ae i BLACK KNIGHTS I TS ie ee oe Be CUE usoe AO cele) ie DESERT aE Biiamerliaeesy Swap 07 for AZ MALY, | TOT ky / a tg et THE SEAS ANCE Te} Lg UTD les maritime patrol aircraft TCP ied[MAIL ORDER® RAF TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT - eyes) Kedar Mitiary iret Historic Miltary Aircraft Series, Vol 6 Series, Vol 9 RAF TRANSPORT | This book describes the evolution of | LOCKHEED €-141 | potails of every unit that flew AIRCRAFT the airr the ail STARLIFTER | the Statlifter are also include , capacity for Britain's armed forces aaa mmafdngtcan Invelaable rever they served, andas the rence enthusiasts and 2021 Ope ion Pitting showed, modelers, ay transport aircraft are stil vital . ONLY : * £15.99 PApeIDACGSEIPAEES Subscribers call for your Paperback, 96 Pages Subscribers call for you Code: KBo128 £2 discount Cove: KBOT0S: £2 discount Pen re) ER nnaaee ane Focusing on the US Nav Modern Military Aircraft and Marine Corps squadrons, Series, Volume 4 US (NAVAL: © fre Hustatee ity ern A key component in any AIR POWER thefarous carnersit wings, armed force, helicopters Soherden aircraft, such as the F/A- operate in a range of roles " E2 variants, and the training Includes many previously that together make US Naval unpublished photographs. 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ONLY £15.99 Paperback, 96 Pages sbicitiags call 0% Your Papernack, 95 Pages Siccatiarese feet Code: KBO0s8 £2 discount Code: KBO087 £2 discount Tey Ley aU ALLL cy Colma MOL ek Weds e110 10) Lett Het ast se 10} eae aK en Ae ae p 800KS, VisrrWELCOME // MARCH 2022 Balen Ore et thefusen rope Foss iy Sure MiG 31 Fone inrators thndes chat kes oer Fuss Ter Obat fora aig isin, Fussian HOD HE PEACE DIVIDEND of the carly 905 seems lke a lifetime ‘ago now, doesn't it The ran Curtain had fallen and the Cold War was fzling out, Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev was US President Ronald Reagan's bestfriend, Now, the fiction between Russia and NATO is mounting lke nothing since those days, even if itdoesnt yet match the heights ofthe 1980s;a time when China was not the threatitis now, As wrt this, Russia has amassed 100,000 oops on Ukraine’ border, scaling upa cyber warfare strategy against ts neighbor andong-time aly. tal part ‘of President Putin's ambition oF getting NATO to scale down its aspirations of ‘expanding and to stop the deployment ‘of more long-range misses in Eastern Europe as part of NATO' Ballistic Mise Defense (BMD), The BMD was creatad to defend NATO. countries, with two US Aegis ashore ‘combat systems planned for astern Europe. The old Romanian AirForce |MiG-21 base at Devalescu was declared ‘operational 2016, butthe sitet Redzikowe in Poland has been delayed ‘and will not be operational until the end ‘ofthis year While NATOIs bolstering its defensive efforts it appears willing to listen to Putin demands and stil MORE FOCUS ON RUSSIA AND CHINA refuses Ukraine’ efforts to join NATO at ‘the moment Putin has played. few military binders Inrecent years ke taking the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and then moving into Syiato support Assad military during the Syrian chil war in 2015. At the time ‘the Syrian ditator was n danger ofbeing toppled by opposing factions, often supported bythe West. Now Putin has ‘camped his troops at Ukraine's door and might even ee some of his conditions for not invading Ukraine ratified by NATO. Wile all this is going on, tension continues to escalate in the west Pacific Backin the eatly 90s when peace was breaking outin Europe, Chinas miltary ‘was decades behind the technologies the US and its fiends were working with “Teday, Chinas military modernization ambitions are much lofts, as we have seen with the building of military facies Inthe South China Seas We knew that Chinas long-term ambtions were the re-taking of Taiwan, butback then that “ambition seemed a long way off. Wie are now seeing the ramping up ofthe People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN carrer capabilities, andthe US ‘along with tallies inchuding the UK is sending carers tothe region for more, s4e Flatops Face Off page 48-53) oF converting existing sea-going platforms to house fith-gen F-3585, The UKmiltary is now showing more Interestin the Pacific outlinedin the 2071 integrated defense review, and stated by the HMS Queen Elzobeths ‘maiden Carrer trike Group voyage lst yeat Undoubtedly the UK wil bolsters military integration withthe US over the coming years, with the anival of more Lockheed Martin F358, three Boeing E-7Wedgetals and 16 General Atomics Protector Rs, adding tothe nine Boeing P-8A Poseidon let, which saw the last alrcraftarrve on January 11.Asitaligns ‘more with the US, the RAF snow even refering tol overseas expeditionary combat ops as Agile Combat Employment (ACE, usta the US is As was evidenced during Operation Blue Dragon ‘deployment of Typhoons fom RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, in October 2021, toa base Inthe Middle East and, mocerecenty, when Typhoons lew to Stomoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, ith all this going on, it certainly looks ke 2022s shaping up tobe another interesting year, with Russia and China high up on the West miltary agendas. Alan Warnes Group Editor at Large Roy eeCee ro Tra eer ecary 24 When Knights were bold ‘The USMC’ Black Krightshave made history bybeing the fest USMC unit to deploy with the F-38C aboard an arate carer James Deboee reports on their work-up to this great milestone 32 Knights at Fallon 2 spread of images of lack Knights arraft training atFatlon 34 Tigers on a desert prowl The Australian Army/s 162 Squadron with Tiger helicopters traveled haf way acrssthe world totakepartin the USMCs Weapons andTates Instructor Course. Joe Copaan finds out more. 40 NATO jet training turns 40 The Euro-NATO Joint Jet Plo Taaing program in Texas recently marked four decades of producing top fighter plot. GertKromhout and Frank Cedbas went behind the scenes 48 Flattops’ Face Off Astensons between the Eastand West continue torise,Davd xe lends his expert analyse onthe ‘ise ofthe Chinese naval airpower and how the USismoving to deterit 54 Rocketing through Europe USAF F-15E squadron, 336th FS Rocketeers’ recently flew shoulder-toshouider with their Greek, Bulgarian and Romanian counterparts. ‘Alexander Mladenov report from Graflgnatievo KEY.AER@ Your Aviation Destination Baad (saya FULL DETAILS, nto g Babak Taghvare56 State Report-Florida part 2 Continuing his review of Florida's aviation units, ‘Tom Kaminski looksat the east coast ofthe Sunshine State 68 Whatever Happened To... Tanker Tribulations Finding replacement forthe Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker was one of the most ficult and controversial task ever undertaken by the USAF David Wis eta therise and fall ofthell fated KC767A deal 70 Mighty Dragons of Iran Babak Taghvaee exploresthe history ofthe CChengdiuF-7N in tanan service and the curent ‘modeinzation project forthe county/s F-7N combattainer 78 Justa nice — Legends never die US Navy FA-18C Hornet BuNo 185210, rom Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 (VX31) fying the R2508 Sidewinder waning complex 80 Poseidon King of the seas Lon Nordeen charts the ongoing development ofthe Boeing P-8 Poseidon and details hhow the martime patio aircrafthas proven its worth over oceanic kiss orders forthe type continveto grow 88 Report — Guardians of Cyprus The Cypriot National Guard Ar Command plans to enhance its anti-tank capabities. Babak Taghvaee explains why 94 To kill a radar Now largely forgotten, ARMAT wasa French ‘weapon that provedits worth nthe 1960s, luring the ran-raq Wat. Tom Withington takes acloserlok 97 Combat Edge — one step closer Inmid December 221, the US Navy tested its rnewtanker drone, the Socing MQ25 Stingray, anditsablity to operate from the deck an aircraft catior,David ve reports onthe als a a epee es coe Pirate pees) renart eae ne es[NEWS] JAPAN SUPER INTERCEPTOR CONTRACT Creer Peters tory eae) Boeing an undefnitized contract fea) no nary Sree acs Geet cs Pe eed eee systems to support modification ofthe Japan AirSelf Defense Force eect is ee Er ne eeu Dee era Ceo performedin StLouls Missour, Ren arg Rat eo) oy andis expected to be completed See Ee eee) eee ety Ce ed Dearie ats) peed the government nor the Minty of ee ee es nee ee eee following further negotiations with the US, was decided to move ahead with the project with final