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at [email protected]http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #354 SEPTEMBER 2017 // 29
Korean Hercules at Mobility Guardian
REPUBLIC OF Korea Air
Force (RoKAF) C-130H
05-185 (c/n 5185) of the
251st Tactical Air Support
Squadron was among the
foreign participants atAir Mobility Command’s
first Mobility Guardian
readiness exercise. It was
held at Joint Base Lewis-
McChord, Washington from
July 30 to August 12 and
other participants included
Australia, Belgium, Brazil,Canada, Colombia, France,
New Zealand, Pakistan
and the United Kingdom,
the latter sending a Royal
Air Force Atlas C1.
The RoKAF has eight
C-130Hs and four C-130H-
30s in service with the251st Tactical Air Support
Squadron, 255th Special
Operations Squadron
and 257th Tactical Air
Support Squadron.
These have been
supplemented by four
C-130Js since April 2014.USAFAN ADDITIONAL second-
hand Saab 340B has
recently been delivered
to the Royal Thai Air
Force (RTAF, Kongtap
Agard Thai). The aircraft,
N452XJ (c/n 452), formerly
operated by Mesaba
Airlines, had been stored
at Bangor, Maine. It was
repainted in RTAF grey
military colours in April
and then departed on
delivery on July 19 for
Halifax International
Airport, Canada. It left
there the same day and
flew to Palma de Mallorca,
where it arrived on July
20 prior to resuming
its delivery flight. It is
allocated serial 70205,
but its military markings
were taped over for
the delivery flight.
A second ex-Mesaba
aircraft, N439XJ (c/n
439, to be 70206) has
also been acquired, but
this has not yet beendelivered. Both will be
operated by 702 Squadron
at Surat Thani. In addition
to its AEW versions of
the type, the unit alreadyflies two standard Saab
340Bs, one to act as a
crew trainer and the
other as a passenger
aircraft. Dave AllportAdditional Saab 340 delivered to Thailand
ASM-3
missiles
for F-2
THE JAPANESE
government plans to
equip Japan Air Self-
Defense Force ( JASDF)
F-2 fighters with
ASM-3 supersonic anti-
ship missiles. The
budgetary request
for fiscal year 2018
includes an allocation
of “several hundred
millions of yen” to mass-
produce the missile
starting next year.
Under development
by Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries as the
XASM-3, the rocket-
ramjet weapon flies
at around Mach 3.Above: New Royal Thai Air Force Saab 340B N452XJ (c/n 452, to be 70205) at Palma de Mallorca
Airport, Spain, on July 20 during its delivery fl ight. Javier RodriguezUS donates
ISR Caravans
to Philippines
THE US government has
donated two Cessna
208Bs equipped for
intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance (ISR)
to the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP).
AFP spokesperson Brig
Gen Restituto Padilla
said the Caravans would
be used for maritime
surveillance and coastal
photo-reconnaissance.
The two aircraft were
formally handed over
by the US government
at Villamor Air Base
on July 27 and were
delivered as part of
America’s Maritime
Security Initiative.Thailand
orders
eight more
T-50s
THAILAND IS acquiring
eight additional Korea
Aerospace Industries
T-50TH advanced jet
trainers. A contract
worth $259m was
reportedly signed on July- Thailand previously
ordered four T-50THs
in September 2015 to
replace the L-39 in the
Royal Thai Air Force. The
first two aircraft from
the original order are
due to be delivered in
December, followed by
another two next June.
‘South Korea Air Force One’ in Europe
REPUBLIC OF Korea Air
Force (RoK AF) Boeing
747-4B5 10001 was an
interesting visitor to the
Group of Twenty (G20)Summit in Hamburg ( July
7-8). From April 2010
onwards, the Republic of
Korea Air Force has leased
a single 747 from KoreanAir (with which it served
as HL7465), to act as a
long-range presidential/
V VIP transport. The
aircraft is operated by theRoK AF’s 296th Squadron,
part of the 15th Special
Missions Wing/35th
Combined Group Air
Force based at Seoul AB.Rene Köhler