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Aviation History
1991
1991 - 0073.PDF
OPERATIONS: DEFENCE Italian F-104 Starfighters will bolster Turkey's defences Europeans aid Turkey Iraqi AF 'no i Iraqi Air Force pilots "...have displayed little stomach for combat and are not considered to pose a serious threat to the Allied air forces in the Gulf if war erupts", according to Col Greg Pepin, a US Air Force spokesman in Saudi Arabia. "They have not demonstrated sufficient situational awareness or training to successfully re spond to a fast paced, dynamic tactical environment. For them GDF starts Piaggio Italy's Guardia di Finanza is equipping with fixed-wing aircraft for the first time. Fol lowing six months of training, it is starting operations with Piaggio P. 166 DL3s —- 12 of which are to be delivered over the next four years. The GDF is a para-military force which operates missions ranging from anti-smuggling to border patrol. A comprehensive fit of cameras and radar has been selected for ten of the French air force Dassault Mi rage F.lCRs deployed to Saudi Arabia will be grounded if hostilities start, to avoid allied fighters mistaking them for Iraqi Air Force Mirage F.ls, says chief of staff Gen Maurice Schmitt. The French have only six Mirage F.ls in Saudi Arabia, based with Mirage 2000s and Jaguars at Al Hofuf, south-west Israel advises USAF The US Air Force has solic ited proposals from two Is raeli companies to upgrade the existing engine intake particle separators on Sikorsky MH-53 stallion helicopters deployed in Saudi Arabia as part of opera tion Desert Shield. The USAF request is included in a wider plan to use Israeli knowledge of Middle East con ditions to enhance capabilities of US combat systems deployed in the Gulf area. • sal threat' to move in and engage different targets is a very complex, time- consuming operation. We haven't as yet seen the Iraqis capable of performing opera tions of this nature," he says. The number of allied fixed- wing combat aircraft alone in the Gulf region is now about 1,600, while the Iraqi Air Force has only 700 aircraft of all types. • See News Analysis P 20 operations aircraft, with two reserved for training. Each aircraft is to be crewed by two pilots and a mission operator and can be quickly converted to cargo, transport or medical evacuation configuration. The operational aircraft will carry 360° maritime surveillance radar, high-resolution cameras, forward-looking infra-red, searchlight and radio navigation subsystem. The P. 166s have a 5h endurance. • of Dharan. Since their deploy ment, the F.ls have flown mainly in company with Mirage 2000s and Jaguars to avoid problems with allied aircraft. The Mirage F.ls have been used to familiarise allied fighter crews with the type in air com bat, beside their primary role of tactical .reconaissance and in telligence gathering. The Iraqi air force operates about 120 Mirage F.lEQs. # France is sending the aircraft carrier Clemenceau on "a train ing mission" to the eastern Mediterranean.lt is not known if the ship will eventually con tinue to the Gulf. The Clemenceau will be carry ing its normal load of 36 Super Etendard strike aircraft, al though its F-8FN Crusader fighters are still undergoing up grading. The French have not ruled out the possibility of al lied aircraft flying as escorts for the Super Etendards in place of the Crusaders. • NATO is to deploy the air element of its Allied Com mand Europe Mobile Force to Dijarbakir, Turkey, to bolster the country's air defences along the Iraqi border. The Belgian air force (FAB) is to send a squadron of 18 Das sault Mirage 5BAs. Italy will contribute a flight of six Lock heed F-104S Starfighters and Germany will be sending 18 Alpha Jets. The squadrons will be in Turkey by 10 January. The Belgian Mirages are from 8 Sqn, based at Bierset. They are Third Tornado squadron goes to Saudi Arabia The Royal Air Force is to send a third squadron of Panavia Tornado GR.ls to the Gulf area. The composite squadron, drawn from 31 Sqn and 9Sqn based in Germany, will deploy 18 aircraft, including six roule- ment aircraft to replace a similar number of Saudi-based Tornado GR.ls as they come up for major servicing. The aircraft will be based at Dhahran with RAFN Tornado F.3s; the other two RAF Tor nado GR. 1 units are at Tabuk in the northwest of Saudi Arabia and at Muharraq, Bahrain shar ing the airfield with the. RAF Jaguars. Victor tankers of 55Sqn have replaced the lOlSqn VClOs which had been in the Gulf since August. • equipped with Rapport II elec tronic contermeasures. Turkey requested deployment of the AMF air component, the first request since its formation, in case Iraq should try to attack US Air Force aircraft deployed in eastern Turkey. The Belgian Government says the Mirages must patrol Turkish airspace only and avoid entering Iraqi airspace. The FAB rules of engagement prohibit opening fire unless in self-defence, but they allow hot pursuit into Iraqi airspace if engaged. • CASUALTIES SAN SALVADOR A Government UH-1M heli copter has been shot down by leftist guerillas in eastern San Salvador on 2 January, killing three US crewman be lieved to be part of an esti mated 55-strong team of mil itary advisers. This is the third Government aircraft shot down by Farabundo Marti Liberation Front rebels in the last six weeks. ITALY An Italian Air Force Aermac- chi MB.326 trainer of 604Sqn 4 Stormo, from Grosseto AB crashed at Montalcino, 17min after take off on 27 December. Both pilots, 1st Lt Fabiano Zuppardo and 2nd Lt Luca Zolesi, were killed. No emergency transmissions were heard before the crash. ...and also Gulf allies FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9 - 15 January, 1991 1 I
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