6 HEADLINE NEWS

Mystery F-117,  rst UK P-8  ies and Turkish

S-400 arrival

8 US NEWS

B-52 to receive new radar, AC-130U

completes  nal deployment, plus all the

latest unit and deployment news

16 WORLD NEWS

News from Europe and around the globe

including Bulgaria’s F-16 deal 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

20 THE OPS DESK

Scott Wol ’s monthly column looks at a

bizarre plan for Area 51

24 A STORM BREWING?

As the US military builds an impressive air

armada in and around the Middle East,

Jamie Hunter assesses the air power assets

that are on hand for President Trump

30 RANDOLPH REVOLUTION

Frank Visser visits Randolph AFB, which

has been pivotal to pilot training for nearly

a century. It is now at the center of a

revolution that is set to transform the way

the air force trains new aircrews

36 T-X EYES WIDER MARKET

Boeing revealed a few more details about

its T-X training aircraft at the Paris Air Show

in June and how this aircraft could evolve

into new roles, as Jamie Hunter explains

44 JATM BREAKS COVER

Jamie Hunter evaluates how the US military

is developing an advanced new air-to-air

missile to counter speci c threats from

China and Russia as the  rst few details

now emerge

52 ‘TOPHATTERS’ AT 100:

THE OLDEST AND THE BOLDEST

VFA-14 ‘Tophatters’ — the US Navy’s

‘oldest and boldest’ air squadron — marks

its centenary in September. Informally

nicknamed the ‘Lids’ in US naval aviation

circles, this squadron and its lineage are

explored here by Mike Crutch

62 STAR WARS

For three weeks in May, the Italian armed

forces came together to test responses to

potential national crises as Giovanni Colla

and Remo Guidi report

IN THE NEWS

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46

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INSIDESeptember 2019 • Vol 20 • No 9

An F/A-18D Hornet of the

US Navy’s VFC-12 ‘Fighting

Omars’ in a fantastic new

pixelated adversary scheme.

José M. Ramos

ON THE COVER | PAGE 46

64 AMENDOLA GET TOGETHER

Another in a series of small joint F-

exercises took place at Amendola, Italy,

on July 2. Giovanni Colla and Remo

Guidi assesses the outcome

68 AUSTRALIAN ATTACK DILEMMA

Despite having ironed out problems

with its Tiger attack helicopters,

Australia has launched a tender for a

new platform to take on the role, as

Roy Choo explains

70 TEST MATCH

As the Royal Australian Air Force

(RAAF) aligns many of its capabilities

with the US, Roy Choo details its

 ight-test community and how it has

adapted in order to meet a new era of

requirements to remain relevant and

valuable

76 ‘DEMO VIPER’

The US Air Force F-16  ight

demonstration team has a new pilot,

Maj Garret ‘Toro’ Schmitz. He’s a man

on a mission to inspire the next

generation of  ghter pilots and impress

the public with the F-16. Rob van

Disseldorp meets ‘Toro’ and tells the

story of his journey to the ‘Demo Viper’

80 REMEMBERING THE

NAVY ‘SCOOTERS’

June 2019 marked the 50th anniversary

of the entry into service of the US Navy

TA-4J Skyhawk advanced jet trainer.

Richard Collens looks back at this

venerable aircraft that still remains

valuable today in civilian hands

providing training for the US armed

forces

94 CUTTING EDGE

David Axe’s column looking at the

latest technological developments in

military aerospace

96 FLASHBACK

Combat Aircraft’s trip down memory

lane: this month it’s a US Marine Corps

A-6E Intruder of VMA(AW)-242 ‘Batmen’

‘RED AIR’ RESERVES

The US Navy Tactical Support Wing (TSW) is

responsible for the adversary squadrons that are

relied upon to keep  eet squadrons on their toes.

José M. Ramos heads south to Key West to witness

the new-look ‘bad guys’ in action

86

TOPGUN THROUGH THE AGES

The US Navy’s TOPGUN  ghter weapons school is

marking 50 years of training. Brad Elward charts

its history and success and  nds a center of

excellence that is adapting for the future

38

TURKISH TOUGH GUYS

Three years after an attempted military coup,

the Turkish Air Force’s ‘Anatolian Eagle’ exercise

was held in June. Giovanni Colla and Rich

Cooper were there to witness the action

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