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RAF C-17: PROVIDING A GLOBAL AIR AMBULANCE
July 2012
ISSUE 292
UK AIR
POWER
UPDATE
Force
report
O cially the World's Number One Military Aviation Magazine | www.airforcesmonthly.com
Squadron
and Unit
Changes
in Detail
'Not the sleekest
Greyhound'
US Navy C-2
JAPAN
NAVY
Chiefs over
Afghanistan
AFM flies with the 335th FS
JULY 2012 £4.40
CANADA $13.25
AIRSHOW TIME!
RAF ROLE DEMO
RIAT PREVIEW
Exercise reports
Frisian Flag
Joint Warrior
Cold Response
CONTENTS
JULY
CONTENTS
For daily news stories visit
www.airforcesdaily.com
e-mail the news team
at: milnews@keypublishing.com
72
NEWS
4
5
6-9
12 - 15
16 - 19
22 - 24
25
26 - 27
30
31 - 32
33
34 - 35
Editorial
Headlines
United Kingdom
Europe
North America
Latin America
Africa
Russia
Middle East
Asia Pacific
Australasia & Contracts
Attrition
36
Iran Shows o its
Airpower
Tomcats, Fulcrums and Phantoms
– it can only be Iran.
Babak
Taghvaee
reports for
AFM
from
downtown Tehran.
Cover Feature uk
44
UK Air Power 2012
It’s been a year since we published UK
Air Power 2011, our comprehensive
look at the post Strategic Defence and
Security Review military air forces of
Great Britain. Since then there have
been a number of signi cant changes
– some of our predictions have been
correct, and some haven’t! All the
updates are here in our eight-page
special.
62
Force Multiplier
With the delivery of its fourth
Boeing KC-767A, the Italian Air
Force nally has an aircraft ready
to support the mobility needs of
the nation.
Francesco Militello
Mirto
and
Luca La Cavera
ew on
the new multi-role tanker.
38
Argentina's Air Force
remembers its Baptism
of Fire
On May 1 the Argentine Air
Force commemorated the 30th
anniversary of the rst time it
went into battle against a foreign
power when it attacked British
forces advancing on the Falkland
islands.
Esteban Brea
reports.
Cover Feature uSA
72
Chiefs over
Afghanistan
Martin Scharenborg & Ramon
Wenink/Global Aviation Review
Press
y with the F-15E Strike
Eagles from the 335th Fighter
Squadron, deployed to Bagram Air
Base in Afghanistan.
FREE DVD!
Subscribe
to AirForces
Monthly and
claim your
FREE Hellenic
F-16 Cockpit
DVD worth
£12.49. See
pages 20 and
21 for details.
52
The Hollywood Guard
Scott Dworkin
ies with the
146th Airlift Wing, California Air
National Guard.
40
RAF C-17 - A Global Air
Ambulance
Dr Dave Sloggett
looks at the role
played by the Royal Air Force’s
C-17 and its medical teams
in stabilising and evacuating
casualties of war.
56
Not the Sleekest
Greyhound
Ted Carlson/Fotodynamics.net
learns to appreciate the US Navy’s
Grumman C-2A Greyhound,
despite its dumpy looks.
76
Hips over Kosovo
Antonio Prlenda
reports on the
Croatian Air Force’s deployment
to Kosovo in support of NATO
operations.
Regulars
61
Feedback
More correspondence from the Editor’s
postbag.
80
Exercise Report:
Joint Warrior 2012
91
Airshow:
Behind RIAT
66
Force Report:
Japan
Maritime Self-Defence
Force
AFM’s Jerry Gunner
describes the avia-
tion branch of Japan’s Navy.
RAF Lossiemouth was home to the sub-
hunters for the rst Exercise Joint Warrior
of 2012.
AFM’s Jerry Gunner
was a
guest of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s
detachment with its two CP-140 Auroras
and ew with them on a mission hunting
the 'enemy'.
Bob Archer
talks to the organisers of
the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF
Fairford in Glocestershire, which will
be held this year over the weekend of
July 7/8.
level photography locations in the UK
reaches number 2 in the top ten.
96
Postcard from...
South Africa
92
Airshow:
Role-ing
Thunder!
78
Exercise Report:
Cold Response
86
Exercise Report:
Frisian Flag 2012
Lt Roderick Royce
of 847 Naval Air
Squadron, Royal Navy, describes its
recent deployment to Norway.
AFM’s Editor
reports from Leeuwarden
air base in Friesland, Netherlands where
the biggest European exercise of 2012
was held.
AFM’s Jerry Gunner
visited RAF Loss-
iemouth in Moray, Scotland to meet the
2012 Tornado GR4 Role Demo team.
The South African Air Force Test Flight
and Development Centre airshow
was held on April 21 at Air Force Base
Overberg near Bredasdorp.
Malcom
Reid
reports.
94
Low-fly UK!
98
And Finally…
C-17’s
Full Circle
AFM’s essential guide to military low-
Greg Spahr
remembers the rst and last
ights of the rst C-17 Globemaster III.
www.airforcesdaily.com
#292 JULY 2012
3
The Cost of SDSR
LET'S BE clear about one thing –
there's no right or wrong decision
in terms of whether the UK gets
the F-35B or F-35C. It comes down
to, does the UK want to be a world
player, or simply a support act to
the USA? As we said in our May
article
March Madness at the MoD,
F-35C would have allowed the UK
to play a key role in 'Day 1' strikes
in any future con ict. Going for
F-35B is an admission that the UK
can't afford to play with the rich
kids any more.
When I attended the May 10
Ministry of Defence background
brie ng on carrier strike, it
was fairly obvious that short-
term affordability has taken
precedence over long-term
capability. But the most galling
Editor:
Gary Parsons
Assistant Editor:
Jerry Gunner
MILITARY NEWS TEAM:
Chief Military Correspondent:
Alan Warnes
Military News Editor:
Dave Allport
Military News Analyst:
Steve Rush
Editor’s Secretary:
Julie Lawson
Group Art Editor:
Steve Donovan
Assistant Group Art Editor:
Lee Howson
Production Editor:
Sue Blunt
Sub editor:
James Forsyth
Advertising Manager:
Ian Maxwell
Production Manager:
Janet Watkins
Marketing Manager:
Martin Steele
Mail Order Subscription Manager:
Roz Condé
Group Editor-in-Chief:
Paul Hamblin
Commercial Director:
Ann Saundry
Executive Chairman:
Richard Cox
Managing Director & Publisher:
Adrian Cox
As HMS
Queen Elizabeth
sets sail on her maiden voyage, a deck
handler is less than impressed with the fuel-saving measures im-
plemented by the MoD to give the F-35B extra range.
Tim O'Brien
Left: UK Cover
- Geoff Lee/
Eurofighter
Below:
US Cover -
Global Aviation
Review Press
revelation was still to come,
when Defence Secretary Philip
Hammond's admitted on TV
that the October 2010 Strategic
Defence and Security Review's
(SDSR) pronouncement in favour
of the F-35C has cost around
£100 million in aborted study
and design change costs – this is
almost as much as the UK got for
selling its Harrier eet.
Hammond's assertion that
reverting to the F-35B will
allow the second carrier to be
commissioned will, most likely,
also prove to be false. The support
costs for a second carrier go
much further than the boat itself
– protection vessels, helicopter
and personnel requirements will
effectively be doubled too.
Who would not bet
on SDSR 2015 axing the
second carrier and, quite
possibly, the principle
of UK naval air power
altogether?
AirForces
is increasing its
on-line presence! Our new
website,
AirForces Daily,
has of cially launched and
carries up-to-the-minute
news, features and an
attrition database from the
Military News Team. See
pages 10 and 11 for full details.
EDITOR
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AirForces Monthly
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recommended to take their own precautions
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item of value, including, but not limited
to, money, manuscripts, photographs or
personnel information in response to any
advertisements within this publication.
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AirForces Monthly
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4
#292 JULY 2012
www.airforcesmonthly.com
NEWS
HEADLINES
For daily news stories visit
www.airforcesmonthly.com
e-mail the news team
at: milnews@keypublishing.com
It’s Offi
to F-35B
cial
UK Swings Back
Above:
F-35B ZM135 BK-01 will not be the only one of its kind in UK service now that the government will be purchasing all STOVL ‘B variants following a u-turn on the SDSR
F-35C.
