Page 11 - AirForces - Monthly (February 2020)

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1: A pair of Ejército del Aire Hornets approach the tanker over the Atlantic. Both F/A-18A+ jets are from Ala 46 based at Gando.
Like the EF-18Ms, these aircraft have received several structural and avionic/software upgrades, emerging with the F/A-18A+
designation, also referred to locally as F/A-18CX. 2: An E-3A AWACS taxies out for a dusk mission from Gando. The Sentry from
the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force arrived in the Canaries on October 18 from Geilenkirchen, Germany. 3: F-15C
84-0010 ‘LN’, named ‘The King’, sports a single kill marking, representing an Iraqi Su-22 downed on March 22, 1991, while assigned
to the 53rd Tactical Fighter Squadron. The jet, now with Lakenheath’s 493rd Fighter Squadron, also wears the ‘D-Day heritage’
design inspired by the unit’s wartime P-47 Thunderbolts, part of the UK-based 48th Fighter Group. 4: A low pass over Gando by
F-16C Block 40 89-0025 (4R-43) of 151 Filo. The jet is based at Merzifon, home to the 5nci Ana Jet Üs Komutanlığı (5th Main Jet
Base Command). The squadron received Block 40 jets in 2017-18, which it operates alongside HARM-equipped Block 50s.
All photos Ben Gorski and Manuel Acosta Zapata
in the

Canaries

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refuelling capability, as well as
a Falcon 20 electronic warfare
aircraft from Grupo Mixto 47 at
Torrejón that provided tactical
jamming to challenge the fighters.
Mission scenarios
The participants made use of
the expansive Delta 79 operating
areas adjacent to the islands.
Lt Col Fernandez de Bobadilla
told AFM: “Air superiority is a
necessary condition for the
joint action of land, naval and
air forces to enjoy freedom of
movement, enabling them to
achieve their objectives.”
The exercise was carried out
in two phases. The first was
a theoretical series of ‘force
integration conferences’, to 4

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