Combat Aircraft – September 2019

HEADLINES [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // September 2019 07

TURKEY RECEIVES FIRST S-

TURKEY HAS DEFIED US warnings

and received its first elements of the

Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air

missile (SAM) system, putting the

country’s participation in the F-

program under threat.

A first shipment of S-400 equipment

arrived near Ankara on July 12,

according to the local defense

ministry. The components, which

apparently didn’t include surveillance

radar, were transported to Mürted air

base on board several An-124 strategic

transports.

The US administration had made

repeated warnings that Turkey would

not be allowed to operate both the

S-400 and the Lightning II fighter

— in which Turkish industry plays a

significant role.

Acting US Secretary of Defense Mark

Esper confirmed that the US position

towards the S-400 purchase had not

changed. Above all, the US military is

concerned that Turkish acquisition of

the S-400 could allow Russia to gain

access to sensitive information relating

to the F-35.

The US has already halted

deliveries of the aircraft to Turkey and

suspended the training of Turkish

pilots at Luke AFB, Arizona, giving

these personnel until the end of July

to leave the country. Washington has

also threatened sanctions against

Turkey and made plans to remove

Turkey from the Joint Strike Fighter

program altogether. How realistic

that aspiration is remains to be seen.

Turkish firms produce 937 different

F-35 parts and the country has

been selected to host a regional

maintenance hub. The Turkish Air

Force had planned to buy 100 F-35As

and, to date, four have been handed

over in the US.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip

Erdoğan has said that delivery of the

entire S-400 system will be completed

by April 2020.

C

OMBAT AIRCRAFT

HAS obtained exclusive

images that appear to

show a US Air Force

F-117A Nighthawk in a

hybrid aggressor-type

color scheme. Taken by photographer

Steve Lewis on July 11, the F-117 in

the accompanying images can be

seen conducting aerial refueling high

above Death Valley, California, with a

KC-135R Stratotanker. The two were

accompanied by a NASA Armstrong

Flight Research Center F-15D that

was carrying an unidentified podded

sensor under its starboard wing.

Although the aircraft were flying at

high altitude, the F-117 can be clearly

seen and it appears to be wearing a

black/white/gray hybrid aggressor-

type scheme on parts of its underside

leading edges, on some of the top

surfaces and on parts of the twin fins,

rather than the F-117’s traditional

overall matt black radar-absorbant

material (RAM).

Observed from several angles, this

doesn’t appear to be reflection or

shadows, with black areas on the

underside apparently depicting a

smaller F-117 shape with a possible

dummy canopy, in much the same

way as some aggressors feature

paint on wingtips and tails to change

their visual signature so that they

appear similar to the aircraft they are

replicating.

The photographer observed

the F-117 as it completed in-flight

refueling, and as it disconnected from

the tanker it joined with the F-15 and

headed back towards the Nevada

Test and Training Range (NTTR).

Combat Aircraft has reported the

considerable levels of secretive USAF

F-117 activity of recent, a highlight

of which were low-level passes in the

same area in February.

Having been formally retired in

2008, the F-117s have been kept

in Type 1000 storage at Tonopah,

Nevada, as per a 2007 government

ruling, indicating that they are

maintained in a status from which

they could be recalled to active

service, should the need arise. The

USAF stated that the aircraft should

be able to be reactivated within 30

to 120 days depending upon how

long the particular aircraft has been

in storage. The Type 1000 storage

mandate ended in 2018 and some

aircraft have since been removed

from Tonopah.

Markings applied to one aircraft

photographed in February suggest

that the Tonopah-based F-117 unit

could be named the ‘Dark Knights’

and operations alongside other

aircraft suggest that they are being

used as test assets. The USAF has

refused to comment on the spate

of recent sightings, but these

new images could add weight to

speculation that the F-117s are being

used as stealth aggressors or that

they have received new coatings

as part of ongoing test activities.

The USAF is clear that having low-

observable aggressors is important

in testing, for developing tactics,

as well as training against, and it

plans to establish an F-35 aggressor

squadron in 2022.

These latest images are further

proof that the F-117s and their

pilots are doing more than just

staying ‘current’ should they need

to be reactivated at short notice.

In February, a Nighthawk was

observed flying with two F-16s that

were apparently engaged in some

sort of trials work with a Legion

Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST)

pod. The F-15D seen on the latest

occasion appears to have been

doing the same.

It’s not the first time F-117s have

worn different schemes. The very first

F-117A (79-10780) started its flight-

test career in a scheme designed to

disguise its shape. Various light gray

schemes were also worn, notably by

the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group

Detachment 1’s ‘Gray Dragon’ that

flew at Holloman until 2007.

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MONTH...

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The first S-400s arrive in Turkey aboard An-

transports. Russian Ministry of Defense

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