Combat aircraft

Boeing’s seventh KC-46A departs from

Paine Field in Everett, Washington, at the

start of its maiden flight on December 5.

Boeing/Marian Lockhart

REAPERS FOR TYNDALL

THE USAF HAS selected Tyndall AFB,

Florida, as the preferred alternative

for stationing a new attack wing

equipped with MQ-9A remotely

piloted aircraft (RPAs). The service

also named Vandenberg AFB,

California, as a reasonable alternative.

A final basing decision will be made

by the Secretary of the Air Force after

a complete environmental analysis

has been conducted.

Around 2,400 personnel are

expected to begin arriving at Tyndall

in 2020, with the first of 24 Reapers

following in 2022. The wing will

comprise an operations group

with mission control (MCE) and

launch and recovery elements (LRE)

and a maintenance group. Shaw

AFB, South Carolina, was selected

in January to house a Reaper

operations group and an associated

MCE, but no aircraft.

In related news, the government of

Niger has given the US Department

of Defense permission to begin

flying armed RPAs over its territory.

The USAF’s 323rd Expeditionary

Reconnaissance Squadron (ERS)

currently operates MQ-9As from

Base Aérienne 101 in Niamey. Until

the memorandum of understanding

was signed, the RPAs were limited

to flying unarmed intelligence

surveillance and reconnaissance

missions. The armed Reapers will

expand the US military’s ability to

conduct attacks against extremists

in a larger area of West Africa that

could include Mali, Chad, Nigeria and

even southern Libya. The RPAs will

eventually be relocated to an air base

in Agadez in northern Niger.

General Atomics has begun

integrating the GBU-39B/B laser

small diameter bomb with the

MQ-9A under a $17.5-million

contract from the USAF’s Medium

Altitude Unmanned Aerial System

Division at Wright-Patterson AFB,

Ohio. The weapon is being integrated

via the Reaper’s universal armament

interface and will be carried on the

underwing dual carriage system.

NEW LAUNCHERS FOR ‘BUFF’

B-52H STRATOFORTRESS

BOMBERS deployed to Al

Udeid, Qatar, received a new

capability recently when the first

conventional rotary launchers

(CRLs) arrived in theater. The first

CRL left Barksdale AFB, Louisiana,

aboard a C-5M Galaxy on

November 6. Bombers operated

by the 69th Expeditionary Bomb

Squadron were the first to use

the CRL in combat. The launcher

provides the B-52H with the

capability to carry smart weapons

including the AGM-158 Joint

Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile

(JASSM) internally for the first

time. The upgrade modifies an

existing common strategic rotary

launcher (CSRL), designed for

carrying nuclear weapons, into a

conventional rotary launcher.

The USAF’s hopes for re-

engining its B-52H fleet are still

very much alive. In fact the service

recently held industry days at

Barksdale to discuss options for

replacing the B-52H’s eight Pratt

& Whitney TF33- 103 turbofan

engines. During the two-day

event that took place December

12-13, officials from the Air Force

Life Cycle Management Center’s

B-1 and B-52 bomber division

discussed the program with

contractors.

If the service does proceed with

the program it would re-engine

all 76 of the bombers and acquire

20 developmental engines, 608

for installation and additional

spares. Although the USAF would

like to equip the bombers with

new powerplants, commercial-

off-the-shelf engine contenders

include an upgraded version of

the TF33 from Pratt & Whitney,

Rolls-Royce’s BR725 and GE

Aviation’s CF34-10. The service

has not indicated when or if it

expects to issue a request for

proposals.

TESTERS SUPPORT ‘ORANGE FLAG’ EXERCISE

USAF, US NAVY and US Marine Corps

testers conducted a joint multi-

service developmental (DT) and

operational (OT) flight test event on

November 28. Carried out over the

Mojave Desert, the three-hour-long

‘Orange Flag’ involved 28 aircraft

launched from Edwards AFB, Naval

Air Weapons Station China Lake

and Naval Air Station Point Mugu,

California, and Nellis AFB, Nevada.

Named after the symbolic color of

flight test, ‘Orange Flag’ was intended

to evaluate the interoperability

of the service’s fighters, bombers,

and command and control aircraft.

The exercise’s DT objectives were

developed by the 412th Test Wing

at Edwards, the 96th Test Wing at

Eglin AFB, Florida, and the US Navy’s

Air Test and Evaluation Squadron

VX-31 at China Lake. The 53rd Test

Wing at Nellis and the Joint Strike

Fighter (JSF) Operational Test Team

at Edwards were responsible for OT

objectives. Nine different aircraft

comprising the F-15C, F-15E, F-16C,

F-22A, F-35A and F-35B, F/A-18E, EA-

18G and E-2C were involved in the

testing, along with a ground station

that supported B-1B developmental

testing. Beginning in February 2018

future ‘Orange Flag’ events will take

place quarterly.

[NEWS] UNITED STATES

08 February 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

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