Combat Aircraft Monthly 2014-05.pdf

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US BUDGET PLANS
YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE
North AmericA’s Best-selliNg militAry AviAtioN mAgAziNe
PLUS
PILOT PROFILE
‘RED FLAG’ ACTION
Vol 15, No 5 | www.combataircraft.net
REAPER
EAGLES
F-15C EAGLE SQUADRON’S BALTIC
CALL-UP AS IT FACES THE AXE
IN THE
NEWS
US BUDGET REQUESTS:
LEADERS FACE TOUGH DECISIONS
A-10 AND U-2 FLEETS FACE THE AXE
FIRST F-35 ARRIVES AT LUKE AFB
CRISIS IN CRIMEA: LATEST NEWS
ExclusivE
May 2014
UK £4.30
MARINE F-35B UNIT
VMFA-121 ‘GREEN KNIGHTS’
UKRAINE UNDER THREAT?
‘FULCRUM’ FORCE EVALUATED
COLD LAKE’S HORNET FORCE
•
SPECIAL OPS OSPREYS
•
USAF FIRST ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTOR PILOTS
34
PILOT PROFILE: ‘RED FLAG’
— FROM THE COCKPIT
Jamie Hunter meets RAF Typhoon pilot
Flt Lt Scott Holliday-Stevens as No 6
Squadron participates in ‘Red Flag’
What’s inside
66
SPECIAL REPORT:
CRISIS In CRIMEA
The rapid pace of developments in
the Crimean crisis caught most of the
international community off guard. Home
to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the peninsula
has for some time been a potential
flashpoint of tension. Alexander Golz,
Stefan Büttner and Patrick Roegies assess
the situation
After Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force
received the biggest inheritance from the
Soviet air forces following the dissolution
of the USSR. Babak Taghvaee analyses the
MiG-29s that continue to soldier on in
Ukraine
Vol 15, No 5 May 2014
news
HEADLInE nEWS
US nEWS
WORLD nEWS
38
‘FAIP’ FLYERS
Within the US Air Force’s Air Education and
Training Command, the 12th Flying Training
Wing is a unique organization. Gary Wetzel
reports on the IP training program from
Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph
6
12
Fiscal Year 2015 and long-term
budgets call for cutbacks in overall
force levels; A-10 and U-2 fleets are
offered up for retirement by the USAF
72
UKRAInE’S DEFEnDERS
44
SPECIAL REPORT: ‘MIGHTY
DRAGOn’ — FACELIFTED
Andreas Rupprecht provides the latest
updates on China’s J-20, the latest prototype
of which reveals some interesting and
potentially significant changes
F-35 arrives at Luke AFB, US Navy
eyes additional EA-18G Growlers, and
all the latest unit and deployment
news
46
LUFTWAFFE TORnADO
EVOLUTIOn
78
OSPREY SHARPEnS
ITS TALOnS
Boasting the latest German Tornado
capability standards, TaktLwG 33 has a
particularly important place within the
Luftwaffe. Alexander Golz and Stefan
Büttner detail the unit’s precision ground
attack mission
The revolutionary Osprey tilt-rotor has had
its fair share of detractors. Now, however,
the V-22 is proving its worth with Air Force
Special Operations Command, as
Robert F. Dorr describes
88
COLD LAKE HORnETS
50
CEnTERSPREAD:
OREGOn AGGRESSOR
An exclusive image from Jim Haseltine of
the Oregon ANG’s 173rd Fighter Wing F-15C
Eagle with hybrid aggressor markings
Neil Pearson travels to 4 Wing Cold Lake
to report on the Royal Canadian Air Force’s
CF-188 operations at what is Canada’s largest
fighter base
Combat Aircraft’s
monthly column reporting
from the front line of aerospace technology,
by David Axe
20
24
Iranian F-14 Tomcats return to
service, Australia goes for MQ-4C
Triton and Singapore chooses
A330 MRTT
EUROPE nEWS
A400M air-drop trials progress,
Croatian ‘Fishbeds’ stuck in Ukraine
and Bulgarian MiG-21s back in action
96
CUTTInG EDGE
PLUS:
In-depth coverage of the US military budget
plans, Robert F. Dorr’s Front Line column and all the
latest military Losses
52
UnIT REPORT:
‘GREEn KnIGHTS’
Gary Wetzel visits VMFA-121 and discovers
how its F-35Bs are moving toward an initial
operating capability target of July 2015
Subscribe to
Combat Aircraft Monthly
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60
EXERCISE REPORT:
ICELAnD AIR MEET 2014
During the latest Icelandic Air Policing
mission, the Royal Norwegian Air Force
yal
teamed up with two Nordic partners for the
Iceland Air Meet. Frank Crébas was there
30
EXERCISE
REPORT:
RED FLAG GOES
INTERNATIONAL
Following last month’s coverage
of the first ‘Red Flag’ exercise
of the year at Nellis AFB, in
February, the USAF rolled
almost straight into a March
event, aimed more at the
international community.
