combat aircraft

T

HE ROYAL CANADIAN

Air Force (RCAF) assumed

responsibility for the

NATO Enhanced Air

Policing (eAP) mission

from the UK’s Royal Air

Force during a ceremony at Mihail

Kogălniceanu air base in Romania

on August 30. The RAF’s No 135

Expeditionary Air Wing had carried

out the quick reaction alert (QRA)

mission since April. Four Typhoon

FGR4  ghters that were  own and

maintained by personnel from No 1

(Fighter) Squadron and No II (Army

Co-operation) Squadron at RAF

Lossiemouth, Scotland had been

deployed to the base in southern

Romania. While there, the Typhoons

conducted eight scrambles and

intercepted 20 Russian aircraft

that were  ying over the Black

Sea towards Romanian airspace.

During its time at the Black Sea base,

the detachment also conducted

exercises with Romanian, Bulgarian,

Hungarian, Croatian and American

military units that included air-

NATO AIR

POLICING CHANGES

TURKISH PILOT FLIES F-35A

A TURKISH AIR Force pilot carried

out the  rst  ight with one of

Turkey’s new F-35A  ghters at Luke

Air Force Base, Arizona, on August

28. Turkish pilots and maintenance
    personnel began training at Luke
    on June 21. The  rst of Turkey’s
    planned  eet of 100 F-35As was

delivered during a ceremony at

Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth,

Texas, facility in June 2018. Turkey

has been a participant in the F-

program since 1999 and has invested

around $1.25 billion in the aircraft’s

development. Although the 2019

National Defense Authorization Bill

prohibits the delivery of F-35As to

Turkey until the DoD provides a

report on Turkish-American relations,

newly produced Lightning IIs will

still be  own to Luke AFB where

training continues. The prohibition is

rooted in Turkey’s planned purchase

of Russian S-400 missile systems and

several disagreements with the US.

Tom Kaminski

Turkish F-35A 18-0001 (AT-01) — the initial jet

for the country — on its third fl ight from Fort

Worth, Texas, earlier this year. Henry B. Ham

JAPAN ADDS ADVANCED HAWKEYE

NORTHROP GRUMMAN RECEIVED

a $164.3-million contract

modi cation from Naval Air

Systems Command (NAVAIR) on

September 5 that provides for the

production and delivery of a single

E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft for

Japan. The aircraft was purchased

under the US Foreign Military Sales

(FMS) program and will be delivered

by March 2020. This latest order

increases Japan’s E-2D commitment

to four. The  rst example will be

delivered in late 2019.

The US State Department has also

given its approval to the possible

sale of up to nine additional

E-2Ds to Japan in an overall deal

that could be worth as much as

$3.1 billion.

SKYTRUCK

DELIVERED TO

ECUADOR

SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT’S PZL

Mielec subsidiary delivered an

M28 short take-o and landing

(STOL) multi-role transport

aircraft to the Ecuadorian Army

following a trans-Atlantic  ight

from Poland to Shell Mera. A

Polish crew  ew the twin-

engine turboprop machine to

Ecuador just  ve months after

a contract was received. PZL

Mielec conducted training for

army pilots and mechanics.

Tom Kaminski

KOREAN P-8As

APPROVED

THE US STATE Department

has given its approval to the

possible sale of six P-8A maritime

surveillance aircraft and associated

equipment and systems to the

Republic of Korea. The deal could

be worth as much as $2.1 billion.

The Republic of Korea Air Force

currently operates the P-3C in the

maritime role. Tom Kaminski

RCAF CF-188s have returned to Romania for Operation

‘Reassurance’, following previous deployments to Mihail

Kogălniceanu from September to December last year and at

Câmpia Turzii from April to August 2014. Crown Copyright

[NEWS] WORLD

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