Final RAAF EA-18G Growler Arrives in Australia
A ceremony to mark the arrival of the last
EA-18G Growler for the Royal Australian
Air Force was held at RAAF Base
Amberley, Queensland, on July 7. Delivery
of the RAAF’s entire fleet of 12 EA-18G
airborne electronic attack (AEA) aircraft
is now complete, and Australian Growlers
have already conducted successful
weapon firings and integration flightswith RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornets and
US Navy EA-18G Growlers as part of the
operational test and evaluation process.
The service has also marked the
graduation of aircrew assigned to the first
operational transition course.
The RAAF’s first EA-18G was rolled out
by Boeing at its St Louis, Missouri, facility
in July 2015 and the initial examples weredelivered to Australia in February 2017.
In related news, Australia has agreed to
collaborate on the development of the AN/
ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer Mid-
band (Increment 1) (NGJ-MB) programme
for the Growler. Raytheon is developing
the jammer under a contract from the
US Naval Air Systems Command.
Tom KaminskiThe aircraft carrier USS George HW Bush
(CVN 77) visited the Solent over July
27-August 1 and directly after that took part
in Exercise Saxon Warrior (until August
10). The latter was due to involve over
100 aircraft, warships from five nations,
submarines and about 9,000 personnel in
British waters and airspace.
Royal Marines Colonel Phil Kelly, the
Strike Warfare Commander in the UK’s
Carrier Strike Group battle staff, explained
the reasoning behind Saxon Warrior:
“This exercise is a great demonstration
of the UK’s relationship with the United
States who are helping us in getting back
our carrier strike capability and making a
success of the Queen Elizabeth aircraft
carrier programme.” US naval personnel
were to train side-by-side with UK pilots,
engineers and deck handlers to build
combined maritime and aviation capability
and capacity.
The US carrier and her strike group are
on the final leg of a deployment that was to
support Operation Inherent Resolve – the
fight against the so-called Islamic State.New Transports for Portugal
The Portuguese Council of Ministers
has authorised the start of negotiations
with Embraer to purchase five KC-
transport aircraft, with the option of one
more. The aircraft will replace the ageing
C-130 fleet, in service with the Portuguese
Air Force since the late 1970s. The deal,
which was authorised on June 8, also
includes a flight simulator for the new
aircraft. The order value and delivery
deadlines had not been decided at the
time of going to press.
Portuguese Defence Minister José
Azeredo Lopes will lead negotiationswith Embraer. Within three months, the
working group will “agree with Embraer
on the terms and technical and financial
conditions for the acquisition of aircraft,
establishing the maximum amounts
of funding”, financial programming and
schedule, according to the defence
ministry. The negotiations will include
logistical support of the aircraft, with
the specific technical and operational
configurations defined by the air force.
Portugal is one of the countries involved
in the KC-390 project, having participated
in the construction and developmentthrough Embraer's Portuguese presence
in Évora, where components of the aircraft
are built and involving OGMA (General
Office of Aeronautical Material) in Alverca.
According to Azeredo Lopes, the costs
of the aircraft being sought will be spread
over several years
The first KC-390 prototype flew in
February 2015 and the initial production
aircraft are slated to be delivered to the
Brazilian Air Force in 2018. More than
50 Brazilian companies participate in the
project, which also involves Argentina and
the Czech Republic. Jose Matoshttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 7US Carrier
Visits the UK
A close-up of the Syrian Fitter victory marking
on F/A-18E Super Hornet 168912 ‘AJ-302’ from
VFA-37. The shoot-down took place on June
18 over central Syria, see p10 in the August
issue for more details. Glenn SandsSpecially marked F/A-18C 165187 ‘AJ-400’ of VFA-87 flown by Captain Vorrice J Burks, Deputy
Commander, Air Group of Carrier Air Wing 8. Glenn Sands06-08_military_newsDC.mfDC.indd 7 04/08/2017 15: