December, 2012 Military Aviation News
12/31/2012
An Air Force plan to more than triple the area that can be used in training exercises for the Dakotas-based B-1 and B-52 bombers is still undergoing an environmental review nearly a year after the final report was expected. Officials at Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City, S.D., are in the process of holding phone meetings with Native American tribes throughout the area to talk about sensitive cultural, historic and religious properties on tribal lands.
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12/31/2012
The Defense Ministry has started studies on equipping the Self-Defense Forces with the V-22 Osprey, the U.S. military transport aircraft whose safety record has sparked huge protests in Okinawa Prefecture, sources said. The ministry is expected to demand millions of yen for research and studies on the aircraft in the fiscal 2013 budget plan.
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12/31/2012
The new contracts relate to a variety of the Company's fields of activity and include Unmanned Systems, Electronic Warfare, Electro-Optic Systems, Avionics and Land Systems.
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12/30/2012
U.S. Navy officials have issued an urgent order to equip the service's MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter with the Telephonics Corp. RDR-1700 maritime-surveillance radar system. The Northrop Grumman Corp. MQ-8 Fire Scout is a rotorcraft unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) deployed on Navy frigates, littoral combat ships, and other surface combatants for reconnaissance, situational awareness, and precision targeting.
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12/30/2012
The U.S. Army is nearing a decision on whether to open a competition for a new scout helicopter to supplant the current fleet of Kiowa Warriors made by Bell Helicopter. Military officials have been testing different choppers this year, including models from Boeing and EADS, in a "skyoff" acquisition strategy as it weighs whether to move forward with planned upgrades to the Vietnam-era Kiowa or seek a new model.
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12/30/2012
Lockheed Martin Corp was awarded up to $4.9bn in additional funding for its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme, the Pentagon announced yesterday, providing a significant end-of-year boost in orders for the largest US defense contractor. The US Defence Department said it had reached agreement with Lockheed on a preliminary contract valued at up to $3.68bn for 31 F-35s in a sixth batch of planes to be built for the US military, with details to be finalised the coming year.
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12/30/2012
With its heavy concentration of military facilities and defense companies, San Diego could be one of the hardest hit regions in the country by the fiscal cliff. The process called sequestration calls for automatic spending cuts of $1.2 trillion over 10 years, split equally between military and domestic programs.
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12/30/2012
The Syrian opposition destroyed 19 Mig fighting jets and 22 helicopters belonging to the regime's air force in 2012, according to survey by the Union of the Syrian Revolution Local Coordination Committees. Eleven planes were destroyed on the ground in opposition raids on various air bases across the country and 30 were shot down in action. A sizeable number, 43, of aircrafts destroyed was registered in the province of Idlib, where the first Mig fighter jet was shot down.
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12/30/2012
Former Kazakhstan Vice-Minister of Defense, Major General Amirbek Togussov supports the suggestion of the Majilis (Lower Chamber of Kazakhstan Parliament) to transfer of the whole military aviation fleet under the jurisdiction of one authority.
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12/30/2012
The end of the fighter pilot, and nearly a century of military fighter planes, is an idea that garners a lot of attention lately and this report out of Nebraska is a prime example why.
Andrew Nelson at the World-Herald writes that all 21 F-16s at the Iowa National Guard's 132nd Fighter Wing will be replaced with an unnamed type of pilotless drone.
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12/29/2012
Australia has removed the Wedgetail Boeing 737-based airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) program from its Projects of Concern list following delivery of all six aircraft and achievement in November of initial operational capability (IOC). The A$3.2 billion ($3.3 billion) Wedgetail program was added to the Projects of Concern list in January 2008 because of schedule delays and system performance issues. A remediation plan was agreed with Boeing in 2011, resetting IOC for 2012.
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12/29/2012
The Novosibirsk aircraft plant of the Sukhoi Holding (NAPO) will increase the output of Sukhoi Su-34 multirole bombers in 2013, a source in the defense sector told Interfax-AVN on Saturday. "In 2013 the Su-34 production at NAPO will be larger than in 2012," the source said. "While setting off batch production of Su-34, NAPO is constantly enlarging their output," he said.
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12/29/2012
Commercial production rising. Defense budgets falling. Economic uncertainties and regional instabilities that could affect both. That is the world the aerospace and defense industry faces entering 2013, and which is examined in detail in the pages that follow. But if there is one theme that recurs frequently through this latest edition of Aviation Week's annual forecast issue, it is China and its growing financial, industrial, political and military influence on aerospace and defense globally.
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12/29/2012
The California Air National Guard in Fresno is not flying its F-16 fighter jets after a pilot crashed during a routine training exercise Thursday night. The F-16 military jet went down in Owens Valley in Inyo County. The pilot safely ejected from the aircraft. Pilots at the 144th Fighter Wing are on what's called a "safety stand down" day, meaning all flights are grounded as part of standard procedure following a crash.
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12/29/2012
The U.S. military is scrapping the Afghan Air Force's entire fleet of Italian-made cargo planes, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. U.S. and Afghan officials told the paper that the Afghan military isn't expected to have an independent and fully functioning air force until around 2017, well after the withdrawal of most U.S. and international troops.
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12/29/2012
Russian aircraft maker MiG delivered in December a batch of four MiG-29K/KUB shipborne fighters to the Indian Navy under a contract concluded in 2010, the company said. With the delivery, MiG "has fulfilled all its obligations for 2012 stipulated in the 2010 contract with the Indian Defense Ministry,” the company said in a statement. In March 2010, Russia and India signed a $1.5-billion contract on the supply of 29 additional MiG-29K Fulcrum-D carrier-based fighter jets to New Delhi.
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12/29/2012
The Sukhoi aircraft maker delivered on Friday the first six Su-35S fighter jets to the Russian Air Force, the company said. The acceptance documents were signed by Defense Ministry officials at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft manufacturing plant in Russia’s Far East. “The Sukhoi holding has fulfilled its obligations on the delivery of this type of aircraft under the 2012 state defense order,” the company said in a statement.
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12/28/2012
Unlike most women in Afghanistan, Sourya Saleh knows how to drive — but she's taken the wheel only with her brother beside her, out of respect for tradition. Her friend Masooma Hussaini is still learning. Both young women, though, are experts in a more demanding mode of travel: They've flown 204 hours each as pilots of military helicopters. The first female chopper pilots in Afghanistan since the Soviets trained a woman as a pilot in the 1980s.
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12/28/2012
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At Istres on France’s south coast last week Dassault Aviation carried out the first public flight of its prototype unmanned fighter jet, the Neuron. As a crowd of c
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12/28/2012
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) on Friday commissioned newly-refurbished ground and air assets including the first ever C-130 cargo plane repaired completely by Filipino airmen.
Commissioned during simple ceremonies in Villamor Airbase in Pasay were the C-130 cargo plane, one Cessna LC-210 weather aircraft, a UH-1H helicopter and 12 M-3 trucks. The maintenance and repair of all these assets cost P579.4 million.
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12/28/2012
The Canadian Forces will need more than 350 people if it wants to create a new squadron for unmanned aircraft but the capability promised by Prime Minister Stephen Harper more than six years ago is still being studied within the military.
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12/28/2012
Ed Gulick, a U.S. Air Force spokesman, said in an emailed statement that the service on Dec. 18 notified Alenia Aermacchi North America, a unit of Italian defense conglomerate Finmeccanica SpA, that a contract to maintain and support 20 refurbished transport planes for the Afghan military wouldn't be renewed when it expires in March because Alenia didn't deliver enough flyable planes.
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12/28/2012
A naval division of China’s Chengdu Military Area Command (MAC) recently conducted a comprehensive double-runway support drill for multiple types of aircraft. Major military powers have all achieved double-runway support, which is a general trend for modern air combat and comprehensive support, said Fang Dianrong, commander of the air force under the Chengdu MAC.
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12/28/2012
Boeing has received a $145 million order from the U.S. Navy for two additional C-40A Clipper transport aircraft, increasing the service's ability to move military personnel and cargo around the world. The modified Next-Generation 737-700 aircraft will be the 13th and 14th C-40As in the Navy's Unique Fleet Essential Airlift Replacement Aircraft Program, which is replacing the Navy Reserve's aging fleet of DC-9-based C-9B Skytrains.
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12/27/2012
The U.S. military has begun a staged, five-year process that will see each of its three main stealth warplane types deployed to bases near China. When the deployments are complete in 2017, Air Force F-22s and B-2s and Marine Corps F-35s could all be within striking range of America’s biggest economic rival at the same time. With Beijing now testing its own radar-evading jet fighters.
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12/27/2012
The Russian Air Force has taken delivery of five new multifunctional Su-34 bombers on Wednesday, according to an official statement. Earlier this year, the Russian MoD and the Sukhoi Corporation signed a contract worth 2.5 billion euros for 92 Su-34 bombers. The aircraft is referred to a 4+ generation aircraft due to its combat readiness after tests completed in 2011.
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12/27/2012
Drones are to be deployed in Zimbabwe soon after they were given the green light for use to track criminals fleeing neighbouring South Africa, ZimEye can reveal. The effect of the permission means as done before the deadly machines could easily be used to track poachers escaping South Africa across the nations borders into Zimbabwe, Mozambique Botswana or Namibia.
