February 18, 2014 Military Aviation News

Israeli Fighter Jets Challenge Cypriot Air Defense in Mock Battle Exercise

02/18/2014

Sharing a common interest in securing offshore mineral exploration areas throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, Israel and Cyprus are tightening defense cooperation through a series of air and naval exercises conducted over the Islands’ southern coast. The relations between Israel, Cyprus and Greece are warming since 2008, as Israel’s close relations with Turkey deteriorated since the rise of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to power.

$35M military plane upgrades highlight Canada's procurement delays

02/18/2014

In what amounts to another tacit admission that Canada's military is somehow structurally unable to swiftly procure the gear it needs, the Conservative government has quietly announced it's restarting a twice-cancelled plan to extend the life of the CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft.

CIA May Start Using New Drones To Target Militants In Pakistan

02/18/2014

To overcome some of the logistic hurdles posed by the slower-moving unmanned aircraft now being deployed from U.S. bases in Afghanistan, the Central Intelligence Agency may start using new jet-powered drones to target al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan, Press Trust of India reported.

China warships in Pacific raise alarm

02/18/2014

Three Chinese warships have sent dark new clouds scudding over Australia's strategic horizon, adding to growing unease across the region as Beijing flexes its muscles through the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific. The sudden appearance near Australia of the guided missile destroyers Wuhan and Haikou, in company with the advanced, 20,000-tonne landing ship Changbaishan, led to the RAAF Orion patrol aircraft being scrambled and sent north of the continent.

Air Force shows off a big, black, brawny B-2 after Red Flag exercises at Nellis

02/18/2014

After a rip-roaring Red Flag air combat exercise at Nellis last week, the bomb squad from Whiteman Air Force Base that steers the big, black, bat-shaped B-2 Spirit jets returned to Missouri. With them they took lessons learned from flying mock war sorties with a mix of 100 U.S. and foreign warplanes.

New Chief Of General Staff, Modernisation Of Air Force, S-300 - Belarus Security Digest

02/18/2014

Aliaksandr Lukashenka made a good personnel decision by appointing a new Chief of General Staff. Security agencies suffer from underfunding. It forces them to adopt austerity measures and negatively impacts the number of those who want to choose to serve in the military. Unable to procure new combat aircraft, the Belarusian authorities have decided to modernise their existing fleet.

RAF jets train over Nevada

02/18/2014

Typhoon crews from 1(Fighter) and 6 Squadrons, based at RAF Leuchars near St Andrew's, took part in Exercise Red Flag in Nevada along with around 160 military aircraft from the US, elsewhere in the UK and Australia. The exercise was designed to replicate combat as closely as possible and saw RAF Typhoon's take off from Nellis Air Force Base, close to the famous Las Vegas strip, for training above the vast Nevada ranges.

Defence ministry gets Rs 224K cr, 10% more than last time

02/18/2014

Amid its modernisation drive, the defence ministry was today allocated Rs 2,24,000 crore in the interim General Budget, marking a 10 percent increase over the last Budget. The allocation for the ministry in the last financial year (2013-14) was Rs 2,03,672 crore, of which around Rs 80,000 crore was to be spent on modernisation.

Swiss Clock-Punching Air Force Relies on France for Hijacked Jet

02/18/2014

Want to invade Switzerland? Here’s a tip: strike outside office hours. After an Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise aircraft carrying 202 passengers entered Swiss airspace today after being hijacked by the co-pilot en route to Rome, Switzerland’s Air Force remained on the ground. That’s because the incident occurred outside normal office hours. Instead, French and Italian fighter jets escorted the Boeing 767 to a safe landing in Geneva.

Boeing and Air France Industries Successfully Complete Major Modification of French AWACS Aircraft

02/18/2014

Boeing and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) have successfully completed the Mid-Life Upgrade modification on the first of four E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft for the French Air Force. The upgrade is part of a Foreign Military Sale in 2010 between France’s Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) and the U.S. government.

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