Combat Aircraft Monthly - February 2014, Tygodniki, prasa, magazyny

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SPECIAL ISSUE
F-16 AT 40
FLY-BY-WIRE F-15SA
FLY-BY-WIRE F-15SA
FLIGHT TEST REPORT
FLY-BY-WIRE F-15SA
FLIGHT TEST REPORT
North AmericA’s Best-selliNg militAry Av i AtioN mAgAziNe
Vol 15, No 2 | www.combataircraft.net
THE
MIGHTY
IN THE
IN THE
IN THE
NEWS:
VIPER
NEWS:
‘SHINY TWO’ SET TO BECOME
RAF TYPHOON SQUADRON
LAST USAF QF-4 DELIVERED
USAF F-35A BASING ANNOUNCED
NEWS:
‘SHINY TWO’ SET TO BECOME
RAF TYPHOON SQUADRON
LAST USAF QF-4 DELIVERED
USAF F-35A BASING ANNOUNCED
VIPER
COMBA
T AIRCR
AFT P AY
S TRIBUT
E TO TH
E
F-16 40
YEARS
AFTER I
TS FIRST
FLIGHT
‘SHINY TWO’ SET TO BECOME
RAF TYPHOON SQUADRON
LAST USAF QF-4 DELIVERED
USAF F-35A BASING ANNOUNCED
Glory Days
RUSSIAN AIR FORCE
COMBAT AIR PLANS
SEA HARRIER
FA2
S
GO TO WAR
EXERCISE REPORT:
CRUZEX
INDUSTRY REPORT: KAMOV KA-52
FROM THE COCKPIT
US MARINE EXCHANGE PILOT FLIES THE TYPHOON
AN
INSIDE VIEW
OF
AMERICA’S MOST IMPORTANT AIRBASES
AN
PUBLICATION
The team behind
AirForces Monthly
magazine introduces a lavishly illustrated
100-page special magazine telling the
story of three of America’s most fascinating
military facilities. With unique access to
the pilots, squadron commanders and key
personnel in all three airbases.
AIRBASE USA
tells their stories and describes what they do
and how and why they do it.
The team behind
magazine introduces a lavishly illustrated
100-page special magazine telling the
story of three of America’s most fascinating
military facilities. With unique access to
the pilots, squadron commanders and key
personnel in all three airbases.
tells their stories and describes what they do
and how and why they do it.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
NAVAL AIR STATION FALLON
Nevada -
Where the Navy’s ‘Top Guns’
are based and where US Navy Carrier
Air Wings go to train before they go on
a cruise on one of America’s nuclear-
powered aircraft carriers.
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA
Arizona -
For a long time the US Marine
Corps’ ‘Home of the Harrier, Yuma is now
introducing the world’s most advanced
warplane – the F-35B Lightning II.
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE
California -
Home of the Air Force
Flight Test Center where tomorrow’s Air
Force is taken from concept to combat,
plus many more unique and vital flying
units.
a cruise on one of America’s nuclear-
powered aircraft carriers.
California -
Flight Test Center where tomorrow’s Air
Force is taken from concept to combat,
plus many more unique and vital flying
units.
AND MUCH MORE!
AND MUCH MORE!
AVAILABLE
NOW
FROM
AND ALL OTHER LEADING NEWSAGENTS
ORDER DIRECT
JUST
£4.99
*
*Free 2nd class P&P on all UK & BFPO orders. Overseas charges apply.
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OR
SUBSCRIBERS CALL FOR YOUR £1.00 DISCOUNT! SUBSCRIBERS CALL FOR YOUR £1.00 DISCOUNT!
Vol 15, No 2 February 2014
What’s inside
What’s inside
news
26
EXErCISE rEporT:
CrUZEX
Marnix Sap and Carlo Brummer go to Brazil
for the latest edition of this fascinating
exercise. Additional reporting by
Santiago Rivas
64
EXErCISE rEporT:
‘BLUE fLAG’
The Israeli Air Force Advanced Training
Center at Ovda hosted the international
‘Blue Flag’ exercise. Ofer Zidon was there
HEADLINE NEWS
6
66
frENCH fIGHTEr
TESTErS
Gert Kromhout visits the Centre
d’Éxpériences Aériennes Militaires
(CEAM) and Escadron de Chasse et
d’Expérimentation 5/330 ‘Côte d’Argent,
responsible for operational test and
evaluation of French fighters
Boeing teams with Saab for T-X
trainer contest, South Korea ‘selects’
the F-35 and USAF F-35A basing
plans announced
32
TypHooN from THE
CoCkpIT
The US Marine Corps and Royal Air Force
have exchanged pilots for decades.