Poort) eee etn ree Eee ea Pe ee ey Seen ate: ieee rer ay eee teen tad Us State Department approval eee ee Peasants ees Pee eed Pe ee ty Pere eed rere reese See cee ee eee a See ee eee pete) Deere te) eet ee a Cee ee eet ots See en Cc es Bret ee ene Penn ete a) configuration. MH willdevelop the eee egy ea Cee rn aor pe ee erage) eee ees! RUSSIA UNVEILS REDESIGNED, STEALTHIER OKHOTNIK UCAV MODIFIED, stealthier production slon ofthe Sukhol S70 Okhotnik unmannes hice (UCAV] was unvelledat the Novosibirsk A Russia on December 14,2021. The LUCAV was stillargely painted only in primer and has yet to make its maiden fight. ond S.70t0 be mbat air Plantin produced, following an intial prototype, from which it ffers in eral respects, including having @ much fatter jetexhaustnozale, 0 a reduced radar signature. The also onto! station, which cur eee Under development. Defense Ministe yer er said itishoped thatthe defini design configuration can be finalize this yea following a major production contract for The sein type Slt -70 Ot UGH was le ate Hosts ten Panta Dozer star UAC the Russian armed forces would ryof production been working on the unmanned combat airvehi The frst $70 prototype mad: ust3, 2019, ‘maiden fight onrN Re ab ee Aa aU CUSTOMER Sai) SPECULATION Pescara] Renate) eee) Cents Bese ore ee ee) eel Poe Oe ca 49059494 cost plusincentive- eed Cee) Sen eld eee eee ees Cee speculation as to which nation Sete Beene cr Cece eed Dera nas eer, peer Cee an Cee reer See Pee ted eee Peete ae Cts Cea eae ne CS eee peor) on eee Cece regarding arms deals The country ee ee recon ner Pe cad the mysterious nev contract, Finlandis another contender, as Ithas recently ordered 64 F-35As ee ere Cee ees Cees Oey Peer ery SU en eas preme tTy Deen FINAL OPERATIONAL RCAF BUFFALO FLIGHT AFTERSS years of sevice the de Haviland Canada C115 Baal hasbeen rete rom Roya. Canadian Air Force (RCAF) service, ‘Thefinal operational ight was fon on January 1Sby 15452 fiom 442Transportand Rescue ‘Squadron basedoutof 19Wing Comox Bits Columbia. ‘The inal operational ight Involved airborne search- and rescue standby taining, conducting fight within Search and Rescue Region itt, ready to dverttoanemergencyata ‘moment’ noticefrom Jin Rescue Coordination Center Vitoria. Toning included seach-and- rescue technican parachute jumps and parachuting of emergency ‘equipmentasthe aircraft visted locations around Vancouver and. ‘While work continues to prepare the €C295 Kingfisher aircraft for Its new role as Canadas fxed-wing Search and-rescue aircraft interim searchrand-escue cover forthe Search and Rescue Region Vitoria willbe provided by the CC-130H Hercules let. lrraftfrom 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron willaugment 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron, to ensure ‘consistent fixed-wing earch-and- rescue coverage. Procured between June 1967 ‘and December 1968, the 15 RCAF CC-115 Buffalo aircraft provided ‘medium tactical transportation and searctvandescue services. ‘The CC-115 entered service in 1967 _and ntl servedin the RCAF asa ‘muit-purpose transport including ‘lights on multiple United Nations missions overseas Inthe 19705, itwas converted toa duslole ‘rca, before being exclusively ownin Canade asa fixed-wing search and wesc aircraft. thas ‘been own by 429,413,424, 440, ‘and 442 Squadrons ofthe Royal ‘Canad At Force ‘The Department of National Defense will retain three CC-1155 ashistrial arfacts,to fulfill the departmental obligations towards historyandhertage The remaining aircrafthave been, or willbe, ‘wansfered to museums or used as training aids ‘The government of Canadas _aquiing 16 C295 Kingfishers tw replace the C115 Bufo and (€C-130H Hercules the fixed-wing search-and-escve role. toe: oa Candin hi Fr 5 Buta 15457, wich is ow penn the Crm A Fae Museu ROAF NORWEGIAN F-16 PURCHASE APPROVED BY ROMANIA ROMANIA HAS given the green light for plans to purchase 32 exRoyal Norwegian AirForce (PNoAF) F16AM/EM MLUs. The deal wes approved ina letter signed by the Romanian Parliament con December 20,2021. n estimated budget of €454m has been allocated ~the Norwegian share isto be determined during further negotiations. Now that the dealhas been approved