‘WAR EAGLES’ MAKE HISTORY
With
the career of the US Navy’s aging Lockheed P-3C Orion approaching its
end, the US Navy selected the Boeing P-8A Poseidon as its replacement
aircraft. Brad Elward and Ted Carlson/ Fotodynamics talk with the first
P-8A operational squadron, VP-16 ‘War Eagles’, as it prepared for the
Poseidon’s debut fleet deployment
FACT FILE: THE VERSATILE ORION
Lockheed’s
P-3 Orion is one of a handful of aircraft to have provided over 50
years of service to the US military. Ken Neubeck describes US variants
with primary missions of maritime patrol, reconnaissance, anti-submarine
warfare, and anti-surface warfare, as well as those adapted to meet the
needs of other governmental and civilian organizations
FEATURES
A ‘FIRST DAY OF THE WAR’ HORNET
As
Boeing unveils findings from its Advanced Super Hornet test flights at
the company’s St Louis, Missouri, facility, Brad Elward profiles the
latest advances made to the ‘Super Bug’
TAIWANESE AIR POWER
Mark Rourke reports from Taiwan, with a rare photo feature on some of its most important air bases
LONG-RANGE STRIKE BOMBER
Lockheed
Martin and Boeing have forged a partnership to compete for the Long-
Range Strike — Bomber (LRS-B), the new heavy bomber the US Air Force
regards as among its top priorities. Robert F. Dorr reports
BACK FROMTHE BRINK: IRANIAN ‘FITTERS’
More
than 20 years after the arrival of 40 Iraqi Air Force Su-22 ‘Fitters’
in Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force now plans to bring at
least two squadrons of the swing-wing fighter-bombers into service, as
Babak Taghvaee reveals
EXERCISE REPORT: CRIMEAN WAR GAMES
Alexander
Golz covers the Ukrainian Air Force’s large-scale exercise this year,
an event that once again drew front-line units to the Black Sea
peninsula of Crimea
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: THE F-22 AND THE IRANIANS
It
was the first encounter between an F-22 Raptor and a potential
adversary. It happened in a tense, high-stakes situation where a
confrontation easily could have escalated into conflict. Robert F. Dorr
investigates the much-hyped incident
ITALIAN TORNADOS FACE THE FUTURE
Mathias
Grägel visits the two remaining Italian Tornado wings, 6° Stormo at
Ghedi and 50° Stormo at Piacenza, to examine the current state of the
fleet
‘VIS ET UNGULA’ — POWER AND CLAWS
Just south of Seville
in southern Spain lies the El Copero Army Aviation Base. Cristian Schrik
visits Batallón de Helicópteros de Maniobra IV (BHELMA IV) — Maneuver
Helicopter Battalion IV
GLORY DAYS: ZERO-VISIBILITY INTERCEPTS
The
radar-equipped, rocket-armed F-86D held the line during some of the
tensest years of Cold War stand-off. Warren E. Thompson spoke to the men
who unleashed the ‘Sabre Dog’
CUTTING EDGE
Combat Aircraft’s monthly column reporting from the front line of aerospace technology, by David Axe
NEWS
HEADLINE NEWS
Typhoon
tests Storm Shadow, Israel becomes first international V-22 Osprey
customer and Dubai Air Show sees debut of UAE Air Tractor
US NEWS
F-35 launches AMRAAM, Lockheed Martin reveals SR-72 hypersonic striker and Prowler ‘sundown’ continues
UK NEWS
RAF receives first Rivet Joint, Cyprus defense mission stands down
WORLD NEWS
Saudi F-15SA on test, new Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle revealed and rare view of Mozambican MiG-21s undergoing upgrade
EUROPE NEWS
Italy signs up for MC-27J gunship, Netherlands and Belgium discuss joint operations and Typhoons head for Bulgaria
