April, 2020 Military Aviation News
04/30/2020
The Foreign Ministry of the Government of National Accord (GNA) has filed a complaint letter to France for the unpermitted presence of French military aircraft over Misrata, 200 km to the east of Tripoli. "We are dismayed by the presence of one French Rafale aircraft and a fuel aircraft over Misrata and Abu Grein without permission." The Foreign Ministry said in the complaint on Wednesday.
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04/30/2020
The F-16 Operational Flight Program M-series 7.2+ was released in April 2020 to more than 600 Block 40/42/50/52 F-16s delivering a wide range of new capabilities to the Fighting Falcon. The $455 million program fielded major capability upgrades such as the Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar (NORTHCOM’s number one priority Joint Urgent Operational Need).
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04/30/2020
The skies over the Beehive State will be abuzz with excitement as the U.S. military’s top fighter aircraft will blaze a path through Utah saluting front-line medical responders and residents fighting to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Four members of Hill Air Force Base’s 388th Fighter Wing will fly in formation across the state beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday. The group will be led by the Air Force F-35A Lightning II demonstration team’s Capt. Kristin Wolfe.
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04/30/2020
Four times this year, North American Aerospace Defense Command has reported Russian aircraft flying into the Air Defense Identification Zone that extends about 200 miles from Alaska's coast. Three of those flights prompted NORAD to send aircraft out to keep an eye on them — including US Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighters from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, where pilots were waiting.
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04/29/2020
On Tuesday, the Belgian Air Force has reported that its fighters jets intercepted Russian A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) and AN-26 transport plane while they were flying off the Estonian coast. The interception of the A-50 Mainstay flying off the Estonian coast took place on Saturday the 25th and An-26 military transport aircraft on Tuesday 27th.
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04/29/2020
Chinese authorities said they sortied ships and aircraft to “track, monitor, verify, identify and expel” a U.S. warship from the Paracel Island chain in the South China Sea on Tuesday, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officials said on Chinese social media. Navy officials confirmed to USNI News that guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the vicinity of the island chain off Vietnam.
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04/29/2020
Australia has informed India that their premier multilateral air combat training exercise Pitch Black 2020 scheduled from July 27 to August 14 has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation, defence sources said. This was conveyed by Air Marshal Meg Hupfeld, Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), in a letter to Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, in mid-April.
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04/29/2020
The US Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a US$165 million ($256.2 million) contract for Lot 9 full-rate production (FRP) of the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) – assets will include all-up round missiles and captive air training missiles for the US Navy and foreign military sales.
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04/28/2020
Two RAF Typhoon fighter jets have carried out strikes against Daesh targets in Tuz Khurma, Iraq whilst performing a reconnaissance mission, the UK MoD reported on 25 April. The aircraft surveyed the area for non-combatants before engaging in their targets with precision-guided bombs that left the buildings destroyed.
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04/28/2020
The Air Force is extending its feasibility study into the use of privately owned aerial refueling tankers after an initial report determined further research is needed to understand legal and financial challenges. Last week, the Air Force delivered a Commercial Air Refueling Report to the House Armed Services Committee, which Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett reviewed and then asked for 60 more days to further study the issue, Air Mobility Command said in a statement.
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04/28/2020
After ending its 16-year permanent bomber presence in Guam, the U.S. Air Force this week flew a B-1B Lancer to the Pacific as part of its new unpredictable deployment experiment to test crews' agility when sending heavy aircraft forces around the world.
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04/27/2020
In a show of national solidarity, the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, and the Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, will conduct a series of multi-city flyovers over the next two weeks. America Strong is a collaborative salute from the Navy and Air Force to recognize healthcare workers, first responders, and other essential personnel while standing in solidarity with all Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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04/26/2020
A US Lockheed P-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft yesterday flew over the Bashi Channel toward the South China Sea, marking the 12th time this month that a US military aircraft was spotted to the south of Taiwan’s airspace. The airplane’s presence was reported by military aviation monitoring Web site Aircraft Spots. The same aircraft on Saturday last week flew in a similar southwesterly direction over the channel, the Web site said.
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04/26/2020
The U.S. Navy last week watched a single-seat Russian Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E come within 25 feet of a P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft while at high speed and inverted, causing wake turbulence and putting the U.S. "pilots and crew at risk" over the Mediterranean Sea. Days later, another Flanker mimicked the move over the same waters, zooming in front of a P-8 and exposing the sub hunter aircraft to its jet exhaust.
