March 27, 2012 Military Aviation News
03/27/2012
Embraer said it expects a cancelled US Air Force contract for light attack aircraft to be re-tendered “within weeks” in a deal seen as crucial to the defence ambitions of the Brazilian aircraft producer. Embraer’s bid to sell 20 of its Super Tucano to the US for use in Afghanistan comes as the world’s third largest commercial jet maker is looking to grow its defence sales by nearly 10 per cent this year.
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03/27/2012
AUSTRALIA'S Cocos Islands territory could be used as a staging point for spy flights by United States military drones over the South China Sea, according to an US newspaper report.
Citing US and Australian sources, The Washington Post said the Pentagon was eyeing the Indian Ocean territory's coral atolls as an ideal site to launch Global Hawk surveillance drones, as well as manned surveillance flights.
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03/27/2012
The severe budget austerity gripping much of Europe does not augur well for air forces looking to achieve leaps in capability for the next decade. It is somewhat a matter of luck, then, that foreign demand is effectively pushing stingy treasuries to provide funding to field upgrades. The list of European militaries likely to benefit from these export-driven enhancements is long and includes the Swedish, French, British and German air forces.
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03/27/2012
Business leaders, elected officials and others in Michigan are joining forces to persuade Air Force brass to pull back the throttle on their plan to cut hundreds of Air National Guard personnel in Macomb County, Battle Creek and Alpena. The planned cuts have done the seemingly unthinkable.
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03/27/2012
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer has selected AdaCore's GNAT Pro avionics software as part of its strategy to upgrade Brazilian Air Force AMX combat aircraft. GNAT Pro, a commercial-grade open source software written in Ada computer programming language, has seen its usage expand from aviation to other means of transport and public and private sector systems.
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03/27/2012
Europe's ability to develop next-generation combat aircraft has been dangerously eroded, and will reach "a point of no return" unless collaborative funding decisions are made soon, a new industry study warns. Commissioned by the European Defence Agency (EDA), the Future Air Systems for Europe (FAS4Europe) group study says "the situation for future air systems is severe, with some important industrial capabilities and technologies already at risk".
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03/27/2012
The message is embarrassing but clear: with India failing to get its act together to build a strong defence-industrial base (DIB) unlike China, it will continue to be the world's largest arms importer in the foreseeable future. So, gleeful global armament giants are again lining up to hard-sell their aircraft, helicopters, drones, submarines, howitzers, futuristic infantry combat vehicles, missiles, assault rifles and carbines at India's biennial arms jamboree here.
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03/27/2012
The first night refueling in the history of the Lockheed Martin F-35 program was completed Thursday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Piloted by U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Vitt, AF-4, an F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, rendezvoused with an Air Force KC-135 tanker and successfully received fuel through the F-35’s boom receptacle.
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03/27/2012
Airbus Military has successfully completed receiver qualification of the two primary aircraft-types that the UAE Air Force will refuel from the three A330 MRTT multi role tanker transports that it currently has on order.
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