Jamie Hunter
62
FACT FILE:
AEW THE BRAzILIAn WAY
W
Sérgio Santana outlines the Embraer EMB-145
airborne early warning and control aircraft
‘Reaper’ Eagles — RAF Lakenheath’s 493rd FS
is in the news. The squadron is playing a key
role in the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission
in tough times, and is also slated to disband
under the latest USAF budget plans.
Jamie Hunter
Combat Edge
tough
love
No-one likes seeing an aircraft type retired. The pain is being felt in
the A-10 community, as the type is once again in line for extinction.
Jamie Hunter
CONTRIBUTOR
PROFILE
GARY WETZEL
ary Wetzel is an aviation
photographer and writer
who lives in Phoenix,
Arizona. Even though Gary spent
years serving on board US Navy
submarines, his fascination with
military aviation never waned,
especially when it comes to the
A-10 Thunderbolt II. He is
currently finishing his second
G
book detailing A-10 combat
operations in Afghanistan, ‘A-10
Thunderbolt II Units of
Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’
Part Two: 2008-14’.
Gary has two lead features in this
issue, and he made the most of his
chance to photograph the Marines’
newest fighter, the F-35B, from a
KC-130J in near-perfect conditions.
4
May 2014
www.combataircraft.net
This
Month
NO EASY DECISIONS
T
he US Air Force is the finest
in the world, and we need to
keep it that way,’ said Gen Mark
A. Welsh iii, the service’s top
officer, as he explained his fiscal
year 2015 budget request.
in his presentation to the house Armed
Services Committee, he was keen to stress,
‘every major decision reflected in our budget
proposal hurts. There are no more easy cuts.’
But Welsh knows that he must cut people
and force structure to avoid another knee-
jerk grounding as was enforced last year. he
knows that his strike fighter force is potent,
and also that his top-end air superiority
fighter force is under-subscribed.
Welsh is well aware of the pivot away
from counter-insurgency and the
real need to equip for a near-peer
confrontation. Fighters being called
upon to secure air superiority
is clearly becoming a greater
concern. Like his fellow
senior commanders, Welsh
is determined to save his
big-ticket programs:
the F-35 Lightning ii
and the KC-46.
Gen Welsh’s first operational billet was in
W
the A-10, so it must be a bitter pill for him to
have to recommend culling the ‘Warthog’. he
says that the USAF looked at many options
in reducing the fleet, with the F-16 Fighting
Falcon and F-15e Strike eagle forces both
being ‘on the table’. But, he said, cutting the
A-10 provided the best value with the least loss
of aircraft. it is the ‘lowest-risk option from an
operational perspective’ and the ‘right decision
from a military perspective’, he asserted.
it will force the USAF to perform the close
air support mission with different, and
perhaps not optimal, aircraft.
This is not the first time the A-10 has been
on the block. however, this time the USAF
has been smart with its plans. Congress will
be able to see that the men and women from
the redundant A-10 squadrons will find new
roles with associate unit agreements and a
movement of F-16s into the A-10 slots.
With the need for cuts having been clearly
voiced, maybe it’s time for increased cross-
service thinking, rather than narrowly-focused
single-service reviews. There is clear capability
overlap in the US military — perhaps
clearer role allocations could reduce
this, and maximize the potential of
important assets.
Anyone in the US
Army want A-10s?
Jamie Hunter,
Editor
E-mail: jamie.hunter@
keypublishing.com
www.combataircraft.net
May 2014
5

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