Combat aircraft

F

35A SERIAL 5149

operated by the Royal

Norwegian Air Force

(RNoAF) conducted the

 rst local use of the braking

parachute upon landing at

Ørland Main Air Station on February

16. Testing of the specially designed
    modi cation began last year at

Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Initial trials were conducted on wet

runways before progressing to icy

conditions in Alaska. The Norwegian

event marked the  rst use of the

system on a production Lightning

II. All previous tests were conducted

by instrumented  ight test aircraft

AF-02. Tom Kaminski

RNoAF

SAUDI ARABIA SIGNS

TYPHOON MOI

SAUDI ARABIA HAS moved closer to

ordering a long-awaited follow-on

batch of 48 Euro ghter Typhoons,

with a memorandum of intent (MOI)

being signed on March 9.

The MOI was signed by the Crown

Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad

Bin Salman Al Saud, and UK Defence

Secretary Gavin Williamson during a

meeting at RAF Northolt, London.

The signal of intent paves the

way for discussions to  nalize the

purchase of 48 additional Typhoons.

Saudi Arabia ordered 72 examples

in 2007 at a cost of around $41

billion. The  rst 24 aircraft were

built by BAE Systems at its Warton

production facility, after which it

was planned for the remaining 48

to be assembled in Saudi Arabia by

the Alsalam Aircraft Company. In

the event, the co-production deal

foundered, and all 72 aircraft were

built in the UK. It is widely expected

that the new deal will involved

some form of local manufacture.

KUWAIT ISR PURCHASE APPROVED

THE US STATE Department has

given its approval to the possible

Foreign Military Sale of four King

Air 350ER intelligence, surveillance

and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft

to Kuwait. The deal, which

would be brokered through the

Defense Security Co-operation

Agency, is valued at around $259

million. The King Airs would

be equipped with AN/AAQ-35

Wescam MX-15HDi electro-optical/

infra-red imaging sensor turrets,

Selex Seaspray 7500E active

electronically scanned array

(AESA) radars, AN/AAR-47 missile

warning systems (MWS), AN/

ALE-47 countermeasure dispenser

systems, secure communications,

cryptographic, and precision

navigation equipment, and

identi cation friend or foe (IFF)

systems. In addition, one of the

aircraft will be modi ed to conduct

multiple missions including VIP/

senior leadership personnel

airlift, transport and medevac or

command and control (C2). The

Sierra Nevada Corporation will

be the principal contractor for

the project.

Tom Kaminski

SHERPAS FOR BRAZIL

US ARMY AVIATION and Missile

Command (AMCOM) announced

plans to transfer four Shorts

C-23B+ aircraft to the Brazilian

Army on March 13. The Sherpas,

which are currently in storage with

the 309th Aerospace Maintenance

and Regeneration Group (AMARG) at

Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, will be

transferred as excess defense articles

(EDA). Prior to delivery, the transports

will be returned to airworthy

condition and their cockpits will

be upgraded with night vision

goggles-compatible lighting, a new

autopilot, terrain avoidance warning

system/ground proximity warning

system (TAWS/GPWS), tra c collision

avoidance system (TCAS), and a

civil transponder. A new weather

radar will be installed. The aircraft

will not be delivered until early in

2021 and the US Army is seeking

contractors that can carry out the

required work on the Sherpas as well

as provide training for air and ground

crew. Once delivered, the Sherpas

will be operated by Brazil’s 4th

Army Aviation Battalion in Manaus.

Tom Kaminski

BRAKE PARACHUTE

TESTS FOR NORWEGIAN F-35A

[NEWS] WORLD

22 May 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

20-24 World News C.indd 22 21/03/2018 12:42