December, 2014 Military Aviation News
12/31/2014
Russia is developing a new strategic bomber called the PAK-DA as part of its post-Soviet military modernization plan, but with the price of oil falling rapidly, there are questions as to whether that nation will be able to afford the new plane. There is little concrete information about the new Russian bomber—but a stealthy long-range penetrating strike aircraft is not cheap.
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12/31/2014
Former CIA official claims that US drone strikes targeting the Taliban and other insurgent groups will continue despite the official end of NATO combat operations in Afghanistan.
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12/30/2014
A U.S. military drone dropped bombs on a senior leader of al-Shabab in Somalia Monday, striking another blow against the Islamic terrorist network. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement that the airstrike took place in southern Somalia, near the town of Saakow. Adm. Kirby did not identify the leader who was targeted in the airstrike.
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12/30/2014
China could export a modern fighter jet to developing countries to take a bigger share of the international military aircraft market and boost its aviation industry, experts have suggested. "The FC-1 Fierce Dragon can meet the air defence tasks of most developing nations that can't afford more advanced, fifth-generation fighter jets," said Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine.
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12/30/2014
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force successfully completed the first flight of the KC-46 tanker test program today. The plane, a Boeing 767-2C, took off from Paine Field, Wash., at 9:29 a.m. (PST) and landed three hours and 32 minutes later at Boeing Field. The aircraft will receive its military systems following certification.
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12/30/2014
A joint air and air defense army will be formed and deployed in the Arctic in 2015, Chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, said Monday. "The united strategic command in the Arctic is currently based on Russia's Northern Fleet, which is responsible for ensuring security in the region in all forms of armed conflict," Gerasimov said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television.
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12/30/2014
The Iranian Air Force has shot down three drones Saturday in the third day of an ongoing massive military exercise in southern parts of the country, Press TV reported. The unmanned aerial vehicles were brought down by three domestically designed and manufactured missiles fired from an ambush missile system known as Mersad, the news agency reported.
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12/29/2014
The V-22 Osprey is getting topped-off with a new capability. An aerial refuelling system is being developed for the tilt-rotor aircraft, turning the cargo and personnel carrier into a tanker that can provide fuel to other aircraft, mid-flight. "The aerial refueling capability is going to be the next thing," for the Osprey, Maj. Douglas Thumm, the plans officer for the V-22 at Headquarters Marine Corps, said.
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12/29/2014
The missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 is likely to be at the bottom of the sea, the head of Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency has said. Bambang Soelistyo said the hypothesis was based on the co-ordinates of the plane when contact with it was lost. The search is continuing for the aircraft, a day after it disappeared with 162 people on board, but no trace has been found so far.
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12/29/2014
Cameroon has carried out its first air strikes against militant Islamist group Boko Haram after it over-ran a military base and attacked five villages, an army spokesman has said.
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12/28/2014
Indonesian media say more than 160 people were on board the Airbus A320-200. The aircraft, flight number QZ8501, lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (00:24 GMT), AirAsia tweeted. The company said that search and rescue operations were under way for the missing plane.
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12/28/2014
The aircraft, which Moscow will swap for beef and wheat, would be able to mount air patrols over Port Stanley. Ministry of Defence officials fear Buenos Aires would take delivery of the planes well before the deployment in 2020 of the Navy’s 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and its F-35B fighters, leaving a “real window of vulnerability”.
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12/28/2014
Today Iranian military forces tested various unmanned aircraft that some are calling "suicide drones." Because "suicide drone" sounded more intimidating than "model airplane that we could fly into things nearby." Iran has been conducting military exercises for the past week at the Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf. The show of force has involved air, land, and sea maneuvers over 850,000 square miles.
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12/28/2014
Despite renewed U.S. Air Force efforts to retire the much loved (by their pilots and the ground troops who depend on it) A-10C ground attack aircraft, at least ten of them from a reserve unit have been quietly sent to the Middle East to join in the air operations against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Many older ISIL members (who fought in Iraq before the A-10s were withdrawn) are not happy with this news while the soldiers and militiamen fighting ISIL are encouraged.
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12/28/2014
Earlier this Christmas Eve, the Islamic State captured an F-16 pilot from the Royal Jordanian Air Force. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Islamic State, the F-16 was shot down by anti-aircraft guns, but the Pentagon says there is no evidence of a shootdown and suggests mechanical failure was to blame.
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12/28/2014
The LCA program has taken the time it has to mature precisely because there was a hiatus in domestic fighter aircraft development post the HAL HF-24 Marut that was India's first homegrown jet fighter. No timely follow on programme to the Marut meant that both human and capital resources had to be built up concurrently even as the LCA program progressed contributing to delays.
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12/26/2014
A Jordanian F-16 was downed in Syria on Wednesday, with ISIL claiming responsibility for the crash after capturing its pilot. The US, however, refutes that the terrorist group shot it down, but did not offer any other details about its version of events.
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12/26/2014
Diversifying the sources of Egypt’s armaments became a priority among state strategists after the 30 June Revolution. Overreliance on one provider was now seen as shortsighted. Egypt was also keen to ensure its armaments policy responded to international political developments, including the growing influence of China and Russia.
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12/26/2014
Russia's United Instrument Corporation (UIC) will start supplying the small-class Corsair surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the Russian Armed Forces in late 2016, the company's CEO Alexander Yakunin told RIA Novosti. "We are currently implementing a big project on the creation of a prospective small-class Corsair UAV and organization of its serial production. The production is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2017 and reach its planned capacity before the end of 2017.
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12/26/2014
Iran's military have detected and issued warnings to several foreign aircraft intercepted during the first day of a large-scale military exercise, Tasnim News Agency reported on Thursday, quoting the Iranian Air Defense Force Commander, Farzad Esmaili. Farzad Esmaili told Tasnim that the mentioned aircraft were not from countries in the region. He did not specify their number.
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12/26/2014
The United States’ Federal Aviation Administration has extended its earlier flight regulations introduced previously, which forbids flights over Ukraine's city of Dnipropetrovsk and the Russian city of Simferopol in Crimea.
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12/25/2014
If China can successfully carry out its Type 001A aircraft carrier program, the People's Liberation Army Navy will eventually have better carriers than its Indian and Japanese counterparts, according to Kanwa Defense Review, a Chinese-language military magazine based in Canada.
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12/25/2014
Solo Türk is the name of the solo aerobatics demo team of the F-16 combat plane whose role is to display the capabilities and skills of the Turkish Air Force pilots. Established in 2011, as part of the Turkish Air Force’s 100th anniversary, the TuAF F-16C Block 40 aircraft in a stunning bright black, silver and golden livery has become one of the highlights of airshows across Europe.
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12/25/2014
The Air Force began a major study into the future of its test-range infrastructure, one which could decide how the service runs its live-flight testing for the next 20 years. Ed Chupein, chief for Air Force ranges, airspace and operations sustainment, told Defense News that a review is underway to provide Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh with options on how to revitalize the training infrastructure.
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12/25/2014
Air power is tough. All the world’s air forces work hard to maintain old warplanes and acquire expensive new ones and still fund adequate training—all in the context of national strategy and air power doctrine that can be complex, confusing, even self-defeating.So it should come as no surprise that, sometimes, countries fail to do air power right—or at all.
