FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1983
1983 - 1407.PDF
WORLD'S AIR FORCES procured from France, Italy, the UK, and the USA. Indigenous aircraft production is also beginning, first on the Alpha Jet and later on the Mirage 2000. Egypt ordered an initial batch of 20 Mirage 2000s in January 1982, and delivery is expected to begin early in 1984; further orders are expected. To maintain the AREAF Mirage 5 force, a further 16 aircraft are currently being deli vered, taking total orders of this type to 82. Delivery is under way of 40 F-16s (34 F-16As and 6 F-16Bs) under the name Pro ject Victor. All will be received by January 1984, and will be followed by another 40 aircraft. The first F-16 squadron is based at An Shas, north-east of Cairo, replacing 35 F-4E Phantoms which are being passed to the Turkish Air Force. Egypt is also to receive four E-2C Hawkeyes for $1,100 mil lion, with the first aircraft due to enter ser vice in 1985. Deliveries of C-130H Hercules are now complete, with 23 aircraft in service including two elint gatherers. Alpha Jet assembly at Helwan is begin ning, the present order standing at 30 MSI trainers and 15 MS2 light strike aircraft. The MSI will replace the L-29 and MiG- 15UTI and the MS2 will replace the MiG-17. The force of MiG-21s, of which there are no fewer than nine versions in Egyptian service, has undergone modernisation to maintain its capability, but the type's with drawal is planned to begin in 1984-85, when the new force of interceptors joins Air Defence Command. Still in service is the Tu-16 anti-shipping force of 25 aircraft, as is the Su-7/20 ground-attack fleet. Chinese- supplied F-6s (MiG-19s) and F-7s (MiG-21s) operate alongside the Soviet originals, their delivery being partly conditional on the supply of MiG-23s to China. Ethiopia Ethiopian Air Force Heavily in debt to Moscow, Ethiopian leader Gen Mengitsu clings tenuously to power as head of a coun try in which starvation is rife and economic progress is slow. To promote military activities against pro-Western countries in the area, Ethiopia, Libya, and South Yemen signed the Tripartite Agreement in August 1981, its main aim being to destabilise neighbouring Somalia, Djibouti, and the Sudan. Guerrilla activity by Eritrean forces against the Ethiopian regime continues, fol lowing the war with Somalia in 1977-78: Widely reported last year was the shooting down of an EAF An-26. As well as providing aid to the Ethiopian armed forces, Russia bases 11-38 May reconnaissance aircraft at Asmara airfield, and has developed a large naval complex at Dahlak which has helicop ter facilities. The EAF is now stated to have 140 MiG-21s and MiG-23s in its 290-aircraft inventory, operated in the main by Soviet and Cuban "advisers". In addition to the Soviet equipment, which is also believed to include Mi-24 gunships, Mi-8 transport helicopters, An-26 freighters, and some training aircraft, the EAF has two Canberra B.52s delivered in 1969, six T-28Ds, 12 Northrop F-5As, eight F-5Es and two F-5Bs. Other types known to have been received in past years include 12 C-47s, two DHC-5D Buffaloes, 12 C-119Ks, two C-54s, two Doves, 11 T-33As, 20 Saab Safirs, and some T-28s. Helicopters have totalled five AJouette IDs, a Puma, six AB.204Bs and six (Jl UH-lHs. Four Otters and three Twin Army, have been flown by the Ethiopian Egyptian Air Force Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet NGEA Finland nmavoimat Under the terms of the 1947 Treaty of Paris, the Finnish Air Force is limited to a strength of 60 combat aircraft and 3,000 personnel. Within this tight envelope, the air force, which celebrated its 65th anniversary in March 1983, is organ ised into three Air Defence Wings, each assigned to one of the three air defence areas into which Finland is divided. The main Wing bases are at Rovaniemi, Tam pere, and Kuopio-Rissala, each with one first-line squadron and the necessary sup port elements. The Lapland Wing consists