Combat_Aircraft_2021-10.pdf

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LIZZIES’
HMS
QUEEN ELIZABETH
AVENGERS
USMC F-35Bs ON
ANNOYING MOSCOW
NATO & UKRAINE IN BLACK SEA WAR GAMES
RAZORBACK
COUNTRY
ARKANSAS STATE MILITARY
#04
STATE
REPORT
AVIATION REPORT
HUMMER
REVOLUTION
E-2C/D HAWKEYE
ON SHOW
RUSSIA’S SHORT-
LIVED SU-27
FLANKER
FEW UPGRADES & POOR STORAGE
“THE AFGHAN AIR FORCE HAD TO SUDDENLY
TRANSITION FROM BEING A JUNIOR PARTNER
IN A COALITION EFFORT...TO STANDING ALONE”
Volume 22 No 10 OCTOBER 2021
WHY IT ALL WENT WRONG
9 772041 748128
ECLIPSE OF AFGHAN
AIR POWER
UK £5.30
10
WHAT NOW FOR
AFGHANISTAN ?
Above:
Happier days
for Afghan helicopter
pilots. Where are they
now?
LOM Praha
I
F THE US and its allies learnt
nothing else from 20 years in
Afghanistan, surely they now
realise that spending billions of
dollars on the military is pointless if
there is no appetite to fight.
Arming the Afghan Air Force with A-29
Super Tucanos and MD 530F Cayuse
Warriors, with their cutting edge combat
systems and their eyes-in-the-sky Pilatus
PC-12s (U-28As), was pointless in the
end, because the bulk of the pilots and
personnel in their shiny new platforms just
fled to Uzbekistan. Without the logistical
might of coalition airpower, the Afghan
military proved impotent (see ’Flying Into
the Storm’, August, p74-79)
When the US and its allies started leaving
in the summer, taking all their knowledge
and tactical expertise, morale would have
taken a battering. Perhaps unsurprisingly,
the Afghan military’s resolve appeared to
disappear over the horizon along with the
departing coalition troops and the Afghan
government fleeing into exile.
As the Taliban swept through the
country in August, the military seemingly
legged it with all their vastly superior
fighting equipment and expertise. Of
course, we don’t know the full story of
how events unfolded, but I suspect there
may have been a number of Taliban
sympathisers among the troops.
In fact, everything about the 20 year war
appears to have been pointless in the end,
as thousands of families still grieving their
lost ones will vouch. Many of us knew the
Afghan military would likely melt away
once they were left to their own devices
because it’s a country where tribalism
rules over everything else.
Now you can add the US and its allies to
the list of countries that have been unable
to conquer or influence Afghanistan. The
British tried and failed in the 1839-42 war.
The Russians invaded in 1979, basing
hundreds of bombers and fighters in
country, but gave up ten years later.
Mujahideen freedom fighters, as the
various warlords and their armies were
known in those days, continued to repel
the Soviets with the help of the US.
Proxy wars are nothing new, of course,
and while the Taliban seeks to set up
a government could we yet see Russia
return to the scene of their biggest
military defeat? In recent years, Russia
has successfully backed Syria’s Bashar
al-Assad against western-backed troops
and militias, so it would surprise no one if
Vladimir Putin tried to seek influence in a
state from which his countrymen retreated
32 years ago. Meanwhile, Pakistan and
India will continue to polarize proceedings
in their close neighbour.
The troubles in Afghanistan look set to
soldier on for many more years and don’t
bet against anti-Taliban militias rising up,
raising the spectre of civil war.
Alan Warnes
Group Editor at Large Modern Military
Visit our website at
www.key.aero/combataircraftjournal
Contact the team at
editor@combataircraftjournal.com
www.Key.Aero
// October 2021
3
IN THE NEWS
Huge airlift gets under way as Kabul
Airport descends into chaos while Afghan and
foreign nationals try to escape the Taliban
After the dramatic and speedy Taliban
take-over of Afghanistan, its air force aircraft
and helicopters flee or are captured
The US Navy’s first TH-73A Thrasher
training helicopter is delivered to
Whiting Field
US Air Force retires its fleet of BACN-
configured Northrop Grumman EQ-4B
Global Hawks
20
TOP ACES ON THE RISE
Ludo Mennes and Frank Visser visited the
Canadian contractor at its base in Germany, to
find out what’s making it so successful
28
RUSSIAN SU-27 SURVIVORS
The Su-27/30 fleet in Russia is now declining in
numbers, even if it is set to continue more or less
unchanged in the foreseeable future, reports
Alexander Mladenov
36
IRAN’S LIVELY COBRAS
The Iranian Army Aviation Force’s small but
active fleet of Bell AH-1J helicopters has seen its
fair share of indigenous modernization over the
years, as Babak Taghvaee explains
October 2021 • Vol 22 • No 10
62
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
40
US Navy/MCS Kaylianna Genier
40
HUMMER REVOLUTION
The E-2 Hawkeye is not just the eyes and ears of
the US Navy. Tom Kaminski finds out more
48
GETTING SHIP SHAPE
Henri-Pierre Grolleau reports on how the French
Navy trains its personnel in the critical and often
dangerous role of handling aircraft on a busy
aircraft carrier flight deck and other navy vessels
54
STATE REPORT: ARKANSAS
Arkansas only has a small number of military
aviation bases, but they play a very important
role, reveals Tom Kaminski
SEE PAGE 99 FOR
FULL DETAILS
62
LIZZY’S AVENGERS
Alan Warnes examines the role the USMC
VMFA-211 is playing on board HMS
Queen
Elizabeth
(R08) currently in the South China Sea
66
WHERE EAGLES DARE
Held to recognize the history and service of the
101st Air Assault Division, the annual ‘Week
of the Eagles’ also gives enthusiasts a special
opportunity. Dan McClinton joined the crowds
68
RAMSTEIN: GATEWAY TO EUROPE
Chris Croot took advantage of Ramstein Air Base’s
improved teleworking to discuss airlift and the
impact of COVID-19 with the base’s leadership
76
NEXT-GEN CARRIER
AIR WING DEBUTS
The Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II fifth-gen
multi-role stealth fighter and Bell Boeing's
CMV-22B Osprey carrier-onboard-delivery
platform have embarked on their first operational
deployment with the USS
Carl Vinson
(CVN-70), as
Khalem Chapman reports
78
AIR POWER SWEPT AWAY
The Taliban took control in Afghanistan in
August, with little resistance, but what happened
to the country’s air power? David Isby explains
80
AIR STATION MIAMI: RESCUE 101
US Coast Guard air stations are – uniquely – a key
element in both domestic and foreign operations,
reports Yissachar Ruas
36
Ahmad Mahgoli
86
LESSER SPOTTED PHOENIX
As a collector of nuclear particles, the missions of
WC-135W Constant Phoenix are mostly secret,
but it made a rare visit to the UK, says Bob Archer
88
ANNOYING MOSCOW
Back to full strength after a pandemic-driven
hiatus, the NATO/Ukraine Sea Breeze 2021
exercise returned – with Russia determined to be
‘noisy neighbors’. Vladimir Trendafilovski reports
96
CUTTING EDGE
David Axe reports on the USAF MQ-9A Reaper
fleet’s recent milestones
88
Sergey Smolentsev
ON THE COVER
Cover image:
The 184th Fighter
Squadron operated
A-10s from 2007 until
mid-2014. Today the unit
operates MQ-9A Reaper
remotely piloted aircraft
Jim Haseltine

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