Activity took place at Anápolis Air Base between June 2nd and June 7th
Air Force Agency: 1st GTT, by Lieutenant Marize Torres
A joint operation between the 1st Troop Transport Group (1st GTT), Zeus Squadron, and the 1st Transport Group (1st/1st GT), Gordo Squadron, created an initial milestone in night vision operations with night vision goggles on the KC-390 Millenium aircraft. The action took place at Anápolis Air Base (BAAN) between June 2nd and June 7th.
The equipment, also called NVG (Night Vision Goggles), amplifies ambient light up to 50 thousand times and takes advantage of moonlight and starlight so that pilots and other crew members can fly with high operational capacity, even in very low light conditions. In this scenario, the first flight with only crew members from the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) in the KC-390 aircraft took place during the early morning of June 3, and represented a significant advance in the possibilities of using this aircraft.
According to the commander of the 1st GTT, Lieutenant Colonel Bruno Américo Pereira, the objective of the mission was to develop a doctrine of acting at any time of the day or night. “All missions with the KC-390 Millennium will be able to be performed with the NVG, expanding the employment capacity of this aircraft in any type of scenario. Airborne Infiltration and Exfiltration, Airborne Assault, Airborne Resupply and In-flight Refueling are examples of missions that can be performed,” explained the Officer.
The training at BAAN includes take-offs, tactical navigations for crew members’ familiarization, and landings with night vision equipment. The incorporation of the NVG flight technique in the FAB’s KC-390 further increases the aircraft’s versatility, since it allows it to use the little light available at night, making it possible to carry out missions fully, 24 hours a day.
According to the BAAN Commander, Aviator Colonel Renato Leal Leite, the NVG has given a new operational dimension to the FAB crew members and now it will also give to the KC-390 Millennium operators. “The incorporation and consolidation of the NGV on the KC-390, a technique already established in the FAB, represents a great advance for the Brazilian Armed Forces, which now have at their disposal a new transport aircraft capable of operating effectively at any time of the day or night. The new KC-390 aircraft, with its transport capacity, range and improved night vision, strengthens and enhances Brazil in the South American Military Aviation scenario,” he concluded.
The NVG has been used in many military aircraft, and FAB has been operating it for more than a decade in aircraft such as the A-29 Super Tucano, C-105 Amazonas, H-36 Caracal, H-60 Black Hawk and the A-1. The KC-390, from now on, will also be part of this select group.
Photos: 1st GTT