16 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
NEWS North America
// JUNE 2018 #A PAIR of rarely seen
US Special Operations
Command (SOCOM) Dash
8s visited the UK recently.
On April 6, DHC-8-
N8200R arrived at RAF
Mildenhall, Suffolk using
the callsign ‘Grizzly 46’.
The aircraft was transiting
from the United States,
although its final destination
was unconfirmed. It
was reportedly due to
enter active service
with SOCOM in May.
Operating as ‘Grizzly 35’,
sister aircraft DHC-8-202Q
N8200L was then noted at
the Suffolk base on May- In terms of equipment,
this aircraft appears virtually
identical to N8200R but
wears a slightly different
paint scheme. It joined
the SOCOM fleet last
September and has already
flown missions over Libya
from Souda Bay, Crete.
The Dash 8s are part of
a fleet of SOCOM Tactical
Airborne Multi-Sensor
Platforms (STAMP) aircraft.
Both were previously
owned by Dynamic
Aviation, which operated
the aircraft on behalf of
the US Army, perhaps
under the Desert Owl or
Saturn Arch programmes.Middle East Strike Eagle swap-over
Above: F-15E 89-0501 ‘SJ/336 FS’ on arrival to Lakenheath on April 7. This aircraft and 89-0492 both carried extensive nose art,
apparently applied in chalk, and all the returning jets displayed varying quantities of mission marks. Luca Chadwick
AIRMEN AND F-15Es
from the US Air Force’s
336th Fighter Squadron
(FS) returned home to
Seymour Johnson Air Force
Base, North Carolina on
April 11 after a six-month
deployment to the Middle
East in support of Operation
Inherent Resolve. During
the deployment to Al Azraq
Air Base, Jordan, the
F-15Es targeted insurgents
of so-called Islamic State in
the middle of the Euphrates
River Valley and near a
refugee camp in southern
Syria. The F-15Es were
also involved in repelling
the February 7 combined-
arms attack by pro-regime
fighters against US forces.
They helped destroy
armour, heavy artillery and
infantry in the incident,
with no US casualties.
The 336th FS has been
replaced in theatre by
the 494th Expeditionary
Fighter Squadron from
RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk.
F-15Es from the 336th
FS began to return home
to Seymour Johnsonvia Lakenheath on April- The first wave of six
jets comprised: 89-0488,
89-0492, 87-0177, 86-0187,
88-1688 and 88-1682 using
callsigns ‘Tabor 11-16’.
Tw o days later, 89-0474,
89-0505, 88-1669, 88-1675,
88-1706 and 89-0495 of
the 336th FS arrived at
Lakenheath as ‘Tabor 21-26’,
while 00-3001, 00-3000,
91-0602, 00-3004, 91-
and 00-3002 of the 494th
FS departed in the other
direction as ‘Tabor 51-56’.
On the 10th, another batch
of 336th FS Strike Eagles
arrived from the Middle
East. These were 87-0181,
34 88-1687, 35 87-
and 88-1668 as ‘Tabor
33-36’. Aircraft of the 494th
FS departing Lakenheath
on the same day were
96-0201, 91-0603, 91-0326,
91-0324, 96-0204 and
01-2000 as ‘Tabor 61-66’.
The final F-15E pair
coming back from the
Middle East to Lakenheath
comprised 88-1671 and
89-0501 that arrived as
‘Tabor 31-32’ on April 13.Paramount
to regenerate
Draken
Mirage F1s
DRAKEN INTERNATIONAL
has signed an agreement
with Paramount Aerospace
Systems to regenerate
22 Mirage F1M and F1B
aircraft acquired from
Spain. Paramount will
also be responsible for
ongoing engineering
support for the adversary
air services provider.
The Mirage F1Ms will
undergo reassembly,
restoration and
airworthiness certification
by Paramount at Draken’s
Lakeland, Florida
maintenance facility.
Draken acquired 22
former Spanish Air Force
Mirage F1s to enhance
adversary services for its
US Department of Defense
and other customers. The
company also recently
purchased 12 Denel
Cheetahs. Paramount
acquired the entire South
African Mirage F1 fleet,
along with spares.Secretive SOCOM
Dash 8s in the UK
THE F-35B completed its
first operational cruise in
the Western Pacific when
the Wasp Expeditionary
Strike Group returned
to Okinawa on April 23.
F-35Bs of Marine Fighter
Attack Squadron ( VMFA)
121 went aboard the
amphibious assault ship
USS Wasp (LHD 1) as part
of Spring Patrol 2018 (see
F-35B deploys aboard
USS Wasp with 31st MEU,
May, p7). The regularly
scheduled activity in the
Indo-Pacific region was
conducted with the ships
of Amphibious Squadron- The F-35B spent
more than a month at
sea and conducted air
defence exercises with
US Air Force F-35As
and US Navy F/A-18s.
The US Marine Corps
is also preparing the
F-35B for a first combat
deployment to the Middle
East. The Lightning II
will be based aboard
the amphibious assault
ship USS Essex (LHD
- as part of the 13th
Marine Expeditionary
Unit. No specific date
has been announced
for deployment.
Above: A VMFA-121 F-35B Lightning II lands aboard the
USS ‘Wasp’ in the Philippine Sea on April 18 following an
expeditionary strike exercise. US Navy/Mass Communication
Specialist 1st Class Daniel BarkerWasp Strike Group
completes WESTPAC patrol
Ryan DorlingJustin Ward