Airforces phantoms at andravida

30 FLASHPOINT: Burkina Faso

The air arm of Burkina Faso has had

different titles over several years, gaining

combat experience in the process. Today

it’s part of the multinational ‘G5 Sahel Joint

Force’, as Arnaud Delalande explains.

34 INTEL REPORT: Albatros

stretches its wings

Alan Warnes was on scene to witness the

rollout of the new L-39NG on October 12,

marking a new chapter for the Aero Vodochody

company which celebrated the 50th anniversary

of the original L-39 Albatros on November 4.

56 FORCE REPORT:

Montenegrin Air Force

In light of the first anniversary of Montenegro’s

membership of NATO, Igor Božinovski

summarises the 12-year history of the tiny

Montenegrin Air Force and analyses the

current status and ongoing modernisation

of Europe’s youngest air arm.

79 Feedback

AFM’s letters page

86 COMMANDER’S

UPDATE BRIEFING:

Mission planning

Air Power Association

President Air Marshal

(ret’d) Greg Bagwell CB

CBE considers the

fundamentals of battle/

airspace management

• a key concern for
  today’s combat pilot.

89 Book

reviews

AFM evaluates some

of the latest offerings

in aviation literature.

90 Attrition

Dave Allport details the world’s

most recent military accidents.

98 Coming up

See what’s featuring in your AFM next month.

at some of these programmes and explains
why the long-predicted ‘rise of the machines’
has not materialised in quite the way many
had expected, and how tomorrow’s fighters
might differ from today’s combat aircraft.

68 Sentry successor
Reports emerged over the summer that
the Royal Air Force is looking to replace
its ageing fleet of Boeing E-3D Sentry
airborne early warning and control aircraft.
Tim Ripley examines the options.

76 Operação Ostium
Sérgio Santana describes the most recent
operation organised by the Brazilian Air Force

• Operação Ostium – intended to thwart
  drug running along the country’s borders.

80 Merlin magic

Three decades on from

the first flight of the

EH101, Ian Harding

visited Leonardo’s

Yeovil facility to reflect

on the type’s ongoing

success, while Tom

Williams headed to

RAF Valley to see Royal

Danish Air Force Merlins

in action in the mountains.

94 ‘Rhinos’ at Andravida

The glory days of the F-4 in Europe

are now over, and in Greece only one

squadron remains. Gert Kromhout speaks

to the Phantom drivers of 338 Mira.

Regular features

News by region

All the world’s military aviation

news, by region

6-7 .................Headlines

8-9 .................United Kingdom

10 -13 .............Continental Europe

14 -17 .............North America

18 ...................Russia & CIS

20-21 .............Latin America

22-23 .............Asia Pacific

25 ..................Middle East

26 ..................Africa

27 ..................Australasia

Cover: An F-4E of the Hellenic Air Force’s

338 Mira ‘Ares’ – the last remaining Phantom

squadron in Greece – during an air defence

training sortie over the Aegean. In this issue,

Gert Kromhout caught up with the Phantom

drivers of the unit, which has taken on a dual air-

to-air and air-to-ground tasking since its sister

squadron, 339 Mira, was disbanded last year.

Steve Comber

Main image: A formation of Swiss Air Force

F-5Es overfl y the Axalp range control tower

during the annual air display in the mountains

above Brienz, central Switzerland on October

10. The 12-ship Tiger formation was headed by
    Alexandre ‘Moumet’ Liardet, squadron leader of
    the militia-operated Fliegerstaffel 6, one of two
    remaining Swiss F-5 squadrons, while six red
    and white Patrouille Suisse jets fl ew in the rear
    slots. The October display was the last chance
    to see the grey Tigers participate with live fi ring
    during the fl ying programme. Visitors to the
    7,218ft (2,200m) Axalp will, of course, still see the
    F-5 fl ying as part of the Patrouille Suisse display
    team for the foreseeable future. VBS/Swiss Air
    Force via Peter Lewis UPDATE BRIEFING:
    Mission planning
    Air Power Association
    President Air Marshal
    (ret’d) Greg Bagwell CB
    CBE considers the
    fundamentals of battle/
    airspace management
    
    
    • a key concern for
      today’s combat pilot.
    
    
    
    

89

reviews

AFM

of the latest offerings

in aviation literature.

90 Attrition

Merlin magic

Three decades on from Three decades on from

RAF Valley to see Royal RAF Valley to see Royal

Danish Air Force Merlins

in action in the mountains.

‘Rhinos’ at Andravida

team for the foreseeable future. VBS/Swiss Air

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #369 DECEMBER 2018 // 5