AirForces Monthly Magazine March 2018 Vorige editie

While the Tornado’s days in Royal Air Force service may be numbered, the type still plays a prominent part in the Luftwaffe order of battle. The stunning imagery that graces the cover of the March issue comes from our feature on Tactical Air Force Wing 51 ‘Immelmann’ as it begins training Luftwaffe Tornado crew in Germany. Another northern European unit in focus is the Helicopter Wing Karup, now responsible for the entire Royal Danish Air Force helicopter fleet.

Both Denmark and the UK recently retired the Lynx and AFM was at RAF Odiham for the official send-off of the British Army Lynx after almost 40 years of service. Retirements of Cold War types seem to be the order of the day, in Europe at least, and we also cover the Portuguese Air Force’s final years of operations with the Alpha Jet. One Cold War classic set to be around a while longer is the A-4 Skyhawk, and we look back on 20 years of Argentina’s Fightinghawks.

Force Report turns its attention to one of Europe’s smaller air arms, the Latvian Air Force, on its way to becoming fully standardised within NATO. The breadth of air power is further explored with an overview of Hellenic Air Force procurement plans and programmes, a report on Egyptian Air Force VIP jets, a first-hand experience of rough-field operations with the Swiss Air Force’s Pilatus PC-6, and an in-depth study of US Marine Corps electronic warfare as the EA-6B Prowler heads for retirement.

With the RAF’s centenary on the horizon, the latest issue brings coverage of the A400M Atlas C1. There’s also an Intel Report with an exclusive interview with the UK Lightning Force commander, and Air Marshal (Ret'd) Greg Bagwell CB, CBE reflects on difficulties encountered when deploying air power in urban areas.