the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency will begin detaling and finalizing the contract between the twonations Deliveries ofthe aircraft are ue to begin in 2023 and tobe completed in 2024 TheF-16s willundergo ‘maintenance before they are handed over to Romania. However, before a contract can be signed the resale ofthe F-16s stil requires ‘approval from the US and from the Ministry of Foreign Afar In 2019, the Norwegian Ministry ‘of Defense commissioned the Norwegian Defense Materiel ‘Agency to dispose of theF-16 leet Inthe most favorable way (within current regulations) forthe county, The F-35A Lightning ls taking over NAF front-line operations. Sere 29HUNGARIAN GRIPEN UPGRADE CONTRACT AWARDED TO SAAB SRABHAS received a contract tocanty out an MS20 Block 2capabily upgrade tothe Hungarian Ai Force's (HuAF) fleet of14JAS39C/D Gripens. The Contract, announced on January 12, followed successful completion of negotiations between the Swedish Fersvarets Materebverk (FMV Defence Materiel Adminstration) land the Hungarian Government Commissioner Office responsible for defense development. ‘The MS20 Biock2 upgrade brings ‘anumber ofimpeoverents it ‘greatly increases Gigen’s combat and communication capabilities, aswellasgving access toa wider range of weapons that can be integrated on HuAF Gripens Sensor «capability is being enhanced by radar upgrade to the PS-O5/A Mk, which means the air-to-air target tacking range, aswell asthe performance, increases significantly ‘Thisenables better detection ‘capability of smallai-to-at targets and improved clutter suppression, ‘while bringing growth potential for developments the airtoairand airto-ground modes. The MS20 Block 2 upgrade forthe HuAF Gripen let aso improves ‘communication capabilities by ‘enhancing Link'6 (NATO data ok) functionality and updating voice ‘communication tothe latest NATO secure communication standard. The capability to kdenty coalition aircraft will azo be improved via ‘the latest Kentication Friend ‘orFoe NATO Mode 5. Additional weapons capability willinclude the NINTH USMC UC-12W (ON JANUARY 11, Textron Aviation announced ithad delivered another BeechetaftUC-12W tothe US Marine Corps USMC). Theaitcraf, handed over on December 13,2021, istheninth of an expected 11 ofthe typefor the USMC. The UC-12Wsarereplacing the USMCSUC-12F/Ms on a one-for- ‘one basis - theater vatlant having fist entered USMC/US Navy service in 1994.The initial UC-12W vas placed on contract in 2008 and UNIT DEPLOYMENT // BLACK KNIGHTS ae aircraft March 2020 to essentially being fullyon staff and getting out to workouts. | saw some ofthe highest fll mision- capable rates Ive ever seen in my career civen the smart maintenance planning we've done and peaking at the right time.” Before traveling to NAS Fallon, the squadron flew to Tyndall AFB in Florida here they dda mise shoot wit the ar Wing. Walsh sai "That was technically our fistntegration period We did some good Unit level training and some intro training on some mission sets where everybody kind of got to know each other” About a ‘month tern March, the Knights went upto Fallon forabout a month doing the BE) 22 veers moa i350 tae ou othe uray t CAS Mama Nett fn pte Under the catrine atteaiaat Bulow: Black aight it sons oft 55 unguetoinet belo the stato alain missin aisto-surface et advanced readiness ‘program period, There the squadron relly focused on unit evel basic execution of individual ait-to surface tactics forthe individual squadrons. Towards the end (ofthat period Walsh sid:"We did start Integrating, particularly withthe E/A-18G Growler and began locking at sorne strike mission sets and how we can best share the information we have, the situational awareness, the F-35 has, with the rest of the airing. "We then came backto Miramar for about three weeks before we were back Lupin Fallon again forabout three and 2 half waeks forthe arto-ar fleet Advanced Readiness Program. And thisis where we really focused onthe individual type ‘mode! series execution and thealr-to-ait ‘phase mission st. But then azo, gain, how can we enable the rest ofthe airwing bbydoing fighter integration? And how dowe integrate with the SuperHomet to make them more lethal as wellas agaln exploring how the F35 