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12/25/2014
" Fears of war between Taiwan and China have eased in recent years, but the growing gap in their military capabilities has prompted a U.S. think tank to lay out a radical new approach in how Taiwan could defend itself if China invaded, relying less on conventional forces and more on guerrilla-style tactics and cyberwarfare.
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12/25/2014
A Ukrainian military base employee has made the sensational claim that a one his country's own air force planes shot down Malaysian flight MH17 killing all 298 on board. The unnamed employee claimed to a Moscow newspaper that a Ukrainian air force Su-25 combat jet took off from an airbase in eastern Dnipropetrovsk carrying air-to-air missiles - and returned without them - on the day the Boeing 777 was shot out of the sky.
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12/25/2014
Russia will increase the number of airplanes and helicopters at its base to be opened in Belarus, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday during a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Andrei Ravkov. “I’m ready to continue our discussion of cooperation on a practical basis today. This is in regard to the S-300 [anti-aircraft missile system], as well as the creation and basing of [our] aviation in Belarus by increasing the number of airplanes and helicopters.
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12/25/2014
The plane was lost in IS territory on Wednesday morning, and the pilot has been captured. IS militants said that they shot down the plane with a heat-seeking missile. However, the US says "evidence clearly indicates" that this is not true. Jordan is one of four Arab states in a US-led coalition that has launched air strikes on IS targets in Syria.
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12/24/2014
The jihadist group claimed it had shot down the jet with a heat-seeking missile near the city of Raqqa. It published photographs showing the pilot, who has been named as Flight Lieutenant Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh. This is the first US-led coalition aircraft to be lost on IS territory since air strikes began in September. Jordan is one of four Arab states which have bombed targets in Syria.
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12/24/2014
Air Force officials removed 82 two-seat F-16D Fighting Falcons from flight earlier this summer after discovering cracks along the canopy sill longeron between the front and rear pilot seats. The longeron is a major structural component that carries significant loads during dynamic flight operations of the F-16. Of these 82 aircraft, 32 belong to the 56th Fighter Wing.
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12/24/2014
Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems has won a contract worth nearly half a billion dollars to supply advanced air-combat missiles, in a deal that involves sales to South Korea, Oman, Singapore and Thailand. The $491.5 million Air Force contract includes production of an undisclosed number of Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and other AMRAAM system items, including a captive air-training missile, computer reprogramming equipment and an airborne instrumentation unit.
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12/24/2014
During the first half of 2014, a militant group calling itself the Islamic State overran large swathes of Iraq. Much of the Iraqi army, which the U.S. spent many years and billions of dollars training and equipping, collapsed. Alarmed at the deteriorating situation, the Obama administration in June began deploying hundreds of security personnel to Iraq to protect U.S. personnel and facilities. The Pentagon also stepped up its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights over the country
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12/23/2014
The nation's top military officer praised the troops on Monday in his annual holiday message while pressuring Congress to accept the “hard choices” he says are needed under a tightened budget. "The Joint Chiefs and I remain concerned that we still lack support for the reforms necessary to ensure that you are combat ready and to preserve military options for our nation," Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a video.
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12/23/2014
Recent months have found uniformed officers and naval strategists writing and speaking about regaining the ability of U.S. Navy (USN) ships to conduct offensive anti-surface warfare (ASuW). The discussion has been lively and featured many authors and many different approaches. Some solutions are incremental, such as fielding more capable long-range weapons in existing launch systems.
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12/23/2014
Russia’s long-range (fighter-bomber) aviation is marking the centenary anniversary since its foundation on Tuesday. Gala functions devoted to the jubilee will be held in all the branches and units of the Air Force, its official spokesman Igor Klimov told reporters. “Long-range aviation is a crucial component element of Russia’s forces of nuclear deterrence,” Colonel Klimov said.
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12/23/2014
The 134th Fighter Squadron of the Vermont ANG (Air National Guard) based at Burlington, VT, is well known as ” The Green Mountain Boys.” his ANG squadron, flying 18 F-16C/D Block 30s is part of the 158th Fighter Wing, and will be the first ANG group to operate the F-35.
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12/23/2014
The U.S. State Department said Monday Iraqi air power helped the Kurdish peshmerga and U.S.-led coalition forces push back the Islamic State group from Mount Sinjar. The offensive on the mountain marks the first time the Iraqi air force contributed to a high-profile offensive against the Sunni militant group. Previously, only the U.S.-led coalition air forces, as well as some Iranian jets, had carried out strikes against ISIS.
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12/23/2014
The Spanish military has received the first three of 46 Spanish-assembled utility and combat helicopters under separate contracts given to Airbus Helicopters. The aircraft officially delivered by the company were two Tiger attack helicopters in the HAD-E version and one NH90 GSPA, a Spanish-version tactical transport.
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12/23/2014
One of the biggest changes in Marine Corps aviation in years will happen in 2015, and it promises to not only change the way that anyone in a flight suit operates, but how anyone with boots on the ground receives support from the air. Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 22 will relocate from Marine Corps Air Station, Jacksonville, North Carolina, to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona.
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12/23/2014
National security is being "compromised" with a "fast-eroding" combat aircraft squadron strength of the Indian Air Force vis-a-vis the neighbouring countries, leading to a "very grim" situation, a parliamentary panel said on Monday. "With regard to existing squadron strength, it is learnt that we are down to 25 squadrons today even though the authorisation is for 42 combat squadrons.
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12/23/2014
India's state-owned aerospace and defense giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will be one of the major partners in the Russia-India helicopter deal, the spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in India told Sputnik Monday. "India has told us that the one major partner will be Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
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12/22/2014
India and the U.S. are negotiating a deal for the purchase of high altitude, long endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). An agreement or announcement to this effect is likely when U.S. President Barack Obama visits India as the chief guest for the Republic Day ceremony next month, sources informed The Hindu.
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12/22/2014
Following the in-principle agreement reached by India and Russia for the production of Russian helicopters in India, both sides are carrying out discussions to work out the details to quickly conclude a deal. Initially the helicopters will be used to cater to the requirements of the Indian armed forces and only after that will exports happen, Russian embassy officials told The Hindu.
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12/22/2014
The footage in this post shows A-10 Thunderbolt and C-17 Globemaster aircraft in action over Keno Airfield on the Nevada Test & Traning Range during JFE (Joint Forcible Entry Exercise) 14B on Dec. 6, 2014. Featuring some 100 aircraft, JFE is a US Air Force Weapons School large-scale air mobility exercise with the aim to test the ability of the participants in the weapons school courses to plan and execute complex air operations.
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12/22/2014
One of the four C-17 flying units assigned to Joint Base Charleston is being grounded, along with another in Washington state, the Air Force announced. The decision was based on the President Barack Obama's defense budget for fiscal year 2015, according to a statement from the Air Mobility Command.
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12/22/2014
Serbian army will spend 55 billion dinars (452 million euros) next year, which is 5 billion less than this year – it is provided by the draft state budget for 2015. Three billion dinars, intended for new weapons and equipment, will be sufficient only for smaller purchases. There will be no money for the purchase of radars, aircrafts, air defense systems or other modern systems.
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12/22/2014
Canada's defense minister announced Friday the addition of a fifth military transport jumbo jet to its fleet, as the nation continues expanding its combat and humanitarian reach around the world. Its four existing Globemaster III C17 aircrafts were purchased in 2008-2009 and have been used recently in Canadian and allied airlifts in Afghanistan, the Arctic, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Lithuania, Mali, Sierra Leone and Ukraine.
