SH-60B. The Seahawk of 351/352 Filo brought a Turkish commander to the JWIT on a visit to the Atalanta staff. Above left: A Royal Navy Lynx from HMS Illustrious undertakes a low-level coastal patrol. Left: A CN235MPA-100 of the Spanish SAR was asked to make a fly-by as it returned to its temporary home base at Djibouti-Ambouli. The crew, using callsign Barbo performed a perfect below deck-level, pass with a friendly wave to the sailors. Right: A USAF HC-130P of the 71st RQS drops special forces near the JWIT, off the coast of Djibouti.

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OPERATION ATALANTA

Above: The JWIT passed through the Suez Canal twice, both times closely observed by an Egyptian Air Force Mi-8. Below: Two HH-60Gs made several deck-landings during SplashEx to familiarise pilots with the two-spot deck on the JWIT, despite some pretty bad weather.

Visiting aircraft - either landing or flying by - were not uncommon sightings aboard the JWIT during its Operation Atalanta mission.

“During the pick-up and return flights, the Cougar crews were supported by reconnaissance cover of the ScanEagle and JWIT’s landing vessels, with intervention teams nearby in the water. In case something bad happened, the US secial ops aircraft and military at Djibouti-Ambouli were on alert and ready to assist during these two days.”

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DARTS OVER EUROPE

F

or 26 years US Company Flight Systems provided aerial target services for the armed services of the German Bundeswehr. The service operated for the final 23 of those years from Wittmundhafen Air Base in Northern Germany until late last year, and Discovery Air Defence Services (DADS) of Canada took over in January (see Skyhawk Junction, January, p12-13). Flight Systems had been a subsidiary of Tracor since 1982, but was renamed BAE Systems Flight Systems after BAE and Tracor’s parent company Marconi merged in November 1999. Tracor Flight Systems launched operations in Europe in 1983, providing target towing flights for the US Air Force in Europe (USAFE), flying mainly from Bournemouth-Hurn Airport in the UK and the Italian air base Decimomannu, Sardinia. For this purpose, Flight Systems acquired six

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obsolete North American F-100F Super Sabres from the Royal Danish Air Force (re-registered N414FS to N419FS), which were delivered to Bristol Filton Airport in January 1983 for maintenance and repainting in the company’s white and blue colours. The five-year USAFE contract terminated in 1988, and Flight Systems offered its services to the Luftwaffe, continuing to operate the Super Sabres from Bournemouth in a three-year contract with the German air force. That changed when the Luftwaffe contract was renewed for a further five years and the F-100s moved to Wittmundhafen Air Base, home of the F-4F Phantoms of Jagdgeschwader (JG) 71 ‘Richthofen’, to be closer to the training areas over the North Sea where the majority of the ‘dart missions’ were flown. Five F-100Fs made the move to Germany, while N415FS

joined Flight Systems’ fleet at its main operating base Mojave in California. The Super Sabre fleet at Wittmundhafen was reduced to four on July 11, 1994 when N414FS crashed near Cuxhaven, claiming the life of its pilot.

Enter the Skyhawk

From 1991, the Luftwaffe contract was repeatedly extended by five years, and by the late 1990s it was clear the venerable Super Sabres needed to be replaced. Although still regarded as very suitable for the job, maintaining the jets became increasingly difficult due to a lack of available spare parts, and in particular J75 engines. Several options were considered, including former Saudi F-5Es, before Flight Systems opted for the A-4N variant of the McDonnell Douglas Skyhawk. Four were acquired from Israeli Air Force surplus

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DARTS OVER EUROPE

Darts over

Germany Kees van der Mark looks back on an era of target towing operations by Flight Systems, which included 13 years of A-4N Skyhawk flights in the skies over Germany.

stocks in September 2000. The A-4Ns were not the first Skyhawks operated by Flight Systems, as the company flew a single A-4C and two A-4Ls from its Mojave base between 1977 and 1986. In 2001-2002 another US company, Advanced Training Systems International (ATSI) based at Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona (renamed Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in 2007), also took delivery of surplus Israeli Skyhawks – including ten A-4Ns and three TA-4Js. Two of Flight Systems’ Wittmundhafen-based F-100 pilots, took their A-4N conversion at ATSI’s. Among them was site manager Cliff Gion who accumulated many hours on earlier versions of the Skyhawk during his career with the US Marine Corps. Before delivery, Flight Systems’ new Skyhawks were overhauled, demilitarised and resprayed

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Above: North American F-100F N417FS at Wittmundhafen in July 1999, wearing Tracor Flight Systems titles and is equipped with a Do-SK10 target and A-37U tow reel pod fitted to its left wing. Main image: Two of Flight Systems’ original four A-4Ns take off from Wittmundhafen for a GCI mission in March 2012. All images Kees van der Mark

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DARTS OVER EUROPE Right: All maintenance on the A-4s, including major overhauls, was carried out at Wittmundhafen. Note the exhaust pipe standing against the wall behind the aircraft. Below: The Do-SK10 target fitted to the left wing of one of the A-4Ns with an A-37U tow reel pod on the centreline station. Bottom: During combat dart missions, the small and powerful A-4N gave Phantom pilots a hard time every now and then.

by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. Most of the tactical equipment, including the two 30mm DEFA 534 cannons, the electronic self-defence equipment and the terrain following radar, were removed. The AN/APQ-145 radar in the nose remained in place to keep the aircraft’s centre-of-gravity within normal operating limits. The jets also kept their aerial refuelling equipment, although its use was no longer allowed due to the aircraft’s civil identities. Another distinctive feature of Israeli Skyhawks, the extended tailpipe, remained in place as well. In the cockpit, a dart control panel and a Global Positioning System (GPS) were added. The jets were categorised as ‘experimental’ by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and marked accordingly on the forward fuselage.

To the US and back

The first two Skyhawks – registrations N431FS

and N437FS, see panel, p80 - departed to Wittmundhafen on September 23, 2001. The delivery flight routed via the US since FAA rules require US-registered civil aircraft to be on American soil to gain FAA certification. The journey took the jets from Tel Aviv to Bangor, Maine via Athens in Greece, Rimini in Italy, Luton and Prestwick in the UK, Keflavik in Iceland and Goose Bay in Canada. They returned to Europe via Goose Bay and Keflavik, arriving at Wittmundhafen on October 2, 2001. The second pair (N432FS and N434FS) was delivered two months later but because of weather conditions on the northern route they were flown to the US and back via a more southerly route. Departing Tel Aviv on November 28, they travelled to Athens, Cagliari (Sardinia) in Italy, Lisbon and Lajes (Azores) in Portugal, St. John’s in Canada and finally Bangor. The return route was flown in the opposite direction back to Cagliari, from where they continued

to Wittmundhafen on December 10. The A-4s took over from the F-100s in February 2002 and the Super Sabres were flown to Mojave in pairs, departing Wittmundhafen on June 3 and 25. They were registered to Big Sky Warbirds in Belgrade, Montana, on June 12 the following year. Delivered to Israel in November 1973, N437FS was the oldest of the four Skyhawks, with around 4,000 flying hours on the airframe when transferred to Flight Systems. The other three were delivered in 1976 and had clocked up about 2,200 hours each when acquired. Compared to the F-100F, the A-4N has much more to offer in thrust-to-weight ratio, turn rate and fuel consumption. With a lot of the military equipment removed, the jet weighs about 12,000lb (5,443kg), while the J52-P-408A engine produces 11,200lb (49.82kN) of thrust. It can easily make turns of 7g, or sustained 4.5g at low altitude. The Right: The Do-SK6 system consists of the Meggitt RM-31A1 tow real pod and the attached target body. The canister at the back end of the target pod holds the string target rope which is made of sisal. Below: One of the two former ATSI A-4s, N262WL, lines up for departure together with N434FS. The additional aircraft were never resprayed in the company’s colours.

‘Made of bright orange-coloured sisal rope, the string target is towed 10m (33ft) behind the target body before it is dropped in the sea after use, but the organic material dissolves within four months in the water.’ 80 APRIL 2015 #325

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DARTS OVER EUROPE

New Skyhawks at Wittmundhafen Quebec, Canada-based company Discovery Air Defence Services (DADS) officially took over from BAE Systems Flight Systems on January 1, 2015. After a number of trial flights over Germany carried out in late 2014, DADS flew its first official mission for the Bundeswehr on Tuesday, January 13. According to the contract, DADS will fly an average of 1,200 hours annually in support of the German forces. To be able to do so, DADS plans to operate seven A-4Ns from Wittmundhafen and by early February four had arrived there. All seven are former ATSI Skyhawks, which were upgraded with a glass cockpit and transferred from the American to the Canadian civil aviation register after modifications were carried out at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway. DADS added the A-4s to its fleet when the Canadian company acquired ATSI in December 2013. First to arrive at Wittmundhafen, on November 10 last year were A-4Ns C-FGZD/’367’ (ex N267WL, BuNo 159051) and C-FGZE/’495’ (ex N264WL, BuNo 159823). The third Skyhawk, C-FGZH/’534’ (ex N269WL, BuNo 159536) arrived on January 5, followed by C-FGZI/’531’ (ex N261WL, BuNo 159533) on February 9. The remaining three A-4Ns (N260WL, BuNo158730; N265WL, BuNo 159544; and N266WL, BuNo 159534) are expected to enter the Canadian register and relocate to Wittmundhafen before the middle of this year.

