October 24, 2012 Military Aviation News
10/24/2012
On the night of August 7, 2008, what military experts and historians say is the world’s first two-sided drone war began. Georgia, convinced Russia was about to annex its separatist region of South Ossetia, made the first move by bombarding and then invading the separatist capital, Tskhinvali. What followed was a destructive five-day war that was to a great extent provoked and fought by drones, waking Russia up to the strategic importance of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology.
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10/24/2012
Britain is doubling the number of armed RAF drones flying missions in Afghanistan. And for the first time, the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be controlled by airmen at computer screens in the UK. Two ‘pilots’ will operate the robots via satellite from a hi-tech hub at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire.
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10/24/2012
A statement from National Defence says the head of the air force misspoke when saying the Harper government had yet to direct the air force to look at aircraft other than the contentious F-35 stealth fighter. The newly appointed commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force said in an interview last week with The Canadian Press that he's assigned a staff officer to work with a public works agency overseeing the CF-18 replacement program.
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10/24/2012
The Eurofighter combat aircraft has entered service with the Italian air force's 18 Sqn at Trapani-Birgi air base in Sicily, with the unit having been reformed following the phasing-out of its last Lockheed Martin F-16s in May. Part of the air force's 37th Wing, 18 Sqn will be responsible for defending Italy's national airspace, alongside the service's 4th Wing at Grosseto and 36th Wing at Gioia del Colle.
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10/24/2012
Commercial space ventures are getting most of the buzz, but the U.S. government is still operating strategic spacecraft. The Air Force’s secret X-37B unmanned space plane is scheduled for liftoff next month on a classified mission to Earth’s orbit after its launch this week was scrubbed due to a mechanical failure.
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10/24/2012
Lockheed Martin Corp has won a contract worth $889.5 million to build 13 more C-130J transport planes for the U.S. military, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday. The U.S. Defense Department said the agreement modified an existing contract and includes seven MC-130J planes for Air Force Special Operations Command, four HC-130J planes for Air Combat Command, one KC-130J for the Marine Corps and one C-130J for Air Mobility Command.
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10/24/2012
The Israeli and United States armed forces started their largest-ever joint air defense and anti-missile exercise on Sunday, involving thousands of service personnel and the two nation's principal air defense missile systems, the Israeli Army told RIA Novosti.
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10/24/2012
Ever increasing threats and the need for force protection by systems that provide constant situational awareness of one’s surroundings prompted Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] to add a persistent surveillance option to its Dragon series of ISR systems.
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10/24/2012
After multiple ground demonstrations in operational environments, a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] penetrating radar capability that can peer through trees to detect slowly moving troops and ground vehicles is ready for the next step in testing.
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10/24/2012
Lockheed Martin successfully tested its Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) dual-mode seeker in high-speed captive flight tests, demonstrating its ability to track ground targets while flying at tactical speeds. The company-funded tests were conducted on a Sabreliner jet at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz. The data collected from the tests validated the maximum ranges of the seeker’s millimeter wave and semi-active laser sensor modes against representative targets.
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