May 30, 2015 Military Aviation News
05/30/2015
The United States has spotted a pair of mobile artillery vehicles on an artificial island that China is building in the South China Sea, a resource-rich stretch of ocean crossed by vital shipping lanes, American officials said. China’s construction program on previously uninhabited atolls and reefs in the Spratly Islands has already raised alarm and drawn protests from other countries in the region, whose claims to parts of the South China Sea overlap with China’s.
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05/30/2015
From June 8 military aircraft will conduct low-level flights outside their usual trianing areas for the first time, a move that is "necessary in order to maintain the qualification of pilots and relevant abilities required for combat," a statement said. "The first low-level flights in Latvian airspace will be performed by US A-10 "Thunderbolt II aircraft which in February this year were sent to Europe under the Operations Atlantic Resolve program," the information adds.
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05/30/2015
Since its standup in 2009, Air Force Global Strike Command has worked to build and maintain a strong relationship with its allies in the French air forces. A regular series of exchange visits between leadership, participation in joint exercises, and attendance at major events, have served to develop mutual understanding and partnering opportunities between the two nations' strategic air forces.
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05/30/2015
It has been 32 years in the making but it will be least another five years before the indigenously-built fighter jet Tejas (Mark -II) can be deployed in a combat role, a top Indian Air Force official told NDTV. This is bad news for India which was hoping to induct the Tejas in large numbers to make-up for its ageing fighter fleet. India will have to decommission about 14 Squadrons of MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters by 2022.
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05/30/2015
China has unveiled a new twin-fuselage drone that analysts say will give the People’s Liberation Army long-range surveillance and strike capabilities. The Shen Diao, or Divine Eagle, remotely piloted aircraft is being developed by China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and appears from Chinese Internet photos made public recently to be larger than the U.S Air Force’s Global Hawk long-range surveillance drone.
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05/30/2015
The Marine Corps is finishing up its first round of operational testing for its F-35B short-take-off-and-landing Joint Strike Fighter on board the USS WASP, an amphibious assault ship in the Atlantic Ocean, service officials said. The tests -- seen as a key final step before the aircraft becomes operational later this year -- included night-time take-off and landings as well as a wide range of assessments placing the aircraft is various operational circumstances.
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05/30/2015
The U.S. Defense Department is considering ordering as many as 450 F-35 aircraft from Lockheed Martin Corp., sending warplane output to the fastest in three decades as it gains confidence in the advanced fighter’s performance. While the plan would require U.S. lawmakers’ approval, the so-called block buy wouldn’t face the same congressional scrutiny as a multi-year procurement.
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05/30/2015
Since the last decade, India has been on a spree of buying modern weapon systems through its ever increasing defence budget. In particular the Indian Air Force is going through a total revamp. India is the only country which has categorised its fighters as heavy, medium and light combat aircrafts. It has assigned specific roles to its fighters however most are multi-role in nature.
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05/30/2015
Russia will considerably increase its arsenal of Tupolev Tu-160 ("White Swan") heavy strategic bombers, unique machines, able to attack its targets at high speeds, US journalist Zachary Keck pointed out. Citing Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, the commander-in-chief of Russia's Air Force, American journalist Zachary Keck pointed out that Moscow is planning to dramatically boost its arsenal of Tupolev Tu-160 ("White Swan") heavy strategic bombers.
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