March 17, 2017 Military Aviation News
03/17/2017
The U.S. Air Force has begun to update weapons software and hardware systems as well as sensors aboard the Lockheed Martin-built F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft, Defense Systems reported Tuesday. Kris Osborn writes that 1st Lt. Carrie Volpe, action officer for the Air Combat Command Public Affairs, said the service branch will begin to integrate the Increment 3.2B software upgrade to its fleet of F-22s in the summer of 2019.
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03/17/2017
The Air Force on Friday is expected to formally invite companies to participate in a light-attack aircraft demonstration this summer, the service’s top uniformed acquisition official said. “This is … the innovative spirit of trial and error,” Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, the service’s military deputy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition at the Pentagon, said during a defense breakfast outside Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
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03/17/2017
The Indo-Russian fifth-generation fighter aircraft under joint development and production by the two countries has taken a hit, with Russia showing reluctance to fully transfer the aircraft technology, particularly stealth capabilities, despite repeated reminders, according to a top Indian Air Force official.
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03/17/2017
The US Air Force’s B-21 bomber passed an additional preliminary design review, service’s military deputy for the assistant secretary of the air force for acquisition says this week. The air force conducted a PDR during the programme’s technology maturation and risk reduction phase before the service chose between Northrop Grumman and the Boeing/Lockheed team.
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03/17/2017
Lockheed Martin F-35s have fired their first non-US-produced missiles in testing, with the activity providing a boost to MBDA’s sales efforts for the ASRAAM. Announcing the development on 15 March, MBDA said flight trials and air-launched firings have taken place using test aircraft operating from Edwards AFB, California and NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.
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03/17/2017
Bulgaria’s defence ministry announced on 13 March that it had opened three proposals to equip the nation’s air force with modern fighters. These were submitted by the Swedish government, offering newly produced Saab Gripen C/Ds; the US and Portuguese governments, jointly offering ex-US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs to be upgraded to the mid-life update standard by Ogma; and an Italian bid using second-hand Tranche 1-standard Eurofighter Typhoons.
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03/17/2017
On Thursday, North Korea denounced the US and South Korea for conducting joint military drills near the divided peninsula using the USS Carl Vinson and US strategic bombers, accusing the two nations of "escalating nuclear attack threats" against Pyongyang.
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03/17/2017
Tests of Russia’s Beriev A-100 airborne early warning and control (AWACS) prototype aircraft are set to begin in July 2017, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said Thursday. The A-100 is based on the Il-76MD-90A transport aircraft, and it is expected to replace the Beriev A-50 Mainstay AWACS aircraft currently in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces.
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03/17/2017
During his visit to Colombia, Swedish Industry Minister Mikael Damberg signed off on a defense cooperation agreement. Sweden's Saab is particularly enthusiastic about the agreement, which may help the troubled airplane manufacturer sell some of its vaunted Gripen fighter jets.
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