FIRE SCOUT MILESTONE
THE US NAVY’S MQ-8C Fire Scout
unmanned helicopter achieved initial
operational capability on June 28.
The declaration of IOC clears the way
for MQ-8C to begin fleet operations
and training. The latest version of
the Fire Scout will begin deploying
aboard US Navy littoral combat ships
in Fiscal Year 2021. Based on the
commercial Bell 407 airframe, the
MQ-8C is tasked to provide the fleet
with intelligence, surveillance, and
reconnaissance information as well as
a precision targeting capability. It is
more capable than the earlier MQ-8B
and has an endurance of 12 hours, a
max payload of 700lb (318kg) and a
range of 150nm (278km). The MQ-8C
has flown more than 1,500 hours
with over 700 sorties during testing,
and procurement plans include
38 MQ-8Cs.NEW EMARSS PLATFORM PLANNED
THE US ARMY is moving forward
with plans to begin development
of a fifth version of its King Air-
based Enhanced Medium Altitude
Reconnaissance Surveillance System.
The electronic intelligence (ELINT)
variant known as EMARSS-E would
be tasked with intercepting, direction
finding, and geo-locating enemy
electronic emitters. The service is
looking to industry to assist with
technical information associated with
the construction of two prototype
aircraft.
The Fiscal Year 2019 National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
provided the army with $57.7 millionto start the program including $39.
million for the EMARSS-E pods
and $17.9 million for the King Air
airframes. The army already operates
four versions of MC-12S EMARSS,
comprising the signals intelligence
and full motion video-equipped
EMARSS-S, geospatial intelligence
EMARSS-G, multi-intelligence
EMARSS-M and the EMARSS-V, which
carries the Northrop Grumman
Vehicle and Dismount Exploitation
Radar (VADER). It also operates a fleet
of RC-12X Guardrail Common Sensor
aircraft that are equipped to conduct
signals (SIGINT) and communication
intelligence (COMINT).UNIT
NEWS
Osprey squadrons activated
The Air Force Special Operations
Command (AFSOC) activated the
21st Special Operations Squadron
(SOS) and the 753rd Special
Operations Aircraft Maintenance
Squadron (SOAMS) at Yokota Air
Base, Japan, on July 1. Both units
are assigned to the 353rd Special
Operations Group, which is based
at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.
Known as the ‘Dust Devils’, the
21st SOS will eventually operate
10 Ospreys. It last operated
the Sikorsky MH-53M from
RAF Mildenhall, UK, until it was
inactivated in October 2007.‘Black Knights’ retire Hornet
Marine fighter attack squadron
VMFA-314 formally retired its
F/A-18A++ aircraft during a
ceremony at MCAS Miramar,
California, on June 21. The ‘Black
Knights’ squadron has commenced
transition to the F-35C.Global Hawk wing activated
The 319th Air Base Wing was
redesignated as the 319th
Reconnaissance Wing at Grand
Forks AFB, North Dakota, on June- The unit assumed control of the
319th Operations Group and its five
assigned squadrons that operate
the RQ-4B. The operations group
had previously been known as the
69th Reconnaissance Group prior
to its redesignation.
‘Hustlers’ inactivated
USAF C-21A fleet consolidation
was completed on June 18, when
the last of four Learjets assigned to
the 457th Airlift Squadron ‘Hustlers’
arrived at Scott AFB, Illinois. The
squadron was formally inactivated
days earlier during a ceremony on
June 14.
Originally activated at Andrews
as the 1402nd Military Airlift
Squadron in April 1975, the unit
was later redesignated as the 457th
Airlift Squadron in December- Most recently, the ‘Hustlers’
had been assigned to the 375th
Air Mobility Wing at Scott as a
geographically separated unit.
The USAF’s fleet of 19 C-21As
includes 14 that are now operated
by the 458th Airlift Squadron
at Scott AFB and the five with
the 86th Airlift Wing’s 76th
Airlift Squadron at Ramstein AB,
Germany.
Final mission for airlift squadron
The 6th Air Mobility Wing’s 310th
Airlift Squadron flew its final
C-37A flight from MacDill AFB,
Florida, on July 1. The squadron
will be formally inactivated at
the end of the current fiscal year
on September 30. Tasked with
the executive airlift mission, the
310th was activated at MacDill in
January 2001 and initially operated
a Boeing CT-43A and an EC-135N.
The first Gulfstream V arrived in July- Two of the squadron’s C-37As
will be transferred to the 86th Airlift
Wing’s 76th Airlift Squadron at
Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and
the third will go to the 15th Wing’s
65th Airlift Squadron at Joint Base
Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.Illinois officials seek
ANG flying mission
Elected officials in Illinois hope to
bring a flying mission back to the
183rd Wing at Abraham Lincoln
Capital Airport in Springfield. The
state’s two senators have proposed
an amendment to the National
Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
that permits the USAF to assign
A-10, F-16, F-15E/X or F-35s to the
unit. It flew F-16Cs until September
2008 when the 170th Fighter
Squadron’s flying mission ended.
Since that time, the wing has been
responsible for an Air Operations
Group and a Centralized Repair
Facility (CRF) that conducts
maintenance and testing for
General Electric F110-GE-100,
F110-GE-129, TF34-GE-100A, and
F118-GE-101A turbofan engines.USAFE Reapers relocated
The USAF’s recently activated
MQ-9 detachment in Europe
has temporarily relocated from
Poland to Romania. The 52nd
Expeditionary Operations Group
Detachment 2, moved from
Mirosławiec Air Base to Câmpia
Turzii, on July 3 due to construction
at the Polish base. The relocation
is advantageous because it puts
the unarmed contractor-owned,
contractor-operated (COCO)
Reapers closer to the Balkans.
According to the detachment
commander, the move improved
the USAF’s ability to watch for ‘any
adversarial threat in the region’.version achieved initial operational
capability in September 2017.
Although the AC-130J is equipped
with many of the same weapons
as the AC-130U, it features
upgraded avionics, navigation
systems, advanced radio-frequency
countermeasures and a precision
strike package that includes wing-
mounted AGM-114 Hellfire missiles
and 250lb (113kg) GPS or laser-
guided Small Diameter Bombs.
Retirement of the AC-130Us
began in September 2015 and 10
remain in service. AFSOC’s current
fleet of AC-130Ws and AC-130Us
will be replaced by 37 AC-130Js by
2021 when the last new gunship is
delivered.LAST BLACKJACKS
DELIVERED
THE LAST OF 21 RQ-21A Tactical
Unmanned Aircraft Systems was
delivered to the US Marine Corps at
MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina,
on June 12. The final system will be
used as a training asset by the Fleet
Readiness Detachment (FRD) at
Cherry Point and will be maintained
by personnel assigned to the
unmanned aerial vehicle squadron
VMU-2, also located at MCAS
Cherry Point. The last operational
RQ-21A system was delivered to
VMU-3, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
The unit now has four Blackjack
systems assigned.USAF PLANNING
SKYBORG SURROGATE TEST
THE USAF PLANS to begin
testing autonomy algorithms
and artificial intelligence using a
small, representative, high-speed
surrogate aircraft this summer. The
USAF hopes to deliver a fighter-
size unmanned combat air vehicle
prototype by Fiscal Year 2023. The
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
System Development Planning and
Experimentation office issued a
capabilities request for information
associated with the Skyborg program
in March 2019, and intends to select a
platform that will enter flight-testing
as a prototype in FY 2021.UNITED STATES [NEWS]
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