The target towing missions were flown from the unit’s home base at Wittmundhafen and the Italian air base Decimomannu, Sardinia.

performances of the A-4N were so impressive that during the early days of Flight Systems’ Skyhawk operations in Germany, a Luftwaffe Phantom pilot who was still used to the relatively tame F-100, once called out over the radio: “Dart is getting offensive!”

New dart system

The Skyhawks initially flew their target towing missions using Dornier Do-SK10 darts – the German-built version of the TDU-10 towed target – combined with A-37U tow reel pods, which were also used by the F-100s and the Luftwaffe F-4F Phantoms and F-104G Starfighters before them. Through the years thousands of darts and steel cables ended up in the North Sea and the Mediterranean. Apart from the environmental aspects, the cables could cause problems for fishing trawlers so the Bundeswehr requested an alternative system. Together with German-based aerospace contractor Dornier

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Friedrichshafen, Flight Systems started trials with a new aerial targeting system in October 2002, not long after the A-4s entered service. It consisted of a Do-SK6 target body with a Meggitt RM-30A1 tow reel pod. The Do-SK6 is an electronically-based pod that has a 6m (20ft) long string target attached to it, which is the aiming point for the shooters. Made of bright orange-coloured sisal rope, the string target is towed 10m (33ft) behind the target body before it is dropped in the sea after use, but the organic material dissolves within four months in the water. Like the Do-SK10, the Do-SK6 is fitted with a miss distance indicator (MDI). The Do-SK6 transmits the hits in real-time to a display in the A-4’s cockpit, enabling the Skyhawk pilot to radio the results to the shooter immediately. By 2004, the remaining Do-SK10 darts were all used and Flight Systems had completely switched over to the Do-SK6 system.

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DARTS OVER EUROPE Mission types

Flight Systems was initially tasked to fly target towing missions only, enabling combat pilots of the Luftwaffe and Marineflieger to qualify in the use of guns against aerial targets. The ‘shooters’ during these missions were F-4F Phantoms (until they retired in 2013); Tornados (both Luftwaffe and Marineflieger; the latter until Marineflieger 2, the last naval air wing, was disbanded in 2005); MiG-29 Fulcrums (until 2004); and Eurofighters (since the mid-2000s). After introducing the Skyhawks, the jets started flying for other elements within the Bundeswehr as well. Target towing missions included standard dart and combat dart sorties. A standard dart missions typically saw the jet flying wide circles at a speed of 350kt in a 60˚ bank with 2g, while towing the target some 1,640ft (500m) behind the aircraft. A maximum of six aircraft took turns to shoot at the target, normally at a distance of 1,500-2,000ft (457-610m). During combat dart missions, visual set-ups were flown, mostly 1v1 or 1v2. In this case, the target was flown evasively at speeds of up to 450kt with the Do-SK6, or up to 320kt with the Do-SK10. Dart sorties were flown mainly in the German temporary reserved airspaces (TRAs) over the North Sea and, after the German reunification in 1990, in TRAs over the Baltic too. During the A-4 period, Flight Systems deployed to Decimomannu twice a year to support the shooting camps of the Luftwaffe’s fighter wings, with three Skyhawks operating from the Italian base for three to four weeks, usually in July and September/October. BAE Systems’ A-4Ns deployed to ‘Deci’ for the last time in the autumn of 2014. During the F-100 period these deployments occurred more frequently, while the Super Sabres also flew from Laage Air Base twice a year. When Wittmundhafen’s runway was closed for maintenance, Flight Systems’ jets – if not deployed to Decimomannu – would usually fly from nearby Jever Air Base, which closed as an airfield on September 30, 2013. The F-100s and later

Top: The cockpit of a Flight Systems A-4N in 2003. The added dart control switches are on the top left side of the instrument panel and immediately above is the GPS display. Above: N268WL with a centreline fuel tank in place of the more usual wing-mounted tanks. Right: With airbrakes deployed, an A-4N touches down on the piano keys of runway 08.

BAE SYSTEMS Flight Systems A-4N Skyhawks Registration

c/n

BuNo

IDF-AF serial Arrival

Departure

N431FS

14504

159805

305

Oct 2, 2001

Dec 2, 2014

N432FS

14462

159542

432

Dec 10, 2001

Dec 2, 2014

N434FS

14514

159815

373

Dec 10, 2001

Dec 2, 2014

N437FS

14384

159078

335

Oct 2, 2001

Dec 2, 2014

N262WL

14465

159545

444

May 21, 2007

Dec 2, 2014

ex ATSI, IDF-AF c/s

N268WL

14450

159530

395

May 21, 2007

Dec 2, 2014

ex ATSI, grey c/s

82 APRIL 2015 #325

Remarks

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DARTS OVER EUROPE the A-4s also made occasional appearances at airshows in the UK and Germany. By the early 2000s, German combat aircraft numbers had dropped considerably and the number of dart sorties decreased to some 250 a year. This allowed the Bundeswehr to task the A-4s for other missions within the agreed number of contract hours. The new missions included so-called ground controlled intercept (GCI) missions, to train Luftwaffe fighter controllers in the ‘art’ of GCI. These were usually flown in pairs, with one Skyhawk acting as interceptor and the other as intruder. Other mission types saw the Skyhawks operating as fast moving targets for Bundeswehr ground-based air defence units in the Todendorf training area on the Baltic coast, and for German navy frigates. Finally, the A-4s were called upon to train forward air controllers (FACs) from time to time. The FAC missions were flown over the Baumholder training area in Germany and other locations, including the Marnewaard training area in the Netherlands.

From four to six

The Bundeswehr contract was extended for another five years in late 2006. BAE Systems had meanwhile teamed up with German subcontractor EIS Aircraft, which took care of business for BAE Systems in Germany. From Kiel Airport, EIS Aircraft also operates Pilatus PC-9Bs target tugs for the Bundeswehr. With the contract renewed, BAE Systems added two Skyhawks to the German detachment to cater for the growing demands. The company acquired two A-4Ns from ATSI, which arrived at Wittmundhafen on May 21, 2007. Unlike the first four jets, they retained their camouflage colours throughout their careers with Flight Systems – one painted in the standard Israeli four-tone scheme and the other in an overall grey scheme. Another consequence of increased missions was that the unit’s three American pilots were joined by four former Luftwaffe pilots. The Skyhawks relocated from a hanger adjacent

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Above: Although trials with the new Do-DK6 targets began in October 2002, the A-4Ns kept flying with DoSK10s (illustrated) until stocks ran out in 2004.

to the cross servicing platform in the western part of the air base to a similar hangar on the eastern side of the base. A team of some ten technicians carried out all maintenance on the jets, including major overhauls. From 2012 to last year, the contract was renewed on an annual basis. Meanwhile, another tender was held to determine which company would supply fast jet airborne training services to the Bundeswehr in the future. In November it was announced DADS had won the five-year contract. With no more work left for its A-4Ns, BAE Systems sold all six jets to Draken International, Florida-based company operating from Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. Its current fleet comprises more than 70 tactical aircraft, including six A-4Ks and two TA-4Ks acquired from the Royal New Zealand Air Force in July 2012.

The end

BAE Systems’ A-4Ns flew their last operational sorties between November 17 and 21, 2014 and were prepared for their journey to Florida the next week. Their new owner took care of

ferrying the Skyhawks to the US. They took off from Wittmundhafen for the last time on December 2, flying in two groups, each accompanied by Smart Aviation’s Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign N261NA. They arrived at Prestwick the same day (see Prestwick Junction, January, p12-13) and went on to Keflavik on December 3/4, before continuing to the USA, again in two groups. All six arrived at Lakeland the next week. The change of ownership from BAE Systems Technology Solutions & Services to Draken International was registered by the FAA on January 7, 2015. With the departure of the Skyhawks, the relation between Flight Systems and the Bundeswehr – in particular the Luftwaffe – came to an end. The close ties between the Wittmundhafen-based fighter wing and the Flight Systems team were underlined by the latter being dubbed ‘Dartstaffel 71' or the unofficial third squadron of JG 71. With DADS now flying A-4Ns from the German base, at least the Skyhawk will remain a familiar sight in Europe for afm another five years – and maybe more.

