Airforces

NEWS

10 // OCTOBER 2018 #367 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

United Kingdom

Hywel Evans

‘RAF100’

markings

for Jupiter

JUPITER HT1 ZM500 of

No 202 Squadron now

wears a small version of

the ‘RAF100’ logo. The

service’s three Jupiter

HT1s (H145s), based

at RAF Valley, Wales

were delivered last year,

facilitating retirement of

the Griffin HT1 with the

Defence Helicopter Flying

School (DHFS) at RAF

Shawbury, Shropshire.

AN RAF Griffin HAR2 crew

from No 84 Squadron,

based at RAF Akrotiri,

assisted the Cypriot

government in controlling

a large wildfire northwest

of Yermasoyia, Limassol

district. The July blaze

burned more than one

square kilometre of wild

vegetation and was close

to residential houses

for hours. The Defence

Fire Risk Management

Organisation (DFRMO)

Cyprus – the fire and

rescue services of British

bases on the island

• provided additional
  support to firefighters
  on the ground.

RAF

Chinooks

operational

in Mali

THREE RAF Chinook

helicopters – deployed to

Mali earlier this summer

• began operational
  flying on August 16, the
  MOD has announced.
  The heavy-lift rotorcraft
  arrived in Gao on July
  18 and will support
  French counter-terrorism
  operations in the West
  African country. The
  Chinooks from RAF
  Odiham, Hampshire, are
  supported by around
  90 British troops. UK
  forces have built three
  temporary aircraft
  hangars, enabling the
  Chinooks to fly multiple
  missions each week.
  The British helicopters
  are “providing niche
  logistical support to
  French combat forces
  conducting counter-
  terrorism operations
  as part of Opération
  Barkhane,” according
  to an MOD statement.
  Previously, the UK
  has supported France’s
  Opération Barkhane
  with RAF strategic
  transport flights.

Milestone

for Zephyr

THE UK’s Zephyr-S

Operational Concept

Demonstrator (OCD) has

surpassed the world

flight endurance record

without refuelling.

The Joint Forces

Command ‘pseudo-

satellite’, made by

Airbus, began its maiden

flight in Arizona on

July 11 and touched

down on August 6.

The ultra-lightweight

UAV operates in the

stratosphere at an

average altitude of

70,000ft (21,336m) and

is intended to support

land and maritime

surveillance as well as a

variety of communication

tasks. It runs exclusively

on solar power, flying

above the weather and

conventional air traffic.

It could complement

satellites, UAVs and

manned aircraft by

providing persistent local

satellite-like services.

The UAV was airborne

for 25 days, 23 hours,

57 minutes, surpassing

the old record of 14

days, 22 minutes and

eight seconds, set by

a previous version of

the Zephyr UAV.

The OCD contract

with Airbus was signed

in 2016 and includes

the purchase of three

Zephyr-S platforms, with

further flight trials planned

for the coming months.

General Sir Chris

Deverell, JFC

commander, said:

“We are demonstrating

new technology that

puts our armed forces

at the cutting edge

of communication

and surveillance.”

Crown Copyright

No 84 Squadron

tackles wildfi re

Hercules

reprieve

THE RAF is to retain

one of its ‘short-body’

C-130J Hercules C5s to

compensate for the loss of

a C-130J-30 Hercules C

on operations in Iraq. The

2015 Strategic Defence and

Security Review (SDSR)

had originally called for the

withdrawal of all ten C5s

while retaining only the 14

‘long-body’ Hercules C4s.

08-10 UKNews AFM Oct2018.indd 10 9/10/2018 1:07:44 PM