Airforces

20 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

NEWS

// FEBRUARY 2018 #

Latin America

FUERZA AÉREA Argentina

(FAA, Argentine Air Force)

Fokker F28 Mk1000 serial

TC-53 (c/n 11020) suffered

technical problems during

a flight in the vicinity of its

base, the I Brigada Aérea

(1st Air Brigade) at El

Palomar, Buenos Aires, on

December 15. Only one of

the mainwheels extended

when the crew attempted

to deploy the landing gear.

The other wheels finally

deployed after several

circuits, and the aircraft

landed without problems.

The event followed a

KC-130H landing incident at

Río Gallegos on December

2 (see Attrition, p93).

Juan Carlos Cicalesi

Argentine Gendarmerie PC-6 in

Switzerland

Stephan Widmer

KC-

achieves

IOC

EMBRAER ANNOUNCED

on December 20 that

the KC-390 military

transport and tanker had

attained initial operational

capability (IOC) with the

Força Aérea Brasileira

(FAB, Brazilian Air Force).

The milestone

demonstrates that the

necessary conditions have

been met for the aircraft

to begin limited operations

with the FAB. As part of

the IOC, Embraer obtained

a KC-390 provisional type

certificate from the Agência

Nacional de Aviação Civil

(ANAC, Brazilian National

Civil Aviation Agency).

To date, the KC-

trials campaign has

accumulated more than

1,500 flight hours with two

prototypes and more than

40,000 hours of laboratory

study of the aircraft’s

on-board systems.

Structural assessment

is nearing completion,

with only the full-scale

fatigue test remaining.

Embraer expects the

final type certificate to

be issued by ANAC this

year. Military certification

• final operational
  capability (FOC) – will
  be achieved once tests
  of additional capabilities
  are completed. These
  include aerial refuelling
  and cargo-dropping.
  Delivery of a first series
  aircraft to the FAB is
  also planned for 2018.

THE COMANDO de Aviación

de Ejército (CAE, Argentine

Army Aviation Command)

carried out in-flight tests

of the new FV-300 electro-

optical stabilised system

in November. The locally

developed sensor was

mounted on a UH-1H

helicopter of Escuadrón de

Aviación de Exploración y

Ataque 602 (Reconnaissance

and Attack Aviation

Squadron 602), based at

Campo de Mayo, Buenos

Aires. The FV-300 includes

three sensors: a day sensor

with powerful zoom, a

thermal unit with zoom,

and a TV camera. The

day and night flights were

made using night-vision

googles, and the sensors

were tested for aerial

surveillance, reconnaissance

and transmission of

images in real time.

Juan Carlos Cicalesi

New ejection

seats for

Uruguayan

Dragonfl ies

THE FUERZA Aérea

Uruguaya (FAU,

Uruguayan Air Force) has

selected the Martin-Baker

Mk8 (AU8LD) ejection

seat to equip its fleet of

A-37B Dragonflies. Twelve

examples have been

ordered for installation on

six of the twin-seat aircraft,

replacing the previous

Weber equipment.

Negotiations began last

March when FAU personnel

visited the Martin-Baker

Argentina branch at the

Argentine Air Force’s Área

Material Rio IV in Córdoba.

An installation trial was

completed the same month

at a cost of £168,000.

Authorisation for the

acquisition was granted by

the Uruguayan government

in November 2017, the

total cost of the transaction

being £3.6m, payable

in three instalments.

It is understood that

manufacture of the seats

will commence as soon

as the contract is signed,

and they will be built by

MB’s partner SICAMB of

Latina, Italy. Deliveries

are expected between

June and September this

year. Installation of the

seats will be carried out

by Martin-Baker Argentina

at Brigada Aérea No 2

(Air Brigade No 2) Tte 2do

Mario Walter Parallada

Air Base, near Durazno.

Ernesto Blanco Calcagno

New electro-optical system

for Argentine UH-1H

EA

Julián López

Undercarriage problem for Argentine F

THIS PC-6/B2-H2 operated

by the Gendarmeria Nacional

Argentina (GNA, Argentine

National Gendarmerie) was

a rare visitor to the Pilatus

factory airfield at Stans-

Buochs, Switzerland where it

was seen on December 13.

The Turbo Porter, GN-805 (c/n

787), was built in 1977. It was

in Stans for a major overhaul.

The first batch of three

PC-6s for the GNA was

delivered in February 1978,

followed by two more in

October 1979 and a sixth in

January 1980. Attrition losses

occurred in August 1982,

August 1999, September

2003 and October 2015.

Another aircraft that sustained

damage in July 2000 was

placed in long-term storage

awaiting repair and was

later stored at Stans. It

was replaced by a new-

build example shipped to

Argentina in April 2015.