of 11 Sqn at Rovaniemi, flying Saab Draken all-weather fighters assigned the defence of northern Finland. There are 27 Drakens of three dif ferent types in service, and it is understood that Finland has asked Sweden for ten more aircraft as attrition replacements and to maintain the unit's strength. Southwest Finland is covered by the Satakunta Wing, with 21 Sqn at Pori equip ped with BAe Hawks for advanced and tac tical training. An order for 50 Hawk Mk 51s was signed in December 1977, and delivery of the first four British-built aircraft took place in 1980-81. The remaining 46 aircraft are being assembled by Valmet, and all are due to be delivered by 1985. The Magister fleet which is being replaced by the Hawk now stands at 40 of 80 aircraft originally purchased; their final withdrawal is expected in 1986. Kuopio-Rissala is the base of the Karelia Wing, responsible for the air defence of southeast Finland and equipped with Soviet-supplied MiG-21bis interceptors. The delivery of 28 single-seat and two two-seat trainers was made to 31 Sqn in 1978-80, replacing a similar number of older MiG-21Fs. Four of these older MiGs have Typ» J35S Draken J35BS Draken J35F/C Draken MiG-JIbisFishbed MiG-21UM Mongol Hawk Mk51 CM.170 Magister C-47 F.27-100 Friendship Mi-8 Hip Hughes 500C Lear Jet 35A Cessna 402 PA-31 Navajo Cherokee Arrow Vinka 12 6 613 28 2 50 40 4 3 6 2 3 2 4 9 30 FGA Train Int/train Int Train Train Train Trans Trans Trans/SAR Train Target tug Liaison Liaison Liaison Train PLIGHT In, 'ional, 6 August 1983 apparently been formed into a Recce Flight, based at Tikkakaski. A Transport Sqn is located at Utti, operat ing C-47s, F.27s, and a helicopter element flying six Mi-8s and two Hughes 500Cs. Liaison duties are performed by Cessna 402s and Cherokee Arrows, with the imminent addition of some Piper Navajos. Target tow ing and ground mapping missions are flown by three Lear Jet 35As. Training is the task of 30 Vinkas or L-70 Miltrainers which replaced the Saab Safir in 1982, while advanced conversion is per formed by 31 Sqn on the two-seat MiG-21 and 11 Sqn on the two-seat Drakeh. France L'Armee de l'Air This year the French Air Force takes delivery of its first Mirage 2000, nearly two years behind schedule and still not equipped with the advanced RDI inter cept radar or the uprated Snecma M53-P2 engine. The latter is not expected to be available before 1986, and the temporary radar will be the RDM multi-mode type. Dijon-based EC2 will be the first front-line unit to receive the 2000, which will replace Mirage IIIEs in the strike role. To fulfil an AdlA strike requirement for 70 aircraft, a two-seat attack variant, the 2000N, is also under development, as is the 2000B trainer. Between 1984 and 1988, 36 Mirage 2000Ns will be delivered, equipped to carry the medium-range air-to-ground missile (ASMP). Mirage F.l deliveries continue against orders placed to date for 232 aircraft plus 20 trainers. Included in the total are 62 F.1CR reconnaissance aircraft to replace the Mir age IIIR/RD force at Strasbourg, and the first machines have been received. To equip the AdlA fighter force in the 1990s, Das sault is working on the ACX, a relaxed sta bility canard-delta powered by Snecma M88s. The project could be developed on an international basis, but if a partner cannot be found the company intends to "go it alone". A prototype will be built to fly by the end of 1986. The Mirage IV nuclear bomber force of six squadrons in two wings will be updated with 18 aircraft modified to carry the ASMP nuclear missile from 1985. However, this strategic aircraft will not be replaced by another design. Instead its role will be taken over by land-based mobile ballistic missiles. The decision on AdlA's AEW air craft will have to be made this year if long- lead items for a version of the homebuilt Transall are to be procured. Conversion of this twin-engined transport into an AEW 337
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
