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http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #362 MAY 2018 // 19
Brazilian
Army eyes
SuperCobras
THE EXÉRCITO Brasileiro
(EB, Brazilian Army)
has approached the US
government to purchase
surplus US Marine Corps
AH-1W attack helicopters.
It says talks have taken
place but there have not
yet been government-to-
government negotiations.
The SuperCobra is one
option to meet the army’s
Procurement of Attack
Capability project, part
of the Army Strategic
Programme – Army
Aviation (Prg EE AvEx).
A notification on
the Federal Business
Opportunities (FedBizOpps)
website earlier this year
indicated that the US
is now offering surplus
AH-1Ws to international
customers via either
Foreign Military Sales (FMS)
or Direct Commercial Sale
(DCS) channels, as the US
Marine Corps progressively
retires them in favour
of the AH-1Z Viper.
THE POLICÍA Federal
Argentina (PFA, Argentine
Federal Police) has retired
its only Cessna 310Q, serial
PF-18 (LQ-JGS, c/n 135).
The decision to withdraw
the type, which had been
operated by the PFA’s Air
Division, took account
of obsolescence and the
cost of potential repairs.
Juan Carlos Cicalesi
PFA
Nicaraguan
An-26s break cover
PHOTOS AND more details
have emerged of two An-
cargo aircraft donated by
Russia to the Fuerza Aérea
del Ejército de Nicaragua
(FAEN, Nicaraguan Army
Air Force) – see Nicaragua
takes on ex-Russian
Navy An-26, April, p19.
The Antonovs were
formally handed over to
Gen Julio César Avilés
Castillo, head of the
Nicaraguan Army, by Maj
Gen Igor Kozhin, chief
of naval aviation of the
Russian Nav y. Delivery
took place at Augusto
C Sandino International
Airport in Managua.
The aircraft – FA-EN
(c/n 5904, ex-RF-46898/‘
Blue’) and FA-EN162 (c/n
6509, ex-RF-46855) – are
being operated by the
Escadrón de Transport,
based at Managua.
Juan Carlos Cicalesi
Viking details Peruvian Twin
Otter maintenance
contract
VIKING AIR of Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada,
has announced details
of a multi-year contract
supporting the Twin
Otter Series 400 fleet
operated by the Fuerza
Aérea del Perú (FAP,
Peruvian Air Force).
The firm has now entered
the second year of the deal
- its maintenance plus (M+)
programme supporting
12 FAP Twin Otters
flown in Peru’s northeast
Amazonian region. It
provides factory spares,
technical publications and
on-site technical training
and support, plus the
tools required to monitor
upcoming maintenance.
The aircraft, delivered
between 2011 and 2014,
are configured with
conventional landing gear
and floats. Grupo Aéreo
42 at Iquitos Teniente
Bergerie air base uses them
for infrastructure support
and medevac services to
remote communities as well
as military missions such as
environmental monitoring
and troop transportation in
inaccessible areas of Peru.
FAEN
Chile prepares
to receive
Black Hawks
THE FIRST three S-70i
Black Hawk helicopters on
order for the Fuerza Aérea
de Chile (FACh, Chilean
Air Force) will arrive in
August and the other three
by the end of October.
Built by Sikorsky’s PZL
Mielec subsidiary in
Poland, the Black Hawks
will be assigned to Grupo
de Aviación No 9 (9th
Aviation Group), based at
Comodoro Arturo Merino
Benítez International
Airport, Santiago de Chile.
Juan Carlos Cicalesi
Above: The FAP’s fl eet of 12 Series 400 Twin Otters has provided remote communities in northeast Peru with critical
infrastructure support since 2011. Serials 303 (c/n 865, ex-C-GFAP) and 313 (c/n 910, ex-C-GNVA) display the two different
undercarriage confi gurations. Viking Air
Argentine Police retires Cessna 310