The January 2020 issue is suitably ‘winter themed’ for our readers in the northern hemisphere, with a lead story on the new confrontation between Russia and the West across the frozen Arctic north, and a report on the work of the 129th Airlift Squadron of the New York Air National Guard – probably the only flying unit that operates at opposite ends of the world.

A very different flying environment is profiled by Frédéric Lert, who visited French Polynesia, where half a dozen military aircraft share a wide range of missions on a territory the size of Europe.

There are also cutting-edge fighters, including a report on the Luftwaffe’s Eurofighters, which are now operating in the air-to-surface role with precision-guided bombs, plus a rare glimpse of the frontline assets of the Republic of China Air Force from the recent open day at Tainan Air Base.

The last exercises of the year are described, too, including the 11th iteration of Real Thaw in Portugal and the Israeli Air Force’s latest Blue Flag exercise at Ovda, which involved around 1,000 personnel and 70 aircraft – including, for the first time, F-35s from both Israel and Italy.

On the rotary side, we bring coverage from Güvercinlik air base near the Turkish capital, Ankara, home to the new CH-47F Chinooks of the Turkish Land Forces. Other transports include a photo report from the 24th Transport Aviation Base at Prague-Kbely, while Björn Rüdén joined the Swedish Air Force’s dedicated C-130 tanker, call sign ‘Mighty 842’, as Gripen pilots learn the art of aerial refuelling.

In terms of operations, AFM looks back at the Italian Air Force’s Task Group Black Cats as they flew their AMX fighter-bombers over Afghanistan, and there’s a timely report on Operation Helvetic – the British Army Air Corps’ current support role to the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the ongoing fight against terrorism.