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AIRCRAFT PROFILE: C-5 GALAXY
FAT ALBERT
DECEMBER 2014
ISSUE #321
BALTIC
POLICING
THE HEAT IS ON!
Officially the World's
NUMBER ONE
Authority on Military Aviation | www.airforcesmonthly.com
GOODBYE
GUARDIANS
USCG'S HU-25
JETS RETIRE
PROJECT
HABIBI
IRANIAN
MIRAGE F1s
SERPENTEX
2014
Exercise Report
ROYAL THAI ARMY
Force
AVIATION
Report
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Contents
December Issue 320
News
All the top military aviation
news from around the world
Headlines
4-5
6-11 United Kingdom
12-14 Europe
15-19 North America
20-21 Latin America
Russia and the CIS
24
25
Middle East
26-27 Africa
28-32 Asia Pacific
34
Australasia
AFM’s
Dave Allport reports
35
on the latest contracts
and deployments
Exercise Report Joint Warrior 2014-2
10
36
Chilean AF F-16C/Ds
Santiago Rivas flew in a Chilean
Air Force KC-135E and witnessed
the tanker refuelling a formation
of F-16C/Ds high over the Andes.
66
ExERCISE REPoRt
– Serpentex 2014
Jan Kraak details changes to
the French Air Force’s annual
close air support exercise
in South West France.
38
HU-25 Guardian
Retirement
70
JASDF at 60
The United States Coast Guard’s
HU-25 Guardian – a life-saver for
32 years – has been retired from
active service. Tom Kaminski
was there to experience the
momentous occasion.
42
Striking Back at ISIL
As more nations join the fight
against ISIL in Iraq and Syria,
Alan Warnes provides an update
on current operations.
Force Report
Royal Thai
Army Aviation
72
A mass formation of more than
100 aircraft and helicopters took
to the skies above Hyakuri Air Base
to mark the 60th anniversary of
the Japanese Air Self-Defense
Force. Martin Fenner saw the
spectacle from the ground.
72
FoRCE REPoRt
Royal thai Army Aviation
44
RAF Voyager
AFM’s
Glenn Sands visited RAF
Brize Norton to see how AirTanker
Services and the RAF are working
together on the Voyager fleet
with impressive results.
Following Thailand’s military coup
in May 2013, Royal Thai Army
Aviation is being modernised to
reverse years of stagnation, as
Analayo Korsakul finds out.
Give the gift that
lasts all year!
A subscription to
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Monthly
makes a great gift
this Christmas. See pages
22 and 23 for details.
80
Pakistan F-16 Upgrade
Alan Warnes reports on how
the Pakistan Air Force is making
its F-16 fleet 24 hour day/
night capable with the help of
Turkish Aerospace Industries.
48
Baltic Air Policing (BAP)
Tieme Festner, a visitor to Lithuania
for 20 years, puts the Baltic Air
Policing (BAP) in the spotlight as it
operates out of Šiaulial Air Base.
82
AIRCRAFt PRoFILE
C-5 Galaxy
54
International SAR
Meet 2014
Kees van der Mark reports from
Leeuwarden Air Base in the
Netherlands on the international
search-and-rescue (SAR)
meet hosted by the soon-to-be
disbanded 303 (SAR) Squadron.
The C-5 Galaxy, known as Fat
Albert in its hey-day, has supported
five decades of intercontinental
airlift. As Bob Archer explains, it
has not been easy, but upgrades
and modernisation will provide
a new lease of life for the jet.
92
Attrition
58
Iranian Mirages
AFM’s
Dave Allport reports on the
world’s latest military accidents.
Twenty-five Iraqi Air Force Mirage
F1s flew to Iran as the first Gulf
War reached its climax, but
commanders of the Islamic
Republic of Iran Air Force took a
further 17 years to order the aircraft
back to front-line service. Babak
Taghvaee unravels the protracted
story of the F1s in Iranian hands.
JASDF at 60
70
Cover: Armed to the teeth, a formation of a Portuguese Air Force F-16AM and
a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 form up for the camera during a Baltic Air
Policing (BAP) sortie.
Captain Gabrielle DesRochers
Glenn sands
AFM Brand Editor
www.airforcesdaily.com
#321 DECEMBER 2014
3
NEWS
HEADLINES
US NAVY F-35C LIGHTNING II
S
COMPLETE FIRST CARRIER LANDINGS
US Navy F-35C Lightning II CF-05 ‘SD-75’ from Air Test and Evaluation
Squadron 23 (VX-23) ‘The Salty Dogs’ approaches prior to making an arrested
landing for the first time aboard the aircraft carrier USS
Nimitz
(CVN 68) on
November 3.
