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27 Jan 22. Leonardo confirms Qatar as latest M-346 jet trainer client. Qatar has purchased six Leonardo M-346 jet trainers, the Italian company has said. A spokesman for the firm confirmed the long-rumored acquisition after three of the jets were photographed at a military parade in Qatar.
Leonardo last year announced a deal to sell jets to an “undisclosed” customer – a reference to the Qatar deal.
The company told Defense News the purchase is part of a wider jet-training deal between Italy and Qatar launched in November 2020 which has brought Qatari Phase 4 training pilots to Italy to train at the flight school run by Leonardo and the Italian Air Force.
It is thought that Qatar may now station some or all of its newly acquired M-346 jets at the school.
Currently based at Galatina air base in the southern heel of Italy, phase 4 students will transfer this year to a new dedicated facility at Decimomannu air base on the Italian island of Sardinia.
Phase 4 pilots from Japan and Germany have also joined Italian pilots at the school.
Italian Air Force officials have said they aim to double the number of pilots graduating from Phase 4 training from 40 to 80 a year after the move to Decimomannu thanks to expanded airspace in Sardinia.
The school now uses the 18 M-346 jets ordered by Italy as well as four belonging to Leonardo.
Leonardo has previously sold 12 jets to Singapore, 16 to Poland and 30 to Israel. The Qatar deal takes the number sold to 82. Greece is also set to purchase ten jets as part of a deal with Israel to set up its own flight school.
Leonardo has also sold six light fighter versions of the jet to an undisclosed customer, thought to be Turkmenistan.
Nigeria has also expressed an interest in the fighter variant, while Leonardo sees Poland and Columbia as potential customers. (Source: Defense News)
24 Jan 22. Australian Super Hornet aircrews complete conversion training. A cohort of RAAF pilots have skilled-up to operate Australia’s fleet of Boeing-built Super Hornets. Four new pilots and weapons systems officers have completed a F/A-18F Super Hornet operational conversion course with No. 82 Wing’s Training Flight at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland. The eight-month course involved training in a broad spectrum of skills, from basics of flying the aircraft through to conducting complex tactical operations.
Three main phases divided the course:
- the conversion phase — aims to show aircrews how to fly the aircraft across all weather conditions and manage emergency situations;
- the air-to-air phase — involve dealing with aerial threats and targets utilising all the weapons capabilities of the aircraft; and
- air-to-surface phase —dealing with ground-based threats and targets.
The course concluded with a multi-faceted exercise that combined skills developed across all three phases.
Graduates are now qualified to fly the Super Hornets with No. 1 Squadron, also based at RAAF Base Amberley.
Squadron Leader Glyn Williams, No. 82 Wing instructor, lauded the technical qualities of the aircrews.
“The calibre of the trainees is very high,” SQNLDR Williams said.
“They’re very motivated, have a strong work ethic and have the ability to take on feedback and learn.”
As two-person teams, crew were required to build camaraderie.
“Teamwork is key when it comes to operating the Super Hornet,” Squadron Leader Williams added.
“Our crews work together, live together when we deploy, but most importantly we fly and fight together.”
Pilot Officer and course graduate Henry Mander noted the importance of team building.
“Our pilots and weapons systems operators are trained to be able to pick up on almost every part of each other’s job, and the expectation is that we will perform to an equal level for the areas where our jobs cross over,” PLTOFF Mander said.
“We’re able to support each other and back each other up in everything we do.” (Source: Defence Connect)
26 Jan 22. Ex Good Hope postponed. The eighth joint German/South African joint military exercise, scheduled to start at month-end, is on hold for the foreseeable future due to high levels of coronavirus infection in the European country.
Exercise Good Hope, albeit in a severely curtailed form from previous ones which saw blue water serials involving helicopters and one occasion jet fighters, was set to start on 31 January and end on 13 February with all activity centred on the Cape west coast port Saldanha.
defenceWeb is reliably informed the German contingent will not be making the trip to South Africa because of the current COVID-19 situation. Added to this is the German Health Ministry rating South Africa a “high crisis region” for the pandemic which, while allowing travel, means up to 14 days quarantine on returning home.
Two alternative dates – one end-August and the second in November – are proposed according to the German defence attaché in South Africa, Captain (DM) Volker Gelhausen.
There was, at the time of publishing, no response from SA National Defence Force (SANDF) Directorate: Corporate Communication (DCC), on the exercise. defenceWeb asked if Good Hope was officially off or would it go ahead as a purely South African military exercise.