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12/22/2014
Civilians like Matthew LaCourse, who was killed last month when the F-16 he was flying was lost in the Gulf of Mexico, have flown more sorties for the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron this year than active duty military pilots. After initially declining to answer questions about the use of civilians in military airborne missions, Tyndall officials responded to emailed questions.
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12/22/2014
A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Sunday morning while on an overland training flight at Camp Buehring in Kuwait. The MH-60S is assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, and all six personnel aboard the aircraft survived the crash. Three had minor injuries and received treatment. All have been released.
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12/22/2014
The Standing Committee on Defence has pulled up the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a “lackadaisical and callous approach” towards “upgradation of Air Force squadrons”, the numbers of which stand at 34 against the sanctioned strength of 42. The MoD on the other hand has blamed “delay in LCA programme” as one of the major reasons for the shortfall in capability building of the IAF, besides the delay in induction of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA).
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12/22/2014
Kurdish fighters are pushing their way into the town of Sinjar, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes against Islamic State militants who captured the town last summer. Loud explosions and intense gunbattles were heard from inside the town on Sunday.
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12/21/2014
Up to 60 SAS fighters are heading to Iraq to hunt down Islamic State leaders after militants started learning how to avoid airstrikes, it has been reported. The full squadron of troopers had initially been dispatched to Afghanistan for a separate operation, but have been diverted to battle Isis fanatics.
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12/21/2014
Maj. Linas Pakutka walked back and forth behind the line of soldiers lying in the snow-crusted field, a row of distant pines forming a jagged horizon in the twilight sky. His command to fire was barely audible in the fierce wind. The assault rifles, German-made G36s, crackled to life, punching invisible holes in a row of targets almost lost in the gloom.
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12/21/2014
A senior member of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) warned on Friday that the Iranian military had the ability to target aircraft carriers using supersonic missiles. “We can easily target hostile aircraft carriers with our supersonic missiles and we have advanced technology that would leave our enemies in awe,” Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, the IRGC deputy commander, said during a speech carried by the official Iranian news agency IRNA.
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12/21/2014
he much-awaited multi-billion dollar Rafale combat aircraft deal with France has once again run into rough weather. After negotiations of almost three years, it has now hit a ‘deadlock’ with both India and France refusing to concede to the other’s demands. When Rafale was declared the lowest bidder in January 2012, all eyes were on the inking of this deal that was touted as the ‘mother of all defence deals’.
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12/20/2014
ustralian combat aircraft operating over Iraq have dropped more than 100 bombs, each striking an Islamic State target. Commander, Air Commodore Steve Roberton, says there is real and direct feedback of the air task group achieving good results in its operations. The group comprises 200 personnel, six Super Hornet combat aircraft, a KC-30 air-to-air refuelling plane and an E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control plane.
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12/20/2014
The Royal Canadian Air Force is getting another C-17 military transport aircraft, bring the fleet total to five. Defence Minister Rob Nicholson announced the purchase in a hanger at CFB Trenton Friday. Nicholson said the C-17 Globemaster III is vital to the armed forces since it can fly long distances and land on short runways. He said it will be used in combat missions, and provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief both at home and overseas.
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12/20/2014
Indian Air Force received 81 Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft as against 112 due till 2012-13 from state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) because of delay in receipt of technical documents from Russian manufacturer Rosoboronexport (ROE). Due to delayed delivery of the fighter planes, the Defence Ministry recovered liquidated damages of Rs 96.26 crore from HAL, which, however, could not recover the amount from ROE "in the absence of enabling provision" in their contract.
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12/20/2014
Russia’s announcement this week that it will be operating a sizable contingent of its first stealth fighter, the Sukhoi PAK-FA (also known as T-50), by 2020 has intrigued from the defense world. The first deliveries will begin in 2016, and in four years' time the Russians will field 55 of the impressive-looking jet, which resembles closely the American F-22.
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12/20/2014
The Su-30MK2 multi-role fighter aircraft is an improved version of the Su-30MKK, a member of the Su-30 aircraft family. The multi-role variant offers enhanced combat capabilities against aerial, ground and sea-based targets. The aircraft was developed by Sukhoi in 2002 and is manufactured by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO). The aircraft are operational with Vietnam, Indonesia, Uganda, Venezuela and China.
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12/19/2014
The United States selected Australia and Japan to render maintenance and upgrade of its F-35 Lighting strike fighter based or operating in the Pacific region as part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme or JSF. Australia will be providing heavy air frame maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade to F-35 aircraft based in the Southern pacific. Japan will render the same service to aircraft based in the northern Pacific.
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12/19/2014
The German Air Force (GAF) is not seeing a more confrontational attitude from Russian pilots it is intercepting over the Baltic region, despite concerns being raised by Western leaders of increased aggression over recent weeks. Speaking during a media tour of Amari Air Base, Estonia, on 17 December, the GAF's detachment commander Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Schnitger said that the Russians that his pilots have encountered since they took on the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission in September.
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12/19/2014
The Netherlands announced on 15 December that it will sign a contract in April 2015 for an initial eight Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs). In total the Netherlands is planning to buy 37 F-35s, with the first of the eight initial aircraft expected to enter service in 2019. Full operational capability (FOC) is expected to be attained in 2024 with all aircraft delivered.
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12/19/2014
Discussions on the transfer of Rafale fighter jets from France to India have made "good progress'' and are "put on fast track'', the Ambassador of France to India, Francois Richier, has said. According to him, discussions had started in early 2012 and have taken three years due to the "importance and complexity" of the deal.
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12/19/2014
The aircraft that the Air Force would love to kill is regularly raining death on Islamic State militants, defense officials confirmed. The A-10 Thunderbolt II has been used almost daily since November to attack Islamic State targets in Iraq, officials told Air Force Times. In mid-November, several A-10s from the Indiana Air National Guard's 163rd Fighter Squadron along with about 300 airmen were moved from Afghanistan to Southwest Asia to support airstrikes in Iraq.
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12/19/2014
There will be routine operations on Christmas Day, including flying combat missions to drop bombs on IS targets. A large number of Australian defence personnel will be spending Christmas far from home. They'll be in Afghanistan, aboard Australian ships and in Middle East support bases.
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12/19/2014
The U.S. Army is moving ahead with a controversial plan to shift helicopters between the active-duty and National Guard and buying new aircraft without competition, despite ongoing litigation trying to block it. Getting rid of military equipment is never easy. Over decades, planes, tanks and ships become engrained in military bases throughout the country, building vocal and powerful supporters in local communities, Congress and the defense industry.
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12/19/2014
Numerous senior leaders of the Islamic State (IS) have been destroyed during the US-led coalition airstrikes, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated. “I can confirm that since mid-November, targeted coalition airstrikes successfully killed multiple senior and mid-level leaders within the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” Kirby said in a statement published Thursday.
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12/18/2014
Expecting initial delivery of FA-50 lead-in fighter jets late next year, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) is sending its fighter pilots to South Korea for a six-month training in handling the brand-new supersonic aircraft. PAF’s Air Defense Wing chief Col. Ernesto Okol said that aside from three fighter pilots, they are also sending 32 support personnel to South Korea in March for the much-needed flight and maintenance transition training.