Lockheed Martin
T
WO US Navy Lockheed Martin
F-35C Lightning IIs have
completed the type’s first arrested
landings on an aircraft carrier. The
aircraft were development F-35C
CF-03 ‘SD-73’ and CF-05 ‘SD-75’,
both from Air Test and Evaluation
Squadron 23 (VX-23) ‘The Salty
Dogs’ at Naval Air Station Patuxent
River, Maryland. They landed on
the USS
Nimitz
(CVN 68) in the
Pacific Ocean off the coast of San
Diego, California on November 3.
The first aircraft to take the
wire, CF-03, touched down at
1218hrs, having been flown out
to the carrier from Marine Corps
Air Station Yuma, Arizona, by US
Navy test pilot Cmdr Tony ‘Brick’
Wilson. Less than an hour later,
Lt Cmdr Ted ‘Dutch’ Dyckman
landed CF-05 at 1311hrs.
The landings marked the start
of initial at-sea Developmental
Testing I (DT-I) for the F-35C,
which is expected to last two
weeks. By November 6, the
two aircraft had completed 12
flights from the carrier, flying
a combined total of 12.7 flight
hours and accomplishing 203 test
points. During the first four days
of at-sea testing, they performed
55 catapult launches, 84 planned
touch-and-go landings and
57 arrested landings. Every
landing attempt was successful,
with no ‘bolters’ or failures to
catch an arrester cable on the
flight deck. Testing scheduled
for November 7 included
crosswind catapult launches
and crosswind approaches.
The next test phase, DT-II, is
scheduled in September 2015
and will include additional day/
night operations, initial weapons
trials with both internal and
external stores, plus maximum
power launches. The third and
final trials phase, DT-III, is planned
for March-April 2016. Initial
operational capability for the
F-35C is targeted for August 2018.
Russians Deploy
Il-76MDs to Serbia
SIX RUSSIAN Air Force Il-76MDs
have flown Russian troops into
Batajnica Air Base, Serbia, to take
part in the joint Russian-Serbian
Exercise SREM-2014. The
aircraft (including RA-76549,
RA-76558, RA-76772 and
RA-78809) brought in a
Russian reinforced parachute
company from the 106th
Guards Airborne Division on
November 6. Also offloaded
was a tactical reconnaissance
aerial vehicle system.
Serbian Air Force and Air
Defence participation included
Gazelles, Mi-8/17s, Galeb G-4s,
MiG-21s, MiG-29s and An-26s.
All operated from Batajnica.
The exercise began with a
march of the Russian column
from Batajnica to Šabac, in the
vicinity of the Nikinci range, 55
miles (90km) east of Belgrade.
The BMD-2 armoured vehicles
were also air-dropped from
the Il-76s on November 10
at the Nikinci range using a
multi-canopy parachute system
consisting of nine parachutes.
Almost the entire Serbian
Special Forces Brigade,
including elements of the 63rd
Parachute Battalion, 72nd
Reconnaissance Battalion
and Anti-terrorist Battalion
took part.
Aleksandar Radic
South Korea Cancels $1.5 Billion KF-16 Upgrade Deal
AN UPGRADE contract with
BAE Systems for the Republic
of Korea Air Force’s (ROKAF’s)
134 KF-16C/D Block 52s has
been terminated at the request
of the nation’s government.
The US Defense Security
Co-operation Agency (DSCA)
announced the cancellation on
November 5 and said the US
Government had notified BAE
Systems Technology Solutions
and Services of Rockville,
Maryland on the same day.
The work would have been
worth up to $1.7 billion over
the life of the programme and
is a significant financial blow to
the company. An initial $140
million US Air Force Foreign
Military Sales contract had
been awarded to BAE Systems
on May 8 of this year, covering
Phase 1 of the programme
for initial development and
long lead item production.
The DSCA noted that the
“unusual move” paved the
way for South Korea to pursue
a similar upgrade deal with
Lockheed Martin – the only other
bidder. The US Government will
now “work with BAE Systems
to close out the contract”, said
the DSCA. The first two ROKAF
aircraft for upgrade, KF-16C
92-021 (92-4021) and KF-16D
92-046 (92-4046), arrived at
BAE Systems’ facility at Fort
Worth Alliance Airport, Texas, in
May (see
First Two ROKAF KF-16s
Arrive in US for Upgrade,
July,
p23). It is unclear what will now
happen to them. In addition,
on November 6, 190 workers
at Alliance were notified by BAE
Systems that they would be laid
off because of the contract loss.
