June 13, 2014 Military Aviation News
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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