Air Force Gallery

US Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter

Pictured are two US Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk Multi-Mission Helicopters at Kandahar Airfield in 2010.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft.
The primary mission of the Blackhawk helicopter is as a troop carrier and logistical support aircraft, but in addition the helicopter can be configured to carry out medical evacuation, command-and-control, search-and-rescue, armed escort, electronic warfare and executive transport missions.
Kandahar Airfield, Kandahar Provence in Afghanistan was used by the RAF for combat operations from 2001 to 2014.
Part of Kandahar Airfield was known as RAF Kandahar, It operated RAF, Fleet Air Arm and Army Air Corps aircraft and was one end of the "Air Bridge" that started inRAF Brize Norton in the UK.
All otherISAFairborne forces were also based there.
Kandahar International Airport as it was called originally is located some 10 miles South-East of the city of Kandahar in Afghanistan.
It is the country's second international airport and one of its biggest military bases, it has the space for over two hundred military aircraft

C17 Transport Aircraft Taking Off from RAF Brize Norton

A Royal Air Force 99 Squadron C17 aircraft taking off from RAF Brize Norton providing air transport assistance to France for the Central African Republic (CAR).
The C17 is capable of rapid, strategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases anywhere in the world, or directly to more temporary forward operating bases owing to its short field capability. The design of the aircraft allows it to carry out high-angle, steep approaches at relatively slow speeds, thus allowing it to operate into small, austere airfields onto runways as short as 3, 500 feet long and only 90 feet wide.
The aircraft can operate into and out of problematic sites such as those surrounded by inhospitable terrain or made difficult by adverse weather conditions. The fully-integrated, electronic flight-deck and the advanced cargo-handling systems allow a basic crew of only two pilots and one air loadmaster to operate the aircraft.
On the ground, the aircraft can be turned in a very small radius and its four Pratt & Whitney engines are fully reversible, giving it the ability to manoeuvre into and out of restricted parking or freight-offload areas at undeveloped strips.
This enables the C-17 to deliver cargo to small airfields with limited parking space in a shorter time, so increasing throughput where time on the ground is kept to a minimum. The C-17 can transport 45, 360kgs of freight over 4, 500 nautical miles whilst flying at heights in excess of 30, 000 feet

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Supermarine Spitfire

Supermarine Spitfire LF.IXe (NH193 A-CI) of 331 Squadron Royal Norwegian Air Force, in flight over Oslo Fjord, June 1949

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