Combat aircraft

T

HE ROYAL

AUSTRALIAN Air Force

has formally accepted

three more F-35As from

Lockheed Martin. The

jets were delivered to

the Integrated Training Center at

Luke Air Force Base, Arizona in

early March. Tail numbers A35-

and A35-004 touched down on

March 8 and A35-005 followed

on March 18.

The Lightning IIs are the  rst

Australian aircraft delivered with

the latest Block 3F operational

 ight program software load.

Australia’s original pair of Block

3i F-35As was recently inducted

into the US Air Force’s Ogden

Logistics Complex at Hill AFB,

Utah where they are receiving

structural, hardware and software

upgrades that will bring them up

to the Block 3F con guration. The

RAAF will receive  ve more F-35As

by the end of the year.

Australia’s cadre at Luke

includes pilots and maintenance

personnel from No 3 Squadron

that are assigned to the 56th

Fighter Wing’s 61st Fighter

Squadron. The RAAF squadron

is expected to go through its

 rst F-35A airworthiness board

in August, and transfer of the

initial two Lightning IIs to RAAF

Base Williamtown for Australian-

speci c validation and veri cation

activities will occur in December.

Tom Kaminski

US Air Force pilot Maj Josh Masopust returns to Luke AFB after a

training mission in RAAF F-35A A35-005 (AU-5).

Commonwealth of Australia

IOC FOR ITALIAN F-35As

THE F35AS ASSIGNED to the

Italian Air Force’s 32° Stormo at

Amendola air base, south-eastern

Italy, achieved initial operational

capability (IOC) on March 1. The

 ve aircraft o cially became part

of the country’s national air defense

system as part of the Airspace

Surveillance Service (Servizio

Sorveglianza Spazio Aereo, SSSA)

the same day. Although the aircraft

are not yet standing quick reaction

alert (QRA), if required they can

carry a standard conventional load

(SCL) that includes the AIM-120C-

air-to-air missiles allowing

them to perform the mission.

Tom Kaminski

Aeronautica Militare

RCAF DEMO HORNET REVEALED

THE ROYAL CANADIAN Air Force

unveiled its freshly painted 2018

CF-18 demonstration team jet at

4 Wing CFB Cold Lake, Alberta,

on April 3. The Hornet carries a

paint scheme that honors the

year’s 60th anniversary of North

American Aerospace Defense

Command (NORAD), which was

jointly established in 1958 by

Canada and the United States.

The organization continues to

maintain a ‘24/7’ watch to protect

both countries.

The demonstration team

subsequently relocated to 19 Wing

CFB Comox, British Columbia, where

it will re ne its routine before the

 rst airshow performance at Joint

Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New

Jersey, on May 4, 2018.

For the 2018 season the

demonstration will be  own by

Capt Stefan ‘Porcelain’ Porteous,

who was most recently assigned

to 433 Tactical Fighter Squadron

at 3 Wing CFB Bagotville, Québec.

Tom Kaminski

TEJAS GOES ON EXERCISE

THE INDIAN AIR Force (IAF)’s Tejas

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) took

part in Exercise ‘Gaganshakti 2018’

in April. This year’s event, which

involved more than 1,100 aircraft

being deployed to forward bases,

was the  rst in which the Tejas has

participated.

According to the IAF, ‘the

operational e ciency and

mission-worthiness of these

platforms would be put to the

test in a real-time intense exercise

environment’. The exercise

included testing of the LCA’s air

defense and strike capabilities.

IAF

CANADIAN HELICOPTERS TO MALI

THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT

is sending an Air Task Force (ATF)

to provide urgently needed

transport and logistics capacity

for United Nations forces in Mali.

It will include four CH-146 and

two CH-147F utility and heavy-lift

helicopters. Announced on

March 19, the task force will

support the United Nations

Multi-dimensional Integrated

Stabilization Mission in Mali

(MINUSMA) for 12 months.

Tom Kaminski

LAST GLOBEMASTER III SOLD TO INDIA

BOEING HAS RECEIVED a

$262-million Foreign Military Sales

contract from the US Air Force Life

Cycle Management Center for a

single C-17A for India. The aircraft

will be delivered by late August

2019 once modi cations that are

unique to the Indian Air Force

are completed. The Globemaster

III, which is currently stored at a

Boeing facility in San Antonio,

Texas, is the last of 10 so-called

‘white-tail’ C-17As that Boeing

built without having a customer

for them.

Tom Kaminski

CF-188 serial 188776 will serve as the demo aircraft for the RCAF during the

2018 season. The Hornet received special markings that celebrate the 60th

anniversary of North American Aerospace Defense Command. It was unveiled

at 4 Wing/CFB Cold Lake, Alberta, on April 3. RCAF/MSgt John Gordinier

WORLD [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // June 2018 19

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