6 HEADLINE NEWS

Russia rolls out upgraded ‘Back re’ and new

radar evaluated for Marine Hornets

8 US NEWS

Boeing’s F-15X o ering to the USAF,

Raptors in Europe plus all the latest unit

and deployment news

18 WORLD NEWS

News from Europe and around the globe

including Colombian K rs on ‘Red Flag’, plus

all the latest military losses

IN THE NEWS

82

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Up close with the mighty

F-14 Tomcat. In this issue we

discover how this popular US

Navy fi ghter suffered from a

poor safety record in service.

Rich Cooper

ON THE COVER | PAGE 52

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14

INSIDEOCTOBER 2018 • Vol 19 • No 10

24 ‘MAPLE FLAG’ — LITE!
Dean Sorochan reports from the latest edition
of Canada’s Exercise ‘Maple Flag’ and  nds a
changed situation

26 EYE ON THE EAST
Andreas Rupprecht examines China’s expanding
electronic warfare capabilities with the Y-8GX-
and KQ-

30 JAMMING FOR THE NEXT-GENERATION
The EA-18G Growler is a vital asset for the US
Navy in the airborne electronic attack role.
Jamie Hunter investigates how it is set to
increase its capabilities via the Next-Generation
Jammer initiative

34 STRIKE FROM THE SEA
The US Navy is unparalleled when it comes to
carrier-borne aviation. The ability to strategically
position a ship with an embarked air wing that
rivals most world air forces is a powerful tool. Tom
Kaminski details the current status of US naval
carrier aviation

52 TALES OF THE TROUBLESOME TOMCAT
The F-14 Tomcat enjoyed a career with the
US Navy that lasted more than 30 years. Its
home was the carrier  ight deck, and the F-
experienced more than its fair share of incidents
and accidents, as Tony Holmes reports

60 THE BRIEFING: AERIAL MINING
In his regular column, Robert Beckhusen details
the current state of the mine-laying mission

62 GLORY DAYS:
SKYKNIGHTS IN THE DANGER ZONE
The EF-10B electronic warfare version of the
Skyknight played a vital but often-overlooked
role in Vietnam. Warren E. Thompson talks to
some of the brave men who  ew the type
operationally in those deadly skies over South-
east Asia

70 DESERT DEVILS
Gert Kromhout meets VX-31 ‘Dust Devils’, a
squadron that operates largely out of sight,
but which performs one of the most important
duties when it comes to  eet capabilities

THE OPS DESK

Scott Wol ’s new column for Combat

Aircraft assesses the Horizon Air Q

incident in August and the actions of the

Oregon Air National Guard in controlling

the situation as it evolved

76 ‘VAMPIRE’ EVALUATORS

Screaming down a remote valley to hit a target with

precision, banging down on a carrier deck, engaging

 ghters at range — it’s what VX-9 ‘Vampires’ is all

about. Kedar Karmarkar examines the unit that

ensures the US Navy gets just what it needs in terms

of new ‘kit’

90 ‘AVIADARTS’ GOES INTERNATIONAL

With domestic live  re exercises in late

May and early June, Dmitriy Pichugin visits the

international phase of the ‘Aviadarts’ exercise, which

drew additional participants this summer alongside

the Russian hardware

94 CUTTING EDGE

Reports from the front line of aerospace technology,

by David Axe

96 FLASHBACK

Combat Aircraft’s regular feature looking at

highlights of the recent past — this month it’s a

VMA-513 ‘Flying Nightmares’ AV-8C Harrier

RARE METAL

Carlo Kuit and Paul Kievit head east to

Azerbaijan and  nd an air force that is

modernizing and upgrading its small

but potent  eet of MiG-29  ghters and

attack helicopters

NEW FEATURE