Features
3 Comment
AFM’s opinion on the hot topics in military aviation.20 ‘Smokers’ on the road
Carlos Filipe Operti joined the Brazilian
Air Force’s demonstration team during a
30-day tour around South America.40 Polish Army rotors
Bartek Bera and Filip Modrzejewski assess
the strength of the Lotnictwa Wojsk
Lądowych – Polish Army Aviation.46 Holding the line
Osan and Kunsan Air Bases are home to
the US Air Force’s fighter squadrons in
South Korea and include the most forward,
permanently deployed fighter squadron in the
service. Lt Col ‘Cricket’ Renner, USAF (ret’d),
visited these units, where the motto “We
fight tonight!” is still on all airmen’s minds.52 Missile monitors
The US Air Force takes the missile threat
emanating from North Korea extremely
seriously. Former strategic reconnaissance
pilot Robert S Hopkins III examines the
potentially hazardous work of airborne
intelligence-gatherers in the region.56 ROKAF at a crossroads
While tensions in the region reached a high with
North Korea’s sixth nuclear test last September,
there’s been a dramatic de-escalation since
early this year. Robin Polderman looks at the
Republic of Korea Air Force and the challenges
it faces should a second Korean war erupt.62 UK gears up for F-
As the initial F-35Bs return to the UK to form
the Royal Air Force’s No 617 Squadron,
Jamie Hunter talks to the team that’s testing
new weapons and taking the aircraft to
the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier.68 Big cats in Poland
For the first time in its 58-year history, the
NATO Tiger Meet was staged in a former
Warsaw Pact country. Bob Archer reports
from Poznań-Krzesiny in Poland.76 Danish dynamite at Šiauliai
The Royal Danish Air Force deployed four
F-16AMs to Šiauliai air base, Lithuania,
to take over NATO’s Baltic Air Policing
mission from a detachment of US Air
Force F-15C Eagles earlier this year.
Søren Augustesen investigates.80 Adieu, Mirage 2000N
The French Air Force is withdrawing the
Mirage 2000N, the nuclear deterrence
variant of the acclaimed delta fighter,
after three decades of sterling operational
service, writes Henri-Pierre Grolleau.Cover: This stunning trio of Eurofi ghters was part of this year’s NATO
Tiger Meet, the fi rst to be held in a former Warsaw Pact country. Fourteen
full NTM members came to Poland, bringing more than 70 aircraft and
helicopters from 19 fl ying units. From nearest the camera: C.14-31 ‘14-31’
from the Spanish Air Force’s Escuadrón 142 at Albacete, 31+00 ‘Ghost Tiger’
from Germany’s Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74 at Neuburg, and
Italy’s specially marked XII Gruppo jet, MM7732 ‘36-40’ from Gioia del Colle.
Bartek Bera
Above: Mi-24D and Mi-24W assault helicopters from the 49 Baza Lotnicza
(BLot, air base) at Pruszcz Gdański fl ying over the Vistula Spit. Since the
Polish mission in Iraq, the army’s two Hind units have shared both versions
of this still-formidable helicopter. See p40 for a full report on the Lotnictwa
Wojsk Lądowych (Polish Army Aviation) as it takes part in celebrations for
Poland’s centenary of military aviation. Bartek BeraKOREAN STANDOFF
4 // JULY 2018 #364 http://www.airforcesmonthly.comContents July 2018 #