December 31, 2013 Military Aviation News
12/31/2013
Approaching from the Hawaii coast, the mosquito-shaped helicopter buzzed around the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie twice before swooping toward the landing pad. The U.S. Navy crew on the deck crouched, the helmeted faces betraying more than routine concern as the aircraft, flown by a pilot who had never before alighted upon a ship, hovered just off the tarmac and then set down with a thud.
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12/31/2013
Recently photos from China showed what appeared to be an American UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter landing at a Chinese military base. This mystery helicopter was promptly dubbed “Copy Hawk” for the Chinese eagerness to copy foreign military gear. While China has never had any Black Hawks, they did manage to buy 24 S-70s, the civilian version of the UH-60, 30 years ago (before the Tiananmen Square massacre and subsequent arms embargo).
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12/31/2013
The Lebanese army fired on Syrian aircraft that violated the country's airspace Monday, the first time Lebanon has done so since Syria's uprising broke out nearly three years ago, security officials said. The move suggests Beirut is trying to enforce greater respect for its borders in the hopes of slowing the expansion of the conflict into Lebanon, where it has exacerbated sectarian tensions and prompted shadowy groups to conduct attacks that have killed dozens this year.
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12/31/2013
At the end of November China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, formed a battle group to undertake ocean-based maneuvers in the South China Sea for the first time. Military expert Cao Weidong told the CCTV in an interview that during the training the Liaoning would assess its performance in three combat areas: air and missile defense, anti-ship offense, and anti-submarine offense.
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12/31/2013
The United States Air Force is almost finished testing a top-secret stealth drone at its Area 51 installation in Arizona, according to a report by Aviation Week. The Northrup Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)-built drone, named the RQ-180, will primarily be used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions and is seen as the direct replacement for the Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) SR-71 “Blackbird,” which was retired in 1998.
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12/31/2013
What’s that strange bird flying overhead? Why, it’s a gray-breasted Dronus Predatorus, and it must be hungry, because it looks like it’s searching for prey. I know this thanks to my handy Drone Survival Guide poster, which describes itself as a 21st Century birdwatching guide. “Our ancestors could spot natural predators from far by their silhouettes,” say the Dutch graphic artist who wrote it. “Are we equally aware of the predators in the present-day?”
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12/31/2013
Air Marshal Arup Raha, an ace fighter pilot, will on Tuesday take over as the Air Force chief succeeding incumbent Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne. Eastern Air Command chief Air Marshal RK Sharma will succeed Raha as the Vice Chief of Air Staff. Born on December 26, 1954, 59 year-old Raha is expected to have a tenure of three years as the Chief of Air Staff.
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12/31/2013
A bombing range in the Pinelands in southern New Jersey and airspace over the Atlantic Ocean could be part of a nationwide effort to develop guidelines for using unmanned aerial drones in civilian life. The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday picked a proposal using those test sites, developed by Rutgers University, Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland, as one of six projects around the country that will oversee “critical research.”
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12/31/2013
The political battles over chronic deficit spending in the United States has led to sharp and often unexpected cuts in the military budget over the last few years. This has forced the U.S. Air force to make major cuts in the hours combat pilots fly for training. The latest cut reduces many pilots to 120 hours a year. That’s about half of what it was a decade ago. There is concern that this will threaten the domination of the air the United States has had since World War II.
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