June, 2014 Military Aviation News
06/30/2014
Russian military advisers helped to prepare Iraq’s air force to use five newly delivered combat planes in its campaign to recapture areas of the country’s north that fell to an al-Qaeda breakaway. The used Russian Sukhoi combat aircraft arrived in Iraq as government ground forces, backed by helicopter gunships, pressed their offensive to drive Sunni fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from the northern city of Tikrit.
(Read More...)
06/30/2014
On the country’s southern coastal tip lies a facility as big as three soccer fields in which Korea Aerospace Industries’ engineers are busily producing its flagship aircraft and helicopters to meet their delivery deadlines. KAI makes FA-50 fighter jets, supersonic trainer T-50s, which the light attacker was based on, and the Surion utility helicopter. Now it seeks to expand its portfolio to accommodate the defense needs of Korea’s armed forces, as well as those of its allies.
(Read More...)
06/30/2014
Thus far, Iraq’s rapid unraveling has not been a major concern for Moscow. The situation in the country rarely features prominently in Russian news reporting — where Ukraine and Russian domestic matters dominate — and does not appear to be a top priority for senior Russian officials, though Russian President Vladimir Putin did recently express “full support” for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s efforts to combat militants driving the Iraqi military from cities and towns.
(Read More...)
06/30/2014
For all the glitz and glamour of its high-tech sector, Israel is a small country with limited resources, still forced to devote a large chunk to the military. One reflection of that down-to-earth reality is up in the sky. The Israeli Air Force has to make every dollar count, especially as the cost of the best warplanes and defense systems skyrockets. The air force’s aptly named Extension of Life Division helps keep costs down by keeping old planes up.
(Read More...)
06/30/2014
When Queen Elizabeth II arrives at Rosyth dockyard just outside Edinburgh at the end of this week to name the first of two aircraft carriers being built by a BAE Systems-led consortium, the Royal Navy’s new flagship and the British head of state are sure to hog the limelight.
(Read More...)
06/30/2014
Royal Air Force Typhoons have flown 1,000 miles from Lincolnshire to Turkey to take part in a special combat air exercise. The XI squadron based at RAF Coningsby has taken to the skies to train alongside the Turkish Air Force and other international partners to increase a working relationship in the event of emergency operations.
(Read More...)
06/30/2014
The Indian Air Force or IAF may lose its traditional conventional edge against Pakistan if the contract to buy 126 Rafale medium multi-role combat aircraft or MMRCA is not clinched immediately, senior IAF officials told Defence Minister Arun Jaitley at an extensive briefing recently.
(Read More...)
06/30/2014
DRDO's claim about being in a position to export Light Combat Aircraft Tejas has been dismissed as premature and unrealistic by former top IAF officers who want it to focus on getting the indigenous fighter plane inducted into own air force first. "It is good to have ambitions but there are several miles to go before we can talk or think about exporting LCA.
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
On Saturday, thousands of Iraqi troops backed by tanks and air power attacked Tikrit from four directions, state TV said. It said there had been complete success in clearing Isis from the city, with some militant commanders among the 60 killed. It said the other insurgents there had fled. Tikrit fell on 11 June to rebels of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis).
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea have highlighted the ongoing tensions between China and countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, with the US also weighing in recently with its proposals for a bigger military presence in the region. Both Vietnam and Malaysia are undergoing regional military build-ups, and the Philippines doubled its defence budget in 2011 after pledging to conduct joint military exercises with the US.
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
It remains to be seen whether the United States will opt for manned or unmanned airstrikes against ISIS fighters in Iraq. Today, Jacquelyn Schneider and Julia Macdonald weigh up the pros and cons of both options and remind us that any type of military response will confront significant problems.
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
Marines are coming to grips with the reality that they will not have the big-ticket hardware that they had hoped for. So they are adjusting their plans and strategies with the knowledge that they will have to live with existing equipment and lower-cost alternatives. The Marine Corps is determined to modernize its tactical aviation arm and acquire the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. But other desired weapons will have to wait.
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
The last Avro Vulcan, one of the coolest warplanes of the Cold War era, takes to the skies again this weekend. The plane, born of the days when the world seemed constantly under threat of nuclear war, was meticulously overhauled some time ago, but has flown intermittently because keeping it aloft is so expensive. The nonprofit Vulcan to the Sky Trust, which owns and operates the plane, is bringing it out again for the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
The Obama administration is flying armed aircraft over Iraq, defense officials said on Friday, adding that the flights were aimed at gathering intelligence and ensuring the safety of US personnel on the ground rather than conducting strikes. "What I would tell you is that we continue to fly both manned and unmanned aircraft over Iraq at the ... Iraqi government's request, predominantly for reconnaissance purposes. Some of those aircraft are armed," Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman,
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
It was recently revealed that Serbia had no combat aircraft available for duty, mainly because money had not been spent by the Defense Ministry to buy batteries for the aircraft. Serbia doesn’t have much of an air force to begin with (26 MiG-21s, four MiG-29s and 18 J-22s) and the cost of maintenance has been a struggle keep up with. The air force insists that three MiG-21s and three MiG-29s are available for service but no one has seen any of them flying lately.
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
Tucked inside a hangar at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport is a fleet of tactical jets that rivals what many small countries possess. They belong to Draken International, which is vying for a potentially game-changing contract with the U.S. Navy. The company already provides a variety of aviation services for the U.S. Department of Defense and the civilian marketplace. These services include threat simulation, aerial refueling and airborne adversary support.
(Read More...)
06/29/2014
The U.S. Air Force has grounded its fleet of stealthy Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) after one aircraft caught fire on takeoff Monday at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. While the pilot got out of the stricken jet without injury, the roughly $200 million machine could be a total loss. “The airplane aborted during takeoff due to a fire in the rear of the aircraft, the pilot egressed safely without injury, and the fire was extinguished.
(Read More...)
06/28/2014
Frustrated with the pace of U.S. jet and attack helicopter deliveries, the Iraqi government is negotiating the return of decades-old planes from Iran as it desperately tries to cobble together air power to turn the tide against al-Qaida-inspired insurgents. Iran has been “receptive” to the demands and is working on refurbishing an unspecified number of jets, Ammar Toma, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s defense and security committee, said Friday.
(Read More...)
06/28/2014
IT’s a $30 million combat jet with a serious problem: The wheels won’t go down. Watch how this pilot uses a $30 stool to save it. It was supposed to be just a normal day’s flying for US Marine Corps Captain William Mahoney. He was aboard his AV8B Harrier, taking off from the assault ship USS Bataan earlier this month, when something went thud.
(Read More...)
06/28/2014
The Department of Defense awarded $2.2 billion worth of defense contracts in its Thursday evening announcement of contract awards, released after stock markets closed for the day, handing out 17 separate contract awards. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman won four of them.
(Read More...)
06/28/2014
A Department of Defense report to Congress looks at Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2014. It is 96 pages and looks at China's military capability and what if China decided to retake the island of Taiwan by force? A chinese invasion of Taiwan is unlikely at the moment. The election of a less hardline-nationalist government in Taipei has smoothed over cross-Strait relations
(Read More...)
06/28/2014
The European Council on Friday said it would give Moscow three days to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, or it will impose new sanctions against Russia, according to a statement published Friday. The European Council also set conditions for the de-escalation.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
U.S. Navy warships teamed up with Philippine crews on Thursday for combat drills, as a maritime dispute simmers between China and the Philippines in the nearby South China Sea. The two sides chose Subic Bay as the venue for the exercises a year ago, and not in direct response to any of the recent incidents which have soured Sino-Philippine relations. Even so, the proximity of Scarborough Shoal—one of the territories disputed by Beijing and Manila that lies 120 miles to the west of Subic Bay.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
As the first armed American drones began flying over Iraq on Thursday, Shiite political leaders were locked in meetings to try to decide who should be the country’s next prime minister. For the first time, some of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s own party members expressed doubt that he would be a viable candidate.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
The C-145A Skytruck is a light cargo and troop transport aircraft designed and manufactured for the US Air Force (USAF). The aircraft is primarily used to assist Aviation Foreign Internal Defence (AvFID) missions of the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The C-145As were deployed to support theatre special operations commands in Afghanistan and eastern Africa. The Air Force Special Operations Warfare Center operates up to ten C-145A Skytrucks.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
If you’re a resident of Georgia there’s a strong chance that sometime next year an Afghan pilot trainee could be flying over your head. Moody Air Force Base, Ga., was selected as the most likely option for the new Afghan pilot training location, the Air Force announced in a news release. Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, and Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., are also being considered as potential sites, but Moody is preferred.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
The Obama administration asked Congress on Thursday to authorize $500 million in direct U.S. military training and equipment for Syrian opposition fighters, a move that could significantly escalate U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war.
Money for the assistance, which would expand a CIA covert training program, is included in a $65.8?billion request for the Pentagon’s Overseas Contingency Operations, or OCO.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
The drawn out drama over the signing of the Rafale jet fighter contract means the Indian Air Force (IAF) will rely on its heavy hitter, the Sukhoi-30MKI, to boost its dwindling fighter fleet. The 25-ton Su-30 – NATO reporting name Flanker – is the IAF’s elite fighter-bomber. Filling its low-end fighter needs will be the locally developed Tejas II light combat aircraft, while the Rafale is meant to straddle the middle tier as an intermediate fighter.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $1.28 billion contract to Sikorsky Aircraft for the first of what could be an order of 112 combat rescue helicopters. Thursday’s contract award to Sikorsky is the first step in what could be a $7.9 billion deal for up 112 helicopters.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
There is a pressing need for the new Indian government to engage with Myanmar at the highest levels as Pakistan and China are all set to enlarge their strategic footprints in Myanmar by selling fighter aircraft to that country. Myanmar government is planning to procure an unspecified number of JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat aircraft. JF-17 is the joint project of Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and Chengdu Aerospace Corporation (CAC) of China.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
France is likely to seek an early clinching of a $20 billion (around Rs.1.2 trillion) deal to sell India 126 fighter aircraft during the visit of foreign minister Laurent Fabius to New Delhi early next week, people close to the development said on Thursday. Both sides are to sign 15-16 preliminary pacts to cement cooperation in higher education during Fabius’ three-day visit.
