Page 4 - AirForces Monthly - Issue 381 (December 2019)

Contents December 2019 #381

Regular features

10 EXERCISE REPORT:
Baccarat 2019
For the first time, the British Army Air
Corps joined an exercise in France
with both Wildcats and Apaches.

30 INTEL REPORT: European
tankers gain momentum
Europe’s relative lack of air-to-air
refuelling assets has often hindered NATO
campaigns in the past, but modernisation
plans are starting to bear fruit.
36 EXERCISE REPORT:
Sea Breeze 2019
Vladimir Trendafilovski reports on the
19th edition of the annual Sea Breeze
multinational maritime exercise.

42 EXERCISE REPORT:
Market Garden
Seventy-five years after the event,
Operation Market Garden is still a
focal point of remembrance for today’s
airborne operations specialists.

46 Épervier 2019
This year, the Franco-Swiss Épervier air defence
exercise was held at the Swiss base of Payerne.
54 EXERCISE REPORT:
Dédalo 2019
The Argentine Air Force’s major exercise of
2019 put to the test all the lessons learned so
far. It was also a final opportunity to see the
Pucará perform in its original attack role.
58 COMMANDER’S UPDATE
BRIEFING: BVR combat
Air Power Association President Air Marshal (ret’d)
Greg Bagwell CB CBE examines what’s required
to ‘reach out and touch’ an enemy aircraft.
61 Book reviews
AFM evaluates some of the latest
offerings in aviation literature.
70 EXERCISE REPORT:
Tsentr-2019
The Russian Aerospace Forces and
Airborne Forces have taken part in a series
of exercises to test new concepts. The
largest so far was Exercise Tsentr-2019.
74 FORCE REPORT: Belarusian
Air Force and Air Defence Pt 1 Above: Alpine fighter meet. A pair of Armée de l’Air Mirage 2000-5Fs – serial 56 (c/n 256) ‘2-EG’ and serial 77

The first of a two-part feature on the little- (c/n 317) ‘2-AX’ – wearing the famous stork markings of the Groupe de Chasse 1/2 (GC 1/2) ‘Cigognes’ meet
known Belarusian Air Force and Air Defence. up with Swiss Air Force F/A-18C J-5004 for the next round of dissimilar air combat training. Turn to p46 for
more on the Franco-Swiss Épervier air defence exercise held at the Swiss base of Payerne. VBS DDPS via
Remco Stalenhoef Cover: A dramatic break above an equally spectacular landscape: two of the six Italian Air
86 Attrition Force F-35A fighters belonging to the 13° Gruppo (13th Squadron) of the 32° Stormo (32nd Wing) that were

Dave Allport details the world’s deployed to Keflavik Airport in October. Recent months have seen European Joint Strike Fighter operators
notch up a series of important milestones. While defending Icelandic airspace made Italy the first operator

most recent military accidents. to deploy the fifth-generation jet on a NATO Allied Air Command mission, the UK Lightning Force has been

taking the next meaningful steps towards re-establishing a British carrier strike capability. See p66-69 for
98 Coming up the latest on the WESTLANT 19 deployment, while on p80-85, David Cenciotti joins Operation Northern

Lightning in Iceland and, on p12, AFM reports on the delivery of a first operational Royal Netherlands Air
See what’s featuring in your AFM next month. Force F-35A to Leeuwarden Air Base. Giovanni Colla
4 // December 2019 #381 www.Key.Aero
04-05 Contents AFM Dec2019.indd 4 11/11/2019 10:55:20