Combat Aircraft Monthly 2016-02.pdf

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S
LL A
SHOO
‘ FE
FU
CER’
N
IA
ALYSI
D
S
OWN
RUSSIA’S STRATEGIC STRIKES
YR
N
T
BRITISH TYPHOONS JOIN THE FIGHT
Volume
17
• Number
2
AMERICA’S BEST SELLING MILITARY AVIATION MAGAZINE
‘BLACKJACK’
co
m
ba
ta
irc
ra
ft.
ne
t
ATTACK
Russia’s mighty
TYPHOON • F-35B • P-8 poseidon
INTERVIEW WITH SENIOR RAF OFFICER
boost for
UK air power
T
U
-160
in detail
IN THE
NEWS:
RAFALE
ON THE
FRONT
LINE
A FORCE IN TRANSITION
super hornets for
blue angels?
CHINA ORDERS NEW
‘FLANKERS’
USAF FIGHTERS
RICHTHOFEN
EUROFIGHTER EXPANSION
RED
TAILS
OVER ALABAMA
EMBRAER SUPER TUCANO VS
BEECHCRAFT AT-6 WOLVERINE
FEBRUARY 2016
UK £4.50
February 2016
• Vol 17 • No 2
30
Piotr Butowski presents a timely review of the
Tu-160 ‘Blackjack’ as it makes its combat debut
IN THE NEWS
6 HEADLINE NEWS
8 US NEWS
Boeing ends C-17 production, RAF Typhoons
in Syria action and China buys Su-35
Super Tucano meets the Wolverine
INDUSTRY REPORT
LIGHT ATTACK:
82
70
‘RICHTHOFEN’ ON THE RISE
The Taktische Luftwaffengruppe ‘Richthofen’
is currently still subordinate to Taktisches
Luftwaffengeschwader 31 ‘Boelcke’, but
the Eurofighter unit is looking forward to
regaining its independence in 2016, as
Stefan Petersen describes
SUPER TUCANO
Blue Angels set to receive Super Hornets and
all the latest unit and deployments news
Santiago Rivas explores Embraer’s
highly-capable Super Tucano, one of
the most popular advanced trainers
and light attack aircraft in service today
78
BUDDY WING
14 WORLD NEWS
News from Europe and around the globe
including Argentina’s Mirage farewell, plus
all the latest military losses
Training between the Republic of Korea Air
Force and the United States Air Force is a
near-daily occurrence in the Korean theatre.
Jake Melampy investigates one such training
program — known as ‘Buddy Wing’
96
CUTTING EDGE
20
Combat Aircraft’s
monthly column reporting
from the front line of aerospace technology,
by David Axe
90
HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLVERINE
Though Embraer claims that its A-29 Super Tucano is the most successful turboprop light attack
and advanced training aircraft on the market, it has strong competition in the shape of the
Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine. Jon Lake reports
COMBAT REPORT:
RUSSIA’S SYRIA MISSION
Combat Aircraft
evaluates November’s Su-24
‘Fencer’ shoot-down by a Turkish F-16 and the
recent strategic missions over Syria
40
RAFALE ON THE
FRONT LINE
Henri-Pierre Grolleau details how the
Dassault Rafale has been at the forefront of
French combat operations in Africa and the
Middle East
46
RED TAILS OVER ALABAMA
Jamie Hunter meets the 187th Fighter Wing,
a proud and famous unit flying some of
the oldest F-16s in the US Air Force. With
exclusive images from Jim Haseltine
54
A FORCE IN TRANSITION
Despite its push for an all-stealth fighter
fleet, the US Air Force will need to maintain
its older fighters for the foreseeable future, to
re-evaluate longer-term plans and be open
to some radical options, as Jamie Hunter
argues
PLUS
Our ‘Under the Radar’ column details the
UK defense review
SAVE
Subscribe to
Combat
Aircraft Monthly
and
make great savings on
cover price.
See pages
60
and
61
for details.
SUBSCRIBE AND
ON THE COVER:
The mighty ‘Blackjack’. In this issue we
review Russia’s Tu-160 strategic bomber
as it makes it combat debut.
Sergey Krivchikov
62
UK AIR POWER
Jamie Hunter meets Air Vice-Marshal Gary
Waterfall to discuss how the recent Strategic
Defence and Security Review (SDSR) made
huge strides for British combat air power
COMBAT EDGE |
FIND US ON
The US Marine Corps theoretically has
an IOC-declared F-35B squadron at its
disposal and ready to deploy should
the mission require it.
Jamie Hunter
Inset:
Piotr Butowski in the cockpit of a
Tu-160 in 1991.
via Piotr Butowski
04
A
AIR POWER
UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Looking ahead to 2016 there will be
several milestones, not least the US Air
Force’s plan to declare initial operating
capability (IOC) with the F-35A in the
summer. The arrival of advanced Russian
surface-to-air missile systems in Syria has
led some to suggest that now is the
perfect time to press the F-35 into
combat action. Dodging advanced
integrated air defense networks is what
the F-35 is all about. Indeed, the US
Marine Corps has already declared IOC
with the F-35B, but continues to operate
AV-8B Harrier IIs in the Operation
‘Inherent Resolve’ theater.
IOC signals that a type could be
deployed for combat if required. Surely, if
there was a pressing requirement to
deploy F-35s, then it would and could
happen. It would seriously mess with the
careful plans that are in place to establish
and deploy squadrons, but it should be
feasible. We must
therefore surmise that the
operational imperative does not
warrant the involvement of the
Marines’ newest ghters, and that
politicians and military leaders have
received su cient reassurance that the
lethal 400km-range S-400s do not pose a
threat.
To keep track of the latest breaking
news and analysis in the world of military
air power, you can visit our social media
sites and our website:
www.combataircraft.net
S I WRITE my nal
editorial of 2015,
military air power is
arguably seeing its
most intense level of
public interest and
expert scrutiny in decades.
From the beyond visual range (BVR)
air-to-air ‘kill’ of a Russian Su-24 ‘Fencer’, to
long-range strategic strikes by Russian
bombers, and the British vote to join the
o ensive air campaign in Syria — this is all
front-page news.
For the likes of
Combat Aircraft,
it means
bringing you the expert opinion and
analysis behind the headlines, cutting
through the inaccuracies of mainstream
journalism to provide facts and valuable
views. The ability of our writers to discuss
pertinent topics with senior o cers and
end-users, as well as with industry, helps
to o er that balanced opinion.
Jamie Hunter,
Editor
E-mail: jamie.hunter@keypublishing.com
www.combataircraft.net
February 2016
FEBRUARY 2016
| COMBAT EDGE
CONTRIBUTOR
PROFILE PIOTR BUTOWSKI
A
lways
interested in
aviation, Piotr
Butowski has
been a published aviation
writer since 1978. In 1990
he became a full-time
aviation writer and
journalist specializing in Soviet/
Russian aviation history. Currently he is
focused on the present and future status
of Russian air power, aviation industry and
technology. He has visited most Russian
aircraft design bureaus, many production
plants and some military air bases, and
fortunately speaks uent Russian.
05
February 2016
www.combataircraft.net

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