(Read More...)
06/27/2014
Russian Defense Ministry is planning to substitute 95 percent of imports from Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said Tuesday. “The work is on schedule. The whole process of import substitution will carry on as planned, and by the end of the specified period, dependence on supplies from Ukraine will be decreased by 95 percent,” Borisov said during a visit to an aircraft factory in Russia’s Far East.
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
Military aircraft that conducted air strikes against ISIS military targets in western Iraq are believed to have been from Syria’s air force, a U.S. official told ABC News. Such air strikes would be a regional escalation of the conflict inside Iraq where the Islamic militants have taken over cities in northern and western Iraq and threatened the stability of the Iraqi government.
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
A spokesman for the Office of the Adjutant General of the Iraqi armed forces has said that his country has returned 130 military aircraft to Iraq, which were held in Iran for more than 20 years. General Qassim Atta explained in a televised press statement that the Iranian authorities have equipped the aircraft with "sophisticated weapons". "The planes," said Atta, "will participate in the battles against ISIS to liberate the city of Mosul from its control."
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
The Afghan Air Force hit a huge milestone by completing the first ever all Afghan air crew C-130 flight June 16, 2014 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Their mission consisted of cargo, CASEVAC and PAX transport. The Afghan Air Force has been working hard the last 11 months with U.S. Air Advisors from the 538th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron accomplishing this flight goal eight months ahead of schedule.
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
Russian air forces conducted snap drills in the Central and Far Eastern military districts, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday. MiG-31MB interceptors from Volga, Urals and Siberia airbases, strategic bombers TU-95 and TU-22 took part in the drills in the Central Russia.
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
On her first official visit to Nellis Air Force Base, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said Monday she will stress to her colleagues in Washington what she heard from local airmen: Don’t let automatic budget cuts under sequestration happen again.
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
Kyle Mizokami, a defense expert from San Francisco, wrote about five pieces of Indian military equipment which could pose a threat to the People's Liberation Army on the battlefield in a recent article for the Washington-based National Interest magazine. This follows another two articles by Mizokami on five American and five Japanese weapons China should fear,
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
The fire that struck an Air Force F-35A as it took of from Eglin Air Force Base should have limited operational effect on the Joint Strike Fighter program if initial conclusions by program officials are accurate. The Air Force has paused its aircrafts’ flights. The Navy did not. The Marines also “paused” and are expected to get back into the air tomorrow.
(Read More...)
.jpg)
06/25/2014
With the ISIS forces entering the outer region of Baghdad, the move towards Iraq’s capital lead to a lot of equipment being captured by those forces. This new and advanced equipment will likely play an important role in future battles. It is important to look at some of the tanks and artillery that might become key players on the battlefield in various conflicts around the world.
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said it can export combat aircraft and missiles at a much lower production cost than other countries, including China.
DRDO chief Avinash Chander told Press Trust of India that the agency has suggested a 'single window clearance' for time-bound sale of arms to friendly foreign nations.
(Read More...)
06/25/2014
Myanmar will purchase the Sino-Pakistan jointly produced JF-17 Thunder multirole fighter aircraft, according to local news reports. According to the Burma Times, Myanmar is looking to purchase a license to domestically produce the J-17 aircraft, which is called the FC-1 Xiaolong in China. If the report is accurate, it would make Myanmar the first foreign purchaser of the jet.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
ISIS is continuing its blitz-like offensive in Iraq, conquering more and more territory. With its sights set on Baghdad and the Shiite shrine cities, the prospect of the capital falling to the terrorist group is causing international panic. And Iraq’s neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia, could be the next trophy in ISIS’ expanding cabinet.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
French conglomerates Alstom and Vinci signed a 2 billion euro ($2.72 billion) deal with Qatar on Monday to build a tram system in the future Lusail City, while the two countries also discussed a possible defence contract. The deal, which will see the light rail system starting to operate in 2018-20, was signed in front of journalists during a visit to Paris by Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
In all the pontificating on what now should be done (and what should have been done previously) in Iraq, one subject oddly never seems to be on the table. I find this a bit strange, because it really should be a subject worthy of debate -- if only to add to the finger-pointing about what could have been done to avoid the current situation. From hawks to isolationists, though, nobody seems to ever bring up the possibility of Iraqis performing their own airstrikes.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
What’s better than flying on an IL-76MD like I did in North Korea? Flying on an IL-76TD somewhere outside of the most restrictive, hostile-to-photographers country on Earth, obviously. So, you probably want to know what an MD does differently than a TD. Letters and a lack of observer’s post/tail gunner in the rear area under the tail. For a civilian IL-76TD, it is faired over.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
The projected cost to upgrade F-35 jets built by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth has declined by about $920 million, or 36 percent, in less than two years, according to the Pentagon’s latest analysis. The estimate for improvements and corrections for planes already built or planned in the first 10 contracts to be awarded through 2016 has dropped to about $1.65 billion from $2.57 billion projected in September 2012, the Pentagon said in an annual assessment to Congress.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
Australian defence chiefs have told a hearing of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation committee that Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s coalition government is considering whether to acquire a number of short take-off and vertical landing Lockheed Martin F-35Bs.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
A Lear Jet with two people on board has crashed after colliding mid-air with a German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon over Olsberg, in Germany. The Learjet was a target plane operated by the “Gesellschaft für Flugzieldarstellung” (GFD), a civilian company cooperating with the German Air Force for air targeting exercises. The Eurofighter involved in the collision was operating with another aircraft of the same type within a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) training.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
Boeing has signed separate agreements with the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) and Fokker Technologies to explore advanced maintenance opportunities for Dutch rotorcraft and expand efforts to make the Netherlands a regional hub for military and civilian aircraft support services. Boeing and the RNLAF signed a strategic partnership agreement that builds on an existing support contract for Dutch AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook helicopters to identify new areas of long-term cooperation.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
Drones are to be deployed for a snap check of combat readiness in Russia’s Central Military District, a spokesman for the Central Military District, Colonel Yaroslav Roshchupkin told journalists Monday. “Zastava unmanned aerial vehicles, which perform air control of the advance and alignment of Central Military District forces, will allow us to assess the results of the snap check of combat readiness.
(Read More...)
06/24/2014
Russia has put the Kaliningrad early warning radar station on experimental combat duty, the press service of the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy) told RIA Novosti Monday. “The Voronezh-DM missile attack early warning radar station located in Kaliningrad Region has gone on experimental combat duty.
(Read More...)
06/23/2014
The military said it had attacked nine targets in response to the killing of a 15-year-old boy in a strike in the occupied Golan Heights on the border between the two countries on Sunday. Two others, including the boy's father, an Israeli defence contractor, were injured when a blast hit their vehicle. Israel called the boy's death the most substantial incident in the Golan since start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.
(Read More...)
06/23/2014
India is gearing up for the next round of military exercises with the US, including the top-notch "Malabar" naval war games in the Pacific and the intensive "Yudh Abhyas" counter-terror drills in Uttarakhand, in the first such maneuvers after the Modi government came to power last month.
(Read More...)
06/23/2014
The House approved a $570 billion defense spending proposal on Friday that would save the A-10 aircraft fleet, prohibit another base closure round and reject most of the Pentagon’s planned pay and benefits trims. The vote came after two days of floor amendments and repeated complaints from military leaders that Congress has again failed to help them hold down long-term spending, instead rejecting program cuts to avoid short-term pain.
(Read More...)
06/23/2014
BRITAIN could provide logistical support for US strikes to combat insurgents involved in the deepening crisis in Iraq, Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith has said. The Work and Pensions Secretary’s comments yesterday came amid reports of a Cabinet rift over how strong the UK support for any US military action should be. Mr Duncan Smith said “we have got to do what we can” to support the US if president Barack Obama takes action against the extremist militant group Islamic State of Iraq.
(Read More...)
06/23/2014
As they plan their response to the crisis in Iraq, President Obama and his top aides are hoping to replicate elements of an often-overlooked and relatively successful U.S. military operation in another war-ravaged Middle East nation: Yemen. An impoverished country on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has played host to a powerful and ambitious network of Islamist militants linked to Al Qaeda.
(Read More...)
06/23/2014
China recently held air force training exercises involving the use of designated stretches of highway for emergency airfields for fighters and transports. The first time this was done was in 1989 and so far it is known that ten stretches of highway in Liaoning (adjacent to North Korea), Shandong (facing South Korea across the Yellow Sea) and Fujian (opposite Taiwan) provinces have been designated for such emergency use.
(Read More...)
06/23/2014
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressing on the need for increasing arms exports, DRDO has said India can sell combat aircraft and missiles whose production cost would be “much lower” than some of the weapons sold by countries such as China.
(Read More...)
06/23/2014
The Russian Air Force is to receive its first unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) into service by 2020. It is expected that state trials or field tests of the new UCAVs may start in 2017. According to Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov, research and development work for this project is now nearly complete. Drone fighters are able to tackle strategic tasks because they are difficult to detect and have better combat sustainability than manned aircraft.
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
On the heels of President Obama’s announcement that up to 300 U.S. military advisers will be sent to Iraq to help combat the threat from a Sunni terror group, an awkward question was raised: What happens if the U.S. troops, many of them Special Forces, run into Iranian soldiers who are reportedly already in Iraq in numbers?
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
The crisis in Iraq is increasingly taking on a political tone as calls are growing for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step down. The Shiite leader, who faces criticism that his failure to promote reconciliation among the country's myriad religious sects sparked the widespread Sunni anger that has emboldened the al-Qaida breakaway group that has overtaken large sections of northern territories. Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader Ali al-Sistani.
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
Only last year, the U.S. European Command was facing some of the deepest cuts of any region in the U.S. military. Now, after Russia's annexation of Crimea, the Pentagon finds itself focusing on the continent in a way not seen in decades. Earlier this month, U.S. President Barack Obama said he would ask Congress for an additional $1 billion to increase Washington's military commitment to the continent.
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
For Britain’s aerospace industry and plane-spotters alike the waiting is almost over. In less than three weeks the much-vaunted F-35 combat jet will make its debut in UK skies. The appearance of the Joint Strike Fighter over the Royal International Air Tattoo is set to make the two-day charity air show at RAF Fairford a sell-out event.
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
India’s first indigenously developed Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile Astra was test-fired successfully from fighter aircraft Su-30MKI by the Air Force from a naval range off Goa on Friday. Defence sources said the launch conducted at an altitude of 6 km was a control and guidance flight which successfully demonstrated interception of an electronically simulated target at long range.
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
An 11th-hour ambush by a group of House Republicans that would retire the military’s entire A-10 aircraft fleet, including the planes based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, was fought off by U.S. Rep. Candice Miller during an intense Capitol Hill battle over the new defense budget.
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
Contrary to speculation, development of the JF-17 aircraft continues apace with avionics and weapons carriage capability improvements, work ongoing on future variants, and impending establishment of the third squadron. Chief Project Director of the JF-17 program, Air Vice Marshal Javed Ahmed, told Defense News the program was “as per schedule and there are no delays,” saying the current fleet had logged 10,000 hours and flown over 13,500 sorties.
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
Anti-aircraft defense in Kamchatka will be reinforced with new S-400 Triumf systems, the Ministry of Defense said Friday. “They acquired new military hardware there – air defense missile system S-400, which in the near future will be delivered to the anti-aircraft division in northeast Russia,” Pacific Fleet spokesman Roman Martov said.
(Read More...)
06/21/2014
Paratroopers and coastal troops taking part in a large scale exercise in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad successfully “eliminated” a group of militants, according to the Russian Baltic Fleet’s press office. “In the exercise’s scenario, intelligence was received about an illegal military group’s presence in one of the districts of Kaliningrad Region. A motorized infantry regiment was alerted,” said the statement.
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
Iraq has asked the United States to carry out air strikes on Sunni jihadists, who attacked the country's main oil refinery and seized more territory in the north. The appeal came as fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were pressing a week-long offensive that has brought them close to the capital, and as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledging to face down "terrorism."
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
President Barack Obama said he’s sending as many as 300 U.S. military advisers to assist the Iraqi army battle an insurgency and is prepared to take additional “targeted” action if necessary. The advisers will work with the Iraqi army to set up joint operations centers to coordinate intelligence and planning with the Iraqis without engaging in the fighting, he said.
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
Latin America's armed forces are increasingly working together to ensure peace in the region and promote unity, Ecuadoran Defense Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said Thursday. In an interview with Xinhua, Espinosa noted the region's various military corps are interconnected, and coordinate their work and constantly exchange information.
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
An Air Force general defended plans to replace the long-range U.S. bomber fleet, amid questions on the project’s necessity, the Washington Times reports. “We need to actually have an unemotional debate about what’s going on and how we need to modernize, and how we need to protect America from its only existential threat,” Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak said in comments reported on Wednesday. Harencak, the Air Force assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, spoke week
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
This week several countries met in Rome to support the Lebanese armed forces. This came not a moment too soon, at a time when the civil war in Syria as well as domestic security threats in Lebanon have strained the capabilities of the military institution. The institution’s newfound focus on counterterrorism, border control, and internal security has imposed a considerable financial and logistical burden on Lebanon.
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
A village assembly in Gunma Prefecture on Thursday approved future Japan-U.S. joint exercises in its municipality involving MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft of the U.S. Marine Corps. The resolution passed by the assembly of Shinto, a village hosting the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's Somagahara training range, said the municipality will accept joint exercises between Japan and the United States involving the tilt-rotor aircraft within the range.
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
Iraq is negotiating with Prague about the purchase of Czech Russian-made Mi-24 helicopters, Defense Minister Martin Stropnický (ANO) told journalists today, adding that Iraq is interested in buying seven Mi-24s immediately and a further 40 in the future. Furthermore, the Czech-Iraqi negotiations about the Czech sale of redundant subsonic fighters L-159 are under way, but the current crisis has complicated these talks, Stropnický said.
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded BAE Systems a GBP5 million (USD8.5 million) study contract to evaluate integrating the MBDA Brimstone missile system onto the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. The contract, which was announced on 19 June, is geared not just at equipping the Typhoon with the Brimstone air-to-surface missile by 2018, but with exploring a common launcher approach which could also be used for other multiple weapons stores such as SPEAR 3.
(Read More...)
06/20/2014
Members of Marine Attack Squadron 542 and various other squadrons with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing continue to work closely with field service representatives from Boeing in an attempt to arm the Marines with a larger set of skills and a wider knowledge base. The mission of 2nd MAW is to conduct air operations in offensive air support, anti-air warfare, assault support, aerial reconnaissance, electronic warfare and control of aircraft and missiles.
(Read More...)
.jpg)
06/20/2014
Saab has carried out the first test flight of its new ESTL self-protection system onboard a Gripen multi-role combat aircraft at an undisclosed location. ESTL is an advanced missile approach warning system (MAW) designed to safeguard any type of fixed-wing aircraft against existing and future radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) threats.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
President Barack Obama and congressional leaders believe he does not need authorization from Congress for some steps he might take to quell the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency sweeping through Iraq, the Senate's top Republican and Capitol Hill aides said after the president briefed senior lawmakers Wednesday.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
The flightline is filled with aircrew and C-130 Hercules engines are starting up for another Afghan air force casualty evacuation mission. Within two years, the Afghan air force has made significant improvements to their casualty evacuation capabilities, or CASEVAC, as they continue to take the lead and ownership of day-to-day operations. The aircrew is now working hand-in-hand with medical personnel to accomplish the mission.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
New Zealand on Tuesday released its Defence Capability Plan (DCP), which calls for increasing the defense force’s “proficiency at joint operations and growing its combat, combat support and combat service support capabilities,” said Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman. The DCP is the second such document since the 2010 Defence White Paper, and is not merely a list of projects, Coleman said.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
The U.S. Air Force is planning to request proposals from industry to finally provide needed communications connectivity between fifth- and fourth-generation fighters. The service has long projected a need for so-called "5th to 4th" capability. This need is made even more urgent as the timeline for fielding the stealthy, fifth-generation F-35 has stretched out due to technical challenges in development and funding limitations at Air Force headquarters.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
RAF Typhoon fighter aircraft yesterday intercepted and shadowed a group of Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea after they came close to Latvian airspace. The sizeable force included four Russian Air Force SU-27 ‘Flanker’ fighter aircraft, a Tupolev Tu22 ‘Backfire’ bomber, an early warning aircraft and a transport plane.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, the country’s sole military aircraft manufacturer, is set to unveil a Rs. 6,000-crore modernisation programme with a focus on manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance and combat purposes, the company said on Tuesday. The modernisation plan spreads out through 2020; HAL will use Rs. 1,200 crore during the current year (2014-15) alone, its Chairman, R.K. Tyagi, told The Hindu.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
A full-size model of the F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter stands brazenly amongst the historic combat aircraft on the main display floor of the Royal Air Force museum at Colindale, North London. It is an incongruous sight. What is the JSF, still in development and with no operational record, doing on parade amongst the great aircraft that fought in two world wars and many subsequent conflicts?
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
An article by Ajai Shukla seems to be promoting co-development of Tejas Mark II with Saab, noting that the manufacturer is skilled at making advanced combat aircraft which are simple to maintain and low in cost, but in my opinion this is a bad idea and India should not do anything of the sort. Shukla seems to recommend scrapping the Rafale purchase.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
Russia plans to supply Pakistan with Mi-35 combat helicopters to fight drug trafficking, head of the Russian delegation at the international defense and security exhibition Eurosatory 2014 Igor Sevastyanov said Wednesday. “We are currently holding consultations. We are talking about Mi-35 helicopters, we plan to supply them at the request of the Pakistani anti-drug trafficking agency,” Sevastyanov said.
(Read More...)
06/19/2014
Orders from abroad for S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft weapons systems are being processed, Igor Sevastyanov, the head of the Russian delegation to the Eurosatory 2014 international military exhibition, told journalists Wednesday. “There are not so many states ready to buy this system. We have a number of requests, and the federal agency is considering them very carefully,” said Sevastyanov, without specifying any further details.
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
As Islamic militants continue their murderous advance across Iraq, they have a new target in their sights: the city of Baquba, less than 40 miles north of Baghdad. Gunbattles erupted in the city, only a 45-minute drive from the capital, on Tuesday as fighters and Iraqi government forces clashed.
Civilians are fleeing violence there and elsewhere in Iraq even as the United States bolsters its manpower in the region while it mulls what action to take.
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
“There is huge potential to export missiles made in India. Several countries have evinced interest, but we need a policy clearance from the Central Government,” Avinash Chander, Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Chief of Defence Research and Development Organisation, has said.
(Read More...)
.jpg)
06/18/2014
The Indian Navy is carrying out feasibility studies and tests to scout for alternative air defence systems for its largest warship, the INS Vikramaditya, that is currently vulnerable to air attacks due to an inordinate delay in the Indo-Israel protection system that was to be installed two years ago.
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
Cessna parent company Textron has released the first image of its Scorpion combat aircraft in a new two-tone grey color scheme that has eventually replaced the initial overall white livery. The new “camouflage” gives the multi-role, low cost twin-engine jet a more aggressive appearance.
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
Pakistani combat aircraft destroyed a bomb making factory in the tribal region of North Waziristan and at least 25 militants were killed in a wave of air strikes, the military said on Tuesday, as part of a major operation against Taliban insurgents. Pakistani fighters jets have been bombing Taliban positions in North Waziristan since Sunday when the army announced it was sending troops and helicopter gunships to the region to flush out al Qaeda-linked Jihadists.
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
The Defence Department has enough forces in the Persian Gulf to conduct airstrikes that would probably prevent Sunni insurgents from marching into Baghdad, but other missions would be far more complex and risk drawing the United States back into an Iraqi civil war, according to retired military commanders.
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
Top level Taliban commanders recently discussed the possibility of using high powered laser and laser pointers at fighter aircraft and helicopters in Afghanistan”, according to confidential source in Pakistan. They discussed in some detail “how best to deploy and use lasers in the field in planned attacks against commercial and military aircraft/airports.”
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
Saft, the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of advanced technology batteries for industry, has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract from Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime (DLA). Under the contract, totaling $17.5 million, Saft will provide nickel-based batteries and cells for military aircraft applications to be used by the United States military.
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
India’s $12 billion Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program has run into turbulence due to a disagreement over delivery commitments, according to an Indian Defence Ministry source. The Indian Air Force has told the new government that Dassault Aviation, maker of the Rafale jet, and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), which will produce the aircraft in India, must put their delivery guarantees in writing before the MoD signs the contract, the MoD source said.
(Read More...)
06/18/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully fired HELLFIRE and DAGR missiles from its Long Range Surveillance and Attack Vehicle (LRSAV) turreted weapon system during recent ground-to-ground tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
More than two years after India's ministry of defence (MoD) chose to buy 126 Dassault Rafale fighters for the Indian Air Force (IAF), the world's biggest fighter contract swings in the wind. With no deal in sight after 28 months of haggling with Dassault, two of the losing vendors -Eurofighter and Saab - believe they could yet come out tops. Eurofighter GmbH, whose Typhoon fighter narrowly lost out to the Rafale, still retains a senior executive in New Delhi.
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) successfully fired four Raytheon Company Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) from a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). All four AMRAAMS intercepted their airborne targets during the annual live fire exercise at the Andoya Rocket Range in Northern Norway.
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
The Defense Ministry on Monday decided to postpone the introduction of the Air Self-Defense Force C-2 transport plane for about two years, due to problems in the aircraft’s body structure. The new model of the ASDF’s primary transport plane was set to be introduced in late fiscal 2014. Faulty points were found in C-2 bodies in January, however, and the ministry judged it necessary to improve the aircraft.
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
Through introducing technology from China and Pakistan, Myanmar plans to produce FC-1/JF-17 Xiaolong/Thunder multirole fighters domestically for its air force, reports the Yangon-based Myanmar Times. The Myanmar Air Force has 23,000 pilots and ground personnel. With 10 major air force bases, it currently operates 32 Russian-built MiG-29B and MiG-29SE fighters, 25 Chinese-built J-7M fighters, 21 Chinese built Q-5 attackers and 16 trainers.
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
The U.S. signaled it’s ready to talk with Iran about how to deal with the crisis in Iraq, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s forces battle an offensive by Sunni Muslim militants that threatens to split apart the country. U.S. and Iranian officials spoke briefly on Iraq in an initial conversation on the sidelines of talks in Vienna on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a U.S. State Department official who commented on condition of anonymity.
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
Pakistani fighter jets pounded North Waziristan on Monday, a day after the army announced the start of a full-scale drive to flush Islamist insurgents out of the volatile region bordering Afghanistan. In a long-awaited military operation precipitated by a deadly insurgent attack on Pakistan's biggest airport a week ago, Islamabad has deployed troops, artillery and helicopter gunships to fight insurgents in North Waziristan.
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
The Pentagon has deployed about 100 troops — including more than 50 Marines attached to a Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team to the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad, Iraq, to help protect diplomatic personnel and property. Meanwhile, President Obama is considering miltiary action against the Islamic insurgents, who have seized vast swaths of northern Iraq and are moving south toward the capital.
(Read More...)
.jpg)
06/17/2014
After more than 30 years, the modified CF-18 Hornet is still a frontline fighter jet for the Royal Canadian Air Force. CF-18s support NORAD air sovereignty patrols, based out of Alberta and Quebec. They saw action in the 1991 Gulf War, and more recently were involved in the 2011 Libyan no-fly zone. "Absolutely, still very relevant," said Capt. Adam Runge, pilot for the CF-18 Demonstration Team, at the Jade Engineering office Friday morning in Tillsonburg.
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
With all eyes locked on Iraq and Ukraine, China and Japan keep ratcheting up tensions over islands and waters in the East China Sea. On June 11, two Japanese planes flew dangerously close to a Chinese plane -- with both sides blaming the other for the encounter. This follows an incident in late May, when armed Chinese fighter planes buzzed Japanese maritime patrol aircraft, passing within 100 feet in one case -- a hand's breadth for high-speed aircraft. In mid-June, China Defense Ministry spokes
(Read More...)
06/17/2014
Russia is testing its Pantsir S-1 short-range air defense system in the Arctic to ensure security in the resource-rich region, which is soon expected to become the centre of oil and gas exploration for the country, Alexander Denisov, head of the High-Precision Systems holding told RIA Novosti Monday.
(Read More...)
06/16/2014
Thousands of young Iraqi Shiite Muslims volunteered for military service Saturday and an American aircraft carrier headed toward the Persian Gulf in efforts to counter the blitz attack by Sunni militants sweeping through Iraq's northern provinces. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an Al Qaeda splinter group notorious for its harsh application of Islamic sharia law, continued its advance, seizing the small town of Adeim in Diyala province after Iraqi security forces pulled out.
(Read More...)
06/16/2014
Northrop Grumman Corporation and the U.S. Navy report that they have successfully flown the unmanned MQ-8B Fire Scout simultaneously with the MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter for the first time. More from the Northrop Grumman news release: The capability demonstrates how a mix of aircraft can increase a ship commander’s intelligence-gathering capabilities aboard the Littoral Combat Ship.
(Read More...)
06/16/2014
The US embassy in Baghdad is evacuating personnel and increasing military security after militants captured vast swathes of territory and advanced toward the capital, officials say. It was unclear how many staff members would be evacuated from the mission. Located within the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses much of the international presence in the city, the US embassy is the largest in the world.
(Read More...)
06/16/2014
The Pentagon temporarily grounded the entire F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet at the start of the weekend after one of the advanced jets suffered an engine oil leak and declared an in-flight emergency. While the suspension of flight and ground testing on Friday was described by F-35 program officials as a precautionary move, it is the second time in 16 months that engine problems have grounded the entire fleet.
(Read More...)
06/16/2014
Turkey’s procurement and military officials are hoping to build a new generation, dual fighter jet fleet by their country’s centennial — 2023 — comprising F-35s and indigenous aircraft Ankara has been designing. “Despite ups and downs, we remain fully committed to the [Joint Strike Fighter] program. But independently, we will develop our own fighter. There is an established policy understanding to keep our [fighter] fleet limited to these two only,” said a senior government official for defense
(Read More...)
06/16/2014
When you hear the word "drone," do you picture a small robotic airplane, flying through the sky bearing a stars-and-stripes decal on its chassis? If you do, then chances are you live in America. Because for most of the world, drones more often than not bear the flag of Israel as an insignia.
(Read More...)
06/16/2014
China is close to volume production of aero-engines that will be used in advanced combat aircraft, according to Bradley Perrett, Asia-Pacific bureau chief of the Washington-based Aviation Week & Space Technology. In his newest article published on June 16, Perrett said that China needs large supplies of rhenium — a rare metal that increases the temperature-resistance of turbine blades — to design and produce an engine that can handle higher internal temperatures, increasing performance and durab
(Read More...)
06/16/2014
Australia is now the seventh-largest importer of major arms in the world and the biggest customer of the largest weapons producer, the US. Australia buys 10 per cent of all American weapons exports. Figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show Australian imports of major arms – large-scale military materiel such as warships, fighter planes and tanks – jumped by 83 per cent in the five years to 2013.
(Read More...)
06/15/2014
The Su-27 crews of the Russian Baltic Fleet's naval aviation that are taking part in the military exercises in the Kaliningrad region on Saturday will shoot at air targets imitating the air assault weapons of an imaginary enemy, the press service of the Russian Defence Ministry told Itar-Tass.
(Read More...)
06/15/2014
Airbus Defence and Space has been awarded a contract to deliver C-295 military tactical transport aircraft for the Ecuadorian Air Force. The contract, whose value remains undisclosed, covers the supply of a total of three Airbus C295 medium transport aircraft, and provision of a full in service support (FISS) package for the operation and maintenance of the fleet. Expected to be used for military and humanitarian missions, the C295s join the Ecuadorean Army's two Airbus C212s and two Airbus CN23
(Read More...)
06/15/2014
The self-defense forces of Gorlovka, Donetsk region, have reported that the Ukrainian Su-24 plane that bombed the building of a local police station at 4:30 a.m. Kiev time has been shot down. "We have managed to shoot down a Su-24 plane. The pilot ejected. He is now being questioned in the self-defense forces’ headquarters," the Gorlovka self-defense forces' representative told Interfax. He also added that the Ukrainian army had bombed the city of Druzhkovka last night.
(Read More...)
06/15/2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the country's largest warship INS Vikramaditya off Goa coast in Arabian Sea, showcasing India's naval prowess. Arriving on board the warship in a Sea King chopper, the prime minister was given the ceremonial guard of honour by the Navy and was briefed about the warship, which will be dedicated to the nation on Saturday. He also sat in a MIG 29 aircraft and had a feel of the combat fighter on the ship sailing off the Goa coast.
(Read More...)
06/15/2014
Iraq's military claimed Saturday that it had regained key northern territories from extremist Sunni Muslim militants and asserted it remained strong and capable against the radicals who have suddenly destabilized the country, a military spokesman said. Most of Salaheddin province has returned to the control of Iraqi military, and security forces also took back territory on the edges of Nineveh province, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta said.
(Read More...)
06/15/2014
Iraq's leader directed his troops to make their stand against advancing Sunni militants in a flashpoint city home to a revered Shiite mosque, an order that highlights the sectarian fighting tearing the country apart. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's order came as he sought to put new fire in the belly of his troops in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria - an al Qaeda splinter group known as ISIS - that has seized a large swath of land in the north of the country and threatened t
(Read More...)
06/15/2014
At least 257 people were killed and over 1,300 injured during the punitive operations in Eastern Ukraine, the country’s Health Ministry reported Wednesday in a report based on data from urgent medical aid in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
American air power could play an important role in reversing the Sunni insurgent offensive in Iraq, current and former American military officials said on Friday, but it would be most effective with improved intelligence about insurgent targets and if the United States were willing to deploy small teams of advisers to call in airstrikes.
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
Pro-Russian rebels have shot down a military transport plane in eastern Ukraine, killing all 49 Ukrainian service personnel on board. Ukraine's defence ministry said the Il-76 transport plane crashed after coming under anti-aircraft fire over Luhansk. In a statement it said "terrorists" had "cynically and treacherously" fired on the aircraft.
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
The U.S. aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush and her more than 50 attack aircraft were available to conduct airstrikes against Islamic militants in Iraq if President Obama gives the order, Pentagon officials said Friday. The Bush and her accompanying battle group of ships "were in the region and ready for any tasking," said Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary. Kirby would not confirm several reports that the Bush had already moved into the Persian Gulf.
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
SPAIN will send four military planes to the Ukraine in the autumn to support the NATO mission launched in the region amid the tensions between Russia and its former Soviet State.
Minister of foreign affairs José Manuel García-Margallo has met with the NATO Alliance secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen to offer Spain’s assistance by making four Eurofighters, a Boeing 77 and two additional frigates available to reinforce air policing over the Baltic region and in the Mediterranean area of the
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
Jets in the East China Sea have created even more strain between Japan and China this week. Both nations are blaming the other for a recent too-close-for-comfort military encounter, further heightening tensions between them. News Max reports this Friday, June 13, 2014, that only 100 feet separated a Japanese fighter allegedly trailing a Chinese plane, while video of the precarious incident has been made public online.
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
The Pentagon is increasing the number of missions U.S. drones are flying over Iraq to at least once a day in response to this week’s surge in the nation by al Qaeda-inspired Sunni extremists, a senior Defense Department official said Friday.
At the request of the Iraqi government, which is worried about gains made by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon has altered the flying pattern of the American drones, said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
Stunning pictures of Europe's stealth drone Neuron (or "nEUROn" if you want to emphasise the punnage) have been released by Dassault Aviation. The unmanned combat air vehicle can be seen taking off from an aviation base in Istres, France. The Neuron is ten metres in length and has a 12.5-metre wingspan. It's peered by a Rolls Royce Turbomeca Adour engine and has been in testing over the last couple of years.
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
As Pentagon procurement chief Frank Kendall works to rein in wasteful military spending, he is promoting what qualifies in the defense sector as a novel concept: contractors should make more profit when they meet deal terms than when they perform poorly. On Friday, the Pentagon published a central part of his efforts, a study that examines 150 defense deals and breaks down for the first time the performance of major contractors in delivering programs on time, and on budget.
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
It's a one-of-its-kind facility in Asia and is being used for training of pilots for landing on India's largest aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya. The Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa naval air station here, 30 km from Goa capital Panaji, currently meant for training pilots for the MiG-29K combat jet that is embarked on INS Vikramaditya, is also set to be used for training pilots of the Indian Navy's version of the indegenous light combat aircraft (LCA) .
(Read More...)
06/14/2014
State tests of the new Russian fighter T-50 (the PAK FA project) have kicked off in Akhtubinsk in the Astrakhan Region, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev told journalists. According to the plan, the fifth-generation fighter will be used to send serial deliveries to troops beginning in 2016. The Air Force could even possibly receive the T-50 ahead of schedule. So far, only one country in the world is armed with a fifth-generation fighter — the United States.
(Read More...)
06/13/2014
As ISIS militants advance in Iraq and threaten Baghdad itself after taking the country’s second-biggest city Mosul, the Iraqi air force is getting its first American-made F-16 fighters. But it will not be able to use the advanced jets against the militants until later this year: The first of 36 F-16s ordered by Iraq won’t actually arrive there for some months, and even then it will take months to build combat effectiveness.
(Read More...)
06/13/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet is making steady progress but needs further work to accelerate software development, increase reliability and lower the cost of operating and maintaining the new warplanes, the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer said on Thursday. Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told reporters the Pentagon was looking at a series of measures, including incentives tied to future payments and investments in process improvements.
(Read More...)
06/13/2014
The Russian Air Force has taken delivery of the first batch of serial Su-34 front-line bombers from the subsidiary of United Aircraft Corporation, Sukhoi, as part of the 2014 State Defense Order. The 4+ generation aircraft powered with a twin Lyulka AL-31FM1 turbofan engine is expected to replace the Russian Air Force and Navy's ageing Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft fleet. The new generation frontline bombers have an increased flight range of up to 4,000km, a maximum speed of up to 1,900km/h.
(Read More...)
06/13/2014
For Air Commodore David Cooper, time is running out. The British Royal Air Force officer has the unenviable task of making the tiny Afghan air force self-sustaining by the end of the year. “Because we’re unsure about what’s going to happen after 2014 and we can make no assumptions, we have to put as much as we can into this year,” said Cooper, director of air operations for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
(Read More...)
06/13/2014
Fighter jets had to be scrambled twice after Russian bombers practised off the coast of Alaska and then came within 50 miles of California, it emerged today. The North American Aerospace Defense Command confirmed U.S. air defense systems were triggered twice by nuclear-capable Tu-95 Bear H aircraft last week. A spokesman said incursions began on Monday at around 4.30pm Pacific time when radar detected four bombers approaching the U.S. air defense zone near the far western Aleutian Islands.
(Read More...)
06/13/2014
The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) will soon take delivery of the PC-21 expanded envelope trainer aircraft under contract from Pilatus Aircraft. Carrying the registration numbers 905, 906 and 907, the first three aircraft departed the company's facility in Stans, Switzerland, on 02 June, reported Flightglobal.
(Read More...)
06/13/2014
China said on Thursday that Japan's accusations of Chinese fighter jets flying "abnormally close" to Japanese military aircraft over the East China Sea were aimed at deceiving the international community. Japan protested after Chinese warplanes flew "abnormally close" to Japanese military aircraft over the East China Sea on Wednesday.
(Read More...)
06/13/2014
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to adapt its WindTracer® wind measurement system to help C-130 and C-17 aircrews make safer, faster and more accurate airdrops of essential supplies to U.S. ground forces at remote locations. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will design and build a prototype Precision Air Drop unit for testing. As part of the demonstration, the prototype unit will be airdropped to the test site and used to measure winds.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
Two U.S. B-2 Spirit stealth bombers are being deployed to Europe for the first time, reports the International Business Times (IBT). The advanced aircraft are scheduled for a “short term deployment” at Fairford, a Royal Air Force base in England — just three hours' flight from Russia. The B-2s are the most sophisticated warplanes ever employed in combat by the U.S. They have been used against targets in Europe – during the Kosovo crisis – but have never been stationed there.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
With security in Iraq quickly deteriorating, the United States on Wednesday pledged "any appropriate assistance" to help the Iraqi government fend off a rapid military advance by Islamist militants. Militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) hours earlier overran the city of Tikrit and closed in on Iraq's biggest oil refinery in the town of Beiji, a day after seizing Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
In a far-reaching decision for Russia, India as well as the broader South Asian strategic landscape, Russia has decided to lift an embargo on supplying weapons and military hardware to Pakistan. Sergey Chemezov, head of Russian state-run technologies corporation Rostec, has suggested that Moscow is negotiating the delivery of several Mi-25 helicopter gunships to Islamabad.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
The 2014 USAF Test Pilot School selection board will convene here Aug. 5-8 to consider candidates for July 2015 and January 2016 classes, Air Force Personnel Center officials said. Applications must reach Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command Air, Space and Information Operations by June 23, 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
The troubled F-35 aircraft has already been questioned for its exorbitant price tag and called a “turkey” by one plane expert. Now it's being criticized for its vulnerability to bird strikes—at least according to one defence professor at the University of British Columbia.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
Four Russian strategic bombers triggered U.S. air defense systems while conducting practice bombing runs near Alaska this week, with two of the Tu-95 Bear H aircraft coming within 50 miles of the California coast, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) confirmed Wednesday.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
The system that allows the U.S. Marines to coordinate flying operations for all air assets has been modernized by Lockheed Martin. The Theater Battle Management Core System (TBMCS) within the U.S. Marine Corps Tactical Air Command Center was upgraded with the Marine Corps Air Mission Planner application to provide the Marines with a modernized mission planning application to better plan and execute aviation operations.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
Russia deployed a number of troops in the military exercise in Kaliningrad Region comparable to the number of NATO drill participants in the Baltic region, Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported Wednesday. “The forces and equipment that Russia’s Ministry of Defense involved in Kaliningrad Region drills is comparable to the number of soldiers, weapons and equipment deployed by NATO member countries in their border exercises,” the ministry’s press release reads.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
An accident with an advanced Russian T-50 fifth-generation fighter jet, which briefly caught on fire while landing near Moscow, will not affect the schedule of planes’ test runs, Sukhoi company said Tuesday. One of the T-50's engines failed during landing near Moscow on Tuesday, and there was a minor fire on aircraft’s hull. No casualties were reported and the fire was quickly extinguished.
