Operational Reports category for articles
Located just over six miles (10km) southeast of its namesake city, Paphos International Airport in Cyprus has the distinction of not only being the country's second largest airport, but the home to the entire flying element of the Cypriot Air Command. Located on the site’s northside, the military facility is called Andreas Papandreou Air Base. [...]
The Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) is in a period of transition as it replaces its older aircraft with a new more modern, efficient and capable air force. One of the unsung stalwarts of the Japanese transport fleet - and celebrating 45 years of service in 2019 - is the Kawasaki C-1, which will [...]
The Japanese territorial waters cover a vast area around the Japanese islands. For example, Okinawa in the South to Chitose in the North is a distance of around 1400 miles in a direct line. To oversee and protect those waters the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) has utilised a fleet of around 100 Lockheed P-3 Orions since 1984. However, since 2013 the JMSDF has started to replace these ageing aircraft with its own indigenous built modern aircraft – the Kawasaki P-1 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA).
“Here we go, here we go, here we go!” - No, not the chant from fans at a football match, but the cries emanating from the two loadmasters of VRC-40 ‘Rawhides’ sat at the rear of our C-2A Greyhound, as they warn us we are just seconds from ‘trapping’ on board the deck of the [...]
Eight F-35A Lightning IIs from the 34th Fighter Squadron ‘Rude Rams’ along with pilots, maintenance specialists, security and other support personnel from the active component 34th Fighter Squadron and the Air Force Reserve's 466th Fighter Squadron, both based at Hill Air Force Base, Utah recently undertook a three week deployment to RAF Lakenheath. Mark Kwiatkowski reports from [...]
Deployed in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE since June 2016, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower, or “The Mighty Ike”, has been conducting daily strike missions against so-called “Islamic State” in both Syria and Iraq, from both the Arabian Gulf with US Navy 5th Fleet and more recently from the Mediterranean Sea with [...]
Weighing in at a cool 95,000 tonnes, the Nimitz class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower (CVN 69) is the second of ten such vessels that form the cornerstone of United States Naval Aviation. The Nimitz-class carriers are the largest and most powerful warships in the world, and are constantly in demand across a [...]
The Royal Air Force are quite often criticised for the lack of “special scheme” celebratory or commemorative aircraft they produce compared to other air arms, but it’s fair to say that 2015 seems to buck the trend. As time marches on towards the 100th anniversary of the RAF, many squadrons are already celebrating their respective centenaries [...]
The annual international Anatolian Eagle exercise held at Turkey's Konya air base took place in late June against a backdrop of continuing unrest in Syria and a surge in militant activity in Iraq. With so much uncertainly so close to Turkey's doorstep the need to train and cooperate with NATO and its Middle East allies [...]
On Monday 24th June 2013, the 352nd Special Operations Group took delivery of the first batch of CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, marking the start of a large expansion and modernisation program at RAF Mildenhall. Ben Montgomery visited the 7th and 67th Special Operations Squadrons at Mildenhall to learn more about their new aircraft. 352nd Special [...]
