September, 2013 Military Aviation News
09/30/2013
About 40 pilots fly the MQ-1 Predator on armed recon missions abroad from inside a building at the Springfield Air National Guard Base, but the local Air Guard wing has openings for 10 more. The Air Force as a whole has embraced unmanned aerial technology so rapidly that it can’t find and train those pilots fast enough, according to a recent think tank report.
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09/30/2013
Tim Steller’s recent column is a valuable addition to the debate over the deployment of the F-35 aircraft. Populated with an abundance of military retirees and a supportive business community, there is no question that Tucson is an Air Force town that will continue to favor the presence of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
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09/30/2013
After years of delays and huge cost over-runs, Airbus on Monday delivers its first A400M military transport plane, handing over the huge turboprop to France at its Spanish assembly plant. The pan-European aircraft maker expects the ceremony at the Airbus Military plant in Seville, southern Spain, to be the start of sales to military forces worldwide.
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09/30/2013
Russia and the United States are running neck and neck in their research of hypersonic military technologies, Russia's deputy PM in charge of the defense industry said on Monday.
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09/29/2013
The Department of Defense announced a mind-boggling 113 separate contract awards on Friday, worth $10.92 billion in total. Amazing as this number is, however, three other numbers are even more impressive: One single company won nine of these contracts -- and more than 40% of the Pentagon's money.
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09/29/2013
IAF fighter jets were scrambled into Israel's skies twice Saturday, for reasons that are unknown. Such events usually occur when it is believed that a foreign aircraft is invading Israeli airspace. The IDF has refused to say why the jets were scrambled.
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09/29/2013
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel criticized Congress on Saturday as "astoundingly irresponsible" and said that using threats to shut down the government to satisfy a political whim is dangerously shortsighted.
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09/29/2013
According to the Iranian Press TV, the Iranian Army unveiled Saturday, a new indigenously manufactured combat drone, the Yasir, at a ceremony attended by senior military officials, including the Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan.
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09/29/2013
After it was dropped from consideration in South Korea’s fighter competition, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter appears to be back in the running after a Defense Ministry source cited the need to counter North Korea with a fifth-generation fighter.
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09/28/2013
To provide Air Combat Command the best assessment of Maritime Strike Operations, the 53rd Wing partnered with other members of the Team Eglin test community to deliver increased combat capability for the warfighter. The final phase of the two-year evaluation was a month-long test over the Gulf of Mexico that ended Sept. 6.
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09/28/2013
As the sunshine and blue sky lay above the warm waves on Pensacola Beach, a pair of high performance jets soar high over the northern gulf waters in a aerobatic display which captures the attention of the sunbathers below. The twin U.S. Navy jets quickly break away in a planned maneuver and begin to soar higher into the cloudless sky. Suddenly, the jets ignite a white smoke trail which begins to trace their flight path of twin circles.
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09/28/2013
Ace Combat Infinity is Namco Bandai’s upcoming free to play aerial combat game for the PlayStation 3. Project leader Kazutoki Kono says that for this game, they’re going back to the roots and standards of the Ace Combat series.
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09/28/2013
The uniformed chiefs of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps got another shot Wednesday at describing the deepening readiness crisis that Congress has inflicted on the armed forces.
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09/28/2013
Flight trials of the MiG-29K on the INS Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov) in the Barents Sea have been completed. Deliveries of the naval version of the fighter to India continue, with the carrier to follow on November 15, and the Russian Navy will soon receive its first MiG-29K. The Russian defense ministry confirmed this month that its only remaining carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, will be modernized to accept MiG-29Ks as well as the Sukhoi Su-25UTG light attack and Su-33 combat aircraft.
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09/28/2013
The F-16 was one of the iconic fighter jets of the twentieth century, but, like all military hardware, it was eventually replaced by something else and retired to a stately desert to quietly rust away. At least until Boeing decided they could totally turn them into awesome robots.
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09/28/2013
CBC News has learned the Conservative government intends to reform Canada's troubled system of military procurement and could announce its plans as early as next month's speech from the throne. Those plans could see the formation of a new agency under a single minister to manage all military procurement, or a secretariat of bureaucrats from each of the departments currently involved in sourcing Canada's military equipment.
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09/28/2013
After South Korea decided this week that Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle was not good enough for its next generation of fighter jets, the country returned to the quandary it has been grappling with for the past two years. On one hand, the F-15SE may not be sophisticated enough, but it is cheap enough to meet the South Korean military’s budget cap of 8.3 trillion won, or $7.7 billion.
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09/28/2013
Since its introduction to the Air Force in 1986, the B-1B Lancer has been the backbone of the bomber fleet because of its speed, payload and continuously upgraded capabilities. On Sept. 4, a single B-1 from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron took off from Dyess Air Force Base, with the Gulf of Mexico as its destination.
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09/27/2013
Recent comments by the Air Force chief of staff were cause for excitement for those who work in the J-STARS mission at Robins Air Force Base. The Air Force has previously listed its top three acquisition priorities as the KC-46A refueling tanker, a long-range strike bomber and the F-35 fighter. However, while speaking at an Air Force Association conference, Gen. Mark Welsh added a fourth priority, which is new planes for J-STARS, or Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.
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09/27/2013
A U.S. Air Force crew ferried an MC-130J Commando II Special Operations Forces tanker from the Lockheed Martin facilities here yesterday. The Super Hercules aircraft is assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command and will be based at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. The Commando II supports such missions as in-flight refueling, infiltration/exfiltration, and aerial delivery and resupply of special operations forces.
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09/27/2013
Indonesia has received the last delivery of Sukhoi fighter jets it ordered from a Russian producer, thus turning its Sukhoi Flanker air superiority fighter jet fleet into one full squadron. The delivery of the last two Su-30 Mk2 planes took place on Wednesday in Indonesian air forces base of Hasanuddin, located in the capital city of South Sulawesi province, Makassar where the air forces' 11th squadron wing 5 is based.
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09/27/2013
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., has placed a hold on the White House’s nominee for Air Force secretary, blocking the confirmation process of Deborah Lee James until questions are answered regarding potential cuts to the A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, according to an Ayotte aide.
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09/27/2013
Those intellectual swashbucklers from the Center for a New American Security are at it again, this time with an essay over at Foreign Policy detailing the dangers likely to accompany drone operations in Asia. Precipitating their commentary was China's first deployment of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Senkaku Islands. The overflight took place earlier this month, timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Tokyo's nationalization of the archipelago. (So much for Chinese subtlet
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09/26/2013
British defense company BAE Systems PLC, one of the world’s largest, may be unique within the global defense industry as a company well prepared for reduced U.S. military spending, wrote UBS AG analysts on Wednesday. “BAE Systems is unique in our defense coverage in that it has a large enough growth market in the Middle East (mainly Saudi Arabia) to offset the decline in the U.S. defense,” wrote defense analyst Charles Armitage in a research note.
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09/26/2013
India is set to buy American defence equipment worth five billion US dollars and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who left for the United States today, is carrying a long shopping list. Among the hardware that India is looking to purchase are six additional C-130 J Hercules Medium Lift Aircraft, 22 Apache Attack Helicopters, 15 Chinook Heavy Lift Helicopters and about 140 M-777 ultra-light towed Howitzers.
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09/26/2013
South Korea's decision to reject a bid by Boeing to supply 60 warplanes and to re-issue a tender was made in the interests of better technology but may not be justified given North Korea's weak air capabilities, experts said on Wednesday.
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09/26/2013
Pratt & Whitney and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have begun testing of Pratt & Whitney's unique, adaptive supersonic fighter engine fan rig based on a full-scale F135 development fan to advance the next generation of military fighter engine technology.
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09/26/2013
South Korea's government bowed to public pressure on Tuesday and voted down a bid by Boeing to supply 60 warplanes, saying it would restart the multi-billion tender process to get a more advanced, radar-evading fighter. Lockheed Martin's F-35A, previously considered too expensive, has shot to the front of the line in the race for the contract after the defence ministry singled out a fifth-generation fighter as the preferred option.
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09/25/2013
As shown in the first section of this paper, Buzan and Waever emphasise that South Africa holds the regional unipolarity in Southern Africa RSC by its economic dominance over neighbours and the predisposition of regional states to accept its leadership. This section attempts to validate this proposition in the 2000s and to include, based on methodological guidelines of neorealist theory of International Relations, indicators related to material capabilities to evaluate the polarity of the region
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09/25/2013
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei Tuesday slammed reports that China is attempting to steal unmanned military drone technology from the United States as "groundless". China and the U.S. has formed the cyber security working group and the two sides conducted smooth communications on the cyber security issue, said the spokesman, adding that such reports are groundless and is not good for China-U.S. cooperation on cyber security.
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09/25/2013
European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. plans to improve its bid to sell 60 Eurofighter Typhoons to South Korea, and top Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. when a competition for the combat jets is reopened.
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09/25/2013
The U.S. Air Force has saved hundreds of millions of dollars by changing the way it flies equipment out of Afghanistan, using shorter trips to the Persian Gulf rather than direct routes to the United States, a general said. A fleet of a dozen C-17 cargo planes and additional commercial aircraft lift the gear from Kandahar and other bases in Afghanistan to ports in the Gulf, where it's loaded onto ships bound for the U.S., according to Gen. Paul Selva, commander of Air Mobility Command.
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09/25/2013
The U.S. military has been forced to relocate a large fleet of drones from a key counterterrorism base on the Horn of Africa after a string of crashes fanned local fears that the unmanned aircraft were at risk of colliding with passenger planes, according to documents and interviews.
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09/25/2013
The Pentagon has released the names of the Navy pilots killed in a helicopter crash in the Red Sea Sunday. They are Lt. Cmdr. Landon L. Jones, 35, of Lompoc and Chief Warrant Officer Jonathon S. Gibson, 32, of Aurora, Ore. Both were stationed at North Island Naval Air Station. Both men are married and each has two small children.
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09/25/2013
It said that one of the Lockheed Martin F-16 made a first flight with an empty cockpit last week. Two US Air Force pilots controlled the plane from the ground as it flew from a Florida base to the Gulf of Mexico. Boeing suggested that the innovation could ultimately be used to help train pilots, providing an adversary they could practise firing on.
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09/25/2013
Lockheed Martin Corp. and its partners in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program will have another year to cut the advanced jet's cost and rebid on a multibillion-dollar contract with South Korea after that country's rejection of a rival plane built by Boeing Co.
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09/25/2013
Russia’s Defense Minister has urged defense firms to speed up work to develop combat drones, a senior industry official said Tuesday. Oleg Bochkarev, deputy head of the government Military-Industrial Commission, told RIA Novosti that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had issued instructions to this effect in July.
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09/24/2013
The Air Force is bracing to cut up to 25,000 total force airmen — nearly 5 percent of the force — over the next five years if the current spending cuts known as the sequester continue, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told lawmakers Sept. 18. And up to 550 aircraft — about 9 percent of the Air Force’s fleet — could also be cut, Welsh said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
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09/24/2013
The Pakistan Air Force contingent comprising combat Pilots and ground technical crew landed back at an operational Air Base in China on Monday after successful culmination of the joint Air Exercise “Shaheen-II”. Earlier the closing ceremony was hosted by Lt Gen Zheng Qun Liang, Deputy Commander PLA Air Force. It was attended by Air Marshal Sohail Aman, Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) and a team of high ranking PAF officials.
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09/24/2013
Sikorsky is set to begin assembly of its S-97 Raider light attack helicopter this week and an announcement from the manufacturer is expected soon. A Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. spokesperson confirmed the schedule, which marks the imminent entry of Sikorsky in a market likely to give the manufacturer an edge, at least for now, over competition in the tactical attack area.
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09/24/2013
The news item was nothing new. It was a virtual repeat of the age-old and familiar story — “India shops for 6 Chinook choppers” — a routine defence ministry initiative to upgrade and modernize the inventory of the Indian Air Force with the latest imported technology that always is an ‘ongoing process’.
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09/24/2013
The U.S. Navy has suspended the search for two San Diego-based helicopter pilots who went down in the Red Sea on Sunday. Navy officials have concluded that it’s “extremely unlikely” that the two people are still alive more than a day after their MH-60S Knighthawk went into the water.
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09/24/2013
Boeing Co. is favored to win an 8.3 trillion-won ($7.7 billion) fighter-jet deal from South Korea, sustaining its F-15 production line and handing a setback to Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) in the world’s biggest combat aircraft tender this year.
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09/24/2013
There used to be one way to build a brand new, state-of-the-art fighter jet from scratch. Backed by millions (if not billions) of taxpayer dollars, a military would debate the potential jets' cutting-edge technology requirements, entertain bids from various aerospace contractors, perform multiple design reviews, award a development contract.
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09/24/2013
Lockheed Martin received an $18 million contract from the National Warhead and Energetic Consortium to transition the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) to production. The contract includes developing production line tooling, test equipment and manufacturing process plans for initial production of the advanced projectile. The guidance and control unit will be assembled at Lockheed Martin’s Ocala, Fla., facility. Final assembly of LRLAP will be performed at the company’s Troy, Ala., facili
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09/24/2013
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have completed the first unmanned QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Target flight, demonstrating the next generation of combat training and testing.
Two U.S. Air Force test pilots in a ground control station remotely flew the QF-16, which is a retired F-16 jet modified to be an aerial target. The QF-16 mission profile included auto takeoff, a series of simulated maneuvers, supersonic flight, and an auto land, all without a pilot in the cockpit.
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09/24/2013
A Soviet-era Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft crashed during a routine training flight in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Monday, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The statement said contact with the pilot was lost at 8:17 p.m. Moscow time (16:17 GMT). The plane crashed 49 kilometers from the Primorsko-Akhtarsk airfield.
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09/23/2013
On the morning of Sept. 8, two H-6 bombers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy made training flights across the sea area between the main Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako-Jima, and on to the West Pacific. Fighters of Japan Air Self Defense Force were scrambled urgently in response.
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09/23/2013
There are believed to be several thousand Russian Moslems (most from the Caucasus, particularly Chechnya) fighting for the rebels in Syria. While effective fighters, the Russians don’t get along well with some of the Islamic terrorists groups or even the more numerous secular rebel organizations. Some Islamic radical rebels have openly suggested that the Russians go home and do their fighting and arguing with allies there.
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09/23/2013
The Indian Air Force is pressing ahead with a plan to intensify its operations in the sensitive Ladakh sector, with special-mission planes being landed every week at the world’s highest military airstrip located at Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), despite resistance from China.
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09/23/2013
If and when the U.S. attack on Syria takes place, it will be different in some ways from any previous intervention. But it will have one thing in common with every war the United States has fought in the past 50 years: B-52s will be available for the fight.
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09/23/2013
I'm privileged to serve with more than 140 thousand active duty, civilian, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Airmen who provide dominant combat airpower around the world, ensuring our Nation's security. They are our greatest treasure — extraordinarily innovative and skilled — without question they are the source of our combat capability, providing effective airpower anytime, anywhere, in support of our national security strategy.
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09/23/2013
Three crew members are accounted for and stable. Search efforts continue for the two remaining. Six Navy ships are assisting in the search and rescue, as well as the rest of the HSC-6 squadron, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 75 and one P-3 Orion aircraft from Patrol Squadron 47.
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09/23/2013
There was some relief last week in the F-35 camp, when news came that the Netherlands was committing to the purchase of 37 of the stealth fighters. The plan sets a budget of 4.5 billion euros, or $6 billion, for the aircraft and a further 270 million euros a year for maintenance and operating costs — equivalent to the annual operating costs of the current F-16 fleet, the New York Times has reported.
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09/23/2013
Turkish ambitions to develop and build the first ever made-in-Turkey fighter aircraft and at the same time buy a new generation, multinational combat jet may go beyond Turkey’s financing capacity, industry sources and experts said. They said Turkey could face a US $50 billion bill in the next few decades if it decides to go ahead with now maturing plans to build an indigenous fighter jet and order scores of the US-led, multinational F-35 joint strike fighter in a parallel move.
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09/23/2013
Norwegian military inspectors are set to fly above Russia and Belarus starting from Monday under the international Open Skies Treaty, a Russian Defense Ministry official has said. “Within the framework of the international Open Skies Treaty, Norwegian specialists flying Romania’s An-30 aircraft will perform a surveillance flight above the territories of Russia and Belarus in the period between September 23 and 27”.
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09/22/2013
Vietnam has bought another twelve Russian Su-30MK2 jet fighters, for over $46 million each. This will make 36 of this type of aircraft Vietnam has bought in the last eight years. The MK2 version of the Su-30 has electronics that enable the use of anti-ship missiles. This latest order will take until 2015 to be delivered. Vietnam also has ten of the similar Su-27 fighters.
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09/22/2013
Hill Air Force Base received an F-35 Lightning II last week that will be modified in Utah. The modifications will help the F-35 stay the "most lethal weapon ever built." The Air Force, the Marine Corps and the Navy are all counting on the fighter jet for the bulk of their tactical airpower.
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09/22/2013
The 7th Fighter Squadron, which flies Holloman's 24 F-22 Raptors, was supposed to move its hundreds of F-22 support personnel and aircraft to Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., in the spring of 2013 to comply with the Air Force's F-22 fleet consolidation plan, but that never happened. Congress enacted a freeze on U.S. Air Force structure changes, including aircraft transfers.
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09/22/2013
For almost two years, hackers based in Shanghai went after one foreign defense contractor after another, at least 20 in all. Their target, according to an American cybersecurity company that monitored the attacks, was the technology behind the United States’ clear lead in military drones.
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09/21/2013
The U.S. military's future satellite operations could include a reusable vehicle that can fly like an airplane, go faster than Mach 10 and be launched multiple times in a short time frame.
That's the goal of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's new XS-1 project which aims to reduce costs associated with traditional satellite launches. DARPA will hear proposals on the new hypersonic space plane on Oct. 7.
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09/21/2013
This video is particularly interesting because it not only gives an idea of what flying in the backseat of an F-16 looks like, but let’s you hear some pilots talk: for instance, at a certain point you can hear the formation leader’s say to the rest of the flight to switch on “discrete freq” 138.150 MHz.
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09/21/2013
The Boeing Company engineers needed a Remote Interface Unit (RIU) for the F-15C/D Advanced Display Core Processor (ADCP) II aircraft. They found their solution at L-3 Display Systems. The RIU is a redundant, programmable input/output processing system that collects and manages heads-up display (HUD), hands-on throttle and stick (HOTAS), and other F-15C/D analog and digital signals for distribution using the aircraft’s digital bus interfaces.
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09/21/2013
The French Government Defense procurement agency takes delivery of the first aircraft of the fourth production tranche of the Rafale program. The sixty aircraft of this production lot are all fitted as standard with next-generation sensors, namely the RBE2 Active Electronically-Scanned Array (AESA) radar with active antenna, the new-generation missile launch detector (DDM NG) and the new front sector optronics "Identification and Telemetry.”
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09/21/2013
Aviation has come a long way since the intrepid Wright brothers made the first powered and sustained heavier-than-air flight in 1903. More than a century has passed since that fateful morning in Kitty Hawk, N.C., and since then, engineers have created planes that can fly higher and faster than Wilbur and Orville Wright likely ever imagined. Here are 10 of the fastest military airplanes.
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09/21/2013
The U.S. Air Force has a message for Iran: Don’t mess with our drones. In what only can be described as a scene out of Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun,” Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Air Force chief of staff, describes how F-22 stealth jets scared off Iranian jets from a U.S. drone flying in international airspace.
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09/21/2013
The U.S. Air Force’s Air Logistics Complex (ALC) at Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah, hosted a ceremony today marking the arrival of the first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft to a depot facility.
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09/21/2013
The United States has not ruled out military strikes against Syria if Damascus does not abide by a US-Russian plan to hand over its chemical weapons arsenal, a White House official said Friday ahead of UN Security Council talks on enforcing the disarmament program. “We are not forsaking the option of the United States and our allies taking military action,” White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters during a conference call.
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09/21/2013
Russia's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, will take part in five-day naval exercises in the Barents Sea from Saturday until September 25, a spokesman for Russia’s Northern Fleet said Friday. “The Admiral Kuznetsov set sail from the naval base in Severomorsk yesterday, heading toward the exercise area in the Barents Sea,” Capt. 1st Rank Vadim Serga said.
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09/20/2013
The skies over Okinawa are often perilous, with sudden squalls complicating air traffic over this subtropical Japanese outpost. In recent months, the treacherous airspace has gotten even busier, with Japanese fighter jets based in Naha, the capital of Okinawa prefecture, scrambling in record numbers as tensions between China and Japan spiral over a scattering of disputed islands.
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09/20/2013
Four years after entering squadron service, the U.S. Navy's EA-18G "Growler" electronic warfare aircraft is being upgraded with a communications technology that allows the EA-18G to share data instantly with other EA-18Gs and other types of aircraft (combat and support, like E-2 and E-3 AWACS). The new capability is JTIDS (Joint Tactical Information Data System).
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09/20/2013
Despite pains by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) to keep the F-16 upgrade program on course, the effort could be derailed by US defense budget cuts that endanger the US Air Force’s Combat Avionics Programmed Extension Suite (CAPES) program for its own F-16s.
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09/20/2013
The East European country of Belarus is retiring its Su-27 fighters. It will probably sell them, unless it is able to find the cash to refurbish them. The Su-27s are 25 years old and were not built to fly more than 3,000 hours. This is low for modern jet fighters but typical of Russian combat aircraft. For example, last year the first 18 Su-30s India received from Russia were retired after a decade of service and a service life of only 4,000 flight hours.
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09/20/2013
Montenegrin airspace is tol be protected by Croatian aircrafs. The day on which when this agreement will be formalized is not far off, as the Government of Montenegro has adopted a draft agreement between the Ministries of Podgorica, Zagreb, Sarajevo and Skopje on air surveillance.
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09/20/2013
The uniformed chiefs of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps got another shot Wednesday at describing the deepening readiness crisis that Congress has inflicted on the armed forces.
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09/20/2013
The first Exercise Arctic Challenge, which includes more than 60 aircraft from five partner nations, here began Sept. 16. Norwegian F-16 Fighting Falcons, Swedish JAS-39 Gripens, Finnish F/A-18 Hornets and U.K. Eurofighter Typhoons took to the skies with U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles, F-15C Eagles and KC-135 Stratotankers to train in a combined environment.
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09/20/2013
Lockheed Martin delivered its 12th C-5M Super Galaxy to the U.S. Air Force from its facilities here today. Major General Rowayne “Wayne” Schatz Jr., Director of Strategic Plans, Requirements and Programs, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. flew the Super Galaxy to Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y., where it will undergo internal paint restoration before traveling to its permanent home at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
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09/20/2013
Recent ship trials for the Lockheed Martin F-35B onboard the USS Wasp [LHD-1] underscored the fifth-generation fighter’s unique capabilities and operational utility according to Marines and sailors alike.
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09/19/2013
Israel's defense industry is under scrutiny for not being particular enough about its customers amid allegations it exploits the West Bank to develop security systems. "A key component of the militarized state is the drive to increase the production and export of weapons while also becoming a global security-services provider," former Central Intelligence Agency officer Philip Giraldi said.
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09/19/2013
A laser-guided GBU-10 targets a mobile surface vehicle Sept. 4, 2013, at a training range in the Gulf of Mexico. A B-1B from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron, alongside other bomber and fighter aircraft, participated in a maritime tactics development and evaluation exercise with the goal of improving and better understanding the aircraft’s capabilities in a maritime environment.
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09/19/2013
The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities.
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09/19/2013
The U.S. military’s gloomy future came into clearer focus Wednesday when the four service chiefs testified on Capitol Hill about the long-term impact of defense spending caps on the force, including troop cuts, deployment-to-dwell times and cutbacks to worldwide operations.
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09/19/2013
Since its formation in 1947, the U.S. Air Force has tended toward the high end of the combat-aircraft spectrum. The service began its independent life flying the lightweight P-51 Mustang and F-86 Sabre, but quickly gravitated to the heavy F-105 Thunderchief, F-106 Delta Dart and eventually the F-111, a fighter in designation only.
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09/19/2013
After nearly a year of relying on helicopters for the bulk of its air cargo transportation, the Afghan Air Force will receive its first C-130H Hercules transports early next month. The U.S. Air Force is slated to give the Afghans four C-130H aircraft. Two of those aircraft will be delivered on Oct. 10, the NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan announced on Wednesday.
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09/19/2013
Singapore's most modern fighter jets are now combat ready, strengthening the Republic's air defence shield. The Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) 24 F-15 SG fighter jets went operational on Wednesday. Singapore received its first F-15 aircraft in 2009. The F-15 jet is considered one of the top fighter planes in the world. It has racked up a combat record of 104 victories and zero losses in 30 years of air battles worldwide.
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09/19/2013
Boeing [NYSE: BA] will complete production of the C-17 Globemaster III and close the C-17 final assembly facility in Long Beach, Calif. in 2015. "Ending C-17 production was a very difficult but necessary decision," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
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09/19/2013
Latvia’s defense minister on Wednesday slammed frequent flights by Russian warplanes near the country’s airspace. Flights by Russian Air Force aircraft are not only a show of force but also part of a military training program, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks said in an interview broadcast on Latvian TV Wednesday.
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09/18/2013
The Dutch defense ministry said on Tuesday that it had selected the F-35 fighter jet from Lockheed Martin to replace its aging fleet of F-16s, bringing an end to years of uncertainty over the Netherlands’ commitment to a program that has been plagued by technical delays and mounting development costs.
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09/18/2013
Embraer Defense & Security Inc. says it is on schedule to begin delivering A-29 Super Tucano training and combat air support aircraft to the U.S. Air Force. The 20 aircraft are being supplied for the U.S. Air Force's Light Air Support program and will be transferred to the Air Force of Afghanistan.
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09/18/2013
On Monday of this week, the Air Force Association kicked off its annual Air & Space Conference near the nation’s capital — just in time for a front-page story in the widely-read trade publication Defense News disclosing that the service will comply with congressionally-mandated budget caps by slashing funds for several combat systems. Parts of the story sounded improbable, like the passage stating that the service would retire the most productive tankers in its aerial-refueling fleet.
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09/18/2013
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Jim Amos will soon decide what actions to take after receiving the results of an investigation into how a spectacular and deadly attack on a U.S. base in Afghanistan occurred last fall, Marine officials said Tuesday.
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09/18/2013
Worth $300 million, the indefinite quantity contract runs through 2016 and tasks Boeing with providing hardware and service in support of US Special Operations Command’s UAVs. This contract is the biggest of multiple wins for Boeing, which includes two additional contracts totaling an extra $30 million. Perhaps even more exciting is the recent news that Boeing has emerged as the sole eligible bidder to help replace South Korea's aging aerospace fleet.
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09/18/2013
Syria has admitted that an army helicopter shot down by Turkish forces on Monday had crossed briefly into Turkish airspace, but insists it was not on a combat mission. Syrian opposition activists say rebels captured one of the two pilots in Syrian territory. Syria’s army claims the helicopter was monitoring “terrorists” crossing into the country and was on its way back when it was hit.
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09/18/2013
Tires that wear out too soon are adding to the troubles facing Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT)’s F-35, the Pentagon’s costliest weapons system. Landing-gear tires made by Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd. for the Marine Corps version of the fighter have “been experiencing an unacceptable wear rate when operating as a conventional aircraft,” according to Joe DellaVedova, spokesman for the Defense Department’s F-35 program office.
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09/18/2013
Six flights were performed with the self-protection system – which is used to detect and identify threats to the aircraft and confuse heat-seeking and radar-guided missiles – validating its operation and integration with the helicopter’s other functions. The system was developed by Helibras’ Engineering Center under the supervision of Chief Engineer Walter Filho.
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09/18/2013
The United States and Russia remained at loggerheads Tuesday over the potential use of force against Syria should Damascus fail to abide by a US-Russian plan to secure chemical weapons stockpiles controlled by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
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09/18/2013
Aircraft, crews and supporting personnel from the Royal Saudi Air Force, (RSAF) have been operating alongside their allies from the Royal Air Force as Exercise Saudi-British Green Flag took place at RAF Coningsby.
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09/17/2013
Reconnaissance gadgets and robotic warfare devices are getting smaller by the year, with James Bond like technology being offered to a wide range of buyers, from police forces to special military units. The market place for such technology has become Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition held at ExCel London.
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09/17/2013
South Korea will select the winner of its fighter jet project next week, with Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle deemed a favorite as it is the only candidate to meet the 8.3 trillion won (US$7.2 billion) budget, the state procurement agency said Tuesday. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has completed biddings and evaluations on three jets - Boeing's F-15 SE, Lockheed Martin's F-35 and the EADS' Eurofighter - and briefed President Park Geun-hye on the results last week.
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09/17/2013
The U.S. is transferring a squadron (battalion) of combat helicopters to South Korea to reinforce the army combat aviation brigade and the 28,000 American troops already there. The new squadron has 380 troops and 30 OH-58D armed reconnaissance helicopters and will arrive in South Korea by October, as part of a program to raise U.S. troops strength slightly (to 30,000 or so) in anticipation of problems with North Korea.
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09/17/2013
The race is on to build the U.S. Army's new super-helicopter - and competition is heating up. As of March, four companies, and teams of companies, had submitted proposals to the Army to build a new "Future Vertical Lift," or FVL, aircraft to replace the hodgepodge of Kiowa scout helicopters, Black Hawk and Chinook transports, and Apache attack helos that currently carry soldiers into battle, and support ground troops once they're there.
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09/17/2013
Northrop Grumman on Thursday unveiled a new anti-missile laser protection system designed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in Washington. The Threat Nullification Defensive Resource — ThNDR for short, to compliment the F-35’s “Lightning” designation — is a progression from Northrop’s directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) family of systems.
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09/17/2013
It takes a gutsy move for a company to pitch a brand new, clean-sheet aircraft to the Pentagon for a set of requirements it has not even said it wants, and to present this idea while defense spending in the U.S. faces massive cuts.
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09/17/2013
A Turkish fighter jet shot down a Syrian military helicopter on Monday after it entered Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings to leave, an official has said. The helicopter strayed 2km into Turkish airspace, but crashed inside Syria after being hit by missiles fired from the jet, according to Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister, Bulent Arinc.
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09/17/2013
Faced with steep budget cuts and the desire to keep existing procurement initiatives on track, the Air Force is considering scrapping its entire fleet of A-10 attack jets and KC-10 tankers, according to multiple military and defense sources. Also on the chopping block are F-15C fighters and a planned $6.8 billion purchase of new combat search-and-rescue helicopters, these sources say.
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09/17/2013
L-3 Link Simulation & Training (L-3 Link) announced today that it has been awarded a contract modification to build the Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) two F-16 Block 52 Weapon Tactics Trainers (WTTs), two brief/debrief systems and one mission observation centre.
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09/16/2013
There are not many heroes in the should-we-bomb-Syria debate, but if there is one, it might be the cruise missile. For weeks the news media have discussed the positioning in the Mediterranean of American destroyers and submarines, which carry the Tomahawk cruise missile. And whether arguing pro or con, most of the politicians and military experts have come back to it as the central instrument of U.S. power in this curious crisis.
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09/16/2013
Nine hundred hours in the air. That’s the life of a Navy helicopter pilot less than halfway through his career. Lt. Kasey Scheel flies the MH-60S helicopter, a search-and-rescue aircraft that also delivers people and cargo to Navy ships. After a deployment on the aircraft carrier Nimitz and a one-year tour in Qatar, Scheel is back at North Island Naval Air Station as an instructor pilot.
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09/16/2013
Faced with steep budget cuts and the desire to keep existing procurement initiatives on track, the US Air Force is considering scrapping its entire fleet of KC-10 tankers and A-10 attack jets, according to multiple military and defense sources. Also on the chopping block are F-15C fighter jets and a planned $6.8 billion purchase of new combat search-and-rescue helicopters, these sources say.
(Read More...)
09/16/2013
Canadian military inspectors will fly over the territories of Russia and Belarus starting from Monday as part of the international Open Skies Treaty, a Russian Defense Ministry official said. “In the period between September 16 and 20, a group of Canadian experts will make a surveillance flight above the territories of Russia and Belarus on board of a [Lockheed Martin] C-130J observation aircraft,” Sergei Ryzhkov, the head of the ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, said.
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09/15/2013
NASA is now utilizing surplus military drones to investigate hurricanes from Maine to the Caribbean. WJZ 13 in Baltimore reports the space agency launched a drone from its Wallops Island facility in Virginia on Wednesday in order to get a close-up look at Hurricane Humberto, still lingering off the Eastern seaboard.
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09/15/2013
“The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Union Defence Minister A K Antony, has given approval for the proposals to buy six C-130J special operations planes for `4,000 crore and place an order for 236 T-90 tanks worth `6,000 crore,” a Defence Ministry official said.
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09/15/2013
Northrop Grumman's portfolio of high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have achieved 100,000 flight hours - more than 88 percent of which were logged by the U.S. Air Force Global Hawk. The remaining hours were flown by the NASA Global Hawks, the German EURO HAWK, and the U.S. Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator and, more recently, Triton UAS.
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09/15/2013
The 1973 war shaped the way in which Israel's military and intelligence saw strategic developments in the region. Now, with a new generation at the helm and new challenges in the Arab world, the IDF is beginning to adapt to the changes in and around it.
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09/14/2013
Beijing has warned the United States not to support China’s neighbors’ claims to disputed islands in the East and South China Seas, the government said Friday. Sino-Japanese ties have soured dramatically since Tokyo nationalized some of the Senkaku islands, which Beijing claims and calls the Diaoyus, in the East China Sea a year ago.
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09/14/2013
BAE Systems, Inc. and Rolls-Royce today announced that Rolls-Royce is joining the Hawk Advanced Jet Training System (AJTS) team as an exclusive partner to compete for the U.S. Air Force’s T-X program. As the engine supplier to BAE Systems on this pursuit, Rolls-Royce will lead the support and integration of the Adour Mk951 engine on the Hawk AJTS aircraft.
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09/14/2013
Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington Sept. 27, the Indian Defence Ministry’s highest body on Friday cleared the acquisition of six C-130J Hercules transport aircraft from the US. The aircraft are being purchased on a government-to-government basis at a cost of more than US $1 billion. The clearance to top the existing six C-130J aircraft with another six was made at a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council.
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09/14/2013
The Air Force’s F-35 program is expected to reach two major milestones this fall: the adoption of an advanced software and weapons system on the single-engine jet, and the beginning of major pilot training at the service’s second base for the fighter.
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09/14/2013
Ask a layman to name an unmanned aerial vehicle, and he will probably cite one of the armed drones used by the Air Force, such as the Predator or Reaper. Naval UAVs used for reconnaissance, such as the ScanEagle and Raven, have stayed mostly out of the public eye.
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09/14/2013
Over the next several weeks, there will be a raft of news stories disclosing cuts to Pentagon weapons programs. The stories will begin with briefings by the military services to the defense secretary’s management team next week about their planned budget requests for fiscal 2015, and then continue into the fitful beginning of the 2014 fiscal year two weeks later.
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09/14/2013
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has taken delivery of nine locally refurbished Alpha Jets and one C-130 Hercules transport aircraft which the military says will be deployed to transport troops locally and in regional peacekeeping support operations. The nine Alpha jets were refurbished by the Aeronautical Engineering and Technical Services Limited (AETSL), a subsidiary of the Nigerian Air Force Holdings Company.
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09/14/2013
The next time a major natural disaster strikes in the Asia-Pacific region, the first responders may not be local aid workers or civilian volunteers — they might be American and Japanese combat troops. Think of it as practicing for battle.
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09/14/2013
A number of recent reports in Chinese state-run media indicate that the country’s carrier-based J-15 multirole fighter jets have entered mass production. The Shenyang J-15 (also called Flying Shark) is China’s carrier-based fighter aircraft. It was reversed engineered from a Russian Sukhoi Su-33 that China acquired from Ukraine, although it reportedly is equipped with some indigenous weapons, avionics and other features that Beijing claims greatly enhances its capabilities.
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09/13/2013
Soon after sweeping budget cuts known as sequestration became law in March, the Navy faced the prospect of grounding seven of its 10 carrier air wings. That did not happen thanks to last-minute reprogramming of funds that kept combat units flying, albeit at a reduced pace. A new round of sequester cuts could come as early as January, and Navy aviation leaders are coming to grips with the new fiscal reality.
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09/13/2013
The Reaper, Shadow and Sentinel are all due to leave U.K. air force service at the end of combat operations in Afghanistan, but senior service officials indicate the three intelligence, surveillance target acquisition and reconnaissance (Istar) platforms will continue to serve the U.K. military in the future.
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09/13/2013
China is developing a new class of helicopters that could pose a direct threat to Taiwan, a leading US military analyst said. In the case of an attack, Taiwan would have much less time to mobilize its counter-invasion forces, said Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center (IASC).
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09/13/2013
Afghan air force pilots made history Sept. 7, 2013, by flying the first all-AAF fixed wing combat mission from the Kabul International Airport. The Cessna 208 pilots, assigned to the AAF, 373rd Fixed Wing Squadron, based in Kabul, were trained by advisers assigned to the U.S. Air Force, 538th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing at the Kabul Air Wing.
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09/13/2013
Russia has now joined China and European firms in developing UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle). These are replacements for current light bombers (or fighters operating as light bombers) and combat reconnaissance aircraft. The Russian entry is a further development of its Skat UAV, a ten ton aircraft with a two ton payload and a design that looks very similar to the American X-47 series. The MiG Aircraft Corporation developed Skat and the new UCAV as well.
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09/13/2013
Thirteen British companies and the U.K. Minister of Defence Equipment, Support and Technology participated in a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Industry Recognition Event during the DSEI tradeshow today. Over the next 40 years, British industry will continue to play a vital role in the F-35’s global production, follow-on development and sustainment, bringing strong economic benefits to the kingdom.
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09/13/2013
The LONGBOW Limited Liability Company, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman [NYSE: NOC], received a $51 million foreign military sales contract to provide the Republic of Korea with LONGBOW Fire Control Radars (FCRs) for the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter.
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09/13/2013
Boeing delivered the 223rd and last U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III airlifter today, fulfilling the production contract more than 20 years after the first delivery. The aircraft left Boeing’s Long Beach facility to fly to its assignment at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., where a ceremony will mark its arrival.
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09/13/2013
Boeing will showcase innovative and cost-effective capabilities that meet the needs of the U.S. Air Force during the Air Force Association's Air and Space Conference & Technology Exposition, held Sept. 16-18 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland.
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09/13/2013
Russia is hoping to settle Iran’s litigation with Moscow over a failed S-300 air defense system deal during a Friday meeting between President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, a Russian presidential aide said Thursday. The presidents are expected to meet on the sidelines of an upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan.
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09/12/2013
China may soon be getting its hands on one of Russia’s core fighter jets, the Su-35. The purchase will bring China as close as it can get to challenging America’s modern air fleet.
Talks are ongoing, and “The signing will most likely take place next year,” Viktor Komardin, deputy-chief of Russia’s Rosoboronexport state-run arms exporter, told state-run Ria Novosti.
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09/12/2013
Recently, the 605th Test and Evaluation Squadron Detachment 2, Melbourne, Fla., utilized the T3 JSTARS test jet to perform a tactics development & evaluation (TD&E) during an exercise at Naval Base Ventura County, in Oxnard, Calif. Tactics development and testing during the exercise was supported by the JSTARS Test Force (JTF); a combined group of active-duty Air Force aviators and engineers, and software developers from Northrop-Grumman Aerospace Systems.
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09/12/2013
The Navy is continuing the development of its Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program, recently completing another phase of its Autonomous Aerial Refueling (AAR) tests with an optionally piloted Learjet.
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09/12/2013
The Czech Republic has tentatively negotiated an extension of the lease of Gripen fighter airplanes from Sweden for up to 14 years, securing the NATO member-state’s air defence needs, Defence Minister Vlastimil Picek said on Wednesday. He said the defence ministry would prepare an amendment to the existing contract by December and the final decision would be made by a new cabinet to be formed after an election on October 25-26.
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09/12/2013
Two senior Russian lawmakers called Wednesday for additional shipments of “defensive weapons” to Iran if Washington proceeds with planned airstrikes against Syria, while unconfirmed rumors swirled that the Kremlin was working toward a new agreement on deliveries of missile defense systems to Tehran.
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09/12/2013
Finmeccanica subsidiary, Selex announced today that it has signed a contract worth more than $53 million to deliver the Falco unmanned system to an unamed Middle East Country. Selex will provide operational and maintenance support to the customer for one year as well. Falco is an operationally proven, tactical, medium altitude, medium endurance Unmanned Aerial System for defence and security surveillance applications.
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09/11/2013
For the last 60 years Russia has been Syria's main weapons supplier, selling it everything from fighter jets to tanks and a formidable array of air defence systems. Syria's current arsenal would present significant problems to any attacking western attacking force. Its air defence missiles, in particular, would make establishing a no-fly zone extremely tricky, and any manned air attack would probably result in western casualties. This is certainly not Libya.
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09/11/2013
Egyptian troops and tanks backed by helicopter gunships swept through villages in the northern Sinai Peninsula near the border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip on Monday, the third day of a major offensive against Islamic extremists, a military official said. So far, some 20 suspected militants have been killed and 20 captured in the operation, he added.
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09/11/2013
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, and Lockheed Martin will work as a team on the Bell V-280 Valor, making Lockheed Martin the first of Bell Helicopter’s V-280 program tier one team members. Additional team members will be announced in the coming months. The Bell V-280 Valor was recently selected by the U.S. Army to enter into negotiations for the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) Technology Demonstrator (TD) program, with contracts expected to be awarded by September 2013.
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09/11/2013
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces were on a high state of alert on September 9 ahead of the first anniversary of Japan’s controversial purchase of islets in the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu archipelago, particularly after a pair of Chinese bombers flew near Okinawa the previous day.