(Read More...)
06/12/2014
Twenty SU-27 fighter jets are to be relocated to Belbek airbase in Crimea by the end of 2014, a source at the Russian Ministry of Defense told RIA Novosti Tuesday. “By the end of the year about twenty SU-27 fighter jets will be based at Belbek airbase serving the Russian air defense unit,” said the source.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
Mariam Al Mansouri was a teenager when she set her sights on becoming a pilot for the Armed Forces. But there was one little hurdle she had to wait several years to overcome – no women were allowed to join up. She bided her time by spending several years working for General Command before becoming the first woman to join the airforce when the academy finally opened its doors to female recruits.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
A French Mirage 2000D fighter jet used to patrol the skies over Mali crashed in neighboring Niger due to a technical glitch, the army said Tuesday. The two crew members ejected and survived uninjured. The Mirage was flying back on Monday evening from a mission in Mali, where the French army has been fighting jihadist groups, and crashed half-way between Gao in Mali’s restive north and the Niger capital Niamey, where France has a military base.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
Lockheed Martin has packed the F-22 with sophisticated tactical intelligence systems, but – in a throwback to a pre-networked era – no means of transmitting data to other aircraft. The need to preserve the F-22’s stealth signature has trumped all previous attempts to solve the problem. A decade ago, the US Air Force rejected proposals to integrate the non-stealthy Rockwell Collins tactical targeting network technology (TTNT) on the Raptor.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
Several Air Force Global Strike Command B-52H Stratofortresses and B-2 Spirits recently participated in an Air Combat Command evaluation involving the use of live cruise missiles and precision guided munitions. "The Air-to-Ground Weapon System Evaluation Program, also known as 'Combat Hammer,' allows ACC to confirm the accuracy and capability of our conventional weapons from end to end while integrating with other assets in a realistic combat environment," said Lt. Col. Richard Armstrong.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
Former National Security Adviser Roilo Golez believes the completion of a Chinese military installation near Mabini Reef inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) could be a game-changer not just for the Philippines but the whole Asia-Pacific region. Speaking to ANC’s Headstart, Golez said China, as the world’s second largest economy, can afford to construct an artificial island near Fiery Cross Reef complete with a 5-square-kilometer military base.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
Five U.S. troops were killed in an apparent friendly fire incident in southern Afghanistan, local and American officials said, in one of the deadliest of such episodes for U.S. forces in nearly 13 years of combat here. An aide to the governor of southern Zabul province said Tuesday that five coalition troops, their Afghan interpreter and one Afghan National Army soldier were killed mistakenly by a coalition aircraft in the Gaza area of Arghandab District of Zabul province on Monday.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it has granted the first permission for commercial drone flights over land, the latest effort by the agency to show it is loosening restrictions on commercial uses of the unmanned aircraft. Drone maker AeroVironment of Monrovia, California, and BP energy corporation have been given permission to use a Puma drone to survey pipelines, roads and equipment at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, the agency said. The first flight took place on Sunday.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
AUSTRALIA has committed its biggest defence outlay ever on an unfinished combat jet critics insist can’t fight, can’t run and can’t hide. Is the F-35 a flop? Angst has been boiling about the F-35 Lightning II (otherwise known as the Joint Strike Fighter) since its inception. Now, five years overdue and six years away from its revised delivery date, that angst has exploded into furore.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
Airmen are participating in four joint combat training exercises underway in Poland and the Baltic states — one week after President Obama called for Congress to approve a $1 billion plan to boost a U.S. troops’ rotational presence and further reassure Eastern European partners of “America’s unshakeable commitment” to its NATO allies.
(Read More...)
06/11/2014
An advanced prototype of Russia's fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 fighter aircraft caught on fire attempting to land at an airfield outside Moscow on Tuesday, in a blow to one of Russia's prestige defense projects, Sukhoi's parent company, United Aircraft Corporation, said in a press release. No one was injured in the accident, which saw smoke and flame billow out of the front of the engine and caused visible damage to the exterior of the aircraft.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
The pilot of a Spanish air force Eurofighter was killed when his combat aircraft crashed at Morón air base near Seville on 9 June. Spain’s defence ministry named the deceased pilot as 30 year-old Capt Fernando Lluna Carrascosa, who it said had accumulated more than 600 flight hours’ experience on the Eurofighter. The cause of the accident – which happened as the aircraft was approaching the base to land – has not yet been determined, it says.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
Since 2001 India has been working on upgrading its Jaguar ground attack aircraft. India originally acquired Jaguars from Britain in the 1980s. The 11 ton Jaguar is a single seat jet armed with two 30mm cannon and up to 4.5 tons of bombs and missiles. While capable of supersonic speed (1,500 kilometers an hour) most of the time it moves at a little over half that speed.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
The Remotely Piloted Aircraft enterprise reached new heights as the community pulled together to launch the 65th combat air patrol, or CAP, here on May 28. Reaching 65 patrols by fiscal year 2013 was an initiative put in place by then former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Dec. 23, 2009. The constant growth of patrols, from 33 in 2008 to 65 in 2014, is just one example of the untapped capabilities of the RPA platform and provides insight into where the future of the program can go.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
The free to play market has always been filled with games like Farmville, Candy Crush, and the rest of the annoying games that most people play on Facebook. In the recent years console game makers have realized that some of their titles actually work with this model in mind. That includes the recently released Ace Combat: Infinity for the Playstation 3.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
A new report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives argues that the controversial F-35 fighter jets, which would replace the air force’s aging CF-18 fleet, are too dangerous to be used by the Canadian military. The report, titled “One Dead Pilot,” was released on Monday. It suggests that the single-engine F-35 poses too many risks, and could fail over the ocean or the remote Arctic.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
Eurofighter is looking at giving the Typhoon a maritime attack capability and is investigating at least three missiles to meet potential requirements for export, according to the executive leading Airbus Defence and Space combat aircraft sales effort. At least two of Typhoon’s current export targets are requesting a maritime attack capability.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
A Lockheed Martin-built F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF) aircraft has successfully flown in formation with two UK Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoons over the ranges at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California, US. The flight represents the first time that the two multi-role combat aircraft have flown together, and was carried out as part of the F-35's interoperability testing.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
The Air Force is correct in trying to kill the A-10 fleet. It is an archaic vestige reflecting a technology, and a style of warfare, that is outdated by a generation. The aircraft fulfilled the purpose for which it was procured: killing the Army’s AH-56 Cheyenne attack helicopter program. As a secondary purpose, it has served reasonably well as an interdiction, combat-search-and-rescue, escort and close-air support platform.
(Read More...)
06/10/2014
Russia’s MiG Aircraft Corporation, the producer of MiG fighter jets, said on Monday its sales had jumped by 68% in 2013 year on year to 30.3 billion rubles ($880 million). “its sales had jumped by 68% in 2013 year on year to 30.3 billion rubles ($880 million). Earnings per employee grew by 73% from 2012 to 3.1 million rubles ($90,000),” the MiG press office said, adding the corporation had posted record financial results last year.
(Read More...)
06/09/2014
Israel’s Elbit Systems (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) announced today that it was selected by the Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), as the preferred supplier for the UAS 15 new reconnaissance drone program. In doing so it beat out state-run rival Israel Aerospace Industries for the $276 million contract.
(Read More...)
06/09/2014
Belgium continues to reduce and upgrade its F-16 fighter force. During the Cold War Belgium assembled (under license) 150 F-16s in Belgium with the last one delivered in 1991. The F-16 fleet began shrinking once the Cold War ended in 1991 and the new plan is to keep 60 of the most recently built F-16s. Only 48 will remain in service, the other 12 will be for spare parts.
(Read More...)
06/09/2014
French Air Chief General Denis Mercier with his country's Ambassador Francois Richier and French defence attache Group Captain Benedict Smith along with Indian Air Force Chief Arup Raha will arrive here on Monday to participate in the ongoing fifth Indo-French air exercise 'Garuda-5'.
(Read More...)
06/09/2014
Afghanistan's air force is already woefully short of planes and skilled pilots -- and US plans to scale back supportive air strikes will leave it without crucial back-up as it battles a resilient Taliban. For the past 13 years a vast fleet of US fighter jets, attack helicopters, unmanned drones and transport aircraft have supported ground troops in operations against the insurgency.
(Read More...)
06/09/2014
Following my recent experience with the US Air Force I was invited back for the opportunity to fly on the next aircraft that may enter the Israeli Air Force pending Pentagon approval. The aircraft, the venerable KC -135R, is the backbone of the U.S. Air Force’s refueling fleet. The KC-135R is based on the Boeing 707 airliner, the aircraft which was first flown in 1954 and retired from commercial service at least 25 years ago from most respectable airlines.
