Airforces phantoms at andravida

Maverick-armed Moroccan Tiger on show

26 // DECEMBER 2018 #369 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

NEWS Africa

New PC-24 for Botswana

BRAND NEW PC-24 c/n

114 for the Botswana

government is seen outside

the Pilatus factory at Stans-

Buochs, Switzerland. The

business jet, wearing the

Swiss civil registration

HB-VSO, is expected to

be delivered before the

end of the year with the

Botswanan military serial

DS-1, and is likely to be

operated in a VIP role by the

Botswana Defence Force

• Air Wing’s VIP Squadron
  based at Sir Seretse Khama

International Airport, north

of the capital, Gaborone.

The unit is equipped with

a Beech B200 King Air, a

Do 328-110, an EC225LP

Super Puma MkII and a

Global Express XRS, plus

a pair of PC-12/47s.

Three more

Rafales

delivered

to Egypt

ANOTHER THREE Rafales

have joined the Arab

Republic of Egypt Air

Force. The jets – twin-seat

DM models 9257 (DM07),

9258 (DM08) and 9260

(DM10) – left Bordeaux-

Mérignac, France, on

September 25 on their

delivery flight to Egypt.

They bring total deliveries

to date to 17 (nine ’DMs

and eight ’EMs), leaving

seven ’DMs to be delivered

to complete the order for

24, which are all expected

to be in service by 2020.

All eight single-seat Rafale

EMs have entered service,

the last three having been

delivered on November

28 last year – see Latest

batch of Egyptian Rafales

delivered, February,

p22. Dave Allport

Above: RMAF F-5E Tiger III serial 91924 at Menara on October 25. Igor Božinovski

AN F-5E Tiger III of the Royal

Moroccan Air Force (RMAF)

armed with a pair of AGM-

65 Maverick air-to-ground

missiles was a highlight of

the sixth Marrakech Airshow,

held at Menara air base from

October 24 to 27. Upgraded

Tiger III serial 91924 was

shown armed in a rarely

seen configuration with a

pair of AIM-9P Sidewinder

air-to-air missiles (AAMs)

and two TV-guided AGM-

65B missiles. The RMAF

retains 16 single-seat

F-5Es and four twin-seat

F-5Fs with the Escadre de

Chasse 2 ‘Tiger’ at Meknès-

Bassatine air base in

northern central Morocco.

The country took on

substantial numbers of

Hughes (now Raytheon)

AGM-65Bs from 1981

but now also operates

more modern AGM-65D/H

weapons received together

with its 24 F-16C/D Block

52+ Fighting Falcons

delivered between 2010

and 2012. Igor Božinovski

Equatorial

Guinea

receives

Il-76TD

AN Il-76TD is now being

operated by Equatorial

Guinea’s small air arm,

the Guardia Nacional.

The 1992-built transport,

3C-6GE (c/n 1023412418,

ex RA-76446), was

first noted operating

with its new serial on

September 26 when it

flew from the country’s

capital, Malabo, to

Rabat, Morocco, before

returning the next day.

It has been serving

for around eight years,

marked with Equatorial

Guinea’s national coat

of arms on the fin, and

is believed to have been

owned by the government

during that time.

However, it was being

flown by civilian cargo

operators, including

Malabo-based CEIBA

Cargo, over the past

few years and also wore

the company’s titles.

The aircraft, which now

seems to have transferred

to purely military use, is

the second Il-76TD to

have been operated by

the Guardia Nacional;

the first was scrapped at

Malabo around 2013 after

a period in non-flyable

storage. Dave Allport

Tunisian

National Guard

takes delivery

of Bell 429s

A CEREMONY on

September 14 officially

inducted three Bell 429

GlobalRangers into

service with the Unité

Spéciale de la Garde

Nationale (USGN),

Tunisia’s elite paramilitary

counter-terrorism unit.

The event took place at

El Aouina Barracks, in the

southeast corner of Tunis-

Carthage International

Airport, where the

recently formed USGN air

support unit is based.

The helicopters are

TS-QGA (c/n 57293, ex

N643EC), TS-QGB (c/n

57294, ex N643BB) and

TS-QGC (c/n 57295, ex

N746BH), which were all

cancelled from the US

register on January 2 last

year following transfer

to Tunisia. Although the

USGN was established

in the 1980s, the Bell

429s are its first aviation

assets. Dave Allport

Saudi Arabia deploys F-15s to Tunisia

Above: An RSAF F-15C fl ies with a TRAF F-5E during a sortie from Bizerte-Sidi Ahmed. Saudi

Press Agency

THE TUNISIAN Republic

Air Force (TRAF) has taken

part in joint exercises

with the Royal Saudi Air

Force (RSAF) for the first

time, as part of a bilateral

training programme. The

week-long manoeuvres

began on October 8

at Bizerte-Sidi Ahmed

air base, Tunisia, and

continued until the 12th.

On October 5, the RSAF

deployed a number of

F-15Cs from 2 Wing/5

Squadron at Taif- King

Fahd Air Base, along

with an F-15D from 34

Squadron, also based at

Taif, to Bizerte in readiness

for the exercise. Tunisian

participants included F-5E/

Fs from Bizerte-based 15

Squadron. Dave Allport

Ramon Wenink