NEWS
16 // SEPTEMBER 2017 #354 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
North America
US Army ISR visitors
to Belfast
TWO US Army intelligence,
surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR)
aircraft recently visited
Belfast International
Airport in Northern
Ireland en route to
deployment in theatre.
The first, MC-12S-
11-00287 – callsign
‘DRAGN87’ – an EMARSS-
V-configured aircraft,
passed through on July
13, heading east. The
Enhanced Medium
Altitude Reconnaissance
and Surveillance System
(EMARSS) provides a
persistent airborne ISR
capability to detect,
locate, classify, identify
and track surface targets
with high accuracy during
the day, night and nearly
all weather conditions.
The aircraft visiting
Belfast was an EMARSS-V
version: Vehicle and
Dismount Exploitation
Radar (VADER) Moving
Target Indication (MTI)
with signals intelligence
and high-definition
full motion video.
The second visitor, on
July 20, was Dash 8 Srs
315 16-00397 (c/n 397,
ex N308V), operated on
behalf of the US Army
by Dynamic Aviation. Its
next stop was in Romania
before continuing
on into theatre.
Dynamic Aviation has
been operating ISR-
configured Dash 8-315s
for some years on lease
to the US Army but, until
recently, they all carriedcivilian registrations.
However, six were
bought from Dynamic
by the army under a
contract awarded on
April 7, 2015, since which
they’ve all been allocated
US military serials and
designated as RO-6As.
All are in either
Desert Owl or Saturn
Arch configuration,
incorporating aircraft-
mounted counter-IED
systems that have been
employed on various
aircraft for operations
in Afghanistan.
The RO-6A seen at
Belfast is not one of the
six, but an extra aircraft
acquired by Dynamic, to
which it was registered
in September last year
after being bought from
DAC Aviation, which
had previously used it
on UN operations.
Modified for its new
airborne ISR role at
the company’s base at
Bridgewater Air Park,
Virginia, it was reported
test flying there on July- Its US civil registration
was cancelled on June
22 when it transferred
to the US Army with
military markings.
The US Army has
selected the Dash 8-
as the platform for its new
Airborne Reconnaissance
Low-Enhanced (ARL-
E) programme to
replace the current
EO-5B/C (Dash 7-based)
ARL-M (Multifunction)
fleet. Dave Allport
Navy commissions USS Gerald R Ford
Above: An F/A-18F assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 approaches USS ‘Gerald
R Ford’ prior to the carrier’s fi rst arrested landing during test and evaluation operations in the
Atlantic on July 28. US Navy/Erik Hildebrandt
THE US Navy and
President Donald Trump
introduced the first of
the Ford-class aircraft
carriers, USS Gerald R Ford
(CVN 78), to active service
in a ceremony in Newport
News, Virginia, on July 22.
Completed by
Huntington Ingalls
Industries (HII), the Ford
features a relocated
island, which is higher
and further aft than
on previous Nimitz-
class vessels.
It also incorporates
General Atomics’
Electromagnetic Aircraft
Launch System (EMALS)
and Advanced Arresting
Gear (A AG) as well as an
enhanced flight deck with
space for more aircraft- which, in combination,
are expected to increase
sortie rates by around
30% compared to
Nimitz-class carriers.
An F/A-18F of VX-23 ‘Salty
Dogs’ at NAS Patuxent
River, Maryland made
the first arrested landing
with the new A AG and
subsequent take-off
with EMALS on July 28.
550th FS activated
Above: The Oregon ANG’s 75th anniversary F-15C 79-041 leads an F-35A representing the 56th
OG at Luke AFB over Oregon. Jim Haseltine
THE US Air Force
activated the 550th
Fighter Squadron (FS) at
Kingsley Field, in Klamath
Falls, Oregon, on July 21.
Prior to becoming a full
squadron, it had been
activated as Detachment
2, 56th Operations Group
(OG) – part of the Total
Force Integration (TFI)
which brought active-
duty airmen to KingsleyField for the first time and
engaged in Eagle training.
“As a combined
operations, maintenance
and support squadron,
the 550th ‘Silver Eagles’
will be one of the
largest squadrons in Air
Education and Training
Command,” said Lt
Col Brad Orgeron, the
squadron commander.
“Together, the 550thSilver Eagles and the
173rd Fighter Wing will
continue to produce the
best air-to-air F-15C pilots
for the Combat Air Force.”
The 550th FS will
continue to come
under the command
of the 56th OG at Luke
AFB, Arizona, but will
operate at Kingsley Field
alongside the Oregon
Air National Guard.Above: US Army MC-12S-4 11-00287 (c/n FL-834, ex N834ER)
at Belfast International Airport on July 13. Reported in
January as being operated by Company B of the 305th Military
Intelligence Battalion, it’s not known if it’s still attached to
the same unit. Colin Gordon
Below: US Army RO-6A (Dash 8 Srs 315) 16-00397 (c/n 397, ex
N308V) at Belfast International Airport on July 20. Colin Gordon