USAF F-16s from Italy are quietly deployed to Djibouti

The U.S. Air Force has quietly deployed a number of KC-135s and F-16s to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, this was at the request of Africa Command.
U.S. Africa Command said it was a “precautionary measure in order to protect Americans and American interests in South Sudan if required.”
stripes

Chabelley Airfield in Djibouti The small airstrip that is the future of America’s way of war

The Pentagon is quietly building up a small airstrip in a remote region of east Africa as part of its war against Islamic militants. More importantly, the airfield is a complex microcosm of how Washington runs military operations overseas — and how America’s way of war will probably look for the foreseeable future.
Chabelley Airfield is less than 10 miles from the capital of the small African nation of Djibouti. The small airport is the hub for America’s drone operations in the nearby hotspots of Somalia and Yemen.
But in spite of all of this, Chabelley isn’t what it might otherwise seem – at least not officially. You see, the site is not technically an American base.
“Chebelley [as the Pentagon likes to spell it] was categorized by the U.S. Global Defense Posture Report to Congress as an enduring Cooperative Security Location based upon the U.S. strategic interests in maintaining access for the foreseeable future.”
In plain English, Washington does not own the site, sometimes referred to by the acronym CSL. In contrast to the big American bases in Europe and Asia during the Cold War, the Pentagon has favored cutting deals with countries for access to existing runways and ports in its fight against militants around the globe something that make sense in an era of shrinking budgets
reuters

Mysterious NASA Plane Spotted in Africa

A mysterious NASA plane has been spotted in eastern Africa, leaving people curious whether it was on some secret mission.
The broad-winged white plane named WB-57 was photographed by the satellite company Digital Globe in the Republic of Djibouti in September.
According to the space agency, all three WB-57s are now back in the US with their status listed as "inactive".
According to NASA's website, the WB-57s have been flying research missions "since the early 1970s and continue to be an asset to the scientific community with professional, reliable, customer-oriented service designed to meet all scientific objectives".
The plane can fly nearly as high as the famed U2 spy plane and carry more weight - including an array of high-tech imagery and communications equipment, the report added.
The WB-57 can carry any number of sensor payloads.
ndtv

French Army tests Tiger HAD, the latest Tiger helicopter version

The latest version of the Tiger combat helicopter of the French Army, the Tiger HAD has undergone operational trials at a French military base in Djibouti.
The testing in Djibouti, were to evaluate the aircraft's performance in high temperature conditions and desert/sand environment, and also or operating the aircraft under difficult conditions.
The tests were necessary to clear the new aircraft for operational use later this year and included live-fire exercises with gun, rockets and missiles.
The testing lasted one month.
upi.com

U.S. mission in place to aid in the search for 250 schoolgirls abducted in Nigeria

The US are conducting surveillance flights over Nigeria in the search for more than 250 abducted schoolgirls and is considering the deployment of drones to the region to bolster the effort.
The US has 27 experts and security officials assigned to the mission already in place in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The team includes five State Department officials, 10 Pentagon planners and advisers who were already in Nigeria, and seven more sent from the U.S. military’s Africa Command, along with four FBI experts in safe recovery, negotiations and prevention of kidnappings.
Officials say U.S. drones could be called into service in hunt for the 250 schoolgirls abducted by Islamists.
The United States will use its own satellite or other surveillance data and provide intelligence analysis for the search effort.
A senior Pentagon official said that the United States has not mobilized drones to aid the search but that commanders in Africa are exploring whether to do so.
The United States has drones at three military outpost in Africa — in Djibouti in the eastern Horn of Africa, where both armed and unarmed aircraft are based, and in Ethi­o­pia and Niger, which shares a long border with Nigeria. The U.S. Air Force began using unarmed drones from Niger early last year on surveillance missions in search of al-Qaeda fighters and guerrillas from other groups in north and west Africa.
The United States also is likely to provide help monitoring and intercepting communications among members of Boko Haram.
U.S. officials cautioned that the mission to find the schoolgirls would not be easy.
washingtonpost

