Newsdesk – Military Aviation

The RAAF Hornets will be able to exercise with Indonesian Air Force F-16s, F-58 and A-4s and the exercises may ultimately lead to visits to Tindal and Williamtown of Indonesian aircraft for more in-depth operations on our large air combat training ranges.

Indonesia has also been invited to participate in the Kangaroo 95 exercise due to be held in mid 1995.

Flying High:

The flight of a lifetime, joyrides in fully operational Russian fighter Jets is being offered by Sydney based Harrington Green Travel Services.

Flying appropriate and realistic mission profiles, flights are available in a wide range of frontline Russian fighters, from the tank busting Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot through to the Su-27 Flanker and MiG-29 Fulcrum. Other aircraft include the MiG-23, MIG-25, Su-17, Su-24 and the Su-29 aerobatic aircraft.

Packages, including return airfares from Sydney to Moscow and four nights twin share accommodation start from $A8495, a deal which includes one hour flight time in the MiG-21, plus an hour in the simulator. Perhaps the ultimate flight though is that in the MiG-31 Foxhound, in which you can fly to an altitude of 82,000ft (25,000m) at the outer edges ofthe atmosphere at threetimes the speed of sound.

Further details are available from HG on (02) 233 2511 or fax (02) 221 6362.

‘Atfski’ Axed?:

Russia’s next-generation fighter – dubbed ‘ATFski’ by the West-has an uncertain future following the comment by Mikoyan’s chief designer that work on a new MIG combat aircraft has been terminated.

Rostislav Belyakov’s comments pertaining to the “world’s best fighter” came on the eve of the Moscow Aerospace ’93 show and are thought by some observers to apply to Mikoyan project number 1-42, a fighter comparable to the USAF’s Lockheed F-22 advanced tactical fighter (ATF). The programme has always struggled for funding, although the prototype is believed to have been completed except for the installation of its engines.

Other observers believe Belyakov’s comments actually referred to the MiG-29M Fulcrum, a new fly-by-wire variant of the existing Russian fighter.

 Russia Consolidates Defence Planning:

The disintegration of the former Soviet Union has caused chaos with Russia’s defence planning and procurement systems, and to help control those prob- lems, a draft military plan to establish key Russian Air Force programmes into the 21st century has been drawn up.

If adopted, the plan will introduce some stability into the aerospace industry and allow design bureaux and their associated production plants to at least plan ahead, subject to the availability of funds. Inrecent times, various projects have been stopped, restarted and stopped again on a regular basis, allowing no continuity and proper planning with an accompanying drop in morale. A similar plan for the civil side of the Russian aerospace industry was approved last August.

Key elements of the military plan are the Su-35 development of the Su-27 Flanker, a new MiG long range interceptor to replace the MiG-31Foxhound, and the Mikoyan I-42 advanced fighter, although some doubt has been shed on the continuation of this programme recently. (refer elsewhere this Newsdesk).

Centrespread

Despite being made obsolete by a new generation of strike and attack aircraft, the GAF Canberra was one the premier precision strike aircraft in operation in the skies of Vietnam.

The RAAF’s No 2 Squadron was deployed to South Vietnam in 1967, being integrated into the USAF’s 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phan Rang Air Base north east of Saigon. The deployment provided valuable, although hard fought combat experience prior to the delivery of the then revolutionary F-111. So successful were the Canberras, that while only accounting for 5% of the 35th TFW’s missions, they accounted for 16% of the wing’s assessed bomb damage in 1969.

The full story of the RAAF’s Canberra combat operations is little known, but Australian Aviation’s latest book, Target Charlie fully explores 2 Squadron’s superb combat performance. Full details can be found on page 69 of this issue.

Sukhoi has won a new intermediate-range bomber competition with the T-60. This is intended to replace the Su-24 Fencer, Tu-16 Badger and Tu-22 Backfire and if it goes a head it will enter service by the turn of the century.

Raaf Tanker Suffers Plumbing Failure:

An RAAF 707 tanker/trans- port experienced a major internal fuel loss shortly after departing Richmond air base on September 21.

