combat aircraft

CANADIAN SEA KING RETIREMENT NEARS

THE ROYAL CANADIAN Air Force

will formally retire the Sikorsky

CH-124 helicopter during a

ceremony at Patricia Bay in

Vancouver, British Columbia,

on November 30. The event will

include a ceremonial  ypast by Sea

Kings of 443 Maritime Helicopter

Squadron. The shipborne maritime

helicopter  rst entered service with

the Royal Canadian Navy in August

1963 and 443 Squadron will end

Sea King operations sometime in

early December. It currently has  ve

CH-124s in service.

Although plans call for nine Sea

Kings to be preserved for static

display and another to be retained

as a training device, the remaining

15 examples of the type are being

o ered for sale by the Department

of National Defence and Public

Services and Procurement Canada

(PSPC). Three Sea Kings were

demilitarized and scrapped due to

their poor condition.

The  rst CH-148 for 443 Squadron

arrived at Victoria International

Airport in August. Two Cyclones

are currently assigned and nine will

be on station by 2021. The Cyclone

is scheduled to make its  rst west

coast deployment aboard the

Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS

Regina (FFH 334) during January.

Tom Kaminski

CANADIAN SAR AIRCRAFT DESIGNATED

THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT

has assigned the designation

CC-295 to its planned  eet of 16

Airbus C295W rescue aircraft. The

Royal Canadian Air Force has also

reversed plans to paint the aircraft

in tactical gray and will revert to the

traditional yellow scheme carried

by its search-and-rescue aircraft.

Senior RCAF o cers had reportedly

requested the tactical gray scheme

so that the aircraft could support

other missions, including combat.

The CC-295s will replace the RCAF’s

 eet of six CC-115 Bu alo and 12

CC-130H Hercules used in the SAR

role. The yellow scheme, which

provides a higher level of visibility

and recognition in the ground

and the air, is already worn by the

CC-115, CC-138 Twin Otter, CH-

and CH-149 that serve on SAR

duties. Canada ordered the CC-

in December 2016 and assembly

of the  rst aircraft began in June at

the Airbus pre- nal assembly line

(Pre-FAL) in Tablada, Spain. It will be

delivered in late 2019. Tom Kaminski

L-39NG ROLLED OUT

AERO VODOCHODY ROLLED out

its latest L-39NG jet trainer and

light attack aircraft on October 12.

The  rst L-39NG pre-series aircraft

is expected to make its maiden

 ight before the end of this year.

Development of the L-39NG

had been accelerated in the last

two years in order for the Czech

manufacturer to be able to deliver

the  rst aircraft to the market in

2020. Certi cation of the new
      avionics and engine installation
      was completed at the end of 2017,
      while the L-39NG itself will be fully
      certi ed before the end of 2019.

Aero Vodochody

IRAQI HELICOPTER

SALE APPROVED

THE US DEPARTMENT of State

has given its approval to the

possible Foreign Military Sale

(FMS) of Bell 407GX helicopters

to Iraq. According to the US

Defense Security Co-operation

Agency (DSCA), the helicopters

would ‘compensate for the

combat loss of seven IA-

helicopters in recent years’.

They will be con gured with

L3 Wescam MX-15Di EO/IR

sensors and a suite of aviation

survivability equipment (ASE).

Additionally, the helicopters

will be capable of  elding M

7.62mm, M3P or GAU-19 0.5in

machine guns and 2.75in (70mm)

laser-guided Advanced Precision

Kill Weapon System (APKWS)

rockets. The deal could be

worth as much as $82.5 million.

Tom Kaminski

CAYUSE WARRIORS

PURCHASED FOR PARTNER NATIONS

MD HELICOPTERS HAS received

an order for six MD530F light

scout attack helicopters for

Kenya. The rotorcraft will be

equipped with FN Herstal

0.5in HMP 400 machine gun

pods and M260 seven-round

2.75in (70mm) rocket pods.

Additionally, they will feature

an enhanced communications

system, a ballistically tolerant

crashworthy fuel system,

ballistic armor protection, the

DillonAero mission-con gurable

armament system (MCAS) and the

DillonAero  xed-forward sighting

system. Deliveries will begin in

April 2019 and will be completed

by August.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Air

Force will receive six MD530G

light scout attack helicopters.

The Cayuse Warriors will

include the same features as

the Kenyan aircraft but will

also be equipped with MD

Helicopters’ next-generation

all-’glass’ cockpit featuring two

Genesys Aerosystems IDU-

6 x 9in (15.24 x 22.86cm) LCD

primary displays, Tek Fusion

Global’s PATHFINDER mission

management system (MMS) and

the ARES weapons management

system (WMS) on dual side-

mounted mission displays.

Additionally, they will be

equipped with a Wescam laser

designator and Thales’s Scorpion

helmet-mounted cueing system

and be capable of  ring BAE

Systems 2.75in (70mm) Advanced

Precision Kill Weapons System

(APKWS) laser-guided rockets.

The MD530G is expected to

receive a US Army airworthiness

release (AWR) by December 2019.

Deliveries will be completed by

the end of 2020.

The 12 helicopters are part of

a $1.4-billion US government

inde nite delivery/inde nite

quantity (IDIQ) contract awarded

to MD Helicopters in September

2017 that includes up to 150

MD530s for partner nations. MD

Helicopters is under contract

to deliver 36 armed MD530F

and six MD530G Cayuse Warrior

helicopters. Tom Kaminski

A CH-148 Cyclone helicopter (left) alongside a specially

marked CH-124 Sea King outside the Archdale Hangar at

12 Wing Shearwater earlier this year. Canadian DND

[NEWS] WORLD

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