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12/18/2014
The U.S. Air Force no longer plans another round of layoffs in fiscal 2015, the service's top civilian said. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James made the announcement on Tuesday during an online discussion with troops, marking a shift in personnel policy for the service, which had planned on involuntarily separating more airmen to further downsize the active-duty force.
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12/18/2014
AUSTRALIA and Japan will both offer regional support hubs for Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region. Workers at Queensland and NSW air force bases will offer engine and airframe maintenance and upgrade work for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning advanced combat aircraft. That way they don't need to be sent all the way back to the United States.
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12/18/2014
Russia intends to put more aircraft and helicopters on duty in Belarus, BelTA learned from Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Belarus Alexander Surikov during the press conference in Minsk on 17 December. The diplomat reminded that Russian jet fighters have been on duty in Belarus since December 2013. “Plans have been made to increase the amount of hardware on duty up to 12 combat aircraft and two trainer aircraft.
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12/18/2014
Like spaceships and sports stadiums, military strike jets typically aren’t the kind of things that companies build—much less sell—off the shelf. Take the Pentagon’s new F-35, for instance: Two decades and $400 billion in the making, the F-35 had nine committed customers lined up to buy thousands of aircraft (at between $80 million and $110 million per copy) before Lockheed Martin ever started bending metal in earnest. Rarely does a contractor fully develop a military jet on spec.
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12/18/2014
A top RAF commander doesn’t know how many combat planes the air force has, he admitted today. Air Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, made the embarrassing revelation during a grilling about Britain’s Top Gun jets. Asked to outline the numbers of Typhoon and Tornado combat squadrons, he replied: “At the moment we’ve got four Typhoon squadrons and three Tornado squadrons.”
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12/18/2014
As reported by Russian media outlets, in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station, Vladislav Goncharenko, deputy head of the military aviation programmes department at UAC (the a Russian holding which encompasses Irkut, Mikoyan, Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Tupolev, Beriev and Yakovlev), Moscow has surpassed the U.S. in the number of produced combat aircraft.
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12/17/2014
When 1st Lt. Matt Lavigne's phone rang late Dec. 10, he knew it was time to scramble into action. As a fighter pilot, preparedness is engraved into his DNA, but this was the first time he'd experienced something like this. In only a few hours, he'd be flying side by side with other F-16 Fighting Falcons bound for the Republic of Korea. That same day, thousands of others received a similar phone call, all with the same message: It's time to go.
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12/17/2014
General Andrei Kartapolov announced on Tuesday that Russia carried out surprise military drills to assess the readiness of troops in the Kaliningrad region between December 5 and 10. Kartopolov, who heads the Operations Department at the General Staff of the army said that the inspection was ordered by Russian President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Vladimir Putin.
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12/17/2014
The U.S. military operates fleets of Cold War-era aircraft that will not be replaced any time soon. For the Pentagon, this creates daunting challenges, experts warn. Airplanes will have to fly much longer than planned and, at a time of tight budgets, the cost of maintaining aging equipment is projected to soar.
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12/17/2014
The A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jet has been carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State since late November on a near-daily basis, a U.S. military official said Tuesday. It marks the first time the use of the pugnacious plane against the militant group has been confirmed, although U.S. military officials disclosed last month that they had deployed the A-10 in support of the mission in Iraq and Syria.
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12/17/2014
A high-powered military committee has said India should get down to developing at least a dozen critical technologies to ensure that foreign powers cannot manipulate country's aerospace capabilities in future. The committee submitted its report to the UPA government a few weeks before the Congress-led coalition was routed in the national elections. TOI on Monday reported several recommendations of the committee, headed by Air Marshal M Matheswaran.
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12/16/2014
BAE Systems has completed the first full trial fit of Brimstone air-to-surface missile onto a Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft. Undertaken at an undisclosed location, the trial fit marks a significant milestone in demonstrating integration of the missile with the aircraft, and are expected to pave the way for Brimstone 2 integration for the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) by 2018.
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12/16/2014
Saab has been awarded a contract to extend the lease of JAS 39 Gripen C/D multi-role combat aircraft in the Czech Republic. Awarded by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), the SEK576m ($76.4m) contract covers the provision of continuing support and upgrade of the Czech Gripens for an additional 12 years.
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12/16/2014
For the Russian defense industry, 2014 has been a complicated year. Yet despite numerous difficulties, some examples of military technology successfully underwent state testing and were transferred to the armed forces for future use. RBTH presents five additions to the armed forces that went into service in 2014 – the newest innovations of the defense industry.
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12/16/2014
The United States Navy is the largest and most advanced navy in the world, fielding everything from aircraft carriers and maritime patrol aircraft to submarines, destroyers and unmanned helicopters. So when your editor asks you to choose the Navy’s five most lethal weapons systems, your most difficult challenge is trying to narrow it down to just five selections.
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12/16/2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared $19 billion of arms procurement proposals since taking power in May, almost double India’s spending on weapons in the last fiscal year as he tries to modernize the country’s military. The blitz of 41 approvals spans heavy guns to submarines as Modi seeks to counter China’s rising military heft and take a firmer stance on border disputes with Pakistan.
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12/16/2014
The disclosure is another embarrassing setback in the development of what is supposed to be the world’s most sophisticated fighter given that the aircraft is likely to fly most of its combat missions in hot climates. The problem emerged last week at Luke airforce base in the United States where the F-35 Lightning 11 aircraft is being tested. The F-35, the most expensive aircraft ever produced, is designed to use its fuel as a cooling agent.
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12/16/2014
More than a dozen Navy F/A-18 warplanes roar off this aircraft carrier every day to attack Islamic State targets in support of Iraqi troops battling to regain ground lost to the militants in June. These Navy pilots face an array of lethal risks during their six-hour round-trip missions. Surface-to-air missiles and other enemy fire lurk below, as the downing of an Iraqi military helicopter late Friday underscored.
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12/16/2014
US and international coalition forces have conducted 18 airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria over the past three days, continuing an air campaign to push the terrorist group back, the US Central Command reports. “US and partner nation military forces continued to attack ISIL [IS] terrorists in Syria December 13-15 using fighter and bomber aircraft to conduct nine airstrikes,” the US Central Command, which oversees military operation in Iraq and Syria.
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12/15/2014
After the US Navy’s successful battle laser tests, a former Israeli air force chief says the system may be a more potent, faster, and less costly alternative to anti-missile arsenals like Iron Dome, Israel Defense reported. “Laser is a multirole system – like a fighter aircraft. You can deploy it on the ground, on board an aircraft, on a Jeep or on an armored vehicle. It can intercept aircraft, missiles, artillery shells and UAVs,” according to Maj.-Gen. (res.) David Ivry, who has headed Boeing
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12/15/2014
The Navy chief trudged home to his wife with bad news — and he knew it would not go over well. After four deployments in five years, he was making one more. The chief had been on four deployments with his last two commands, which included the heavily deployed aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. Now he was assigned for a year to a cruiser out of San Diego, a short tour that his detailer and the boat's top enlisted leader had assured him would not include another deployment.
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12/15/2014
On May 10, 1972, Bill Driscoll was flying his 170th combat mission over North Vietnam, a radar intercept officer in the back seat of an U.S. F-4 Phantom jet fighter. He and his crew were providing cover near the Gulf of Tonkin for 18 essentially defenceless aircraft and things were going smoothly – too smoothly, as it turned out.