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12/27/2012
The Defence Research and Development Organisation's faltering project to develop an indigenous jet engine has sparked to life again. With the Kaveri engine, born from this project, found short on power for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, the ministry of defence has nominated the Kaveri to power the hush-hush Unmanned Strike Air Vehicle, a pilot-less bomber aircraft that the DRDO is developing.
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12/27/2012
“Iknew wherever I was that you thought of me and that if I got in a tight place, you would come — if alive.” This statement was contained in a letter dated March 10, 1864, written by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman to Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. It expresses an ageless ethos among warriors, especially those within the U.S. military. The commitment to come to the aid of fellow Americans in times of duress and danger has always been one of the foundations of America’s fighting forces.
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12/27/2012
It was hardly on the level of the J-20's appearance two years ago, but the advent of the Xian J-20 transport over the Christmas holidays was nonetheless important. If nothing else, it's the third all-new Chinese military aircraft to emerge in two years, a pace of innovation unknown since the Cold War. It is also by far the largest indigenously developed Chinese aircraft.
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12/27/2012
Next year the Russian Air Force will abandon its gray camouflage coloring and use several new color patterns for its warplanes, a source in the Russian defense ministry said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day Izvestia reported that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has reversed the order of his predecessor Anatoly Serdyukov to repaint all warplanes only using different shades of gray.
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12/26/2012
Even without $1.2 trillion in "sequestration" cuts that could begin Jan. 2, the enormous U.S. military budget – which has consistently made up almost half of the country’s annual discretionary spending – is entering a period of austerity unseen in more than a decade. Since late 2011, defense contractors big and small have been planning for the previously announced reduction in defense spending of $487 billion over 10 years. But they could lose an additional $492 billion under sequestration.
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12/26/2012
Is the U.S. getting ready to wage the Cold War again? If one believes the critics, that’s the aim behind a planned $10 billion modernization of the B61 nuclear bomb, the backbone of the Pentagon’s tactical nuclear arsenal. Actually, there are some other reasons for the upgrade: to reinforce global deterrence, to provide options against a range of future threats, and to make the U.S. stronger and safer. Achieving those goals is worth the money.
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12/26/2012
They were the Bravest of rescue operations overseas — a team of four FDNY firefighters flying into combat to tend to wounded troops in Afghanistan. The smoke-eaters of the 101st Rescue Squadron of the New York Air National Guard were deployed to more than 50 missions and saved nearly 100 lives between September and November while stationed at Camp Bastion in the southern part of the war-torn country.
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12/26/2012
The Obama administration appears determined to vacate Afghanistan as fast as possible. If the latest leaks are to be believed, officials are willing to leave as few as 6,000 U.S. troops behind after 2014, concentrated at the Bagram air base and a few other installations around Kabul. The mind boggles at what this would mean in military terms.
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12/26/2012
It was a historic day for India. For the first time a visiting Russian head of State was greeted by booing crowds rather than by the usual, choreographed cheers and waves. Vladimir Putin’s visit comes at a time when India-Russia relations are at their lowest ebb (except for perhaps in the mid-1960s when the Soviets threatened to sell tanks to Pakistan) and Putin had some hard-talking to do in his 18 hours in India.
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12/26/2012
A MiG-21 combat aircraft flown by a Syrian pilot who defected to Jordan in June was found to have been upgraded back in Syria to carry chemical weapons and to fly without a pilot, the Yisrael Hayom daily reported on Tuesday. According to the report, U.S. experts who examined the plane believe Russian engineers helped convert the plane and that Syria has more of them in its air force.
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12/26/2012
A military transport plane has crashed in southern Kazakhstan, killing all 27 people on board. News footage from the scene shows mangled fragments of the aircraft in a swirling blizzard. A crew of seven was on board, along with 20 military personnel. The twin-engined Antonov jet disappeared from radar screens at 7pm as it made its fourth attempt to land at Shymkent, the regional capital of South Kazakhstan.
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12/25/2012
The Obama administration appears determined to vacate Afghanistan as fast as possible. If the latest leaks are to be believed, officials are willing to leave as few as 6,000 U.S. troops behind after 2014, concentrated at the Bagram air base and a few other installations around Kabul. The mind boggles at what this would mean in military terms.
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12/25/2012
India plans to spend about $100 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade its largely Soviet-era military equipment, as Asia's third-largest economy looks to match its growing economic clout with military power. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, India, one of the world's largest arms importers, has shifted towards buying from the West as Russian products were plagued by delivery delays, maintenance problems and a lack of spare parts.
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12/25/2012
The launch of Astra, India’s air-to-air missile, for the third day on Monday from a static launcher on the ground at Chandipur, Odisha, proved to be a success. The flight-trials on December 21 and 22 from fixed launchers were equally successful. On Monday, Astra manoeuvred at 22g (gravitational force) and intercepted an electronic target with 6g. The three triumphs in a row have paved the way for its launch from an aircraft next year.
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12/25/2012
This year China stepped up its game as a military player with new fighter jets and an aircraft carrier, while also taking a more hawkish approach to political disputes with neighboring nations. China celebrated the successful flight of a the new Shenyang J-15 fighter aircraft - also called the Flying Shark - which was completely designed and manufactured in China and is equipped with domestically produced weapons and radar technology as well.
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12/25/2012
Five multi-role Su-34 bombers will be delivered for a second squadron of the Baltimore air base in Voronezh, southwest Russia, on Tuesday. “Today five Sukhoi Su-34 multi-role frontline bombers have flown from the Novosibirsk aircraft factory’s air field. The jets will make a non-stop flight from Novosibirsk to Voronezh, a distance of over 3,000 kilometers,” said Western Military District (WMD) spokesman Col. Andrei Bobrun.
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12/25/2012
NATO will continue chartering Antonov An-124 Ruslan heavy lift transport planes until at least December 31, 2014, Ukraine’s Antonov design bureau said on Monday. The Alliance has been using six An-124-100 planes, provided by Ukraine’s Antonov state company and Russia’s Volga-Dnepr group, to transport heavy equipment across the globe by air since 2006 under the SALIS (Strategic Airlift Interim Solution) program.
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12/25/2012
Russian aerobatic teams the Swifts and the Russian Knights will receive new Su-30SM and Su-35C fighter jets ahead of regular Russian Air Force units, the force’s commander Viktor Bondarev said on Monday. “When we wrap the preliminary troop tests of these two airplanes, they will be supplied [to the teams] on an advance basis,” Bondarev said at a press conference in the Moscow Region.
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12/25/2012
Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev on Monday reiterated that Manas international airport, which currently hosts a US airbase, is to be a purely civilian facility after the US base closes. “There will not be a military component at Manas airport: That is my firm position,” he said. Atambayev announced plans in November last year to close the base by 2014, when the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is to be pulled out of Afghanistan.
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12/24/2012
The third in line to the throne has been serving as the gunner and navigator in an Apache attack helicopter for the Army Air Corps in Afghanistan since September. He is thought to have made his first “kill” a few weeks after arriving.
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12/24/2012
Is the Assad regime near the end of its road in Syria? The television network Al Jazeera is quoting Syrian opposition activists that are claiming that seven people were killed in the Homs area due to the dispersal of gas by the Syrian military. According to the reports, dozens were hurt from inhaling the gas in the Al Bidiya neighborhood in Homs, and suffered from nausea, muscular weakness, blurred vision and breathing difficulties.
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12/24/2012
Last year the large U.S. Air Force UAVs, (MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and RQ-4 Global Hawk) had an accident rate of 3.8 per 100,000 hours. This accident rate is currently lower than that of the F-16, which is currently one of the safest manned fighter aircraft flying. Last year these air force UAVs had 13 "Class A" accidents (one causing over a two million dollars of loss).
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12/24/2012
Ahead of the visit of President Vladimir Putin, India and Russia have signed a deal for working together to develop the air-launched version of the 290-km-range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which would be fitted to the Su-30MKI combat aircraft of the IAF.
An agreement was signed between BrahMos Aerospace, Russian Rosoboron export and Sukhoi Design Bureau for developing the air-launched version of the missile here on
Friday, Defence Ministry officials said here.
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12/24/2012
The nomination of Senator John Kerry as the new U.S. secretary of state has been warmly received by China, but the state-run news media on the mainland has sharply attacked the passage of a new military spending bill that is awaiting President Obama’s signature.
Two amendments to the $633 billion bill have drawn particular scorn from Beijing, which has unleashed a series of scathing articles and editorials in the state-run news media.
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12/24/2012
Russian military advisers are manning some of Syria's more sophisticated air defences – something that would complicate any future US-led intervention, the Guardian has learned.
The advisers have been deployed with new surface-to-air systems and upgrades of old systems, which Moscow has supplied to the Assad regime since the Syrian revolution broke out 21 months ago.
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12/24/2012
Last week, the Harper government released a report by audit firm KPMG, which sought to ascertain how much it would cost to procure and operate a fleet of 65 F-35 fighter jets. KPMG calculated the total bill over 42 years, the warplane’s expected lifespan in Canadian service, to be $45.8-billion, which works out to an average annual expense of almost $1.1-billion.
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12/24/2012
Russia and India signed new weapons deals worth billions of dollars Monday as President Vladimir Putin sought to further boost ties with an old ally. Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed cooperation between their countries as officials signed a $1.6 billion deal for India to purchase 42 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and a $1.3 billion contract for the delivery of 71 Mil Mi-17 military helicopters.
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12/24/2012
BAE Systems has bagged a £2.5bn military aircraft contract from Oman, securing jobs of its 6,000 employees which were jeopardised by the debacle of £25bn merger with European defence giant EADS. BAE Systems will manufacture Typhoon and Hawk military aircraft for Oman in a strategic effort to look out for other growing markets.
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12/23/2012
The launch of the Astra missile for the second day on Saturday from Chandipur, Odisha, was deadly in its accuracy. An air-to-air missile, it was launched from a fixed launcher on the ground and homed in on its target — Lakshya, a pilotless target aircraft (PTA) flying 15 km away. The warhead exploded within a metre of Lakshya, destroying it.On Friday also, the launch from the ground against an electronic target was successful.
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12/23/2012
Russia's fifth-generation stealth jet fighter, the T-50, will start state flight tests in March 2013, Russia’s Air Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said on Sunday. Currently three fighter jets are performing test flights at the Zhukovsky airfield outside Moscow, the fourth plane is undergoing factory test trials and the fifth plane is in the process of factory approvals, the commander said.
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12/22/2012
Despite the chaos and mess created over the years by our so-called leaders, Pakistan has produced fine individuals who make all of us proud. Among them is none other than Air Commodore M. M. Alam, who is undoubtedly one of the greatest fighter pilots of all times and arguably the best in the modern jet warfare era.
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12/22/2012
Three Marines are to be honoured next month for their heroics during a rescue mission in Libya in which they recovered a downed Air Force pilot, from a Suffolk air base. Capt Erik Kolle, Capt David Potter and Sgt Daniel Howington are scheduled to receive the Air Medal with combat distinguishing device on January 7.
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12/22/2012
The House (315-107) and Senate (81-14) overwhelmingly passed the conference agreement on the FY2013 Defense Authorization bill this week. The bill now goes to the president. The annual Defense Authorization bill authorizes force levels, programs, and policies (including military pay raises) for DoD budgets. Appropriations bills provide actual funding for DoD.
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12/22/2012
President Benigno Aquino III has vowed to roll out a stronger and more capable Armed Forces of the Philippines with a P75 billion budget for hard power upgrade over the next five years. In what officials described as a “scaled down” celebration of the AFP’s 77th anniversary on Friday, Mr. Aquino said the modernization fund will put an end to jokes about the military being a “poor cowboy” who does not have the means to fight his enemies.
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12/22/2012
US President Barack Obama may soon come under direct congressional pressure to draw up a plan ensuring that Taiwan’s air force can “contribute appropriately” to the defense of the nation. The House of Representatives and Senate are considering the measure as part of the US defense budget for fiscal 2013, which is expected to pass before the Christmas break.
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12/22/2012
As with civil aviation operators, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) must ready its aircraft fleet to comply with fast-approaching mandates to operate in the future global airspace system. Failure to meet those requirements will prevent operators from being able to take advantage of preferential routes and altitudes that will be available to properly equipped aircraft.
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12/22/2012
British defense giant BAE Systems announced a $4.1-billion deal to supply 12 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft and eight Hawk trainer jets to Oman. The deal, which will help sustain thousands of jobs in Britain, is the first major order since BAE Systems failed to merge with European aerospace giant EADS earlier this year.
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12/22/2012
Lockheed Martin announced the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of CDL Systems Ltd., a software engineering firm that specializes in the development and licensing of vehicle control station software for unmanned systems. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed and are not material to Lockheed Martin.
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12/21/2012
The United States carried out more drone strikes in Afghanistan this year than it has done in all the years put together in Pakistan since it launched the covert air war there eight years ago. With all the attention and hand wringing focused on the operations in Pakistan, it’s remarkable that such a ramp-up just over the border has gone virtually unnoticed.
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12/21/2012
Silhouetted against the towering Marmal mountains outside this northern city, a camouflage helicopter bristling with weaponry swooped low over the brown plains Thursday, representing a new phase in Germany’s military mission in Afghanistan. The delivery of four Tiger helicopters to Afghanistan represents the first attack helicopter deployment in the history of the German army and has been a long time in the making.
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12/21/2012
India on Friday conducted developmental trial of its indigenously developed beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile 'Astra' from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, 15 km from here. The sophisticated missile was test-fired from a launcher in launch pad-2 of the ITR at about 1.25 pm targeting a flying object being supported by a pilotless target air-craft 'Lakshya', defence sources said.
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12/21/2012
During a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday, Malik said the US refused to pay Rs72.4 million it owed to Pakistan, maintaining that military aircraft belonged to the state and were, as such, exempted from airspace navigation charges as per international norms. He added that Washington similarly did not charge Pakistan’s C-130 aircraft for using US airspace on several occasions.
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12/21/2012
If safety is an issue, how come more than 20 air forces around the world continue to operate the Russian fighter? In fact, with upgrades this old warhorse is now able to take on more modern combat aircraft.
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12/21/2012
The Canadian military has decided it will rely on the U.S., other allies and private companies for air-to-air refuelling if the government purchases the F-35 because the stealth fighters aren’t compatible with Canada’s current refuelling aircraft. The revelation is buried in an explosive report released last week and means the Canadian military would be reliant on third parties to realize the full benefits of its F-35s — a situation opposition critics and analysts say is completely unacceptable.
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12/21/2012
The Commonwealth of Australia has completed its acquisition of six Boeing [NYSE: BA] 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft and related mission systems by accepting the final design of the Wedgetail airborne mission segment. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operates the aircraft, which provide Australia with advanced airborne surveillance, communications and battle management.
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12/21/2012
Boeing on Dec. 19 made an on-site delivery of the first P-8I aircraft to the Indian Navy in Seattle, in accordance with the contract. India will receive this aircraft and two more of its eight contracted P-8Is in 2013. The program is progressing on schedule as Boeing assembles the fourth and fifth P-8Is, which are designed for long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare.
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12/21/2012
Russia’s Vnesheconombank (VEB) will provide Indonesia with a total of $399.5 million in credit to finance purchases of aircraft and related equipment from Russia’s state-run arms export company Rosoboronexport. The credit will be provided for a seven-year term, Rosoboronexport said. This is the second credit agreement between VEB and Indonesia’s Finance Ministry in the past two years.
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12/21/2012
The Royal Air Force of Oman has formally agreed a $4.2 billion deal with BAE Systems for Typhoon and Hawk aircraft. The UK based company will deliver 12 Eurofighter Typhoon fightets and eight Hawk 128 class jet trainers to Oman, the company said a statement published this morning. The deliveries will begin in 2017.
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12/20/2012
Critics claim the Osprey is unsafe. Backers praise its flexibility and cite its track record in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Queasy fliers have lost their lunches as it makes the mid-air switch from helicopter to airplane. No matter what you think of this hybrid aircraft, one word fits best: unique.
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12/20/2012
Mauritania is looking to substantially increase its budget for 2013, notably in the defence and national security sector. The 2013 budget draft was presented to Parliament in Nouakchott at the start of December. If approved by Parliament, the defence sector should receive 44.547 billion ouguiyas. Funds would cover the operating budget, equipment for the National Gendarmerie, salaries and equipment, and military healthcare.
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12/20/2012
BAE Systems will sell 12 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets to Oman in a deal to be announced this week, two people familiar with the talks said. The contract is set to be announced Dec. 21 in Oman, said one person who asked not to be named because the plans are private. The deal is valued at more than $1 billion.
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12/20/2012
Would you tell a killer robot where to park? The rise of the machines is one step closer, and this flight director had better get out of the way. This sleek and stealthy robotic combat drone has just completed its first at-sea trials aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.
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12/20/2012
A Hawaii based F-22 fighter scrapped its tail while landing after a Pearl Harbor Day (December 7) flyover. The damage caused will cost about $1.8 to repair. Until quite recently that would have made it a Class A (killing someone or costing a million dollars or more to repair) accident.
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12/20/2012
The Royal Cambodian Air Force will start to take delivery of 12 Chinese-made military helicopters from April next year to be used for “humanitarian” purposes and defending Cambodian airspace, an official said yesterday. Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Soeung Samnang said that the arrival of the Z-9 military utility helicopter was announced during an annual military meeting held in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.
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12/20/2012
Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to conclude deals on the sale of fighter jets and aircraft engines to India next week which could be worth more than $7.5 billion, defence industry sources said on Wednesday. Putin, who visits India on Monday, has his sights set on selling 42 Sukhoi SU-30MKI fighters and on the long-term supply of 970 warplane engines, one of the sources said.
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12/20/2012
Bulgaria wants to choose a supplier of at least eight fighter jets by March in a long-delayed deal estimated at about 700 million levs ($473 million), defence minister Anyo Angelov said on Wednesday. The European Union's poorest state, which joined NATO in 2004 and is a staunch backer of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, needs to bring its ageing Russian-made aircraft up to the standards of the military alliance.
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12/20/2012
The roar of F-16 fighter jets streaking across the sky over Des Moines on training missions will soon be silenced. Under a budget deal set for approval this week, the Iowa National Guard's 132nd Fighter Wing will lose the jets. The decision comes after months of wrangling between Iowa's congressional delegation and the Air Force.