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04/26/2020
The Indian Air Force needs a strategic bomber such as the Russian TU-160 to counter a growing fleet of Chinese bombers. The Russian supersonic bomber Tu-160, also known as the White Swan, is the most powerful and largest missile carrier in the world.
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04/26/2020
Russia’s official designation of the PAK-FA/T-50 jet as the Sukhoi Su-57 is just another reminder that the field of fifth generation fighters is about to get more crowded. The United States, China, Russia, Japan and Korea are all working on their own fifth generation designs, but so far only three planes, the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Chinese J-20 are operational.
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04/26/2020
Collapse of a joint venture agreement between Boeing and Embraer to promote the Embraer C-390 Millennium will likely make it more difficult to sell the medium-lift transport outside of Brazil, seriously hurting the overall sales of the aircraft programme. The deal, in which Embraer would have owned a 51% stake and Boeing a 49% stake, was terminated after the two sides could not get past some final sticking points, said Boeing on 25 April.
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04/25/2020
A Russian-made Su-25, belonging to the Chadian Air Force accidentally fired a missile that veered into a senior Chadian commander’s home, killing five people including three children.
The video footage captures the firing of the missile at the Adji Kossei airbase as the aircraft was preparing to take off. The missile clips an empty fuel tanker, which made it veer just away from a parked French C-130 aircraft before disappearing from view. It then slammed into the home of General Mahamat Salah
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04/25/2020
The F-35 Joint Program Office has put in place stopgap fixes for five key technical flaws plaguing America’s top-end fighter jet, but the problems have not been completely eliminated.
Last June, Defense News reported exclusive details about 13 major technical issues, known as category 1 deficiencies, impacting the F-35. The JPO has since quietly downgraded five of those issues to the lesser category 2.
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04/25/2020
The Army has found a viable alternative to assist Fort Rucker in the training of D model Apache instructor pilots and maintenance test pilots. The last D model IP/MTP courses at Fort Rucker ended in early April, which meant D model IPs/MTPs would have to be taught another way. Among those that needed training were pilots from 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, a unit scheduled to deploy later this year.
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04/25/2020
An issue that risks damage to the F-35’s tail section if the aircraft needs to maintain supersonic speeds is not worth fixing and will instead be addressed by changing the operating parameters, the F-35 Joint Program Office told Defense News in a statement Friday.
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04/25/2020
Boeing has delivered the final Block II F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to the US Navy (USN), handing over the last aircraft on 17 April, says the service. “Aircraft E322 will leave Boeing’s production line and head straight to Strike Fighter Squadron 34 based in [Naval Air Station] Oceana,” says USN Commander Tyler Tennille, of the Defense Contract Management Agency, who supervises F/A-18 acceptance testing.
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04/24/2020
Beijing has escalated the number and intensity of military drills around Taiwan in recent weeks, making risky manoeuvres that appear set to test the political waters in Taipei and Washington while signalling the mainland’s continuing animosity towards Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, who was re-elected in a landslide in January.
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04/24/2020
The nation faces a bomber crisis, and it is time to openly acknowledge the scale and scope of the problem. Tasked with deterrence and, if necessary, striking targets around the globe, Air Force crews operating these aircraft afford the nation’s security leaders unique options best embodied in the phrase: anytime, anyplace. Despite the criticality of this mission, the Air Force currently operates the smallest, oldest fleet of bombers since its 1947 founding.
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04/24/2020
In 2015, Rear Adm. Rich Brophy was a captain who had just taken command of Carrier Air Wing 9 and was trying to usher the unit through pre-deployment training, while sitting at the bottom of a bathtub in naval aviation readiness.
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04/24/2020
On April 20 and 21, air forces from four Allies and two Partners and a NATO E-3A AWACS plane conducted live-fly training flights in segregated training areas and international airspace over the Baltic Sea.
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04/24/2020
U.S. Navy aerial warfare experts are asking Raytheon Technologies Corp. to build several hundred AIM-9X precision short-range infrared-guided air-to-air missiles for jet fighters and other combat aircraft under terms of a $392.4 million order announced last month.
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04/23/2020
U.S. Air Force satellite navigation experts are moving to full-scale development of a system that blends the Global Position System (GPS) navigation and guidance system with inertial navigation system (INS) technology.
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04/23/2020
A Marine Corps crew was, for the first time, behind an MQ-9 Reaper drone flight in the Middle East as they supported personnel on the ground from another continent. Members of Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 carried out a Reaper flight in an undisclosed location late last month, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., which owns the aircraft, announced last week.
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04/23/2020
Germany’s Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced toPparliament on April 21 the decision to split the replacement program for the Panavia Tornado combat aircraft into two platforms. The long-rumored purchase plans call for the acquisition of 93 Eurofighter Typhoons and 30 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, plus 15 Boeing EF-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
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04/23/2020
It was a historic day for Eielson Air Force Base as the installation received its first two F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft April 21. With the arrival, Eielson AFB is now Pacific Air Forces’ first base to house the fifth-generation fighter aircraft. “This first aircraft is a milestone,” said Col. Benjamin Bishop, the 354th Fighter Wing commander. “Making the first aircraft arrival possible has been a long path, but it’s also just the first step in a journey that will continue at Eielson Air
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04/23/2020
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 (Reinforced), including the F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft detachment, began conducting flight operations in the South China Sea, April 16, aboard forward deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6).
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04/22/2020
The US Air Force’s (USAF) ambitious battlefield network development effort, called the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), lacks the organisational structure needed to be executed well. In particular, the service is moving forward with developing a key part of its future modernisation strategy without firm technical requirements, a plan, a cost estimate, authority clearly delegated to decision makers, or an analysis of affordability, says the Government Accountability Office.
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04/22/2020
Lockheed Martin is projecting fewer F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter deliveries in 2020 due to impacts on its global supply chain caused by disruptions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The manufacturer is not yet sure exactly how much its deliveries will decrease, but is assessing likely outcomes, it says in an earnings call on 21 April.
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04/22/2020
Germany is to pursue a split order for the replacement of its Panavia Tornado combat aircraft, selecting both European and US models for the requirement. Defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has written to the German parliament informing them of the government’s intention, according to the DPA news agency.
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04/21/2020
The US Air Force (USAF) has ended its Long-Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO) development competition early, issuing a sole-source contract to Raytheon. Raytheon was competing with Lockheed Martin to design and build the service’s stealthy long-range, nuclear-weapon-tipped cruise missile as part of a Technology Maturation and Risk (TMRR) phase. Each company was awarded $900 million in 2017.
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04/21/2020
Certification testing of an automatic air-to-air refuelling boom technology for the A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) is on track to commence next year, following a recent campaign conducted by Airbus Defence & Space. The European company built on earlier fight tests with the so-called A3R system by conducting sorties involving its A310 tanker testbed and a Portuguese air force Lockheed Martin F-16.
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04/20/2020
MH-60R ‘Romeo’ helicopter may not be a stealth platform, but it has become a globally used platform by the US Navy and U.S. allies and has done so in barely noticed fashion. Globally is a key aspect of a platform, even with different systems onboard common platforms, common logistics and platform support across the demanding maritime environment is a clear plus for the US Navy and the global partners with whom they work.
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04/20/2020
U.S. adversaries are probing America's defenses as the world is preoccupied with the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. In the past two weeks, Russia, China, Iran and North Korea have all moved to test Washington in the sea, in the air and on land as U.S. forces have become more restricted in movement amid concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
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04/20/2020
With its first export contract for delivery of the FTC-2000G multirole combat aircraft to an undisclosed Southeast Asian country, Guizhou Aviation Industry Corp can expect a surge in interested customers, aviation experts predicted on Sunday. Local media reports reposted Saturday to the WeChat account of the Guizhou Province-based developer affiliated to the state-owned Aviation Industry Corpof China (AVIC) said the deal was signed in late January.
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04/19/2020
The French navy is investigating how the coronavirus infected more than 1,000 sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, amid growing pressure on government leaders to explain how it could have happened. The ship, France's biggest carrier and the flagship of its navy, is undergoing a lengthy disinfection process since returning to its home base in Toulon five days ago.
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04/18/2020
Speaking on May 15, 2019, Putin said the Kremlin would buy scores of Su-57s over the next eight years. If Putin is serious and the Russian defense ministry follows through on the pledge, Russia soon could possess a meaningful number of stealth fighters. But there are good reasons to be skeptical. The Su-57 still isn’t a mature design. It lacks key combat systems. Sukhoi hasn’t set up a big, efficient production line for the type.