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
China is improving its military doctrine, training, weapons and surveillance to be able to conduct more sophisticated attacks against the United States and other adversaries, including Japan, according to the Pentagon. After jamming communications and mounting other forms of electronic and cyberwarfare, stealthy Chinese aircraft, drones and missiles could attack U.S. warships, aircraft and supply craft, the Defense Department said last week in its annual report on China.
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
A beautiful, crystal clear photo of an F-15E Strike Eagle piloted by Colonel Jeannie Leavitt-the first US Air Force female combat fighter pilot and the first commander of a combat fighter wing. This was her last refueling and her last flight-on May 29, 2014-after flying about 2,600 flying hours in this jet.
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
France has really done it this time — the country is apparently going ahead with a plan to sell Russia two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, a move which is understandably none too popular with NATO and its member states, who understandably wonder if this is the best time for NATO to be arming Russia.
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has inaugurated a factory in western Turkey that will produce engine parts for the F35 fighter jet, a highly sophisticated combat aircraft. The inauguration ceremony in Izmir province on Friday hosted President Gul and Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci, as well as officials from U.S.-based Pratt & Whitney and Turkey’s Kale Group, cofounders of the factory.
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
After a Soviet surface-to-air missile battery showdown with a USAF U-2 spy plane near the closed city of Sverdlovsk in 1960, the US government realised they needed a reconnaissance plane that could fly even higher – and outrun any missile and fighter launched against it.
The answer was the SR-71 Blackbird. It was closer to a spaceship than an aircraft, made of titanium to withstand the enormous temperatures from flying at 2,200mph (3,540kph).
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
The crisis in Ukraine is continuing to spur increased military efforts by both Russia and NATO’s Eastern European member states, with the former recently adding to its procurement list, and countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Latvia unveiling plans to expand their defense budgets.
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
It was a time to honor the past and look to the future as the 188th Fighter Wing converted to the 188th Wing on Saturday. Regardless of the mission or circumstances, the men and women of the Arkansas Air National Guard unit at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith performed with “unbelievable focus and determination,” 188th Wing Commander Col. Mark Anderson, said in remarks during a conversion ceremony.
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
A plan to replace decades-old J-STARS planes could mean Tech Sgt. Mike Mclee’s job as a jet engine mechanic will no longer be necessary, but he’s willing to take the chance. “I think it’s great,” he said of the prospect of getting new planes, as he worked on an engine Thursday. “It will make life a lot easier.” he Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System flies Boeing E-8Cs that were built in the 1960s.
(Read More...)
06/08/2014
IAF chief Arup Raha on Saturday reviewed the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's Su-30MKI combat aircraft manufacturing facilities in Nashik. The IAF chief visited the facility along with Secretary (Defence Production) GS Pati and HAl chief RK Tyagi where he was briefed about new technologies in the Su-30MKI, level of technology absorption, establishment of facilities for Su-30 repair and overhaul and road map for indigenisation.
(Read More...)
06/07/2014
The 42nd annual joint military exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) kicked off in the Baltic Sea on Friday, Latvian Ministry of Defense reports. This year’s BALTOPS will include US sailors, in addition to forces from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Georgia.
(Read More...)
06/07/2014
Self-defence fighters have shot down an Antonov An-30B reconnaissance aircraft over Slavyansk where combat action is going on between the rebels and the Ukrainian army, the protesters’ headquarters.
(Read More...)
06/07/2014
Russia has turned to a familiar source – the Kuznetsov Design Bureau – to develop the engines for a next-generation bomber, according to a report dated 6 June in a state-run newspaper. The Volga Commune, the official newspaper of Russia’s Samara region, quotes Nikolai Jakushin, executive director of Kuznetsov, as confirming that his company will develop the engines for the new bomber called the prospective aviation complex for long-range aviation (PAK-DA).
(Read More...)
06/07/2014
For years, the news about the most expensive conventional weapons system in US history, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, has been driven by its soaring costs, technical problems and schedule screw-ups. The government and Congress and the public rarely speak about what the F-35 will do, how effectively it could destroy an enemy’s air defenses, shoot down an enemy plane, or find and strike other high value targets.
(Read More...)
06/07/2014
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley was today briefed by the Air Force on its operational preparedness and its immediate requirements such as 126 Rafale combat aircraft for carrying out its assigned tasks. The presentation was made by the top IAF brass to the Defence Minister at the Air Headquarters and it last for over an hour, IAF officials said. The Defence Minister was also briefed by IAF on the ongoing Indo-French exercise 'Garuda-5' in Jodhpur where France has fielded its frontline Rafale.
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
Allied troops landed on the Normandy coast of France in tremendous strength by cloudy daylight today and stormed several miles inland with tanks and infantry in the grand assault which Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called a crusade in which "we will accept nothing less than full victory."
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
Nearly three years after the last US troops left Iraq, F-16s are returning to Balad — this time, they will be the vanguard of the Iraqi air force. Balad was a major US base during the war and one of the busiest airfields in the world at one point. Now the US government is helping the Iraqis make sure the base will be ready for the first batch of F-16s, which are expected to be delivered in September, said Lukman Faily, Iraqi ambassador to the US.
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
RAC MiG is contemplating building a fifth-generation fighter which would use its current MiG-35 platform as a "foundation" for the introduction of new technologies. Sergey Korotkov, general director of the Russian firm, says concepts for a new aircraft have already been worked on by company engineers.
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
Two warplanes with San Diego-area connections have crashed within hours of each other—on land and at sea—prompting investigations Thursday into what caused the non-fatality mishaps. The first crash involved a U.S. Marine Corps. AV-8B Harrier and occurred in the city of Imperial shortly before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday; the second, involving a U.S. Navy FA-18E Hornet, happened around 10 p.m. off the coast of Southern California, according to military officials.
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
The People Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) ongoing modernization is taking place at a rate unprecedented in history, the U.S. Department of Defense said on Thursday. “The PLAAF is pursuing modernization on a scale unprecedented in its history and is rapidly closing the gap with Western air forces across a broad spectrum of capabilities including aircraft, command and control (C2), jammers, electronic warfare (EW), and data links.”
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
In the Point Mugu Sea Test Range airspace off the Central California coast, an F-35B demonstrated the jet's air-to-air combat capability when it sequentially engaged two aerial targets with two AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles during a Weapon Delivery Accuracy mission.
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
A MiG 29K naval combat aircraft has suffered damage while landing on the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya during operations in Arabian Sea off the coast of Goa, a Navy official said today.
The Russian-origin aircraft had taken off from the Naval airbase INS Hansa in Goa yesterday and was landing on the aircraft when it carried out a 'hard-landing' causing damage to the nose-wheel undercarriage, the official said.
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
Ukraine has returned 68 military aircraft to frontline service since the beginning of 2014, in response to the ongoing crisis in east Ukraine, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD) stated on 2 June.
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
Lockheed Martin delivered the first of 36 F-16 Block 52 aircraft to the Iraqi Air Force during a ceremony today at its Fort Worth facility. Lockheed Martin is producing the F-16s under a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense. The F-16s are being built in a configuration tailored to meet the specific requirements of the Iraqi Air Force, and the contract includes mission equipment and a support package provided by Lockheed Martin and other U.S. and international contractors.
(Read More...)
06/06/2014
The 61st Airlift Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, received another Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlifter today. A Little Rock AFB crew ferried the aircraft from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., facility here.
(Read More...)
06/05/2014
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a Cold War cornerstone of transatlantic security, has significantly recast its role in the past twenty years. Founded in 1949 as a bulwark against Soviet aggression, NATO has evolved to confront global threats ranging from piracy off the Horn of Africa to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
(Read More...)
06/05/2014
Authorities were investigating the crash of a military plane into a neighborhood in Imperial County near the Arizona border on Wednesday afternoon. The crash occurred around 4:20 p.m. at Cross Road and Fonzie Avenue in Imperial (map), California Highway Patrol officials told KSWB. Facebook photos taken by a resident showed at least one home on fire.
(Read More...)
06/05/2014
Dell has supplied its data center solutions to the U.S. Navy’s partner Northrop Grumman to power the X-47BUnmanned Combat Air System. The X-47BUnmanned Combat Air System has recently received the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy for achievement in aeronautics.
(Read More...)
06/05/2014
Bloodstained pavement, a woman's compact, a pair of shattered spectacles, a single shoe covered in dust were among the debris left by a devastating series of explosions that hit the headquarters of the pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk on Monday.
(Read More...)
06/05/2014
Recent incursions of civil and military aircraft into neighboring airspace has highlighted the state of alert maintained by different nations, and raised once again the validity of the huge investments countries are spending in acquiring military capabilities, if they do not provide the means to maintain these capabilities at reasonable state of readiness.
(Read More...)
06/05/2014
Ukrainian security forces have said that none of their aircraft was shot down over the town of Sloviansk of Donetsk region on June 3 morning. "Claims that a helicopter, an airplane or anything else was shot down have not been confirmed," Vladyslav Selezniov, "anti-terrorist operation" spokesman, told Interfax on June morning.
(Read More...)
06/05/2014
The Swedish equivalent of the Royal Air Force has sent a Furness firm soaring with a new lights order for its supersonic fighter jets. Oxley Developments Ltd, with offices in Bard-sea, near Ulverston, and Barrow, will supply its combat aircraft with gunfire-proof landing and taxi lights. The deal also involves partners Saab, the Swedish defence giant which makes the ‘Gripen’ aircraft.
(Read More...)
06/04/2014
India’s ambitious military modernization program to upgrade its Cold War-era vehicles and equipment is viewed as saber rattling by its neighbor and perpetual adversary Pakistan, a scholar of the region said June 3. Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, program coordinator of the Centre for Strategic Studies at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, said India is modernizing its air force with newer, more-capable jets but not downsizing its ranks, according to its newly purchased capabilities.