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09/11/2013
If there is one message that comes through loud and clear from the debate of military options in Syria, it is that the public does not want “boots on the ground” in the Middle East — or for that matter, just about anywhere else. So the future of U.S. military action belongs to air power, whether it be land-based or sea-based.
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09/11/2013
In the skies above Djibouti, members of the U.S. and French Air Forces joined together in an unlikely training scenario, pitting helicopters against fighter aircraft in a simulated hostile rescue situation.
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09/11/2013
AIRCRAFT from RAAF Base Williamtown will be training near Bulahdelah for two weeks from Friday. Pilatus PC-9/A, Hawk 127 and F/A-18A/B Hornet aircraft will participate in the training on Friday, and then from Monday to Thursday next week between 9am and 4pm.
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09/11/2013
Ever increasing threats and the need to have constant situational awareness of one’s surroundings prompted Lockheed Martin to add an integrated air & missile defense option to its Dragon series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance configurations. Lockheed Martin’s Dragon ISR configurations offer a unique approach for customers to tailor their mission requirements to meet their specific budget, sensor, communications and platform needs.
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09/11/2013
The top diplomats from the United States, Russia and Syria will meet this week to discuss Syria’s chemical weapons, media reports cited unnamed US officials as saying Tuesday. The meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem is slated to be held in Geneva on Thursday, Reuters reported US officials as saying.
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09/10/2013
Russia and China are moving closer to concluding an agreement whereby Moscow would sell Beijing advanced 4++ generation multirole fighter jets, a senior official from Russia’s state-run defense industry told media outlets over the weekend.
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09/10/2013
Boeing and Saab are discussing a partnership on the US Air Force’s trainer replacement program, multiple industry sources have told Defense News. If the arrangement goes forward, it opens the door for each to capture a long-delayed, highly prized Air Force contract to replace its aging T-38 trainers. The service intends to purchase 350 new trainers, likely pushing the contract award into the billions of dollars.
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09/10/2013
Some of the South African Air Force’s fleet of 26 Saab Gripen fighter jets will not be placed in storage but will rather be flown on a rotational basis, according to an Air Force official. Earlier this year it was reported that 12 Gripens had been placed in storage as there was not enough money, nor pilots, to fly them.
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09/10/2013
The commander of Turkey’s Land Forces inspected troops at the border with Syria, hours after combat aircraft attacked nearby Syrian communities, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.
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09/10/2013
China and Pakistan last week began a three-week air exercise titled Shaheen 2 (Falcon 2) in Hetian Prefecture of China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The exercise, which lasts until Sept. 22, is the second in a series of such exercises, the first of which was held in Pakistan in March 2011.
(Read More...)
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09/10/2013
Lockheed Martin recently completed a successful first flight test of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) in support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) program.
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09/10/2013
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company (NYSE: TXT), and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will work as a team on the Bell V-280 Valor™, making Lockheed Martin the first of Bell Helicopter’s V-280 program tier one team members. Additional team members will be announced in the coming months.
(Read More...)
09/10/2013
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday backed a proposal from Moscow for Syria to place its stocks of chemical weapons under international control, in a bid to avert US-led military strikes on the war-torn Middle Eastern country.
(Read More...)
09/09/2013
Japan’s Defense Ministry said Sunday two Chinese H-6 bombers flew round trip from the East China Sea to the Pacific Ocean without violating Japanese airspace the same day after overflying waters between Okinawa islands.
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09/09/2013
Two RAF jets were scrambled from their base in Cyprus to urgently investigate Syrian planes that had crossed into international airspace, it has emerged. The Ministry of Defence confirmed that unidentified planes legally crossed into Cypriot skies from the east of the country last Monday. But it is understood the behaviour of the aircraft raised suspicions at RAF Akrotiri, less than 200 miles from Syria, prompting the rapid response.
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09/09/2013
Despite flying for 53 years, the Bell UH-1 "Huey" helicopter will still be effective for another 20 years, according to DND undersecretary for finance, munitions, installation and material Fernando Manalo. Manalo also said that the "Huey", which the Philippines has around 21 flyable models at present, is the best aircraft for peacekeeping and disaster relief missions due to its reputation as easy aircraft to fly and maintain.
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09/09/2013
A total of 95 air assets of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) can no longer be used, outnumbering the aircraft still in operation. Air Force Vice Commander Maj. Gen. Raul Dimatatac said out of the 265 air assets they have, 95 are “beyond economic repair” while 71 are operational. The rest are recoverable or serviceable, which means that they have to undergo repairs to be of use.
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09/09/2013
With most — if not all — NATO troops slated to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, air advisers are helping to build a small cadre of Afghan pilots to take on the mission of moving wounded security forces.
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09/09/2013
Despite two years of conflict and significant defections among the rank and file, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) remains a capable military. Before the civil war, the SAA claimed to field 220,000 men under arms and, perhaps, up to 350,000 reservists. Today, active personnel stood at a little over 125,000, of whom no more than 80,000 were considered by the regime to be loyal. Another 250,000 paramilitary personnel, including the dreaded “Shabihah” militias, were also available.
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09/09/2013
MPs could be given another chance to vote on military intervention in Syria, William Hague has said, as it emerged two RAF jets scrambled to intercept "suspicious" Syrian aircraft over Cyprus. The Foreign Secretary said a second vote would only be possible if the Government secured support from Labour.
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09/09/2013
Russian military inspectors will begin monitoring flights over France starting on Monday under the international Open Skies Treaty, a Russian Defense Ministry official said. Experts from Russia will be conducting flights on board of an Antonov An-30B aircraft between September 9 and 13, said Ruslan Shishin, acting head of the ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center.
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09/09/2013
Eurofighter Typhoon has now achieved more than 200,000 flying hours since the entry-into-service of its worldwide fleet. Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH confirmed the milestone today adding that, with 719 aircraft on contract, 571 aircraft ordered and 378 aircraft delivered, the programme has “never looked stronger”.
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09/08/2013
The U.S. Air Force continues to come up short in its effort to supply enough pilots for its growing UAV fleet. Currently the air force has about 1,300 operators for its 280 large UAVs (about half of them Predators, nearly 40 percent Reapers, and the rest Global Hawks). UAV operators are now nearly nine percent of all air force pilots, triple the percentage in 2008.
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09/08/2013
Lynne Jungers has been thinking about this moment for the last two years. The longtime Boeing Co. customer relations manager — who has seen former President Bill Clinton, the late Bob Hope and dozens of dignitaries visit the C-17 Globemaster III at its East Long Beach assembly plant — is bracing herself for Thursday, when Boeing will hand over its 223rd and final C-17 to the U.S. Air Force.
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09/08/2013
Moscow and Beijing expect to seal the deal on the sale of Russian Su-35 fighter jets to China in 2014, a senior official at the Russian arms exports monopoly said Saturday. “Talks are ongoing, but the deal is unlikely to be sealed before the year’s end. The signing will most likely take place next year,” said Viktor Komardin, deputy head of the state-run Rosoboronexport.
(Read More...)
09/07/2013
Syria’s air defense forces are nearly sure to be capable of intercepting any enemy aircraft and about half of the Tomahawk missiles that might violate its airspace, a military source said on Thursday.“The Syrian air defense system is very efficient, as it was built in the image and likeness of the air defense system existing in the Soviet Union.
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09/07/2013
The cost of possible military strikes against Syria would not be “extraordinary,” the U.S. Navy chief said Thursday, downplaying the potential price tag of the operation. Admiral Jonathan Greenert’s comments appeared to confirm a rough estimate from Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel on Wednesday, who told lawmakers the punitive strikes would likely cost “tens of millions” of dollars.
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09/07/2013
Unless Congress changes the nation’s financial course, the U.S. Navy will be forced to make some drastic cuts in aircraft and ship numbers to accommodate a loss of about $14 billion due to sequestration and other budgetary issues, says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations.
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09/07/2013
The Bell Boeing V-22 Program, a strategic alliance between Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. and Boeing [NYSE: BA], has successfully completed an initial test of the V-22 Osprey performing as an aerial refueling tanker. Adding this capability to the tiltrotor aircraft would further advance its versatility in combat, humanitarian and ship-based operations.
(Read More...)
09/07/2013
The J-15 belongs to the 4th generation of conventional shipboard aircraft, which also includes the U.S. navy's F/A-18C/D "Hornet" and F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet", the French "Rafale M", and the Russian Mig-29K which is also used by the Indian navy.
