The rst Pilatus PC-21 for the RAAF’s
Roulettes display team made its maiden ight
at Stans-Buochs, Switzerland, on March- PC-21 A54-019 (HB-HWS) is the 19th
example for the Australian air arm. The rst
16 aircraft were for 2 Flying Training School at
RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia, while
the 17th and 18th are for the RAAF’s Aircraft
Research and Development Unit (ARDU).
Under the AUS$1.2bn Australian Defence
Force Pilot Training System contract,
signed in December 2015, Lockheed Martin
Australia is delivering 49 PC-21s to the
RAAF, plus seven ight simulators, learning
aids, courseware and support for an initial
seven-year term.
The rst RAAF PC-21 made its maiden
ight at Stans on July 21, 2016, followed
by the second on August 8 of the same
year. The rst pair began their delivery ight
from Switzerland on February 10 last year.Roulette pilots are quali ed ying instructors
who work at the Central Flying School,
based at RAAF Base East Sale in Victoria.PC-21 A54-019 in RAAF’s Roulettes display team markings at Stans-Buochs on March 23.
Stephan WidmerRoulettes PC-21 Breaks Cover
Flight trials by Airbus Defence and Space using
Tranche 3 Euro ghter Typhoon IPA8/98+08,
tted with the Euroradar Captor-E active
electronically scanned array (AESA) radar
began in March. This is the second application
of the new radar; the rst aircraft to receive it
being BAE Systems’ IPA5, serial ZJ700.
Typhoon IPA8 rst ew at Manching,
Germany, in September 2017, before beingupgraded with the new radar. The Captor-E
development programme for Typhoon
remains on track according to Euro ghter,
with a number of ights – with the radar
both powered and unpowered – having now
taken place.
Alastair Morrison, Senior Vice President of
Radar and Advanced Targeting at Leonardo
Airborne and Space Systems said: “The rstphase of ight tests wrapped up last year and
we’ve seen some excellent results. Currently
we’ve been working with the rst asset in the
UK, having the second asset will allow us to
run multiple programmes in parallel. This year
we’ll be performing a series of high-intensity
ight trials with incremental software updates
to enable the required capability to be available
for the rst deliveries to the Kuwait Air Force.”MILITARY NEWS
6Typhoon Radar Testing ‘On Track’
Typhoon 98+08 landing at
Manching on completion of its
second ight with the Captor-E
in March. Dr Andreas ZeitlerAviation News incorporating Jets May 2018US Navy to Axe More 'Classic' Hornets
The US Navy is accelerating its transition
to the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as
a money-saving measure. The move to
retire 136 F/A-18A, ’B, ’C and ’D Hornets
could provide a saving of nearly $1bn in
maintenance costs over ve years.
Under the plan, the US Navy will axe the
ghters by 2020. The move would provide
the service with an additional pool of spare
parts and enable it to transfer the best of the
aircraft to the Marine Corps, and to reserve
squadrons.The proposal aims to recoup around
$124m in 2019 and $852m across future
years’ defence plans. At the start of Fiscal
Year 2018 the naval aviation inventory
included more than 40 F/A-18A/Bs and 200-
plus F/A-18C/Ds. The service had previously
decided to transition its last operational
F/A-18C strike ghter squadrons, comprising
VFA-34, VFA-37, VFA-83 and VFA-131 to the
Super Hornet by the end of 2019. The latter
unit began its transition in October 2017.
Conversion of VFA-204 is already under way.Meanwhile, Boeing has received a $73m
contract to begin work on a service life
modi cation (SLM) for the F/A-18E/F eet
that will increase the Super Hornet's life from
6,000 to 9,000-plus hours. The programme
is a precursor to a subsequent effort that will
upgrade existing Block II Super Hornets to
the Block III con guration. The company will
initially work on four Super Hornets at its St
Louis, Missouri, facility but plans call for a
production line to be set up in San Antonio,
Texas, in 2019.06-08_military_newsDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 6 09/04/2018 12: