Airforces Monthly - February 2017

ARTICLE SUMMARY
NEWS
CONTINENTAL EUROPE
First two F-35A deliveries arrive in Italy
THE ITALIAN Air Force
(Aeronautica Militare – AM) has
taken delivery of two F-35As.
Although three Lightning IIs
had already been delivered
to the AM,
those aircraft went to Luke
Air Force Base, Arizona,
for training, whereas the
additional pair marked the
first deliveries to Europe.
The two F-35As,
MM7336
‘32‐05’ (AL-5) and MM7337
‘32-13’ (AL‐6), were flown
from the final assembly and
checkout facility at Cameri in
northern Italy to Amendola,
in the southeast of the
country, where they will join
32° Stormo’s 13° Gruppo.
Italian pilots flew the aircraft
to the base where work
towards their initial operational
capability will begin. They
arrived during the afternoon
of December 12 to become
the first F-35s to be delivered
anywhere outside the US.
Below: Italian Air Force F-35A Lightning II MM7337 ‘32-13’ touching down at
Amendola following its delivery flight from Cameri. AM
Benelux
begins QRA
sharing
BELGIUM, LUXEMBOURG and
the Netherlands started sharing
their Quick Reaction Alert
(QRA) task on January 1. On
December 21, the three nations
signed a technical arrangement
covering details of the initial
agreement to maintain a single
QRA for the entire Benelux
airspace. The signing ceremony
at Rotterdam Airport included
a training intercept of Belgian
Air Component ERJ-145LR CE-03
by two Belgian F-16AMs (FA‐124
and FA-134) and two Dutch
examples (J-011 and J-635).
Until the end of last year, the
Royal Netherlands Air Force
(RNLAF) and the Belgian Air
Component (BAC) each had
two F-16s on standby for QRA.
Belgian jets already covered
Luxembourg’s airspace. The
BAC and RNLAF will now
take turns to provide two
F-16s for the QRA task.
Until late April, the BAC will
contribute the two jets. The
RNLAF will take over for the
next four months, and the two
air forces will alternate every
quarter of the year onwards.
Belgian QRA aircraft fly from
Kleine Brogel or Florennes,
while the RNLAF operates
from Leeuwarden or Volkel.
Kees van der Mark
Serbia acquiring six additional MiG-29s
SERBIA’S DEPLETED air force is to
be boosted with the acquisition
of six MiG-29s donated by
Russia. Serbian Prime Minister
Aleksandar Vučić confirmed
plans to acquire the aircraft
on December 15. Russia will
donate the aircraft free of
charge, with Serbia only paying
for overhaul and refurbishment.
They will also undergo a
service life extension so that
they can continue in operation
for another 14 years. Vučić
said they could be delivered
First Luftwaffe ‘tactical’ A400M delivered
AIRBUS DEFENCE and Space
has delivered the German
Air Force (Luftwaffe)’s first
A400M transport qualified for
tactical operations and able to
fly in areas subject to military
threats. The delivery, which
was announced
as early as March this year.
The Serbian Air Force and Air
Defence (Vazduhoplovstvo i
Protiv Vazduhoplovna Odbrana
– V i PVO) currently has just four
operational MiG-29s and three
MiG-21UMs. These are flown
by the 101 Lovačka Avijacijska
Eskadrila (101st Fighter Aviation
Squadron) at Batajnica.
The ‘new’ MiG-29s for the V i
PVO were previously operated
by the Russian Air Force’s 31st
Fighter Aviation Regiment at
Millerovo air base, where the
on December 12, involved
A400M 54+07 (c/n 0043),
the seventh production
aircraft for Germany, but
the sixth to be delivered.
Previously delivered aircraft
will be retrofitted to the
new standard and receive
subsequent enhancements
as they are certified.
type has now been fully replaced
by the Su-30SM. The aircraft,
comprising one single-seat 9.12
(RF-92185 ‘14’), three single-seat
9.13s (RF-93709 ‘04’, RF-93713
‘31’ and RF-93717 ‘10’), plus
a pair of MiG-29UB trainers
(RF‐92196 ‘75’ and RF-29166
‘101’), will be refurbished by
the AST company in Kubinka.
This work will include removing
some sensitive equipment
and modifying the avionics to
a standard similar to Serbia’s
MiG-29s. Aleksandar Radic
Key aspects of the aircraft’s latest
capabilities are improvements in
its self-defence systems, ability
to airdrop cargo loads, and
paratrooping. Additionally, it can
operate on unprepared runways,
fly as low as 150ft (45m), refuel
other aircraft as a tanker, and
take off and land safely in
extremely high temperatures.
Luftwaffe A400M 54+07 outside the final assembly line at Seville-San Pablo Airport, Spain. Airbus Defence and Space
10 FEBRUARY 2017 #347 www.airforcesmonthly.com