April 25, 2013 Military Aviation News
04/25/2013
The tide of war may be receding, as President Barack Obama is fond of saying, but US military demand for unmanned drones and their remote pilots is growing. Here in the New Mexico desert, the US Air Force has ramped up training of drone operators - even as the nation increasingly debates their use and US forces prepare to leave Afghanistan.
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04/25/2013
Beset with monetary woes and a tenuous relationship with the US, Pakistan’s naval modernization plans appear to be faltering with the hoped for acquisition of further surplus US equipment now unlikely. Former Australian defense attaché to Pakistan, Brian Cloughley, says Pakistan’s crippled economy means “the Navy will not receive as much as it needs for capital equipment,” increasing the importance of obtaining surplus equipment.
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04/25/2013
Lockheed Martin may receive a U.S. order in June for as many as 60 F-35 jets, consolidating the sixth and seventh production contracts for the costliest weapons system, according to the Pentagon's program manager The contract may be valued at about $9 billion, according to a person familiar with negotiations between the Pentagon and Lockheed who declined to be named. The number of F-35s may rise to as many as 71 if orders from other nations are included.
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04/25/2013
It is difficult to discuss the F-35 without actually knowing what the aircraft is and how F-35 fleets will reshape combat. But this is precisely what the budding negative commentary on the F-35 is built on – a lack of knowledge. Even worse, the existing 5th generation aircraft is not well known either, because of its limited numbers and its condemnation by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and President Barack Obama as a “Cold War” weapon.
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04/25/2013
The Nizhny Novgorod-based Sokol aircraft manufacturer said on Wednesday it will develop a light aircraft for training air force pilots. The order for the development of a new training aircraft came from Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev earlier this year. The new aircraft will be a modernized two-seat version of the M-101T Gzhel utility turboprop aircraft, the company said.
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04/25/2013
A former Russian Air Force general was given a four-year suspended sentence and fined 5 million rubles ($160,000) by a court-martial on Wednesday for causing the crash of a Sukhoi Su-27UB fighter jet last year in Russia’s Karelia region. The court-martial Judge Vladislav Pisaryov found Maj. Gen. Kanamat Botashev guilty of breaking flight rules by flying aerobatics in the jet without proper training and authorization.
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04/25/2013
A Kazakhstan Air Force Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor crashed during a training flight in central Kazakhstan last night, killing the pilot and injuring the navigator, Kazakhstan military prosecutors said on Wednesday. The crash occurred near the village of Prostornoye in the Karaganda Region at 10.45 p.m. local time (4.45 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday. “The crew ejected from the plane before the crash," the Military Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
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04/25/2013
Northrop Grumman is the industry sponsor of this competition, which is held in coordination with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Abu Dhabi Autonomous Systems Investments (ADASI) and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The flying competition, which was open to the public as spectators, took place at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, April 23-24.
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04/25/2013
The upgrading of the Royal Saudi Air Force Tornados has been completed. The final aircraft being returned being photographed at Malta on its route back to the Kingdom. The BAE Systems end of year investor presentation confirmed that “Under the Saudi British Defence Co-operation Programme (SBDCP), orders totalling £3.4bn were awarded for support through to 2016, including the provision of manpower, logistics and training to the RSAF.
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