Airforces phantoms at andravida

Final three MH-60Ms

delivered to Chile

20 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

NEWS

// DECEMBER 2018 #

Latin America

Brazil seeks new Boeing 767-300ER

BRAZIL HAS launched

a new effort to acquire

a Boeing 767-300ER

passenger aircraft to replace

the example currently in

service. The Comissão

Aeronáutica Brasileira

em Washington (Brazilian

Aeronautical Commission in

Washington DC) has already

issued an international

tender on behalf of the

Grupo de Apoio Logístico

(GAL, Logistics Support

Group) of the Força Aérea

Brasileira (FAB, Brazilian Air

Force). As well as the 767,

the tender calls for logistical

support of the aircraft and

equipment for 36 months.

Proposals were due to be

received by November 6.

A previous effort to

procure a successor to the

FAB’s current 767-300ER

proved unsuccessful. This

second-hand aircraft was

delivered to Brazil in July

2016, taken on a three-

year lease, with an option

for a further 12-month

extension. The operating

unit is the 2° Esquadrão of

the 2° Grupo de Transporte

(2º/2º GT) ‘Corsário’ at

Base Aérea de Galeão.

Latest Brazilian Army H225Ms delivered

Above: The 11th Brazilian Army HM-4 Jaguar, EB5011, during its offi cial handover ceremony. Helibras

AIRBUS HELICOPTERS’

Brazilian subsidiary,

Helibras, has delivered

the tenth and 11t h H225M

Cougars to the Exército

Brasileiro (Brazilian Army).

The tenth, EB5010, was

handed over on September

21, followed by the 11t h ,

E B 5 011, on October 9. The

type is designated HM-

Jaguar in Exército service.

The two additional

helicopters will be

operated by the 1º

Batalhão de Aviação

(1º BAvEx, 1st Aviation

Battalion) at Taubaté.

Overall, these were the

32nd and 33rd H225Ms

delivered to Brazil under

the H-XBR programme,

under which 50 H225Ms

are being acquired,

comprising 16 each for the

air force, army and nav y,

plus two for the Presidential

Flight. The most recent

delivery prior to the latest

two army examples took

place on September 3,

when the 31st helicopter

overall and the 14th H-

Caracal for the Força Aérea

Brasileira (FAB, Brazilian

Air Force), was handed

over – see Helibras delivers

another H225M to Brazilian

Air Force, November,

p23. Dave Allport

Second E-

delivered to

Embraer for

upgrade

THE FORÇA Aérea

Brasileira (FAB, Brazilian Air

Force) delivered a second

E-99 airborne early warning

and control (AEW&C)

aircraft to Brazilian

aerospace contractor

Embraer for modernisation

on October 4. The aircraft

was transferred from

the 2° Escuadrão of the

6° Grupo de Aviacão

(2°/6° GAv) ‘Guardião’, in

Anápolis to the company’s

plant in Gavião Peixoto.

During the modernisation,

the aircraft will receive

upgraded mission

systems and other

related subsystems,

emerging as an E-99M.

“Modernisation will

contribute to the more

efficient use of Brazilian

air power,” explained the

E-99M project manager,

Col Carlos Sérgio da

Costa Lima. “It is needed

to extend the life cycle and

to increase the aircraft’s

operational capability. It

will increase the radar

range, speed of data

processing and enable

faster and more accurate

target identification. The

number of on-board

operators and radios will

be increased which, with

the implementation of the

new command and control

system, will improve

the accomplishment

of the mission.”

A first upgraded aircraft is

expected to be completed

and returned to the FAB in

the first half of 2020. In all,

five aircraft will go through

the same process by 2022.

Above: One of the new FACh MH-60Ms is unloaded from An-124-100 RA-82047 at Santiago-Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez

Airport. FACh

SIKORSKY HAS delivered

the final three MH-60M

(S-70i) Black Hawk

helicopters to the Fuerza

Aérea de Chile (FACh,

Chilean Air Force). They

were flown to Chile

from the US company’s

subsidiary, PZL Mielec

in Poland, on board a

Volga-Dnepr Airlines

A n-124, which landed

at Santiago-Comodoro

Arturo Merino Benítez

Airport on October 12.

The new helicopters

comprise SP-Y VG (c/n

704016), SP-Y VH (c/n

704017 ) and SP-Y VB (c/n

704020), which have taken

up FACh serials H-06, H-

and H-08 respectively.

They will join II Brigada

Aérea/Grupo de Aviación

No 9, which operates

from the airport at Base

Aérea Pudahuel. The Black

Hawks join three previously

delivered MH-60Ms, which

arrived at the base on

July 23 – see First S-70i

Black Hawks delivered to

Chile, September, p24. The

new arrivals complete the

order for six helicopters

and bring the FACh Black

Hawk fleet to seven, as

a single S-70A-39 from

an earlier order is also in

service. Dave Allport