Airforces

NEWS

10 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Continental Europe

‘Tête de sioux’ Rafale

ARMÉE DE l’Air (French

Air Force) Rafale C 351

‘4-FR’, the first to wear

the historic ‘tête de sioux’

insignia, was at Evreux on

July 14 for the departure

of fighters for the annual

Bastille Day parade

over Paris. Serving as

a spare it didn’t take

part in the flypast.

Beginning at 0900hrs

a single quick reaction

alert Rafale was airborne

from Evreux throughout

the day of the parade.

Rafale C 351 is assigned

to Escadron de Chasse

(EC) 2/4 ‘La Fayette’ at

BA 125 Istres-Le Tubé,

which will complete the

replacement of its Mirage

2000Ns with the new jets

next year. The head of

an American Sioux Indian

chief first appeared

as the insignia of the

US-manned Lafayette

Escadrille in 1916.

Joris van Boven

End for

Austrian

Typhoons?

THE AUSTRIAN

Ministry of Defence

has outlined plans to

retire its Tranche 1

Eurofighters from 2020.

A report by the

ministry’s Active

Airspace Surveillance

commission, revealed

on July 7, says retaining

the 18 EF2000s over

the next 30 years

would cost up to €2bn

more than replacing

them with a similar

number of replacement

supersonic fighters.

Under the proposals

the Eurofighter and

Saab 105OE would

both be replaced by

15 single-seat and

three two-seat jets of a

single type. However,

Austrian elections in

October could see

the plans revised.

A full report on the

future of the fighter

arms of Austria and

Switzerland will appear

in the October issue.

E.I.S. takes

on ex-

Croatian

PC-9s

ACCORDING TO

unofficial sources,

E.I.S. Aircraft GmbH,

based at Kiel-Holtenau

Airport in Germany,

recently acquired

three PC-9 trainers

from the Hrvatsko

Ratno Zrakoplovstvo

i Protuzračna Obrana

(HRZ i PZO, Croatian

Air Force) for a total

of €810,000.

The aircraft, serial

numbered 051, 052 and

053 (c/n 107, 183 and

185 respectively), were

originally operated by

Eskadrila Aviona (EA,

Aircraft Squadron)

of 93. zrakoplovna

baza (93. zb, 93rd

Air Base) at Zemunik

air base in Zadar.

They were declared

surplus together with

three other PC-9Ms

(serials 058, 060, 065)

and offered for sale

in January 2015.

The German company

already uses a number

of PC-9s for training

services for the German

military and NATO

partners, including

target towing and

forward air controller

(FAC) instruction.

Vladimir Trendafilovski

First Reaper

fl ight in

France

AN MQ-9A unmanned

aerial vehicle (UAV) of the

Armée de l’Air completed

its first flight in French

airspace on July 4. Reaper

612 of Escadron de Drones

(ED) 1/33 ‘Belfort’ took

off from BA 709 Cognac-

Châteaubernard for a

5hr 10min flight over

French territory north of

the base, demonstrating

the air force’s ability to

conduct training locally

and without US support.

The test flight also proved

calibration of emergency

parameters and verified

satellite links using two

ground control stations.

Currently, six aircraft

are operational with ED

1/33, five of which are

forward deployed at the

expeditionary air base

in Niamey, Niger, where

they have completed

over 15,000 flying hours

since January 2014.

By 2019, the squadron

will have 12 aircraft,

operated by 30 crews.

A Cognac-based MQ-

took part in the July 14

military parade in Paris.

THESE TWO specially

painted Türk Hava

Kuvvetleri (THK, Turkish

Air Force) aircraft

were recent visitors to

European air bases.

NF-5B-2000 71-

(c/n 4026) of 133 Filo

at Konya was at Ghedi

air base, Italy, on July

26, wearing a revised

livery on the tail to mark

25 years of the Turkish

Stars display team.

Meanwhile, C-130E

63-13187 (c/n 4012) of

222 Filo at Kayseri arrived

at RAF Lakenheath,

Suffolk, on August 2

wearing special colours

associated with its work

as support aircraft

for the Solo Turk F-

demonstration aircraft.

Turkish ‘specials’ on tour

Bob Archer

Fabrizio Berni