March, 2013 Military Aviation News
03/31/2013
The American and British militaries are examining ways to preserve critical warfighting capabilities honed over the past decade of fighting side-by-side in Afghanistan and Iraq, as combat operations wind down and defense spending declines on both sides of the Atlantic.
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03/31/2013
Twelve editions, 13 years and several organisers on, the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition is still going strong. Some people have commented that the show is looking more and more meagre each time, but the fact is, it is getting bigger and no less important than when the idea was first conceived.
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03/31/2013
The Delaware Air National Guard will add a C-130 to its fleet of eight, and eight additional personnel, during the last quarter of the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, the Air Force announced this past week. The summer 2014 change for the New Castle-based state Air Guard is part of the revamping of the Air Force’s original proposed budget plan for fiscal year 2013.
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03/31/2013
North Korea's massive but poorly trained and equipped military could cause significant damage in the early stages of an attack on its southern neighbor. But any attack would ultimately be repulsed by superior U.S. and South Korean forces, military analysts say.
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03/31/2013
The Georgian Foreign Ministry expressed “grave concern” over Russia’s snap large-scale military exercises in the Black Sea and said this action “runs contrary to the interests of stability and predictability in the European neighborhood.” “The current drills are unscheduled, unusual and go beyond the usual location of the armed forces in the spirit of the 2011 Vienna Document on Confidence and Security-Building Measures.
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03/31/2013
The global military aircraft market is changing due to tight defence spending amid the current soft economic situation with nations looking for more affordable capability aircraft.
Boeing Military Aircraft Vice-President F/A-18E/F & EA-18 Programmes, Michael K. Gibbons said that many years ago, cost was the secondary consideration for everybody.
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03/30/2013
An Air National Guard base that has faced possible closure twice in the past eight years will get about 200 new jobs — a move that a base commander and area officials attribute largely to community support. Officials have been waiting for some good news for a long time, Col. Gary McCue, commander of the 179th Ohio Air National Guard base in Mansfield in north-central Ohio, told the Mansfield News Journal.
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03/30/2013
Earlier this month, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense released its second Quadrennial Defense Review. The document, in addition to discussing the state of defense policies in the present political environment, examines the challenges facing the island and reports on the condition of national military preparedness.
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03/30/2013
North Korean state media said Friday that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had ordered his missile units to be ready to strike the United States and South Korea, which South Korean officials said could signal either preparations for missile tests or just more blustering. The United States criticized the North Korean threat, which came one day after American forces had carried out an unusual practice bombing exercise with advanced aircraft across South Korea.
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03/30/2013
Late last week Saab received a second order from FMV, the Swedish defense material administration, for the development of the Gripen E fighter that is slated to form the combat equipment of the Swedish air force from 2018.
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03/30/2013
Over the last month the U.S. has quietly joined the unofficial effort to arm the Syrian rebels and help them defeat the Assad forces. The rebels are receiving about twice the number of weapons (and ammo) they were getting a month ago. This aid includes more training (in Jordan) for rebel fighters and CIA provided intelligence information about the location, plans and capabilities of government forces.
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03/30/2013
China will once again start buying arms from Russia, according to Chinese media reports, which claim that a framework agreement has been signed for 24 Su-35 fighter jets and four Lada-class conventional submarines. A RIR source familiar with Russia's military-technical cooperation with foreign countries was unable to confirm these reports.
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03/30/2013
Thousands of Russian troops participated in a military exercise in the Black Sea on Friday, aimed at showcasing Russia's resurgent military might. President Vladimir Putin attended the drill that also involved 30 navy ships, dozens of combat aircraft and hundreds of armored vehicles. The exercise, which the Kremlin said was intended to test the military's quick response, was ordered by Putin from aboard the presidential plane on a flight home from South Africa on Thursday.
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03/30/2013
Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony warned the government's defense businesses to make sure the long-awaited Tejas Light Combat Aircraft is ready no later than 2014. Antony's warning was part of a general statement during his opening presentation to the 37th Directors Conference at the Defense Research and Development Organization. Antony urged government-run agencies - in particular the DRDO - to speed up their work.
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03/29/2013
Bangalore, March 28 (IANS) State-run defence behemoth Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) will manufacture sub-assemblies for the Boeing Super Hornet fighter jet under a follow-on contract with the US-based global aerospace major. "Under the follow-on contract of 2011, BEL will deliver components for our F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft," Boeing said in a statement here Thursday.
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03/29/2013
Amid deepening maritime disputes with some of its neighbours, Chinese navy today said it would conduct 40 military exercises this year to test its combat readiness. The Naval wing of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) would conduct 40 drills this year, including some joint exercises with various countries, to beef up its operational preparedness to guard its maritime borders and national interests, state-run CCTV reported.
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03/29/2013
President Obama has instructed the Defense Establishment to pivot its forces and reorient its efforts toward Asia. Instead, the U.S. armed forces step by step get drawn into the quagmire of messy conflicts in Africa. Recently, the United States has become embroiled in conflicts in Somalia, Libya, Mali and central Africa. The presence is about 5,000 U.S. troops strong. The forces are scattered across the continent in the places like Djibouti, the Central African Republic and now – Niger.
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03/29/2013
Washington and Moscow have followed Beijing’s lead this week, calling elements of their armed forces into action for military exercises across the Pacific and European theaters.
After Chinese naval vessels and aircraft participated in maneuvers across the South China Sea earlier this week, the United States announced today that it had flown two of its stealth B-2 bombers over North Korean airspace in a display of force and technological superiority.
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03/29/2013
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Friday ordered preparations for strategic rocket strikes on the US mainland and military bases in the Pacific and South Korea. The order, issued at an overnight emergency meeting with top army commanders, was a direct response to the use of nuclear-capable US B-2 stealth bombers in ongoing US joint military drills with South Korea, Kim said.
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03/29/2013
In an unprecedented move, about 193 United Nations (UN) member-states reportedly closed in on the first-ever global treaty to regulate the $80 billion a year conventional arms trade.
As diplomats were cautiously optimistic that the landmark accord would be agreed at the final negotiating session starting at 1900 GMT, doubts remained over whether India, Iran or Syria could block the required consensus.
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03/29/2013
Malaysia has shortlisted five manufacturers as it seeks to buy 18 combat aircraft by 2015 to replace its ageing fleet of Russian-made MIG-29s, the defense minister said on Thursday. The choice was between the Britain-backed Eurofighter Typhoon, Sweden's SAAB JAS-39 Gripen, France's Dassault Aviation Rafale, Boeing's F/A 18E/F Super Hornet and Russia's Sukhoi Su-30, Zahid Hamidi told Reuters.
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03/29/2013
The US military said Thursday it had sent two nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers on an “extended deterrence” practice run over South Korea, dropping dummy bombs as part of a bilateral training exercise. “This mission… demonstrates the United States’ ability to conduct long range, precision strikes quickly and at will,” said a statement from the United States Forces Korea, a division of the US Strategic Command under the Department of Defense.
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03/29/2013
Russian aircraft maker Sukhoi and the Malaysian Defense Ministry have signed a $100-million contract for the technical maintenance of Malaysia’s fleet of Su-30MKM fighters, said a spokesman for the organizing committee of the LIMA-2013 aerospace exhibition. The contract covers technical maintenance as well as supplies of spare parts for 18 Russian Su-30MKM fighters that were delivered to Malaysia between 2007 and 2009 under a $900-million contract signed in 2003.
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03/28/2013
Bangladesh is planning to buy 24 Yak-130 Mitten jet trainers on $1 billion credit from Russia, Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Wednesday. “Bangladesh has a whole list of arms it wants, but so far that is a state secret. I will reveal one little secret: The purchase of Yak-130 warplanes is a very significant subject of negotiations between Russia and Bangladesh.
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03/28/2013
Mongolia is in discussions to buy American-made military transport airplanes, and is getting U.S. help in learning how to operate the aircraft. That ambitious purchase appears to signal that Mongolia has mining money to spend, and it's using some of it to upgrade its armed forces. Mongolia is looking at buying three C-130J transport airplanes, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
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03/28/2013
The Air Force is canceling its flight training exercise scheduled for April in Alaska. An announcement from Pacific Air Forces says Red Flag - Alaska is being set aside because of budgetary concerns. The training exercise traditionally takes place at Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, and use the Joint Pacific Alaskan Range Complex for training.
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03/28/2013
Japan's highest-ranking uniformed officer said on Wednesday that Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighters were the best choice for the nation's future operational needs as Tokyo wrestles with tensions with China and increasingly belligerent North Korea. The vote of confidence in the state-of-the-art U.S. warplane comes amid reports that some nations that have placed orders for the F-35s are reconsidering their plans.
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03/28/2013
At Eglin Airbase near Port Walton Beach, Florida, Maj. Karen Roganov, an officer in charge of public information, guided reporters to the base Friday, saying, “Many foreign reporters have visited here, but this is the first time for us to receive Korean journalists.” Covering 1.88 million sq. kilometers, the base has more than 50 fighter jet hangars, runways and more than 30 barracks. The facility is used as a center for flight training and pilot education for the F-35 Lightening II.
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03/28/2013
Russia's relations with South Africa were not always as good as they are today. During Soviet times, the Soviet leadership disapproved strongly of the South African white regime's harsh apartheid politics. The Soviet Union supported the African National Congress in its struggle against apartheid. In 1956, the ties were severed completely by the USSR.
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03/28/2013
More than 40,000 US and South Korean troops are currently conducting military manoeuvres on the Korean Peninsula, as part of the annual Foal Eagle exercise. US bombers, fighter aircraft and submarines have made their way to the region in an effort to "enhance the security and readiness" of South Korea. Those exercises are seen as a visible way for Washington to reassure Seoul of the reliability of its alliance and extended deterrence commitment.
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03/28/2013
Embraer of Brazil has officially opened an assembly facility in Florida for A-29 aircraft it is producing for the U.S. Air Force LAS program. The ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday, attended by Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown, occurred despite a continuing protest and legal action by Beechcraft Corp. over the award for an initial 20 combat aircraft that will be supplied to Afghanistan.
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03/28/2013
The Navy is moving ahead with its effort to field a stealthy, carrier-based attack drone. Yesterday, the sea service announced that it plans to give Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Atomics contracts to flesh out their competing designs for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program.
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03/28/2013
The effort over many years to forge an international treaty regulating the booming $70 billion annual trade in conventional weapons headed toward fruition on Wednesday with a final draft sent to the governments of all United Nations member states for approval. Supporters, including a majority of member states, hope that the Arms Trade Treaty will be approved by consensus at a final negotiation session here on Thursday.
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03/27/2013
Boeing is displaying a mock-up of a proposed conformal fuel tank fit (CFT) for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet combat aircraft at the Langkawi International Maritime & Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition in Malaysia. A US Navy F-model aircraft is on static display at the show with two above-wing CFT shapes installed. Boeing ground crew added the "strap-on" mock-ups following the aircraft's arrival from the USA.
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03/27/2013
Broad government budget cuts have claimed this year's Aviation Nation show at Nellis Air Force Base. The military aircraft exhibition that opened the airfield to the public was slated to happen Nov. 9-10.
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03/27/2013
The Pentagon’s far-out research scientists aren’t just trying to build a drone that can operate off the deck of a small warship. They’re starting to describe their new-mark flying robot as a device that bridges the communication systems between ships and aircraft. And if they can pull it off, Darpa will be giving the U.S. military a capability it badly needs for one of its major initiatives.
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03/27/2013
After trying to buy the Sukhoi SU-35 fighter jet since the 1990s, China is finally getting 24 of them along with four submarines from Moscow, Forbes reports.
The Russians finally warmed up to the deal (which was trimmed from an order for 48), marking the first big military equipment purchase between the two nations in over a decade.
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03/27/2013
China's military is expanding its unmanned aerial vehicle forces with a new Predator-like armed drone and a new unmanned combat aircraft amid growing tensions with neighbors in Asia, according to United States intelligence officials.
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03/27/2013
Leave aside economic growth parameters and astounding leaps in infrastructure that only increase the disparity between India and China with every passing day, the story is repeated about the increasing gap between the military capabilities of the two countries. China's expenditure on defence is three times ours - if we accept disclosed figures - and could actually be more.
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03/27/2013
Peru is in talks with Spain and warplane suppliers as part of a low-budget plan to replace aging air force aircraft with second-hand Eurofighters and comparable fighters. Cost is a major issue for Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, who is looking at competitively priced fighter jets that will fit the national budget. Peru's cut-price fighter jet competition contrasts with Brazil's multibillion-dollar FX-2 replacement jet fighter program.
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03/27/2013
Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen expressed the desire to replace a number of ageing air force fighter aircraft during the latest parliamentary budget debate. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) seems to be in the leading position to be Singapore’s next-generation fighter.
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03/27/2013
French government plans for severe defence cuts could jeopardise its military entente cordiale with Britain, “kill” its conventional army and render interventions such as that in Mali impossible, Gallic defence officials have warned.
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03/27/2013
Scotland will lose out to Norfolk on being home to the next generation of fighter jets, ministers will announce. There had been hopes that the new Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSF), which will be the heart of the RAF’s future capabilities, might be based at Lossiemouth in Moray, but they will fly from RAF Marham. In a written statement yesterday, it was announced a third RAF installation will be closed in Scotland in the next three years with the loss of 30 jobs.
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03/26/2013
When the curtains go up at this year's edition of the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition (Lima '13) today, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will likely be reflecting on one thing in particular. Events in Lahad Datu must surely underscore the value of having a show such as Lima, as well as the Defence Services Asia exhibition, in the region.
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03/26/2013
Defence secretary, Philip Hammond, flew to the Norfolk base to announce the decision to personnel this morning. The announcement safeguards Marham’s future until 2040 - along with 5,000 jobs and the millions it contributes to the region’s economy each year. Mr. Hammond said Marham had always been the first choice to be home for the Lightning II.
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03/26/2013
The Colombian Army has formally inducted five new Sikorsky S-70i multi-mission helicopters into its fleet of BLACK HAWK aircraft. Colombia is the first South American country to buy the S-70i BLACK HAWK helicopter variant from Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.. 'We are honored by the trust the Colombian Armed Forces continue to place in Sikorsky, and in the BLACK HAWK aircraft as the country's utility helicopter of choice.
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03/26/2013
Work to install Elbit Systems C-Music directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) equipment on several Italian air force types is to begin soon, under the terms of a $15 million contract awarded to industry partner Elettronica in 2011. Dan Slasky, vice-president of airborne electro-optics and laser systems at Elbit's Elop division.
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03/26/2013
THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ — This is definitely a place, not just a patch in the sea. The land can close in on both sides — Iran to the north, Oman or the United Arab Emirates to the south. The waterway is crowded with ships, among them the world’s largest oil tankers, big container ships, small dhows and merchantmen, tiny fast smuggling craft darting across traffic, gray warships lurking in the haze.
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03/26/2013
Jordanian International Air Cargo is a front for the Kingdom of Jordan’s Air Force, the New York Times and Foreign Policy reports. Not only that, but JIAC has been running military aid to Syrian rebel fights in its military-style, Russian-made Ilyushin 76 cargo planes, via Croatia. In total, the Times says, there have been more than 160 flights of these planes, for a total of 3,500 tons of military equipment.
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03/26/2013
During the past 10 years, Canada has embarked on a series of ambitious modernisation programmes for its military aircraft fleet. But Ottawa's track record on executing such programmes has been mixed. While some procurement efforts have proven quite successful, others have hit severe turbulence.
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03/26/2013
China's first domestically-developed heavy transport aircraft, the Y-20, successfully took off for its first test flight on January 26. Now, Y-20's trial flight has entered a new phase. Our reporter Li Dong has the details. Different from the previous yellow-green paint, the new Y-20 has been repainted a dark gray, signifying that the aircraft's trials have entered a new phase.
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03/26/2013
In the era of stealth jets and smart phones, the average Air Force aircraft has been flying since the Reagan administration. Some, like the B-52, have been around considerably longer. As a young Air Force lieutenant, Ovidio Pugnale of Beavercreek first flew aboard the nuclear-armed bomber in November 1960.
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03/26/2013
China has agreed to buy 24 fighter jets and four submarines from Russia, Chinese state media report. It is reported to be the first time in a decade that China has made a large-scale military purchase from Russia. Two of the submarines will be built in Russia and two in China. The deal, signed just before last weekend's visit to Moscow by the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, comes as both sides increase military co-operation.
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03/25/2013
Something that looks very much like a new Cold War is forming up here in the Arabian Gulf region. The hot ground war of Iraq is over, and its counterpart in Afghanistan is drawing down, perhaps even faster than planned. In their place, a new standoff centered on the maritime environment already is at work, signifying intentions by the U.S. and its allies to remain active participants in the region.
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03/25/2013
Iraq shouldn't allow Iran to use its airspace to provide aid to the Syrian government, US Secretary of State, John Kerry, warned during his unannounced visit to Baghdad. "I made it very clear that for those of us, who are engaged in an effort to see President Assad step down... anything that supports President Assad is problematic," Kerry said after holding private talks with Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
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03/25/2013
China has demonstrated its military might by testing new rockets capable of hitting aircraft carriers up to 1,250 miles from the shore, as the US announced it is stepping up its military presence in Asia. Amidst increasingly belligerent language from Beijing, new satellite photos published in the Taiwan media show huge craters in a mock-up of an aircraft carrier deck in the Gobi desert, believed to be created in tests of the new DF-21D anti-ship missile.
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03/25/2013
Budget pressures at the Pentagon have renewed a debate about the value of the US Navy’s giant aircraft carriers, with critics arguing the warships are fast becoming costly relics in a new era of warfare. With the Pentagon facing $500 billion in cuts over the next decade, a Navy officer has dared to question the most treasured vessels in his service’s fleet, saying the super carriers are increasingly vulnerable to new weapons and too expensive to operate.
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03/25/2013
Russian military inspectors will make surveillance flights over the territories of Croatia and Slovenia countries under the international Open Skies Treaty beginning on Monday, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said. Russian experts will conduct the inspection flights on board an Antonov An-30B (Clank) aircraft between March 25 and 30, the spokesman said.
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03/24/2013
The newest outpost in the U.S. government’s empire of drone bases sits behind a razor-wire-topped wall outside this West African capital, blasted by 110-degree heat and the occasional sandstorm blowing from the Sahara. The U.S. Air Force began flying a handful of unarmed Predator drones from here last month. The gray, mosquito-shaped aircraft emerge sporadically from a borrowed hangar and soar north in search of al-Qaida fighters and guerrillas.
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03/24/2013
India has emerged as the world’s largest importer of major conventional weapons worldwide, according to new data on international arms transfers published on Monday. The top five importers of major conventional weapons worldwide are all in Asia: India (12% of global imports), China (6%), Pakistan (5%), South Korea (5%) and Singapore (4%).
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03/24/2013
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday it would close two airport control towers in Indiana because of automatic budget cuts approved by Congress. Gary and Columbus airports are among 149 nationwide that will shutter their air traffic centers because of $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester.
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03/24/2013
Here at the 36th annual TiCo Warbird Airshow, fighter jets and vintage planes roar and rumble by as viewers ooh, aah, and then walk over to the line of food stands to buy funnel cakes and gyros, corn dogs and root beer floats. The undisputed star, of course, is the Air Force Thunderbirds, whose six-plane precision flying team crisscrosses a perfect sky in ever-changing formations and gives an undiluted thrill to the crowd — at least those who brought earplugs.
