6 HEADLINE NEWS

Exercise ‘Vigilant Ace’ in South Korea, Qatar

 rms up  ghter deals and Israel marks initial

operational capability for F-35I

8 US NEWS

First KC-46 Pegasus for USAF, Reapers for

Tyndall AFB, plus all the latest unit and

deployment news

16 WORLD NEWS

News from Europe and around the globe

including Canadian plans for acquisition of

Australian Hornets, plus all the latest military

losses

14 THE BRIEFING

Combat Aircraft’s regular column by Robert

Beckhusen, taking a look behind the

headlines — this month evaluating the US

Air Force’s ability to deal with missile threats

36 CALLSIGN ‘BERSERK’

Air Support Operations Squadrons provide

tactical command and control to integrate

joint  repower, especially attack aviation, in

support of army ground operations, as

Dr Richard Porcelli details

42 TEHRAN FLEXES ITS MUSCLES

Babak Taghvaee reports on the third

consecutive year of the Islamic Republic of

Iran Air Force’s ‘Devotees of Velayat’s Territory’

exercise in Isfahan

50 GROOM LAKE ‘VIPER’

BREAKS COVER

What looks like a nondescript F-16D

is actually a ‘Viper’ making a very rare

appearance. Combat Aircraft explains the

aircraft’s role at the top-secret Groom Lake air

base on the Nevada Test and Training Range

58 FORTY YEARS OF

BELGIAN FALCONS

As Belgium gets ready to decide on a

new  ghter, Jos Schoofs looks back at the

prestigious career of the F-16 with this small

but capable air arm

70 WORLD-CLASS ‘FLANKER’?

Piotr Butowski examines the Sukhoi Su-35,

a  ghter that is gaining increasing global

attention as it proves its worth in Russian

military service

78 GLORY DAYS:

UNSUNG HEROES

Warren E. Thompson recalls the little-

known combat exploits of the US Air Force’s

Lockheed F-104 Star ghter  eet, which

enjoyed two successful periods deployed at

the height of the war in South-east Asia

IN THE NEWS

52

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ON THE COVER:

Close air support specialist — a Marine

Corps AV-8B+ from VMA-214 ‘Black

Sheep’ toting live weapons en route to

a target during an exercise in Arizona.

Jamie Hunter

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24

INSIDEFebruary 2018 • Vol 19 • No 2

BLACK SHEEP

Getting the job done...

Supporting troops in the  eld is the central role of the US Marine Corps’ tactical aviation community.

Jamie Hunter meets VMA-214 ‘Black Sheep’, a Harrier squadron with a mission that spans 75 years and

one that is set to continue well into the future

86 GETTING TO GRIPS

WITH THE ‘BUFF’

Despite its age, the

venerable B-52H is one of

the most important aircraft

in the US military inventory.

Hans Drost explains how

teaching new air force

pilots to get to grips with

this lumbering giant is still

no easy feat...

94 CUTTING EDGE

Our monthly column

reporting from the

front line of aerospace

technology, by David Axe

96 FLASHBACK

Combat Aircraft’s new

feature looking at

squadrons and types

that are gone but not

forgotten — this month

it’s the RF-8Gs of VFP-

‘Hawkeyes’, the US Navy’s

last F-8 Crusader squadron

FEATURE ARTICLE

VAMPIRES — WITH ‘THE RIGHT STUFF’

Traditionally associated with US Air Force  ight-testing,

Edwards AFB, California is known as the home of ‘The

Right Stu ’. Today, that important test work continues,

and for the F-35 program it brings together a raft of

operators. Jamie Hunter visits the detachment from VX-

‘Vampires’

(^66) A SHOW OF FORCE
The Dubai Air Show, which ran from November 12-16,
drew a strong contingent of US military aircraft deployed
to the region. Babak Taghvaee attended what was both a
showcase of American hardware and a useful chance to
catch up on recent operations
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