Airforces

Subscribe to http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

for breaking news stories. E-mail the news team

at [email protected]

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #359 FEBRUARY 2018 // 29

YS-11FC farewell at Iruma

JAPAN AIR Self-Defense

Force (JASDF) YS-11FC

12-1160 (c/n 2159) navaids

calibration aircraft was a

welcome participant in the

flying display at last year’s

Iruma Air Show. Both the

JASDF’s C-1 transport and

the YS-11FC were rumoured

to be making their final

public display flights at the

annual show, which took

place on November 3. Two

or three YS-11FCs serve

with Iruma’s Hiko Tenkentai

(Flight Checker Squadron),

but are expected to be

replaced by an undisclosed

number of Cessna 680s.

JASDF electronic warfare

aircraft YS-11EB 02-1159

was not an official participant

at the airshow, but was

also noted from outside the

airfield. Four examples of

this variant serve with the

Denshi Sakusen (Electronic

Warfare Operations Group),

but this type is also

rumoured to be retired in

the near future, together

with the group’s sole EC-1

electronic intelligence

(ELINT) platform, 78-1021.

Lieutenant Colonel Beau ‘Strap’

Wilkins, 514th Flight Test Squadron

F-16 test pilot, makes a high-speed

pass in an Indonesian F-16C at

Hill AFB on November 21 during

a functional check fl ight on the

aircraft. USAF/Alex R Lloyd

Final Indonesian Block 25 F-16s completed

REGENERATION WORK
on the last six Block 25
F-16C Fighting Falcons
for the government of
Indonesia has been
completed. The work,
undertaken at the Ogden
Air Logistics Complex at
Hill Air Force Base, Utah,
took almost five years.
The jets have now been
delivered as part of the
aircraft acquisition and
refurbishment agreement
approved by the US
government. In total,
24 Block 25 F-16Cs
and F-16Ds have been
handed over to the Tentara
Nasional Indonesia –
Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU,
Indonesian Air Force).
The aircraft, formerly
flown by US Air Force and
Air National Guard units,
had been in storage at
the Ogden ALC’s 309th

Aerospace Maintenance

and Regeneration Group

(AMARG) located at

Davis-Monthan AFB

in Tucson, Arizona.

Indonesian media reports

from February 2011

indicated that an offer

from the United States

of 24 surplus F-16C/D

aircraft had been accepted.

Approval for the supply

of the aircraft, via the US

Excess Defense Articles

(EDA) programme, was

then given in August

2011, following which

a DSCA notification to

US Congress was made

in November 2011.

The first F-16C, plus a pair

of F-16Ds, was delivered

to Iswahjudi on July 25,

2014, with another two

examples following suit

on September 27, 2014.

One of this latter pair was

very probably damaged

beyond economical repair

on April 16, 2015, when

it caught fire following an

undercarriage collapse, on

take-off from Jakarta-Halim

Perdanakusuma Airport.

A further batch of four

F-16Cs was delivered to

Iswahjudi Air Force Base,

in Madiun, East Java, on

May 22, 2015, followed by

three more of this variant

and two more F-16Ds

on September 21, 2016.

Another three F-16Cs and

one F-16D were delivered

in March last year.

Nepalese Mi-17 in Exercise Teak Nail

PERSONNEL FROM

US Air Force Special

Operations Command’s

320th Special Tactics

Squadron (STS) at

Kadena Air Base, Japan,

recently deployed to

Nepal for Exercise

Teak Nail. Sixteen US

Special Tactics operators

worked with 60 Nepalese

Mahabir Rangers from

the Ranger Regiment’s

Disaster Aid and Response

Teams (DART) at high

altitude in challenging

mountainous terrain.

Training was given

on helicopter insertion,

collapsed structures,

swift water rescue,

rope systems, glacier

movement and a complex

mountain rescue scenario.

The exercise began in

Kathmandu and continued

with swift water training and

helo-casting in Pokhara,

culminating with mountain

rescue in Kaisang. The

month-long Teak Nail

exercise is an annual

exercise between the 320th

STS and Nepalese DART,

focusing on developing

search and rescue

(SAR) capability and

improving interoperability.

Dave Allport

Japan signs for KC-46A tanker

BOEING HAS received

a contract for the Japan

Air Self-Defense Force’s

(JASDF’s) initial KC-46

tanker and logistics support

aircraft, marking the type’s

first international sale.

The company announced

the Foreign Military

Sales contract, which

was issued via the US

Air Force, on December

22. It is valued at $279m,
    including support.
    Japan selected the
    KC-46A in its KC-X aerial
    refuelling competition.
    The US State Department
    granted approval for
    a possible sale of four
    KC-46As to Japan in
    September 2016. At

the time, the total value

was given as $1.9bn.

The new aircraft will

join the JASDF’s current

fleet of four KC-767J

tankers, based at

Komaki. The previous

KC-X announcement

called for the first

aircraft to be delivered

to the JASDF in 2020.

India to buy 83 Tejas Mk1As

INDIA HAS formally launched

an $8bn programme to

buy 83 Tejas Mk1A Light

Combat Aircraft (LCA). The

Indian Air Force (IAF) issued

manufacturer Hindustan

Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

with a request for proposal

(RFP) on December 20.

HAL has been asked to

submit commercial and

technical offers by March,

leading to formal contract

award later this year. Of the

total 83 aircraft, ten will be

two-seat trainers. India’s

Defence Acquisition Council

(DAC) originally cleared the

procurement of 83 Mk1A

aircraft in November 2016.

The IAF has already

bought 20 Tejas Mk1s that

will be completed to Initial

Operational Clearance (IOC)

standard, and another 20

will be delivered in Mk1A

configuration. In addition,

the defence ministry plans

to acquire 105 examples of

the further improved Tejas

Mk2, valued at around

$15bn, although this will

likely face competition from

the F-16V and Gripen E.

Nepalese Mahabir

Rangers practise fast

roping from Nepalese Army

Air Service/11th Air Brigade

Mi-17V-5 NA-057 in Pokhara,

Nepal, during Exercise Teak

Nail 2017. USAF/Staff Sgt

Sandra Welch

Masahiro Oishi