February 01, 2013 Military Aviation News
02/01/2013
Europe's armed forces can't seem to escape the front lines. French forces, with logistical help from its allies, have moved deep into Mali. Under the auspices of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European military forces are deeply involved in Afghanistan as the combat mission there is winding down, and in Kosovo.
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02/01/2013
The military's top leaders are warning Congress that automatic spending cuts looming in March would force the Pentagon to slash operating budgets, weakening the armed forces and possibly forcing furloughs of 800,000 civilian employees. The Joint Chiefs say in a letter to Congress that the cuts would create a "hollow force" and would require aircraft to be grounded and warships to return to port.
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02/01/2013
Prime Minister David Cameron refused to rule out further cuts to the British military if his Conservative Party wins power in 2015. He said he stands by his commitment to increase spending on defense equipment by 1 percent a year more than the inflation rate, leaving open the possibility of further reductions to troop numbers when Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announces post-2015 departmental spending plans by June.
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02/01/2013
"It's technologically magnificent and the next big thing. At present, we're gearing up and learning how to deal with this animal. It's like nothing that we've had here in the past, or that they've had anywhere else." Thus a senior Israel Air Force officer brings home the challenge that the Air Force will face in commissioning its first squadron of F-35 stealth fighter jets in the coming years.
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02/01/2013
The United States will continue to top the list of participants at Aero India 2013, the biannual aero show at Bangalore being held from Feb. 6-10. U.S. participation has increased from 63 companies in the 2011 show to 67 this year, followed by 49 participants from France, 33 from the United Kingdom and 29 from Russia. However, Germany has slashed its participation from 43 companies in 2011 to 22 in 2013.
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02/01/2013
India has refocused its homegrown Kaveri engine project, originally intended for its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), to power developmental unmanned attack aircraft, according to a Defence Ministry source. One reason the Kaveri was shifted to power an unmanned strike air vehicle (USAV) was that Missile Technology Control Regime restrictions prevent foreign suppliers from selling India engines that could give unmanned aerial systems a range greater than 300 kilometers, the MoD source said.
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02/01/2013
Experimental test pilots and flight test engineers from Denel Aviation are now offering their skills and experience to the benefit of clients across Africa, the company says. This continental service is reinforced by a mobile telemetry vehicle capable of supporting flight testing at remote locations. Previously such highly specialised test flying could only be conducted in South Africa.
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02/01/2013
Airbus Military’s troubled A400M air- lifter programme is now progressing well, with the first production aircraft set to be delivered to the launch customer within a few months, Airbus group president and CEO Fabrice Brégier reported at the recent Airbus annual press conference. “We were in deep crisis, [but], since 2009, we have worked very hard.” He added: “The A400M programme was progressing very well until midsummer [2012]. Then we had maturity problems with the engine.”
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02/01/2013
Congressman Ed Whitfield and several colleagues in the House of Representatives will send a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State, John Kerry, expressing opposition to the shipment of F-16 fighter aircraft and other military aid to Egypt.
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02/01/2013
The anti-aircraft missiles that were the target of a disputed Israeli airstrike on Syria this week were on a military base outside Damascus and had yet to reach the highway that leads to Lebanon when they were destroyed, two Israeli intelligence officials familiar with the air assault told McClatchy on Thursday.
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