Airforces

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NEWS North America

16 // OCTOBER 2018 #

Canadian Task Force begins operations in Mali

THE CANADIAN Task

Force in Mali is ready to

support UN operations in

the West African country

under Operation Presence

after declaring its readiness

to the United Nations

Multidimensional Integrated

Stabilization Mission in Mali

(MINUSMA) on August 15.

An initial sortie was

conducted the same

morning, when personnel

from the Netherlands’ Long-

Range Reconnaissance

Patrol Task Group boarded

a Royal Canadian Air Force

(RCAF) CH -147F helicopter

at Camp Castor. The

Chinook helicopter, plus

two CH -146 Griffon escorts,

transported the unit to

an area north of Gao.

The Task Force achieved

initial operating capability

on August 1 when it began

providing MINUSMA with

a round-the-clock standby

forward aeromedical

evacuation capability in

the vicinity of Gao. The

Canadian helicopter

detachment will also

provide a medium/heavy lift

capability for the transport

of people and materiel.

The task force includes

around 250 personnel,

three CH-147Fs and five

CH-146s. One of each

aircraft is a spare airframe.

FIVE US Army UH-60L

Black Hawks from the

Georgia Army National

Guard have deployed to

the Republic of Georgia,

Europe, to provide support

for Exercise Noble Partner

18. The helicopters,
    from A Company, 1st
    General Support Aviation
    Battalion/171st Aviation
    Regiment at Marietta,
    Georgia, were loaded
    into a US Air Force C-5M
    at Dobbins Air Reserve
    Base, Marietta, on July
    24 and arrived in Tbilisi,
    Georgia, on July 2 7.
    Noble Partner 18, a
    Georgian Armed Forces

and US Army Europe

co-operatively led

multinational training

exercise, was conducted at

the Vaziani and Camp Norio

Training Areas in Georgia

from August 2-15. In its

fourth iteration, the exercise

is intended to support and

enhance the readiness

of Georgia, the US and

participating nations

during a multinational

training operation. Other

participants this year

were Armenia, Azerbaijan,

Estonia, France, Germany,

Lithuania, Norway, Poland,

Turkey, the UK and

Ukraine. Dave Allport

Georgia ANG UH-60s

deploy to Europe

Above: A Georgia Army National Guard UH-60L from 1-171st AVN makes a rapid take-off after

inserting Georgian special forces during an urban operations exercise at the Vaziani Training

Area on August 5 during Exercise Noble Partner 18. US Army/Staff Sgt R J Lannom Jr

RCAF

assumes

enhanced

Air Policing

mission

THE ROYAL Air Force

has passed responsibility

for the NATO enhanced

Air Policing (eAP)

mission in Romania

to the Royal Canadian

Air Force (RCAF).

The handover was

marked with a ceremony

at Mihail Kogălniceanu

air base in southern

Romania. A detachment

of five RCAF CF-

Hornets takes over the

mission from the RAF

Typhoons of the 135

Expeditionary Air Wing.

Around 135 Canadian

Armed Forces (CAF)

personnel will remain in

Romania until December

under Operation

Reassurance, Canada’s

contribution to NATO

assurance and deterrence

measures in Central and

Eastern Europe. The

Air Task Force (ATF)

is composed mainly

of personnel from 425

Tactical Fighter Squadron,

supported by members

of 2 Wing (the RCAF’s

air expedition wing) and

3 Wing, all based at

Bagotville, Quebec.

The ATF was previously

stationed in Romania

for eAP from September

to December last year

and first deployed to

the country as part of

Operation Reassurance

from April to August

2014, at Câmpia Turzii.

Omega Air

Boeing 707

tanker trials

with E-2D

NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S

E-2D Advanced Hawkeye

has recently completed

its first air-to-air refuelling

trails with an Omega

Air 707 tanker.

A series of images

released by the US Navy

on August 22 showed

Omega Air 707-368C

N707MQ undertaking the

tanking tests with the first

prototype E-2D, 166501

‘S D - 501’/Delta One, which

is currently being operated

by Air Te st and Evaluation

Squadron (VX) 23 at Naval

Air Station Patuxent River,

Maryland, from where the

tests were carried out.

Te sting of an in-flight

refuelling capability for the

E-2D has been under way

for some time. The first

in-flight fuel transfer from

a tanker aircraft took place

on July 14 last year, when

more than 1,700lb (771kg)

of fuel was transferred

from a US Navy KC -130T

tanker. Since then, tests

have also been carried out

refuelling from a US Navy

F/A-18F, plus USAF KC -10A

and KC -135R tanker

aircraft. As from this year,

all new-build E-2Ds will

be fitted with a refuelling

probe as standard,

while older aircraft

already in service will be

retrofitted. Dave Allport

Left: Dutch soldiers

exit the CH-147F for a

reconnaissance patrol north

of Gao on August 15. Corporal

Ken Beliwicz/RCAF

Above: Omega Air Boeing 707 Tanker N707MQ refuelling E-2D 166501 ‘Delta One’ during

recent trials. US Navy/Erik Hildebrandt

15-18 USNews AFM Oct2018.indd 16 10/09/2018 17:07: