January 11, 2013 Military Aviation News
01/11/2013
The success of U.S. drones in Iraq and Afghanistan has triggered a global arms race, raising concerns the remotely piloted aircraft could fall into unfriendly hands, military experts say.
The number of countries that have acquired or developed drones expanded to more than 75, up from about 40 in 2005, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. Iran and China are among the countries that have fielded their own systems.
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01/11/2013
Altus Air Force Base is officially in the running to become the Formal Training Unit for the KC-46A tanker aircraft. Today, the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff approved Altus AFB and McConnell AFB, Kan. as candidate bases for the FTU. Altus AFB was also selected one of four candidates for the first active-duty led Main Operating Base.
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01/11/2013
In a quiet affair without fanfare, President Barack Obama signed into law the $633 billion Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on 31 December while vacationing in his home state of Hawaii. While not an appropriations act providing the funding to pay for the provisions contained in the law, the NDAA does outline the specific projects and programs the Department of Defense (DoD) is authorized to pursue.
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01/11/2013
An F-22 squadron slated to move from New Mexico to Florida early this year will stay put until early 2014. The transfer from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., to Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., involves 620 active-duty and 230 Reserve airmen, and 21 F-22s and seven T-38 Talons. As a part of the shuffle, Holloman, in spring 2014, will receive two F-16 squadrons with 950 personnel authorizations from Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. Luke will eventually host three F-35A squadrons.
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01/11/2013
Technology is not enough. What's equally essential is ideas for how to use it. Wielding new weapons in the same old way is a recipe for defeat. As the US military today invests in innovative programs, none larger than the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, it must also invent innovative concepts of operation.
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01/11/2013
The annual report into the Ministry of Defence's largest projects said that during the crucial period when the British armed forces will be exiting Afghanistan, estimated to be completed in 2014, there will not be enough tactical transport aircraft and refuelling capability at an "extremely busy" time. After 2022, the tactical air transport fleet, currently made up of Hercules C-130J aircraft which are being replaced, will have a shortfall of a third.
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01/11/2013
Japan scrambled fighter jets Thursday to head off a number of Chinese military planes near islands at the centre of a territorial dispute, Japanese media said. The Chinese planes were spotted on Japanese military radar north of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyus in China, the Fuji TV network reported, quoting Japanese government officials.
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01/11/2013
Rebels trying to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime battled army troops inside an air base in the north on Thursday as government forces fought opposition strongholds near the seat of his government in Damascus. In Brussels, a NATO official said the alliance on Wednesday detected the launch of an unguided, short-range ballistic missile in the country, which is embroiled in a civil war that has killed more than 60,000 people in nearly 22 months.
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01/11/2013
When a $200 million military aircraft breaks down in remote places like Afghanistan or Colombia, pilots can call on their flying crew chief, who, as most aircrew members are aware, knows everything. Flying crew chiefs perform missions worldwide. They are the mechanics of the sky and a pilot's best friend. "These guys have saved many, many missions," said Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffery Smith of the 300th Airlift Squadron. "They make our job of flying the airplane much easier."
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01/11/2013
National Defence says counterfeit parts in the cockpit displays of the air force's new C-130J Hercules transport planes do not pose a flight safety hazard, but will be replaced as necessary. A CBC News investigation found that the reprocessed electronic chips made in China could cause the screens to blank out and leave pilots with blank instrument panels in mid-flight.
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