AirForces Monthly 2016-08.pdf

(28634 KB) Pobierz
UK'S TESTING TIMES - NEW KIT FOR ALL
AUGUST 2016
ISSUE #341
F35 Finally Arrives
Appears at RIAT and Farnborough
Officially the World's NUMBER ONE Authority on Military Aviation | www.airforcesmonthly.com
FLAG
EXERCISES
Red Flag
in Alaska
Turkey's
Red Flag
Frisian Flag
A more capable
and efficient force
French
Army
Aviation
FORCE
REPORT
First from Farnborough
B-52s back in the UK
NEWS
RIAT Report
Super Hornets New Swords
Down Under for the Saudis
Australia's battle
proven warriors
Boeing F-15SA -
The best ever Eagle
UK £4.80
www.airforcesmonthly.com
CONTENTS
August Issue 341
68
New Swords
for the Saudis
News
38
Testing Times
All the world’s military
aviation news, by region.
4-5
Headlines
6-9
United Kingdom - RIAT
10-13 United Kingdom
14-19 Continental Europe
20-28 North America
29
Latin America
30-31 Africa
32
Middle East
33-35 Asia Pacific
36
Australasia/Contracts
The UK’s air arms are expecting
to bring a wealth of new
types into service over the
next decade. Tim Ripley
looks at the challenges that
will need to be overcome.
European Air-to-Air Refuelling
Training initiative at Eindhoven
which ran parallel to Frisian Flag.
anniversary of the arrival of
Australia’s first F/A-18F Super
Hornets at Amberley. Now,
with all 24 aircraft operational,
the jet has participated in a
wide range of exercises and
deployed operations. As Nigel
Pittaway reports, the next
phase in Australia’s Super
Hornet story is beginning
with the EA-18G Growler.
64
Aztec Super Cougar
42
EXERCISE REPORT
Anatolian Eagle 2016-2
Erwan de Cherisey examines
the Super Cougar in Mexican
service, revealing its important
Special Forces, SAR and
VIP transport roles.
FREE DVD
Alan Warnes spent three days
at Konya Air Base in June to
see how the Turkish Air Force
runs Anatolian Eagle, its version
of the USAF’s Red Flag.
68
New Swords for
the Saudis
Claim your FREE Airbus A400M
First Years DVD when you take out
a 2-year or Direct Debit subscrip-
tion to
AirForces Monthly.
See
pages 26 and 27 for details.
50
EXERCISE REPORT
Red Flag Alaska 16-1
The latest and most capable Eagle,
Saudi Arabia’s F-15SA, is coming
off the production line, while the
F-15S continues to fly combat
missions. David C Isby reports.
84
FORCE REPORT
French Army Aviation
The Indian Air Force made a
memorable contribution to
the first Red-Alaska exercise
of the year. Alexander
Mladenov reports.
72
The Warfighters’
Desert Oasis
56
EXERCISE REPORT
Frisian Flag 2016
Kees van der Mark reports on
the large-scale exercise hosted
by Leeuwarden Air Base in
the Netherlands. In a second
report the author observes the
Famous as the winter training
ground of the Blue Angels,
Naval Air Facility El Centro is
most importantly a centre
of naval aviation training.
Joe Copalman reports.
The Aviation Légère de l’Armée de
Terre (ALAT) plays a crucial role in
combat against terror groups in
Africa. It is undergoing a major
reorganisation that will leave
France with a more powerful and
more efficient rotary force, as
Henri-Pierre Grolleau explains.
90 Attrition
AFM’s
Dave Allport reports on the
world’s latest military accidents.
78
Super Hornets
Down Under
94 Debrief
Reviews of recently published
books on military aviation.
March marked the sixth
56
EXERCISE REPORT
Frisian Flag 2016
96
AIRSHOW REPORT
RNAS Yeovilton
AFM’s
Glenn Sands reports
on the 2016 International
Air Day at RNAS Yeovilton.
97 Base Watch
A snapshot of recent military
visitors to air bases around
the UK and abroad.
98 Comment
AFM’s
view on military aviation.
Cover:
The UK’s F-35B ZM137
(BK-3) is seen over the coast
of Iceland during its nine-
hour trans-Atlantic trail on
June 29 to RAF Fairford.
MOD Crown Copyright
www.airforcesdaily.com
#341
AUGUST 2016
3
ARTICLE SUMMARY
NEWS
HEADLINES
UK F-35B Finally
AFM’s
Alan Warnes
reports on the F-35’s
historic deployment
to the UK.
