May 16, 2013 Military Aviation News
05/16/2013
Drones are everywhere. They are blasting suspected al-Qaida militants in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. They are menacing China. They are being shot down in Israel. They are hovering outside of homes in America and spying on their residents. And they are forcing us to rethink some basic legal principles—for good reason, because drones are making the old ones obsolete.
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05/16/2013
Back in February the African country of Niger received its first jet combat aircraft in the form of two Su-25s. These were received from Ukraine, which has a lot of Cold War surplus weapons, and refurbished these two ground attack aircraft. It is believed that Ukraine also supplied pilots and ground crews, at least until some Niger personnel could be trained to do the work.
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05/16/2013
The Pentagon’s top weapons buyer is backing calls to restore a valve on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jet that improves the fighter’s chances to survive a hit from a high-explosive round. Adding an improved valve “would result in the aircraft being fully compliant” with its operational requirements, Frank Kendall, the undersecretary for acquisition, wrote a lawmaker last month in a previously undisclosed letter.
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05/16/2013
Behind the gates of Hurlburt Field, Special Operations troops train for dangerous missions in enemy territory. Wednesday they offered a rare glimpse into their world, showcasing some of the planes they fly in combat. This is a CV-22 Osprey, it's one of several Hurlburt Field aircraft you'll see in our local skies, especially as night is falling. "Benefits of the Osprey are you can fly like an airplane and land like a helicopter, which no other aircraft can do," said Captain Jonathan Appleby.
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05/16/2013
The Air Force Special Operations Command’s fleet of more than 200 customized C-130 cargo planes will shrink by more than half in the coming years. Shedding older aircraft will allow AFSOC to save money on maintenance and to spend more on high-tech weaponry and sensors for its future fleet, said Maj. Gen. Kenneth D. Merchant, director of global reach programs at the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition.
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05/16/2013
Bell Helicopter is participating in the annual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC), held May 14 to 16 in Tampa, Fla. Bell Helicopter will feature an armed Bell 407 on static display, its first commercially qualified armed helicopter, a CV-22 model and 3-D interactive programs demonstrating the capabilities of the V-22 Osprey and Bell V-280 Valor.
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05/16/2013
Minister of Defense Purnomo Yusgiantoro on Wednesday denied reports that a cooperation project between South Korea and Indonesia to develop the Korean Fighter Experiment (KFX) combat airplane was canceled, saying that it was merely put on hold until the new government in South Korea was settled.
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05/16/2013
The first Boeing [NYSE: BA] P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft arrived today, on schedule, at India Naval Station Rajali. The P-8I is one of eight aircraft Boeing is building for India as part of a contract awarded in 2009.
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05/16/2013
The aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya has been put in a dry dock at Russia’s Sevmash shipyard for “cosmetic” repairs ahead of final sea trials and delivery to the Indian navy later this year, the company said. “The work is underway to repaint the hull under the waterline,” said Sergey Novoselov, head of defense export projects at Sevmash.
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