Combat aircraft

The new cockpit layouts for the Block 2 Archangel. Babak Taghvaee

I

OMAX HAS UNVEILED a Block

2 variant of its Archangel light

attack aircraft, which is based

on the Thrush S2R-T660P. It

was showcased for  rst time

during the Dubai Air Show

2017 in November, and notably drew

the attention of the UAE Minister of

Defense, the Royal Saudi Air Force, the

Egyptian Ministry of Defense and the

Kenyan military, the latter of which

has ordered 12 L3 Air Tractor AT-802L

Longswords through a $418-million

Foreign Military Sales (FMS) deal.

IOMAX’s light attack and ISR

(intelligence, surveillance and

reconnaissance) aircraft was initially

based on the Air Tractor AT-802U

before switching to the Thrush

S2R-T660, which is now in service in

the UAE and Jordan. The Archangel

has been combat-proven in the war

against various terrorist groups in

Libya, Yemen and the Syria-Jordan

border line since 2015.

From 2010-14 the UAEAF received

24 AT-802Us, manufactured by

IOMAX and Air Tractor, and now

commonly referred to as the

Archangel. IOMAX then changed to

the Thrush S2R-660 with a Pratt &

Whitney PT6A-67F turboprop engine

for the Block 1 (Strike) Archangel.

The new Block 2 is known as the ISR

Archangel. The UAEAF ordered 24

Block 1 Archangels in 2015, which

enabled it to release some of the

earlier AT-802Us to its allies across the

Middle East and North Africa.

The Block 2 Archangel is based on

the Thrush S2R-T660P and includes

distinguishing new features, such

as a robust landing gear to operate

more e ectively from unpaved roads

and runways, integration of the L

WESCAM MX-25 electro-optical/

infra-red sensor and removable

wings to enable expeditionary

transport via C-17. The Archangel

Block 2 can employ 250lb GBU-

and 500lb GBU-12 laser-guided

bombs, AGM-114 Hell re missiles

and Rokestan Cirit 2.75-in laser-

guided rockets.

Seamus Flatley, vice-president of

business development at IOMAX

told Combat Aircraft: ‘The whole idea

has been low-cost, long-endurance,

precision strike, ISR, and this is why

you don’t see an ejection seat in this

airplane, a pressurized cockpit, you

don’t see retractable landing gear. All

of those things have costs associated

with them. When you go down that

road, then you’re competing against

the Super Tucano and the AT-6, and

that’s not the space that we compete.’

K. C. Howard, the executive vice-

president of IOMAX, added: ‘For the

transition from Block 1 to Block 2 we

wanted to reduce weight and move

the center of gravity forward. It was

our primary objective to enable the

airplane to carry MX-25. We have

[also] made some modi cations

to the cockpit layout based on

the lessons learnt from Block 1.’

Babak Taghvaee

TX SELECTION

DELAYED

Selection of the USAF’s new T-X

jet trainer, planned for December,

is o cially delayed to early 2018

due to ongoing budgetary issues.

Until a federal budget is

approved the Department of

Defense is operating under a

continuing resolution that

prevents the Pentagon from

starting new programs.

A FLIGHT CREW from Northrop

Grumman and Air Test and

Evaluation Squadron VX-

conducted the  rst aerial refueling

between E-2D BuNo 166501

and KC-130T BuNo 166310 over

Chesapeake Bay near NAS Patuxent

River, Maryland on July 14, 2017.

During the course of the four-hour

 ight the E-2D connected with

the KC-130T 12 times, including

10 ‘dry plugs’. A total of 1,700lb

(771kg) of fuel was transferred to

the Advanced Hawkeye during

two wet contacts. The aerial

refueling capability will allow the

E-2D to  y missions lasting more

than seven hours. Development

HAWKEYE DEMONSTRATES REFUELING CAPABILITY

of the capability began in 2013.

Northrop Grumman is under

contract to modify three E-2Ds as

part of the development program

and two aircraft are already  ying.

The  rst modi ed E-2D made

its maiden  ight on December

15, 2016, at the contractor’s

St Augustine, Florida, facility.

Beginning next year, all new

E-2Ds will be con gured for aerial

refueling. The  rst operational

squadron capable of extended

mission durations is expected

to achieve initial operational

capability and be ready to

deploy in 2020.

NUCLEAR

BOMB TESTS

CONTINUE

THE AIR FORCE Nuclear Weapons

Center (AFNWC) at Kirtland AFB,

New Mexico and the National

Nuclear Security Administration

(NNSA) have completed a series

of initial tests intended to qualify

the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb

for operations from multiple US

and NATO aircraft. As the follow-

on to the family of B61 nuclear

gravity bombs, the B61-12 is a

key component of the US nuclear

deterrence strategy.

While the NNSA is carrying out

a life extension program on the

B61 nuclear bomb family, Boeing

is developing a guided tail-kit

assembly (TKA) for the weapons.

In the most recent test, which was

conducted in early November,

three F-15Es dropped inert B61-12s

under di erent  ight conditions.

The  rst weapon quali cation  ight

test was conducted by an F-

in March 2017 and Strike Eagles

delivered four inert weapons in

July and August. The F-15E has

served as the primary delivery

platform for B61-12 testing but

future tests will include the B-2A. A

Spirit conducted captive carry tests

with a B61-12 in June. Production

of the B61-12 is expected to begin

in 2020 and the test schedule will

see 26 unarmed bombs being

dropped from F-15Es and B-2As

in less than a year. Testing thus far

has been supported by the B-2,

F-15 and F-16 program o ces and

developmental and operational test

squadrons from Eglin AFB, Florida;

Edwards AFB, California; Barksdale

AFB, Louisiana; Nellis AFB, Nevada

and Whiteman AFB, Missouri.

US Navy/Liz Wolter

11

January 2018 http://www.combataircraft.net

UNITED STATES [NEWS]

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