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12/15/2014
Despite claiming otherwise. Big Lies substituting for hard truths. Longstanding US-controlled NATO policy. Ignored by media pundits reporting nothing. Kiev wants Donbas democracy crushed. Hardline rule replacing it. Naked aggression waged to force-feed policy. Illegitimate oligarch president Petro Poroshenko’s so-called “day(s) of silence” are meaningless. Subterfuge. Quiet before the storm.
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12/15/2014
Russia's aggressive incursions into UK airspace could lead to a passenger jet being brought down by accident, the Defence Secretary warned yesterday. Michael Fallon warned that Vladimir Putin was playing a ‘provocative and dangerous’ game by ordering Russian Bear bombers to fly over British waters. Mr Fallon said Mr Putin’s new aggression could even spark a war with Nato forces. In a blunt message, he said Britain should ‘prepare for the worst’ as the Russian President flexes his muscles.
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12/15/2014
Once, it was a giant of the global defense industry. But today, Boeing could soon be shut out of the market for fighter jets. Around the world, nations are taking bids on new fighters as they upgrade their air forces. But time and again, Boeing is losing these contests. In South Korea last year, Boeing's F-15 lost a potential $7.7 billion contract to Lockheed Martin and its super-stealthy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
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12/14/2014
Islamic State militants shot down an Iraqi military helicopter, officials said Saturday, killing the two pilots and raising fresh concerns about the extremists’ ability to attack aircraft amid ongoing U.S.-led coalition air strikes. The attack happened late Friday in the Shiite holy city of Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. A senior Defense Ministry official said the Sunni militants used a shoulder-fired rocket launcher to shoot down the EC635 helicopter on the outskirts of the city.
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12/14/2014
Nothing beats hands-on training. Military pilots will no longer have to resort to theoretical exercises but will be honing their aviation skills in actual fighter jets, which their South Korean maker is expected to start delivering next year. Philippine Air Force (PAF) pilots will not have to make do with “table-top exercises” anymore, said President Benigno Aquino III as he touted the advantages for the Philippines of acquiring 12 South Korean-made fighter jets during his just-concluded visit.
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12/14/2014
France has a good chance of winning export sales for the Dassault Rafale fighter, which is needed to balance the defense budget books, French air chief Gen. Denis Mercier said on Dec. 11. “I am fairly confident there will be a good story,” he told the defense journalists association, when asked about the export prospects for the twin-engine fighter. “This is a high-quality plane.”
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12/14/2014
The passenger plane nearly crashed into a foreign military aircraft after military air traffic control reported an "invisible" plane was circulating in the area. "It's about a Russian military jet. We have identified it via Swedish combat pilots. There are no doubts about what kind of government aircraft it was," Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told the TT news agency. He added; "This is serious. It's inappropriate. It's downright dangerous."
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12/14/2014
President Vladimir Putin may have come and gone but stalemate largely persists over two key long-pending India-Russian defence projects, the fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) and military multirole transport aircraft (MTA). The intergovernmental agreements for co-development and co-production of FGFA and MTA were inked way back in 2007. But the two projects are yet to fly out of the doldrums, with India's concerns over technical, cost and delivery issues still to be addressed.
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12/13/2014
India is emerging as one of the most rapidly developing economies of the world. India needs to strengthen its air defence since it’s an utmost requirement in today’s competitive world. India has got hostile neighbours and has gone to war with them in the past.
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12/13/2014
Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's thrust for "Make in India", Russia on Friday said joint ventures and co-production was the way forward in all sectors, including defence, to achieve the target of $30 billion bilateral trade by 2025. Russia also said it was ready to engage with India for the modernisation of all defence equipment, including ships, submarines and aircraft.
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12/13/2014
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), today marked the delivery of its first engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) to Lockheed Martin. Northrop Grumman's APG-83 SABR was competitively selected by Lockheed Martin for the F-16 Radar Modernization program to support U.S. and Taiwan Air Force F-16 upgrade programs.
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12/13/2014
A top official with Russian contractor Sukhoi said Russia will supply “standard” versions of the Su-35 combat aircraft to China, a report said. Speaking with IHS Jane’s 360, Sukhoi first deputy director general Boris Bregma said that a “contract will be signed at the end of 2014 or at the beginning of 2015.”
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12/13/2014
So the Naval Diplomat went on National Public Radio out in Los Angeles yesterday — via phone, alas, not onsite — to discuss the “laser gun” mounted aboard USNS Ponce, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport-cum-afloat forward staging base (AFSB). Occasioning NPR’s interest: this week the navy leadership has certified the old amphib’s 30 kW laser weapon system (LaWS) for combat use. Even while it undergoes testing, LaWS will provide some defense against lower-end threats.
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12/13/2014
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Turkey and Italy possess good opportunities to cooperate in the defense industry. Davutoglu and his Italian counterpart, Matteo Renzi, were speaking on Friday at the Turkey-Italia Business Forum in Istanbul, hosted by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey. Davutoglu said earlier that the two countries had cooperated on projects such as the ATAK series of helicopters – the first locally made Turkish attack helicopter.
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12/13/2014
Defence Minister Rob Nicholson says the Conservative government will ”have a look at” extending the six-month air combat mission against ISIS forces in Iraq. Nicholson made the comments in an interview with Global News as he was in the midst of a day-and-a-half visit to various locations in Kuwait, including Camp Patrice Vincent, the staging base for Canadian CF-18s, Aurora surveillance aircraft and a Polaris refuelling plane.
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12/13/2014
Norway has decided to suspend military cooperation with Russia till the end of next year, the country’s Ministry of Defense said Friday. “The Government has considered the issue again and decided to continue the suspension of all bilateral military activities until the end of 2015,” the ministry said in a statement published on its official website.
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12/12/2014
The US government has brought charges against a Chinese citizen who is alleged to have tried to smuggle critical information related to the F-35 fighter jet out of the United States and into China. Reuters reports the individual in question is an engineer named Yu Long, who worked on the design of the F-35's engine. The documents Long is charged with trying to smuggle pertained to the testing and equations used to engineer titanium that is used in the F-35 engine.
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12/12/2014
Canadian warplanes bombed an Islamic State militants’ checkpoint in northern Iraq this week, the federal government says. James Bezan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence, told the House of Commons on Thursday that CF-18s struck their target Wednesday. “Our CF-18s dropped one 500-pound bomb on an ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] vehicle checkpoint about 250 kilometres to the southwest of Mosul,” Mr. Bezan said.
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12/12/2014
The US military has taken another giant step into the world of Star Wars with the activation of a new laser weapon that it now considers operational and ready for action. The remarkable new laser weapon system, or LaWS, was demonstrated aboard the USS Ponce, operating in the Persian Gulf in tests conducted earlier this year. On December 10, the Navy released graphic videos showing the laser’s use against drones, setting them on fire and causing them to fall from the sky.
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12/12/2014
The Navy is trying to build a next-generation super-drone that it can launch from an aircraft carrier and refuel in mid-air. n the first quarter of 2015, the US Navy will pick a winner from among the four defense contractors asked to design a version of the aircraft.
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12/12/2014
The A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, central to the Idaho Air Guard’s mission at Gowen Field?in Boise, would be protected for a year in the omnibus spending bill that was headed to final passage in the House Thursday. The appropriations bill denies the Obama administration’s request to retire the A-10s, also known as Warthogs, and provides $337.1 million to keep them flying in 2015.