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03/24/2013
Newly-elected Chinese President Xi Jinping has affirmed that China and Russia will continue to strengthen and develop their military, political and strategic relations, including cooperation between their armed forces. Xi Jinping, who is on a three-day visit to Russia – his first foreign visit since becoming Chinese president last week, met on Saturday with the Russian military leadership in the Russian Armed Forces' Operational Command Center.
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03/23/2013
With the approach of spring, some in Congress are gearing up for those high-flying, all expenses-paid trips abroad known as "codels" traditionally used by lawmakers not only for fact gathering but for lots of relaxation time as well. But according to The New York Times, there may not be as much travel on the schedule this spring due to the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that kicked in on March 1.
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03/23/2013
Representatives of the California sanctuary that will take in Toronto’s three African elephants are hoping Defence Minister Peter MacKay will allow a C-17 military aircraft to fly the animals there by the end of June. Department of National Defence staff met Thursday with officials from the city, the Toronto Zoo and Zoocheck to review what it would take to pack up and move Toka, Thika and Iringa.
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03/23/2013
Thank you, Neil, for that kind introduction and for inviting me here today. I’d like to thank Professor Pradeep Chhibber, Director of the Institute of International Studies for organizing this event. I’d also like to give a shout out to Ambassador Steve Browning, the State Department’s Diplomat in Residence here at Berkeley, who has no doubt persuaded countless Berkeley grads to join our ranks.
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03/23/2013
The next time Chinese sailors lock radar onto a Japanese warship, they may discover they’re aiming at a woman. The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) this week appointed female officers to command two naval destroyers. It’s the first time that women have been given command of frontline warships since Japan’s modern navy was formed seven decades ago.
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03/23/2013
The Central Intelligence Agency is expanding its role in the campaign against the Syrian regime by feeding intelligence to select rebel fighters to use against government forces, current and former U.S. officials said. The move is part of a U.S. effort to stem the rise of Islamist extremists in Syria by aiding secular forces, U.S. officials said, amid fears that the fall of President Bashar al-Assad would enable al Qaeda to flourish in Syria.
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03/23/2013
French and Malian troops are fighting to rid northern Mali of Islamist rebels. Germany’s Bundeswehr is providing logistical support. Three Transall transport planes and 90 soldiers are stationed in Senegal. At the French army airbase in the Senegalese capital Dakar, turbines are humming. It is midday and extremely hot, a warm wind sweeps up the dust from the ground. Nearby, passenger planes take off and land at Leopold Sedar Senghor International Airport.
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03/23/2013
The French government is considering limiting its purchases of Rafale multi-role combat aircraft, made by Dassault Aviation SA (>> DASSAULT AVIATION), to 225 from the 286 planned over the life of the program, according to a report Friday on financial information website latribune.fr.
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03/22/2013
As a result of the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act Intra-theater Airlift Working Group’s recommendations, Colorado’s 302nd Airlift Wing is slated gain an additional C-130 Hercules aircraft in FY 2014. This additional backup aircraft, which was added to enhance mission effectiveness, will bring the total number of aircraft assigned to the Air Force Reserve airlift unit from 12 to 13.
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03/22/2013
Ten CH-46E Sea Knight medium-lift tandem rotor transport helicopters, assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 262, departed the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) for the final time March 20. Known colloquially as the "Phrog," the Sea Knight has been used in all U.S. Marine combat and peacetime environments since its introduction in 1964, and will be replaced with the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.
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03/22/2013
The fighter-sized X-47B UCAV successful performed hand-controlled deck maneuvers on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, defense company Rockwell Collins said. Rockwell Collins said its Tactical Targeting Network Technology was used to put the unmanned combat aerial vehicle through on-deck paces, which were performed ahead of carrier landings by the aircraft planned for this year.
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03/22/2013
The Russian military deployed more than 500 weapons systems and 50 aircraft to a region near Mongolia for air-defense drills, the government said. The Russian government said air-defense drills are under way in the Republic of Buryatia in Asia. Military forces are testing the S-300 surface-to-air missile system, man-portable surface-to-air missiles systems and other defensive equipment, state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reports.
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03/22/2013
The European Commission plans to unveil measures to support the region’s defense industry this summer at a time when member states are curtailing military spending as part of austerity measures. Five ideas have been identified to help support military contractors, including aiding small companies gain access to financing, Daniel Calleja Crespo, director-general at the Commission’s Enterprise and Industry directorate said. More proposals could be added, he said.
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03/22/2013
The ongoing trials of China’s first aircraft carrier and her ship-based jet fighters represent a major leap ahead in capability for the People’s Liberation Army Navy. But the hype surrounding Lioaning’s debut test cruise last summer and the inaugural landing of her J-15 fighters in late November masks an important truth, one the world’s other carrier powers have long known.
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03/22/2013
The first operational squadron of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets passed a milestone Thursday in Yuma when the Marine Corps version of the aircraft made its first vertical landing outside of testing. The first F-35 squadron meant to eventually fly the jet in combat was established in November at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma -- Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121. Until now the squadron was not allowed to perform the F-35B’s signature feature, its ability to land like a helicopter.
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03/22/2013
The drums of war are escalating in Washington, audible just beneath the Senate’s tense political debate of a Democratic-crafted budget. But the drums are not beating in the direction of Iran. Syria is the target. All week, amid reports Syrian President Bashir al-Assad’s military used chemical weapons against rebel forces, Democratic senators have joined interventionist Republicans in calling for U.S. military intervention.
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03/22/2013
The Russian Defense Ministry denied on Thursday media reports speculating that Russia will relocate its resupply base in the Syrian port of Tartus to Beirut due to the escalation of the Syrian conflict. “The reports that Russian warships … will use Beirut rather than the Syrian port of Tartus as a resupply point are nothing but pure speculation,” the ministry said in a statement.
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03/21/2013
Raptors won’t be roaring through Tri-City skies during Water Follies this summer. “The military has just announced they’ve eliminated all non essential flying due to sequestration cuts. Which means the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command raptors will not be coming to our air show this July,” said Kathy Powell, Water Follies event director.
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03/21/2013
MBDA hopes to soon advance the development of its FASGW/ANL anti-ship missile for the UK and France, following the latter's near-term release of a White Paper outlining its military investment priorities, says company chief executive Antoine Bouvier.
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03/21/2013
According to figures released by the defence ministry (MoD) in parliament today, the Indian Air Force (IAF) loses the equivalent of one fighter squadron (16-18 fighters) in crashes every two years. With the IAF repeatedly expressing concern over the declining number of squadrons - now down to 32-33 squadrons against a minimum operational requirement of 42 squadrons - even the induction of new aircraft like the Rafale fighter will not make up the numbers.
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03/21/2013
As President Obama arrives in Israel today for his first presidential trip to the country, Israeli President Shimon Peres says the responsibility lies with the United States to launch a military strike if Iran's nuclear program advances beyond "the point of return."
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03/21/2013
The Air Force Reserve Command has decided 10 C-130Js from Keesler Air Force's 403rd Wing will be transferred to Pope Field in North Carolina, Keesler officials announced today.
A press release from Keesler says the base would lose the aircraft in October, the beginning of the 2014 fiscal year. The aircraft are primarily being used for tactical airlift missions locally and overseas. The plan also says the 815th Airlift Squadron at Keesler will close.
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03/21/2013
The Pentagon's F-35 warplane is giving U.S. allies in Asia a headache as they look to replace ageing jets with a cutting edge aircraft now likely to be at least seven years late in offering a strategic deterrent to China. The $400 billion weapons project has suffered technical faults, delays, cost overruns and now U.S. budget cuts that could force Washington to scale back its own purchases.
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03/21/2013
The Pentagon has consistently updated its options for using the U.S. military in Syria, as conditions on the ground have changed. But these are only options at this point, and senior military officials say President Barack Obama has not yet asked to see a potential plan of action.
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03/21/2013
A crew of two women on Wednesday flew a C-130 cargo aircraft together for the first time in their careers, cracking the glass ceiling in the male-dominated Air Force. Capt. Lee Na-kyum and Capt. Oh Hyun-jin of the fifth tactical airlift wing based in Gimhae, 449 kilometers southeast of Seoul, successfully completed their flight mission, marking the first time an all-female crew has flown the military aircraft since female cadets were accepted into the academy in 1997.
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03/21/2013
India successfully test fired a submarine-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on Wednesday, the BrahMos Aerospace Russian-Indian company said. The missile was launched vertically from a submerged platform in the Bay of Bengal and flew its complete range of over 290 kilometers, BrahMos chief executive Sivathanu Pillai said.
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03/20/2013
Saab AB says sales prospects for its Gripen fighter are improving as country’s such as Denmark and Canada reconsider buying the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and others set fighter purchase plans. Sales of current model Gripens and the NG, the next generation model, may exceed 300 units in the next two decades, Eddy de La Motte, head of Gripen Exports said today.
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03/20/2013
Is an electronic attack aircraft a combat aircraft? Not according to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which is classifying its forthcoming squadron of Boeing EA-18G Growlers as a support force distinct from its air combat units. Its move is raising the possibility that the 12 electronic attack aircraft will add to its fast-jet fleet instead of substituting for part of it—although the move may not persuade the government to pay for more fast jets than it has planned.
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03/20/2013
Foreign military attaches to China on Monday took a closer look at China's main fighter jet, the J-10, while visiting a division of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force. The 84 military attaches from 67 countries, including Austria, the United States and Hungary, were invited to an air show performed by a J-10 squadron. They also visited the capital air defense command center in Beijing.
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03/20/2013
The Chinese government on Tuesday continued to deny that a Chinese frigate locked its radar on a Japanese destroyer earlier this year. The denial comes a day after Tokyo-based Kyodo News quoted unnamed "senior Chinese military officials" admitting for the first time that it happened - but only by accident, they said.
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03/20/2013
Zachary Waller always wanted to be a commercial airline pilot as a kid. The prestige and paycheck associated with being the captain of a huge airliner appealed to him. But shortly after he arrived at the University of North Dakota in 2008, he realized he could actually take to the skies and secure a good job without having his feet leave the ground.
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03/20/2013
The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that NATO is conducting contingency planning for possible military involvement in Syria and American forces would be prepared if called upon by the United Nations and member countries.
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03/20/2013
Virginia Tech's College of Engineering is one of several U.S.-based research teams tasked with finding a solution as part of a three-year project funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research's Hot Jet Noise Reduction program, related to a broader Navy initiative known as the Noise Induced Hearing Loss program.
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03/20/2013
The first three modernized Ilyushin heavy-lift transport planes will be delivered to the Russian Defense Ministry in 2014, the aircraft’s designer said on Tuesday. Ilyushin Aviation Complex said the prototype Il-476, also known as Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A, made the first in a series of trial flights on Monday at a testing center near Moscow. “The flight lasted one hour and 55 minutes at altitudes between 2,000 and 10,000 meters,” the company’s press service said.
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03/20/2013
More than 70 aircraft and some 1,000 troops will be deployed in a series of tactical drills in preparation for a large-scale exercise next week in northwest Russia, military officials said on Tuesday. Preparations for the exercise, codenamed Ladoga-2013, have begun in the Republic of Karelia, and the Leningrad, Smolensk and Tver regions with tactical drills by fighters, bombers and army aviation.
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03/19/2013
Celebrated war veteran air commodore (retd) Mohammad Mahmood Alam, popularly known as MM Alam, died in Karachi on Monday after a protracted illness. He was 78. The hero of the Pakistan-India 1965 war, who inspired several generations to join armed forces, breathed his last at the PNS Shifa, where he had been under treatment for several weeks.
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03/19/2013
Saab of Sweden says its Gripen fighter is one of four aircraft under consideration in Denmark's reopened competition for new aircraft. Other aircraft under consideration are Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin.
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03/19/2013
New research shows Pakistan's growing purchases of Chinese military hardware have helped Beijing become the world's fifth biggest exporter of conventional arms, overtaking Britain. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says Pakistan bought 55 percent of China's weapons exports in the years 2008 to 2012. Pakistan and China are longtime allies.
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03/19/2013
Two Syrian jets fired three rockets that hit empty buildings near the Lebanese town of Arsal near the Syrian border Monday, a local source said. There were no injuries, according to the source. Also, Lebanese state-run news agency NNA reported that Syrian warplanes attacked sites in northern Lebanon. The government's use of fighter jets to fire rockets into Lebanon is a "significant escalation," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday.
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03/19/2013
The U.S. Marine Corps version of Lockheed Martin's F35 Joint Strike Fighter, F-35B test aircraft BF-2 flies with external weapons for the first time over the Atlantic test range at Patuxent River Naval Air Systems Command in Maryland in a February 22, 2012 file photo. It's called the "death spiral," and America's newest warplane, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is in danger of falling into it before the plane has even gone into service.
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03/19/2013
The F-35 Lightning II program at the Air Forces’ flight test center at Edwards FAB has entered a new phase of testing with the arrival of the first two operational test aircraft March 6, 2013. Team members from the 53rd Wing’s 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, a tenant unit here, will determine how to best tactically operate the F-35A. Another 53rd Wing squadron, the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) at Nellis AFB, Nev..
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03/19/2013
The successor to the original F/A-18 Hornet family (of which the CF-18 is a member), Boeing’s Super Hornet has already amassed an impressive combat record in its 14-year operational history. It is by far the most proven airframe among the various contenders in the running to replace the CF-18. The F/A-18E/F was originally intended to be an interim aircraft until the development of a stealthy naval strike attack aircraft could be completed.
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03/19/2013
High-speed military jets and aerobatic performers will roar into RAF Cosford for the air base’s 75th Anniversary Air Show this year. The RAF Tucano and Typhoon display teams will be in the skies at the event on June 9 alongside crowd favourites the Red Arrows and the Blades Aerobatic Team.
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03/19/2013
Lockheed Martin Corporation announced that its board of directors has approved the appointment of Orlando Carvalho, 54, to executive vice president of the Aeronautics business area, and Lorraine Martin, 50, as vice president and general manager of the F-35 Lightning II program. The board also elected Martin a corporate officer. Both appointments are effective immediately and follow the retirement of Larry Lawson, 55, on April 5 after 26 years with Lockheed Martin.
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03/18/2013
The Pentagon has squandered billions of dollars over the past two decades on weapon systems it never produced and on rosy cost estimates that ballooned to sizes that ate up funds for other projects, according to government reports and defense analysts.
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03/18/2013
Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company, said it has won a $253 million contract to provide F-15SA pilot and maintenance training systems for the Royal Saudi Air Force. The US defence giant has served as the Royal Saudi Air Force’s F-15 training partner for more than three decades. The company also provides the service’s weapons systems officer training program.
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03/18/2013
The World Military Balance 2013 published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) reflects the recent trends in the global redistribution of military power. Reflecting the subdued global economic climate, total defence spending fell in real terms in 2012 for a second year running. However, real increases were seen in the Middle East and North Africa, Russia and Eurasia, Latin America and in Asia, while real declines were seen in North America and Europe.
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03/18/2013
Being more vocal than ever regarding the controversial drone campaign, Pakistan is seeking a ban on the unilateral use of pilotless lethal aircraft against sovereign countries. Officials have revealed that Islamabad has insisted that increased reliance on drone strikes for combat operations may cause serious harm to global peace and stability.
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03/18/2013
Asked to sum up his first trip to Afghanistan in his new job, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said, “It’s complicated.” When veteran diplomatic troubleshooter James Dobbins was asked about the problem of deciding which Syrian rebels should receive American support, he noted that the State Department and the CIA had had two years, “and if they don’t know by now we’ve got a pretty hopeless intelligence network.”
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03/18/2013
China has become the world's fifth-largest arms exporter, a respected Sweden-based think tank said on Monday, its highest ranking since the Cold War, with Pakistan the main recipient. China's volume of weapons exports between 2008 and 2012 rose 162 percent compared to the previous five year period, with its share of the global arms trade rising from 2 percent to 5 percent, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said.
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03/18/2013
Turkey’s largest defense company — Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi ve Ticaret — has successfully developed the country’s first indigenous identification friend-or-foe (IFF) system, and delivered the first prototypes to the Turkish military. Two prototype electronic systems were delivered to the armed forces last month and mark a “first-time achievement” for Turkey’s local industry, officials and analysts here said.
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03/18/2013
Russian military inspectors will make surveillance flights over the territories of Germany and the Benelux countries under the international Open Skies Treaty within a period starting Monday, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said. Russian experts will conduct the inspection flights on board an Antonov An-30B (Clank) aircraft between March 18 and 23, the spokesman said.
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03/17/2013
The F-35 Integrated Test Force expanded their aircraft inventory March 5 with the arrival of BF-17, which is the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the F-35 Lightning II and is operated by the Marine Corps. The aircraft arrived from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and will remain at Edwards to conduct mission system testing throughout the System Development and Demonstration phase.
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03/17/2013
The IAF on Saturday kicked off a major exercise, 'Live Wire', to hone its war-fighting skills, with hundreds of fighters, helicopters, transport aircraft and drones from all its five operational commands participating to test both offensive and defensive airpower capabilities. The exercise, the biggest in a decade with all the airbases around the country being activated, will be held in phases to validate network-centric operations.
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03/17/2013
Eurofighter Typhoon joins the New Danish Combat Aircraft Competition targeted at safeguarding Denmark’s national air defence. Eurofighter CEO, Enzo Casolini, said: "We welcome the invitation of the Danish Government and we are pleased to enter into this international competition. Eurofighter Typhoon is the most advanced new generation combat aircraft that can fulfill the specific Danish requirements, including Arctic surveillance.
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03/17/2013
Commercial derivatives of the Y-20, China's first domestically developed strategic airlifter that is expected to enter service around 2017, will be exported to other countries, according to aviation industry insiders. "We will develop a number of variants of the Y-20 and we are definitely going to export them," said Tang Jun, chairman of Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co, a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corp of China, and the leading maker of the nation's large aircraft.
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03/17/2013
A recent Defense Department analysis has reported that there is limited use to training students on the F-35 fighter jet because it is still in development and substantially limited in capability. Student pilots officially began training at Eglin Air Force base this year.
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03/17/2013
Singapore is in the "final stages of evaluating" the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to upgrade its air force, a process US sources say should turn quickly into orders for more than a dozen of the stealthy warplanes that have been beset with cost overruns and delivery delays.
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03/16/2013
It's called the "death spiral," and America's newest warplane, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is in danger of falling into it before the plane has even gone into service. The term - recently invoked by top brass involved in the F-35 program - refers to a budgeting Catch-22 that plagues the defense industry. To keep the cost per airplane low, you need to build and sell a lot of planes. But in tough economic times, governments cut orders to save money. That pushes up the cost per plane.
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03/16/2013
The U.S. Air Force has sided with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer (ERJ), saying Friday that the company and its lead American partner Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), should continue with its light air support contract after a four day suspension.
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03/16/2013
The NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) announced this week that it has awarded a contract to the trinational Panavia consortium to further upgrade the Tornado for the Italian air force. The latest in a series of upgrades will allow Italian Tornados to carry the small-diameter bomb (SDB) and the advanced anti-radiation guided missile (AARGM).
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03/16/2013
There is a growing disquiet in northern Nigeria over the commencement of operations of American drones now stationed just across the border in the Niger Republic. Drones are unmanned, remotely controlled aerial vehicles fitted with guns and missile launchers.
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03/16/2013
The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee have joined together in asking the Pentagon to reconsider the purpose of its new military battle medal for drone aircraft pilots and similar "cyberwarriors," who rarely if ever actually set their boots on the battlefield.
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03/16/2013
When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his forces to launch a surprise attack on the South Korean island of Baengnyeong in the Yellow Sea, North Korean coastal guns, including 76- and 122-millimeter guns, opened fire. Soldiers from the North’s elite military units entered Gangwon Province via AN-2, an aircraft for low-altitude penetration into the South, and started guerrilla warfare.
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03/16/2013
The United States has violated Pakistan's sovereignty and shattered tribal structures with unmanned drone strikes in its counterterrorism operations near the Afghan border, a U.N. human rights investigator said in a statement on Friday. U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, Ben Emmerson, visited Pakistan for three days this week as part of his investigation into the civilian impact of the use of drones and other forms of targeted killings.
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03/16/2013
The U.S. Navy has found that it’s actually cheaper to use a F-18E aircraft for aerial refueling than to have other combat aircraft land and wait in line to refuel on the carrier. This landing and waiting consumes a lot of fuel. If the waiting aircraft turn off their engines (to save fuel) the aircraft has to undergo an hour of safety checks before it can turn on the engines again. Turns out it is easier and cheaper to send another F-18E aloft carrying six tons of fuel and use the usual inflight
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03/16/2013
March 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia’s Ufa-based engine maker will deliver the first 10 of 920 AL-31FP engines for the Su-30MKI Flanker-H to India before the end of March, the manufacturer said on Friday. The contract with India, the largest one with a foreign client in post-Soviet history, was signed last October, and engine deliveries are to be completed by 2022.
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03/16/2013
A new Russian carrier-deck pilot training site will be ready for operation by fall, the Federal Agency for Special Construction Work confirmed on Friday, replacing a Soviet-era base in Ukraine which Kiev has said it may lease to other countries. “The construction work there is effectively complete. I believe aircraft will start flying there in August or September,” Grigory Naginsky, head of the Federal Agency for Special Construction Work (Spetsstroi) said.
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03/15/2013
The Battle Creek Air National Guard base is preparing for drones. The southwestern Michigan base said it learned from the Air Force Thursday that it will fly the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle and won't get C-130 cargo aircraft as it had hoped. Base commander Col. Ronald Wilson said in a release that it's "disappointing" not to get the C-130 but leaders are "excited for the MQ-9 mission."
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03/15/2013
From June onwards, India will finally begin to add some real strategic airlift muscle. IAF's capability to swiftly transport combat troops and war-fighting equipment to distant battlefronts will be hugely bolstered with the induction of the gigantic C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft.
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03/15/2013
The country’s indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’ programme is now expected to be completed only by March 2015 and is one of the major projects undertaken by the Defence Research Development Organisation(DRDO) which is running behind schedule by several years, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
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03/15/2013
Canada’s future role in the international campaign to suppress Al Qaeda-linked extremists in Mali is up in the air, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper is ruling out putting Canadian troops into combat in the West African country. At a joint press conference wrapping up a visit to Ottawa by French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Harper was asked about France’s push for a United Nations peacekeeping mission to replace the French-led coalition fighting to keep Mali from becoming a terrorist haven.
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03/15/2013
Israel is preparing to host its largest ever multinational air exercise towards the end of 2013, with "a great number of air forces" having expressed their intention to take part in the Blue Flag manoeuvres. The activity will be led by the Israeli air force's Flying Dragon adversary squadron.
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03/15/2013
Challenged by the ever growing scale and capabilities of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Taiwan must develop its air defense capabilities fielding more capable fighter planes in greater numbers, a requirement aired in a recently published released quadrennial defense review.
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03/15/2013
Airbus Military has received full Type Certification for the A400M new generation airlifter, marking a critical step towards delivery of the first aircraft to the French Air Force. Award of the Type Certificate makes the A400M the world’s first large military transport to be designed and certified to civil standards from its inception. Military Initial Operating Clearance is ongoing, paving the way towards first delivery.
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03/15/2013
Singapore, a major business and shipping hub with the best-equipped military in Southeast Asia, is expected to submit a "letter of request" soon for the F-35, said two U.S. government officials who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
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03/15/2013
A U.S. Predator drone aircraft conducting classified surveillance over the Persian Gulf was “approached” Tuesday by an Iranian fighter jet, which turned away after a nearby U.S. Air Force jet issued a radio warning, the Pentagon said in a statement. “The Iranian aircraft departed after a verbal warning,” the statement said.
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03/15/2013
Another Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] C-130J Super Hercules (aircraft number 5715) ferried to the 317th Airlift Group at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, on March 12, 2013. Maj. Gen. Richard Johnston, assistant deputy under secretary of the Air Force, international affairs, flew the aircraft to Dyess. The aircraft is part of a contract initially awarded in 2008 and amended in 2010.
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03/14/2013
Jackson and other members of the local Disabled American Veterans chapter shared their thoughts Tuesday over the award, known as the Distinguished Warfare Medal. The medal — the Pentagon has suspended its production and announced Tuesday it would be put under review — was to be awarded to troops who operate drones and use other technological skills to fight America's wars from afar.
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03/14/2013
Eating on the go can be tough, especially when your job requires you to fly an aircraft for the U.S. military. The Aircrew Build to Order Meal Module, designed by the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center's Department of Defense Combat Feeding Directorate will make refueling these aviators a lot easier.
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03/14/2013
Three Navy crew members who were killed when their plane crashed in Eastern Washington during a training flight were identified Tuesday. Lt. Cmdr. Alan A. Patterson, 34, from Tullahoma, Tenn.; Lt. j.g. Valerie Delaney, 26, from Ellicott City, Md.; and Lt. j.g. William Brown McIlvaine III, 24, of El Paso, Texas, were killed, the Navy said. Delaney was identified as a naval aviator. McIlvaine and Patterson were naval flight officers.
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03/14/2013
The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program is a different program than it was four years ago, the F-35 program executive officer said here March 12. In a speech at the McAleese/Credit Suisse Defense Programs Conference at the Newseum, Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan told attendees that he and his predecessor, Navy Vice Adm. Dave Venlet, worked with Lockheed-Martin and Pratt & Whitney to reform the problem-plagued development program.
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03/14/2013
The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter serves as one of the most utilized workhorses of the U.S. military. According to the U.S. Army fact file, the UH-60 provides air assault, general support, aero-medical evacuation, command and control and special operations support to combat and stability and support operations.
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03/14/2013
Syrian warplanes have been bombing the northern cities of Homs and Raqqa, and even the outskirts of Damascus, to block advancing rebel forces, attacks that underline the critical role the air force in the Damascus regime's battle to stay in power. "The Syrian air force is the main advantage the regime has over the rebels," the U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor observed.
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03/14/2013
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems has won a $19.3 million contract with the U.S. Navy to provide the F/A-18 aircraft with advanced mission computers. The company has been delivering these types of computers since 2002.
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03/14/2013
Data released today shows that more than 700 airborne sorties were conducted by the North Korean armed forces on March 11th, the first day of the joint ROK-U.S. military exercise ‘Key Resolve.’ According to a South Korean government source, the number includes sorties by fighter jets, reconnaissance aircraft, training aircraft and helicopters.
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03/14/2013
Boeing has selected Brisbane, Australia-based Ferra Engineering to build wing kits that triple the effective range of the Joint Direct Attack Munition Extended Range (JDAM ER) and allow aircrews to deploy the weapon from beyond the range of an enemy’s air defense system. The Royal Australian Air Force became Boeing’s first JDAM ER customer in 2011. Boeing builds JDAM weapons in its St. Charles, Mo., facility, about 25 miles west of St. Louis.
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03/14/2013
The first Defense Ministry test flights of the prototype Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A (also known as the Il-476) heavy-lift transport plane at a flight test center near Moscow were postponed indefinitely due to bad weather on Wednesday, the Ilyushin Aviation Complex press service said. The first flight at the Zhukovsky flight test center was set for 12.00 Moscow time (08.00 GMT) on Wednesday, according to the Russian Defense Ministry’s program.
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03/13/2013
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, made the astounding admission today that 12 JAS 39 Gripen Advanced Light Fighter jets, which were purchased as part of the Arms Deal more than a decade ago, and cost billions of rands in public funds, are in long-term storage.
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03/13/2013
Soon after taking over as Communist Party and military chief, Xi Jinping launched a series of speeches referring to "The China Dream." It was music to the ears of Col. Liu Mingfu of the People's Liberation Army. Three years ago, the former professor at its National Defense University wrote a book of the same name, arguing that China should aim to surpass the U.S. as the world's top military power and predicting a marathon contest for global dominion.
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03/13/2013
The flap over the U.S. Air Force choosing for a second time a Brazilian aircraft for its Light Air Support program appears unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. The Sierra Nevada Corp., in partnership with Embraer Defense and Security, said they are moving ahead with plans to produce A-20 Super Turcano aircraft in Florida for the LAS program.
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03/13/2013
The $397 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will not be ready to go into operation until at least 2019, 23 years after the Pentagon signed a contract in 1996 with Lockheed Martin to produce just fewer than 2,500 of the aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, according to a new report.
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03/13/2013
After more than a decade of waiting for a new search-and-rescue plane, the military today is barely a step closer to flying one — and, that, says Defence Minister Peter MacKay, is not his fault. "I will express to you ... no small degree of frustration that we have not been able to move this project forward," MacKay said at a news conference Tuesday in Ottawa.
