August 21, 2013 Military Aviation News
08/21/2013
The US Air Force is unable to keep up with a growing demand for pilots capable of operating drones, partly due to a shortage of volunteers, according to a new study. Despite the importance placed on the burgeoning robotic fleet, drone operators face a lack of opportunities for promotion to higher ranks and the military has failed to identify and cultivate this new category of aviators, Air Force Colonel Bradley Hoagland wrote in the report published.
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08/21/2013
In the face of tighter military spending, U.S. Air Force fighter pilots training to fly F-22 Raptors traveled to Belle Chasse this week for aerial combat exercises with the Louisiana Air National Guard’s “Bayou Militia.” The Air Guard pilots are helping their active-duty counterparts learn to fly one of the world’s most advanced aircraft.
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08/21/2013
The air force on Tuesday landed a C-130J ‘Super Hercules’ aircraft -- configured for special operations and airborne assault -- at the world’s highest airstrip in north-eastern Ladakh, barely eight km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC), signalling India’s aggressive stance towards China following a spurt in incursions in that sensitive sector.
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08/21/2013
A defence review approved by Parliament in 1998 recommended that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) get new equipment, the Seriti Commission of Inquiry heard on Tuesday. Rear Admiral Alan Green, the first witness to testify in the commission's public hearings in Pretoria, said some of the SANDF's equipment needed to be replaced. Since its establishment in 1994, the SANDF did not have large combat vessels and had to use “rather aged off-shore patrol vessels”.
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08/21/2013
The first of five C-130J Super Hercules airlifters designated for delivery to Little Rock Air Force Base (AFB), Ark., in 2013 was ferried to the base today from the Lockheed Martin facility here. This aircraft is the first new C-130J for Little Rock AFB since 2009.
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08/21/2013
Last Wednesday, Aug. 14, U.S. Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Russell Clift performed the first F-35B night-time vertical landing aboard the USS WASP. During the Ship Suitability Sea Trials, also known as Developmental Test Phase Two (DT-II), the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) variant will demonstrate critical capabilities of the aircraft that will be employed by the U.S. Marine Corps and international partners the United Kingdom and Italy.
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08/21/2013
Boeing today marked its recent production of the 250,000th Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit, a major milestone for a program that, since 1998, has reliably and affordably converted unguided munitions into near-precision weapons. The company facility in St. Charles produces more than 40 JDAM kits every day, on time and on budget.
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08/21/2013
Russia’s Defense Ministry postponed the purchase of 37 MiG-35 fighter jets until 2016 because the defense industry cannot fulfill the contract, a senior defense official said Tuesday. “The Finance Ministry has nothing to do with it, the industry is not ready yet,” Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said, after confirming that 16 MiG-29SMT fighter jets will be bought instead.
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08/21/2013
The Russian Defense Ministry and the MiG aircraft corporation have agreed the purchase of 16 MiG-29SMT fighter jets until 2016, the Kommersant daily reported Tuesday citing a high-ranking military source. The agreement is part of the government’s effort to keep the struggling combat aircraft maker afloat following the announced delay of the contract on the purchase of 37 MiG-35 fighters until after 2016.
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