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BRIEFINGS CARRIER AIR WING FIVE

PATROLS AND T

T

he naval aviators and their dependents that had transferred from bases on the West Coast of the USA to Japan initially found being permanently forward-deployed difficult to come to terms with, as Ens George Zolla of VF-161 recalled. “It was extremely hard adjusting to living in a foreign country with the separation from our families,” he said. VF-151 pilot Lt J R Davis was experiencing similar problems with his young family. “The early months of the OFRP were particularly difficult for the families ashore in Japan. Government housing was in short supply and the waiting list for junior officers and enlisted personnel was as long as six months. With many families living on the Japanese economy, it would have been great for them to have spent time together during the first few months. “However, air wing and ship operations prevented this, as we did not spend more than 20 days in port at any one time.

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Above: Looking immaculate, A-7A BuNo 152675 /'NF400' on the ramp at NAS Alameda in September 1973 waiting its turn to be craned aboard Midway. Placed in storage in mid-1977, the aircraft was scrapped in 2009-10. via Angelo Romano

When in port, our schedule made it even harder for us to be without families because we could expect to spend seven days working aboard ship, seven days deployed to Misawa AFB and seven days flying out of Atsugi. “It was somewhat ironic that although the squadron, air wing and ship training went smoothly, this was far from the case when

it came to moving the families to Japan. The navy would have been far happier if all the crew members had been single and lived aboard ship all of the time. Nevertheless, I think everyone on Midway enjoyed the operational experience of being forward-deployed. “Like the domestic situation at home, for many of us in CVW-5 in 1973-74 operations at sea

were sometimes a challenge, and they were never boring. The Soviet Union regarded Midway as a training platform and sent Tu-95 Bears to track our movements on a regular basis. Normally they travelled in pairs, and spent many escorted hours making simulated attacks on the Midway battle group.” Bear crews became particularly adept at probing CVA-41’s defences when the carrier neared its homeport of Yokosuka naval base, as George Zolla explained: “The normal procedure was to fly as many air wing aircraft off the ship as possible the night before the vessel entered port. Navy aeroplanes went to Atsugi and Marine Corps jets to Iwakuni, where flying and higher level maintenance could be conducted while Midway was alongside in Yokosuka. “We would always keep a few aircraft aboard though, because the Soviets liked to fly practice intercepts on the carrier as it came closer to Japan. To ensure the

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1972 - 1978

D TRAGEDIES

Forward Deployment of Carrier Air Wing Five PART TWO

CVW-5 became the first US Navy carrier air wing to be forward-deployed when it transferred from California to Japan, along with USS Midway, in September 1973. In the concluding part of this feature, Tony Holmes chronicles some highlights such as intercepting Bears, patrolling off North Vietnam and the tragic loss of crews.

safety of the ship we needed to intercept the Bears to ascertain whether or not they had weapons aboard. It was then our job to turn the aircraft around before they were in range of Midway.” As if to prove this point, CVW-5 and CVA-41 were “in constant ready alert status anticipating Russian Bear overflights,” according to VAW-115’s command report. “The squadron’s efforts were rewarded [on October 4] as two Bears were detected one day prior to Midway’s arrival in Yokosuka. E-2 radar performance was outstanding in the blue water environment. Subsequently, both Bears were detected and successful intercepts conducted.” Carrier group commanders throughout the US Navy feared a photograph would appear in the international press of an unescorted Soviet bomber over the fleet, and particularly over the carrier – but according to most naval aviators serving in the front line during this period,

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Above: During the early evening of July 29, 1980, while en route to the Indian Ocean, Midway collided with the Panamanian vessel Cactus in the Balabac Straits between Palawan Island, off the Philippines, and the coast of northern Borneo. The collision destroyed two F-4Js from VF-151 and damaged four more Phantom IIs (including an RF-4B) and an EA-6B. The carrier also suffered structural damage and two sailors were killed. via Peter E. Davies Top: Devoid of any weaponry, F-4N BuNo 151491/'NF111' heads back to NAF Atsugi following a training mission off the coast of Japan. This aircraft was retired in November 1977 and sold for scrap in June 1990. Capt George Zolla

#325 APRIL 2015 85

BRIEFINGS CARRIER AIR WING FIVE Carrier Air Wing Five

VA-93 F-4N Phantom II BuNo 150491/'NF100' of VF-161, USS Midway (CVA-41), South China Sea, December 1973.

Above: A-7A Corsair II BuNo 153160/'NF304' of VA-93, USS Midway (CVA-41), western Pacific, July 1974. All artwork Jim Laurier

VMCJ-1

Above: EA-6A 'Electric Intruder' BuNo 156986/'RM616' of VMCJ-1 Det 101, USS Midway (CVA41), western Pacific, October 1974.

RF-4B Phantom II BuNo 153110/'RM607' of VMCJ-1 Det 101, USS Midway (CVA-41), western Pacific, June 1974.

preventing it being taken was of greater importance to senior officers than any tactical or intelligence benefit derived from such a photo opportunity by the communists! When a Bear was detected in the area, either by Midway’s search radar or by a patrolling E-2B, armed fighters were put on alert – either five minutes, with crews in cockpits, aeroplanes behind the catapults and plugged into electric and air start carts; or at one-minute readiness, broken down from deck chains and with engines turning, ready to go on the catapults. On launch, Phantom II crews would use full afterburner

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Above: The crew of VF-151 F-4N BuNo 150472 fly in close formation (behind the tail) with a Soviet Tu-95RT Bear-D, making sure that the long-range patrol aircraft stays well away from CVA-41. via Tailhook Association

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1972 - 1978

climbs to intercept the target aircraft – usually Bears – at the maximum distance from the carrier. In the 1970s this was nominally 200 miles (320km), about the maximum range of the air-to-surface missiles carried by Soviet bombers, which would be sent at the US carriers in descending flight, simulating the flight profile of their missiles. Once joined up on the ‘baddies’ the RIOs would use hand-held 35mm cameras to take photographs of radomes, weapons, chaff tubes, structural surprises and anything else intelligence officers aboard the ship might want. Cameras were always carried by crews when manning the alert aircraft. As a general rule, F-4 crews started their Bear intercept profiles from a low or mid combat air patrol station (5,000ft to 15,000ft) and, depending on ranges, would approach the contact in a climbing attack –preferring to attack from below. Little thought was given to vertical separation, sun position or sneaking up on the Soviet bombers using cloud cover. The ultimate aim for F-4 crews was to join up on the wing of the Bear or Badger well before the aircraft passed overhead the carrier at about 500ft. By formatting closely with the Soviet aircraft, naval aviators clearly demonstrated to the world at large (and senior officers aboard their ship in particular) that they were escorting these uninvited guests. Alert crews charged with swiftly intercepting prowling Bears relied on slick flightdeck crews getting them airborne as swiftly as possible when the call came. Thankfully, with Midway and CVW-5 being effectively ‘joined at the hip’ through their

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Above: An F-8H Crusader of VF-51 'Screaming Eagles' is directed onto the catapult aboard Bon Homme Richard in 1968, the vessel sailing in the Gulf of Tonkin at the time. VF-51 was part of CVW-5 for 24 years, and the unit was credited with two MiG-21 kills during its 1968 combat cruise – the only victories attributed to the H-model Crusader. US Navy Below: An A-7A from VA-56 takes the barrier aboard Midway during cyclic ops. When the situation warranted it, and the pilot could not, or did not, eject, a last-chance option was to bring a crippled aircraft back and fly it into a barrier of heavy strapping, quickly strung across the flightdeck. US Navy

frequent, short deployments to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean areas, the flightdeck personnel achieved a level of cohesion with the air wing’s pilots that became legendary in the US Navy. Indeed, it was the envy of the fleet. “Our day-to-day operations while at sea varied widely, as did the weather conditions – from rain and snow, high seas and winds in the Sea of Japan to tropical sunshine and fair weather in the Philippine operating area,” J R Davis

explained. “VF-151 maintained a busy operational tempo throughout, which kept us happy. It was just like preparing for any other deployment. Work – study – fly, and then do it all over again.” Aircraft carrier chief engineer Cdr Pete Clayton, who worked on Midway variously for more than 25 years, explained that, uniquely, the vessel’s “maintenance schedule in Japan was based on keeping the air wing capable of maintaining minimums. This meant naval

aviators had to see the flightdeck under way every 20 days – the ship could not remain in port so long that the air wing would have to do day and night carrier qualifications after an ISRA [incremental selected restricted availability]. The air wing would fly out to the ship late in the day and get a ‘pinky’ [dusk] night trap before completing the remaining traps the following day.”

Combat

Midway and CVW-5 left for their

“We would always keep a few aircraft aboard though, because the Soviets liked to fly practice intercepts on the carrier as it came closer to Japan.” #325 APRIL 2015 87

BRIEFINGS CARRIER AIR WING FIVE warning lights and audio warning equipment going wild in the cockpit after potential threats had been detected while we were flying off the coast.” The Phantom II units worked closely with VAW-115 during Yankee Station operations, its crews tasked with providing radio relay connectivity between the BARCAP jets and Midway’s Command Information Center. The E-2Bs also made sure there were no violations of the carrier’s air exclusion buffer zone.

Mishaps Above: Lined up on final approach to Midway, A-7A BuNo 153160/'NF304' of VA-93 has its tailhook and wing flaps deployed by the pilot. This aircraft was lost on July 11, 1974 during a training mission from Midway when the carrier was sailing southeast of Yokosuka. No trace of the jet or its pilot, Lt James L Feeney, was ever found. via Angelo Romano

first at-sea period from Japan on October 17, and over the next ten days aircrews conducted cyclic operations – including day and night refresher landings – from the vessel in the Okinawa exercise area, culminating in two large-scale Alpha Strikes and anti-aircraft warfare exercises. An extended run ashore at Atsugi then followed while CVA-41 underwent routine maintenance. On November 26 the vessel set sail once again, bound for Okinawa and then the Subic Bay operations area west of

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Luzon in the Philippines. By December 5, 1973 Midway was sailing off the coast of Vietnam, and that day commenced combat operations from Yankee Station – a point in the Gulf of Tonkin from which US Navy aircraft carriers assigned to Task Force 77 launched strikes on targets in North Vietnam. CVA-41 and CVW-5 had returned to familiar skies, for the vessel and its air wing had only completed combat operations from Yankee Station ten months earlier. For the many nugget crews in CVW-5, the brief four-day period

on the line from December 5 to 8 provided an introduction to combat. One such individual was Ens George Zolla. “Following weeks of cyclic ops off Okinawa and then Subic Bay, as well as training flights from Atsugi and Misawa, the air wing embarked in Midway and sailed for Yankee Station, via Okinawa and Subic Bay. Once off North Vietnam the two F-4 squadrons flew a few Barrier Combat Air Patrol [BARCAP] missions protecting the ship from possible air attacks. “During my missions I remember our AAA and SAM

Naval aviators assigned to CVW-5 have traditionally accrued more flying hours than their CONUSbased brethren. But in 1973-74 there was a downside to all the flying on offer – accidents. “During that first year of operations in Japan and the Orient we lost nine aircrew to aircraft mishaps,” J R Davis recalled. “I was surprised at the large number of losses, but we remained mission effective, nonetheless.” Six of the fatalities occurred on the night of October 22, 1973, when A-7A (BuNo 153204) of VA-56, flown by Lt(jg) Everett E Goodrow, and EA-6A (BuNo 156980) of VMCJ-1 Detachment 101, crewed by 1Lts Jot Eve and David L Moody, flew into the sea. With Midway unable to support the EA-6B Prowler at the time of its move to Japan, the US Marine Corps’ VMCJ-1 (then based at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan) was called upon to provide CVW-5 with a threestrong EA-6A detachment during

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1972 - 1978

Above: F-4N BuNo 150652/'NF204' of VF-151, laden down with 500lb (227kg) Mk 82 bombs, was photographed participating in a CVW-5 Alpha Strike in the Okinawa exercise area during late October 1973. This aircraft ended its days as a target on the Tollicha Peak Electronic Combat Range in Nevada. Capt J R Davis

at-sea periods commencing in October 1973. VMCJ-1 Det 101 was working up for a carrier deployment on Midway when the incident occurred some 127 miles (204km) east of Okinawa, the jet impacting the water 11 miles (18km) aft of the ship during CVW-5’s initial night qualification period. Attempting to undertake a no-radio, no navigational aids (NORDO/ NONAV) approach in bad weather, the crew found themselves struggling to find ‘the boat’. On hearing their radio transmissions, Lt(jg) Goodrow found the EA-6A and had the jet form up on his wing for the approach back to the ship. They shot a teardrop pattern directly over the carrier and had turned inbound to the vessel on its course when both simultaneously disappeared from radar screens. None of the aircrew attempted to eject and there were no radio transmissions made from either jet. It was subsequently assumed that both pilots had flown into the water or collided and then hit

the water at about the time they would have slowed to extend their flaps, slats and landing gear. According to Midway’s air boss at the time, Cdr Vern Jumper, “the A-7 had a significantly different speed brake to the EA-6A, and I think the asymmetrical differences between the two loaded aircraft was the problem. In a bid to search for the jets, an H-3 ‘Angel’ [SH-3G BuNo 149893 of HC-1] launched forward of the island. This was against NATOPS [Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardisation], as you had no point of reference in the dark. “They launched at high power to replace the low-fuel plane guard H-3 on station and went straight into the water. Three of the four crewmen [Lt(jg)s William J Bates and George A Wildridge and ADJ1 Richard H Hall] were lost. They hadn’t taken time to re-spot the helicopter as they wanted to get on scene as soon as possible – the other H-3 had reported seeing an oil slick in the water. “Hugh Carter was on the flight

schedule and should have been in the EA-6A with Jot Eve that fateful night. He had flown with him earlier that day for his initial ‘day qual’ on Midway. During that flight they had also gone NORDO/NONAV in the same aircraft but as it was day VFR, they had recovered on the wing of a KA-6D tanker they had just topped off from without incident. Later that day, at the time of the brief for Jot’s night qual, Bob Cave and Hugh Carter were busy briefing carrier group commander Rear Admiral Wesley MacDonald in the war room on upcoming Gulf of Tonkin ops. Dave, who had flown with Jot quite a bit at MCAS Cherry Point [in North Carolina], jumped into the ‘death sled’ with Jot. It was not a good night.” The venerable A-7A Corsair IIs assigned to VA-56 and VA-93 continued to be lost at an alarming rate by CVW-5 until the jets’ overdue replacement with A-7Es in 1977 – no fewer than seven were destroyed between October 22, 1973 and March 30,

1977. Notoriously underpowered, the A-model aircraft had been supplied to both squadrons as replacements for their war-weary A-7Bs following CVW-5’s return from Southeast Asia in March 1973. Also veterans of the conflict in Vietnam, the A-7As supplied to VA-56 and VA-93 had been retrieved from the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-6 engine delivering 11,350lb of thrust, the A-7A was not universally welcomed by attack pilots when it started to replace the A-4 Skyhawk from 1967. It was deemed to be underpowered, both in fact and because of the acceleration characteristics of the turbofan engine compared to the axial flow Pratt & Whitney J52-P-6 in the far lighter A-4. The Corsair II also struggled to match the Skyhawk’s legendary manoeuvrability, being more susceptible to accelerated stalls that, in turn, made the aircraft prone to spinning if mishandled.

Above: VMCJ-1 detachment (Det 101) commenced operations from CVA-41 on April 24, 1974, with three RF-4Bs and three EA-6As being flown on board the ship. One of the aircraft embarked was this jet, BuNo 153110/'RM507' which saw 23 years of frontline service (including combat in Vietnam) until September 1989. Briefly exhibited within the US Marine Corps museum at El Toro from 1992, the aircraft was eventually consigned to the base dump. US Marine Corps Left: Mount Fuji, 60 miles (97km) southwest of Tokyo and only 41 miles (66km) from NAF Atsugi, has provided a stunning backdrop for myriad CVW-5 aircraft since 1973. In this April 2007 photograph, all the fixed wing units then assigned to the air wing sortied their CAG aircraft for a memorable formation shot. Only H-60-equipped HS-14 was absent. US Navy

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#325 APRIL 2015 89

BRIEFINGS CARRIER AIR WING FIVE A CONCISE HISTORY OF CVW-5

Above: Photographed from 'over the fence' on short finals to NAF Atsugi in January 1974, is A-6A BuNo 155717/'NF510' of VA-115. Subsequently rebuilt as an A-6E, this aircraft was eventually retired by VA-35 to the Aircraft Maintenance And Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan AFB in August 1994 and scrapped in January 2010. via Angelo Romano

