November 07, 2012 Military Aviation News

EADS Flying Solo Leaves Enders Repairing Investors Faith in Jets

11/07/2012

A month after European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. (EAD) buried plans to merge with BAE Systems Plc (BA/), Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders gets a chance to assure investors he can ride out demand swings in civil aviation alone. Enders will announce third-quarter earnings tomorrow that further tilt Europe’s largest aerospace company toward its Airbus civil aircraft business.

The Air Force's Flight to Weakness

11/07/2012

Serious talk of America's defense budget was largely absent from the final weeks of the presidential campaign, once President Barack Obama likened Gov. Mitt Romney's concerns to an anachronistic focus on "horses and bayonets." But when Mr. Romney lamented that (among other things) the U.S. Air Force has the fewest airplanes it has ever had, he was correct. At its founding in 1947, it had more than 12,300 planes. Today: approximately 5,200.

Boeing wins another billion-dollar-plus Indian military contract

11/07/2012

Boeing, which has won a string of competitive victories against other multi-national defense contractors for Indian military business in recent times, has added another contract to its string. Defense News is reporting that Boeing has won a $1.4 billion contract to furnish India with 15 CH-47F heavy-lift helicopters. Boeing had been competing against Russian military contractors who had proposed furnishing India with Mi-26 helicopters.

Philippines Protecting South China Sea Interests

11/07/2012

China's increased assertiveness over territorial claims to the South China Sea is leading the Philippines to embark on the biggest military procurement program it has ever undertaken.

Syrian Defector Says Most Bomber Pilots Grounded

11/07/2012

A former Syrian air force general who was also the country's first astronaut said Tuesday that only about one-third of Syria's fighter pilots are carrying out the daily bombing raids of rebel strongholds because President Bashar Assad's regime cannot count on the loyalty of the rest.

As U.S. Navy Consolidates Spy Plane Units, Critics Say ISR Will Suffer

11/07/2012

Although there has been an ever-increasing demand for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to help scour hostile ground, the Navy plans to cut nearly a quarter of its highly specialized multi-intelligence aircraft in the next few years. Critics, including Navy officers familiar with the program, warn the cuts will degrade intelligence gathering for not just the Navy, but also land forces that have depended on the planes for combat operations.

Saudi air force in $4bn Boeing fighter jet deal

11/07/2012

US aerospace giant Boeing Company has secured a contract valued at US$4bn to modernise the Royal Saudi Arabian Air Force's fighter jet fleet, according to the Pentagon. The procurement order covers conversion of 68 existing F15S jets to the new F15S-A configuration.

F-35 Stopover in Marietta

11/07/2012

Employees at the Lockheed Martin facility here got the rare opportunity to see an F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighter up close on Nov. 5, as a new U.S. Marine Corps F-35B stopped by on its ferry flight from the Lockheed Martin production facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to the U.S. Navy’s test center at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md.

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