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09/07/2013
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, battling with an al-Qaida insurgency and political unrest, is scheduled to visit Washington this month to activate a defense cooperation agreement and push for stepped-up arms sales, including Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters. Maliki may find President Barack Obama and the Pentagon somewhat preoccupied with the Syrian conflict and the question of whether to strike at the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which Maliki supports to some degree.
(Read More...)
09/07/2013
Iraq has submitted a shopping list of U.S. military equipment that included its first unmanned aerial vehicles. Officials said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has relayed a
request for advanced UAVs from the United States. The officials said the unspecified UAVs were meant for long-range reconnaissance missions in an effort to
improve border and internal security.
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09/07/2013
The first Tranche Three Typhoon next-generation fighter jet has been weighed-in to confirm that it meets design standards, pushing the programme a step closer to completion. The aircraft, British single seat number 116, had its measurements recorded using a highly-sophisticated set of hydraulic scales at the company’s military aircraft in Warton.
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09/07/2013
The United States on Friday secured support from several major allies in its claim that the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad is responsible for an apparent Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus and must be punished.
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09/07/2013
The United States is making plans for a “significantly larger” military strike on Syria than at first envisioned that could include use of long-range bombers making sorties from the United States, US media said. ABC News reported Thursday that President Barack Obama’s national security team was “preparing for a significantly larger military attack than most had anticipated” that could include attacks by B-2 and B-52 bombers flying from bases in the United States.
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09/06/2013
The Obama administration is considering a plan to use U.S. military trainers to help increase the capabilities of the Syrian rebels, in a move that would greatly expand the current CIA training being done quietly in Jordan, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.
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09/06/2013
The Harper government may be ready to throw in the towel on the purchase of long-delayed CH-148 Cyclone helicopters and has gone as far as sending a military team to Britain to evaluate other aircraft. Defence sources say the team, which included an officer from the air force directorate of air requirements branch, visited a southern base in the United Kingdom recently to look at Royal Navy HM-1 Merlin helicopters.
(Read More...)
09/06/2013
THE United States is reported to have sought the establishment of a secret airbase in India to accomplish its unexplained agenda in South Asian region. The Americans already have a major military base in Qatar, and presence in many Asian, Middle East countries, Afghanistan and some of the Central Asian Republics in one form or the other in addition to aircraft carriers in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.
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09/06/2013
For over a year now China has been testing a second stealth fighter design. This one is called the J-31 “Falcon Eagle” (from an inscription on the tail), and while it looks like the American F-22, it’s also smaller than China’s other stealth fighter (the J-20, which has been around longer). The J-31 was built by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (which makes the J-11, the illegal Chinese copy of the Russian Su-27).
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09/06/2013
A key Senate panel on Wednesday backed President Barack Obama's request to strike Syria, while the Pentagon prepared to employ greater firepower to reach a shifting array of military targets. The revised options under development, which reflect Pentagon concerns that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has dispersed his military equipment, include the use of Air Force bombers to supplement the four Navy destroyers armed with missiles that are deployed in the eastern Mediterranean.
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09/06/2013
Soldiers don’t generally spend much time aboard Navy ships. But this summer, some Army aviators got to spend days and weeks at a time living and working with sailors in the Persian Gulf. The Texas Army National Guard’s 36th Combat Aviation Brigade has been testing Army helicopters’ capabilities in a littoral combat environment, taking off from Navy ships, firing on targets and practicing deck landings.
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09/06/2013
The first Ford-class aircraft carrier being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc may see further cost increases after it is commissioned, according to a congressional report that urged the U.S. Navy to delay a contract for a follow-on ship.
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09/06/2013
Russian President Vladimir Putin's strident defense of a Syrian regime that has killed tens of thousands of its people in a civil war that has divided him from many world powers viewing Syria as a humanitarian disaster that demands intervention.
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09/06/2013
They’re involved in Algeria and Angola, Benin and Botswana, Burkina Faso and Burundi, Cameroon and the Cape Verde Islands. And that’s just the ABCs of the situation. Skip to the end of the alphabet and the story remains the same: Senegal and the Seychelles, Togo and Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.
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09/06/2013
The Bell Boeing V-22 Program, a strategic alliance between Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. [NYSE: TXT] and Boeing, has successfully completed an initial test of the V-22 Osprey performing as an aerial refueling tanker. Adding this capability to the tiltrotor aircraft would further advance its versatility in combat, humanitarian and ship-based operations.
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09/05/2013
For the past three years, Al-Qaeda has sought to hire engineers and other experts to help the terrorist organization fend off US drone strikes that have increasingly hobbled the militant network, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
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09/05/2013
Prince Harry was frantically rushed into a heavily secured safe-house during the Camp Bastion raid of September 2012 as 15 heavily armed Taliban soldiers ran amok in the British base a new report claims. The fourth-in-line to the British throne was serving at the base in Afghanistan when fighters dressed in U.S. Army uniforms unleashed a ground assault on September 14th and destroyed or damaged eight aircraft worth a total of $200 million.
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09/05/2013
The SAAF bought 26 Gripen fighter jets and 24 Hawk trainer fighters in the 1999 arms deal, which the commission is investigating. “To date the Hawks have flown over 10 000 major accident-free flying hours since 2005 and the Gripens 3 500 since 2008,” said Bayne.
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09/05/2013
The Pentagon's chief weapons buyer said he was considering funding early work on a next-generation ground combat vehicle and rotorcraft to ensure the United States maintained its edge in weapons despite steep budget cuts.
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09/05/2013
Lockheed Martin’s Paveway II Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb (DMLGB) was successfully employed in recent U.S. Navy Tactics Development exercises at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center in Fallon, Nev.
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09/05/2013
The U.S. Air Force and Boeing have validated the final design elements of the KC-46A Tanker and concluded that the proposed design embodies and can meet Air Force requirements, clearing the way for production and testing of the next-generation aerial refueling tanker.
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09/05/2013
Boeing will continue improving U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II mission readiness, and decreasing maintenance costs, through a follow-on order for 56 replacement wings for that aircraft. Boeing is on contract to build up to 242 wings, including these, at its plant in Macon, Ga. Refitting the fleet with new wings will improve the mission availability of A-10s by an estimated 4 percent and will help save the Air Force an estimated $1.3 billion in maintenance costs during the next 30 years.
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09/05/2013
US officials are likely cautious about disclosing to Russia comprehensive intelligence about an apparent chemical weapons attack in Syria and see little chance of convincing Moscow to accept outside military intervention in the civil war there regardless of the facts on the ground, US national security experts said Wednesday.
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09/05/2013
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Wednesday to give President Barack Obama the authority to use military force against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack last month.
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09/05/2013
Airbus Military has completed an important set of trials of the A400M new generation airlifter, demonstrating the aircraft's excellent performance on gravel runways. In tests lasting more than a week at Ablitas in northern Spain, development aircraft MSN2 performed 25 landings during six flights on the same runway.
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09/04/2013
President Barack Obama won critical support from House Speaker John Boehner for a punitive strike against Syria on Tuesday and dispatched senior Cabinet officials to persuade Congress that Bashar Assad's government must be punished for a suspected chemical weapons attack the administration blames for more than 1,000 dead.
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09/04/2013
A contingent of Pakistan Air Force fighter jets on Tuesday left for China to participate in a joint exercise, the first time that any country will join manoeuvres in Chinese airspace. The Shaheen-II exercise will be conducted by the PAF and People’s Liberation Army Air Force during September 3-22. The PAF's Mirage and F-7PG aircraft are taking part in the wargame.
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09/04/2013
Recently, the 605th Test and Evaluation Squadron Detachment 2, Melbourne, Fla., utilized the JSTARS to perform a tactics development & evaluation (TD&E) during Exercise BLACK DART at Naval Base Ventura County, in Oxnard, Calif. Tactics development and testing during Exercise BLACK DART was supported by the JSTARS Test Force (JTF); a combined group of active-duty Air Force aviators and engineers, and software developers from Northrop-Grumman Aerospace Systems.
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09/04/2013
The new fifth-generation Silent Eagle has finally cleared export restrictions meaning it may soon be the new face of South Korea's aerial fleet. That's good news for an unsteady place.
The original F-15 Eagle entered service in 1976 and has become one of the most successful air combat platforms in the modern era. McDonnell Douglas designed the twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter for a single purpose: blowing other aircraft out of the sky.
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09/04/2013
Ghana’s President John Mahama has confirmed that the country will acquire another two C295 military transport aircraft from Airbus Military, which will be used on behalf of the United Nations in Mali.
