INDONESIAN HERCULES UPGRADES COMPLETED
AN UPGRADE FOR the Indonesian
Air Force’s eet of ve C-130s was
recently completed. The nal
aircraft to be upgraded was the
air arm’s only KC-130B tanker. Its
completion also marked the return
of a limited air-to-air refueling
capability for the air force. The
KC-130B is equipped with a probe-
and-drogue system that allows it torefuel Indonesia’s Su-27 and Su-
ghters as well as its Hawk Mk209s.
It is not capable of refueling the
air force’s F-16s, which must be
refueled via a ying boom system.
The work was carried out by
the Malaysian maintenance and
overhaul contractor AIROD at its
facility at Abdul Aziz Shah Airport
in Subang and the Hercules wasdelivered to Abdul Rachman Saleh
Air Base in Malang, Indonesia.
Indonesia signed the retro t and
upgrade contract in October 2015.
In addition to the airframe, engine
and propeller overhaul, the e ort
installed a Rockwell Collins FCS
105 avionics suite that included
an Enhanced Tra c Alert Collision
Avoidance System.BLACK
HAWKS FOR
PHILIPPINES
MODERNIZATION OF THE
Philippines Air Force is
continuing and it will receive
16 new S-70i Black Hawks
comprising 10 that will be
delivered in 2021 and six in- The Black Hawks were
ordered in April 2019 and will
be produced by Sikorsky’s PZL
Mielec subsidiary in Poland.
Additionally, the air force will
accept a fourth Airbus C295 and
a fth C-130 this year. Ordered
in October 2018, the C295 will
be equipped as a command
and control (C2) platform with
an extensive communications
suite. The air force also expects to
receive a Gulfstream G280 light
business jet in 2020. It will also
be con gured for C2 duties. The
Philippines reportedly ordered
the Black Hawks at a cost of $
million after cancelling plans to
acquire Bell 412EPI helicopters.
LOSSES
Compiled by Tom Kaminski- US Air Force E-3B serial 76-
made an emergency landing at
Lincoln Airport, Nebraska following
an engine re on July 11. The re was
quickly extinguished by crash re
rescue personnel from the Nebraska
Air National Guard’s locally based
155th Air Refueling Wing. None
of the six crew aboard the Sentry
was injured. - An L-39ZA/ART Albatros operated
by the Royal Thai Air Force’s 411
Squadron crashed in the Tha Wang
Tan of Sarapi district on July 11.
Although the student pilot ejected
safely, the instructor pilot was killed. - Two PC-21s operated by the Qatar
Emiri Air Force crashed following
a mid-air collision on July 10. The
pilots of both aircraft ejected safely
following the mishap. - Cessna 172R N994CP (c/n
- operated by the USAF
Auxiliary/Civil Air Patrol crashed
in Oxford, Mississippi on July 6. The
pilot was killed when the Skyhawk
came down on a golf course, north
of University-Oxford Airport. The
aircraft was partially consumed by a
post-crash re.
- An L-39ZO operated by Libya’s
Government of National Accord
(GNA) crashed near Tarhunah,
around 50 miles (80km) south-east
of Tripoli, on July 4. The Albatros
was reportedly brought down by
Libyan National Army (LNA) forces.
The pilot died in the crash. - An L-39C from the Ukrainian Air
Force crashed near Chuguiv in the
Kharkiv region after developing
a technical problem during a
training mission on July 2. The
pilot, who is assigned to the Ivan
Kozhedub Kharkiv National Air
Force University ejected safely. The
Albatros came down in a eld near
the village of Staroverovka.- A German Army EC135T
crashed in a corn eld west of
Dehmkerbrock on July 1. One of
the pilots was killed and the second
was injured. The helicopter had
been assigned to the International
Helicopter Training Center at
Bückeburg. - UH-1J serial 41863 operated by
the Japan Ground Self-Defense
Force was destroyed in a hard
landing that occurred on Camp
Tachikawa near Tokyo on June 21.
Neither pilot was seriously injured. - An unmanned US Navy RQ-4A
was shot down by an Iranian
surface-to-air missile while ying in
international airspace on June 19.
The high-altitude, long-endurance
(HALE) Global Hawk was reportedly
ying over the Gulf of Oman around
21 miles (33.8km) from the Iranian
coast, near the Strait of Hormuz, at
the time of the attack. - A French Army Gazelle helicopter
made a forced landing after taking
ground re in Mali on June 14.
The helicopter was supporting
operations against militants near
Liptako, Mali, along the border
with Niger, when it was struck.
Both pilots were injured but a
commando aboard the Gazelle
was able to pull the crew from
the aircraft. Both were strapped
to the outside of the Tiger attack
helicopter and evacuated. The
commando subsequently destroyed
the damaged Gazelle before being
recovered by another helicopter.
LUFTWAFFE
TYPHOON COLLISION
GERMAN AIR FORCE EF
serials 30+48 and 30+
(pictured) assigned to Taktisches
Luftwa engeschwader (Tactical Air
Force Wing) 73 ‘Steinho ’ crashed
near Jabel, in the Müritz region of
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,
following a mid-air collision on
June 24. Both pilots ejected,
however, one was killed and the
second was injured when he came
down in a tree. The Euro ghters
were conducting an air combat
training mission when the mishap
occurred. One of the aircraft came
down in a wooded area near the
village of Jabel. The second crash
site was located around 6.2 miles
(10km) south of the
village of Nossentiner
Hütte at the edge
of a forest.and maintenance and support
services. The CC-295s will replace six
de Havilland Canada CC-115 and 12
Lockheed Martin CC-130H aircraft
that are currently used in the SAR role
at 8 Wing/CFB Trenton, Ontario, 14
Wing/CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia,
19 Wing/CFB Comox, British Columbia
and CFB Winnipeg, Manitoba. The
rst RCAF crews will begin training at
Airbus’ international training center in
Seville, Spain, in late summer 2019.
In related news, the RCAF has
reformed 418 Squadron as a search
and rescue operational training
unit at 19 Wing/CFB Comox, British
Columbia. The re-establishment as
418 Search and Rescue Operational
Training Squadron was authorized
by the Minister of Defence on March
13, 2019. Last active as 418 Transport
and Rescue Squadron until disbanded
on June 22, 1994, it will serve as the
training unit for the CC-295 and will
begin operations in 2020. Additionally,
the move will establish 19 Wing as
the SAR Centre of Excellence ‘with the
centralization of all search and rescue
training programs’. Tom KaminskiStefan PetersenWORLD [NEWS]
http://www.combataircraft.net // September 2019 19
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