The aircraft suffered a failure in a T joint within the modified aircraft’s fuel delivery plumbing, resulting in considerable amount of fuel entering the underfloor cargo hold and main cabin area of the jet. The aircraft dumped fuel and safely recovered to Richmond where further investigation of this and its three sisterships took place before the aircraft returned to operation in early October.

Richmond based 33 Squadron operates five 7078, four of which are converted as probe and drogue tankers for the F/A-18 Hornet and visiting RNZAF A-4K units.

Raaf Orion Crew Snares Fincastle Trophy:

An RAAF team from Noll Squadron has won the coveted Fincastle Trophy in antisubmarine warfare exercises off Canada.

The annual Fincastle Trophy competition was first held in 1961 and involves aircraft and crew from the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Participants were required to locate and track a target submarine and, using all the aircraft’s sensors, launch a simulated torpedo attack.

Having won or shared the trophy on 10 previous occasions, an RAAF crew last claimed the Trophy in 1979 (also a crew from 11 Sqn, in competition off Canada). Since then the RAAF has been runner up almost every year.

The 11 Squadron crew was selected to participate in this years competition after winning the Marconi Trophy in a selection competition involving the crews and P-3C Orions of 10 and 11 Squadrons. The RAAF has formally accepted the first two of 15 ex USAFF-111Gs, following their long delivery from Cannon AFB in New Mexico (which as the new home of the entire USAF F-111 force is now popularly known as ‘Pig City’!) in late September. The first two G models arrived in Australia on September 28, while the remaining aircraft will be ferried across through till April. (Prior to the delivery RAAF ground and aircrews participated in the last F-111G training courses earlier in the year. ) At this stage the RAAF has no plans to form a new squadron to operate the aircraft, instead the additional F-111Gs will allow the RAAF to extend the service life of the fleet to 2020 through rotational storage of aircraft to reduce their flying hours. An operational capability of 24 F-111s will be maintained, the Gs also making up for attrition losses, and in addition providing on line replacements when the C models cycle through the Avionics Update Program in the next few years. Pictured at the acceptance ceremony is A8-270 which is painted in a dark grey scheme featuring low-visibility RAAF markings and a No 6 Squadron fin flash. (Jim Thom) At the time of writing the RAAF was also involved in a number of other international exercises. The largest of these are the Five Power Defence Arrangement exercises based from Singapore and Malaysia,involving forces from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK. Australian involvement includes six F/A-18s of No 3 Sqn, on a regular deployment to Butterworth in Malaysia, as well as HMA Ships Perth and Canberra with two Seahawk helos and a RAN HS748 EW training aircraft.

Meanwhile, in the USA an Australian 10 man contingent from No 2 Airfield Defence Squadron based at Amberley was competing in a ground defence exercise involving teams from the US, UK and Canada while closer to home, a C-130 was participating in a tactical air transport exercise based from Richmond involving an Indonesian C-130.

Raaf Extends Melbourne Ground Handling Contract:

The RAAF has extended a contract previously placed with the Melbourne Jet Base for air terminal services at Tullamarine.

Since January all regular C-130 transport flights to Melbourne have operated into Tullamarine with ground handling undertaken by the Jet Base, after previously having operated into RAAF William’s Laverton. VIP Falcon 900 and 707 flights have also been using Melbourne Jet Base since November 1990.

At the contract signing ceremony Group Captain Monty Smith noted that Melbourne Jet Base’s facilities and services met or exceeded the RAAF’s requirements and that freight handling of the Hercules has all been completed within the RAAF’s specified turnaround times.

Awarded as part of the Commercial Support Programme, the renewed contract is valid until mid 1995. Interestingly, Melbourne Jet Base now handles 60 ADF aircraft movements a month, accounting for half of all movements handled by the company.

 Iraq Air Power Double Estimates:

Jane’s Sentinel’s regional security assessment of the Gulf States has credited Iraq with 300 combat aircraft, double that of some US estimates.

A US estimate of late last year reported that only 165 combat aircraft were operationally ready, while Jane’s believes that this figure is 297, plus 80 operational helicopters. This high figure raises doubts about the effectiveness of the arms embargo placed on Iraq given that the numbers are higher than could be expected to be in service supported only by local resources.

Iraq however is suffering from an acute shortage of trained pilots, while it’s command and control capabilities are ineffective following the massive battering they took during the Gulf War.