AirForces Monthly Magazine October 2017 Edizione posteriore

Fighter acquisitions feature prominently in the October issue of AFM. We begin a study of the air forces of the Gulf Cooperation Council, beginning with Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. All three are awaiting new fighter equipment in the form of advanced F-16s, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and Typhoons. In Europe, meanwhile, two air arms are preparing to choose their future fighters. We assess the different approaches taken by Alpine neighbours, Austria and Switzerland.

At the heavier end of the warplane scale, we visited the 307th Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base to fly with the mighty B-52H ‘BUFF’.

AFM also recently spent time on the range, exploring how the Suippes facility provides live-fire training for the French Air Force and French Army, as well as customers from further afield.

This month’s Exercise Reports bring the latest news from the US Air National Guard’s largest exercise of the year, at Kingsley Field in Oregon, and from the 17th edition of Sea Breeze in the Black Sea – the most important exercise in this series to date.

Our regular Intel Report assesses Europe’s ability to cope with wildfires using fleets of water bombers, while Flashpoint charts the recent development and operations of the Chadian Air Force, which was decimated by a storm earlier this year.

The latest Force Report kicks off with an examination of the origins and history of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, and additional features look at the work of the Royal Air Force’s Reaper crews, and Poland’s ageing Mi-14 maritime helicopter force.

In the first of his regular columns, Air Power Association President, Air Marshal (Ret’d) Greg Bagwell CB, CBE provides his take on the F-35, to which the UK armed forces have pinned many of their air power hopes.