Combat Aircraft Monthly 08/2013

BAE SYSTEMS IS camming out the first trial installation of the Euroradar E-Scan antenna for the Eurofighter Typhoon. The company's test aircraft IPA5 is undergoing modification at Wart on ahead of planned flight trials from early 2014. Although the Euroradar effort (led by Selex ES) is still proceeding under industry funding, the company expects the four Eurofighter partner nations to commit to some funding for the final stages of development and production, possibly in 2014. While the partner nations have their own active electronically scanned array (AESA) requirements, this effort is clearly pitched towards the export campaign as a crucial factor in current and future sales efforts. The Euroradar E-Scan effort is known as Project 40. and the radar will first be fielded under the so-called Export Interim Standard (EIS) to meet a projected fielding date of the first quarter of 2017 for potential export customers.

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Classic Military Vehicle 07/2013

We're top and tailing this month's editorial content with two features on 3A-ton Dodges which aren't what they appear to be at first - or indeed second -glance. What do I mean by that? Well, take a look at the impressive vehicle decorating these pages. If you've a little knowledge of the Dodge WC-series or have a vehicle directory to hand you might believe it to be a WC60 emergency repair truck. Indeed, check the truck over at a show and you'll spot a very convenient (perhaps too convenient) brass plate suggesting exactly that and informing you that the body was manufactured by the American Body & Coach Co of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1942. On the other hand, if you really know your Dodges or take a second look at that vehicle directory you'll start to realise that things don't quite add up. The fold-down locker doors either side should have strengthening ribs on the outside, not the inside, and the rear body is too far forward, causing the spare wheel to prevent access to the driver's seat just as it would on an early WC51 weapons carrier. Then the penny will drop; this 'WC60' is on a 98in (2489mm) wheelbase chassis, not the 121 in (3073mm) chassis that the WC60 shared with, among other types, the WC54 ambulance.

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Airfix Model World 08/2013

HK Models is probably not a familiar brand to most among the styrene model kit fraternity. The Hong Kong-based company was set up in 2010 and this is its first offering into the modelling world. Die-hard Mitchell fans will also be delighted to know that the dedicated gun-nosed B-25H is also being considered by HK Models. Many modellers will be very familiar with the North American B-25. It was designed in the late 1930s and with the outbreak of World War Two, North American Aviation received an initial contract for 184 B-25s to be manufactured in September 1939. By the end of the production run, 10,000 examples of this medium-range bomber had been built. The prototype flew in August 1940 and the first operational B-25 was accepted into service in 1941. The aircraft itself went through many modifications throughout its service life and has been described by many as the best medium bomber of its era. The aircraft served in three different theatres during World War Two and participated in the famous Doolittle Raid, in which B-25Bs launched from the USS Hornet to attack Japan, on April 18,1942.

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AFV Modeller Issue 71

Modern Russian vehicles have always been a subject that I have found very captivating. I always pick up the newest kits and the new photo-etch and resin conversions find a way into my work shop. Since painting and weathering a vehicle in combat conditions is my favorite part of modelling, most modern Russian subjects get pushed to the back of the work bench as I build and paint the newest WW II project. A shinny T-72 on parade in Moscow just won't do it for me. As I was researching current Russian uniforms for some figures I was painting, images of the Russian Army in Chechnya keep showing up. A particular picture of a combat weary T-62 with a KMT-7 mine roller peaked my interest. After quick check of my stash, I was confident I had all the necessary parts to re-create the T-62.

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