Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
SPECIAL OPERATION FORCES U-28A crashes in Clovis claims 3.
CLOVIS, N.M. (KVII)
— Colonel Benjamin R. Maitre, spokesperson for the Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, announced Wednesday morning the three airmen on board a U-28A died when the aircraft crashed Tuesday night.
The plane crashed during what the base described as a "training sortie" around 6:50 p.m. Tuesday in a field about a quarter-mile east of the Clovis Municipal Airport. All three crew members were assigned to the 318th Special Operations Squadron and died in the crash.
“We are deeply saddened by this loss within our Air Commando family,” said Maitre, the installation commander. “Our sympathies are with the loved ones and friends affected by this tragedy, and our team is focused on supporting them during this difficult time.”
The crash caused a fire, which was extinguished by local first responders by about 7:40 p.m.
The U-28A is a light aircraft operated by the 34th, 318th and 319th Special Operations Squadrons of United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). It is part of AFSOC's Non-standard Aircraft fleet. The aircraft type is also flown by the 919th Special Operations Wing, Air Force Reserve Command.
The U-28A is a militarized version of the commerical-available Pilatus PC-12. It has been fitted with advanced sensors, navigation gear, survivability aids and communications equipment to enable its special operations role.
One of the U-28A roles is the insertion, extraction and resupply of Special Operations Forces (SOF). The single-engine U-28A is small enough to land on small grass or dirt airstrips. It can carry 10 passengers or 3,000lbs of cargo and can operate from the type of short, unimproved airstrip that a larger plane, such as the C-130 Hercules, would be too big and heavy for.
Another role of the U-28A is to act as a tactical airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platform in support SOF on the ground. Sensors aboard the U-28A include a day variable-aperture TV camera, a variable aperture infrared camera and synthetic aperture radar.
Communications systems aboard the U-28A have the capability to relay full motion video, voice and data over secure data links.
Other additions to the basic PC-12 airframe include aircraft survivability equipment i.e. threat detection and counter measures.
The aircraft is crewed by 3: pilot, co-pilot and Combat System Officer (CSO)
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Textron bowing out of USAF T-X trainer competition
“We certainly believe the Scorpion can fit a good training role, not only for the U.S. Air Force but around the world, but with the requirements that had been put out there for the T-X, we don’t believe the Scorpion fits all the requirements,” said Bill Harris, the company’s vice president of Scorpion jet sales.
Textron told Defense News in early 2016 that it would probably not pursue the T-X contract unless the Air Force changed its requirements to be less demanding. However, earlier this winter, company officials stated that they had not ruled out a T-X bid and were assessing the final request for proposals.
Harris explained Textron wanted to take a second look at the requirements to evaluate whether Scorpion could fit the service’s needs, but the jet had trouble meeting some of the Air Force’s more aggressive performance characteristics, including a high G threshold of 6.5 — the Scorpion can achieve 6 Gs.
“It basically was very close to what you would see in an F-16 Block 50 aircraft,” he said. “We went over it and over it, and it became clear that we weren’t going to meet these aggressive performance standards.”
READ MORE HERE
SPANISH POLICE UNCOVER ARMS CACHE
NBC LONDON — When a gunman killed four people at a Jewish museum in Brussels in 2014, police in Spain launched an effort to reduce the number of illegal firearms circulating in Europe.
What they found was a arsenal large enough to supply an army — and all ready to be sold to terrorist groups and gangs.
Spanish police announced Tuesday they had recovered around 10,000 assault rifles, pistols, machine guns, and revolvers, as well as 400 shells and grenades, in raids in the north of the country.
They also arrested five suspects and recovered around $90,000.
The raids, in Girona, Biscay and Cantabria, targeted a gang trafficking firearms on the black market that were destined to be sold to terror groups and gangs in Spain, France and Belgium.
Spain's national police, who worked with cross-border authority Europol on the operation, said the gang "exploited legal loopholes and legislative differences between E.U. countries to divert guns from legal suppliers." They used a workshop to re-brand and reactivate the weapons, which were "being made ready for sale to terrorist groups and organized.
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