Planning was for Good Hope this year to be a maritime tactical exercise in the form of a field training exercise in and around Saldanha Bay. In the scenario a combined force consisting of SA Navy (SAN) Maritime Reaction Squadron (MRS) specialist and Deutsche Marine marines will establish a forward operating base from which assets conduct maritime interdiction operations as part of a constabulary force to prevent insurgency into territorial waters. This would be accomplished by conducting close shore patrols and visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operations on vessels of interest in the area of operation (AOO) utilising boats, helicopters and marines.
South African Navy (SAN) resources earmarked for Good Hope were the MRS, a diving team and operational boat elements utilising harbour patrol boats (HPB) and landing craft. SA Air Force (SAAF) helicopters, in all probability from 22 Squadron at AFB Ysterplaat were to be part of the exercise. SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) personnel would be used for real time and exercise medical support. (Source: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/)
24 Jan 22. RAF personnel arrive in US to participate in Exercise Red Flag. The RAF Typhoons will take part in exercises with combat aircraft from the USAF and the Royal Australian Air Force.
The British Royal Air Force (RAF) has sent more than 300 personnel to the US for Exercise Red Flag.
During the exercise, the RAF detachment will participate in ‘complex’ combat air operations, including operating against simulated ground-based air defence systems and cyber and space-based threats.
It will also face aggressor aircraft to simulate a peer adversary.
The RAF Typhoons will take part in these operations together with combat aircraft from the US Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Australian Air Force.
The contingent includes Typhoons from RAF Lossiemouth based 1 (Fighter) Squadron, RAF Coningsby based 41 Test and Evaluation Squadron.
It is supported by Voyagers from 10 Squadron and 101 Squadron based at RAF Brize Norton, along with ground support staff from across the RAF.
(Source: airforce-technology.com)
21 Jan 22. Neptune Strike ’22 Kicks off Monday in Mediterranean. Starting Monday, NATO partners, including the United States, kick off the 12-day maritime exercise “Neptune Strike ’22” in the Mediterranean Sea, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said during a briefing today.
The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, along with it’s carrier strike group and air wing will be the Defense Department’s primary contribution to the exercise. The exercise will be led by U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Eugene H. Black III, who serves as Strikeforce NATO commander and also commander of the Navy’s Sixth Fleet.
” is designed to demonstrate NATO’s ability to integrate the high-end maritime strike capabilities of an aircraft carrier strike group to support the deterrence and defense of the alliance,” Kirby told reporters. “The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group will be placed under NATO operational control and serve as the centerpiece for this long-planned activity that fosters NATO allies’ ability to cooperate and integrate effectively.”
Neptune Strike ’22 has been in the planning stages since 2020, Kirby said, though he told reporters that the current tensions in Europe due to the uncertainty about Russia’s intentions regarding Ukraine were considered when deciding whether to press on with the exercise.
“There was due consideration … given tensions right now, about our exercise posture,” he said. “After all that consideration and discussion with our NATO allies, the decision was made to move ahead.”
Kirby also told reporters that because planning for Neptune Strike ’22 began in 2020, the exercise is not designed to incorporate scenarios which are directly related to current events in Europe.
“It wasn’t planned back in 2020 anticipating … a Russian move on Ukraine,” he said. “The exercise itself is not designed against the kinds of scenarios that might happen with respect to Ukraine. It really is a NATO maritime exercise to test … really a wide range of maritime capabilities that we want to make sure we continue to improve.”
Right now, Kirby said, the U.S. sees a sizable Russian troop presence in the western part of Russia near the border with Ukraine. It’s unclear now as to why those troops are there.
“It continues to be concerning,” Kirby said. “You heard Blinken talk this earlier today. We believe that there’s still a path to diplomacy here and we would like to see the situation deescalated. And as I’ve said before, one significant key way for it to get deescalated is for the Russians to pull some of those forces back out away from the border with Ukraine. They have shown no inclination to do that. In fact, quite the contrary, I think they continue to add to the force presence there.”
While Neptune Strike ’22 is not related to that Russian aggression towards Ukraine, Kirby did say the Defense Department remains committed to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, and to having options available should NATO allies ask for assistance.
“We’re going to make sure that we have options ready to reassure our allies, particularly on NATO’s eastern flank,” Kirby said. “If there’s another incursion and if they need that reassurance, if they need the capabilities to be bolstered, we’re going to do that. And we’re going to make sure that we’re ready to do that.”
Kirby also said readiness isn’t just a Defense Department responsibility or effort.
“I think this is a whole-of-government approach,” he said. “It’s not just about the Department of Defense, and quite frankly, as you’ve been seeing from other NATO allies who have also not only spoken to their concerns about what Russia is doing but actually moved on delivery of security assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it’s an international community effort.” (Source: US DoD)
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