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12/12/2014
One of America's most potent air combat creations doesn't hang as a poster on adolescent boys' walls or gets featured in a Bruckheimer blockbuster. The humble yet game-changing Miniature Air Launched Decoy has had a quiet history and it is already operational in two iterations. Now, this radar stumping super-missile is becoming a 'networked' kamikaze smart drone.
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12/12/2014
IAF Chief Arup Raha today said the Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the October crash of a Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft, that led to the grounding of the entire fleet for a month, will be completed in a fortnight, days after the Russian envoy indicated human error behind the incident. Refusing to comment on Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin's recent statement indicating human error behind the crash, the Air Force chief said he does not want to pre-empt anything.
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12/12/2014
Just when we thought Japan and China were finally warming up to each other, five Chinese military aircraft were reportedly observed flying menacingly close to the islands of Japan. Believed to be capable of posing a threat to Guam according to a military expert, the five military aircraft were spotted flying over the area between the islands of Okinawa and Miyako. Japan reported the incident that occurred in 6 December, according to Want China Times.
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12/12/2014
The Department of Defense has assigned F-35 Regional Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade (MRO&U) capability for airframes and engines for the European Region. The assignments were based on data compiled and analyzed by the F-35 Joint Program Office that was collected from European Partners and their industries.
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12/12/2014
The Republic of Tunisia received its second C-130J Super Hercules during a ceremony today at the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] facility here. Tunisia received its first C-130J in April 2013, marking the first delivery of a J-model to an African nation. Lockheed Martin signed a contract in 2010 with Tunisia to deliver two C-130Js, as well as to provide training and an initial three years of logistics support.
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12/11/2014
The staff of retiring Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin offered assurances this week that the A-10 planes at Selfridge Air National Guard Base are safe from elimination for another year, despite worries by some lawmakers. Though the defense bill approved in the House last week allows for 36 of the A-10 Thunderbolts - about 10 percent of the U.S. fleet - to be placed on “backup status,” that does not mean the planes will be mothballed.
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12/11/2014
Two multibillion-dollar contracts for the team of Sikorsky Aircraft and Lockheed Martin were not forgotten in the omnibus spending bill unveiled this week. The $1 trillion bill, which totals 1,603 pages, includes $368 million for the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program and $100 million for the Combat Rescue Helicopter Program.
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12/11/2014
Congress is on track to approve a $1.014 trillion,1,603-page annual spending package that includes $512 billion in defense spending and $492 billion in non-defense spending. The sweeping legislation covers the entire discretionary budget of the federal government. It sets funding priorities and new policies for the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
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12/11/2014
A new report prepared for Ottawa on options for new fighter jets gives the government an excuse to avoid buying the F-35 if it chooses. Analysis undertaken by the Department of National Defence found that it’s “highly unlikely” Canada would find itself participating in first-strike conflict with other countries that have sophisticated air-defence systems – a scenario where the Lockheed Martin F-35’s vaunted stealth capabilities and other features might be most useful.
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12/11/2014
U.S. lawmakers late Tuesday unveiled a $1 trillion federal budget deal that includes a smaller pay raise and housing allowance for troops, but more funding for commissaries and weapons.
The massive spending bill, called the Omnibus Appropriations Act, would avert a government shutdown this week and fund most federal agencies for the rest of the year.
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12/11/2014
Lockheed Martin Corp's Skunk Works was the driving force behind development of many well-known U.S. military aircraft, including the famed "Blackbird" or SR-71 spy plane that could fly from New York to Los Angeles in just over an hour. Following are some facts about the Lockheed division, whose Skunk Works name is a registered trademark, and some of the weapons it has or is developing.
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12/11/2014
The US Navy successfully deployed and operated, for the first time, a cutting-edge ship-based laser weapon system aboard a naval vessel in the Persian Gulf that will enhance both surface, air and ground capabilities, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced.
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12/11/2014
The Russian Defense Ministry is planning to purchase up to 100 combat planes, over 120 helicopters, up to 30 naval vessels and some 600 armored vehicles annually in the next five years, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Wednesday. "By the end of the state rearmament program in 2021 the share of modern weaponry in the Armed Forces will be within the range of 70-100 percent," Gerasimov said at a meeting with foreign military attaches in Moscow.
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12/11/2014
The United States program to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State (IS) in Syria will not begin until at least March of next year, the US special ambassador to fight IS told the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. “The program is to train 5000 [people] per year and the training, we hope, will start in March,” Brett McGurk said in response to a question, confirming that the soonest the forces could be sent to Syria would be March of 2016.
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12/10/2014
Cost will likely be the biggest design driver for the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft when the service issues its draft Request for Proposals (RFP) for the program—which could be as early as Friday —according to industry sources. ndustry sources told USNI News that there are positive indications that the Navy has finally settled on specifications for the UCLASS.
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12/10/2014
A spending bill agreed by lawmakers from the U.S. House and Senate provides $554.2 billion in funding for the U.S. military in fiscal 2015, including $1.46 billion for 15 EA-18G electronic attack jets built by Boeing Co. A summary of the $1.1 trillion "omnibus" bill released late Tuesday said the base appropriation for the Pentagon would be $490.2 billion, with $64 billion in additional war funding.
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12/10/2014
India has spent over Rs 2,263 crore for the repair and maintenance of country's frontline fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30 since 2011, the government told Rajya Sabha. In a written reply, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Rs 834.76 crore was spent in 2013-14 while Rs 877.84 crore was spent for the purpose in 2012-13. The government had spent Rs 551.35 crore in 2011-12.
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12/10/2014
“What kind of navy do Americans want?” columnist George F. Will asked in an August Washington Post commentary. “The answer will determine whether U.S. power can, in [Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan] Greenert’s formulation, ‘be where it matters, when it matters.’”
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12/10/2014
Just as China-Japan relations had begun warming up, Japan reported on Dec. 6 that five Chinese military aircraft were observed flying over an area between Okinawa's main island of Okinawa and Miyako island. The five aircraft are believed to have been capable of posing a threat to Guam, according to a military expert.
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12/10/2014
After a more than decade-long involvement in Afghanistan, the air wings of multiple nations had expected some respite from years of combat activity by late 2014, as the NATO-led mission completes its transition of control to the authorities in Kabul. World events do not tend to follow such established military plans, however, and the end of the conflict with the Taliban has instead overlapped with a resurgence of violence and renewed coalition involvement in the Middle East.
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12/10/2014
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command mission in Afghanistan has officially ended, the US Department of Defense has announced. "As the Afghan National Security Forces have become increasingly capable, we shift our focus from combat operations to building [Afghan] systems and processes to ensure long-term sustainability," ISAF commander, Army Gen. John F. Campbell, said Monday as quoted by the US Department of Defense.
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12/10/2014
U.S. Air Force crews ferried two MC-130J Commando II aircraft assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command from the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Aeronautics facility located here, on Dec. 5. These aircraft will be operated by the 352nd Special Operations Group and will be based at Royal Air Force Mildenhall England.
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12/09/2014
The US Air Force’s air power superiority over China is rapidly diminishing in light of rapid Chinese modernization of fighter jets, cargo planes and stealth aircraft, according to a recently released Congressional review. The 2014 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommends that Congress appoint an outside panel of experts to assess the US-Chinese military balance and make recommendations regarding U.S. military plans and budgets, among other things.