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03/13/2013
Top Pentagon officials on Tuesday underscored their support for the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter, saying they would try to protect funding for the most expensive U.S. weapons program despite continued U.S. budget uncertainty and cost over-runs. The $396 billion program is already seven years behind schedule and 70 percent over initial cost estimates.
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03/13/2013
The armed forces and the military industrial complex must listen to each other and keep their sights on the future, rather than the existing weaponry, Vladimir Putin told a meeting dedicated to the development of combat aviation at the Novosibirsk Aircraft Plant.
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03/13/2013
Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and the Defense Ministry are in talks over a deal for new Ilyushin Il-78 Midas aerial refueling tankers for the Russian Air Force, UAC said on Tuesday. The aerospace holding declined to say when a deal might be signed or on what terms.
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03/12/2013
he United States’ top military officers have warned that sequestration would be “ruinous” for national security. They warned of an era of scant training and little maintenance on aging combat systems. And they warned that a new national defense strategy would be unworkable. To hear the top generals and admirals tell it, the U.S. military would be reduced to regional-power status.
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03/12/2013
The UK Royal Air Force is using a new upgrade to its Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft during exercise Red Flag 13-3 in the USA, with the enhancement to also soon be embodied with all its early production examples of the type. BAE Systems, which developed the enhancements package, says the activity "provides capability upgrades to a wide range of Typhoon avionic systems, covering the displays and controls, attack and identification, defensive aids and communication subsystems".
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03/12/2013
The taint of corruption in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal has brought focus on the need to shed overdependence on foreign vendors for military hardware, but the status of indigenous defence programmes tells a story of cost overruns and delays.
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03/12/2013
Boeing has chosen Brisbane firm Ferra Engineering to make wing kits to extend the range of GPS-guided bombs carried by US and Australian combat aircraft. Defence Materiel Minister Mike Kelly says the JDAM-ER (joint direct attack munition extended range) is an Australian initiative to increase the range of existing JDAM bombs through use of bolt-on wings.
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03/12/2013
The Japanese government ultimately decided against publishing the so-called "related evidence" collected by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces regarding Chinese ships using fire control radar (FCR) against its warships. A Chinese proverb says that he who makes the initial offense always files the suit first—which may also describe the fuss recently made by Japan. However, Japan's attempt to hype the FCR incident also brings to the forefront issues that should be considered.
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03/12/2013
The former Howard government and Air Force chiefs ignored advice from defence officials in 2002 against rushing into the Joint Strike Fighter project amid concerns that too little was known about the aircraft's cost and capabilities. Documents released under Freedom of Information reveal that officials explicitly advised against signing up to the ''system development and demonstration'' phase of the JSF, which has since been beset by delays, technical problems and cost blowouts.
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03/12/2013
The Pentagon needs to budget $12.6 billion each year through 2037 to finish developing and paying for all the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighters it plans to buy, according to a report released by a congressional watchdog agency on Monday. This amounts to $2 billion more in projected annual funding needs than the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had included in a draft report obtained and published by Reuters on Saturday.
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03/12/2013
The United States rarely conducts military operations alone, so it is in America's interests to ensure that its allies and partners are well-equipped, well-trained and able to operate effectively with U.S. forces. Key to achieving this objective—and to helping other nations keep their neighborhoods peaceful in the first place—is this country's ability to export weapons technologies.
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03/12/2013
The EA-6B Prowler took off from Whidbey Island, a Naval Air Station on Puget Sound in Washington. The craft crashed Monday morning in Eastern Washington, near the town of Harrington. Images of the crash site show much of the plane disintegrated on impact.
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03/12/2013
Lockheed Martin received a $253 million contract agreement to begin work on F-15SA pilot and maintenance training systems for the Royal Saudi Air Force. The technologies will provide a comprehensive ground-based training environment for Saudi Arabia’s F-15SA modernization program.
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03/11/2013
It's 8 a.m. as U-2 instructor pilots Maj. Chris and Lt. Col. Scott arrive on the flight line to start their preflight inspection of a T-38 Talon before making a training flight. Instructors with the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, the two pilots, whose last names are not provided for safety and security reasons, are among those training the next generation of pilots and sensor operators for the U-2 Dragon Lady and RQ-4 Global Hawk.
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03/11/2013
They're small, inexpensive and capable of feats that once belonged to the realm of science fiction — and they're here to stay. The advent of drones is one of the most significant technological advances of our time. These pilotless, remote-controlled aircraft have been a boon to the war against terrorist enemies in South Asia.
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03/11/2013
Even after the federal budget cuts known as sequestration kicked in March 1, Lockheed Martin was able to garner more than $1 billion in federal military contracts during the first seven days of the month. And going back a week before sequestration, with military furloughs, layoffs and cuts slated for implementation over the next month, Lockheed Martin was awarded more than $8 billion in military contracts from Feb. 20 to Thursday.
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03/11/2013
North Korea drummed up threats of an all-out nuclear war with South Korea and the U.S. on Sunday, one day ahead of the two allies' planned joint military drill which the communist country denounces as targeting the North.
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03/11/2013
The hi-tech military aircraft that's been a part of the Thunder in the Valley Air Show for years will be a no show this year. Sequestration is forcing the military to withdraw from the spectacular acrobatic event that has drawn thousands to Columbus for 16 years.
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03/11/2013
Two upgraded E-2K airborne early-warning aircraft that were sent to the US for upgrades were delivered to Kaohsiung International Airport Station on Saturday for follow-up tests and inspections.
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03/11/2013
Russian military inspectors will make a surveillance flight over the territory of Spain under the international Open Skies Treaty within a period starting Sunday, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said. Russian experts will conduct the inspection flight on board an Antonov An-30B (Clank) aircraft between March 10 and 16, the spokesman said.
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03/10/2013
Nearly 10,000 Defense Department employees in Macomb County could face once-weekly unpaid furlough days — a 20 percent pay reduction — as a result of the so-called sequester cuts that Congress allowed to take effect on March 1. At the Tank-Automotive Command in Warren, most or all of 8,000 civilian employees each face a four-day workweek from late April to Sept. 30.
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03/10/2013
Pakistan on Friday concluded a four-day multinational exercise and seminar aimed at promoting peace and stability in the region. The Aman-13 /Peace-13 exercise brought together ships from 13 countries including the U.S. and China and observers from 20 others.
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03/10/2013
Worries that drones could be deployed to spy on citizens without warrants have prompted lawmakers in Idaho and more than a dozen other states to push measures restricting their use by police and just about everyone else. Bills moving through legislatures in states such as Idaho, Montana and Arizona would outlaw the use of pilotless aircraft to gather evidence about suspected criminal activity unless police have obtained warrants.
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03/10/2013
"We have flying prototypes, which can so far be called the first-generation PAK FA. There was a long-range flight from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Zhukovsky outside Moscow recently. This is already reality," Rogozin said. The fighter will acquire "special superiority qualities when a new engine is launched," he said. "The main work is concentrated now on the engine and weapons. We expect supplies to start in 2015-2016," Rogozin said.
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03/10/2013
Australia plans to buy up to 100 of the combat jets for $16 billion, but delays and technical concerns have the government and Defence deeply worried. The government is set to announce soon that it will purchase another 24 Boeing Super Hornet fighters from the US Navy to plug a possible "capability gap" as early model Hornet fighters retire and delays in the JSF program increase.
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03/10/2013
Recovering from the initial embarrassment of the revelations, the government seems to have finally accepted that the long-term solution to rampant corruption is an urgent and immediate turn towards aggressive indigenisation in military manufacturing. And indications emerging from the Ministry of Defence are that such a new course of action is under preparation, and could soon be unveiled.
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03/10/2013
With an ear-ringing roar, the matte-gray fighter jet streaked down Runway 12 and sliced into a cloudless afternoon sky over the Florida Panhandle. To those watching on the ground, the sleek, bat-winged fuselage soon shrank into a speck, and then nothing at all, as Marine Capt. Brendan Walsh arced northward in America’s newest warplane, the F-35 Lightning II.
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03/09/2013
When Major Liu Yang, China's first woman in space, returned to earth safely after a mission to the Tiangong-1 space station in late June, it reminded all Chinese people of an old saying proclaimed by Mao Zedong six decades ago: "Women hold up half the sky". Liu, a People's Liberation Army representative at the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress, celebrated International Women's Day with other NPC deputies in Beijing yesterday.
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03/09/2013
As scrutiny and debate over the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) by the American military increased last month, the Air Force reversed a policy of sharing the number of airstrikes launched from RPAs in Afghanistan and quietly scrubbed those statistics from previous releases kept on their website.
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03/09/2013
The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday to require the Defense Department to disclose whether military drones are being operated domestically to conduct surveillance on American citizens. A requirement buried in a lengthy appropriations bill calls on newly confirmed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to disclose to Congress what "policies and procedures" are in place "governing the use" of military drones or other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) domestically.
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03/09/2013
As China reaches an agreement with Russia to buy Sukhoi Su-35 fighters, the domestic J-20 fighter program might have developed problems that China cannot solve on its own anytime soon. Seemingly prompted by the well publicized Su-35 deal, photos of the second J-20 prototype undergoing flight tests became easily available on Chinese websites recently, likely to assure the public that the J-20 program is proceeding well.
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03/09/2013
India is to equip its Perspective Multirole Fighter (PMF) variant of the Russian T-50 fifth-generation combat aircraft with avionics similar to Russia’s version of the plane, United Aircraft Corporation President Mikhail Pogosyan said on Wednesday. “The future plane (PMF) will have not only the same airframe, but also an integrated system of onboard equipment,” Pogosyan said, stressing this was a requirement of the Indian Air Force.
