Luxembourg Armed Forces A400M makes its maiden flight

The Airbus A400M ordered by the Luxembourg Armed Forces has made its maiden flight, marking a key milestone towards its delivery. The aircraft, known as MSN104, took off from Seville (Spain, at 16:08 local time (CET) and landed back on site 5 hours later.
The Luxembourg aircraft will be operated by the armed forces of Belgium and Luxembourg within a binational unit based in Belgium. MSN104 is scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of 2020.

Spain joins European Air Transport Command

Spain is the sixth country to assign air transport and refueling assets to the European Air Transport Command (EATC) in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
As of January 1, 2015, 28 Spanish aircraft will be assigned: 13 C-295 tactical transports, seven C-130 transports, five KC-130 tankers, and three Boeing 707 tanker and strategic transport aircraft .
The aircraft will join Airbus A310 passenger and transport aircraft, Airbus A321s, Airbus A340s, C-160 Transalls, C-130s, Falcon DA-20Es and DA-900Bs, Embraer ERJ135s and 145s, and KDC-10s from Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
aviationweek

First A400M flies into retirement

Airbus Military has reduced the size of its "Grizzly" development fleet of A400M tactical transports to three, after retiring its first-flight example and placing another aircraft into storage.
First flown on 11 December 2009, MSN1 was the first of five test aircraft to be flown in support of the eight-nation A400M programme. The aircraft performed its final flight from Toulouse, France on 4 November
The aircraft will be preserved and put on public view, with Airbus's heritage department to decide on its final display location next year.
In addition to Grizzly 1's removal from use, aircraft MSN3 has also now been placed into long-term storage. It is not intended to fly again, but could be returned to flight-test duties if required.
Airbus Military's remaining three development aircraft will be used to support the ongoing introduction of additional capabilities for the A400M. Two of the type have been delivered to the French air force, with Turkey due to receive its first example before year-end. Further customers for the type are Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Spain and the UK, with a total order book for 174 aircraft.
flightglobal

Belgium to launch F-16 replacement process

Belgium will issue a request for information in early 2014 to potential suppliers of a replacement for its F-16s.
The Belgian military has a current active fleet of 54 F-16A/Bs, with a further five being kept in flyable condition as an attrition reserve. Flown from Florennes and Kleine Brogel air bases, these are the retained examples from original acquisition of 160 of the type.
Current plans call for Belgium’s remaining F-16s to start leaving service in 2023.
Belgium has a close operational collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, which plans to replace its own F-16s with a fleet of 37 Lockheed F-35A Joint Strike Fighters. The US manufacturer has previously identified Belgium as being a potential future customer for the stealthy type.
The Belgian and Dutch governments recently signed an agreement under which they will pool the future delivery of air policing cover for both nations and Luxembourg.
Four of Belgium’s F-16s are currently providing quick reaction cover for Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on behalf of NATO.
Six Belgian F-16s are also now supporting the NATO-led ISAForce in Afghanistan, operating from Kandahar airfield.
flightglobal

Luxembourg takes over Op Atalanta airborne patrol duties

At the end of February the Luxembourg Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance (MPRA) detachment returns to the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia Operation Atalanta counter piracy mission.
The Benelux country takes over maritime patrol and reconnaissance duties from the Swedish Coast Guard MPRA unit operating from the Seychelles.
During previous deployments with EU NAVFOR, the two Luxembourg Merlin IIIC maritime patrol aircraft flew 775 missions, totalling 4,500 flying hours. These missions covered counter piracy sea searches, information gathering and vessel escorts.
In their previous deployment the aircraft were involved in over more than 50 maritime incidents; including detection of pirate action groups at sea, guiding EU NAVFOR and other counter piracy forces towards suspicious activity as well as providing imagery of piracy related incidents.
The acting detachment commander said: “We are pleased to have returned to the EU Naval Force mission. All members of the Luxembourg detachment recognise the importance of contributing to the overall counter piracy effort in the Somali Basin.”
defenceweb