Airforces - Typhoon school

24 // APRIL 2018 #361 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

NEWSNEWS

24 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

NEWS

// APRIL 2018 #361

Africa

Chad receives two ISR Cessna 208Bs Guinea gets

ex-ALAT

SA330Ba

A FORMER French

Aviation Légère de

l’Armée de Terre (ALAT,

French Army Aviation)

SA330Ba Puma A is a

recent addition to the

Force Aérienne de Guinée

(FAG, Guinea Air Force)

inventory. Its previous

identity is unknown, but

it now carries Guinea

serial 3X-AAD.

The Puma was shipped

by sea from France,

having been donated by

the French government.

It arrived on September

15 last year on board a

French Navy ship. After

being reassembled, it

was test flown for the

first time on September

20. It has joined the
    Escadron de Liaison
    at Conakry-Gbessia
    International Airport,
    which already operates
    two IAR-330L Pumas.
    Also noted active during
    February was Hughes
    500MD FAG-999. This
    has not been noted as
    operational for many years
    and was last confirmed
    in service in January


21. It is believed to
    be an ex-Israeli example

• at least two ex-IAF
  Hughes 500MDs were
  acquired many years
  ago, both being last
  reported undergoing
  overhaul with Aviakon at
  Konotop, Ukraine in mid-

2008. Dave Allport

Above: The two new Chadian Air Force Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX ISR aircraft on the ramp at Adji Kosseï air base on

January 18. USAF/Tech Sgt Gustavo Gonzalez

US AIRMEN were recently

deployed to Chad to

advise and assist the

Armée de l’Air Tchadienne

(Chadian Air Force) with

two newly delivered Cessna

208B Grand Caravan EX

intelligence, surveillance

and reconnaissance (ISR)

aircraft. Eight personnel

from the US Air Force’s

818th Mobility Support

Advisory Squadron were

detached to Adji Kosseï

air base, N’Djamena, from

January 8-19 to train 40

Chadian airmen in the

maintenance, logistics and

ISR equipment on the two

aircraft, and to provide anti-

terrorism security tuition.

The two new Cessna

Grand Caravan EXs,

N329ZZ (c/n 208B5329)

and N332ZZ (c/n 208B5332)

had been delivered via a

fuel stop at Gran Canaria,

Spain, on November 30

last year, then routing

via Bamako, Mali, before

arriving in Chad. They

had been ordered from

L3 Communications and

North American Surveillance

Systems under contracts

awarded on May 9, 2016.

Their ISR equipment

includes an L3 Wescam

MX-15 electro-optical/

infrared turret. Dave Allport

Above: Three newly restored Libya Dawn Air Force G-2 Galebs, 166, 168 and 199, on the fl ight

line at Misrata. LDAF

A REPORT by the Misrata

Air Force Academy on

the commemorations

being held on February

17, seven years after the

Libyan uprising, detailed

the aircraft said to be

currently operational with

the Libya Dawn Air Force.

The fixed-wing aircraft

comprise ten L-39 Albatros,

eight G-2 Galebs, one

MiG-23MLD, one MiG-

23UB, one Mirage F1ED,

two SF260s and one

Piper PA-31 Navajo.

Helicopters comprise two

Mi-24/35s and one Mi-14.

Three of the Galebs,

serials 166, 168 and

199, have only just been

restored to airworthiness.

More recently, on February

24, images surfaced

of MiG-25PD(S) 7102

at Misrata, armed with

R-40TD and R-40RD

long-range air-to-air

missiles. The aircraft

was said the have been

“brought back into service”,

although this seems

doubtful. Dave Allport

Details of Libya Dawn inventory revealed

NAF introduces fi rst

indigenous UAV

NIGERIAN PRESIDENT

Muhammadu Buhari

formally introduced the

country’s first indigenous

unmanned aerial vehicle

(UAV) into Nigerian Air

Force (NAF) service on

February 15. Produced by

NAF aerospace engineers

in collaboration with

UAVision of Portugal, the

Tsaigumi UAV is intended

for intelligence, surveillance

and reconnaissance

(ISR) operations.

Capable of day and night

operations, the Tsaigumi is

described by the NAF as

a “much more advanced

and operationalised version

of the earlier Amebo and

Gulma UAV prototypes”. It

is intended to be followed

by a first indigenous

unmanned combat aerial

vehicle (UCAV), the Ichoku.

Congo

orders ARJ21

for VIP fl eet

ACCORDING TO Chinese

media reports on January

16, the Government of

Congo has ordered a

COMAC ARJ21-700 in VIP

configuration. Delivery

is scheduled for 2023.

The order is part of a

contract that also includes

two of the type for delivery

this year to Air Congo.

While Government of

Congo interest in the

ARJ21 dates back to 2014,

the deal was revealed as a

delegation visited China for

a test flight on a Sichuan

Airlines example from

Chengdu. Dave Allport

Angola

acquires

AW139s

OVER THE last year

or so, the Força Aérea

Nacional de Angola

(FANA, Angolan Air Force)

has been quietly taking

delivery of new AW139s.

The exact number on

order is unknown, but

at least four have been

confirmed in service to

date. Deliveries appear

to have started around

the middle of last year.

These comprise H-900

(c/n 31602, ex I-EASS),

H-901 (c/n 31611, ex

I-EASZ, I-EASL), H-902 (c/n

31621, ex I-RAIN, I-EASW)

and H-903 (c/n 31626).

All are painted in civilian-

style colours with white

upper surfaces, a broad

red cheatline and grey

undersides. Dave Allport

Above: The Tsaigumi UAV is intended for ISR missions

as well as policing operations, disaster management,

convoy protection, maritime patrol, pipeline and power line

monitoring, mapping and border patrol. NAF