AirForces Monthly – August 2018

As the European airshow season reaches its zenith, there’s arguably no more appropriate cover star than the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CF-18 Demonstration Team. We caught up with pilot Capt Stefan Porteous prior to a rare visit to the UK.

As well as airshows, this time of year sees plenty of activity on exercises, reflected in coverage from APROC in the Netherlands and Hot Blade in Portugal, where the local terrain and climate provide an excellent training environment. Meanwhile, the Royal Australian Navy’s MH-60R Seahawks took part in Exercise Joint Warrior after travelling halfway around the world.

As the Royal Air Force celebrates its centenary, Jon Lake tackles the thorny issue of whether Whitehall mandarins and political decision-makers are providing the level of support the service needs, while regular columnist Alan Warnes was at RAF Marham, Norfolk for the arrival of the first four UK F-35Bs.

There’s more F-35 action from the international training effort at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, and we also visited the US east coast as a full squadron of Rafale Ms supported by a French E-2C operated from the US Navy aircraft carrier USS George H W Bush.

The European military aviation scene is well represented in the August issue, including reports from the Flight Service of the German Ministry of Defence, the Italian Air Force’s 36° Stormo at Gioia del Colle and the Swedish Air Force’s unique Flying Training School, located at Malmen. Further afield, Kazakhstan’s fifth KADEX international defence exhibition offered a glimpse of an air force looking to upgrade its Soviet-era equipment.

Our regular Force Report this month examines the secretive Sudanese Air Force, while AFM columnist Air Marshal (ret’d) Greg Bagwell CB CBE turns his eye to maritime patrol.

And of course, you’ll also find all the world’s military aviation news, by region, and details of the most recent military accidents.