Aviation News – June 2018

Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus has completed

its supplemental type certi cation (STC)

fuel on-load tests. An STC is issued when

an applicant has received FAA approval

to modify an aeronautical product from its

original design.

The important landmark occurred when

one KC-46A transferred 146,000lb (66,224kg)

of fuel to another Pegasus at a maximum  ow

rate of 1,200 lb/min during a  ight conducted

from Boeing Field. During the trials, the tanker

demonstrated its ability to refuel from Boeing

KC-135 Stratotankers and McDonnell Douglas

KC-10 Extenders. Throughout 68 contacts

540,600lb (245,212 kg) of fuel was received.

The Pegasus programme has now

completed 2,700  ight hours and made more

than 2,500 refuelling contacts with an array of

aircraft including F-16s and AV-8B Harriers.

A trilateral military strike was carried out on

three sites in Syria in the early hours of April

14, in response to a suspected chemical

attack in the Syrian city of Douma a week

earlier. The US, France and the UK launched

105 missiles.

Four RAF Tornado GR4s, crewed by 31

Sqn,  ying from Cyprus  red eight Storm

Shadow cruise missiles that hit a storage site

west of Homs. Five  ghter-bombers from the

French Air Force – three Rafale Bs of EC 1/

Gascogne and two Rafale Cs of ETR 3/

Aquitaine – launched missiles at two sites

near Homs. Two USAF B-1Bs of the 37th

Expeditionary Bomb Squadron  ying from

Al Udeid, Qatar, also  red 19 AGM-158A

Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles at the

Barzah research centre in Damascus. The

rest of the weapons used are thought to

have been  red by warships stationed in the

eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the

Persian Gulf.

The attack followed an escalation of

tension in the area, with aggressive rhetoric

from Washington being returned in kind from

Moscow – the Russians being a close ally

of Syria.

Considerable pre-strike reconnaissance

was carried out, particularly by the US and

British forces. On April 12, the RAF’s 5(AC)

Sqn deployed a Sentinel R1 to Akrotiri. The

aircraft  ew an intelligence-gathering mission

the next day, allegedly targeting sites using

its ASARS-2A sensor. The USAF reportedly

used at least one Lockheed U-2S to gather

intelligence prior to the raid.

Other air assets employed on the operation

included USAF F-15C Eagle and F-16C

Fighting Falcon  ghters, plus RC-135V Rivet

Joint and RC-135U Combat Sent aircraft. The

RAF used four Typhoon FGR4s for  ghter

cover duties and the French supplied at least

one E-3F AWACS. Tanker support for the

operation involved 24 refuelling aircraft: ten

KC-135Rs, one KC-135T and six KC-10As

from the USAF, six French C-135FRs, and a

single RAF Voyager KC2.

The strikes were intended to destroy

Syria’s chemical weapons capability. US

satellite images indicate the attack achieved

its objective.

MILITARY NEWS

6

Coalition Airstrikes Hit Syria

An RAF Tornado GR4 at Akrotiri shortly

after carrying out its strike on Syria. Crown

Copyright 2018

Boeing KC-46A N842BA refuelling N462KC during the recent testing. Boeing/John Parker

Pegasus Tanker Clears

Major Hurdle

Aviation News incorporating Jets June 2018

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