Combat Aircraft - September 2016.pdf

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EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON
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Volume
17
• Number
9
RAYTHEON
SPELLS OUT T-X PLANS
AMERICA’S BEST SELLING MILITARY AVIATION MAGAZINE
LIGHTNING
STRIKES THE UK
Stunning debut for
F-35A and F-35B
co
m
ba
ta
irc
ra
ft.
ne
t
USAF
READIES
FOR
F-35A IOC
BRAZIL’S OLYMPIC DEFENDERS
MARINE TOP GUNS
Dogfighting at the Marine
Division Tactics Course
RAF
TORNADO
MASTERS
SEPTEMBER 2016
UK £4.50
September 2016
• Vol 17 • No 9
44
Follow the F-35A/Bs that spent July at two major airshows
to mark the type’s UK debut
IN THE NEWS
06 Headline News
An exclusive report on July’s coup
attempt in Turkey, plus UK orders for the
P-8 and AH-64E
KC-46 passes Milestone C ight test, plus
latest F-35 news and all the latest unit
and deployment news
News from Europe and around the globe
including details of the rst air strikes by
Iraqi L-159s, plus a round-up of recent
military losses
James Deboer visits the Marine Division Tactics
Course, which provides US Marine Corps F/A-18
Hornet pilots and weapon systems o cers with
a graduate-level course to hone their air-to-air
ghting skills
MARINE TOPGUN
82
78
SO LONG, WARRIOR!
Retired from French Navy service in July, the
Super Étendard was a modest aircraft with a
brilliant operational career. Frédéric Lert recalls
a jet that was a true warrior, and which left its
mark on nearly 40 years of French overseas
commitments
With its out-of-service date now looming
large in 2019, Jamie Hunter visits the Tornado
GR4 quali ed weapons instructor course now
under way at No XV (Reserve) Squadron, as
well as the last ever ab initio course on the
type
Combat Aircraft’s
monthly column reporting
from the front line of aerospace technology,
by David Axe
08 US News
90
TORNADO MASTERS
24 World News
96
CUTTING EDGE
32
EYEING IOC
As the US Air Force nears initial operational
capability (IOC) with the F-35A, Thomas
Newdick looks at some of the nal hurdles
that are being overcome in the lead-up to
this landmark declaration
38
STORMING AHEAD
At the United Kingdom’s Farnborough
International Airshow in July, Euro ghter,
BAE Systems and Leonardo-Finmeccanica
spelled out the latest strides being made
by the Typhoon. Jamie Hunter details them
52
BRAZIL’S OLYMPIC
DEFENDERS
Although the force was established only
relatively recently, the enthusiastic and
proud soldiers of Brazilian Army Aviation
will be called upon as the main protectors of
Rio’s 2016 Olympic Games. Cees-Jan van der
Ende joins them as they prepare
60
THE ‘FLANKER’ FAMILY:
PART TWO
In the concluding part of his feature on the
latest variants of Sukhoi’s Su-27 family, Piotr
Butowski sheds light on Russian Air Force
upgrades, the carrier-capable Su-33, and the
ultimate Su-35 ‘Super Flanker’
68
60 YEARS OF THE
LUFTWAFFE
Stefan Petersen presents a pictorial tribute to
the German Luftwa e, which celebrated its
60th anniversary in June
70
HIGH, HOT AND HEAVY
SCHOOLHOUSE
For rotary-wing pilots looking to polish their
skills while operating in con ned spaces at
high-altitude, Colorado’s High-Altitude Army
National Guard Aviation Training Site is a rst
port of call, as Frank Crébas/Bluelife Aviation
discovers
Flying the F-4 Phantom II with the Hellenic
Air Force is the preserve of pilots who
perform at the highest level. Andrea Avian
spoke with some of Greece’s last ‘Rhino’
drivers
PLUS
Special reports on the Raytheon T-100, the
Farnborough International Airshow, and
exercises ‘Maple Flag’ and ‘Işık’
SAVE
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Combat
Aircraft Monthly
and
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cover price.
See pages
18
and
19
for details.
SUBSCRIBE AND
76
RHINO RIDERS
Lightning Force — two of the F-35Bs
detached to the UK in July break for the
camera during a mission own from RAF
Fairford.
Jamie Hunter
ON THE COVER:
COMBAT EDGE |
FIND US ON
W
04
THE JURY’S STILL OUT ON T-X
E ARE MID
YEAR, yet
still two of
the leading
contenders
for the
biggest ticket in military aviation are no
closer to revealing any details. T-X, the
US Air Force’s contest to replace at least
350 T-38 Talons, is set to transform the
lead-in ghter trainer market. At July’s
Farnborough International Airshow only
the Raytheon/Leonardo team briefed
reporters on the T-100, the variant of the
M-346 being o ered for the competition.
Lockheed Martin was saying little of
its T-50, except that it too represents a
mature, proven option for the USAF.
Boeing/Saab and Northrop Grumman/
BAE Systems are both staying tight-
lipped about their ‘clean-sheet’ designs.
They’re saying nothing.
Boeing is treating its joint design
with Saab as ‘top-secret’. The shrouded
component that was seen leaving
Sweden last month may have been
a major fuselage section heading for
St Louis. With the formal request for
proposals set to be issued by the USAF
toward the end of this year, and a down-
select by the end of 2017, it is only a
matter of time before the new designs
break cover.
No one really expects a y-o for
the down-select, but presumably,
by keeping designs and associated
synthetic solutions close to their chest,
the two ‘clean-sheet’ designs are likely
to appear at the last minute, to avoid
giving the competition any time to
tweak their o erings. One thing is for
certain: there can be no excuse for not
having perfectly tailored clean-sheet
aircraft. While the M-346 and T-50
training solutions are advanced by
current standards, one can only surmise
that the two clandestine types may
rewrite the rule book yet further when
it comes to advanced ying training. We
wait with bated breath…
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.
You can also sign up for our free e-mail
newsletter by going to
www.combataircraft.net to register.
Jamie Hunter,
Editor
E-mail: jamie.hunter@keypublishing.com
Lockheed Martin’s T-50A looks
like an F-16, and ies like an
F-16, but does it o er a low
enough price point to meet T-X
aspirations?
Lockheed Martin
www.combataircraft.net
September 2016
SEPTEMBER 2016
| COMBAT EDGE
05
CONTRIBUTOR
PROFILE CEES JAN VAN DER ENDE
ees-Jan van der Ende — or
CJ, as many call him — has
worked for more than
two years on his ground-
breaking feature on Brazilian Army
Aviation for
Combat Aircraft.
Due to his
location in the Netherlands, traveling
back and forward to Brazil isn’t all that
C
easy. For this project CJ went to
Brazil four times, receiving all possible
help and co-operation from sta o cers
and crews in support. Cees-Jan says
that he enjoyed every moment of the
preparation and execution of this special
feature, and he hopes that the readers
enjoy the result in this issue.
September 2016
www.combataircraft.net

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