Afterburner.nl - Super Skyhawks at Cazaux

Singapore's Air Force training in France

Singapore is a very small country, hardly bigger than the city of New York. However, it considers its task to defend the country borders very serious. Therefore it has a well equipped air force with among other aircraft F-16s, F-5s and A-4s. Lack of airspace is drifting them to several other countries to improve the pilots skills. For training purposes the air force diverts to Australia, Brunei, United States of America and France. In the latter country, Super Skyhawks arrived at Cazaux air base back in the summer of 1998.

The 150 squadron was established in 1972 at Tengah and equipped with SF-260 trainers. In 1998 it was relocated to Cazaux and equipped with 18 (T)A-4SU’s (8 singles and 10 duals). The squadron nicknamed ‘Falcon’ is tasked with the Advanced Jet Training (AJT) over vast expanses of land and water of southern France. The Skyhawks also participate in several exercises annually in France. Besides this, they also appear in one or two air shows every season.

In the summer of the year 2000 afterburner had the pleasure of visiting the 150 squadron short. In some 30 minutes time we received a tour across the ramp, where we could take these pictures. Our guide informed us about their operations. He was also pleasantly surprised with the interest of all the aviation enthusiasts here in Europe. This is something they are not used to in Singapore. He told us that even their families were not allowed to come to their bases and watch their aircraft during operations. Unfortunately, at the moment of our visit there were no flying operations due to runway constructions at Cazaux air base.