It is unknown whether the A-7’s lack of power and reduced agility played a part in the death of VA-93’s Lt Richard L Pierson, who crashed his aircraft (BuNo 153256, which had seen combat over Southeast Asia with VA-82 in 1968) into Mount Fuji during a night training flight from NAF Atsugi on November 12, 1973. According to George Zolla, Pierson “thought he was cleared to a lower altitude than he really was”. There are no details available surrounding the death of VA-93’s Lt Cdr George P Kroyer, who was killed on April 19, 1974. He had previously survived an ejection from a TF-9J Cougar (BuNo 147293) of VT-22 on January 14, 1968 during his pilot training at NAS Kingsville, Texas. On July 11, 1974 Kroyer’s squadron-mate Lt James L Feeney was on a training mission 75 miles (120km) southeast of Yokosuka when he lost contact with his flight leader and disappeared while returning to Midway at the controls of A-7A BuNo 153160 (another ex-VA-82 jet). No trace of the pilot

or his aircraft was ever found. During April 1974, CVW-5 had welcomed the RF-4Bs of VMCJ-1 Det 101 into its ranks, the photo-reconnaissance Phantom IIs being assigned to the air wing for a decade. Unique to CVW-5, three RF-4Bs (from VMFP-3 as of September 1975) served exclusively aboard Midway. During Det 101’s first WestPac deployment it suffered the loss of RF-4B BuNo 153111 57 miles (92km) southwest of MCAS Iwakuni on November 3, 1974. 1Lt R W Reno was at the controls when it stalled and flamed out 180 degrees abeam of Midway while in the recovery pattern. “The RIO, 1Lt Paul V Duncan, managed to eject from the jet,” recalled George Zolla, “but Reno stayed with the RF-4B and was killed. There was a commandeject handle in the back seat of the Phantom II that could be configured to eject just the RIO, or both crewmen. The setting chosen was a decision made by individual crews, but around the boat experienced aircrews often

flew with both seats selected. This was because the pilot would typically be concentrating on flying the jet, leaving him a little behind in his decisionmaking as to when to eject. “In the RF-4B accident the pilot was still trying to fly the jet when the RIO punched out, the commandeject handle having been set to eject the back-seater only.” Despite these early setbacks, the CVW-5/Midway partnership quickly earned an enviable reputation within the US Navy. The co-locating of the carrier and its entire air wing engendered an exceptionally close-knit team throughout the vessel’s 18-year tenure in Japan. Four decades later, CVW-5 still spends much of its time under way in the Seventh Fleet’s AOR (area of responsibility) – it was embarked, or had assets detached from NAF Atsugi, for more than 200 days in 2013. Nevertheless, CVW-5 remains one of the best-kept secrets in naval aviation, according to those that have served with the air wing over the past 40 years. 

Above: Assigned to VMCJ-1’s Det 101, EA-6A BuNo 156986/'RM516' participated in Midway’s 1974 and 1975 cruises. A veteran of combat operations in Vietnam with the same unit, the 'Electric Intruder' is seen here being washed down at Det 101’s NAS Cubi Point home between carrier embarks. It was stricken from service in August 1989, exactly 30 years after it had been delivered by Grumman to the US Marine Corps. via Peter Mersky

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CVW-5 can trace its history back to February 15, 1943 when Carrier Air Group (CVG) 5 was established in San Diego, California. Assigned to USS Yorktown (CV-10), CVG-5 would help launch the US Navy’s Central Pacific offensive in the summer of 1943. Its Hellcats (VF-5), Helldivers (VB-5) and Avengers (VT-5) duly played a key role in strikes on Wake Island (October 1943), Kwajalein (December 1943-January 1944), Truk (February 1944), the Palau Islands (March 1944), Hollandia (April 1944) and Truk once again (April 1944). CVG-5 then returned to the USA, where it remained until February 1945 when it embarked in USS Franklin (CV-13). The vessel headed west and joined Task Group 58.2 on March 15, 1945 as it prepared to launch strikes on the Japanese home islands. Embarking Corsairs (VF-5, VMF-214 and VMF-452), Helldivers (VB-5) and Avengers (VT-5), the carrier successfully attacked targets in Kagoshima Bay on March 18. CVG-5’s war was abruptly ended the following day, however, when a lone Japanese dive-bomber hit CV-12 with two 550lb bombs. In the resulting fires and explosions that devastated Franklin, 807 sailors were killed and 487 wounded, and CVG-5 lost most of its aircraft. The crippled carrier limped back to the USA. Redesignated CVAG-5 on November 15, 1946, the air group next ventured to sea from San Diego when USS Shangri-La (CV-38) commenced a WestPac deployment in March 1947. CVAG-5 consisted of four units at the time – VF-5A (F8F-1s and F6F-Ps), VF-6A (F8F-1s), VA-5A (SB2C-5s) and VA-6A (TBM-3E/3Q/3Js). In March the following year CVAG-5 entered the jet age when pilots from VF-5A carrier qualified in the FJ-1 Fury – a first for the US Navy – while USS Boxer (CV-21) conducted local operations off the coast of California. The same handful of FJ-1s were also used by VF-6A to flightdeck-qualify its naval aviators, the unit then still awaiting delivery of its own jets. F4U-4-equipped

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1972 - 1978

Above: A VAH-4 Det B A-3B off Ticonderoga leads a pair of VA-56 A-4Es in early 1964. The ‘Whale’ has neither a refuelling probe nor a tanker package. 'Heavy Four’s' Det B was a part of CVG/CVW-5 from early 1960 through to July 1967. via Peter Mersky

VA-5A was also embarked, as was VA-6A with its AD-1s. More ‘firsts’ followed for the redesignated CVG-5 in June 1950 when it commenced combat operations over Korea from the flightdeck of USS Valley Forge (CV-45). The air group’s five primary units – which had all been redesignated in August 1948 – were equipped with F9F-3s (VF-51 and VF-52), F4U-4Bs (VF-53 and VF-54) and AD-4/4Qs (VA-55), and they became the first carrier-based aircraft committed to the Korean War. CVG-5 would subsequently complete a further two combat cruises during the conflict, embarked in USS Essex (CV-9) between June 1951 and March 1952 and then back aboard Valley Forge from November 1952 through to June 1953. Post-war, the air group settled back into a routine of WestPac deployments on a series of modified Essex-class carriers: USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47) in 1954, USS Kearsarge (CVA-33) in 195556, USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA31) in 1957 and USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) in 1960, 1961-62 and 1963. A succession of jet fighter types equipped its units during this period of near constant change, with the F9F-8, F2H-3, FJ-3M, F4D-1, F3H-2, F8U-1 and F8U-2NE sharing the flightdeck at various times with AD-4s and -6s, A3D-2s and A4D-2s. Although rarely equipped with a fighter for longer than 18 months, VF-51 and VF-53 remained near-constant fixtures within CVG-5, as did attack squadrons VA-52, VA-55 and VA-56. On December 20, 1963, CVG-5 was redesignated CVW-5, the air wing still being assigned to

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CVA-14 – an association that would continue until May 1966. Deploying on what initially seemed to be a routine WestPac cruise in April 1964, CVW-5 found itself committed to yet another conflict in Asia from August 5 when it commenced combat missions over North Vietnam from the Gulf of Tonkin. CVW-5 would fly from the modified Essex-class vessels Ticonderoga in 1964 and 1965-66, USS Hancock (CVA-19) in 1967 and Bon Homme Richard in 1968, 1969 and 1970. Crusaderequipped VF-51 and VF-53 were ever-present during this period, while VA-94 and VA-144 made four of the cruises with their Skyhawks and VA-52 (flying Skyraiders) and VA-56 (also equipped with Skyhawks) completed three apiece. Detachments from VAW-11 (E-1Bs), VFP-63 (RF-8A/ Gs), VAH-4/VAW-13/VAQ-130 (A-3B/KA-3B/EKA-3Bs) and HU/ HC-1 (UH-2A/B/Cs) ‘fleshed out’

CVW-5 during the six deployments. The air wing was in the thick of the action, particularly during Operation Rolling Thunder (March 2, 1965 to November 2, 1968) when it lost 28 aircraft in combat. In early 1971, CVW-5 commenced its long association with USS Midway (CVA-41) after the vessel emerged from a fouryear modernisation. Coinciding with its change of carriers, the air wing also significantly altered its composition following the completion of its sixth Vietnam War cruise in November 1970. The F-8s of VF-51 and VF-53 were replaced by F-4Bs flown by VF-151 and VF-161 while A-7Bs assigned to VA-56 and VA-93 now provided CVW-5 with its light strike battery. VA-115 became the air wing’s heavy attack unit, flying A-6As and KA-6Ds, and VAW-115, equipped with the E-2B, gave CVW-5 an unrivalled AEW capability. Meanwhile HC-1 (SH-3A/G), VFP-63 (RF-8G) and VAQ-130

Above: F9F-3 BuNo 122574 of VF-51 is carefully towed off a flightdeck elevator into Valley Forge’s hangar bay during the early stages of the Korean War. The squadron routinely encountered North Korean propeller-driven aircraft during the early stages of the conflict, and the first aerial kills scored by the US Navy, on July 3, 1950, were credited to two VF-51 pilots. US Navy