can information share, and then aso leverage stealth, when needed to defeat the adversary Out to the carrier Inthe summer of 2021 the squadron headed out the aircraft cart for the Talored Ship's Training Avalabiity (ITA) period in July and August. The training consisted of fight operations communication rehearsals, medical and \atous other dis conducted underway. Wild old CAL"We started ou just doing basic operations around the ship We aso went outfor wo weeks in August forwhatthey call Geoup Sal which is taditionally just the ships workingOe ered En mee Ree er ara) Oe ed ee tees Seer mace ca Cee es eo ee Sea eens Pee ae een Eeate} Cae eee red Se eee pe ene td Ree nen) eee eared Senate or) Cece ee Reenter Pete eee es Cee eed een Dee er Beceem Cre ed ees Atay Peed ea cess eae earn eee raec) wilbeimpatantia eTeausuny od 4 Ah " - A a eee Ue Ree ee ce One ofthe last big training events for Deer eee Cure alee cers ries ry ere week period, right before a scheduled Cea ene Reet Mee eee air wing as qualified for openocean Cee eee ‘went out tothe ship for this important Cos eee eee Denes cae Ce eae Peeo ae) cer eee ‘that We then worked air-to-air with just ee ee On eae cd ener es Dr ola teas Cee ees pee eee) Pee ce ee ene (Cot eee reas ofthe destroyers and cruisers looking to eens Se ne arts eee enero eee rnd eee ey add the ships into that mix and see how Pe nt ere eee eee Ce ete td ete PET eae ny eee ed eee eee ea eter Se eens Ss cee eee esd Sod meee ne cata ee ated De eae! SSEDut this crafts very stable and i's nota stressful jet toland onthe boat, Whereas the FA-18C could be, "We have Dela fight path and that ‘basically couples the fight controls and the motor to the same contrl logic here you get instantaneous glide- slope response Even f the et motor has to school's very, very sable. And when youland atthe ship, the rate of descent Isbased ona glide lope ofthree anda half degrees So usta bit steeper than lke your normal altiner thats {going to land atan international port. Sothat'show the lide slope’ setup. So Just way lower stress and honestly a Jotsafer. The boarding rates have been really high. Its very rare that someone doesn'tcatcha wire, and the drama has kind of gone, which is nice” More lethality Like the CO, Major Ahern had previously flown the legacy Homet and was excited to bring anew fifth generation asset into the ght. Fr several years marine orto) squadrons were used to bringing some of the oldest jets onto aircraft carers since they skioped the buy of Super Homets to focus.on the purchase ofthe F-35, ‘Asked about integrating the F-3SC into the aie wing, Ahem said"The Marine Corps mindset you have the oldest tuff andjustkind of makeit happen, whereas now we have thenewest stuf And the expectation is we'e making it happen, but cally exceeding and doing eal Well which isa fun spot ta bein, “Thebiggest thing webring some ‘more situational avareness and survivability, and we enable more lethality ‘across the board fr the fourth-gen assetslke the Super Homet and Growier, because wehavea more cohesive way of combining what goes on nthe batt. The standard analogy Is the quarterback (inthis case the F35) versus all the skilful players which are the fourth-gen guys. The Jetisjust orchestrating the ofense, and ‘making the rest ofthe guys more effective, \wearein the fight. One ofthe coo! things Below: Ala Heights F350 slengsides FL Super ot ding carer vers afte southern Cabin about the workup cycle with CAG-9 was to show how capable the F-35 is because ‘alot guys hadnt really been exposed tit. they were skeptical before, then ‘now they understand that what might bbea threat to maybe Super Hornet, for Instance, is nota treat tous. Nov we ‘can make them moreeffective, more survivable, and way more thal simply bby ur presence ona fight. We can now tachleproblems alot more effectively, ‘because we've integrated bath the fourth and fith-gen assets" Bringing capabilities together ‘Ane add" prety ncedble how ‘much capably we havein CAG. We have some ofthe newest Super Homets with allthe best capabitis, wehave Some ofthe newest Gowers and then we havethe new E20 Advanced Hawkeye We have some high-end capabilties. One ofthe cool things about the work upis bit, and we havesome