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03/09/2013
The first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II with a Center Wing Assembly (CWA) built at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Ga., was flown for the first time this week. The aircraft, known as BF-25, is an F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing variant that will be delivered to the U. S. Marine Corps at Yuma, Arizona.
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03/08/2013
Northrop Grumman Corporation recently completed a successful exchange of radar data during a flight test involving the U.S. Air Force’s E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) and the RQ-4B Global Hawk Block 40 unmanned aircraft system equipped with MP-RTIP radar. The RQ-4B Block 40 first flew with MP-RTIP radar in November 2011.
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03/08/2013
You knew that was coming, right? Just didn’t think the Navy and Air Force would have enough sense of humor about it to make it effective April 1. The Air Force Thunderbirds, here, are the precision flyboys who put their F-16s through amazing maneuvers and thrill aviation fans around the country each year. The Navy’s Blue Angels, here, do the same thing in their F-18s.
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03/08/2013
When your Aadhaar card details are verified by any of the government departments using a state-of-the-art biometric matching machine, there will be French technology working in those complex machines.
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03/08/2013
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 hosted an MV-22B Osprey family day for Okinawa community members March 3 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Approximately 300 parents and children attended the event, aimed at familiarizing families with the Osprey and its capabilities.
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03/08/2013
Thales UK and Airbus Military have signed an 18-year contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to supply training services for the A400M Atlas, the Royal Air Force’s next-generation military transport aircraft. The multi-million pound training services programme will be operated by A400M Training Services Ltd, a joint venture between Thales UK and Airbus Military.
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03/08/2013
A commission of the Defense Ministry examining the An-70 aircraft program has completed its work at the Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv), the enterprise's press service reported on Thursday. The enterprise has accomplished the full range of tests, calculations and strength tests that were envisaged by the program, including the static testing of wing devices, control surfaces, an engine installation, landing gear legs and doors, the radar dome and other units, the press service said.
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03/08/2013
It seems U.S. fighter pilots have lost that loving feeling for their new F-35 stealth jets. At least that's the impression given in a scathing Pentagon report leaked this week that identifies a huge number of problems facing the U.S. military's F-35 fleet - including fears it can easily be shot down.
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03/08/2013
At least one F-35 jet landed at Nellis Air Force Base on Wednesday, though later than expected, after the Pentagon grounded the fleet of planes in February when one was found to have cracked engine blade. It is the first of four of the long-awaited stealth jets that Nellis is expected to take delivery on for an arrival ceremony on March 19.
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03/08/2013
The second Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Lightning II for the Netherlands rolled out of the F-35 production facility on March 2. This is the latest step in the production process leading to its eventual assignment to Eglin AFB, Fla., later this summer. The Netherlands is planning to use this conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) jet, known as AN-2, for training and operational tests for pilots and maintainers.
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03/08/2013
Maria Young for RIA Novosti) The United States vowed to aggressively defend itself and its allies after North Korea furiously threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US in the face of sanctions handed down by the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Thursday.
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03/06/2013
The international arms market has seen a growing number of Chinese competitors that are beginning to challenge U.S. and Russian market dominance, especially in sales to the Middle East. Chinese arms sales include army, navy and air force platforms, and are slowly becoming the market standard.
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03/06/2013
The world's oldest British fighter jet is taking to the skies once again over England, a treat for air enthusiasts around the world. A Gloster Meteor, Britain's oldest fighter jet, and likely the oldest fighter jet still flying, will grace the skies later this month.
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03/06/2013
Sun Cong, chief designer of the J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, accepted a special interview with Xinhua News Agency on March 2. The J-15, nicknamed "lying shark", is China's first generation of carrier-borne fighter jet. When the piloted J-15 fighter landed on the Liaoning aircraft carrier for the first time and successfully took off, Sun was filled with excitement.
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03/06/2013
A Canadian subsidiary of the Esterline Corp., a U.S. specialty manufacturer, is supplying glass cockpits for Korean-made trainer aircraft. The turboprop aircraft - Korea Aerospace Industries' KT-1 - are being supplied to the Peruvian air force and CMC Electronics has been contracted for 20 integrated cockpits.
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03/06/2013
A Nouse investigation has found BAE, York drone research sponsor to be employing private, civilian contractors to fly drones for military operations in Afghanistan. BAE employees stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan operate the Manta and Silver Fox drones on missions for the US military.
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03/06/2013
Civilian air shows across the country could be shut down or reduced in scale because of automatic federal budget cuts that would be triggered later this month. According to an email from Ann Stefanek, a spokeswoman for the Department of the Air Force in Washington, D.C., “all aerial demonstrations, including flyovers, jump team demonstrations and participation in civilian air shows and military open houses will cease as of 1 April, 2013.”
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03/06/2013
“In February, we moved the aircraft to Zhukovsky where preparations for the test flights are full steam ahead. I hope, if everything goes well, that we will be able to start test flights according to a military program on March 12-14,” Livanov said in a live interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station on Monday.
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03/06/2013
A series of war or terrorism scenarios, including attacks against terrorist cells in other countries and “state on state war fighting,” dominate a series of possible missions the federal government has set out for five fighter jets, including the controversial Lockheed Martin F-35, that are now under consideration as potential replacements for Canada’s aging fleet of CF-18 fighters.
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03/06/2013
Lockheed Martin has received a $71 million Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) modification contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to conduct air- and surface-launched flight tests and other risk reduction activities. Under this contract, an additional air-launched LRASM flight test will be conducted from a B-1B in 2013. There are already two air-launched flight tests scheduled for this year as part of the Phase 2 LRASM contract awarded in 2010.
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03/06/2013
Russia will continue military-technical cooperation with Venezuela regardless of who takes over power in the Latin American country after the death of its charismatic socialist leader Hugo Chavez, a Russian arms trade source said on Wednesday. Chavez, 58, died on Tuesday following a two-year tough battle with cancer, leaving the country in a political turmoil.
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03/05/2013
Just before the implementation of billions of dollars in military budget cuts, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) handed out more than $400 million in contracts to Lockheed Martin. The night before “sequestration” went into effect, the DoD awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin totaling $333,786,000. The work is for maintenance of the accessories for the F-35 Lighting jet fighter and other aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, the Marine Corps and Navy.
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03/05/2013
U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement after the Pentagon approved the sale of 12 Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters and 12 EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets to Australia.
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03/05/2013
National security has never been a high priority item in India. This is being demonstrated yet again by the polemics raging in Parliament around alleged linkages with murky Italian intermediaries said to be involved in the bribery for the acquisition of 12 Italian AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters for the VIP fleet of the Indian Air Force.
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03/05/2013
The government has approved a proposal for the indigenous development of Airborne Warning and Control System (Awacs) aircraft by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the project is slated to be completed by 2020, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lower House (Lok Sabha) yesterday.
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03/05/2013
The Harper government’s plan to buy the oft-maligned F-35 fighter is expected to face another blow with a series of deep spending cuts about to unfold in the United States. The cuts, known as sequestration, could affect “specific military procurements” in this country, MacKay told a event at the Economic Club of Canada.
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03/05/2013
China will boost defense spending 10.7 percent this year as the government modernizes its military arsenal and adopts a more assertive stance in territorial disputes with its neighbors.
Military spending is set to rise this year to 740.6 billion yuan ($119 billion) from 669.1 billion, the Ministry of Finance said in a report. China has the second-biggest military budget in the world after the U.S., which spent nearly six times more on defense than China last year.
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03/05/2013
This year will see the USS Harry Truman docked in Virginia due to another round of budget battles between US President Obama and the Republican opposition. The Telegraph has reported that the vessel, which is one of 10 nuclear aircraft carriers in the US military fleet, will not be patrolling the waters of the Persian Gulf in 2013 over $85-billion spending cuts.
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03/05/2013
In just a few weeks, the French air force will take delivery of the very first operational A400M from Airbus Military’s final assembly line in the Spanish city of Seville. Not only will it mark a key milestone for the €20bn-plus (£17bn) programme, but it will also have major significance for Britain, both for the military and for industry through manufacturing and exports.
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03/05/2013
Ukraine is considering leasing out a carrier-deck pilot training site in Crimea to other countries, Ukrainian First Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Oleinik said on Monday. Under a 1997 bilateral agreement, Russia occasionally uses Ukraine's Nitka Naval Pilot Training Center as the only training facility for its carrier-based fixed-wing pilots, but that could change, Oleinik said.
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03/05/2013
Russia will deliver attack helicopters and air-defense systems to Iraq before the summer, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Monday. Delivery of the Russian arms will start as soon as financial matters are dealt with, he added. “I believe the first arms deliveries from Russia to Iraq will start before the beginning of the summer at the latest,” he said in an interview with Golos Rossii Radio.
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03/04/2013
More than £300m is to be invested in training and defensive equipment linked to the introduction of the RAF's new transport fleet, it has been announced. The MoD is buying 22 A400M Atlas transport aircraft to replace the RAF's fleet of C-130 Hercules planes, with the first aircraft set to enter service in late 2014.
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03/04/2013
Choppergate raises question marks over Dassault's re-entry into MMRCA. Dassault Aviation flew back into the race after being ejected initially for technical non-compliance. Deal to acquire 12 helicopters from AgustaWesland for VVIP use has gone sour due to allegations of kickbacks paid to alter tender requirements in its favor.
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03/04/2013
Effective 21st-century warfare requires the ability to conduct airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike mobile targets anywhere, around the clock. Current technologies, however, have their limitations.
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03/04/2013
Embraer’s EMB-314 Super Tucano trainer and light attack turboprop continues to rack up global orders, solidifying its position as the globe’s pre-eminent manned counter-insurgency aircraft. The latest order set of about $180 million expands the plane’s footprint into 3 African states: Angola, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania. They join Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Indonesia as customers for this aircraft.