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12/20/2012
The Russian Defense Ministry and the Irkut aircraft maker have signed a contract on the delivery of an additional 30 Su-30SM multirole fighter jets to the Russian Air Force by 2016.
The first contract between the Defense Ministry and Irkut for the delivery of 30 Su-30SMs was signed in March. The Russian Air Force received the first two Su-30SM aircraft on November 22.
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12/19/2012
House and Senate negotiators agreed on U.S. defense legislation authorizing about $640.7 billion in the current fiscal year for the Pentagon and related programs at agencies such as the Energy Department. The annual authorization legislation calls for added economic sanctions on Iran, while giving President Barack Obama more time to implement them, lawmakers told reporters yesterday at the Capitol. The administration had said it was too soon to add to the sanctions already in place.
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12/19/2012
Airbus believes it can get a lift from a plane that has been dragging it down. The European aerospace company has spent five years trying to fix engineering problems with its A400M Atlas military transport aircraft, which is roughly four years behind schedule, billions of euros over budget and has become a symbol of the company's troubles in the defense industry.
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12/19/2012
Army scientists and engineers are developing a next generation surveillance aircraft, an ‘intelligence collection, processing, and targeting support system.’ EMARSS will ‘provide persistent multi-intelligence capability to detect, locate, classify/identify, and track surface targets with a high degree of timeliness and accuracy.’
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12/19/2012
Originally scheduled for a December 18, 2012 launch on Xbox Live, Ace Combat Assault Horizon has now officially been postponed until sometime in January 2013.
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12/19/2012
In a sharp rebuff to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the ministry of defence ( MoD) has rejected the public sector aerospace company’s proposal to build basic trainer aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF). This comes after the MoD discovered that HAL-built trainers would cost twice as much as proven aircraft procured from the international market.
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12/19/2012
Induction of Brahmos Air version and C-17 Aircraft would form part of the major expansion in the Indian Air Force during next year, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne said today The first C-17 Globemaster Aircraft would reach India and the Air Force by June next and would be mainly utilised for strategic lifting and transport ofBSE 0.51 % goods and troops, besides humanitarian relief works, Browne told reporters at Sulur Aircraft Station.
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12/19/2012
A final report into the crash of a Canadian battlefield helicopter outside of Kandahar city in the summer of 2010 has concluded that CH-47 Chinook helicopters need “crash-worthy seating” and restraints for passengers. The helicopter, which was on a routine supply mission and had just departed a nearby base, was reportedly shot down by Taliban ground fire.
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12/19/2012
United States Defense Leon Panetta has stated plans are in motion to deploy the F-35 stealth fighter jet to military bases in Japan. This would be the first overseas deployment of the aircraft, and they are scheduled to be sent to the U.S. Air Force base in Iwakuni by the year 2017. Panetta says the jets will be an important enhancement to the U.S.’s security presence in the Asia-Pacific.
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12/19/2012
Rockwell Collins has received an $18 million contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop the Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) for military aircraft. The waveform development is aimed at providing warfighters with a higher throughput networking capability to meet the demands to evolving mission requirements, the company said.
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12/19/2012
Belarus and Russia have signed a contract for the delivery of four Yak-130 Mitten jet trainers/light attack aircraft to Belarus in 2015, the Russian aircraft maker said on Tuesday.
The agreement was signed by the Belarusian Defense Ministry and Russia’s Irkut corporation.
Belarus is the first CIS state to buy the aircraft.
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12/18/2012
The Air Force on Monday gave their F-35 training school the go-ahead to officially open its doors to teach pilots how to fly the military’s newest stealth fighter jet. Gen. Edward Rice, who heads the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command, visited Eglin Monday to give his formal approval.
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12/18/2012
A real life game of chess is being played out in the Pacific between China, the United States and its allies. China is dramatically modernizing its military, especially its navy, and has been engaged in confrontations in recent months with Japan over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea and the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal. Both Japan and the Philippines have defense treaties with the U.S.
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12/18/2012
India has long believed that an advanced and self-sufficient defense sector is essential to its status as an emerging power. Yet, as Richard A. Bitzinger writes, the country remains saddled with a bloated and inefficient defense-industrial base that has contributed little to its great power aspirations.
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12/18/2012
Russian arms exports reached a record $14 billion in 2012, President Vladimir Putin said, and India, Algeria and Vietnam remain the biggest buyers, Kommersant reported on Tuesday. However, the leading buyers were joined by Iraq, which entered into a contract to buy 42 Pantsir-S1 air defense systems and 30 Mi-28NE combat helicopters worth a total of $4.2 billion, or about 30% of all contracts, the paper reported.
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12/18/2012
Two aircraft carriers stationed off the Syrian coast were sent back to the US this week in a move that the Obama administration thought would ease tensions, but angered Turkish officials who hoped for significant US military presence in the region. The USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and its 2,500 marines were recalled after being stationed on the Syrian coast, allegedly in preparation of potential military invasion.
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12/18/2012
Officials at Embraer Defense and Security in Brazil needed an audio system for the Embraer KC-390 military transport aircraft to ensure broadcast announcements are heard throughout the aircraft’s cockpit and cabin. They found their solution at Cobham. Cobham won a contract to provide the Passenger Address System (PAS) for the KC-390.
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12/18/2012
The Indian Air Force will install anti-collision technology in all aircraft procured from now on, according to Defence Minister A.K. Antony. “The type of equipment will depend on the role and operational employability of the aircraft,” Antony wrote in a Dec. 17 letter to Parliament.
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12/18/2012
The men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces need the tools to do their jobs. These tools are expensive, and buying them is often a complex process involving numerous federal departments. We must ensure that public money is well spent, military needs are met, and jobs are delivered for Canadian workers.
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12/18/2012
Russia’s leading aircraft engine maker OAO Klimov will soon start testing an advanced engine for attack helicopters, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday. The VK-2500 is produced under a special federal program to develop the country’s defense sector and allied industries, he said, adding that it is built using exclusively Russian-manufactured components. “We are completely moving away from imported components,” Rogozin said.
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12/18/2012
Russia’s overseas arms sales exceeded $14 billion this year, outperforming forecasts by more than $500 million, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday. The country’s defense industry also sealed export contracts worth another $15 billion in 2012, Putin said in Moscow.
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12/17/2012
A soldier sets out to graduate at the top of his class. He succeeds, and he becomes a drone pilot working with a special unit of the United States Air Force in New Mexico. He kills dozens of people. But then, one day, he realizes that he can’t do it anymore. For more than five years, Brandon Bryant worked in an oblong, windowless container about the size of a trailer, where the air-conditioning was kept at 17 degrees Celsius (63 degrees Fahrenheit) and, for security reasons, the door couldn’t be
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12/17/2012
The Russian answer to the American F-22, the T-50 (or PAK-FA) now has four prototypes in operation. The fourth one made its first flight on December 12th. The T-50 flew for the first time in January 2010. Six more prototypes are on order and, if all goes well the first 60 production models will be ordered in 2015 and be delivered by the end of the decade.
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12/17/2012
Budget problems in the SANDF, massive retrenchment in a specialized staff component of the SAAF and the continued electricity crisis at Air Force Base (AFB) Makhado are causing concerns, also regarding overall combat readiness.A delay in the repair of the extensively damaged high-voltage electricity supply at AFB Makhado is adding to the severe budget problems of the SAND/SAAF.
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12/17/2012
As noted in a recent article in the Citizen and in other publications the U.S. military is laying plans for what it is calling a “sixth generation” aircraft to replace the F-35 as early as 2030.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force are examining such a plane. At a recent meeting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., Gen. Mike Hostage, chief of the U.S. air force’s combat command, provided more details on the plane his organization wants to buy.
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12/17/2012
A surveillance squadron that acts as the "eyes and ears" for long-range strategic missions is among the Israeli Air Force's inner sanctums, accessible to few and guarded by many. The Gulfstream G550, a business jet mainly designed to accommodate corporate executives and private businessmen and heavily reconfigured to carry cutting-edge electronic-intelligence gathering technology, has participated in the IAF's bombing of a Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007.
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12/16/2012
Nearly half of Britain’s top-secret military drones deployed in Afghanistan have crashed – many because of pilot error. The alarming loss rate has raised concerns about British forces’ capability to wage a successful war against the Taliban. The Mail on Sunday has discovered that since drones were fully deployed in Afghanistan in 2007, 12 have been lost, costing the British taxpayer more than £30?million.
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12/16/2012
Norway is solidly behind the purchase of the F-35 and doesn’t seem too worried if Canada doesn’t follow through with any acquisition of the plane. The Norwegians issued a statement a few days ago noting that the recent Canadian F-35 audit figures of more than $45 billion were the presentation of total acquisition costs over the lifetime of the aircraft.
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12/16/2012
Canada is considering buying fighter jets other than U.S.-made F-35's because of escalating costs associated with Lockheed Martin's (LMT) troubled Joint Strike Fighter program, the country's defense minister said Wednesday. Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the government needs to ensure a balance between military and taxpayer interests.
