Tag Archives: Netz

If you click on the image below, you will be able to read the entire 12/2010 issue of Airplanes with articles dealing with the Frecce Tricolori’s 50th Anniversary airshow in Rivolto, the Ex. Vega 2010 in Decimomannu and much more! The magazine is in Italian language only, but foreign visitors can enjoy the pictures.

Needless to say, the recent partecipation of the Israeli Air Force to the Vega 2010 (VEX 10) exercise attracted the interest of aircraft enthusiasts and spotters who were delighted to see some of the most advanced and rare Israeli hardware at work during their stay in Decimomannu airbase. First of all the G550 Eitam CAEW (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) belonging to the 122 Sqn of Nevatim, a sort of mini-AWACS equipped with 2 L-band antennas, on both sides of the fuselage, and 2 S-band antennas, on the nose and tail of the aircraft. The antennas are part of a EL/W-2085, a Phalcon and Green Pine (used for the Arrow Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missile Missile, ATBMM) derivative. Another G550 variant (that did not take part in the exercise) is the Shavit, the SEMA (Special Electronic Mission Aircraft) the SIGINT platform equipped with the EL/I-3001 Airborne Integrated Signal Intelligence System.

Dealing with the F-16Bs Netz of the Nevatim-based 116 Sqn and 140 Sqn, besides the chaff and flares dispensers among the ventral fins (see also: http://cencio4.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/f-16b-israeli-air-force-an-interesting-detail/) they operated with an EL/L-8212 self-protection jamming pod underneath the starboard wing. A similar pod, the EL/L-8222 self-protection jamming pod, was instead carried by the F-15Ds Baz of the 106 Sqn based at Tel Nof.

The F-15Ds had also some new antennas at the end of the fuselage (similar to the ECM blisters of the F-15E Strike Eagle) and a brand new radome, located aft of the cockpit, that should contain a new SATCOM antenna and the UAV remote control suite (the shape of the “hump” is much similar to those located on the two little wings of the Israeli’s AH-64Is).

Below, more pictures about Vega 2010 exercise taken by Giovanni Maduli in Decimomannu.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Arrested landings on aircraft carrier require a tailhook to catch one of the four deck’s wires but almost all military planes, even the ground based ones have a hook, that is used in emergency landings: usually when the pilot experiences a failure that could imply a braking malfunction, the aircraft will touch down as if it was a normal landing.

Then, to slow down the aircraft as much as possible, an aerodynamic braking is performed (by taking the nose high after touch down until it “drops” on the runway) and then the pilot lowers the hook before reaching the cable that is located at the end of the runway. Finally, the cable slows the aircraft until it stops (over a longer distance than the arrestor cable on an aircraft carrier to reduce the stress on the airframe and tailhook, that is not as tough as the ones equipping naval aviation planes).

That said, an image of a plane landing on a normal runway is usual. The image above was taken by Giovanni Maduli to an Israeli Air Force F-16B, belonging to the 140 Sqn, landing on runway 35R in Decimomannu airbase on Nov. 24, 2010.

 

Salva

The following picture taken at Decimomannu airbase on Nov. 17, 2010, unveils an interesting detail: the Israeli F-16B Nezt just taken off from runway 35 for a Vega 2010 sortie carries what seems to be a chaff and a flare dispenser among the ventral fins, something that was never noticed before.

Close-up view: