April 11, 2015 Military Aviation News
04/11/2015
A Russia Su-27 jet fighter flew dangerously close and nearly collided with a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft this week in the latest aerial provocation by Moscow, defense officials revealed to the Washington Free Beacon. The Su-27 conducted the close-in intercept of an RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the Baltic Sea on Tuesday, said officials. The incident prompted a diplomatic protest.
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04/11/2015
India has agreed to acquire 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault Aviation SA, marking another victory in France’s push to compete with American-made combat planes. The deal, announced during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Paris on Friday, aims to wrap up more than three years of protracted negotiations between India’s government and Dassault Aviation. French officials said both sides were still negotiating the final details of the acquisition, including the final price.
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04/11/2015
The French Air Force and Navy are evaluating a terrain-following capability for single-seat variants of the Rafale multi-role combat aircraft. The new flight control mode has been developed by the air force's military aircraft test center (CEAM) and the navy's naval aviation flight trials detachment (Det CEPA). After integration into the aircraft, the new feature will enable the aircraft to fly at high-speed and low-level over the ground or sea.
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04/11/2015
The Air Force has released its full breakdown of unfunded priorities for 2016, with aircraft repairs and modernization making up most of the bill, including even funds for some aircraft the service is attempting to retire. The services on March 27 provided a cost breakdown of programs that didn't make their budget requests, which lawmakers can attempt to include in the defense authorization bill.budget request includes programs deemed more important than those in the unfunded list.
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04/11/2015
MV-22 Ospreys replaced the Marines' last squadron of CH-46E helicopters Thursday, officially ending the Sea Knight's 50-year run as the troop and supply transport workhorse of the Corps. Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 164 received the first Sea Knights assigned to the West Coast in early 1965 and introduced the medium-lift helicopter to combat in Vietnam in 1966. Parts of the squadron also flew missions in the evacuation of Saigon, making it the first in and last out of the Southeast Asian co
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04/11/2015
China is rapidly building coast guard ships, the vessels that China most commonly uses for patrols in the South China Sea, and in the last three years has increased the number of ships in that category 25 percent, a new report by the United States Navy says. China has the world’s largest coast guard fleet, with more such ships than its neighbors Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines combined, the report shows.
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04/11/2015
The retaking of Tikrit from Islamic State elements provided many lessons for Baghdad, especially when it comes to continuing the fight against the militant group. Tikrit was the first battle that brought the full spectrum of anti-Islamic State forces into the same space. In addition to the Sunni tribal elements, Shiite militias and Iranian advisers supporting Iraqi security forces at the behest of Baghdad, U.S.-led coalition aircraft carried out precision bombing missions.
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04/11/2015
The Argentine ambassador has been hauled into the British Foreign Office to explain a threat by Buenos Aires to prosecute any British company that drills for oil and gas off the Falkland Islands. Bellicose President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner made the threat in a speech to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Falklands conflict, promising legal action against any British company that drilled in the waters surrounding the disputed islands.
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04/11/2015
In Greek mythology, Gorgons were creatures whose terrible visages could turn men to stone with a single glance. The Air Force’s Gorgon Stare sensor system can’t do that, but its unrelenting gaze is turning thousands of terrorists into targets who can no longer elude U.S. weapons. The service almost never discloses details about operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere using the drone-mounted system, but insiders say Gorgon Stare has become the number-one reconnaissance asset.
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04/11/2015
Its nickname is Predator Porn, and Paul Rolfe used to watch it 12 hours a day. Sometimes it was horrific, sometimes it was life affirming; mostly it was just dull. But whenever fellow soldiers at his airbase in Nevada wandered past the "live feeds" from his console, he'd notice how their eyes would wander to the screen and have trouble looking away.
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