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12/16/2012
Over a dozen Pakistani air force planes have crashed in roughly the past 18 months, raising concerns about the health of an aging fleet that officials are struggling to upgrade because of a lack of funds. A significant number of the air force's combat aircraft are nearly half a century old and have been called on in recent years to help the army fight a domestic Taliban insurgency that has killed thousands of people.
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12/16/2012
Peru intends to buy a consignment of 24 combat helicopters and eyes Russia as one of its potential suppliers along with France and the United States, Peruvian Defense Minister Pedro Cateriano said. “The purchase of 24 helicopters is currently under the consideration and we have three proposals…, we are considering proposals from France, the United States and Russia,” Cateriano said.
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12/15/2012
South Korea's defence minister has claimed that Pyongyang is getting ready to test a third nuclear device. This week, the North launched another long-range rocket, and satellite images reveal that North Korea has been testing long-range rocket engines. However, even if Pyongyang does carry out tests in 2013, how much of a threat will North Korea pose to its neighbours? Will the latest rocket launch make a qualititative change to the capability of the North Korean People's Army (NKPA)?
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12/15/2012
Short-range missiles fired by Hamas at Israel’s major cities last month and the potential long-range threat of the rocket North Korea launched this week are suddenly sharpening interest in capitals around the world over a new generation of missile defense systems that can defend against hostile neighbors.
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12/15/2012
The Defense Department said on Friday it has finalized a contract for the purchase of a fifth batch of radar-evading F-35 fighter aircraft from Lockheed Martin Corp., a deal worth $3.8 billion for 32 of the advanced planes. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the costliest weapons program in U.S. history.
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12/15/2012
More than 10 months after India chose the French Rafale to meet its $15 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement, contract negotiations are mired in issues related to offsets, the transfer of technology and the role of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). The Press Trust of India quoted industry sources as saying that Dassault has requested from the Indian Ministry of Defence the freedom to decide the proportion of work to be done by HAL, versus private Indian companies.
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12/15/2012
Northrop Grumman has delivered two X-47B Unmanned Combat Aircraft Systems (UCAS) to the US Navy, which has begun three weeks of tests aboard the USS Truman – the first aircraft carrier to host test operations for an unmanned aircraft. The X-47B is based on the Pegasus X-47A (originally designed in 2001) but features improved landing gear and folding wings for work aboard carriers.
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12/15/2012
Xi Jinping, the new Communist Party chief and civilian commander of the Chinese military, is moving quickly to make strengthening the country’s armed forces a centerpiece of what he calls the “Chinese dream” of national rejuvenation.
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12/15/2012
The Czech military will on Monday resume flying the L-159 subsonic aircraft after one of the planes crashed in November, killing the pilot, a military spokeswoman said Friday. Jana Ruzickova said the investigation of the fatal crash ruled out any technical defect. But the cause of the accident has not been announced yet. The pilot crashed into the ground when routinely training night piloting in Radovesnice, central Bohemia.
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12/15/2012
Sales of U.S. military aircraft will fall by 2.4 percent this year to $58.2 billion, the lowest level since 2006, according to a preliminary estimate of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). Sales are expected to decline by another 10 percent next year as budget cuts force the Pentagon to reduce procurement spending, the association said in its year-end review and forecast, released earlier this month.
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12/14/2012
A familiar face will be in command of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team when the squadron returns to headline the air show at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in 2014. Cmdr. Tom Frosch, a native of Clinton Township, took command of the squadron in November. A 1988 graduate of Fraser High School and 1992 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Frosch is a decorated combat veteran, serving in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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12/14/2012
Within only a month, the development of China's aircraft carrier experienced the official delivery of the "Liaoning Ship" to the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the successful taking-off and landing training of the carrier-borne J-15 fighter nicknamed "Flying Shark" on the deck of the aircraft carrier.
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12/14/2012
Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare today provided an update on planning for Australia’s future Air Combat Capability.
“Australia’s Air Combat Capability is a vital part of our national security framework. The Government will not allow a gap in our Air Combat Capability to occur,” Mr Smith said.
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12/14/2012
Flowing from its 80th anniversary celebrations, the Indian Air Force is getting set to conduct its biggest exercise in a decade, named Livewire, in March 2013. As an adjunct to the effort, the air force combat fleet will be involved in a live firing air power demonstration called Iron Fist to be held in February at the Pokhran range in Rajasthan.
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12/14/2012
The end of the line for the F-16 jet fighter is set to go on receding, the top executive of manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp said on Thursday. "We've been having that conversation for over a decade," Chief Executive Robert Stevens said in an interview. Pressed on his current expectation when it would close, he shot back: "We'll have that conversation for over a decade."
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12/14/2012
The Harper government's promise to restart its plan to replace Canada's CF-18 fighter jets has come under the microscope as opposition parties and analysts say the field remains heavily slanted in favour of the F-35. At issue is the "reset" promised by the government Wednesday is being led by many of the same people who originally recommended sole-sourcing the stealth fighter.
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12/14/2012
Since the recession, American families have taken a hard look at their spending habits. We have less to spend, so there's no room for waste. Instead of buying a new coat every season to keep up with the latest fashion, we buy just one coat that will last. Our federal budget faces the same crunch. With growing deficits, both parties have decided that we need to cut back everywhere. Defense spending potentially faces an unprecedented $1 trillion cut as part of the "fiscal cliff" scenario.
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12/14/2012
Indonesia’s recent defense guidelines have comprehensively outlined the government’s military modernization programs. Although those documents have specified a broad range of arms acquisition plans up to 2024, they still lack a clear vision on the development of a robust logistics support system and capabilities.
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12/14/2012
Boeing today demonstrated affordable unmanned aircraft technology that could be integrated onto Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) MD 500 helicopters to expand the fleet's mission capabilities. A Boeing Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) demonstrator aircraft, a variant of the highly successful MD 500 helicopter, autonomously flew for approximately 25 minutes at the ROKA Aviation School in Nonsan.
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12/13/2012
Japan scrambled fighter jets over contested islands in the East China Sea after a small Chinese propeller plane entered what Tokyo considers its airspace. Coming just three days before general elections in Japan, Thursday's move sharply escalates territorial tensions that have already damaged economic relations between the two neighbors.
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12/13/2012
China has organised a 10-day air war competition in which over a hundred ace fighter pilots were pitted against each other at speeds of 1,800 km per hour and had to take the right decision in barely 10 seconds. The second People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force "Golden Helmet" award took place after the 10-day air war competition came to an end on November 29. Eleven Air Force pilots stood out from the 108 elite and won the award, reported People's Daily.
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12/13/2012
A Chinese-made J-7 fighter-interceptor jet crashed into a civilian residential area earlier this month, injuring four people on the ground. The pilot successfully bailed out seconds before impact near an air force base in Guangdong province Dec. 4. Such news is considered routine in the West. But the Chinese government usually responds by being secretive — except for this incident.
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12/13/2012
Canada's government on Wednesday widened its multi-billion-dollar search for a new fighter jet to models other than the F-35 it has spent 15 years helping the United States and other allies to develop. The largest-ever government procurement in Canadian history has come under fire from opposition parties over its spiralling costs and an apparent lack of transparency and competition in the process.
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12/13/2012
For nearly 70 years, Okinawa has gotten more than its share of America's military - more jets rattling homes, more crimes rattling nerves. It's the only Japanese island invaded by U.S. land forces during World War II. It endured 27 years under U.S. administration, and it continues to host two-thirds of Japan's U.S. bases.
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12/13/2012
Speaking at the F-16 delivery ceremony, Özcan Ertem, TAI’s Aircraft Group head, stressed the F-16's importance and speciality, and that the program was successfully completed ahead of the deadline with the delivery of the 308th F-16 jet, known also as the Fighting Falcon.
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12/13/2012
The U.S. has now formally recognized a new Syrian opposition group as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. But the U.S. has repeatedly declined to provide weapons for rebels fighting President Bashar Assad's army. However, NPR has learned that there are movements behind the scenes. In Jordan, several Syrian sources said that Jordanian authorities, along with their U.S. and British counterparts, have organized training for Syrian rebels on sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons.
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12/13/2012
Key questions remained Wednesday over the Conservative government’s promise to consider all available options to replace Canada’s aging jet fighters after an explosive new report put the full cost of buying, owning, replacing and disposing of 65 F-35 stealth aircraft at almost $46 billion. But it’s not known whether the government is really prepared to walk away from the F-35 if a better alternative is found.
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12/13/2012
Lockheed Martin delivered a C-130J Super Hercules to the Iraqi Air Force at formal ceremonies here today. This is one of the initial three aircraft of a total of six C-130Js ordered by Iraq. The other two of these initial three aircraft departed yesterday for Iraq. The remaining three C-130Js will be delivered in 2013. The Iraqi Air Force will use the airlifters for intra-theater support for its troops and to provide humanitarian relief operations in various locations.
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12/13/2012
Russia's fourth prototype Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter jet took to the skies for the first time on Wednesday in a 40 minute flight at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur factory in Siberia, Sukhoi said. "The fourth prototype PAK-FA made its first flight today from the Gagarin factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur," Sukhoi said, referring to the aircraft by its project name, an acronym for future fifth-generation tactical fighter.
