Special Purpose

Military Aviation News

US military transit center in C. Asia completes last operation

03/08/2014

The commander of a US military air transit center in Kyrgyzstan said Thursday that the facility has performed its final mission, well ahead of its scheduled closure later this year. Colonel John Millard said flights from the base for in-flight refueling and cargo and personnel transport in support of operations in Afghanistan had been completed. Remaining work will focus on clean-up and transferring the facility over to the Central Asian nation’s authorities by a July 11 deadline, Millard said.

F-35 ‘irrelevant’ without accompanying stealth jet, says U.S. general

New questions are being raised about whether the F-35 stealth fighter is the right aircraft for Canada after a U.S. general acknowledged the jet is limited in what it can do and needs to be accompanied on its missions by another multi-million-dollar aircraft. The issue for Canada and other potential F-35 buyers is that the other aircraft referred to by the general – the F-22 – isn’t available for foreign sales because of its sophisticated technology.

Pentagon Defends Cutting Guard’s Combat Aircraft

Lawmakers criticized the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 defense budget today, arguing that it will strip the National Guard of two key combat aircraft – the AH-64 Apache helicopter and the venerable A-10 Warthog. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s defense spending plan proposes to retire the entire fleet of A-10 aircraft, a close air support platform designed to kill Soviet tanks during the Cold War. The A-10 is operated by the Air National Guard and has been highly effective against ground targets during

Russia Starts Massive Air Defense Drills Amid Crimea Standoff

Russia’s Western Military District has begun large-scale air defense drills at its southern testing range of Kapustin Yar on the backdrop of further escalation of tensions with the West over Ukraine. Kapustin Yar, located some 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, will host about 3,500 troops and over 1,000 units of military hardware for about a month. The exercise will culminate with live-firing drills, involving S-300, Buk-M1 and other air defense systems.

U.S. Moves Six Fighter Jets to Baltics, More Airmen to Poland

The U.S. military is increasing its presence in Poland and the Baltics in response to the crisis in Ukraine, officials said Wednesday. The military will deploy jets now in the Britian — six F-15 fighters and one KC-135 re-fueler — to Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania, a U.S. defense official told NBC News.

US taking steps to help NATO allies in Europe

The Obama administration took steps Wednesday to support the defenses of U.S. allies in Europe in response to Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S. was stepping up joint aviation training with Polish forces. The Pentagon also is increasing American participation in NATO's air policing mission in its Baltic countries, he said.

How Russian, Ukrainian forces stack up

Underfunded, underequipped and with its senior leadership often seen close to Moscow, Ukraine's military has been something of a no-show in its confrontation with Moscow. But that, experts say, has probably been largely deliberate. Ukrainian forces have been involved in some stand-offs with Russian forces particularly around bases in Crimea, some of which have long been shared between Kiev and Russian forces attached to the Black Sea Fleet.

Obama Budget: New Sikorsky Helicopter Funded But Not Guaranteed

The president's $496 billion budget proposal for the military has nothing but good news for Sikorsky. In it, the Pentagon plans to buy more Black Hawk helicopters than last year and to move forward with a new multibillion-dollar program for a combat rescue helicopter, the competition for which Sikorsky was the sole bidder.

Air Force would cut 20,400 airmen, 2,700 civilian jobs under budget proposal

The Air Force would cut 20,400 airmen and about 2,700 civilian jobs and retire dozens of planes under a $109.3 billion fiscal year 2015 budget request focused on replacing an aging aircraft fleet and boosting readiness hurt through sequestration, according to federal budget documents released Tuesday.

China's Xi ramps up military spending in face of worried region

Analysis: Japan MoD Offers Evidence of Chinese Aircraft Intrusions

Decision time: Canada needs new fighter jets – now

Russia Reinforces Armenian Base With Overhauled MiG-29 Fighter Jets

Turkey scrambles fighter jets to intercept Russian aircraft

Sweden sends jets to Baltic after Russian move

Design of long-delayed KF-X still in debate

US, Greek forces complete bilateral flight training, build partnerships

Air Force Budget Slashes Legacy Aircraft

Alenia Aermacchi completes first Tranche 3 Eurofighter

With 2015 budget, Pentagon looks beyond Afghanistan