The UK Royal Air Force finished 30 years of operations with its E-3D Sentry airborne early warning fleet, with a trio of replacement E-7s to arrive from 2023
Source: Crown Copyright
Spain ended the use of its C-130H transports and tankers, with new A400Ms taking on their duties
Source: US Air Force
Berlin’s rotorcraft renewal continued, with the German army saying ‘Goodbye Huey!’ 62 times. Thailand’s army also stood down its remaining 76 UH-1s
Source: AirTeamImages
Japan retired its last F-4EJs, with the interceptors sporting subtle ‘Phantom Forever’ markings
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The UK’s Global Express-derived Sentinel R1s were axed after just 14 years of service
Source: Crown Copyright
Austria’s removal of its air force Saab 105s leaves Sweden as sole operator of the tandem-set jet trainer
Source: Bundesheer
The Royal Thai Air Force stopped flying the L-39 trainer, permanently withdrawing 33 examples
Source: Komenton/Shutterstock
Cyprus stored its 11 Mi-35 assault helicopters, and is reportedly offering them for sale
We mark some of the most notable national fleet retirements recorded since we published our last World Air Forces directory.
Once combined, our selection of deleted entries – which cover eight aircraft types, drawn from all six of our directory role categories – total some 257 airframes.
The UK Royal Air Force finished 30 years of operations with its E-3D Sentry airborne early warning fleet, with a trio of replacement E-7s to arrive from 2023
Source: Crown Copyright
Spain ended the use of its C-130H transports and tankers, with new A400Ms taking on their duties
Source: US Air Force
Berlin’s rotorcraft renewal continued, with the German army saying ‘Goodbye Huey!’ 62 times. Thailand’s army also stood down its remaining 76 UH-1s
Source: AirTeamImages
Japan retired its last F-4EJs, with the interceptors sporting subtle ‘Phantom Forever’ markings
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The UK’s Global Express-derived Sentinel R1s were axed after just 14 years of service
Source: Crown Copyright
Austria’s removal of its air force Saab 105s leaves Sweden as sole operator of the tandem-set jet trainer
Source: Bundesheer
The Royal Thai Air Force stopped flying the L-39 trainer, permanently withdrawing 33 examples
Source: Komenton/Shutterstock
Cyprus stored its 11 Mi-35 assault helicopters, and is reportedly offering them for sale
The US Mitchell Institute contends that the US Air Force (USAF) needs a new generation of precision-guided munitions (PGMs) to effectively deter and fight major powers such as China and Russia.
The latest sets of new wings for the A-10 Thunderbolt II fleet arrived earlier this month to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, where the US Air Force has started aircraft integration.
BAE Systems will within the coming weeks conduct its first test flight of a Pipistrel Velis Electro, with the Slovenian-built light aircraft having been delivered to its Warton site in Lancashire earlier this month.
For Sherrexcia Rolle, the path to the airline C-suite began as a child on Andros Island, helping out at the airport where her parents established the Bahamas’ now thriving Western Air.