14 SPECIAL REPORT: STRIKING SYRIA

Babak Taghvaee details April’s air strikes on

chemical weapons facilities in Syria

24 EYE ON THE EAST

Combat Aircraft’s regular air warfare

brie ng from the Asia-Paci c

28 GUNFIGHTER HERITAGE

The 149th Fighter Wing ‘Lone Star

Gun ghters’ marked the 70th anniversary

of the US Air Force in 2017 by painting one

of its F-16Cs in special markings that hark

back to the unit’s origins. Exclusive photos

by Liz Lutz

30 SHARPENING THE ‘B-ONE’

Despite a plan to retire the B-1B Lancer

earlier than anticipated, the US Air Force is

continuing with several initiatives to keep

the bomber relevant. Following on from

our coverage of Lancer deep maintenance

last month, Jake Melampy looks at the

testers who are keeping the B-1 at the top

of its game

38 BUILDING THE FUTURE OF AIR POWER

Luke AFB in Arizona is no stranger to new

 ghter technology. It has been pivotal in

F-16 training and now it is the bedrock

of the future for both domestic and

international F-35 training. Jake Melampy

reports

44 THE LAST TOMCATS

For the US Navy, the F-14 Tomcat is but

a fond memory, but these big cats still

soldier on in Iran. In the  rst of a series of

Tomcat features, Babak Taghvaee examines

the F-14As of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Air Force

64 THUNDER OVER THE AEGEAN

One of Europe’s biggest air exercises is

‘Iniohos’ in Greece. Ioannis Lekkas went

along to join the USAF in one of

its missions

6 HEADLINE NEWS

Syria air strikes, F-35 completes

development  ight-testing, new radar

for Marine Hornets and Lockheed Martin

unveils MQ-25 contender

8 US NEWS

Latest F-35 developments, plus all the

latest unit and deployment news

18 WORLD NEWS

News from Europe and around the

globe including  rst Block 3F F-35As for

Australia, plus all the latest

military losses

IN THE NEWS

70

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52

Our coverage of Lockheed’s

‘Skunk Works’ at 75 continues

with the F-117 Nighthawk.

Rich Cooper

ON THE COVER

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INSIDEJune 2018 • Vol 19 • No 6

80 FABULOUS FALLON

NAS Fallon in northern Nevada is one of the

most important US Navy air stations. In the

 rst of a series of features, Jamie Hunter goes

behind the scenes at this air power haven

84 ANY TIME, ANY PLACE, ANYWHERE

The Travis-based 60th Air Mobility Wing’s

mission is to project American power around

the world at a moment’s notice. Without the

likes of the 6th Aerial Refueling Squadron’s

KC-10A Extenders, it would be an impossible

task, as Ashley Wallace found out

88 DESERT RESEARCHERS

NASA’s largest  ight research center is located

at one of the most famous test sites in the

world. Frank Visser reports from Edwards Air

Force Base, including an interview with NASA’s

chief test pilot Nils Larson

94 CUTTING EDGE

Combat Aircraft’s monthly column reporting

from the front line of aerospace technology,

by David Axe

96 FLASHBACK

Our regular feature focusing on squadrons and

aircraft types that are gone but not forgotten

— this month it’s an F-105G Thunderchief of

the 561st TFS

NIGHTHAWK

The F-117 Nighthawk was retired 10 years ago. As Combat

Aircraft marks 75 years of the Lockheed ‘Skunk Works’, Paul

Crickmore re ects on the Nighthawk’s history and evaluates

why a few continue to  y in secrecy

RAISED IN ARIZONA

Rich Cooper meets the

148th Fighter Squadron,

a unique element of the

Royal Netherlands Air

Force: training new F-

pilots in the near-perfect

weather of Arizona

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