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03/04/2013
As the federal budget looms large on the horizon, the Canadian military is bracing for some serious budget cuts. And with the Conservatives looking to trim spending, the Defence Department appears to be the government’s primary target. From the numbers being bandied about, the national press speculate that the department can expect to have its annual funding chopped across the board by as much as 10 per cent (about $1.8 billion).
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03/04/2013
The U.S. Air Force wants to purchase an extended-range (ER) version of the MQ-9 Reaper, allowing the service to strike deeper into enemy territory using fewer vehicles in a post-Afghanistan environment. “They've approved it; it's a matter of details now,” Chris Pehrson, director for strategic development with Reaper builder General Atomics, told Defense News. “The program is going to go forward.”
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03/04/2013
On the eve of the National People’s Congress, the chief of China’s Communist Party, Xi Jinping, is emphasizing his role as a champion of the military, using the armed forces to cement his political authority and present a tough stance in growing territorial disputes with American allies in the Pacific region.
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03/04/2013
The UN Security Council’s independent panel of experts, who monitor sanctions imposed on Darfur in 2005, said on Friday that Sudan’s government has violated UN sanctions on the Darfur region by carrying out air strikes and using aircrafts from Belarus and Russia.
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03/04/2013
Things are still up in the air regarding a military aircraft flyover at this month's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway – due to the automatic federal budget cuts called sequestration.
That’s because military training exercises – including operations for armed forces jet squadrons and high-profile aircraft such as the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy’s Blue Angels – are among the expenses targeted in the $85 billion budget cuts that Congress and President Barack Obama failed to stop.
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03/03/2013
UTC Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), won a contract to provide the advanced DB-110 airborne reconnaissance system on the F-16 platform for the Turkish Airborne Reconnaissance Program (TARP).
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03/03/2013
Dubbed the “entente frugale” by wags and criticised by some as a dangerous dilution of military sovereignty, Franco-British defence cooperation is nonetheless growing stronger. Shrinking budgets, a less indulgent United States and Europe’s diminishing military clout in the world have bolstered the two countries’ determination to work together.
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03/03/2013
Chad's military chief announced on state television late Saturday that his troops deployed in northern Mali had killed Moktar Belmoktar, the terrorist who orchestrated the attack on a natural gas plant in Algeria that left 36 foreigners dead.
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03/03/2013
Moving ahead with plans to execute further budget-cutting actions — but stopping short of enacting major cuts — the U.S. Navy on Saturday issued orders to plan and prepare to cancel and shut down a variety of operations and procurement efforts. The moves are in response to a presidential directive signed Friday evening by President Obama to begin the forced federal spending cuts known as sequestration.
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03/03/2013
The Navy has fine-tuned its operational strategy and honed its combat skills after a major exercise, which saw both the western and eastern fleets come together for intensive manoeuvres, in the Arabian Sea over the last 30 days.
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03/03/2013
As it rapidly modernises its military, China today claimed that its new J-15 fighter jet which will operate from its recently-acquired aircraft carrier, can cover a radius of 1,000 kms in attack missions. The J-15 fighter jet is able to cover an area with a radius of over 1,000 km on attack missions, Sun Cong, a chief designer of the plane told state-run Xinhua news agency.
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03/03/2013
Deep spending cuts mean Australia must develop a new national security strategy relying on a less potent defence force than is currently planned, the Gillard government has been warned. The navy's planned fleet of 12 big submarines could have to be cut back to six smaller boats and the number of Joint Strike Fighters to be bought reduced from 100 to as few as 30 if the government does not intend to restore defence spending.
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03/03/2013
Office of the House of Representative Ander Crenshaw, U.S Government has issued the following News Release: – Congressman Ander Crenshaw, a member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, today (2/27) lauded the Air Force’s announcement of a $950 million contract for 20 Super Tucano light air support (LAS) aircraft to Sierra Nevada and its partner, Embraer. The decision means the creation of at least 50 high-skilled jobs in Northeast Florida.
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03/03/2013
The proposed move is announced after yet another problem was found with one of the aircraft during an inspection. A cracked turbine blade on one plane was discovered last week, but tests have shown that this was a unique problem. The Pentagon grounded the entire fleet, but has now lifted the no-fly.
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03/02/2013
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been cleared to resume flight operations, six days after a crack discovered in the engine caused the fleet to be grounded. Flights will resume Friday afternoon weather permitting, according to program officials. “Following engineering analysis of the turbine blade which developed a crack, F-35 flight operations have been cleared to resume,” the Joint Program Office and Pratt & Whitney said in a joint statement, released late Thursday night.
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03/02/2013
Dubbed the "entente frugale" by wags and criticized by some as a dangerous dilution of military sovereignty, Franco-British defense cooperation is nonetheless growing stronger.
Shrinking budgets, a less indulgent United States and Europe's diminishing military clout in the world have bolstered the two countries' determination to work together.
(Read More...)
03/02/2013
After Col. Jeannie Leavitt finished pilot training at the top of her class in 1992, she was given her first choice of aircraft, with a few restrictions. Her first choice, the F-15 Strike Eagle, wasn't yet an option for female pilots. "I was told you finished No. 1, but you cannot pick a fighter," Leavitt said. "You cannot pick a bomber. You cannot pick a special ops aircraft. There was a whole list of aircraft I couldn't fly, and I was directed to choose among the other aircraft."
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03/02/2013
American military readiness starts deteriorating at midnight. Flights will be grounded. Ships will stay dockside. Army unit training will stop. That’s the assessment of the top Pentagon officials in the wake of abrupt and deep budget cuts that will take effect Saturday.
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03/02/2013
Japan on March 1 further relaxed a self-imposed ban on weapons exports by approving the dispatch of locally made components for the U.S.-built F-35 stealth fighter jet, despite concerns that Israel will buy the plane and thereby contravene an export embargo observed for more than four decades.
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03/02/2013
With $85 billion in automatic cuts to the federal budget taking effect beginning Friday, millions of fans across the country will miss out on precision flying by the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds, military officials said.
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03/02/2013
Stiff budget cuts that take effect Friday because of a political standoff over America’s burgeoning debt could crimp U.S. military activity in the Asia-Pacific, just as Washington seeks to reassure friends and allies of its staying power in the region.
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03/02/2013
Sudan's government has violated U.N. sanctions on the Darfur region by carrying out air strikes and using aircraft from Belarus and Russia despite pledging not to in the vast arid area in the country's west, U.N. experts say. The U.N. Security Council's independent panel of experts - who monitor sanctions imposed on Darfur in 2005 - also said it was investigating whether Sudanese troops had violated the sanctions by using Iranian armored personnel carriers in Darfur.
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03/02/2013
In the first two months of 2013, Russia sold over $2.5 billion worth of weapons to other countries, the head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said Friday.
“In the first month of this year, we sold arms worth $1 billion. In the first two months, total weapons sales exceeded $2.5 billion,” Alexander Fomin told Ekho Moskvy radio.
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03/01/2013
An Indonesian senior official said on Thursday that process of cooperation between Indonesia and South Korea in jointly developing advanced fighter jet was postponed due to transition of power in South Korean government.
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03/01/2013
In a dogfight of defence contractors, the hunter can quickly become the hunted. It's happening now to the F-35. The world's largest defence contractor, Lockheed Martin, is trying to convince wavering U.S. allies — including Canada — to stick with its high-tech, high-priced and unproven F-35 stealth fighter. But the F-35 is way behind schedule, way over budget and, now, it's grounded by a mysterious crack in a turbine fan.
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03/01/2013
Cassidian handed over the 100th Eurofighter to the German Air Force today, at the Military Air Systems Centre in Manching. The anniversary aircraft with the identifier 31x00 took off in the afternoon on its delivery flight to Boelke Fighter Bomber Wing 31 in Noervenich. Speaking to invited delegates who included politicians, representatives of the public authorities, the German armed forces and industry.
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03/01/2013
With the defence forces planning to finalise major deals such as the one for 126 Rafale combat aircraft, the government has earmarked more than Rs. 33,000 crore for acquiring aircraft and aero-engines from the Rs. 86,000 crore modernisation Budget for the forces. Of this amount, Rs. 25,000 crore has been given to the IAF which is close to finalising negotiations for deals.
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03/01/2013
Members of Congress today were told by the U.S. military that the impact of President Obama’s sequester plan – scheduled to take effect tomorrow – would be a combination of undone repairs, missing modernization, absent deployments and failed readiness. The testimony came before the House Armed Services Committee from Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition.
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03/01/2013
Japan today scrambled fighter jets to head off a Chinese government plane flying towards disputed islands in the East China Sea, the defence ministry said. It said the Y-12 propeller plane did not enter airspace around the Tokyo-controlled islands known as the Senkakus, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.
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03/01/2013
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., and Boeing will submit a joint proposal to build a demonstrator aircraft - based on Sikorsky’s X2™ Technology rotorcraft design - for the U.S. Army's Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD) Phase 1 program. The JMR TD program supports the Army's Future Vertical Lift initiative to deliver the next generation of vertical lift utility and attack aircraft.
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03/01/2013
The Royal Saudi Air Force has formally inducted into service the Airbus Military A330 MRTT new generation tanker/transport aircraft. Deputy Minister of Defence Prince Khaled bin Sultan dedicated the aircraft at a ceremony this week.
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03/01/2013
Sagem is ready to begin delivery of the AASM SBU-54 laser terminal guidance version of the Hammer weapon to the French Air Force pending administrative clearance by the DGA. Clearance is expected within a matter of weeks and will pave the way for the weapon to enter operational service later this year.
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03/01/2013
The Afghan air force is to receive 20 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft following a new deal between the USAF, supplier Sierra Nevada and OEM Embraer. The $425million contract has been battled over by the US-Brazil partnership and American OEM Beechcraft.
(Read More...)
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