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http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #359 FEBRUARY 2018 // 11

Denmark retires Lynx

Above: RDAF Lynx Mk90B S-175 (c/n 439) in Greenland in July last year. It was operating from

Kangerlussuaq (Søndre Strømfjord) while undertaking maintenance test fl ights from a Danish

frigate. Neil Dunridge

THE ROYAL Danish

Air Force (RDAF) has

retired the Westland

Lynx from service after

37 years of operations.

The final three Super

Lynx Mk90Bs were

withdrawn on December

15, after a final formation

sortie accompanied by an

RDAF MH-60R Seahawk,

which is replacing the

Lynx in Danish service.

The formation departed

from Flyvestation Karup

at 1015hrs for a lengthy

flight around various

major Danish towns, but

the plan was thwarted

by freezing fog allowing

for just a farewell trip to

Viborg before landing back

at the base at 1100hrs.

Eight Lynx Mk80s were

originally delivered to

the RDAF from June

1980, two of which were

later lost in crashes on

September 14, 1985, and

February 20, 1987. They

were supplemented from

November 1987 by two

Lynx Mk90s. A subsequent

comprehensive rebuild

• including gutting the
  helicopters and installing
  equipment in new
  airframes – upgraded all
  six surviving Mk80s and
  the two Mk90s to Super

Lynx Mk90B standard.

One was damaged

beyond repair during an

emergency ditching on

August 22, 2011, but the

other seven continued

to serve until the end.

On December 14, the

first of the replacement

MH-60Rs to be

operationally deployed on a

ship was officially welcomed

on board the Danish Navy

offshore patrol vessel

Hvidbjørn (F 360). It will

serve in the North Atlantic,

providing support on

tasks in the waters around

the Faroe Islands and

Greenland. Dave Allport

Ireland

orders three

PC-12NGs

THE IRELAND Ministry of

Defence has announced

an order for PC-12NG

utility aircraft for the

Irish Air Corps. After an

open tender competition,

Minister with Responsibility

for Defence Paul Kehoe

signed a contract with

Pilatus on December 20.

The aircraft will serve at

Casement Aerodrome,

Baldonnel, where they

will replace five Cessna

FR172Hs purchased

for the Air Corps in

1972. The PC-12s
      will be equipped for
      intelligence, surveillance,
      target acquisition and
      reconnaissance (ISTAR),
      logistics support
      including transport of
      Irish Defence Forces
      troops and equipment,
      and medical evacuation/
      air ambulance tasks.
      The cost of the contract,
      including equipment, is
      approximately €32m. The
      first two aircraft will be
      delivered in 2019 and the
      third will follow in 2020.

Airbus Helicopters/

Anthony Pecchi

First Tiger HAD retrofi t

delivered to French Army

THE FIRST of 36 Tigre

attack helicopters to be

retrofitted to the HAD

version has been delivered

to the Aviation Légère de

l’Armée de Terre (ALAT,

French Army Aviation).

Airbus Helicopters

announced the delivery

on December 21, the

helicopter being handed

over after completing

its formal acceptance

process with France’s

procurement agency,

the Direction générale

de l’armement (DGA).

This retrofit from HAP to

HAD version involves over

100 airframe modifications

and installing over 1,

new parts. While the

HAP (Helicoptère Appui-

Protection, air support

and protection) variant

was intended for close

air support missions, the

HAD (Hélicoptère Appui-

Destruction, air support

and destruction) variant

has a Strix targeting turret,

Hellfire II missiles and

MTR390E engines. Work

to convert all 36 HAPs to

HAD standard is expected

to finish by the mid-2020s.

Belgian ‘Vipers’ return from

Middle East

Above: F-16AMs FA-95 and FA-98 after their return to Kleine Brogel on December 26. The other two jets that arrived from

Jordan were FA-130 and FA-131. Jos Schoofs

THE FINAL four Belgian

Air Component F-16AMs

assigned to Operation

Desert Falcon (ODF)

returned home to

Kleine Brogel Air Base

on December 26.

Belgium launched ODF

in October 2014 when six

F-16s arrived at Muwaffaq

Salti Air Base in Jordan

as one of the first NATO

detachments supporting

Operation Inherent Resolve.

The deployment took place

in close co-operation with

the Royal Netherlands

Air Force (RNLAF). The

Belgian Fighting Falcons

returned home in June

2015. By then, they had
      completed 3,552 flying
      hours and 796 sorties
      in 396 missions, 163 of
      which were kinetic.
      In total, 324 weapons
      were employed and
      853 reconnaissance
      products delivered.
      On July 1, 2016, the
      Belgians and Dutch
      switched roles and the
      six RNLAF F-16s were
      replaced by six Belgian
      jets. The second Belgian
      deployment extended into

Syria and once so-called

Islamic State insurgents

had been pushed back,

the detachment was

reduced to four aircraft.

During the 18 months of

the second ODF rotation,

Belgian F-16s dropped 675

weapons and generated

2,089 intelligence products

during 1,235 sorties

in 605 missions. The

kinetic missions attained

a hit rate of 97% with an

attack effectiveness of

85%. Of the missions,

70% consisted of pure

close air support (CAS)

and 4% of pure air

interdiction (AI), while

the remaining 26% were

mixed missions of CAS, AI

and air reconnaissance.

The majority of the

missions (88%) took

place over Iraq, while

the remainder (12%) was

flown over Syria. During

the second deployment

to Jordan, the F-16s flew

6,080 hours, representing

around 40% of the flight

time of the total Belgian

F-16 fleet and nearly

5% of all coalition flying

hours. Jos Schoofs