Spanish Air Forces Rotate Aircraft Crew In Djibouti

The 33rd Spanish Air Forces Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) crew joins the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta. The 32nd and 33rd crew rotations performed their hand over in Djibouti on January 23rd.
Spanish MPRA detachment is composed of 44 people. The aircrew and maintenance members usually join the mission for a two months period.
During the last two months with the EU’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta, the outgoing personnel of the 32nd rotation, usually based in Palma de Mallorca with the Spanish Air Forces Wing 48, has flown 25 night and day sorties.
With more than 200 flying hours, they have flown over 26.000 nautical miles. This comes up to at least one trip all around the world.
Spanish detachment of the EU Naval Force MPRA “Orion” has been able to fly without cancelling any tasked mission since June 2012. Their contribution to the EU’s counter piracy operation has been of enormous value, and their achievements are based on their outstanding willingness and enthusiasm.
eunavfor

366th Fighter Wing F-15E Strike Eagles return home from Africa Shadow War

On Oct. 5, a flight of (at least four) F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft with 366th Fighter Wing returned to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, after being deployed to an “undisclosed location” in Southwest Asia.
Her most probably base was Djibouti, from where an F-15E contingent has been (covertly) operating for more than 10 years in support of Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa as an Expeditionary Squadron of the 380th Expeditionary Operations Group, based at Al Dhafra, in the United Arab Emirates.
David Cenciotti-theaviationist

US relocates drones airfield after Djibouti crashes

The Pentagon is shifting its drone operations from a US base in Djibouti to a more remote airfield after local officials voiced concern about possible collisions with commercial aircraft.
"There was a concern over what would happen if a MQ-1 (Predator drone) obstructed a runway, and that it would have a significant impact on commercial air operations," said an official.
After the attacks of September 11 2001, Camp Lemonnier -- located next to the Djibouti international airport -- took on crucial strategic importance for Washington as a site for stationing special operations forces and drones for assaults on Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen and Islamist Shabab forces in Somalia.
afp

El P.3 Orión del Ejército del Aire desplegado en Yibuti cumple 45 años

El pasado día 13 de junio se cumplieron 45 años de la entrada en servicio del avión P.3 Orión del Ejército del Aire, con número de fuselaje 22-31, que actualmente está desplegado en Yibuti formando parte de la Operación Atalanta de la Unión Europea.
De aquel primitivo avión, construido en 1958 en Estados Unidos, apenas queda el fuselaje. Todos sus sistemas operativos han sido modernizados por la empresa aeronáutica española EADS-CASA, finalizando la última de ellas en mayo de 2012. Sus continuas puestas al día le han convertido en un referente entre los aviones de patrulla marítima.
ateneadigital

El Ejército del Aire cumple 4 años en Atalanta y supera las 600 misiones

El Destacamento Orión del Ejército del Aire ha cumplido cuatro años desplegado en la operación Atalanta de lucha contra la piratería en el Índico, durante los que ha realizado 601 misiones.

El avión P3 Orión culminaba esta semana con éxito la misión número 601 encomendada a este destacamento, que tiene su base en Yibuti, según informa el Ejército del Aire.

Durante estos cuatro años el Ejército del Aire está preparando y sosteniendo, de forma ininterrumpida, tanto al personal como al material del destacamento, contribuyendo así de forma decisiva al notable éxito alcanzado en la misión.

El destacamento Orión ha sido la única presencia permanente en la zona de operaciones, constituyéndose así en pieza clave de las fuerzas de la Unión Europea para la operación Atalanta.

Desde que comenzó la misión han sido destacados a Yibuti más de 700 hombres y mujeres de diferentes unidades del Ejército del Aire.

Los aviones han realizado 1.442 horas de vuelo, identificado a más de 120.000 buques mercantes, localizando e investigando más de 3.000 embarcaciones sospechosas y realizando más de 60.000 fotografías e imágenes, según el Ejército del Aire.

eldiario

Russia may deploy Il-38 in Djibouti

Russia wants to deploy two Il-38 naval reconnaissance planes at the French base in Djibouti for anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden.

ria