06 HEADLINE NEWS

Turkish F-35 involvement on the brink,

Embraer’s new AEW aircraft, and the

‘Ghost’ aggressor

08 US NEWS

B-52 tests new missile, more Strike

Eagles head east, plus all the latest unit

and deployment news

20 WORLD NEWS

News from Europe and around the

globe including Gripen o er to Finland

plus all the latest Military Losses

12 READY ROOM

Combat Aircraft’s new regular column, looking

at the stories behind the US Navy headlines, by

Rick Burgess

16 THE OPS DESK

Scott Wol ’s regular column looks at the

Turkish F-35 situation

24 ‘MAKOS’ ON THE MOVE

Making the US Air Force more dynamic and

versatile is a new emphasis that leaders are

championing. Ashley Wallace meets the 93rd

Fighter Squadron ‘Makos’ on a rare visit to

Europe

IN THE NEWS

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INSIDEAugust 2019 • Vol 20 • No 8

An F-35A of the 6th Weapons

Squadron at Nellis AFB in

blazing reheat. The type is

nicknamed the ‘Panther’ by

the USAF, with the Weapons

School charged with getting

the most from its new fi ghter.

Jamie Hunter

ON THE COVER | PAGE 28

52 PARIS SHINES

Jamie Hunter visits the 2019 Paris Air Salon

that marked a welcome resurgence in

military aviation activity for a trade show

that — in recent times — has included

little of note away from the commercial

scene. This year the show included the

unveiling of two new  ghter aircraft

concept mock-ups — the European FCAS

and Turkey’s TF-X

56 ‘SPADS’ IN ROMANIA

The 457th Fighter Squadron ‘Spads’ is in

Europe and undertaking a number of high-

pro le exercises under Operation ‘Atlantic

Resolve’, as Patrice Dochain reports

58 HELP ON THE BORDER

The US military has been assisting the

Border Patrol as part of a beefed-up e ort

to keep illegal immigrants at bay in one

of the most controversial concerns in

American politics right now. Joe Copalman

heads to the border and learns about how

rotary-wing support has made a huge

di erence on many levels

64 KNIGHT FEVER

In early June, the US military worked

alongside Croatia, Italy and Slovenia

for exercise ‘Astral Knight’. It included

signi cant participation by US and Italian

F-35s, as Giovanni Colla and Daniele

Faccioli report

28

NELLIS ‘PANTHER’ TAMERS

While politics and popular media divide

opinion on the F-35, the US Air Force is

quietly and con dently getting on with

the job of developing its lethality. Jamie

Hunter visits the Weapons School at

Nellis AFB, where it trains elite ‘Panther’

instructors

VICTORY DAY ‘BEARS’

A pair of recently upgraded Tu-95MS

‘Bear-H’ strategic bombers were

prepared for this year’s Victory Parade

that centered on Moscow’s Red Square,

as detailed by Thomas Newdick, with

exclusive photos by Dmitriy Pichugin

40 DEFENDING PERUVIAN SKIES

Latin American air arms have traditionally

been keen operators of French aircraft.

Santiago Rivas and Amaru Tincopa meet

Peru’s Mirage 2000 squadron that has

defended the country for 30 years

46 TIGER MEET

The 55th NATO Tiger Meet was held at Mont-

de-Marsan in France in May. Giovanni Colla and

Remo Guidi were there to witness the action

68 LAST DAYS OF THE KING

Known as the Combat King, the HC-130N and

HC-130P variants of the Lockheed Hercules

have supported the USAF’s combat search

and rescue (CSAR) mission since the mid-

1960s. Tom Kaminski charts the type’s history

78 POLISHING DIAMONDS

Roy Choo reports from the Royal Australian

Air Force’s 2019 Air Warfare Instructors

Course (AWIC) that attracted signi cant

participation from around the Paci c

86 D-DAY TRIBUTES

The USAF was involved in tributes for the

75th anniversary of D-Day in June, applying a

number of heritage schemes to its aircraft, as

Jamie Hunter and Bob Archer explain

90 CUTTING EDGE

David Axe’s column looking at the latest

technological developments in military

aerospace

92 DESERT STORM

Joe Copalman joined  ghter pilots from

across the US Air Force as they assembled

at Luke AFB, Arizona, in March for ‘Haboob

Havoc’ — a competition designed to

enhance squadron camaraderie and culture

96 FLASHBACK

Combat Aircraft’s trip down memory lane.

This month it’s the very last  ight of a B-

Stratojet

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