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12/09/2014
The V-22 Osprey aircraft has been used by U.S. troops in combat situations for years, including the failed effort Saturday to rescue two hostages from militants in Yemen. But the Osprey has always been considered lightly armed compared to most other military helicopters, with a machine gun mounted to its rear door typically its only heavy weapon.
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12/09/2014
Qualifying the five most powerful air forces in the world is certainly a difficult and challenging proposition. There are large, well-trained and well-equipped air forces that are obvious candidates for such a list. Then there are less-obvious candidates—like Russia. The Russian Air Force, while plane-for-plane older than many air forces, has numbers, the ubiquity of the largest country by size on Earth, a modernization plan and nuclear weapons.
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12/08/2014
In this excerpt from The ISIS Solution: How Unconventional Thinking And Special Operations Can Eliminate Radical Islam, Army Ranger Jack Murphy, Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, and Recon Marine Peter Nealen, reveal the effective tactics ISIS exploits in ground warfare. ISIS has kept its field forces light. While it has captured plenty of Syrian and Iraqi armored vehicles in recent months (many of the Iraqi vehicles US-supplied), there have been few if any reports of them actually being used in frontline
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12/08/2014
The Federal Government last night ordered the detention of a Russian cargo plane impounded in Kano for conveying arms and combat helicopters. The cargo aircraft, which was carrying two attack helicopters and consignments of weapons, was seized yesterday morning at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) when it made a technical landing to refuel.
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12/08/2014
In 2008, Russian tanks crossed their southern border, invading and crushing the military forces of the tiny Republic of Georgia. Georgia's U.S. and European allies raised feeble objections to Russia's incursion - but little more. In fact, just two years after Russia's "short, victorious war" in Georgia, French defense contractor DCNS happily announced the signing of a $1.7 billion contract to sell the Russian Navy a pair of 16,500-ton Mistral-class amphibious warfare ships.
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12/08/2014
Libya’s Tobruk parliament is set to officially appoint Gen. Khalifa Haftar as commander-in-chief of Libya’s armed forces, a Libyan minister told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday. Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army group, only recently accepted the authority of premier Abdullah Al-Thani government, and had previously unilaterally announced the dissolution of the former Libyan government and the launch of “Operation Dignity."
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12/08/2014
Russian jets flying over the Baltic Sea dangerously close to the border of NATO ally Latvia were intercepted and run off by NATO fighter planes in three separate incidents reported by Latvia’s military Sunday. The encounters were just the latest in what has been a record number of confrontations in the skies between Russian and NATO aircraft this year.
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12/08/2014
A revamped version of Pakistan’s JF-17 jet fighter took centre stage at a defence exhibition in Karachi this week as the restive nuclear-armed state looks to boost its role as a military exporter on the world stage. Pakistan’s large, well-funded military has long been a major importer of defence equipment, particularly from key ally China.
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12/08/2014
Russian inspectors will conduct an observation flight over the United States under the Treaty on Open Skies, head of Russia's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center has announced. "Within the framework of the international Treaty on Open Skies a group of Russian inspectors plans to conduct an observation flight on a Russian Tupolev Tu-154M-LK-1 observation aircraft over the territory of the United States," Sergei Ryzhkov said.
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12/08/2014
The Israeli Air Force have conducted several airstrikes on Syria's Damascus International Airport, targeting an arms depot, a source in Syrian army's Joint Staff told Sputnik on Sunday.
"The Israeli Air Force have conducted airstrikes on an arms depot, which caused huge blasts near the [Damascus] International Airport," the source said in a phone conversation.
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12/07/2014
Estonian military has observed a number of Russian military aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea in the international airspace, the general staff of Estonia’s defense forces said Saturday. “Today, a lot of Russian Air Force planes flying to [Russia's] Kaliningrad region have been observed in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea. The group of aircraft comprised of different planes, including strategic bombers,” the statement said.
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12/07/2014
The Navy’s infrared search and track (IRST) system received Milestone C acquisition approval Dec. 2, authorizing low-rate initial production (LRIP) of the sensor pod. Approved by Vice Admiral Paul Grosklags, Principal Military Deputy for the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition), LRIP authorization provides the Navy’s IRST program with the six pods needed to achieve future initial operational capability (IOC).
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12/07/2014
An entirely new level of activity is taking place right now with the US Navy’s Fire Scout unmanned helicopter program — for the first time, Fire Scout will be at sea on at least four ships at the same time — and they’ll be different kinds of ships, and both aircraft variants will be active.
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12/07/2014
Canada has no plans to follow its neighbor the United States in expanding airstrikes against the Islamic State group into Syria, the country's top diplomat said Saturday during a visit to the Middle East. In an interview with The Associated Press, Foreign Minister John Baird said Canada has a responsibility to contribute to the U.S.-led bombing campaign in part because the Islamic State group has attracted Canadian fighters to its ranks.
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12/07/2014
India and Russia signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement for designing, developing and producing the Multi Role Fighter Aircraft. The announcement was made by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 5 December 2014 during the parliamentary session. Moreover, Indian Fighter aircraft MIG 21 is being phased out and aircrafts MIG 29 are being procured from Russia. With the fifth generation stealth technology, the aircraft strikes would be high as they cannot be immediately detected by radar.
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12/06/2014
The Pentagon’s 2016 budget proposal will focus investments heavily on pivoting the military to the Pacific and continuing security operations in the Middle East, according to defense officials and experts. That means continued investments in high-end weapons, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Air Force’s new Long-Range Strike Bomber.
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12/06/2014
For more than 30 years, the A-10 Thunderbolt II—better known as the Warthog because it’s so ugly—has performed a crucial role: attacking hostile targets that threaten troops on the ground, a task called close air support. The plane, designed for the Cold War, is old. It’s slow. And it’s about as sophisticated as a hammer. But it is heavily armored and wickedly armed, making it a ruthlessly effective weapon.
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12/06/2014
The requirement of aircraft is periodically reviewed to ensure that the operational requirements of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are met. The IAF is in the process of inducting additional Su-30 MKI aircraft, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). These would augment the operational strength of the IAF. In order to enhance the air-lift and heli-lift capability of the IAF, cases regarding procurement of additional transport aircraft and helicopters are also being progressed.
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12/06/2014
As many as 20-30 indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, which will replace the aging MIG fighters, will be commissioned soon, government informed the Lok Sabha today.
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is working on the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Programme, which has been running behind schedule. During Question Hour, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said "20-30" Tejas aircraft are to be commissioned soon.
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12/06/2014
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) confirmed on Friday that its combat aircraft which crashed in southern Somalia on Thursday after developing mechanical problems came down within Al-Shabaab territory who later set it on fire. KDF spokesman Colonel David Obonyo said the Al-Shabaab set the plane on fire and the fate of the pilot remains unknown. The aircraft crashed at 3:15 p.m. (1215 GMT) in Jamaame, Southern Somalia.
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12/06/2014
Speaking with university professors in Tehran,Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami stated that Iran is able to produce a pistonless engine for unmanned aerial vehicle without the use of UK or US technology.
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12/06/2014
A Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum trainer jet has crashed outside Moscow and both pilots survived, a military source told RIA Novosti on Thursday. “A MiG-29 jet fighter crashed near the settlement of Chemodurovo in the Voskresensky region. Both pilots have been hospitalized,” the source said.