Maj D. R. ‘Ged’ Miller sampled the pride of
the RAF when he swapped the cockpit of
his F/A-18C Hornet for the Typhoon
US NEWS
8
Last QRF-4C handed over to USAF,
P-8A Poseidon heads out on
operational deployment and AH-64E
Apache Guardian fielded
38
r USSIAN AIr forCE 2025
After countless false starts, in recent years
efforts to provide the Russian air arms with
new equipment have finally begun to bear
fruit. Piotr Butowski looks at the status of
the current key programs
72
f -15SA:
SAUDI ADVANCED EAGLE
In an exclusive first for
Combat Aircraft
,
Jon Lake presents the most detailed
description to date of the F-15SA and finds
the most advanced Eagle flying today
Uk NEWS
16
18
22
UK announces fifth operational
Typhoon squadron as multi-role
capability arrives at Leuchars
SPECIAL ISSUE
F-16 AT 40
78
r USSIA’S GATor
oN THE rISE
Alexander Mladenov provides a briefing
on the Kamov Ka-52 Alligator attack
helicopter, in squadron service with the
Russian Air Force’s Army Aviation branch
WorLD NEWS
Chinese UAV latest, Korean special
mission Tu-154 and Australian
MRH-90 update
44 THE mIGHTy ‘ V I pEr’
Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Fighting Falcon is
the epitome of a military aviation success
story. In this issue, we pay tribute to the
fighter that remarkably made its maiden
flight 40 years ago. Jon Lake and Jamie
Hunter outline the program to date
52 frIESIAN fIGHTErS
Frank Crébas/Bluelife Aviation travels to
Leeuwarden, the capital of the northern
province of Friesland, home to one of
the two Main Operating Bases (MOBs)
of the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s F-16
squadrons
58 foXES of SoUDA BAy
In 2013, 340 Mira celebrated 60 years of
continuous contribution to Hellenic Air
Force operations and 10 years of F-16
Block 52+ employment. The squadron is
the leading precision night-strike units in
the world, as Ioannis Lekkas details
EUropE NEWS
88
‘SACrED CoWS’ SErVE oN
Salvador Mafé Huertas examines the
Quinta Escuadrilla (Fifth Squadron)’s
operation of the oldest aircraft in the
Spanish Naval Aviation fleet, the Sea King
A400M Grizzly 1 flies into retirement,
Spanish live fire exercise
pLUS:
Special report on the latest Eurofighter
Typhoon news, Robert F. Dorr’s Front Line column
and all the latest military Losses
90
GLory DAyS:
SEA HArrIEr oVEr THE
BALkANS
In this second part of our review of
Sea Harrier operations over the former
Yugoslavia, Richard Scott recalls the
introduction to front-line service of the
much-modernized FA2 variant, and its
impact on the force
SUBSCrIBE AND SAVE
Subscribe to
Combat Aircraft Monthly
and make great
savings on cover price. See pages 86 and 87 for details.
96
CUTTING EDGE
Combat Aircraft’s
monthly column
reporting from the front line of aerospace
technology, by David Axe
14 Typhoon
comes of age
It seems incredible that the F-16 Fighting
Falcon is marking 40 years since its first
flight. In this issue, we salute the mighty
‘Viper.
Alexander Golz
It seems incredible that the F-16 Fighting
As 2013 came to an end, Euroighter celebrated a number of signiicant
milestones. Jamie Hunter reports.
Alenia Aermacchi/Luigino Caliaro
Combat Edge
Combat Edge
Combat Edge
CONTRIBUTOR
PROFILE
FRANK CRÉBAS
F
rank is a highly valued
some major changes in the
future. Frank has a passion
for aerial photography and
has notched up light hours
in most RNLAF types. He
lives in Emmeloord in the
Netherlands with his
girlfriend, and has three
daughters.
special correspondent
for
Combat Aircraft
,
specializing in Royal
Netherlands Air Force
(RNLAF)-related topics. For
this issue he gained exclusive
access to Leeuwarden Air
Base, which will undergo
F-16 at 40
I
n this issue we showcase the
Ironically, there are a good few in the US
who would be delighted to see US F-16
procurement re-activated so as to gain
some valuable Block 60 jets. Of course,
that will never happen with every ighter
dime going to the F-35.
I’d like to thank all of you who
have supported
Combat Aircraft
in 2013. As we start 2014, we
look forward to bringing you
more of the very best in
military combat aviation.
mighty F-16 Fighting Falcon. It
seems incredible that this aircraft
made its maiden light 40 years
ago, yet today it is still in demand.
Romania is about to trade its
MiG-21 LancerRs for secondhand
Portuguese F-16s, and, Iraq is in line for
brand new examples.
In the US, the ageing ‘Viper’ community
is shrinking all the time, but the workload
hasn’t let up. Post-Afghanistan, the F-16
will once again prove its worth — the era
will be the successful hunting ground of a
true multi-role ighter. None its this
mould as well as the F-16 does currently,
as an air-to-air ighter, close air support,
tactical strike, suppression of enemy air
defenses (SEAD) and combat-intelligence,
surveillance, targeting and reconnaissance
(Combat ISTAR) asset.
Jamie Hunter,
Editor
E-mail: jamie.hunter@keypublishing.com
E-mail: jamie.hunter@keypublishing.com
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February 2014
www.combataircraft.net
4
This
Month
The mighTy
‘viper’
As the F-16 turns 40, we take a look at the core program,
and visit some of the current operators.
Ioannis Lekkas
Jamie Hunter
www.combataircraft.net
February 2014
5
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Combat Aircraft Monthly - February 2014, Tygodniki, prasa, magazyny

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