Arrives in UK
The future of UK air power. The three F-35Bs were joined by a pair of 1(F) Sqn Typhoons over the Irish Sea while en route to RAF Fairford.
All photos, Crown Copyright unless stated
F-35Bs arrive June 29
Serial
ZM137/
(BK-3)
168726/
VM-18
168727/
VM-19
Unit
UK/
VMFAT-501
USMC/
VMFAT-501
USMC/
VMFAT-501
Callsign
‘Tabor 01’
‘Tabor 03’
‘Tabor 02’
T
WO YEARS after its
failed attempt to get
to the UK, the F-35B
Lightning II finally made its
long-awaited appearance in
British skies during late June.
Three F-35Bs arrived at RAF
Fairford, Gloucestershire, in failing
light and rain on June 29, after a
nine-hour flight from their base at
MCAS Beaufort in South Carolina.
They stayed at the USAF facility
throughout their proposed three-
week stay, making appearances at
the Royal International Air Tattoo
(RIAT), which ran from July 8 to 10,
and Farnborough International
Air Show (FIAS) from July 11
to 17. Both events included
impressive role-demonstrations.
To Scotland
The transatlantic crossing took
ten hours – two of the F-35Bs
are seen here over Iceland.
The F-35Bs had two days’
maintenance after their long
journeys, but July 1 saw a pair
fly up to Rosyth, Scotland,
where they performed a
formation flypast over the Royal
Navy’s new aircraft carrier,
HMS
Queen Elizabeth,
which
will be launched next year,
and HMS
Prince of Wales.
The head of the Fleet Air Arm,
Rear Admiral Keith Blount
OBE, said: “Today marks a
significant milestone in the
nation’s return to aircraft carrier
aviation and carrier strike.
“Both ships have been designed
from the keel up to operate
with the F-35B, and the RAF and
Royal Navy are working ever
closer to see fixed-wing aircraft
once more operating from Royal
Navy aircraft carriers. I feel
very proud to be part of it.”
4
AUGUST 2016
#341
www.airforcesmonthly.com
ARTICLE SUMARY
Visit
www.airforcesdaily.com
and subscribe for daily news stories.
E-mail the news team at
milnews@keypublishing.com
Touch down! The first UK F-35B to touch down on UK soil arrives at RAF Fairford during the evening of June 29.
Lockheed Martin
The carriers will provide more
than 4 acres (16,200m
2
) of
sovereign territory that can be
deployed around the world,
travelling in excess of 500nm
(925km) a day. Both are capable
of carrying up to 36 F-35Bs.
GREENLAND
ICELAND
Keflavík
Narsarsuaq
CANADA
Then RAF Marham
The pair, ZM137 and 168727/
‘VM-19’, then headed down to
RAF Marham, Norfolk and linked
up with a specially marked
617 Sqn Tornado GR4 for their
first appearance at the base.
It will be home to the F-35
Lightning Force, and will see
the first aircraft, operated by
617 Sqn, arrive in April 2018.
Many of the base personnel
came out to the airfield to see
the jet fly by, including Lightning
Force Commander Air Cdre
Harvey Smyth and OC (Designate)
617 Sqn, Wg Cdr John Butcher.
Lightning II 168727/‘VM-19’,
flown by Sqn Ldr Hugh Nichols,
then made a touch-and-go
Glasgow
UK
Fairford
London
Atlantic Ocean
Gander
Halifax
USA
New York
York
Westfield Barnes
PAX
River
NAS Beaufort
F-35B’s Primary Diversion Airfields
Point of departure – MCAS Beaufort, South
Carolina (USA), NAS Patuxent River, Maryland
(USA), Westfield Barnes Regional Airport,
Massachusetts (USA), Halifax International
(Canada), Gander International (Canada),
Narsarsuaq (Greenland), Keflavik (Iceland),
Prestwick (Scotland), RAF Fairford (England).
Above:
The RAF’s Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford
was at RAF Fairford to greet Sqn Ldr Nichols. The CAS said seeing the F-35Bs
arrive was one of the highlights of his four years in office.
Left:
The three
pilots who flew the jets: Lt Col Richard ‘BC’ Rusnok (USMC), Major Jack ‘Norm’
Cronan (USMC) and the RAF’s Sqn Ldr Hugh Nichols. All previously flew the
AV-8B/Harrier GR9. The two USMC pilots are part of VMX-1, the USMC’s F-35B
operational evaluation unit at Edwards AFB, where they work with four
F-35Bs.
Lockheed Martin
www.airforcesdaily.com
#341
AUGUST 2016
5

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin