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at [email protected]http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #369 DECEMBER 2018 // 15
California Eagles return from Clear Sky 18
Ryan DorlingSEEN ARRIVING at RAF
Lakenheath, Suffolk, on
October 23 is F-15C
84-0004 ‘144 FW’ of the
144th Fighter Wing’s
194th Fighter Squadron.
This was the lead jet in
‘Bounce 1-4’ flight and is
adorned with the 144th’s
75th anniversary markings.
The wing is part of the
California Air National
Guard and is home-based
in Fresno. The four jets
arrived in the UK from
Finland after spending a
short time there as part of
an exercise. The Eagles
had previously arrived
in Finland following the
Clear Sky 18 manoeuvres
in Ukraine, which will
be detailed in the
January issue of AFM.Former JMSDF S-80M-1s to enter US Navy service
Above: Retired JMSDF S-80M-1 8629 being loaded aboard US Air Force/60th Air Mobility Wing C-5M 87-0032 at MCAS Iwakuni,
Japan, on June 9 last year, for transport to the US. The helicopter is believed to be one of four now being refurbished by
Erikson Inc for entry into US Navy service. USMC/Lance Cpl Joseph Abrego
‘Red Dragons’
complete
Northern
Territory tenure
THE US Marine Corps’
Marine Medium Tiltrotor
Squadron (VMM) 268 ‘Red
Dragons’ has completed
its detachment to this
year’s Marine Rotational
Force-Darwin (MRF-D)
in Australia’s Northern
Territory. Twelve MV-22Bs
assigned to the squadron
returned from RAAF Base
Darwin to their home base
at Marine Corps Base
Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii,
on September 28 after
a trans-Pacific flight
with stopovers in Guam
and the Wake Islands.
The ‘Red Dragons’
formed the Air Combat
Element of the annual
six-month Marine Air-
Ground Task Force
(MAGTF) deployment,
which began in April and
was the largest since the
effort was initiated in the
Northern Territory in 2012.
This is the second time
VMM-268 has supported
MRF-D; the squadron also
deployed four Ospreys
for last year’s rotation.
VMM-268 took part in
unilateral and bilateral
exercises with the
Australian Defence Force
during its deployment.
VMM-268 also made MRF-
D’s inaugural participation
in the multilateral Exercise
Pitch Black, when it
conducted insertion and
extraction of special
forces units. Roy ChooFOUR FORMER Japan
Maritime Self-Defence Force
(JMSDF) Sikorsky S-80M-
1s have been delivered to
Erikson’s facility in Medford,
Oregon, to be prepared for
a new lease of life with the
US Navy. The helicopters
were donated to the US
free of charge, the first two
being received by the US
Navy in June 2017 and the
remaining two around June
this year. They had arrived
with Erikson by September
this year and are currently
undergoing an assessment
process to determine the
engineering and logistical
effort required to bring them
up to the US Navy’s MH-53E
Sea Dragon configuration.
Work will include depot-level
inspections and repairs.
At least five ex-JMSDF
S-80M-1s are confirmed
as having been returned
to the US. These comprise
serials 8629 (c/n 65-586)
and 8630 (c/n 65-587),
which were loaded onto US
Air Force/60th Air Mobility
Wing C-5M 87-0032 at
Marine Corps Air Station
Iwakuni, Japan, on June
9, 2017 before being flown
out to the US. Tw o others,
8623 (c/n 65-540) and 8628
(c/n 65-585), made the
journey to the US by ship
after being loaded onto the
vehicle carrier Green Lake
on July 18, 2017 at Iwakuni.
Of these, 8623 and 8628
were noted at MCAS Cherry
Point, North Carolina, on
May 5 this year, along with
a third example, 8621 (c/n
65-543), which returned
to the US on an unknown
date. This was presumably
one of the two arriving
‘around June 2018’, which
implies that a sixth example
must also have arrived.
The US Navy had been
negotiating to acquire
all eight of the JMSDF’s
surviving S-80M-1s, but the
initial agreement, signedon May 13, 2015, covered
just two airframes, along
with 12 engines and a
few other components.
Since then, further
agreements have been
completed for additional
airframes, but details have
not been confirmed.
It is unconfirmed which
four helicopters are now
with Erikson, but from the
dates mentioned, it seems
likely they comprise 8621,
8629 and 8630, plus one
more, as yet unidentified.
A timescale for completion
and delivery of these
helicopters to the US Navy
has not been finalised. The
remaining S-80M-1s are
expected to be stripped
for spares to support the
active MH-53E fleet.
This is not the first time
Erikson has undertaken this
type of work. Tw o MH-53Es
that had been stored since
2004 at Davis-Monthan AFB,
Arizona, were recoveredby the US Navy in 2015 for
refurbishment and return
to service. This work was
entrusted to Erikson, with
the intention of delivering
them on completion to
MCAS New River, North
Carolina, to be used by a
USMC squadron for basic
familiarisation training.
Work began on the two
helicopters (162516 and
163057) in November 2015
and, as it progressed, it was
decided that the helicopters
would instead be delivered
to the US Navy, rather than
the USMC. The first, 162516,
was due for handover as
this magazine went to press,
with the second expected to
follow by the end of the year.
Both will go to one of
the three helicopter mine
countermeasures squadrons
(HM-12, HM-14 and
HM-15) at Naval Air Station
Norfolk, Virginia, increasing
the MH-53E fleet to 29
helicopters. Dave Allport