(EKA-3B) performed supporting missions in detachment strength. Deploying in April 1971, CVW-5 flew in excess of 6,000 sorties during its 74 days on the line off the coast of Vietnam. The air wing suffered no combat losses. The sudden invasion of South Vietnam by North Vietnamese troops on March 30, 1972 led to CVA-41’s early return to Southeast Asia, CVW-5 embarking aboard Midway in Alameda, California, with less than a week’s notice in early April. Once in the Gulf of Tonkin, the air wing would find itself in the vanguard of Operation Linebacker. During 208 days on the line CVW-5 lost 15 aircraft in combat and five more in operational accidents. Eight aircrew were killed and seven captured. On a more positive note, three MiG-17s and two MiG-19s were shot down by VF-161, the first aerial successes credited to CVW-5 since two MiG-21s and a single MiG-17 had been claimed by VF-51 and VF-53 in the summer of 1968. In September 1973 CVA-41 transferred from Alameda to Yokosuka, Japan, becoming the US Navy’s first forward-deployed carrier. CVW-5 accompanied the vessel to the Far East, its units being based at NAF Atsugi, near Tokyo. The air wing composition remained the same as before, although the F-4Bs were replaced with refurbished F-4Ns and VA-56 and VA-93 exchanged their war-weary A-7Bs for A-7As. Midway (re-designated CV-41 in mid-1975) and CVW-5 commenced a hectic operational schedule once in Japan, sailing primarily in the Western

#325 APRIL 2015 91

BRIEFINGS CARRIER AIR WING FIVE

The units assigned to CVW-5 have a long tradition of painting their CAG aircraft in some of the gaudiest schemes in the fleet. In the mid-2000s the air wing’s quartet of F/A-18 squadrons certainly lived up this convention. The lead Hornet in this formation belongs to VFA-192 – F/A-18Eequipped VFA-115 replaced this unit in CVW-5 in 2009. Katsuhiko Tokunaga

Pacific and Indian Ocean. In 1977 VF-151 and VF-161 exchanged their N-model Phantom IIs for F-4Js (which were in turn replaced by F-4Ss three years later), both Corsair II units received A-7Es as replacements for their elderly A-models and VA-115 re-equipped with A-6Es. The supporting detachments had also experienced equipment changes, with VMCJ-1/VMAQ-2 swapping its EA-6As for EA-6Bs (and eventually being replaced by VAQ-136 in 1980), VMFP-3 soldiering on with its RF-4Bs through to 1981 and HC-1 Det 2 flying G-model Sea Kings with CVW-5 until SH-3H-equipped HS-12 arrived in its entirety in 1984. Two years later the air wing at last bade farewell to its Phantom IIs and Corsair IIs, as both types were replaced by 36 F/A-18A Hornets. VFA-151, VFA-192 and VFA-195 made their first cruise as part of CVW-5 in January 1987, and later that year VA-185 joined the air wing. Along with VA-115 it would be equipped with seven A-6Es and two KA-6Ds each. The rest of CVW-5 remained unchanged. On October 2, 1990, CV-41 departed Japan on its 11th deployment to the Indian Ocean. The vessel arrived in the Northern Arabian Sea the following month and CVW-5 was immediately committed to Operation Desert Shield in the wake of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait

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in August that year. From January 17, 1991, Hornets, Intruders and Prowlers participated in Operation Desert Storm. Midway aircraft flew 3,339 combat sorties during the 43-day conflict, dropping 2,027 tons of ordnance in Iraq and Kuwait. Despite having more strike aircraft embarked than any other vessel committed to the campaign, CV-41 was the only carrier operating in the Arabian Gulf not to lose an aircraft. Arriving back in Yokosuka on April 17, Midway departed Japan for the last time four months later. It headed southeast to Pearl Harbor, where the vessel transferred CVW-5 to its relief, USS Independence (CV-62). Thanks to the increased size of its new floating home, the air wing was at last issued with Tomcats, VF-21 and VF-154 being transferred in from CVW-14. VFA-192 and VFA195 also replaced their A-model Hornets with F/A-18Cs, VFA-151 was transferred from Atsugi to Lemoore, VA-185 was disbanded and S-3B-equipped VS-21 joined CVW-5 from CVW-11. CV-62 and CVW-5 commenced their first extended deployment in April 1992, heading to the Northern Arabian Gulf (NAG) for Operation Southern Watch (OSW) – a multinational mission to monitor Iraqi compliance with the no-fly zone in place over Iraq below the 32nd parallel. ‘Indy’ and CVW-5 would be committed to OSW four times between 1992 and 1998.

In January 1996 VF-21 was disestablished as part of the Tomcat fleet reduction. Ten months later VA-115 replaced its Intruders with Hornets, becoming VFA-115 in the process – the unit was also transferred back to Lemoore. VFA-27 was posted to Japan to replace both squadrons within CVW-5. In July 1998, CV-62 conducted a deck swap in Pearl Harbor with USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), although on this occasion the composition of CVW-5 remained unchanged. The vessel would be forward-deployed for the next ten years, participating in a single OSW deployment in 1999 and acting as a floating base for special forces helicopters during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in late 2001 – eight Hornets, three Vikings and two Seahawks from CVW-5 were also embarked, the F/A-18s flying 600 strike missions over Afghanistan. In February 2003, CV-63 and CVW-5 headed west for the NAG once again and the following month they participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In what proved to be the final cruise for the Tomcat aboard Kitty Hawk, VF-154 expended the most ordnance. Following the completion of this brief campaign, the F-14 unit was sent back to NAS Oceana, Virginia, to convert to the Super Hornet – its place in CVW-5 was duly taken by F/A-18F-equipped VFA-102. During 2004, VFA-27 transitioned from the F/A-18C to the F/A-18E,

becoming the air wing’s second Super Hornet unit. Deploying exclusively to WestPac with CV-63 from 2004 through to 2008, CVW-5 was the only carrier air wing not committed to OIF or OEF during this period. By the summer of 2008 Kitty Hawk was the US Navy’s last conventionally-powered aircraft carrier, and its frontline service was rapidly coming to an end. In August the vessel sailed to San Diego where CVW-5 transferred to USS George Washington (CVN-73). The same month the nuclear carrier headed west for Yokosuka. In late 2009 VFA-192 was replaced by Super Hornetequipped VFA-115, and two years later VFA-195 was also issued with F/A-18Es. CVW-5 had now become the first air wing to boast four Super Hornet squadrons. In early 2012 VAQ-136 was posted back to Whidbey Island to commence its transition to the EA-18G, its place in Japan being taken by Growler-equipped VAQ-141. Twelve months later the most recent change to the makeup of CVW-5 occurred when HS-14 (equipped with the SH-60F and HH-60H) and HSL-51 Det 3 (flying the SH-60B) were replaced by HSC-12 (with the MH-60S) and HSM-77 (with the MH-60R). Staying firmly committed to operations in WestPac for the foreseeable future, CVW-5 remains very much at the afm ‘tip of the spear’ in 2015.

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FEBRUARY 3 - MARCH 5 2015

ATTRITION REPORT

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Accident Report Finds Pilot Error Caused USAF F-16 Collision Accident Updates

Above: The wreckage of USAF/Oklahoma Air National Guard F-16C 89-2019 ‘OK’ following its crash near Moline, Kansas, on October 20, 2014, after a mid-air collision with another F-16C, 89-2034 ‘OK’, which landed safely. USAF

A

n aircraft accident investigation board report into a mid-air collision between two US Air Force F-16Cs on October 20 last year near Moline, Kansas (see Attrition, December), has found that pilot error caused the accident. On February 20, Air Combat Command released the report. The aircraft, 89-2019 ‘OK’ and 89-2034 ‘OK’, were assigned to the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 138th Fighter Wing/125th Fighter Squadron ‘Tulsa Vipers’ at Tulsa Air National Guard Base. Mishap pilot 1 (MP1), was an instructor pilot with over 2,400 hours of flight time in the F-16. Mishap pilot 2 (MP2) was a student pilot with 106 flying hours in the type. MP1 ejected and suffered only minor injuries; MP2 was unharmed. Mishap aircraft 1 (MA1), 89-2019 was destroyed. MA2 lost 5ft (1.5m) of the outer section of its starboard wing, but was able to return to base safely. The mishap flight (MF) departed Tulsa ANGB at 1403hrs for an air combat manoeuvring (ACM) training mission. The MF included three F-16s; MP1 and MP2 planned to operate as a co-ordinated two ship, while MP3 would play the role of simulated adversary. The MF flew 83nm

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(154km) northwest to the Eureka Military Operating Area (MOA), to perform a series of ACM engagements, wherein MP1 and MP2 would patrol the Eureka MOA and MP3 would approach from an unknown direction to simulate an attack, to which MP1 and MP2 had to respond. MP1 and MP2 would fill the role of either an engaged fighter (EF) whose primary responsibility is to kill the adversary, or supporting fighter (SF) whose primary responsibilities are to maintain visual and ensure

flight path de-confliction with the EF. The first engagement finished without incident. For the second engagement, MP3 approached from the north, separated by 20nm (37km). By default, MP1 was the EF and MP2 was the SF. MP1 and MP2 were headed north with MP1 left of MP2. MP3 targeted MP2, and MP1 then directed MP2 to bracket right, but did not initiate an exchange of EF and SF roles. At 14:21:03 MP2 saw MP1 for the last time before impact, 16 seconds later.

