combat aircraft

EXERCISE

‘FALCON AUTUMN’

T

HE ‘FALCON AUTUMN’

exercise hosted by the

Royal Netherlands Air

Force (RNLAF) and the

Royal Dutch Army was

staged at the air force’s

‘sleeping’ base of Deelen in the

center of the Netherlands. The

maneuvers took place between

September 17 and October 12

and involved the debut of the

German Army’s NH90 helicopter on

Dutch soil.

On September 24 seven

Heeres ieger (German Army

Aviation) NH90 Tactical Transport

Helicopters (TTHs) arrived at

Deelen. Their operating unit is

Transporthubschrauberregiment 30

(THR 30, 30th Transport Helicopter

Regiment) based at Niederstetten.

Alongside the German NH90s, the

RNLAF was present with six AH-64D

Apaches and four CH-47 Chinooks

from the Netherlands’ Defence

Helicopter Command. Fixed-wing

participants included two RNLAF

F-16s and two Luftwa e Tornados.

Meanwhile, German C-160 Transall

and Dutch C-130H Hercules

airlifters conducted cargo-dropping

missions. The RNLAF Hercules

dropped around 10 tons of cargo

using a parachute delivery system

borrowed from the Belgian Air

Component.

The exercise is speci cally

designed to train military personnel

operating in civilian territory.

TORNADO CLEARED

TO FIELD AARGM

THE US NAVY and the Italian Air

Force recently completed operational

testing of the AGM-88E Advanced

Anti-Radiation Guided Missile

(AARGM) on the Tornado ECR

(Electronic Combat Reconnaissance)

aircraft at Naval Air Warfare Center

China Lake, California. Assessing the

missile’s operational e ectiveness

and suitability in combination with

the Tornado included a series of

 ight tests that culminated with two

direct hits on simulated air defense

threat targets.

Italy signed a memorandum of

understanding to co-operatively

develop the AGM-88E with the US

in 2005. The Tornado is the  fth

operational platform to  eld the

AARGM, following the F/A-18C/D,

F/A-18E/F and EA-18G. Tom Kaminski

A Tornado ECR at China Lake

with the AGM-88E missile.

Italian Air Force

SAUDI SEAHAWK DELIVERED

THE FIRST OF 10 MH-60R

helicopters purchased for the Royal

Saudi Naval Forces arrived at Naval

Station Mayport, Florida, on October

2. It had formally been handed over
   at Lockheed Martin’s Owego, New

York, facility on September 13. Five

Seahawks will support a training

program for 250 Saudi  ight crews

and maintenance personnel that

is expected to last for three years

and will be carried out by the US

Navy’s Helicopter Maritime Strike

Squadron (HSM) 40. The Seahawks,

which were purchased via a Foreign

Military Sales (FMS) contract at a

cost of $1.9 billion, will be operated

by a new squadron. Tom Kaminski

The fi rst MH-60R for the Royal Saudi

Naval Forces arrives at Naval Station

Mayport, at Florida’s Admiral David L.

McDonald Field, on October 2. US Navy

NETHERLANDS

PLANS APACHE

UPGRADE

THE NETHERLANDS FORMALLY

signed a letter of o er and

acceptance (LOA) with the US

Defense Security Co-operation

Agency (DSCA) to upgrade

its 28 AH-64D Block II attack

helicopters to the latest AH-64E

con guration on September 14.

The total cost of the upgrades,

which will allow the helicopters

to remain in service through

2050, is estimated to be $1.

billion. The Netherlands

purchased 30 AH-64Ds in

1995 and the survivors had

previously been upgraded

from Block I con guration from

2013-15. Two Apaches were

written o during operations

in Afghanistan and Mali. The

 rst aircraft are due to enter the

modi cation line in 2021 and

will be returned to service by

mid-2022. The  nal delivery will

occur in 2025. Tom Kaminski

CANADA SEEKS ISR KING AIRS

THE US STATE Department has

approved the possible Foreign Military

Sale (FMS) of three King Air 350ERs

to Canada. The King Airs will receive

customer-unique post-production

intelligence, surveillance and

reconnaissance (ISR) modi cations.

The aircraft will feature Wescam

MX-15D electro-optical and

infra-red (EO/IR) sensors, the AN/

AAR-47B(V)2 missile and laser

warning system (MWS), AN/ALE-

countermeasure dispenser systems

(CMDS), VORTEX dual RF/Ku-band

line-of-sight transceivers and other

communications and mission systems.

The project has an estimated value

of $300 million. Canada launched

the acquisition earlier this year under

its manned airborne intelligence

surveillance and reconnaissance

(MAISR) project. Tom Kaminski

SPANISH CHINOOK

UPGRADES APPROVED

SPAIN’S COUNCIL OF Ministers

has given its approval to a

$963.5-million program that

will upgrade the Spanish Army’s

17 CH-47D helicopters to the

latest CH-47F con guration. The

project received the approval of

the US Department of State in

April 2018. Tom Kaminski

[NEWS] WORLD

18 December 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net