Lockheed Martin
JUST AS predicted in May’s
issue of
AirForces Monthly,
the
UK Government has made a
u-turn on which F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter (JSF) variant will equip
the Royal Navy’s future Queen
Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.
On May 10 the Secretary
of State for Defence, Philip
Hammond, told the House of
Commons that the previously
announced decision of
the October 2010 Strategic
Defence and Security Review
(SDSR) to switch to the F-35C
Carrier Variant (CV) was being
cancelled, and the previous
variant, the F-35B Short Take-Off
and Vertical Landing (STOVL)
reselected.
In the SDSR announcement,
Prime Minister David Cameron
said that the previous Labour
Government “had got it badly
wrong” in deciding to go for the
STOVL version. “There’s only
one thing worse then spending
money you don’t have,” he told
the House on October 19, 2010,
“that’s buying the wrong things
with it – and doing so in the
wrong way” (see
March Madness
at the MoD, AFM
May 2012).
Mr Cameron also said, “The
carriers ordered are unable
to work with our key defence
partners, the US and France.
They [Labour] ordered the more
expensive, less capable version
of the JSF to y off the carriers.”
Defence Secretary Hammond
told the House in his statement:
“Sticking with CV would delay
Carrier Strike by at least three
years to 2023 at the earliest.”
Adding: “The cost of tting
catapults and arrestor gear
(‘cats and traps’) to the Queen
Elizabeth Class carrier to operate
CV aircraft has doubled from
around £1 billion to £2 billion;
and the STOVL aircraft offers the
UK the ability to have an aircraft
carrier available continuously.
Although no decision on
budgeting for crew and support
costs will be taken until the
next SDSR in 2015, the second
carrier would be able to provide
capability while the rst vessel
is in maintenance.
“The 2010 SDSR decision on
carriers was right at the time,
but the facts have changed – this
Government will not blindly
pursue projects and ignore
cost growth and delays. This
announcement means we
remain on course to deliver
Carrier Strike in 2020 as a key
part of our Future Force 2020.”
At a background press brie ng
that
AFM
attended, defence
sources stated the decision was
“affordable”, which suggests that
the decision was nancially,
rather than capability based.
What price international
co-operation?
While the PM had derided the
STOVL decision for not being
interoperable with the US Navy
or French Navy, Mr Hammond
ignored this in his latest
speech, stating that the F-35B
would enable the UK to “bene t
from full interoperability with
the US Marine Corps and the
Italian Navy.” On May 11 the
French newspaper
Le Monde
reported that French Navy
of cials were disappointed
with the UK’s u-turn. Foreign
Ministry spokesman Bernard
Valero is reported as saying,
“We’ve taken note of the UK’s
decision to choose the F-35B
to the detriment of the F-35C.
This decision may limit our
co-operation in naval aviation,
which we regret.
We trust that this decision,
which the British government
says is based on budgetary
constraints, will not call our co-
operation in the naval aviation
sector into question.”
Mr Hammond stated that the
rst carrier, HMS
Queen Elizabeth,
is due to arrive for sea trials in
early 2017 and “we now plan to
start our STOVL ight trials off
the carrier from 2018.”
SAUDI HAWK AND PC-21 DEAL SIGNED
A £1.6 billion contract between the
Governments of Saudi Arabia and
the UK for 77 training aircraft was
announced on May 23. The deal
includes supply of 55 Pilatus PC-21s
and 22 BAE Systems Hawk Advanced
Jet Trainers for the Royal Saudi Air
Force. Also included are simulators,
training aids and a support package.
The PC-21s will ful l the basic
training role whilst the Hawks will
be used for the fast jet training
element of the Saudi syllabus.
Deliveries of the PC-21s will
commence in 2014, whilst the rst
Hawk aircraft will follow from 2016.
For more details and updates, see
www.airforcesdaily.com
www.airforcesdaily.com
#292 JULY 2012
5

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