Airforces

NEWS

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

NATO’S AIRBORNE Early

Warning Force (AEWF)

has withdrawn a second

E-3A airborne warning

and control system

aircraft from service. The

aircraft, LX-N90455,

has been placed in

storage with the 309th

Aerospace Maintenance

and Regeneration Group

(AMARG) after being flown

into Davis-Monthan Air

Force Base, Arizona, on

December 13. It joins

LX-N90449, which was

flown into AMARG on

June 23, 2015, from the

NATO AEWF’s base at

Geilenkirchen, Germany.

Originally, the NATO AEWF

operated 18 E-3As, but one

was lost in an accident on

July 14, 1996. Cost-cutting

measures later led to the

decision to retire three of the

aircraft, leaving a fleet of 14.

The third E-3A scheduled

for retirement is due to

be delivered to AMARG

within the next few months.

The remaining aircraft are

planned for withdrawal

in 2035. Dave Allport

Left: NATO AEWF E-3A

LX-N90455 is towed across

the arrivals ramp at Davis-

Monthan AFB after being

fl own in for storage.

USAF/309th AMARG

Continental Europe

Italian Army Airmobile Permanent Training

THE AVIAZIONE

dell’Esercito (AVES,

Italian Army Aviation)

completed its latest

Airmobile Permanent

Training exercise (APT 17/

II) on December 1. The

manoeuvres took place

at the Giannetto Vassura

military airport at Rimini/

Miramare, home base

of the 7° Reggimento

Aviazione dell’Esercito

(AVES) ‘Vega’.

The exercise enabled

personnel of the army’s

Brigata Aeromobile

(Airmobile Brigade) ‘Friuli’

to become certified for

deployment to operational

theatres. Held twice

a year, the latest two-

week exercise involved

almost 550 soldiers and

22 helicopters, comprising

examples of the AH-129D,

CH-47F and HU-90A.

Left: An HU-90A and an AH-

129D take part in APT 17/II.

In the foreground is UH-90A

MM81546 ‘E.I.229’ (c/n 1190,

GITA30) assigned to the 25°

Gruppo Squadroni ‘Cigno’.

Paolo Rollino

Upgrade

for six

Dutch

Chinooks

BOEING IS to modernise

six Royal Netherlands

Air Force (RNLAF)

Chinooks to the latest

CH-47F standard. The

company and the

Netherlands Ministry

of Defence signed

an agreement for the

upgrade on December

14. The work will provide
    commonality across the
    RNLAF’s future fleet of
    20 F-model Chinooks.
    The six modernised
    Chinooks are planned
    to be re-delivered
    beginning in 2021.
    The upgrade will include
    the Common Avionics
    Architecture System
    cockpit with an integrated
    digital automatic flight
    control system.
    The RNLAF currently
    operates 11 CH-47Ds
    that it began to receive
    in 1995 and which are
    due to be retired.
    A first contract for six
    CH-47Fs was signed
    in February 2007. The
    first pair was handed
    over in July 2012 before
    being shipped to Europe.
    In March 2015, the
    US Defence Security
    Cooperation Agency
    notified US Congress
    of the possible $1.05bn
    Foreign Military Sale of 17
    CH-47Fs, plus associated
    spares and equipment.
    In April 2016, Boeing was
    awarded a contract to
    manufacture 12 of these
    helicopters. Confirmation
    that 14 are on order came
    when Boeing announced
    the contract to upgrade
    the six existing CH-47Fs
    to the latest standard,
    for a total of 20.

Hungarian Air Force

A319s head for conversion

TWO A319-112 aircraft

for the Magyar Légierö

(Hungarian Air Force,

HUNAF) arrived at

Ostrava Airport in the

Czech Republic on

December 16-17, after

flying in from Rome.

Both are former Air Berlin

(later Eurowings) aircraft

and are now registered

to Privajet as 9H-AGM

and 9H-AGN (formerly

D-ABGM and D-ABGS).

Both will be delivered

to the HUNAF later this

year after receiving a VIP

interior and conversion

to A319CJ standard.

They will be operated

under a leasing

arrangement and it is

unclear if they will receive

Hungarian military serials

or will retain their Maltese

registrations.

Right: A319-112 9H-AGM

at Ostrava Airport in mid-

December 2017. Václav

Kudela

NATO retires second E-3A to AMARG