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09/04/2013
Although new aircraft models were practically non-existent at the International Aviation and Space Salon (MAKS) 2013 that was held in Zhukovsky near Moscow, it was possible to reveal certain tendencies in the Russian aircraft construction and related industries. The development of the Russian Air Force and air-defence systems in the coming 10 years will add much to Russia’s military might.
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09/04/2013
More than a year after the French Rafale won the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) dogfight, a contract is nowhere in sight – forget the delivery date. Not only is it the usual drawn-out drama that comes with India’s defence acquisitions, it is also clear the French have overpromised on the technology transfer provisions and now want to welch out.
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09/04/2013
Boeing workers in Seattle took another step toward delivering next-generation aerial refueling capability to the U.S. Air Force today when they began assembling the second refueling boom for the KC-46A Tanker program. Based on the Boeing 767 commercial airplane, the KC-46A will feature a modernized fly-by-wire boom and hose and drogue systems, making it capable of refueling any U.S. or allied fixed wing aircraft any time on any mission.
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09/04/2013
Boeing and Polish Defence Holding (PDH) on Sept. 2 signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore areas where Boeing and PDH can work together to meet Poland’s defense needs while supporting the growth of local industry.
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09/04/2013
A joint US-Israeli missile test over the Mediterranean Sea was “long planned” and had “nothing to do” with a possible US military response to the chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb that Washington has blamed on the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
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09/03/2013
The world is waiting to see whether the United States will strike against the Syrian regime -- and whether anyone will join in. U.S. President Barack Obama said there's no doubt Syria used chemical weapons on its own civilians and he wants to launch attacks, but he first wants to get Congress' approval after lawmakers come back from recess September 9.
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09/03/2013
Boeing is set to inch closer to clinching a multibillion-dollar deal to sell 60 F-15 Silent Eagle jets to South Korea, as its competitors have effectively been priced out of the contest. Lockheed Martin and Eurofighter, which vied for the US $7.4 billion fighter contract, failed to submit proposals below the budget.
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09/03/2013
On Friday, Aug. 23, forces from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Eielson Air Force Base concluded a two-week international training exercise with Japan, Australia and the Republic of Korea with a mock battle. About 20 aircraft participated in the final day of Red Flag Alaska, which is conducted each year so crewmembers can gain combat experience.
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09/03/2013
The Arms Procurement Commission has heard that both the Gripen fighter jets and the Hawk fighter trainers had met the Air Force's minimum requirements. Brigadier-General John Bayne, Director of Combat System, who is in charge of the two aircraft, has told the commission that the Air Force would not have accepted them if this had not been the case.
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09/03/2013
Defense firms in the United Arab Emirates and Russia are planning to develop an unmanned combat aerial vehicle based on Russia’s Berkut VL helicopter, that craft’s Russian developer said Monday. Russia’s Berkut Aero design bureau and the UAE’s Adcom Systems are considering the Berkut VL helicopter as a model for a drone to be stationed aboard an aircraft carrier and fly to remote areas, Berkut Aero development director Dmitry Rumyantsev told RIA Novosti.
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09/03/2013
Russian military inspectors will begin a series of monitoring flights over the United States Monday under the international Open Skies Treaty, a Russian Defense Ministry official said.
Experts from Russia will conduct two flights on board a Tupolev Tu-154M-LK-1 plane between September 2 and 16, said Ruslan Shishin, acting head of the ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center.
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09/02/2013
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is closely following developments in the crash investigation of the T-50B lead-in jet fighter that killed two pilots recently, in light of earlier plans to work out with the same manufacturer the purchase of a dozen FA50 jet fighters with the same platform as the T-50B, for P18.9 billion.
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09/02/2013
In April, Opposition defence spokesman David Johnston said the Coalition would use drones to help spot and turn back asylum seeker boats. He laid out a $1.5 billion policy to buy seven drones and have them in the air by 2017-18. But today, Senator Johnston and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott have released the Coalition's defence policy, which states only that it will "consider closely the need for unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles"
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09/02/2013
Bolstering the Indian Air Force's capability to swiftly transport combat troops and equipment such as tanks to the front, Defence Minister A K Antony will on Monday formally induct its biggest 70-tonne C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft into service at the Hindon Air Base near Delhi. Mr Antony will formally induct the aircraft procured from the US under a deal expected to be over Rs. 20,000 crore into the newly-formed 81 'Skylord' Squadron in Delhi, IAF officials said.
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09/02/2013
Iran recently announced that ground crews and other technical personnel at an air force base had spent 45,000 manhours to get two Mirage F1 fighters back into flying condition. Iran received 24 of these aircraft from Iraq in 1991, when Saddam ordered most of his combat aircraft to fly to Iran and surrender (rather than be bombed by coalition aircraft).
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09/02/2013
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and other ships in its strike group are heading west toward the Red Sea to help support a limited U.S. strike on Syria, if needed, defense officials said on Sunday. The Nimitz carrier strike group, which includes four destroyers and a cruiser, has no specific orders to move to the eastern Mediterranean at this point, but is moving west in the Arabian Sea so it can do so if asked.
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09/02/2013
Job creation will stand as the chief factor when the Danish government convenes to select a replacement type for its aging F-16 fleet in mid-2015. Denmark will look for substantial long-term industry value from bidders in the restarted Fighter Replacement Program (FRP), said newly appointed Defence Minister Nicolai Wammen, who replaced Nick Hækkerup following a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt’s coalition government on Aug. 9.
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09/02/2013
As the United States considers military action against Syria in response to a disputed chemical weapons attack on civilians, we profile some of the weapons that may be deployed by both sides in the days ahead.
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09/02/2013
Turkish Basic Trainer Aircraft Hurkus 350 which was designed and manufactured by TAI to meet the training and Light Attack/Armed reconnaissance aircraft requirements of Turkey's armed forces, successfully made its maiden flight at TAI's premises in Ankarathis week.
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09/01/2013
US President Barack Obama slammed the brakes Saturday on fast-moving plans to launch a military strike on Syria, saying he would seek approval from Congress first even though he believes such action is necessary and justified. In a statement from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he had decided that the United States should take military action against targets in Syria.
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09/01/2013
Damascus residents, already accustomed to incessant warfare within the Syrian capital, were making final preparations this weekend for an attack from outside, attempting to anticipate where American missiles might strike.
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09/01/2013
Military planes flew over Turkey's Incirlik air base on August 31 as the United States made clear on August 30 that it would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the "brutal and flagrant" chemical weapons attack that it says killed more than 1,400 people in Damascus last week.
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09/01/2013
Overall production of military aircraft will decline in the next 10 years, mainly as a result of shrinking defense budgets, according to a new study. Market research and analysis firm Forecast International said the downturn will primarily affect Western-built aircraft, but some segments of military aircraft production are anticipated to grow as Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter and Airbus Military's A400M transport/tanker enter full production.
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09/01/2013
While the United States is ready to strike a handful of targets on the ground in Syria, any international conflict there will take place on a much larger stage. The entire region is full of a witches' brew of military hardware from more than half a dozen nations with interests in the Syrian conflict.
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09/01/2013
Defence companies Boeing has unveiled improvements to the Super Hornet jet fighter which they say make it far more stealthy and give improved combat range. These improvements can be incorporated in new production aircraft, including the 12 "Growler" electronic warfare Super Hornets Australia has on order. But they can also be retrofitted to existing Super Hornets, such as the 24 now in RAAF service.
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09/01/2013
Although several air forces, and many more commercial air lines, have adopted the use of tablet computers to replace paper manuals, maps and other documents used in its aircraft (mainly in the cockpit) of larger aircraft there has been little done for fighter pilots. That is changing with at least one firm developing an eight inch tablet (the Iconia W3) that can be strapped to the leg of a fighter pilot and provide information as well as custom apps (software).
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09/01/2013
Russia is developing a fifth-generation unmanned fighter jet and a completely new missile defense system which can simultaneously engage several supersonic targets in space, it has been revealed at the MAKS-2013 airshow.
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09/01/2013
Britain will continue to play an active role in any military strikes on Syria, despite David Cameron’s vow not to join the attacks following his Parliamentary defeat last week. The UK’s intelligence-gathering assets based in the Mediterranean are to provide the US military with information, as it prepares to carry out cruise missiles strikes against President Bashar al-Assad.
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09/01/2013
Russia is postponing supplies of fighter jets and S-300 missile defense systems to Syria because official Damascus failed to pay for them, Kommersant newspaper said Saturday. The 12 MiG-29M/M2 jets that Russia agreed to sell to Syria will not be supplied before 2016-2017, the daily said, citing an unnamed source at Russian state arms exports monopoly Rosoboronexport.
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