‘HAWGS’ TACKLE THE TALIBAN
AFGHANISTAN AIR POWER BUILD-UP
A
10C THUNDERBOLT
IIs operated by Air Force
Reserve Command’s
442nd Fighter Wing
have deployed to
Kandahar Air Field,
Afghanistan, marking a change from
their original plan to join the Operation
‘Inherent Resolve’ charge from Incirlik,
Turkey. Following their arrival from
Whiteman AFB, Missouri, on January
19, the 303rd Expeditionary Fighter
Squadron was attached to the 455th
Air Expeditionary Wing’s 451st Air
Expeditionary Group in supportof Operation ‘Freedom’s Sentinel’
(OFS). The ‘Warthogs’ ew their rst
missions within 24 hours of reaching
Afghanistan.
The return of the A-10s to
Afghanistan after a three-year absence
follows a recent decision by US Air
Forces Central Command (AFCENT) to
realign its assets to support increased
airpower requirements against the
Taliban. The Incirlik plan was revised
due to changing requirements as the
campaign against so-called Islamic
State (IS) in Iraq and Syria appeared to
be winding down.AFCENT has realigned aircraft,
personnel and assets to Kandahar,
to support the increased air power
requirements of the Afghan National
Defense and Security Forces in
relation to OFS and the ‘Resolute
Support’ mission. As part of the latter,
HH-60G combat search and rescue
(CSAR) helicopters returned to the
base on January 26. The Pave Hawks,
which were deployed from Kadena
Air Base, Okinawa, are assigned to
the 33rd Expeditionary Combat
Rescue Squadron. HH-60Gs were last
operated from Bagram Air Base but
left in October 2017.
A-10Cs of the 74th Expeditionary
Fighter Squadron returned to Moody
AFB, Georgia, on January 20. The
‘Flying Tigers’ had been deployed
to Incirlik as part of the 447th AirExpeditionary Group since July 2017.
During the seven-month deployment
the squadron ew more than 1,
sorties, employed weapons in excess
of 4,400 times, and destroyed around
2,300 targets.
The upsurge in missions in
Afghanistan was initially assisted by
a reducing mission in Syria, but it
appears that IS ghters are far from
being defeated. This was evidenced
on January 20 when US-led coalition
strikes killed about 150 ghters in a
rural area of Syria in the contested
Middle Euphrates River Valley. US-
backed Syrian Democratic Forces
(SDF) have been engaged in heavy
ghting with the last remnants of
IS, but reports suggest that IS can
still ‘mass large numbers’ to hold
territory in Syria.NEW WINGS FOR WARTHOGS
THE US AIR Force released a draft
request for proposals (RFP) associated
with the planned acquisition of
up to 116 new wing sets for its
A-10Cs on February 8. The service
had previously issued contracts
to Boeing for the production of
242 wing sets in 2006. The service
purchased only 173 before the terms
of the contract expired. As a result
109 of the 281 aircraft still require
new wings. The service’s latest planscall for the release of a nal RFP for
the A-10 Thunderbolt advanced-
wing continuation kitting (ATTACK)
program in April with contract award
taking place in March 2019. The USAF
received $103 million to restart wing
production under the Fiscal 2018
the National Defense Authorization
Act. The service initially plans to buy
four wing sets under a low-rate initial
production contract, followed by up
to 112 more over a seven-year period.BOEING PARTNERS WITH GENERAL
ATOMICS ON MQ-25 STINGRAY
GENERAL ATOMICS IS teaming
with Boeing to compete for
the US Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray
unmanned tanker program,
which received funding under the
Fiscal Year 2019 defense budget.
The budget’s unmanned carrier
aviation (UCA) allocation expands
the tanker role, stating that the
MQ-25 should have intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance
(ISR) capabilities from the start.
This marks a return to previous
Navy ambitions for the MQ-25,
which had been watered down
over recent years.
The competition winner will
build just four MQ-25s for the
navy in the rst phase of theproject. While Boeing is set to
partner with General Atomics on
this, it says it will continue with its
own separate solution in relation
to a possible follow-on buy of up
to 68 MQ-25s, thereby keeping a
range of options open.
The navy plans to award an
engineering manufacturing and
development (EMD) contract by
the end of this year in order to
provide for two Stingrays by the
end of 2021. The navy says it may
even scrap the program if they
don’t live up to expectations, so
General Atomics’ partnering with
Boeing, a company with extensive
experience of working with the
navy, makes good sense.KING STALLION TESTING CONTINUES
THE SIKORSKY YCH 53K
successfully transported a four-seat
combat tactical vehicle variant
of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle
(JLTV) during a demonstration
ight at NAS Patuxent River,
Maryland, on January 18. The King
Stallion hovered at a maximum
altitude of 100ft (30.5m) for
approximately 10 minutes while
carrying the 18,870lb (8,559kg)
vehicle using its single-point
cargo hook. Prior to lifting the
JLTV, the King Stallion conducted
several external load tests with
concrete slabs weighing up to
27,000lb (12,247kg). Planned tests
will expand that external weight
envelope to 36,000lb (16,329kg)
this year.The test was conducted by the
CH-53K integrated test team, which
includes personnel from Sikorsky,
Naval Air Systems Command
(NAVAIR) and air test and evaluation
squadron HX-21. Several variants
of the JLTV will replace the Marine
Corps’ eet of High Mobility Multi-
purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV).
The rst system demonstration
test article (SDTA) CH-53K joined the
four engineering manufacturing
and development (EMD) aircraft
in January. The ve King Stallions
have now logged more than 700
ight hours including 11.9 own by
SDTA-1 as of early February. Two of
the EDM aircraft are currently ying
at Pax River and a third will arrive
in February.YCH-53K EMD test
aircraft BuNo 168781 lifts
a US Marine Corps Joint
Light Tactical Vehicle
during a demonstration
at NAS Patuxent River,
Maryland on January 18.
US NavyUNITED STATES [NEWS]
http://www.combataircraft.net // April 2018 09
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