January 29, 2013 Military Aviation News
01/29/2013
Amid a cloud of uncertainty over how the Air Force’s next-generation trainer jet program will be funded, the service is beginning to tell competitors about the aircraft’s requirements. For three days starting Tuesday, industry will descend on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, for a series of meetings with Air Force officials. “It’s a program that needs to happen, and it is by no means clear how to fund it,” said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group, Fairfax, Va.
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01/29/2013
In the last few days, several nations have joined the large coalition supporting France in the Mali Air War with an overall Order of Battle currently including assets from some African air forces as well.
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01/29/2013
A senior Chinese military scientist has ended years of secrecy on a key type of surveillance aircraft mastered by China, exposing details on the domestic research and manufacture of "airborne early warning and control" (AEWC) systems. Wang Xiaomo, 74, regarded as the "father" of AEWC in China, said that the country has developed a complete AEWC aircraft series with its own technology, the People's Daily reported on Monday.
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01/29/2013
U.S. military officials are coordinating search and rescue efforts with Italian military and civilian teams following the loss of communication with an Aviano F-16 fighter jet Monday evening. The aircraft, assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing, was performing a training mission over the Adriatic Sea when the base lost contact with the pilot at approximately 8 p.m. Soon after, Italian aircraft and ships were dispatched to the missing jet's last known location.
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01/29/2013
The US military plans to set up a base for drones in northwest Africa to bolster surveillance of al-Qaida's affiliate in the region as well as allied Islamist extremists, a US official told AFP on Monday. The base for the robotic, unmanned aircraft would likely be located in Niger, on the eastern border of Mali, where French forces are currently waging a campaign against al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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01/29/2013
China’s new heavy-lift transport aircraft and a successful missile interception test are key steps in expanding the strength and reach of its armed forces, analysts and state media said Monday. The Y-20, China’s biggest home-produced military transport jet to date, took to the skies for its maiden flight on Saturday in the northwest of the country, just months after Beijing’s first aircraft carrier entered service.
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01/29/2013
A search in underway for a US F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet that has gone missing on a training flight off the coast of Italy, the ANSA news agency reported. The headquarters of the US 31st Fighter Wing, stationed at Aviano Air Base in Italy, lost contact with the aircraft at about 20:00 local time [21:00 GMT] on Monday, shortly after the pilot reported a problem, ANSA said.
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01/29/2013
Russia’s Defense Ministry is planning to buy seven multirole AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters for 630 million rubles (about $20 million) this year, the Federal Agency for Arms Procurements said Monday. “An open tender will be announced in February,” it said. Russia started making AW139s at the HeliVert plant last year.
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01/29/2013
The French Air Force will take over from Denmark the mission of policing Baltic airspace in May, the Latvian Defense Ministry said on Monday. Danish F-16 fighters will be replaced by French Mirage 2000C fighters. France has previously participated in three missions: in 2007, 2010 and 2011.
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