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12/06/2014
China has performed the third test of its new Hypersonic Strike Vehicle (HGV), which is capable of traveling up to eight times the speed of sound and dodging the US anti-missile defense system; the test was monitored by US intelligence.
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12/05/2014
A look at some key points in the annual defense budget being considered by Congress: PAY RAISES — Troops will see a pay increase of 1 percent as proposed by the White House, instead of the 1.8 percent indexed to private-sector growth, and which some in Congress had hoped to preserve.
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12/05/2014
China has plans to grow its navy to 351 ships by 2020 as the Chinese continue to develop their military’s ability to strike global targets, according to a new report. The 2014 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended to Congress the US Navy respond by building more ships and increase its presence in the Pacific region – a strategy they US military has already started.
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12/05/2014
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged faster development of advanced new military equipment to help build a strong army, state media reported, as the country steps up an ambitious modernisation plan that has rattled nerves across the region. Speaking at a two-day conference of the People's Liberation Army, Mr Xi said that military reforms should be "guided by the objective of building a strong army", the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Thursday.
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12/05/2014
The JF-17, a joint Sino-Pakistani fighter project, is a single engine fighter developed, conceptually, as a modern MiG-21. Given how global fighter fleets have deteriorated since the end of the Cold War, the idea seemed sound; a low-cost fighter that didn’t present major technical challenges, and that could serve as a cheap option for revitalizing many air forces.
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12/05/2014
Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama says his government has set aside $300 million for the purchase of new combat, trainer and transport aircraft to support United Nations peacekeeping operations.
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12/05/2014
The Saab Gripen is quietly usurping fighter aircraft sales while competitors like the Lockheed F-35 face cuts in global sales orders. In October, Saab won a $5.4 billion contract for the development and production of 36 Gripen NG fighter for Brazil.
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12/05/2014
A Kenyan warplane crashed in southern Somalia on Thursday, with the Kenyan military saying the crash was due to technical problems while Somali rebels said they had shot it down with a missile. The aircraft, which had been on a combat mission, came down in the area of the southern port city of Kismayu, where Kenyan troops are deployed as part of an African Union peacekeeping force battling the Islamist rebel group al Shabaab.
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12/04/2014
A compromise defense spending plan for the current fiscal year "opens the door" for modernizing the Air Force's aging C-130s and is a "critical step forward" for the Delaware Air National Guard, members of the state's congressional delegation said Wednesday. The state Air Guard needs upgrades for its eight mid-1980s C-130s to meet a 2020 worldwide deadline to operate in the coming all-digital worldwide navigation environment.
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12/04/2014
The 45,400-tonne INS Vikramaditya, the largest Indian aircraft carrier procured from Russia at a cost of $2.3 million, is still to get a close-in weapon system (CIWS) and hence will not be fully operational. For the aircraft carrier that stands nearly 23-deck tall, CIWS is critical if the vessel has to be deployed in forward areas, said Navy sources.
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12/04/2014
German prosecutors have launched an investigation into Airbus Group NV for alleged corruption in multibillion-dollar border security projects in Saudi Arabia and Romania and raided the German premises of the aircraft maker as part of the probe. Munich state prosecutors searched the German premises of Airbus this fall as part of their investigations into alleged corruption and tax evasion by individuals, the Munich prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
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12/04/2014
A deal struck by Congress late Tuesday will save more than 20 A-10 planes at Selfridge Air National Guard base — despite a Pentagon plan to retire the planes. Under the deal announced Wednesday, the Pentagon couldn’t get rid of the planes but could reduce flying time for active duties — but not for the 21 planes at Selfridge in Harrison Township.
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12/04/2014
n late November Iran carried out a series of airstrikes close to its border with Iraq against ISIS. Although the airstrikes are already notable for signaling possible military coordination between Iran and the US, they become even more notable in light of Iran’s choice of aircraft.
Iran provided air support to the Iraqi military and the Kurdish Peshmerga with its ageing fleet of F-4 Phantoms. The Phantom, which first flew in 1958, was originally used by the US Navy as an interceptor.
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12/04/2014
he United States is investigating the F-16 fighter jet crash in the Middle East that killed a US citizen, a statement issued on Monday by the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said. "First responders remain on the scene. The cause of the incident is under investigation," the release read. "It is the US military's policy to defer identification until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification."
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12/04/2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says it will take years to defeat the Islamic State militants, but that coalition airstrikes against the insurgents have made it "much harder" for them to launch new attacks. Kerry spoke Wednesday in Brussels, opening a meeting with foreign ministers from 60 coalition partners to discuss efforts to combat the militant group that took over large areas of northern and western Iraq and eastern Syria earlier this year.
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12/01/2014
The U.S. fifth-generation fighters F-22 and F-35 made a splash at the recent, biennial US-Japan Exercise known as "Keen Sword" in Japan. The mid-November exercise saw the participation of 11,000 U.S. personnel from the U.S. Forces, U.S. Naval Forces Japan, the U.S. Army Japan and Marine Expeditionary Forces.
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12/01/2014
Iran has signaled that it may take “direct action” if Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, fighters attack either Baghdad or Shiite holy shrines in Iraq. “Baghdad, the holy shrines and the shrines of Shiite imams are surely all among the Islamic Republic’s red lines,” said Brig. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, who heads joint affairs of the Iranian Armed Forces. “The Islamic Republic will take direct action [if they are attacked].”
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12/01/2014
A large association of battlefield target spotters has written to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to oppose the planned retirement of A-10 Warthog strike jets — a debate that now encompasses the “friendly fire” deaths of five American soldiers in Afghanistan.
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12/01/2014
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) will be sending about 50 to 60 personnel to take part in the multinational coalition efforts to combat the terrorist threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said as he officially opened the new training facility for the republic's airborne troopers at Pasir Ris camp on Monday (Dec 1).
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12/01/2014
Afghan district police chief Ahmadullah Anwari only has enough grenades to hand out three to each checkpoint in an area of Helmand province swarming with Taliban insurgents who launch almost daily attacks on security forces. “Sometimes up to 200 Taliban attack our checkpoints and if there are no army reinforcements, we lose the fight,” said Anwari, in charge of one of Afghanistan’s most volatile districts, Sangin.
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12/01/2014
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will inaugurate the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) 2014 at Expo Center Karachi on Monday. The exhibition will showcase equipment including tanks, aircraft, APCs, ammunition, ship building and communications related equipment of 232 defence companies of the world, including 77 Pakistani firms.
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12/01/2014
With final negotiations over the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal for purchase of 126 Rafale fighter aircraft remaining inconclusive, the issue will figure prominently when French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian holds talks with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar on Monday.
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12/01/2014
The Pakistani military authorities are determined to acquire 30 to 40 fourth generation stealth fighter (FC-31) aircraft from China with a view to pre-empting the rapidly increasing aerial dominance of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the region.
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12/01/2014
Helping to secure the long-term suture of the base, the Defence Minister Philip Dunne said the deal will “cement the central role of Norfolk in military aviation.” South West Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss welcomed the announcement, which comes after four years of campaigning alongside fellow MPs, local councillors, residents, businesses and the media to protect the base.
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12/01/2014
Tejas is India’s first indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). It is a lightweight multi-role jet fighter developed by India. It is a tailless, compound delta wing design powered by a single engine. It came from the LCA programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's aging MiG-21 fighters.
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