Airforces Monthly - February 2017

THE WARNES REPORT
Above: Qatar looks set to add F-15QAs
and Eurofighters to its Rafale order.
Dassault Aviation
‘After many years of championing the
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to Kuwait as an
F/A-18C replacement, Boeing looks to
have finally broken through’
The Advanced Super Hornet looks
set to be part of a joint solution
for Kuwait. Boeing
The original Defense
Security Co-operation Agency
notification made in July
2012 included 576 AGM-114R
Hellfire II and 295 FIM-92H
Stinger Block I missiles.
So, who does the government
in Doha suddenly see as a
threat? Apart from Islamist
militants, Qatar has often
fallen out with the Saudis, most
recently because it takes an
independent view on Tehran
rather than siding with the
government in Riyadh.
In the Persian Gulf, Qatar
shares with Iran the world’s
largest natural gas field, known
as the North Dome/South Pars,
so it’s keen to strike a neutral
balance with both Tehran and
the rest of the Gulf Co-operation
Council. However, in case
this policy fails and it comes
under attack, it could defend
itself independently of the
rest of the GCC if needed.
With aspirations to build
up its military strength, the
QEAF must bolster its training
capabilities, and ordered 24
Pilatus PC-21s under a contract
signed on July 30, 2012. The
first two left the Stans-Buochs
factory on September 29 the
same year, with the final three
arriving at the new Al Zaeem
Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al
Attiyah Air Academy last April.
Lockheed Martin has
meanwhile built a new $410m
air force training academy
at Al Udeid to house the
student pilots and groundbased
training aids needed to
ensure they make the grade.
Within ten years, the QEAF
will have completely revamped
its ranks. It will become the
smallest air force to operate
an airborne early warning and
control (AEW&C) system in
the world, having announced
orders in 2014 for three Boeing
737 surveillance aircraft as
well as two Airbus Defence
and Space A330 Multi-Role
Tanker Transports (MRTTs), 22
NHIndustries NH90 helicopters
and Lockheed Martin PAC-3
air defence systems.
The QEAF will move from
being one of the least capable
air forces in the region to one
of the most formidable. It will
be ready for anything – not just
football supporters coming to
watch the World Cup in 2022!
Kuwait — Super Hornets and Typhoons
THE KUWAIT Air Force (KAF)’s
F/A-18C Hornets have been
in service since 1992. While
modernised, they fall well
short of the latest generation
of fighters and lack the
sophisticated computerised
systems, avionics and
cutting-edge weapons to
fight today’s digital wars.
Now, after many years of
championing the F/A-18E/F
Super Hornet to the KAF
as an F/A-18C replacement,
Boeing looks to have
finally broken through.
On November 17, the US
State Department revealed it
had approved the sale of 40
F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to
the KAF. If it goes through,
the deal will be worth around
$10bn and cover 32 singleseat
F/A-18Es and eight twinseat
F/A-18Fs, along with
other equipment including
12 Sniper advanced targeting
pods (ATPs). The order
will see Boeing extend the
Super Hornet production
line into the 2020s.
In September 2015, after
a relatively short marketing
campaign begun in 2012, the
KAF selected the Typhoon
to augment the F/A-18s.
Italy’s Finmeccanica (now
Leonardo), which enjoys
a good relationship with
Kuwait, signed off the
contract on April 5, 2015.
The order, for 22 singleseaters
and six twin-seat
Tranche 3E(B)s, includes
the new Leonardo Captor-E
radar. When deliveries start
in 2019, Kuwait’s will be the
first Typhoons to operate
with the active electronically
scanned array (AESA) system.
It’s a tight timescale given
that the Typhoon had not
flown with the new radar until
last July — and even then the
Captor-E was not switched
on. Whether Eurofighter
GmbH will meet the 2019
deadline remains to be seen.
The KAF’s Typhoons will
also operate with a Sniper
ATP and fully integrated
Multi-functional Information
Distribution System (MIDS)
advanced data link system.
34 FEBRUARY 2017 #347
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