Airforces - Demo Hornet

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NEWS

// AUGUST 2018 #365

Asia Pacifi c

Chinese Candid in New Zealand

A PEOPLE’S Liberation

Army Air Force (PLAAF)

Il-76MD airlifter made

history when it became

the service’s first aircraft

to visit New Zealand. The

Candid arrived at RNZAF

Base Whenuapai on the

afternoon of June 9 after

a flight lasting over five

hours from Cairns Airport

in Queensland, Australia.

Serial 21047 had flown

from Davao International

Airport in the Philippines

the previous day. It is

operated from Dangyang

by the PL A AF’s 13th

Transport Division/39th

Air Regiment. The

heavy-lifter was in the

region to participate in

Exercise Skytrain 18.

John Mounce via Adrian Balch

Indonesia

plans C-130J

purchase

INDONESIA INTENDS

to buy five new C-130J

transports, said defence

minister Ryamizard

Ryacudu, during an

interview with local media

on June 5. No details

were given regarding

contract value or timeline.

The Tentara Nasional

Indonesia Angkatan Udara

(TNI-AU, Indonesian Air

Force) currently operates a

diverse fleet of C-130B/H

models. Earlier this year

the service announced it

would acquire two A400Ms

to support the civil

government in transporting

supplies between the

western and eastern

regions of the country.

THE INITIAL A330-

243 Multi-Role Tanker

Transport (MRTT) for the

Republic

of Korea

Air Force

(ROKAF) has

received its military paint

scheme at the Airbus

Defence and Space facility

in Manching, Germany.

The aircraft, c/n 1787

(MRTT50), returned to

the company’s works

in Getafe, Spain on

June 8 after flying from

Germany as ‘A ED 350’.

It has now received the

ROKAF serial 18- 001.

This aircraft – the first

of four ordered by Seoul

• was flown from the
  Airbus production line in
  Toulouse, France, to Getafe
  for MRTT conversion
  in May last year.

First MRTT in Korean colours Japan

offers more

TC-90s to

Philippines

JAPAN HAS offered

to supply additional

Beech TC-90 King Air

patrol aircraft to the

Philippine Navy.

In an interview on June

13, Philippine Navy Flag

Officer-in-Command,

Vice Admiral Robert

Empedrad, confirmed

that the head of the

Japan Maritime Self-

Defense Force (JMSDF)

had proposed donating

more of the type to

the Philippines.

The JMSDF has to date

provided five TC-90s to

the Philippine Navy, the

first two of which arrived

in March 2017, followed

by the remaining three on

March 26 this year– see

Final three ex-Japanese

TC-90s delivered to

Philippines, May, p29.

After modification and

repainting, the first

two were inducted into

service in November

2017 and March 2018.

The third TC-90, with

new serial 394, was

formally inducted into

the Naval Air Group

(NAG) during a ceremony

on May 29 at the NAG

headquarters at Naval

Base Heracleo Alano,

Sangley Point, Cavite City.

At the time, the other two

were still being equipped

and painted but are

scheduled to enter service

shortly. Dave Allport

ROKAF A330-243 MRTT c/n 1787 (MRTT50) prepares to depart Manching. Dietmar Fenners

Contract for

third Japanese

E-2D

THE US Department of

Defense has awarded

Northrop Grumman

Systems a contract

to supply a third E-2D

Advanced Hawkeye

for the Japan Air Self-

Defense Force (JASDF).

The $153.2m modification

to a previous Foreign

Military Sales deal calls

for construction of the

aircraft to be completed

by March 2020.

In November 2015,

Northrop was awarded a

$151.3m contract for the

first JASDF E-2D, due

for completion in March

this year. A second order

was placed for a single

aircraft in August 2016.

ROCAF Hercules

on exercise
THE REPUBLIC of China
Air Force’s (ROCAF’s)
6th Combined Wing,
10th Tactical Airlift Group
recently took part in the
Hang-Kuan exercise.
Seven of the unit’s
C-130Hs were involved
and performed airdrops
of heavy equipment,
personnel and container
delivery systems (CDS),
as well as transporting
military supplies.
The annual Hang-Kuan
exercise was first staged
in 1984 and simulates an
offensive by the People’s
Republic of China against

Taiwan. The five-day

manoeuvres in early

June also involved army

and navy assets.

The 6th Combined Wing

operates three aircraft

types: C -130H, E-2K and

P-3C. The ROCAF received

its first 12 C-130Hs in

1986 (serials 1301-1312),

another three in 1995

(1313-1316), and the last

four in 1997 (1317-1320).

Serial 1310 crashed

on October 10, leaving

a fleet of 19. The

Hercules operate from

Pingtung Air Base in the

south of the country.

Above: ROCAF C-130H serial 1313 (c/n 5721, FMS 93-1313)

drops an HMMWV utility vehicle by parachute extraction.

Travis Chuang