Helicopter Air to Air Refueling as you’ve (probably) never seen it.

The image in this post was taken during a training Helicopter Air-to-Air Refueling (HAAR) mission over Alaska.

It was taken from a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60 Pave Hawk as it refuels from a 211th Rescue Squadron HC-130N.

Both aircraft belong to the 176th Wing (176 WG), a unit of the Alaska Air National Guard, stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), Anchorage, Alaska, and they are tasked with combat search-and-rescue missions.

The point of view and the stunning background make the photo awesome. By the way,  this video provides another pretty unique point of view, whereas this one shows how difficult HAAR can really be (hence the need to practice a lot).

Image credit: MSgt Sean Mitchell via AFSOC FB page

Related articles

• Video: The Pave Hawk’s refueling probe point of view
• Four dead as U.S. HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter crashes in UK
• [Photo] HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter during an anti-piracy boarding exercise
• U.S. to deploy 12 F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets to Japan
• U.S. Air Force ramps up presence in the Horn of Africa
• Video shows how difficult Helicopter Air-to-Air Refueling can be
• The last tense minutes of a fighter pilot about to eject from an F-16 hit by enemy fire over Serbia

Italian and Greek military and coast guard aircraft, helicopters and boats are battling strong winds and massive waves to rescue 478 people trapped on a burning ferry adrift between Italy and Albania.

A complex rescue mission is underway since early in the morning on Dec. 28, when fire broke out on a car deck of the Italian flagged “Norman Atlantic” ferry, travelling from Patras, Greece, to Ancona, Italy, with 478 people on board.

Italy and Greece dispatched helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft (including an Italian Coast Guard ATR-42MP and Hellenic C-130) to support the rescue mission that will go ahead until everyone aboard is evacuated from the ferry, adrift about 15 nautical miles from the Albanian coast.

Italian Air Force HH-139s, Italian Navy SH-212 and EH-101s helicopters are rescuing passengers from the ship and carrying them to the nearby ships or hospitals in southeastern Italy.

At 21.43 GMT, 287 people must still be evacuated. One of the passengers has been declared dead. Rescue operations are particularly difficult because of the high seas, darkness and amount of smoke coming from the ship.

Both the ferry and the nearby ships can be tracked by AIS (Automatic Identification System), an automatic tracking system used for identification and geo-localization of vessels that can be considered the naval homologous of the ADS-B used by airplanes and it is used for collision avoidance, search and rescue, and for aids to navigation.

Here below you can see the track followed by the Norman Atlantic until the present position (from MarineTraffic.com):

Here below you can see the position of the ferry at 21.39 GMT:

It looks like one of the supporting helicopters is also using broadcasting its flight data by means of AIS and can be tracked. Have a look at the path it has followed.

Image credit: Guardia Costiera, Marina Militare, Marinetraffic.com

Related articles

• [Photo] French Atlantique maritime patrol aircraft sporting Laser Guided Bomb markings (from Mali Air War)
• [Photo] Iranian P-3F under escort as seen from the Super Hornet pilot’s POV
• [Photo] Harpoon anti-ship missile fired by P-8 Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft hits target
• The most stunning images of the Royal Australian Navy’s International Fleet Review
• Russian Aircraft Carrier in the vicinity? Royal Netherlands Navy had no ships to dispatch
• Europe’s largest military exercise marks first deployment of USN P-8A Poseidon in UK
• U.S. Navy deploys newest patrol aircraft to Japan amid China Air ID Zone crisis

A video seems to show the downing of an Mi-24 Hind helicopter belonging to the Armed Forces of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

On Nov. 12, at around 1.45PM LT, a Mil Mi-24 belonging to Armed Forces of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was shot down as it flew about 1,7 Km northeast of the village of Kengerli in the Agdam district of Azerbaijan by the Azeri army.

According to Armenian media outlets, the helicopters were involved in a training mission close to the border and the shooting down is the result of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side.

Azeri Ministry of Defense stated that the Mi-24 was shot down while performing an attack run on Azeri troops.

Footage shows what seems to be a MANPADS hit one of the two low-flying Mi-24 Hind helicopters.

