Latest Articles
F-35A Deployment to RAF Lakenheath
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 the Suffolk base, with additional images from Craig Sluman and Duncan Monk. This historic deployment was the first operational US Air Force F-35 Lightning II deployment to Europe (putting aside the visit of Luke AFB F-35As to RIAT 2016), and is a natural progression following [...]
Royal Navy Lynx Retirement
Fast, sleek, agile and sporty; words which are often used to describe and sum up the Westland Lynx - a helicopter that, in March 2017, will finally reach the end of a remarkable forty-one years of service with the Royal Navy. Mark Kwiatkowski reports from the last home of the Royal Navy Lynx, RNAS Yeovilton. The maritime variant of the Lynx began life with four navalised WG-13 prototypes, the first of which flew from the Westland Helicopters Ltd factory at Yeovil on the 21 March 1971. Intended as a replacement for the company’s diminutive Wasp small ships helicopter, design work [...]
Aircraft Carrier Operations – USS Dwight D Eisenhower
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 US Navy 6th Fleet. To achieve the end goal of projecting US Naval power anywhere on the globe, the USS Eisenhower relies on the teamwork, professionalism and commitment of over 5,000 sailors. Flying from NSA Souda Bay in Crete to join the ‘Ike’ shortly after [...]
USS Dwight D Eisenhower – Operation Inherent Resolve
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 wide spectrum of conflicts, in theatres around the globe. Typical of these demands is the recent coalition effort to defeat the threat of so-called 'Islamic State' in Syria and Iraq. Deployed in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE since June 2016, 'The Mighty Ike' has been conducting [...]
NATO Tiger Meet 2016
Between May 16 and 27, Ala 15 of the Ejército del Aire (Spanish Air Force) hosted this years edition of the annual NATO Tiger Meet (NTM) at their Zaragoza Air Base home. Two years have passed since the Ejército del Aire made firm its proposal to organise the ‘meet’ at Zaragoza especially with Ala 15 being one of two Spanish units - the other being Ala 14’s 142 Escuadrón at Albacete - belonging to the NATO Tiger Association. Since the proposal to host the NTM16, there have been many meetings to plan and organise in detail the joint exercise by [...]
Anatolian Eagle 2016
Large multi-national air exercises where combined air operations can be executed against strategic and tactical targets provide excellent training opportunities for all participants, but the requirements to host this type of exercise are such that there are only three training centres in the world where they can take place. Of these, the only one located outside North America is the Anatolian Eagle Training Centre (AETC) in Turkey. This year’s Anatolian Eagle 2016 exercise ran from 30 May until 10 June. The first Anatolian Eagle exercise was held in 2001 after the need for an indigenous training facility arose as a [...]
