The third formation flight of IRIAF aircraft during the flypast. The lead aircraft is F-5F Saeghe II 3-7182, accompanied by F-5E Saeghe Is 3-7367 and 3-7368. All the aircraft are from the 23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 2nd TFB Fakkuri in Tabriz. Mahmood Kiani ON THE morning of April 18, the Islamic Republic of […]
RSAF F-15SA 12-1047 touches down at RAF Lakenheath on March 29. Peter R Foster A THIRD batch of F-15SAs has been delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). After a two-day layover at Goose Bay, Labrador following tanker problems, five F-15SAs arrived at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk on the afternoon of March 29. Using the […]
A rare view inside the IACI facility at Mehrabad International Airport shows Boeing 707-3J9C 5-8301 prior to entering PDM. Nashenas IRANIAN AIRCRAFT Industries (IACI) is making progress on the overhaul and modernisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force’s (IRIAF’s) fleet of four KC-707 (Boeing 707-3J9C) tankers. Programmed depot maintenance (PDM) and an avionics […]
The An-132D prototype immediately after taking off from Kiev-Svyatoshino airport on March 31. Note the orange nose radome fitted with flight-test instruments, as well as the various cameras fitted on the wingtips and tailfin. Sergey Smolentsev THE PROTOTYPE An-132D (c/n 001), formally rolled out at Antonov’s main production facility in Kiev on December 20 last […]
One of five previous C295s that entered service with the Sil Vozdushnoy Oborony Respubliki Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan Air Defence Force) from January 2013. Airbus DS AIRBUS DEFENCE and Space announced on April 20 that Kazakhstan is to acquire two more C295 transport aircraft. The contract between Kazakhstan and Airbus covers the final two aircraft included in […]
A NEW unit has been formed with the Su-30MKI under the Indian Air Force’s Western Air Command. During a ceremony at Halwara Air Force Station, Punjab, on April 24, the type was inducted into service with 221 Squadron ‘Valiants’. The ‘Valiants’ was originally formed on February 14, 1963, at Barrackpore and latterly flew the MiG-23, […]
The final two JMSDF MH-53Es at the retirement ceremony for the type on March 3 at Iwakuni. USMC/Lance Cpl Joseph Abrego A RETIREMENT ceremony was held at Iwakuni on March 3 to mark the decommissioning of the Japan Maritime Self- Defense Force’s (JMSDF’s) Sikorsky MH-53Es. The last two of these helicopters that had remained in […]
PAKISTAN IS continuing to reinforce its helicopter fleet with additional AgustaWestland AW139s. An undisclosed number of helicopters have been purchased from Leonardo, the Italian company announced on March 28. Deliveries will begin in early 2018 and the aircraft will be used for utility, search and rescue and emergency medical service missions. Pakistan is acquiring the […]
PAKISTAN AIR Force (PAF) Il-78MP R11-03AN was an unusual visitor to Châteauroux-Centre ‘Marcel Dassault’ Airport on April 20. In 2006, Ukraine sold four former Ukrainian Air Force Il-78s to the PAF. These aircraft, which bear the unique designation Il-78MP, were overhauled at Nikolayev between 2007 and 2011. The first aircraft was delivered in late 2009 […]
BOEING HAS RECEIVED a $2.2bn contract to produce additional P-8A multi-mission maritime aircraft for Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The latest deal, awarded on March 30, covers at least 17 Poseidon aircraft under Lot 8 full-rate production, including four for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), 11 for the US Navy and […]
ON THE EVENING of March 14 KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) A39-006 for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) arrived at Airbus Defence and Space facilities in Manching, Germany to receive its military paint scheme. The aircraft, MSN892/MRTT39, built in 2007, is a former Qantas A330-302, previously on the civil register as VH-EBH. Conversion to […]
THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN Navy has retired S-70B-2 Seahawk serial N24-011 (c/n 70-595) Skeletor after a career during which it logged 6,200 airframe hours. After more than 28 years of service, the Seahawk completed its last operational flight during HMAS Arunta’s recent maintenance period in Bahrain while deployed on Operation Manitou, the Australian government’s contribution to […]
The South China Sea is a magnet for trouble, but airborne maritime surveillance assets are still a scarcity, as AFM’s Alan Warners explains. INTEL REPORT Leonardo sent one of the two recently delivered ATR 72MPAs to LIMA, which received a good deal of interest during the event. Babak Taghvaee AIRBORNE SURVEILLANCE is a role Southeast […]
This year’s Iniohos exercise featured an increased number of participants drawn from four air arms. Amit Agronov reports from Greece. Israeli F-16C Block 40 Barak 519 from the ‘First Fighter’ Squadron made its first appearance with a kill marking representing an unmanned aerial vehicle operated by Hamas below the left side of the cockpit HAF […]
This year’s Real Thaw exercise – the ninth – involved aircraft from almost every squadron in the Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP, Portuguese Air Force). Jorge Ruivo watched the action. Real Thaw 2017 was very likely the last such exercise for the Portuguese Air Force’s Alpha Jet As. Although not involved every day, two examples were […]