The first military movement of the year consisted of two Israeli Air Force Gulfstream V’s that visited Malta to conduct a touch and go and a missed approach respectively. The Israeli Air Force is becoming a regular visitor to LMML to conduct these sort of navigational training flights. The serials concerned are ‘679’ and ‘537’, both of which have already visited Malta for similar training flights in the past.
Following my first visit to Japan back in May 2018, I decided to visit Asia again in 2019, this time adding two more countries apart from Japan. This time I decided to visit South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
This trip was made possible and easier thanks to three different airshows in each country that all fell within a particular time window, enabling planning to be easier. Firstly, I set out to South Korea for ADEX, one of the few possibilities that exist to be able to easily take pictures of South Korean military hardware. This was followed by a visit to Taiwan, starting with the Tainan Open Base Airshow organised by the Taiwanese military, and then on to Japan for the Shimofusa Airshow (which was eventually cancelled due to typhoons in Japan).
In between, I spent around two and a half weeks travelling across these countries spotting outside military air bases. Below you can find some of the highlights of my trip:
Report of South Korea can be found here: South Korea Spotting Trip 2019
Report of Taiwan can be found here: Taiwan Spotting Trip 2019
Report of Japan can be found here: Japan Spotting Trip 2019
Never in a million years would I have expected to see Gabriel, the French Air Force SIGINT version of the C-160 Transall landing in LMML, but on the 20th December of 2019 the unthinkable happened!
This was the first ever visit by this type of aircraft in Malta, of which France has only two examples in its inventory. These two aircraft were furnished for SIGINT electronic surveillance, designated C-160G Gabriel, replacing the Noratlases that had been in this role previously. In routine operations, the C-160Gs often supplements France’s Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft. In 1991, a SIGNIT-equipped C-160G was deployed as part of France’s contribution to Coalition forces during and after the Gulf War to support a no-fly zone and embargoing of Iraq.
The aircraft arrived after a brief patrolling mission within Malta’s FIR for a fuel stop on its way back up to France. On the same day, a French Navy Falcon 50 Surmar also visited LMML for a fuel stop, also following a 3 hour maritime patrol mission within Malta’s FIR. This was another highlight of the day, especially since the French Navy is a rare visitor at LMML.
This week, Malta’s international airport and its Grand Harbour hosted two arms of the Italian Military. While LMML was home for a week to an HH-139A of the Italian Air Force, the Grand Harbour was host to ITS Vesuvio, a Stromboli-class replenishment oiler on board of which was an extremely rare Agusta AB-212 ASW of the Italian Navy.
The AMI HH-139A was in Malta to participate and train with the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) on the use of night vision goggles and SAR operations, continuing the long standing existing relationship between both air arms. Malta Aviation Society organised a visit at the AFM air wing to enable its members to get up close and personal with this helicopter. A report of this visit will be published shortly on this website.
Both aircraft were greatly appreciated by all Maltese aviation enthusiasts especially since these aircraft are not so often seen in Malta, despite our close proximity to Italy.
What a week it has been for military movements at LMML! Following a return visit by the first operational Brazilian Air Force KC-390 (read the story here: Embraer’s Finest Passes Through LMML!), on its way back to Brazil following its participation in Dubai Air Show 2019, two exotic visitors decided to grace our airport with their presence during this week.
The first visitor consisted of a Royal Oman Police Casa 235, on its way back home to Oman following maintenance at Airbus maintenance plant in Seville. It stopped in Malta for a night stop on the 26th November prior to proceeding on its journey the following morning. This was the air frame’s second visit at LMML following a similar visit in 2017 when it was routing from Oman to Seville at that time.
On the same day, also from Seville, a CASA C-295W landed in Malta for a night stop. This CASA is the second and last example of the type being delivered to the Royal Thai Army. It sports a mixed green-brown glossy livery making it stand out beautifully in the Maltese autumn sun. Similarly to the Oman CASA, it landed on the 26th and departed the following morning headed for Thailand.
On November 14th 2019, an Embraer KC-390 belonging to the Brazilian Air Force transited through LMML while on its way to Dubai International Air Show. This was the second time the type visited the Maltese Islands following an earlier visit by the company demonstrator a few years back. This example was delivered by Embraer to Wing 2 of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) during a Sept. 4 ceremony at Anápolis air base.
On the 8th October 2019, an Airbus Military Casa C-295M landed at Luqa for a night stop on delivery to the Philippines Air Force. This is the fourth aircraft of the type being delivered to the Philippines Air Force.
A migration summit held in Malta yesterday 23rd September 2019 saw a number of high profile visitors to the Maltese Islands to discuss important issues related to the migration problem in the Mediterranean.
Notable military arrivals included a French Air Force Dassault Falcon 2000, an Italian Air Force Dassault Falcon 50, and a German Air Force Airbus A319. All three aircraft departed late afternoon and luckily all departed in sunny conditions.
Yesterday, 20th September 2019, 2 ex RNLAF Alouette IIIs were shipped to Malta and delivered to the Armed Forces of Malta. It is believed that they will be used for spare components in order to sustain Malta’s aging Alouette IIIs. Both still had special anniversary markings, that were applied to commemorate 50 years of service with the RNLAF, celebrated back in 2014.
With pleasure and pride I can finally say I have reached 100 photos on my account on airliners.net, in my opinion the best aircraft photography web portal on the planet. The website is known for its strict policies in relation to quality images, hence my satisfaction in reaching the round figure of 100 images on this site!
The 100th photo belongs to the Royal Saudi Air Force C-130H departing on the Monday following Malta International Airshow 2017. You can find the link for this photo here.
alistairzammitphotography.com 