Above: The other F-16C involved in the collision, 89-2034 ‘OK’, showing a large section of the starboard outer wing sheared off, despite which it was able to land safely. USAF

At 14:21:08 MP2 stated he had merged with MP3. MP2 then took a hard left turn in an attempt to get behind MP3. MP1 saw MP2 turn but misperceived it as a right turn, away from him and accordingly focused on simulating a kill on MP3. At 14:21:16, MP2 made a request to exchange roles; MP1 then saw MA2’s belly on a rapid collision course. MP1 and MP2 collided at 14:21:19. The impact resulted in sheering off MA1’s starboard wing flaperon and horizontal tailplane, causing MP1 to lose control. MP1 successfully ejected from MA1 and landed near Moline, Kansas. MP2 landed MA2 safely at Tulsa ANGB. The Accident Investigation Board (AIB) president found, by clear and convincing evidence, the cause of the mishap was MP2’s failure to fulfill his primary responsibilities of maintaining visual and flight path de-confliction with MP1. Additionally, the AIB president found, by a preponderance of evidence, three factors substantially contributed to the mishap: 1) MP2’s failure to call ‘blind’ when he could not see MP1, 2) MP1’s misperception of MP2’s turn at the merge, and 3) MP1’s failure to initiate a role exchange when MP2 was most defensive. 

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FEBRUARY 3 - MARCH 5 2015

ATTRITION REPORT Accident Reports D: Feb 3 N: Iraqi Army Aviation Corps T: Mi-171E S: 415

This helicopter suffered a technical problem and crashed in central Samara, Northern Iraq, while it was supporting combat against Islamic State militia. Both crew were reportedly injured. D: Feb 11 N: Argentine Air Force/IV BA T: SA315B Lama S: H-67 (c/n 329M413)

This helicopter crashed on Route No 7 in the Punta de Vacas area – the crew escaped with minor injuries and were taken to Uspallata hospital. The same helicopter had previously been involved in an accident on February 7, 2005, when it made a heavy autorotational landing on the Andean border, resulting in extensive damage. It was eventually repaired and returned to service.

Above: The wreckage of Iraqi Army Aviation Corps Mi-171E 415 following its crash in central Samara, northern Iraq, on February 3. D: Feb 12 N: Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force/211 Kyoiku Kokutai T: OH-6DA S: 8781

D: Feb 11 N: Indian Army/202 Squadron T: HAL Dhruv

Both crew members were killed when this helicopter crashed in the Safopora area of Bandipora, central Kashmir. It had taken off 30 minutes earlier from its base at Manasbal for a night training sortie.

Above: Fuerza Aérea Argentina SA315B Lama H-67 after its crash on Route No 7 in the Punta de Vacas area on February 11. Below: Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) Hughes OH-6DA 8781 from 211 Kyoiku Kokutai (Air Training Squadron) takes off from its base at Kanoya on October 27, 2014. This was the helicopter which crashed on February 12, killing all three crew members on board. Aidan Curley

D: Feb 11 N: Russian Air Force/11th ORAP T: Su-24MR Fencer-E

While returning from a weather reconnaissance sortie, this aircraft crashed on approach to Marinovka Air Base in the Volgograd region. The Fencer was destroyed when it came down 4 miles (7km) short of the runway and exploded, leaving a large crater with only fragments of the tail section remaining intact. The two crew were killed.

Above: Força Aérea de Moçambique (FAM – Mozambique Air Force) An-26B-100 FA-312 following its crash on February 13 after engine failure on take-off from Quelimane Airport. The six crew escaped with minor injuries.

This helicopter had taken off at 0919hrs from Kanoya before contact was lost at around 1100hrs. A Japan Air Self-Defense Force helicopter discovered the wreckage the following day and ground teams confirmed all three on board were dead. The bodies of the two instructors were found under the wrecked fuselage, while the student had been thrown out. The helicopter had crashed into a mountain near Takishita Mountain peak, Ebino City, Miyazaki Prefecture. D: Feb 12 N: US Navy/Training Air Wing 5 T: TH-57 Sea Ranger

While landing at Naval Outlying Field Spencer, Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida, at 1710hrs, the helicopter rolled over onto its side. Both pilots escaped without serious injury but were transported to the Santa Rosa Medical Center for routine evaluation. D: Feb 13 N: Mozambique Air Force T: An-26B-100 S: FA-312

An engine failed while taking off from Quelimane Airport, Zambezia province, for a planned flight to Cuamba, Niassa province, in the north of the country. It came down about 500ft (150m) beyond the end of the runway and was substantially damaged, albeit largely intact. The six crew suffered minor injuries. The aircraft was carrying out relief flights and had been heading for an area affected by flooding.

Abbreviations: D: Date N/U: Nationality/Units T: Type S: Serials

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Moody AFB, Georgia, the nearest military installation to the crash site, responded to the accident and assisted the Georgia Forestry Commission and Echols County fire and sheriff departments which had arrived earlier. The crash site was cordoned off and military officials remained at the scene overnight. Recovery efforts continued the following morning as the debris fields were cleared and impact areas identified. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

D: Feb 13 N: US Air Force/355th FW/354th FS T: A-10C Thunderbolt II S: 81-0956 ‘DM’

While en route from Lajes Field in the Azores to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, the aircraft, callsign ‘Tabor 34’, declared an emergency over the Dutch coast and diverted to Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. On landing on Runway 22, the aircraft’s left tyre burst and it was also reported to have had brake problems with the same wheel, causing it to veer off the runway. It was escorted in by another of the unit’s A-10Cs, 81-0991 ‘DM’, which landed without incident a few minutes later on Runway 24. The latter departed for Spangdahlem the following morning. The damaged 81-0956 was moved into a hangar at Schiphol the same day for further assessment. It left for Spangdahlem on February 19. . D: Feb 14 N: Angolan Air Force T: Antonov An-32 S: T-256

While en route from Saurimo Airport, Lunda Sul to Luanda Airport, a technical failure occurred in one of the aircraft’s engines. The crew diverted to Malanje Airport, where an emergency landing was made in the dark at 2000hrs. However, with no lighting or night-time air traffic control, the An-32 ran off the runway, caught fire and was destroyed. All 47 soldiers and three crew escaped safely. D: Feb 16 N: Royal Saudi Land Forces T: UH-60 Black Hawk

This helicopter crashed during a night training exercise in the northeast of the country, killing four personnel. The accident

Above: The burnt out hulk of Angolan Air Force An-32 T-256 following its emergency landing at Malanje airport on February 14. D: Feb 20 happened in a training zone west N: Royal Thai Air Force/103 of King Khalid Military City at Squadron Hafar al-Batin. The four victims T: F-16A were Lt Col Ali al-Arfaj, 1st Lt Majid S: 10316/B.Kh.19-16/37 al-Fifeefi, 1st Lt Jadie Qablan and (USAF/91-0065)

technician Raed al-Jahni. An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the crash. The RSLF’s primary base is at King Khalid Military City, where the 1st Aviation Battalion operates the older UH-60A variant of the Black Hawk, while the 3rd Aviation Group flies the UH-60L model. It was not disclosed which variant was involved. D: Feb 17 N: Japan Ground Self-Defense Force/Central Army Helicopter Wing/Headquarters Squadron T: Kawasaki OH-1

While undertaking a training flight at Nanki-Shirahama Airport, the helicopter encountered an engine problem and ditched offshore at 1345hrs. The crew exited safely and swam 300ft (100m) to shore before the helicopter sank. It was from the Chubu Homen Herikoputatai’s (Central Army Helicopter Wing’s) Honbuzukitai (Headquarters Squadron) at Camp Yao.

During an exercise in central Thailand, this F-16A crashed, killing the pilot. The accident occurred during a weapons training flight at an RTAF training ground in Lop Buri province. The body of the pilot, Flt Lt Noppanon ‘Felid’ Niwasanon, was found in the wreckage. RTAF Air Vice Marshal Montol Suchookorn said the aircraft had been regularly maintained. D: Feb 22 N: US Marine Corps/VMFA(AW)-224 T: F/A-18D Hornet S: 162729 ‘WK-12’

During a mission from its base at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, the aircraft crashed at 1453hrs, 4½ miles (7km) east of Statenville, Echols County, Georgia. The two crew (pilot Major Roy Nicka and WSO 1st Lt Robert Reynolds) ejected, suffering only minor injuries and were taken to the South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta. Personnel from the 23rd Wing at

Above: US Marine Corps/VMFA(AW)-224 F/A-18D Hornet 162729 ‘WK-12’ at Savannah-Holton Head International Airport, Georgia, on February 21, just the day before it crashed. Colin Clark

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D: Feb 24 N: Turkish Air Force/173 Filo T: 2 x RF-4E Phantom II

Both aircraft disappeared from radar about an hour after taking off from Malatya-Erhaç Air Base in eastern Turkey for a night training mission. The wreckage of the two was discovered at around 2045hrs near the town of Akcadag in Malatya province. All four crew were confirmed dead. A mid-air collision was initially suspected, but military officials have said this was not the case. D: Feb 26 N: Iranian military T: AB-212A

This helicopter crashed in mountains near Imamzadeh Ebrahim in the Daraband region, north of Tehran, killing all three crew on board. Some media reports said the helicopter was from the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, while others have it as an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Air Force example. It had been undergoing repairs at the PANHA facility in Tehran and was on a post-overhaul test flight at the time of the accident. D: Feb 27 N: Libya Dawn (Fajr Libya) T: Unconfirmed

This fighter aircraft was reported to have crashed in Libya, just 3 miles (5km) from the Tunisian border. The Libyan National Army’s spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Masmari, said it was an Aero L-39 Albatros, modified by Libya Dawn to launch missiles, which had been shot down while trying to attack Wattiya Air Base. Libya Dawn, however, denied losing any aircraft. A photograph purporting to show the downed aircraft is clearly not an L-39, but it is difficult to identify the type.

#325 APRIL 2015 95

FEBRUARY 3 - MARCH 5 2015

ATTRITION REPORT Accident Reports

Accident Updates

Above: This photograph released on social media purportedly shows the Libya Dawn fighter that was claimed to have been shot down on February 27. Although the Libyan National Army said it was an L-39, wreckage shown here is certainly not an Albatros and the wing shape looks more like a Mirage F1 D: Feb 27 N: Tanzania Air Force Command T: F-7TN

A bird strike on take-off from Mwanza Air Base at 0940hrs caused an engine fire in this aircraft. The pilot, Major Peter Lyamunda ejected, suffering some leg injuries, before the F-7 crashed inverted in an open area and was then destroyed by fire. D: Mar 3 N: Pakistan Air Force T: Mirage V

Two crew members were killed in the crash of this aircraft in open fields in Chirra, Miran, in the Perwa Tehsil area of the northwestern district of Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The aircraft was on a routine training flight. The PAF identified the crew as Air Commodore Shafqat Mushtaq and Flt Lt Sohaib Rasheed. D: Mar 5 N: Indian Air Force T: Jaguar IS

After developing an unspecified technical problem during a routine training sortie from

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Ambala Air Force Station, the aircraft crashed in a field at 1315hrs local time near Landi village, close to Shahbad town, in the Kurukshetra district, about 75 miles (120km) from Chandigarh. The pilot, who was injured during ejection, was taken to hospital for examination and treatment by an IAF helicopter from Ambala. D: Mar 5 N: Turkish Air Force/111 Filo T: F-4E-2020 Terminator

After taking off from Eskisehir Air Base at 0900hrs local time, the aircraft crashed about an hour later in the Ortakonak area of Karatay district, Konya province, killing both crew members. The crew were identified as Mustafa Tanis¸ and Mustafa Delikanli. This was the second fatal Turkish Phantom crash in less than two weeks, after two Turkish RF-4Es crashed on February 24, killing all four crew members - see earlier report on previous page.  Additional material from: Donny Chan, Scramble/Dutch Aviation Society and Asagiri Yohko.

Above: The inverted and burnt out hulk of the Tazania Air Force Command F7TN following its crash on February 27.

October 26, 2009: The US Army/3-160th SOAR MH-47G that crashed in Afghanistan which killed ten and injured 26 others was 04-03747. (December 2009) February 10, 2010: The Pakistan Army Aviation Corps AH-1F Cobra that crashed in the Khyber Federally Administered Tribal Areas of northwest Pakistan was 786-034. (April 2010) May 26, 2011: US Army AH-64D Apache from C Company, 1-4th AVNthat crashed in Afghanistan was 04-15424. (August 2011) April 19, 2012: The US Army Black Hawk that crashed in Afghanistan, killing all four on board, was UH-60L 90-26206 from 2-25th AVN. (June/July 2012) August 16, 2012: The US Army Black Hawk that crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing four personnel was a UH-60L from Company A, 2-25th AVN, callsign ‘Ozzie 72’ and serial reported as 90-26584. This is not a known Black Hawk serial and it is suspected that 94-26584 may be the correct serial. (October 2012) December 5, 2012: The Mexican Navy/Escuela de Aviación Naval Zlin 242L that crashed southeast of La Paz was AME-400 (c/n 0749). (February 2013) March 11, 2013: The US Army/3rd Combat Aviation Brigade/B Company/4-3rd AVN UH-60L Black Hawk that crashed outside Kandahar City, Afghanistan, killing all five on board was 90-26270 (May 2013) April 9, 2013: The US Army/B/1104th AVN AH-64D Apache that crashed in Nangarhar Province, eastern Afghanistan, killing the two crew was 09-05636, callsign ‘Gun 23’. (June 2013) April 23, 2013: The fuselage of hail-damaged Royal Air Force/32 (The Royal) Squadron BAe125 CC3 ZD704 was noted leaving RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, on November 20, 2013, for MOD St Athan, having just been airfreighted back from Kandahar. After some time in storage there, it had moved to Hawarden, Cheshire, by January 2015 and with the retirement of the RAF 125 fleet at the end of March 2015, it will not be repaired. (December 2013) November 4, 2013: The US Navy/ VT-86 T-45C Goshawk that crashed at NAS Pensacola, Florida, was 165075 ‘F-600’. The USN have now confirmed that the aircraft is a write-off. (December 2013)

December 17, 2013: The US Army/B Company, 3-1st AVN Black Hawk that crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing six personnel, was UH-60M 09-20186, callsign ‘Arrowsmith 35’. (February 2014) January 15, 2014: The US Army/C/3-160th SOAR Black Hawk that crash landed at Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Georgia, was UH-60M 05-20005 (March 2014) February 15, 2014: Identities of the ten P-3 Orions damaged in the collapse of the Nippi Corporation hangar in Yamato City, adjacent to Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, are now known. They were USN P-3Cs: 159329 ‘LL-329’ (VP-30), 159503 ‘503’ (VP-1), 160283 ‘283’ (no marks, last reported with VP-45) and 161338 ‘338’ (VP-8). JMSDF: P-3Cs 5044 (1 Kokutai), 5066 (2 Koutai) and 5077 (5 Kokutai), plus OP-3C 9133 (81 Kokutai), UP-3D 9161 (91 Kokutai) and EP-3 9174 (81 Kokutai). It was confirmed on May 5, 2014, by the USN that three of the four P-3Cs are total losses, but damage to the fourth was still being assessed at that time. The serials of the three total losses are not yet confirmed. Damage to the JMSDF aircraft remains unconfirmed. (April 2014) April 25, 2014: The Ukraine Army Mi-8MT destroyed on the ground at Kramatorsk Airport is believed to have been ‘55 Yellow’ from the 16 obrAA at Brody. (June 2014) April 25, 2014: The An-2 that was destroyed on the ground at Kramatorsk Airport was UR-ABAB (c/n 1G108-17, ex ‘01’ DOSAAF) from the Ukraine TSOU, the Ukraine equivalent of the DOSAAF. (June 2014) May 3, 2014: The US Army/B Company, 3-82nd Combat Aviation Brigade CH-47F which crashed near Orogrande, New Mexico, was 06-08026. Investigation found that while in the process of a nightvision goggle, two-wheel pinnacle landing at 6,200ft (1,890m) above mean sea level the rear main rotors contacted adjacent terrain, the helicopter rolled several times and was then consumed by a post-crash fire. It was found that the crew had allowed the helicopter to drift forward of the intended landing area to a location that did not allow sufficient clearance for the rear rotor. (July 2014) May 19, 2014: The Zambian Air Force MFI-15 that crashed was 9J-RCE, not AF-516. (July 2014 and February 2015) 

Abbreviations: D: Date N/U: Nationality/Units T: Type S: Serials

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