AirForces Monthly – September 2019

12 // September 2019 #378 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

THE KONINKLIJKE

Luchtmacht (Royal

Netherlands Air Force,

RNLAF) celebrates 40 years

of service for the F-16 this

year. To mark the occasion,

F-16AM J-642 assigned to

312/313 Squadron based

at Volkel Air Base received

these special tail markings.

A first RNLAF F-16 arrived

at Leeuwarden Air Base

in 1979. In all, the service

purchased 213 F-16s

(177 single-seat F-16As

and 36 dual-seat F-16Bs)

to replace its F-104G

Starfighters and later also

the NF-5A/B Freedom

Fighter. The first aircraft to

enter service was F-16B

J-259 which is now used

as a ground instructional

airframe at Woensdrecht

Air Base. A total of 139

F-16s (114 F-16As and 25

F-16Bs) received the Midlife

Update (MLU) from 1998.

By January 1, 2016 the

F-16 inventory had been cut

back to 68, including seven

operational reserve aircraft.

Numbers will continue

to be reduced as F-35As

begin to be delivered to

the Netherlands later this

year. However, the F-16 will

remain the primary RNLAF

fighter until the F-35A

achieves initial operational

capability, expected by

the end of 2021. The final

RNLAF F-16s are scheduled

to be withdrawn at the end

of 2023. Manolito Jaarsma

RNLAF 40th anniversary F-

Stefaan Eerebout

French ISR King

Air in service

THE ARMÉE de l’Air’s

(French Air Force’s) recently

acquired Beechcraft 350ER

King Air arrives at Gran

Canaria Airport in the

Canary Islands on July 8.

The aircraft, equipped for

intelligence, surveillance

and reconnaissance (ISR)

work, entered service in

June. Built in 2006, the

second-hand King Air

wears air force roundels

but retains the civil

registration F-GYEE. The

turboprop was previously

registered C-GAEO before

being re-registered as

N9104 in 2011 and was

supplied to the Armée de

l’Air by CAE Aviation. Its

operating unit is Escadron

Électronique Aéroporté

(EEA) 54 ‘Dunkerque’.

Stationed at Base Aérienne

105 Évreux-Fauville, the

unit operates the air

force’s specialist electronic

warfare fleet, including

the C-160G Gabriel. Alejandro Hernández León

Joris van Boven and Alex van Noye

Dutch F-35A returns to the US

KONINKLIJKE

LUCHTMACHT (Royal

Netherlands Air Force,

RNLAF) F-35A F-

departed Volkel Air Base on

its return to the US on July

17, crossing via Bangor to

Edwards Air Force Base,

California. The Lightning II

was one of a pair that arrived

in the Netherlands ahead of

the RNLAF Open Days in

June. One of the fighters left

a week after the event, but

departure of the second was

delayed for several weeks

by technical problems.

Before F-001 could

leave, a spare part had to

be obtained from the US

and another Dutch F-

pilot flown to Europe. The

RNLAF then had to wait for

a KDC-10 tanker to become

available for the return leg.

Back at Edwards AFB,

F-001 will continue to

contribute to the operational

test and evaluation

programme, alongside

F-002. It’s likely that

both these test jets will

remain in the US for the

duration of their operational

careers. Joris van Boven

and Alex van Noye

Final

CH-47Fs

for Turkey

THE AVIATION command

of the Türk Kara

Kuvvetleri (Turkish Land

Forces) has received

the last four CH-47F

helicopters on order.

The service took delivery

of the final Chinooks

from a total order of

11 at the western port

of Izmir on July 31.

A letter of offer and

acceptance for six

CH-47Fs was reportedly

signed in July 2010. In

January 2015, Turkey’s

Undersecretariat for

Defence Industries

(SSM) approved plans to

purchase an additional

five CH-47Fs which

were contracted in

September that year.

NEWS Continental Europe

10-13 EuropeNews AFM Sep2019.indd 12 8/5/2019 3:12:02 PM