MiG Defector! On 20 March of this year, a 38 year old Cuban Air Force Major defected to the U.S. in a MiG- 23 Flogger. As usual, our efficient Air Defense net in Southern Florida failed to note the intruder. The first indication of his arrival was when the Tower at NAS Key West spotted the MG circling the field with his gear down. The MiG safely landed and the pilot was enthusiastically greeted by a group of Navy Pilots who presented the Major a Six Pack of beer and a bag of candy bars before Customs Officials arrived to take custody of him. The MiG was shipped back to Cuba. French Rafale Production. France, embarassed that its Naval Air arm with their ancient F-8 Crusaders and elderly Super Entendards could not participate in the Gulf war due to lack of range, ECM, and near worthless mix of short range weaponry and radar, has announced that the Navy will be the first service to equip with the Rafale. The Production version is now known as the C-01 and is slightly smaller than the prototypes were. New Zealand Skyhawks. The RNZAF is considering disposing of its twenty-one recently upgraded and modernized A-4 Skyhawks. The official reason is budgetary, but the replacements would be eighteen MB-339 Aermacchi light attack trainers which are already being delivered. This would mean a considerable loss in range and payload capacity for the RNZAF and a weakening of allied Air Power in the South Pacific. ROK Stings Hornets The South Koreans have backed out of their decision to produce F-18s under license in favor of producing F- 16s instead. The single engine fighter being cheaper to produce and operate is expected to save the ROK government one billion dollars over its operational lifetime. The U.S. Navy and Marines on the other hand are going ahead with improved versions of the Hornet. A larger two seat model is in the works for long range strike to replace the aging A-6 which is still soldiering on after the cancellation of the ill-fated A-12 Avenger II. F-22 ATF. The Air Force's latest Stealth plane has been officially nicknamed the Lightning II. As soon as Air Power can get more information on it we will do a data card. By the way, if you are one of those who has been whining for an F-117 data card, we did that for Origins and passed them out as a special freebee for attendees. If you must truly have one, and you are not a homeless beggar, send an SASE to Tony and he will send you one as long as copies last. Larry Bond Harpooned GDW recently passed word to Larry that they had decided not to do the World War II version of Harpoon which Larry has been slaving on for the past year for them. If you know of a publisher willing to take on a multi- volume production of W.W.II naval miniatures rules, let us know and we will forward the info to Larry who will be much obliged. Well that's a quick look at recent events. Hasta la vista, Babe! Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 15 Back to Air Power List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by J.D. Webster This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com