South Korea had been
concerned about increasing costs
of the programme and threatened
to pull the deal in October. Seoul’s
Defense Acquisition Program
Administration (DAPA) publicly
complained about extra costs,
claiming the US Government
had added $470 million to the
originally agreed overall price,
while BAE Systems had also
ramped up costs by $280 million.
4
DECEMBER 2014 #321
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Korean and Indonesian Fighter Boost
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Top:
A model of the KF-X in Republic of Korea Air Force markings at IndoDefence 2014 in Jakarta.
Alan Warnes
Above:
Also displayed at IndoDefence 2014 was this model of the KF-X/IF-X in Indonesian Air Force markings.
Alan Warnes
INDONESIA AND South Korea
have signed an engineering
manufacturing and development
(EMD) agreement for a joint
fighter. On October 6 the deal was
sealed on the KF-X (Korea Fighter
–X) and IF-X (Indonesia Fighter
–X) – to progress a programme
that stalled for 18 months.
Indonesia is to take a 20% share
of the programme – expected to
cost between $8 and 10 billion.
After South Korea’s new
President Park-Geun-hye was
elected in December 2012,
she reviewed the programme
before allowing it to move on.
Indonesia’s Defence Minister
Purnomo Yusgiantoro and South
Korea ambassador to Indonesia,
Cho Tai-young, then signed the
deal that led to a PTDI being
selected to manufacture the IF-X.
South Korea will now issue
requests for proposals, but
it is likely that Korea Aircraft
Industries (KAI), with expertise
of manufacturing the KT-1
Woong Bee and T-50 Golden
Eagle, is a front-runner.
Of the 250 aircraft in the joint
requirement, 50 are required by
the Indonesian Air Force and the
remainder are destined for the
Republic of Korea Air Force. There
are also good export prospects.
“The EMD should start next
year, and last around eight to
ten years” according to PTDI’s,
Director of Technologies, Andi
Alisjahbani, “The first flight should
take place six-to-seven years
into the EMD phase, making it
around 2021-22. We hope to
start production around 2023.”
A KAI official at the IndoDefence
2014 defence trade show which
took place at Jakarta’s JI Expo
from November 5-8, told
AFM
production of the first prototype
should start in 2016/17. He also
described the new fighter as a,
“4.5 Generation aircraft – better
than the F-16, but not quite as
capable as the Lockheed Martin
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).”
He said it will be developed
for the air-to-ground role with
a small number of tactical
two-seater aircraft.
Indonesia has already purchased
17 turboprop KT-1 trainers and
16 supersonic T-50 jet trainers in
the past ten years and the deal will
further cement the relationship
between the two nations.
The initial design features ten
hard points with capacity to
carry up to 16,000lb (7,258kg)
of weaponry. Lockheed Martin
is believed to be involved
with the development as part
of an initiative to supply 40
F-35 JSFs, which will also see
significant technology transfer.
Lockheed Martin involvement
could also increase, should the
Korean Government award
the KF-16 upgrade to the US
company after it cancelled a
$1.5 billion agreement for the
work with BAE Systems on
November 5 (see opposite).
Two 36,000lb-class (16,330kg)
twin turbofan engines are
required for the joint fighter,
but no decision has been made
on the engine supplier. Eurojet
200 is an option, particularly if
Eurofighter wins the replacement
F-5 bid, while General Electric
and Pratt and Whitney will
also being considered.
PTDI now has a partnering
agreement with Eurofighter
GmbH to market the fighter to
the Indonesian Air Force, as an
F-5 replacement. PTDI’s Andi
Alisjahban added: “Tenders will
be issued for an air superiority
fighter in 2015 and, should
Eurofighter win, a final assembly
line will be built at Bandung.
“It will provide us with some
level of sustainability, to gain an
insight into fighter production, as
we have not been involved in this
area, and will help us to assist in
the development of the IFX [also
known by its project name, C103]
in Indonesia.”
Alan Warnes
Apology
Air Forces Monthly would like to
apologise to Ian Harding regarding
his Brize Fighter Frenzy article
(November 2014 issue) in which a
section of text was misrepresented
as a quote from the author.
www.airforcesdaily.com
#321 DECEMBER 2014
5

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