tirsdag 2. juli 2013

Luftwaffe faset ut sine Phantoms lørdag

PICTURE: German air force to bid 'Pharewell' to last F-4Fs

  CRAIG HOYLE LONDON
02:02 26 Jun 2013 
Source: 
Jamie Hunter 














Jamie Hunter
 
Germany will retire its last operational McDonnell Douglas F-4F
Phantom IIs on 29 June, with the veteran type's duties having been
assumed by Eurofighter units.
After almost 40 years of service, the final interceptors will be
retired during a decommissioning event to be staged at the
Luftwaffe's Wittmund air base.
 
The final German examples are operated by the air force's JG 71
"Richthofen" squadron, which was also the first to begin flying
 the type, in March 1974. Delivered in 1973, its first F-4F, 37+01,
received a special livery for the occasion.
A total of 263 Phantoms were acquired by Germany, the air force
says, including 88 in the RF-4E reconnaissance configuration,
from 1971.
Flightglobal's MiliCAS database shows Germany's retirement
of the Phantom will reduce the global frontline fleet of the type
to 431 aircraft, operated by the air forces of Egypt, Greece, Iran,
Japan, South Korea and Turkey. The US Air Force also has more
than 150 examples, which have been adapted for use as QF-4
aerial targets.

Ingen kommentarer:

Legg inn en kommentar

Merk: Bare medlemmer av denne bloggen kan legge inn en kommentar.