Combat aircraft

White Sands Missile Range in

October 2016.

The third Scorpion prototype

(N532TX) was subsequently tested

alongside N530TX for weapons

separation trials at NAS Patuxent

River, Maryland, over five days in July

2017. This included further 2.75in
      guided and unguided rockets being
      launched from LAU-131/A pods,
      HMP-400 0.5in machine gun pods,
      GBU-12 Paveway IIs and BDU-
      training bombs.
      A fourth prototype, N534TX, was
      flown in August 2017.

N532TX was demonstrated to the

RSAF in the same configuration as

was used in the USAF’s OA-X

competition staged at Holloman

AFB, New Mexico, in the summer.

RSAF pilots had the chance to

employ inert GBU-12s and the

MX-15 electro-optical turret. It is

believed that the United Arab

Emirates also took the chance to

evaluate the Scorpion on November

10, two days before the

airshow began.

Bill Harris, vice president of

Scorpion sales, told Combat Aircraft:

‘This is the first time we’ve had [the]

Scorpion in this area of the world

and so it has been a very good

experience for us. A lot of people

heard about the aircraft in [recent]

years but hadn’t got a chance to see

the airplane, touch it and even fly it.

[It has] three large payload bays that

you can customize and load different

types of sensors in.’

Harris explained that the Scorpion’s

avionics can be modified in a similar

way as you would load applications

on a smart phone. ‘The airplane’, he

said, ‘doesn’t have an operational

flight program that you need to

change after modifications because

the navigation system, which is

based on the Garmin G3000, is

completely separated from the

weapon system.’

The advent of the new Garmin

system is just one of the

enhancements Textron has made to

the Scorpion. The undercarriage has

been improved, the wings swept

back to 7°, and the nosecone

enlarged to potentially accommodate

a radar if required. Babak Taghvaee

RAPTORS STRIKE IN AFGHANISTAN

NEW OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE TALIBAN

A

FGHAN

NATIONAL

DEFENSE and

Security Forces

(ANDSF) and

United States

Forces — Afghanistan (USFOR-A)

launched a series of attacks against

the Taliban on November 19. These

aimed to hit the insurgents where

they are most vulnerable — their

revenue streams. Afghan and US

forces conducted combined

operations to strike drug labs and

command and control nodes in

northern Helmand province. The

F-22s reportedly employed GBU-

Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs).

Photos released showed an F-22A

Raptor from the 95th Expeditionary

Fighter Squadron ‘Boneheads’

refueling from a KC-10A Extender of

the 908th Expeditionary Air

Refueling Squadron. Both are

operating from Al Dhafra AB, United

Arab Emirates, in support of a new

US offensive campaign.

The Raptors were reportedly

chosen for their ability to employ the

250lb (113kg) SDB, which was

fielded in the aircraft’s increment 3.

upgrade. This provided an enhanced

air-to-ground mission capability for

the Raptor, including geolocation of

selected emitters, electronic attack,

air-to-ground synthetic aperture

radar mapping and designation of

surface targets, and GBU-39 use.

One Raptor squadron has been

permanently deployed to the

Central Command (CENTCOM)

region in recent years and F-22s

have played a regular role in

pre-planned strikes in both Iraq and

Syria. This marked the first time the

type has been pressed into action in

Afghanistan, amid an upswing in air

power activity against the Taliban.

Above: The new front and rear cockpits of the Scorpion, complete with

Garmin G3000 avionics. Babak Taghvaee

US Navy drone upheaval

Northrop Grumman quits MQ-

Stingray. See US News

JASDF stunner

The latest specially marked F-4EJ

Kai on show at Gifu. See World News

ALSO THIS MONTH...

USAF/TSgt Gregory Brook

The Scorpion has six underwing

hardpoints, able to carry a total of

6,200lb of stores. Babak Taghvaee

07

January 2018 http://www.combataircraft.net

HEADLINES [NEWS]

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