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28 PAGES OF NEWS
- COLOMBIAN GUNSLINGERS
APRIL 2015
ISSUE #325
Officially the World's
NUMBER ONE
Authority on Military Aviation | www.airforcesmonthly.com
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2015
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
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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
News
All the world’s military
aviation news, by region.
Headlines
4-5
United Kingdom
6-7
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
Contracts
35
Force Report ROCAF
50
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.
Dutch
Wildcats
in Atalanta
70
56
FAC A-29 Super Tucano
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
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.
62
AIRCRAFT PROFILE
Fairchild Aircraft C-26
Metroliner
Tom Kaminski provides an update
on the status of the C-26 Metroliner
within the US Armed Forces.
46
EXERCISE REPORT
DACT Gando 2015
70
Dutch Wildcats
in Atalanta
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.
Stephan de Bruijn/Bluelifeavition.nl
looks back at the Dutch Helicopter
Command’s historic deployment
of two AS 532 Cougars.
78
Darts over Europe
50
FORCE REPORT
Republic of China
Air Force
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.
Gert Kromhout and Stephan
de Bruijn recently visited
Taiwan to bring
AFM
up-to-
date on what’s happening in
the Republic of China Air
Force.
84
BRIEFINGS
Carrier Air Wing Five: Part II
As the US Navy’s sole forward-
deployed 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.
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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
www.airforcesdaily.com
#325 APRIL 2015
3
NEWS
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
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 TNI-
AU also operates F-16s and Hawks
in the combat role.
Alan Warnes
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
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.
4
APRIL 2015 #325
www.airforcesmonthly.com
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Egypt Signs First Rafale Export Order
UK Defence
EGYPT HAS become the first
various weapons for the Rafales.
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
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.
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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
www.airforcesdaily.com
#325 APRIL 2015
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