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12/12/2012
Here's a great pic of the first MV-22 Osprey destined for HMX-1, the Marine helicopter squadron that operates the fleet of Marine One presidential choppers. As you can see, this MV-22 already has presidential green painted on the tail and engine nacelle. The tilt-rotor has freshly arrived at Bell Helicopter's Amarillo, TX, plant from Boeing's factory in Philadelphia, where the Ospreys' fuselages are made.
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12/12/2012
So far - much to its disappointment - only one naval light combat aircraft has been built by the Aeronautical Development Agency. Earlier this year, the then naval chief, Admiral Nirmal Verma, regretted the delay in building the naval version of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Last week, the current naval chief, Admiral D K Joshi, declared the navy wanted the Tejas more urgently than any fighter aircraft from abroad.
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12/12/2012
Five big defense contractors on Tuesday withdrew from the U.S. Air Force's latest attempt to replace its aging fleet of HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters, leaving just Sikorsky Aircraft in line for a deal whose valued is capped at $6.84 billion.
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12/12/2012
Key lawmakers expressing concerns about the Obama administration's plan to send 20 F-16 fighter jets to Egypt, where new President Mohamed Morsi's allegiances are as uncertain as his grip on power. Under a foreign aid deal signed in 2010, when Morsi's U.S.-friendly predecessor Hosni Mubarak was in charge, the U.S. is giving the planes to Egypt's air force, which already has more than 200 of the aircraft.
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12/12/2012
Brazil's long-delayed FX-2 fighter competition isn't over yet but Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet is winning friends in the Brazilian air force, news reports said. The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a twin-engine, carrier-based, multi-role fighter aircraft based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet.
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12/12/2012
When fighter jets took off from the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, for the first time late last month, video footage of the airmen’s Top Gun-like gestures went viral on domestic websites. With hundreds of amateur videos offering imitations of the moves, an aircraft carrier style craze is sweeping China, much like the Gangnam Style phenomenon – of Korean pop star Psy – elsewhere.
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12/12/2012
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFMTV on Tuesday that although French Marines are onboard the vessel, it does not mean that France is preparing for a military intervention in Syria. He, however, justified the presence of the French aircraft carrier in waters just outside Syria as part of Paris’ policy to maintain military readiness in the face of any threat. The French minister also said that the vessel is not conducting a military exercise in the region.
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12/12/2012
U.S. and Philippine officials are expected to agree on an increase in the number of U.S. military ships, aircraft and troops rotating through the Philippines, Filipino officials said, as tensions simmer with China over its maritime claims. Senior U.S. and Philippine officials met on Wednesday in Manila to discuss strengthening security and economic ties at a time of growing tension over China's aggressive sovereignty claims over vast stretches of the disputed South China Sea.
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12/12/2012
Russia expressed its “deep regret” over North Korea’s long-range rocket launch on Wednesday and called on Pyongyang to refrain from further action which could increase tension in the region. “This step is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1874, unequivocally banning North Korea from rocket launches with the use of ballistic technologies,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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12/12/2012
The United States Air Force successfully launched an unmanned Atlas V rocket Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida carrying a small robotic military space shuttle, kicking off a month long classified operation. "The focus of the program remains on testing vehicle capabilities and proving the utility and cost-effectiveness of a reusable spacecraft," Air Force spokeswoman Tracy Bunko wrote in an email to Reuters in an apparent attempt to debunk the speculation.
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12/11/2012
Ask any of the 20-odd Indian Air Force test pilots who have flown the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and they will all swear that it is a great fighter to fly. It handles beautifully, screams along at Mach 1.6 (2,000 kilometres per hour) and fires the full range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry. With 2,000 test flights under its belt, it has already proven that it can fly and fight better than most fighters on the IAF inventory.
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12/11/2012
As we approach the "fiscal cliff," strong consideration should be made of cutting funding for the F-35 aircraft program. This fighter jet, which was designed for three branches of the military, is the most expensive weapons system in history and has been replete with technological flaws, cost overruns, missed production schedules, and a huge price tag.
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12/11/2012
The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter jet will be a strategic deterrent for the nation because of its "huge leap in capability," a Marine Corps pilot said. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Scott, commander of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing’s Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., recently told the Pentagon Channel the F-35 will allow Marines to perform missions in high-threat areas, unlike existing aircraft.
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12/11/2012
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has not encountered any faulty Chinese spare parts and equipment in military aircraft made in the US, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Monday. "While the government is aware of media reports regarding possible usage of Chinese counterfeit electronic parts in military aircraft manufactured in the US, no P81 aircraft has so far been delivered to India," he said.
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12/11/2012
Canada canceled its order for 65 F-35 fighter jets last week. The Ottawa Citizen reported on Dec. 6 that the decision was prompted by the upcoming release of an audit revealing that the life-cycle cost of the aircrafts will be much higher than originally forecast.
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12/11/2012
Instability in Egypt, where a newly-elected Islamic government teeters over an angry population, isn't enough to stop the U.S. from sending more than 20 F-16 fighter jets, as part of a $1 billion foreign aid package. The first four jets are to be delivered to Egypt beginning Jan. 22, a source at the naval air base in Fort Worth, where the planes have been undergoing testing, told FoxNews.com.
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12/11/2012
Over a dozen Pakistani air force planes have crashed in roughly the past 18 months, raising concerns about the health of an aging fleet that officials are struggling to upgrade because of a lack of funds.
(Read More...)
12/11/2012
Boeing delivered the Qatar Emiri Air Force's fourth C-17 Globemaster III today in Long Beach. The delivery reflects Qatar's agreement with the U.S. government to acquire two additional C-17s, which brings the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) fleet of the world's most advanced airlifters to a total of four as the C-17 continues to attract orders worldwide. Qatar received its third airlifter earlier this year.
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12/11/2012
The first three MiG-29UPG fighter jets have been delivered to India under a contract to modernize the fleet of MiG-29 aircraft in service with the Indian Air Force (IAF), the MiG aircraft maker said. “The MiG corporation…has started deliveries of upgraded MiG-29UPG fighter jets to the Indian Air Force,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
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12/10/2012
Guam-Marine Corps Aviation hit another significant landmark Saturday with the successful deployment of three MV-22 Ospreys across 1500 nautical miles in just over five hours from Okinawa, Japan to Guam. The aircraft arrived at Andersen Air Force Base at 5:09pm. The aircraft are participating in the Marine Aircraft Group -12 Exercise Forager Fury 2012 (FF12).
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12/10/2012
Like just about everybody connected with the Navy, the folks on the USS HARRY S TRUMAN (CVN 75) took time this weekend to watch Navy once again get the better of Army in the annual football smackdown. But the TRUMAN crew also is out to sea, hard at work, and they’re testing a new aircraft, the X-47B prototype strike jet. It’s the first time the new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has gotten wet with salty sea spray.
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12/10/2012
The Brazilian air force, awaiting the outcome of the selection process for purchasing 36 fighter jets, is leaning toward the F-18 Super Hornet of the US, which is competing against the French Rafale and the Swedish Gripen, Istoe magazine said.
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12/10/2012
The Air Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) recently conducted a comprehensive support drill for multi-types of aircraft on double-runway under information conditions at an airport in southwest China. Nearly 100 fighters of over 10 different types open the curtain of the base-oriented transformation of the combat support mode of the PLA Air Force.
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12/10/2012
The C-130 cargo plane took off from Reagan National Airport with a jolt that nearly stacked its passengers on top of each other. The moment elicited the kind of nervous laughter that only comes from people that don’t do this every day. But this mission was different. There were no combat supplies aboard this flight. Instead there was $50,000 worth of toys to be delivered to families in New Jersey affected by Hurricane Sandy.
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12/10/2012
South Africa's military forces are buckling under the strain of crippling budget and mechanical setbacks. This despite the acquisition of high-technology fighter jets, frigates and submarines in the controversial arms deal that has cost the taxpayer an estimated R70bn in today's terms.
(Read More...)
12/10/2012
Russian military inspectors will carry out surveillance flights over Portugal and Spain starting on Monday under the international Open Skies Treaty, Russia’s Defense Ministry has said.
Russian experts will conduct the flights over the Portuguese and Spanish territories in a Tupolev Tu-154 M/LK-1 aircraft between December 10 and 15, a spokesman for the ministry said.
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12/09/2012
The prospect that Canada may drop the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) entirely and Italy would trim its planned buy of the stealthy jet as Washington think-tanks urge the Pentagon to cut the program is raising concern that the world’s largest and most expensive defense program could be destabilized.
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12/09/2012
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has allocated an additional Rs 1,500 crore to the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, boosting its projected Rs 14,047 crore budget. The additional amount will be spent on a production line for Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd ( HAL) to build 20 fighters that Indian Air Force (IAF) has ordered for its first Tejas squadron. The IAF has also promised another order for 20 more Tejas for its second squadron.
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12/09/2012
In a major step to increase its range and operational capabilities, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided that all its aircraft and helicopters will have the capability for midair refueling.
Disclosing this, the IAF vice chief, Air Marshal D.C. Kumaria, said at the Fifth National Seminar on Aerospace Technologies (N-SAT) recently that the decision applies to all its current and future acquisitions - whether combat jets, transport aircraft, helicopters or other assets.
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12/08/2012
A former fighter pilot, a number cruncher, an air force commander and a skeptic will oversee Ottawa’s revived search for a new fighter jet as it pulls back from plans to buy the F-35.
Details of the government’s new search will be unveiled next week, likely Monday or Tuesday, along with a dramatically higher price tag if Ottawa went ahead with its purchase of 65 Lockheed Martin F-35 jets.
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12/08/2012
The Russian Air Force is not training sufficient numbers of pilots and other specialists, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday. "The quantity of pilots and other specialists being trained for the air force is insufficient," Shoigu said, adding he would pay special attention to the issue. "We need to take measures to solve this," he said. "I want to stress that optimizing our military training system is one of the Defense Ministry's main tasks."
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12/07/2012
Opposition fighters in Syria have long complained that they are short of weapons and ammunition, especially anti-aircraft systems, and they have pleaded with the international community to supply them with weapons to fight regime aircraft that are bombing cities and residential areas.
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12/07/2012
China's air force has staged one of its largest-ever drills amid heightened tensions with Japan and Beijing's southern neighbors over territorial claims, state media reported Friday.
The air combat exercises involving more than 100 pilots were held over 11 days last month in the vast northwestern region of Xinjiang, according to the website of the Communist Party newspaper People's Daily and other official news outlets.
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12/07/2012
A Eurofighter combat aircraft has released an MBDA Meteor beyond visual-range air-to-air missile for the first time, with the milestone having been achieved over a UK test range on 4 December. Performed by a BAE Systems test pilot using the UK's Typhoon Instrumented Production Aircraft 1, the event included ejecting a telemetry-equipped Meteor test round from a rear-fuselage missile station over the Qinetiq firing range in Aberporth, west Wales.
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12/07/2012
The PLA Navy surprised many foreign observers yet again when an indigenously-produced J-15 fighter became the first known fixed wing aircraft to take off from and land on the aircraft carrier Liaoning since its refitting and commissioning. Yet a critical question remains unanswered: how rapidly and to what extent will the J-15 and other Chinese military aircraft be powered by indigenous engines?
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12/07/2012
It seems the government's plagued plan to buy F-35 fighter jets for the military is dead in the water now that the cost is expected to reach close to $50 billion.
Global News has learned that an independent audit, commissioned by the Conservatives, came up with cost estimates so high the government decided to begin considering other options for replacing its aging fleet of CF-18s. Read it on Global News: It seems the government' s plagued plan to buy F-35 fighter jets for the military is dead
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12/07/2012
The U.S. Navy announced today that the Danish government signed an official letter of offer and acceptance formalizing its intent to buy nine MH-60R SEAHAWK® helicopters and comprehensive logistics support for its Maritime Helicopter Replacement Program. Valued at US $686 million (Kr 4 billion), the aircraft will be procured via the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales program.
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12/07/2012
The Uzbek Senate has approved a deal allowing Britain's Royal Air Force to to use the country's airpsace to move its equipment out of Afghanistan north through Central Asia and Russia. The agreement stops short of allowing RAF aircraft to land on Uzbek territory. If they need to make an emergency landing, the British authorities must notify the Uzbek side about the need to land on the republic’s territory.
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12/06/2012
The US Air Force's current fleet of unmanned aircraft will be irrelevant in the Pacific theater, a top service official says. Over the past 10 years, the US Air Force has built up a still growing fleet of slow moving but persistent General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft. While those aircraft provided US ground forces with unprecedented situational awareness, they are too vulnerable to be used in a high threat environment.
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12/06/2012
Iraq has shut its airspace to four Syrian flights scheduled to pick up attack helicopters that had been repaired in Russia, the spokesman to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki said Tuesday. Syria has failed several times since June to retrieve the refurbished helicopters from Russia, and the regime of Bashar al-Assad appears to be growing more desperate as fighting intensifies.
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12/06/2012
When an aircraft shaped like a flying bat was lowered gently by crane onto the deck of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the other day, it marked the latest phase in a high-stakes gamble to help sustain America's military presence in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of increasing challenges from China.
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12/06/2012
China's new fighter aircraft J-15 is not a copy of the Russian Su-33 and is in fact superior to it, a state-run Chinese daily said Thursday. On Nov 25, China's carrier-borne J-15 fighter jet successfully underwent a series of tests on the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier. People's Daily said the J-15 is equipped with two high-power engines and a brand-new system of high lift device, takeoff and landing device and arrester hook.
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12/06/2012
US military planners have begun to help organize a multinational proxy force to intervene next year in Mali, the famine-stricken, coup-wracked African country that has become a magnet for Islamist extremists, US officials said Wednesday.
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12/06/2012
The Syrian military is prepared to use chemical weapons against its own people and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday. The military has loaded the precursor chemicals for sarin, a deadly nerve gas, into aerial bombs that could be dropped onto the Syrian people from dozens of fighter-bombers, the officials said.
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12/06/2012
U.S. aerospace and arms companies are poised for 2.8 percent overall sales growth next year to about $224 billion, which would mark their 10th straight year of growth, barring steep Pentagon budget cuts, the industry's chief trade group said on Wednesday.
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12/06/2012
Iraq has shut its airspace to four Syrian flights scheduled to pick up attack helicopters that had been repaired in Russia, the spokesman to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki said Tuesday. Syria has failed several times since June to retrieve the refurbished helicopters from Russia, and the regime of Bashar al-Assad appears to be growing more desperate as fighting intensifies.
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12/06/2012
A South African military aircraft on an unknown mission to an area near former President Nelson Mandela’s village crashed in a mountain range, officials said Thursday. It was unclear whether there were any survivors. The Douglas C-47TP Dakota, a twin-propeller aircraft, had taken off from Pretoria’s Waterkloof Air Force Base on Wednesday morning, said Brig. Gen. Xolani Mabanga, a military spokesman.
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12/06/2012
India has preferred Boeing Chinook over Russian Mi-26 helicopters in a tender on the delivery of 15 heavy-lift helicopters to the Indian Air Force, the Indian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. Both the Russian upgraded Mi-26T2 Halo and the Boeing Chinook CH-47F had qualified in the technical trials and their financial bids, covering the initial acquisition cost as well as the lifecycle costs.
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12/05/2012
Australia has formally accepted the last of its five A330-200-based multi-role tanker transports (MRTTs) from Airbus Military and expects to achieve an initial service milestone with the type later this month. Noting that earlier examples of the locally-designated KC-30A are already involved in "routine refuelling missions" with Boeing F/A-18A/B combat aircraft, the Royal Australian Air Force's commander air lift group, Air Cdre Gary Martin, says.
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12/05/2012
Iran claimed Tuesday it had taken another prize in a growing showdown with Washington over drone surveillance, displaying a purported U.S. unmanned aircraft it said was captured intact. The U.S. Navy, however, said none of its drones in the region was missing. The conflicting accounts could put pressure on both sides for more details on U.S. reconnaissance and Iranian counter-measures.
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12/05/2012
Dozens of Army pilots have conducted a mini-mutiny by going on "strike" and refusing to fly new Darwin-based Tiger attack helicopters after aircrew were hit by cockpit fumes for the third time this year. The latest emergency occurred at the Cultana military training area in South Australia on November 4 after earlier incidents in March and July.
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12/05/2012
Today at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), CAE announced it has won a series of military contracts valued at more than C$70 million. They include a contract from the United States Navy to develop two MH-60R tactical operational flight trainers (TOFTs) for the Royal Australian Navy under a foreign military sale program, a contract from the Australian Defence Force to provide King Air 350 simulator services, and a contract from the RNZAF.
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12/05/2012
Hundreds of Lockheed Martin employees in Georgia who worked on the F-22 fighter jet program are having their jobs relocated to Fort Worth. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, maker of the F-22, the F-16 and the F-35 jets, expects to move about 560 salaried jobs from its Marietta, Ga., facility to the division's headquarters in Texas.
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12/05/2012
Boeing will maintain U.S. Navy aircrew training devices for six aircraft types under a new $56 million contract, setting the stage for the company's expansion into trainer maintenance for militaries worldwide. The five-year contract, which began Dec. 1, involves P-3C, EP-3, P-8A, EA-6B, EA-18G and SH-60B training devices. They are located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Fla.; Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., and Kadena Air Base, Japan.
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12/05/2012
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that the proposed US ban on deals with Russia’s state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport would be detrimental to the development of bilateral cooperation. The US Senate unanimously approved last Thursday the Cornyn amendment to the defense budget, which bars the use of American taxpayer funds to purchase goods from Rosoboronexport, including helicopters to be flown in Afghanistan.
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12/05/2012
Russian investigators have closed a criminal case against two former top managers of the MiG corporation accused of providing low-quality equipment for MiG-29 fighters that were rejected by Algeria in 2007, Russia's business daily Kommersant said on Tuesday. Fraud charges were brought against the first deputy director general of the MiG Aircraft Corporation Sergei Tsivilev and his deputy, Oleg Fadeyev, but after a six-year investigation, the statute of limitations period has expired.
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12/04/2012
As a journalist covering the transition for the U.S. Air Force to the stealthy F-35 fighter, I thought it would be useful to understand more fully what the experience of today’s fighter pilots is from the cockpit. Aviation Week has a long history of publishing insightful, technical pilot reports. A pilot, I am not. So, my experience flying in the F-16D won’t be published in the pages of Aviation Week. But, I thought it worth sharing the details and my impressions with our web audience.
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12/04/2012
The Indo-Russian project to jointly design a transport aircraft for militaries of both nations kicked off in Moscow on Monday, where 30 engineers from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) began working with their Russian counterparts from the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) on the $600-million project. India and Russia are also collaborating in a $6-billion project to build an advanced fighter called the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft.
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12/04/2012
A Hawk aircraft of Saudi Air Forces crashed during a training mission on Monday, but its pilot survived after using a parachute, Saudi News Agency reported. The accident occurred in less than 24 hours after the crash of a F15 jet of Royal Saudi Air Forces, the reported said quoting an official source at Defense Ministry.
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12/04/2012
A military fighter jet has reportedly crashed in China’s southern city of Shantou in the Guangdong province. The pilot failed to bring the Jian-7 fighter away from residential quarters and baled out, causing the plane to hit Shantou, where it allegedly injured four people. Teams of rescuers and police units have been dispatched to the crash site.
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12/04/2012
A unit from Iran's navy has captured a U.S. drone flying over the Persian Gulf, according to Iranian state media reports Tuesday. The drone, which was collecting data, was captured immediately after entering Iranian airspace, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is cited as saying by the state-run news agency IRNA. The unmanned aerial device was a ScanEagle, Adm. Ali Fadavi, of the Revolutionary Guards, is quoted as saying.
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12/04/2012
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II program surpassed 5,000 flight hours last month. This milestone was reached by the combined F-35 System Development and Demonstration (SDD) aircraft flying at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and the training aircraft flying at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
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12/04/2012
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] delivered the sixth production C-5M Super Galaxy to the Air Force, Friday, Nov. 30, at the Lockheed Martin facilities here. Aircraft 85-0001 is the ninth overall C-5M Super Galaxy for the Air Force and will undergo internal paint restoration at Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y., before traveling to its permanent home at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
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12/04/2012
Lockheed Martin received a $5.1 million Foreign Military Sale contract from the U.S. Air Force to support integration of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) onto the Finnish Air Force (FiAF) F-18C/D aircraft. The contract is for the first phase of a six-year effort of software development and aircraft integration support. Additional contract awards are expected for remaining phases of integration support, missile procurement and post-production support.
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12/04/2012
This week at the 2012 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando, Boeing is demonstrating new technology with its Constant Resolution Visual System (CRVS) that allows the system to deliver almost four times the resolution of high definition for more realistic and effective military training.
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12/03/2012
The U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command issued the following press release: After five months in the cockpit and numerous discussions with combat-ready pilots and maintainers, the commander of Air Combat Command is ending his tenure as an F-22 pilot, confident that the aircraft is safe to fly and on a path toward unrestricted worldwide operations. Gen. Mike Hostage recently completed his final flight in the F-22 during a tour of U.S. Air Forces Central Command bases.
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12/03/2012
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is planning to conduct the largest air show in Pokhran field firing range in February. The war exercise called ‘I Run Feast’ will showcase the strength of Indian Air Force war planes. President Pranab Mukharjee, defence minister AK Antony and chief minister Ashok Gehlot will witness the war exercise. Apart from the three chiefs of the armed forces and army personnel of over 50 friend countries are expected to attend the air show.
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12/03/2012
A prototype of a European combat drone, the Neuron, made its maiden flight Saturday from a base in the south of France, project leader Dassault Aviation announced. "It inaugurates the next generation of combat aircraft, whether piloted or not, with the ambition of preserving European autonomy in this field," the French defence ministry said in a statement.
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12/03/2012
Syrian forces pounded rebel-held suburbs around Damascus with fighter jets and rockets on Sunday, opposition activists said, killing and wounding dozens in an offensive to push rebels away from the airport and stop them closing in on the capital.
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12/03/2012
Russia's state arms export corporation Rosoboronexport insisted on Monday it had not received any formal notification from the US regarding cancellation of a contract for delivery of Russian military helicopters to Afghanistan. That follows a vote in the Senate last Thursday to ban Rosoboronexport from any further US government contracts, in reponse to Russia continuing to supply weapons to the Assad regime in Syria.
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12/02/2012
Colombia's army has seized a surface-to-air missile from alleged Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrillas in the conflictive southwestern province of Cauca, a television network said. The SAM missile, whose discovery has not been officially confirmed by the Defense Ministry, was seized two weeks ago in the southwestern town of Morales, Caracol TV reported Friday, showing images of the weapon.
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12/02/2012
The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator successfully completed its inaugural land-based catapult launch here Nov. 29, marking the start of a new era for naval aviation.
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12/02/2012
Captain G, a mild-mannered pilot trained to fly the world’s most advanced fighter plane, spends four out of five workdays in a low-ceilinged office space, surrounded by some of the smartest tech nerds in the IDF. His mission: To help make the F-15I, Israel’s most advanced fighter plane and the model reportedly purchased in order to thwart the distant threats from Iran, a more potent weapon.
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12/02/2012
Air Marshal Ravi Kant Sharma has taken over as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Shillong-based Eastern Air Command. A qualified flying instructor and experimental test pilot with experience in flying the Light Combat Aircraft, Sharma's appointment comes at a crucial juncture when assets in the Eastern Air Command are undergoing an upgrade.
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12/02/2012
The rise of drone warfare has meant a dramatic cultural shift for the Air Force, whose leadership for decades has been dominated by officers who made their mark flying combat aircraft. Inside a plain beige trailer, a pair of aviators stare intently at a bank of computer screens. Air conditioners hum loudly in the background.
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12/02/2012
The U.S. Air Force drone, on a classified spy mission over the Indian Ocean, was destined for disaster from the start. An inexperienced military contractor, operating by remote control in shorts and a T-shirt from a trailer at Seychelles International Airport, committed blunder after blunder during a six-minute span April 4.
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12/02/2012
Syrian rebels say a former army missile specialist in their ranks used captured shoulder-launched weapons to down two government aircraft in as many days last month. Rebel commanders said that the army helicopter shot down on November 27 and the fighter jet shot down the following day were both hit with Russian-made surface-to-air missiles captured from an army base west of Syria’s second city Aleppo in mid-November.
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12/02/2012
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter got a boost last month when the Pentagon established the first operational squadron of the stealthy, supersonic jet under development by Lockheed Martin.
The rollout in Yuma of the most technologically challenging of three versions in initial production — one for the Marine Corps that lands like a helicopter — may muffle criticism about the Defense Department’s largest and most costly weapons procurement.
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12/01/2012
China has turned down the reports that their latest aircraft 'carrier-borne fighter jet J-15' has been copied from United States technology. Defence Ministry spokesperson Geng Yansheng said China had stuck to independent innovation and had the capacity to build and develop its own aircraft carrier.
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12/01/2012
Even as the F-35, America’s first 5th generation fighter, struggles to achieve liftoff, the U.S. Air Force is starting to plan on how to get the 6th generation of jets off the ground. What capabilities a 6th generation jet will possess remains unclear, but Gen. Mike Hostage, the head of Air Combat Command, dropped some hints at an event hosted this morning by the Center for Strategic and Informational Studies.
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12/01/2012
Today, the nEUROn, Europe's unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) stealth technology demonstrator, successfully completed its maiden flight from the Dassault Aviation company's flight test base in Istres, in collaboration with the flight test personnel of the French defense procurement agency (DGA). The nEUROn was launched in 2005 by the customer, DGA, and involves France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Greece and Switzerland. It defines a future for the aeronautic excellence of Europe.
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12/01/2012
Inside a plain beige trailer, a pair of aviators stare intently at a bank of computer screens. Air conditioners hum loudly in the background. The sensor operator zooms in on an object on the ground more than 14,000 feet below. The pilot moves a joystick, turning a drone that’s miles away and flying at a sluggish 120 mph over the Nevada desert as part of an exercise to find a downed pilot.
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12/01/2012
In the same week, Northrop Grumman's X-47B combat aircraft system demonstrator has arrived on the aircraft carrier deck - by crane - and made its first catapult launch - on land. Air vehicle AV-2 was lifted off a barge and on to the flightdeck of the USS Truman on Monday (Nov 26) to begin a few weeks of deck handling trials, in port and at sea.
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12/01/2012
Syrian rebels are making headway against President Bashar al-Assad. In recent weeks, they have seized several military bases and shot down military aircraft, reportedly with shoulder-fired missiles, but there is no end in sight to the war. More than 40,000 Syrians have been killed, 2.5 million are now displaced and more than 600,000 are refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.
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12/01/2012
Canada's new chief of defence staff has contradicted Defence Minister Peter MacKay by suggesting that other fighter jets do offer some of the stealth capabilities the military needs.
Tom Lawson said during testimony Thursday before the Commons defence committee about the planned $25-billion purchase that most fighter jets offer some degree of stealth capability, including Canada's aging fleet of CF-18s.
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12/01/2012
The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin reached an agreement in principle on Friday on the price of a fifth batch of F-35 fighter jets after a year of tense negotiations over how to lower costs. Military officials said they would pay about $3.8 billion for 32 of the next generation of radar-evading planes and additional equipment to manufacture and test them.
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12/01/2012
The US Senate unanimously approved a measure that would effectively end the relationship between the Pentagon and Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state run arms export firm which has provided weapons to the Syrian government.
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