Image credit: Armradio.am

H/T Matt Fanning for sending us the link to the video and to Arda Mevlutoglu for providing additional information

Related articles

• Analysis: This could be the airfield in Azerbaijan used by the Israeli Air Force to attack Iran
• What’s wrong with the story of Iran shooting down an Israeli stealth drone near Natanz nuclear facility
• Watch this: Anti-Aircraft Fire misses Syrian Mig-21 by inches during ground attack
• Extremely clear footage of Syrian Su-24 Fencer attack plane over Idlib
• [Video] Syrian Mig-21 leaks fuel, catches fire
• [Video] This is what being in the trajectory of a bomb dropped by a Syrian attack plane looks like
• [Video] Syrian helicopter destroyed by Anti-Tank Guided Missile

A quite unusual photo caught a U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command’s CV-22 Osprey with the full moon in the background.

Taken close to RAF Mildenhall, UK, on Oct. 7, 2014, by Gary Chadwick, the spectacular photo in this article shows a U.S. Air Force CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft with the 7th SOS (Special Operations Squadron) flying a night mission with a full moon in the background.

The 7th SOS is a component squadron of the 352nd SOG (Special Operations Group) whose role is infiltration and exfiltration of troops from hostile, sensitive, behind-the-enemy-lines locations.

Along with the Ospreys, the Squadron flies the MC-130H Combat Talon II (that will eventually be replaced by the MC-130J Commando II) that, along with supporting special operations (including PSYOPS) in contested airspace, in adverse weather conditions, at low-level and long range, can also perform HAAR (Helicopter Air-to-Air Refueling) missions.

Image credit: Gary Chadwick

Related articles

• New Photos of the F-117 Black Jet flying over Tonopah Test Range in 2014
• In photos: B-1B bomber refueled on its way to Syria air strike
• Dissimilar Air Combat Training in the Canary Islands: DACT 2014
• Video shows U.S. B-1B bomber circling over Kobane during Syria air strike (with strobe lights turned on)
• Photo shows Greek F-4 Phantom drop 12 bombs in Vietnam-style attack during Parmenion drills
• Raw footage from Yom Kippur War shows Israeli F-4 Phantom Shoot Down Egyptian Mig-17
• War in the Web 2.0 era: how Air Forces deal (or don’t) with Internet-based flight tracking tools

The Italian Army has been delivered the first two examples of a new Chinook variant, designated ICH-47F.

On Oct. 2, during an official ceremony held at AgustaWestland’s Vergiate plant, Italy, the Italian Army received the first two ICH-47F helicopters.

Within the ICH-47F program, the Italian Army Aviation 1st Regiment “Antares” based in Viterbo will receive 16 new Chinooks to replace its CH-47C Chinooks that have been in service since 1973.

The ICH-47F is a customised version of the legendary, legacy Chinook which incorporates a secure communications system, self-protection system and advanced datalink system.

According to AgustaWestland, the new variant has a Maximum All Up Weight (MAUW) of 23 tons, is equipped with two Honeywell T55-GA-714A engines which gives it excellent “hot and high” capability and is suitable for all-weather operations. Even though it can perform a wide variety of missions,  its primary one has obviously remained the same: tactical transportation of troops and equipment, both internally and externally, by means of the aircraft’s cargo hook system.

The ICH-47 is produced by a Joint Industrial Agreement between Boeing and AgustaWestland, that is prime contractor for with responsibility for systems integration, final assembly and aircraft delivery to the Italian Army. Boeing builds the fuselage in the U.S, then final assembly is carried out at Vergiate plant in Northern Italy.

Image credit: AgustaWestland

Related articles

• Italian Air Force bids farewell to the HH-3F Pelican C-SAR helicopter
• Farnborough 2012: AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat delivered to the UK Ministry of Defence
• Inside a modern (combat) helicopter: the AgustaWestland HH-139A glass cockpit
• Farnborough 2012: AgustaWestland HH-139A’s new combat configuration
• Special colored CH-47 Chinook helicopter to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Cino”
• Poland preparing to buy new helicopters for the Army
• Photo Report: Italian Army Aviation celebrates its anniversary with a tactical event involving heavy lifter, attack and special ops choppers