Combat aircraft

An E-8C JSTARS fl ies over the

Middle East during an Operation

‘Inherent Resolve’ mission.

USAF/SSgt Michael Battles

DRAKEN FINALIZES MIRAGE PLANS

FOLLOWING THE LEAD of Textron’s

Airborne Tactical Advantage

Company (ATAC) and the Paramount

Group in South Africa, Draken

International has purchased a

number of surplus Dassault Mirage

F1s. Formally announced on

November 9, the deal, which took

place in September, includes 20

single-seat Mirage F1Ms and a pair

of two-seat F1BMs that were retired

by the Spanish Air Force in February

2013. The  ghters have been stored
      at Albacete in south-eastern Spain.
      Draken has also announced the
      purchase of 12 Denel Cheetahs
      from South Africa. Nine single-seat
      Cheetah Cs and three two-seat
      Cheetah Ds will be delivered in
      upgraded form. They will be shipped
      to the company’s Lakeland, Florida,
      facility and returned to  ight in 2018.

The acquisition is likely aimed at

the USAF’s upcoming adversary

air (ADAIR) award, which requires

almost 150 aircraft to ful ll the

service’s aggressor training needs.

The adversary program will provide

the service with 37,000 to 40,

 ight hours and will support the

USAF Weapons School and ‘Red Flag’

training events, along with operational

test and evaluation missions at Nellis

AFB, Nevada, and training at 12

operating locations throughout the

US. The release of a  nal request for

proposals is expected in January 2018,

and the USAF anticipates a contract

award following in 2019. Draken has

been providing ADAIR support to

the USAF Weapons School under an

interim arrangement since December

2015. Its contract currently runs
      through September 30, 2018.

SOS HERCULES NEWS

THE 16TH SPECIAL Operations

Squadron at Cannon AFB, New

Mexico, added a C-130H airlifter

to its inventory when the Hercules

arrived from Youngstown, Ohio

on November 29. The squadron,

which operates the USAF’s entire

 eet of AC-130W ‘Stinger II’

gunships, will use the ‘slick’ aircraft

for crew training. The acquisition

of the so-called ‘bounce bird’ will

free up the squadron’s combat

coded aircraft to perform their

primary missions, according

to the 16th Special Operations

Maintenance Squadron

commander. The Hercules had

previously been assigned to the

Ohio Air National Guard’s 179th

Airlift Wing.

Transiting RAF Mildenhall, UK, on the December 7 was

AC-130W ‘Stinger II’ serial 88-1305 of the 16th Special

Operations Squadron, one of a pair returning to the US.

Ryan Dorling

RAIDER MAKES

PROGRESS

THE DIRECTOR OF the USAF’s

Rapid Capabilities O ce (RCO)

con rmed on November 28

that the design of the air force’s

Northrop Grumman B-21A

bomber will likely be frozen

within the next year once a

critical design review (CDR) is

completed. Development of

the nuclear-capable stealth

bomber began in February

2016. The program completed
      an integrated baseline review
      in November 2016 and a
      preliminary design review
      (PDR) was conducted earlier
      in 2017. The successful
      completion of the CDR will
      allow construction of the new
      bomber to begin.

US TO UPGRADE JORDANIAN BASE

THE US DEPARTMENT of Defense

plans to spend around $

million on upgrading facilities at

Muwa aq Salti Air Base in Azraq,

Jordan. Located near the border

with Syria and Iraq, the base has

played a key role for the US and its

allies in its battle against so-called

Islamic State. The funding, which

was included in the Fiscal 2018

National Defense Authorization

Act, will provide for runway and

taxiway repairs and upgrades,

expansion of parking ramps,

facilities and infrastructure so that

base and its two runways, which

are already operating at ‘four to

 ve times what the space was

originally intended to support’,

can better sustain deployed units.

CHINOOK TO EVALUATE GENERAL ELECTRIC ENGINE

BOEING AND THE US Army

plan to conduct  ight trials of a

CH-47D helicopter equipped with

General Electric T408 turboshaft

engines installed in place of the

Chinook’s Honeywell T55-L-712s.

The engines will be installed

in a CH-47D operated by the

Aviation Flight Test Directorate

at Redstone Arsenal and testing

will be carried out during 2018.

The T408 is being considered as a

future upgrade for the transport

helicopter. Based on the GE38-1B,

the T408 is a 7,500shp (5,593kW)

engine developed for the Sikorsky

CH-53K. The engine could

power the Block II version of the

Chinook that is being developed

by Boeing.

UNITED STATES [NEWS]

http://www.combataircraft.net // February 2018 11

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