February 23, 2014 Military Aviation News

New arms threat: Argentina's £3billion boost to military

02/23/2014

Buenos Aires will acquire military hardware including fighter aircraft, ­anti-aircraft weapons and specialised radar, as well as beefing up its special forces. The news comes months before drilling for oil ­begins in earnest off the Falkland Islands, provoking ­Argentina’s struggling President Cristina ­Fernandez de ­Kirchner. Last month she created a new cabinet post of Secretary for the Malvinas, her country’s name for the Falklands.

Pentagon moving ahead with new vertical lift aircraft

02/23/2014

The Pentagon is committed to early design work on a new aircraft that will replace thousands of helicopters now used by the U.S. military, its first "clean sheet design" program in years, the Army official heading the effort said on Friday.

U.S. Officer Makes Waves Again With China Comments

02/23/2014

An outspoken intelligence officer for the U.S. Pacific Fleet has ruffled feathers in Beijing and Washington by warning publicly that the Chinese military is training for a “short, sharp” war with Japan and planning to establish an air defense identification zone over the disputed South China Sea this year or next.

Air Defense: Finland Flees The Soviets

02/23/2014

Finland is buying American FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS (MAN-Portable Air-Defense Systems) anti-aircraft missiles to replace the Russian SA-18s they have been using. Since the Soviet Union collapsed, Finland had been systematically replacing its Cold War era Russian weapons with Western ones.

Gov't to assess low-frequency noises from Osprey aircraft in Okinawa

02/23/2014

The government plans to assess the impact of low-frequency noises caused by the U.S. Marine Corps' MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft in response to calls from Okinawa Prefecture, where the aircraft are deployed, government sources said Saturday. A panel will be set up in April to devise new environmental standards, while the Defense Ministry may send officials to the United States, where the aircraft were developed, to look into relevant studies.

Indian aerospace industry faces talent shortage: HAL chairman

02/23/2014

Shortage of skill-based workforce was posing a challenge to the growth of the Indian aerospace industry in the absence of synergy between policy, industry and academia, HAL chairman R.K. Tyagi said Saturday. "India needs better training and education infrastructure with a pragmatic policy-industry-academia ecosystem to tap the huge employment potential in the aerospace industry," he said at the first aerospace round table conference here.

In Japan’s Drill With the U.S., a Message for Beijing

02/23/2014

In the early morning along a barren stretch of beach here last week, Japanese soldiers and American Marines practiced how to invade and retake an island captured by hostile forces. Memo to Beijing: Be forewarned. One Marine sergeant yelled for his men, guns drawn, to push into the right building as they climbed through the window of an empty house meant to simulate a seaside dwelling.

Manila close to acquiring first fighter jet in decades

02/23/2014

The Philippines is close to having its first fighter aircraft in nearly four decades after payment terms for the acquisition of twelve F/A 50s from South Korea were approved. Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Philippines government and South Korea had already come to an agreement over the terms of acquisition of the F/A 50s.

U.S. weapons makers, military bet on innovation as funds shrivel

02/23/2014

Building missiles used to be back-breaking, strenuous work, and dangerous too, given the high level of explosives involved. But U.S. weapons maker Raytheon Co has revolutionized that process at a sprawling, classified facility in Huntsville, Alabama, where automated transporters ferry missile parts to gleaming assembly stations, and even tuck themselves away for charging when their batteries run low.

All Articles