(Read More...)
06/04/2014
Slavyansk self-defense activists claim they have shot down a Sukhoi Su-25 combat airplane. “About half an hour ago we managed to bring down the Ukrainian army’s Su-25. One helicopter, several tanks and one armored personnel carrier of the Ukrainian army were destroyed as well,” Slavyansk people’s mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, told Interfax.
(Read More...)
06/04/2014
A source of Beta agency, close to the Air Force command confirmed the report of Serbian daily Politika that the Army of Serbia does not have a single fighter in working condition because batteries for MiG-21 and MiG-29 were not purchased from Russia.
(Read More...)
06/04/2014
Narendra Modi’s election as India’s new prime minister has buoyed hopes for a brighter future across the country, including its beleaguered defense sector. The good news is Modi has pledged more money for defense and reforms to improve how that money is spent. The bad news is that the task ahead will be a monumental challenge.
(Read More...)
06/04/2014
A Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet intercepted a U.S. surveillance plane off Russia’s east coast near Japan in April, flying unusually close, as tensions rose over the Ukraine crisis.
The U.S. RC-135U Combat Sent electronic intelligence plane made by Boeing Co. was conducting a routine mission over the Sea of Okhotsk north of Japan on April 23 when the Russian fighter flew within about 100 feet (30 meters) of its nose, Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said today.
(Read More...)
06/04/2014
The last U.S. personnel are expected to leave the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, by the end of the week, a spokesman for Air Forces Central Command said Tuesday. The Air Force held symbolic ceremonies Tuesday transferring back the facilities to the Krygyz government, said Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis. The transfer and inactivation become official after the expiration of the current lease next month and departure of military personnel in a few days.
(Read More...)
06/04/2014
After several days of setbacks, Ukrainian security forces sought to take the offensive Tuesday from pro-Russian insurgents in the country’s southeast, launching a major assault on a rebel stronghold. The attack on separatist positions in the city of Slovyansk began at dawn and continued throughout the day, with officials and residents reporting fierce clashes.
(Read More...)
06/04/2014
In late 2001, I lifted off the USS Bataan in a CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter toward Afghanistan as part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. I was one of the first pilots to push into Afghanistan after 9/11. The trip to the Taliban birthplace of Kandahar meant an arduous flight through the mountains, pushing the 35-year-old “Battlephrog” close to its operating limits and range. We had to make a fuel stop at a remote base in Pakistan followed by a long flight across open desert.
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
Aero Vodochody Aerospace has been through two revolutions of its own since the political changes that swept eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The mid-1990s saw a Boeing strategic investment in the Czech aerospace champion – one of the first by a Western manufacturer in the former Communist bloc. There was also a joint venture with Taiwan’s AIDC to develop a passenger turboprop. They promised a new era for the then state-run company, but both were ill-fated.
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service said earlier that border guards had repelled several attacks on the control post of the Luhansk border squadron in the early hours of Monday morning; some of the border guards were injured. A fighter aircraft was sent to the border guards' rescue, but initially failed to conduct precision firing in the town.
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
Navy’s X-47B autonomous drone will head back to an aircraft carrier in August, this time for testing alongside F/A-18s in a working flight deck environment. The experimental aircraft will perform takeoffs and landings aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, according to the Navy Times. There are plans to practice nighttime taxiing aboard the carrier, and some night flights may be performed.
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
Commercial aircraft deliveries rose by 6% and orders by 10% in April 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to aerospace trade organisation ADS Group. It reported that production rates also grew, with year-to-date deliveries increasing 7%.
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
An international military exercise, code named Adriatic Strike 2014, kicked off in different places in Slovenia, the Slovenian Armed Forces said in a press release on Monday. Around 400 soldiers, with half from Slovenia, and a total of 23 aircraft and 13 unmanned aerial vehicles, are involved in the military drill, which is to train joint terminal attack controllers (JTAC).
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
India is closer to finally sealing the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multirole combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 French Rafale fighters, which IAF has identified as a top-priority for the Narendra Modi government. Defence ministry sources said the final commercial negotiations for the MMRCA project, which IAF considers "critical" to retain its air combat edge against Pakistan and maintain "dissuasive deterrence" against China, can now "be wrapped up in the next three months".
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
The fifth Indo-French air exercise 'Garuda-V', in which frontline fighter aircraft of both the countries are taking part, started at the Jodhpur airbase here on Monday. "Both the Air Forces during the war game will practice aerial warfare, including manoeuvres, to carry out surgical strikes that will enhance operational cooperation," said defence spokesman Col S D Goswami.
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
The United States is demonstrating its continued commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region, in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine, a senior Pentagon official said. “Increased air, land and sea deployments to eastern Europe are a tangible demonstration of our solid and enduring commitment to collective security and the NATO alliance.
(Read More...)
.jpg)
06/03/2014
"Strike" This word is meant to convey the F-35’s identity as a proper multirole fighter, a machine rigged to conduct both air superiority and strike missions, the latter defined as tactical attacks on a ground or naval target with a particular focus on “initial blow” or “first day of attack” operations. All three variants of the F-35 fighter family hold this capability.
(Read More...)
06/03/2014
Russia’s Air Force is set to receive new aircraft and anti-missile defense systems, as well as to stage large-scale drills by the end of 2014, a Russian Defense Ministry’s Air Force spokesman said. “By the end of the year, the Air Force is to procure planes, helicopters, modern radar stations… It is also being reequipped with high-end S-400 surface-to-air missiles and Pantsir-S short-range air defense systems,” said Colonel Igor Klimov.
(Read More...)
06/02/2014
Turkey scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to intercept an Iranian military plane that briefly crossed into Turkish airspace over the eastern province of Igdir, bordering Iran, the military said on Sunday. The Iranian reconnaissance plane violated Turkey's airspace on Saturday for 20 seconds and left the area after the military dispatched F-16s to intercept it, according to a written statement from the General Staff.
(Read More...)
06/02/2014
The book is not only the story of the Indian Air Force's pivotal role and contribution to Bangladesh's war for independence. It is also a short saga based on actual details of two air forces of the subcontinent, one belonging to India and the other to Pakistan. The 1971 war for the Indians may have ended in about two weeks' time but not without the Indian air force emerging as a formidable fighting force that facilitated the Indian army's rapid progress to Dhaka.
(Read More...)
06/02/2014
Australia’s new defense budget boosts spending by 6 percent over last year and forecasts movement on a number of large acquisition programs, including vehicles and helicopters. The government of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott delivered its budget on May 13, the first since the Liberal-National Party coalition was elected in September.
(Read More...)
06/02/2014
The words “Nellis Air Force Base” and “Las Vegas” are synonymous in aviation circles. At least that’s been the case since May 1, 1950, when the former Army-airfield-turned-Air Force base in the northern Las Vegas Valley was renamed Nellis Air Force Base in honor of 1st Lt. William Harrell Nellis. He was a young officer from Southern Nevada who was killed Dec. 27, 1944, while fighting in the skies over Europe during World War II.
(Read More...)
06/02/2014
As soon as the euphoria subsides and the new government at the Centre settles down to business, it will have to take some expeditious decisions so far as acquisitions for the defence forces are concerned. One decision that has to be taken immediately is on how to replenish fighter aircraft squadrons. According to highly placed sources in the Indian Air Force (IAF), the country is fast running out of fighter aircraft and this is a matter of great concern.
(Read More...)
06/01/2014
“I believe our capabilities are only second to the United States, from both an offensive and defensive standpoint” General Eshel told the audience at the Israel conference of National Security, in April 2014. IAF commander said, referring to a significant leap in capabilities over the past two years. The commander said he has based his assessment on an evaluation of IDF abilities and conversations with officials from foreign militaries.
(Read More...)
06/01/2014
Ukrainian forces resumed bombings today in the outskirts of the administrative city of Donetsk, in the country´s southeastern region, with heavy artillery and harassment of the National Guard squads. Combats were registered from daybreak today near the locality of Joroshevo and the area of the international airport, Rossia 24 channel reported.
(Read More...)
.jpg)
06/01/2014
There is an effort underway to develop a UAV version of the F-16. This would be based on the QF-16, the remotely controlled target version of the F-16. The air force is already in the process of converting 210 retired F-16s to QF-16s and it was noted that with a little extra work the QF-16 could be turned into a combat UAV for dangerous missions like SEAD (suppression of enemy defenses) or attacking ground targets guarded by heavy air defenses.
(Read More...)
06/01/2014
After years of passing more conventional capabilities by, I think it is time for the Marine Corps, and the "Gator Navy" for that matter, to get serious about getting the very most out of their extremely expensive and controversial F-35B force. At $150 million a pop, they need to be more than nicer Harriers.
(Read More...)
06/01/2014
Four French Rafale fighter aircraft and a contingent of about 70 French airforce personnel on Saturday landed at Jodhpur airbase to participate in the 10-day long joint air exercise "Garuda-5". The air exercise, expected to be attended by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, will kick start at the Jodhpur airbase on June 2.
(Read More...)
06/01/2014
Russian industry officials are denying media reports that Beijing and Moscow are finalizing a deal on the sale of advanced Russian fighters and surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) to China.
Widely reported by other media outlets, Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV announced that the head of Sukhoi, Mikhail Pogosyan, confirmed that a deal with China to procure Su-35S fighters and S-400 SAMs was close to concluding.
(Read More...)
06/01/2014
Today, Boeing's UAV offerings come primarily from the company's subsidiary Insitu, which it acquired outright in 2008 for about $100 million after partnering with the younger company to develop and market the ScanEagle drone.
(Read More...)
All Articles