Combat aircraft

T

HE CANADIAN FIRM

Discovery Air Defence

Services Inc was

rebranded as Top Aces Inc

on February 1. The move

returned the company,

which provides adversary air

facilities to the Australian, Canadian,

and German armed forces, to its

original name. Since it was formed

in 2004, the Dorval, Quebec-based

contractor has  own more than

68,000 accident-free  ight hours. Its

 eet includes 16 Dassault/Dornier

Alpha Jets, four IAI Westwinds

and 10 McDonnell Douglas A-4N

Skyhawks. The contractor is planning

to acquire fourth-generation

supersonic aircraft for use in the

aggressor role. Top Aces  ies from

main operating bases located in

Australia, Canada, Germany and

the US. It acquired the Arizona-

based Advanced Training Systems

International, Inc (ATSI) in December

2013. Tom Kaminski

Among the clients of Discovery Air Defence Services — now Top Aces — is

the Luftwaffe, which makes use of seven contracted A-4Ns at Wittmund to

train its Eurofi ghter pilots. Rich Cooper

RAAF SUPER HORNETS RETURN

SIX ROYAL AUSTRALIAN Air

Force (RAAF) F/A-18F Super

Hornets operated by No 1

Squadron, accompanied by a KC-

30A and a C-17A Globemaster III,

returned to RAAF Base Amberley,

Queensland on January 24.

Their return brought an end to

Australia’s combat operations

against forces of the so-called

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Two Super Hornets carried out

the Australian Air Task Group’s

 nal strike mission over Iraq on

January 14. The Super Hornets

had been deployed to Al Minhad

Air Base in the United Arab

Emirates since June 2017. Since

the ATG’s  rst mission as part of

Operation ‘Okra’ in October 2014,

Australian Hornet and Super

Hornets  ew over 21,400 hours

during more than 2,750 sorties.

Tom Kaminski

DISCOVERY AIR

DEFENCE BECOMES

TOP ACES

ADAIR PROVIDER REBRANDED

An F/A-18F powers up for take-off for the fi nal mission on Operation

‘Okra’ at the main air operating base in the Middle East region.

CPL Brenton Kwaterski/ADF

JAPAN’S EC-2 ELINT

AIRCRAFT BREAKS COVER

THE ELECTRONIC INTELLIGENCE

(ELINT) variant of the Kawasaki

Heavy Industries (KHI) C-

transport aircraft completed

a maiden  ight on February 8.

Although not announced by the

manufacturer, nor the Japan Air

Self-Defense Force (JASDF), the

debut  ight was evidenced by

photographs and video posted on

social media.

Compared to the standard C-

airlifter, the EC-2 version adds a

series of antennas and other fairings

above and on top of the fuselage

and above the tail. The aircraft

features an enlarged radome and

carries a signi cant number of

antennas below the fuselage.

Dubbed EC-2, the aircraft, serial

18-1202, is expected to replace the

JASDF’s sole EC-1 ELINT platform,

78-1021, which is operated by the

Denshi Sakusen (Electronic Warfare

Operations Group) at Iruma

Air Base.

[NEWS] WORLD

18 April 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

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