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http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #362 MAY 2018 // 23

Qatar buys

Bayraktar

TB2 UAVs

QATAR HAS ordered six

Bayraktar TB2 armed

tactical unmanned aerial

vehicles (UAVs) from

Turkish manufacturer

Baykar Makina in a

contract signed on

March 14 at the DIMDEX

event in Qatar – the first

export order for the

type, which is already in

Turkish military service.

The deal, signed with

Qatar’s Reconnaissance

and Surveillance Centre

(RSC), includes three

ground control stations,

training and associated

equipment – including a

UAV operations centre.

Deliveries are scheduled

within the year.

The Bayraktar can carry

a variety of weapons,

although it’s not been

announced which

armament, if any, is

included in the contract.

Qatar had earlier bought

smaller UAVs from

the Turkish company,

acquiring ten Bayraktar

Mini UAVs in 2012

under a £2.5m contract,

the first UAVs in the

Qatar Armed Forces

inventory. Dave Allport

Saudi visitors at Boeing Field

SAUDI AIRCRAFT were at

Boeing Field/King County

International Airport in

Washington state for the

official visit to the United

States at the end of March

by Crown Prince of Saudi

Arabia, Mohammad Bin

Salman Al Saud. They

included Royal Saudi

Air Force Boeing 737-

7DP (BBJ) HZ-101, Saudi

Royal Flight Boeing 747-

468 HZ- HM1 and Saudi

Medevac Flight Gulfstream

G450 HZ-MS4B.

Above: Boeing 737-7DP HZ-101 (c/n 32805/940), operated by 1 Squadron/Royal Flight at Riyadh-King Khalid Air Base. Joe G Walker

Gulfstream G450 HZ-MS4B (c/n 4334), assigned to the Saudi Medevac Flight. Joe G Walker

ISR King Air 350ER approved for Kuwait
THE US State Department
has approved the possible
Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to
Kuwait of four King Air 350ER
intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft
powered by enhanced
PT6A-67A engines.
The Defense Security

Cooperation Agency (DSCA)

notified Congress of the

details on February 21, and

the principal contractor for

the order – estimated to

be worth $260m – will be

Sierra Nevada Corporation.

The proposed sensor fit

for the aircraft includes

an AN/AAQ-35 Wescam

MX-15HDi electro-optical

and infrared imaging sensor

turret and Selex Seaspray

7500E active electronically

scanned array (AESA) radar.

Self-defence features are

AN/AAR-47 missile warning

systems and AN/ALE-47

countermeasure dispensers.

One of the four King Airs

will be further modified to

accommodate VIP/senior

leadership personnel for

transport and medevac,

command and control

or other logistical

support missions.

Israel

introduces

Spice 1000

bomb

THE ISRAELI Air Force

(IAF) has declared

initial operational

capability (IOC) for the

Spice 1000 precision-

guided bomb, it was

announced on March 7.

The weapon, developed

by Rafael, was fielded

“some months ago” by

F-16C/D Baraks operated

by 109 and 110 Squadrons

at Ramat David air base.

Tests of the electro-

optically guided Spice

1000 were completed

at the Flight Test Center

last August by the IAF

Headquarters’ Munitions

Department. It will

subsequently be integrated

on the F-16I and F-15I.

The Spice 1000 is based

on a 1,000lb general-

purpose or penetration

bomb, such as a Mk83 or

RAP1000, with a standoff

range of 62 miles (100km).

Iraqi ‘Viper’ down low

Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) F-16D Block 52 serial 1602 was captured recently in one of the California desert’s low-fl ying areas. It

is rumoured that Iraqi F-16 training at Tucson Air National Guard Base, Arizona is soon to be completed, and the airmen and

aircraft embedded with the 162nd Fighter Wing, Arizona ANG, will soon return to Iraq with their aircraft. Ted Carlson