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04/18/2020
An Indian Air Force AH-64E Apache attack helicopter made an emergency landing in a farm field in the Punjab region in India on Friday after what reports say was a, “technical snag”. Indeed, a statement from the IAF said that the helicopter experienced a critical failure 1 hour into the flight that forced the aircrew to perform an emergency landing.
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04/18/2020
Embraer Defense & Security and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) announced the first of 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack, combat and reconnaissance aircraft for the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) successfully completed its inaugural flight at the production facility in Jacksonville, Florida.
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04/18/2020
The US Navy said on Wednesday that one of its aircraft was intercepted by a Russian jet while flying in international airspace over the Mediterranean Sea. The US Navy P-8A Poseidon, an anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft, was flying over the Mediterranean Sea when it was approached by a Russian Su-35 fighter jet, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa said.
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04/18/2020
Boeing is preparing to reopen its CH-47 Chinook production facility in Ridley Township, Pennsylvania on 20 April after shutting the site about two and a half weeks prior due to risks of coronavirus contagion. The facility will open with “enhanced safety measures”, says Boeing on 17 April. The campus was shut on 3 April amid a growing number of coronavirus cases in nearby Philadelphia.
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04/17/2020
Sweeping testing of the entire crew of the coronavirus-stricken U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt may have revealed a clue about the pandemic: The majority of the positive cases so far are among sailors who are asymptomatic, officials say.
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04/17/2020
MiG-31 interceptor aircraft of Kazakhstan’s air force crashed on Apr. 16, 2020 near country’s Karaganda city, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstan’s Defense Ministry. The ministry said that the plane crashed during a scheduled training flight to prepare for combat duty.
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04/17/2020
Across the world, France's sole aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, has also returned to port as 50 members of its 1,760 sailors have tested positive. According to a ministry statement, three sailors had already been evacuated by air to a military hospital in Toulon in southern France, the home port of the carrier, despite the fact that the aircraft carrier is equipped with its own intensive care facilities.
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04/17/2020
Over the last few months, defense and aviation media have reported on a lecture made by PLA Air Force (PLAAF) test pilot Li Zhonghua in December 2019 at the Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shaanxi. The lecture provided a rather detailed look at the PLAAF experience in the Falcon Strike 2015 exercise conducted in Thailand with the PLAAF’s Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) counterparts.
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04/17/2020
Pilatus has contracted Leonardo to supply its RT-700/A V/UHF airborne communications system and other equipment for installation on PC-21 trainers ordered for the Spanish air force.
Announcing the award earlier this month, Leonardo said its contract also includes the provision of cockpit control panels and associated electronics for the turboprop-powered type.
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04/16/2020
The Trump administration is deploying F-35 aircraft to Truax Field Air National Guard Base in Madison, Wisconsin, snubbing the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township. Democrats and Republicans in Michigan's congressional delegation have been heavily lobbying for years to get the F-35 planes sited at Selfridge to replace the aging Warthogs at the base, but the Trump administration's decision to send the planes to Madison was announced Wednesday.
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04/16/2020
Russian and Iranian aircraft and boats came dangerously close to U.S. Navy crews in two separate incidents Wednesday. In both cases, no one was injured. In the first instance, 11 Iranian vessels conducted "dangerous and harassing" approaches of U.S. ships in the international waters of the northern Persian Gulf, coming as close as 10 yards to a Coast Guard cutter, the Navy said.
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04/16/2020
This week the United States Navy announced that the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will remain at sea off the East Coast of the United States, despite the fact that it has completed its most recent deployment. This is part of an effort to keep the crew healthy from the COVID-19 pandemic and remain combat-ready to take on missions if needed.
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04/16/2020
The Libyan National Army (LNA) reportedly shot down a Mirage F1 fighter jet that was flying over their territory, the Russian publication Avia.Pro reported on Wednesday. According to the publication, the LNA’s air defenses, using their Russian-made Pantsir-S system, shot down the French-made Mirage F1 fighter jet that was being used by the Government of National According.
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04/15/2020
On Tuesday, a U.S. surveillance plane flew over South Korea, shortly after North Korea launched what appeared to be short-range cruise missiles on the east coast. A US Navy “EP-3E” plane was detected flying over South Korea at around 10:00 A.M. (Seoul time), according to the aircraft monitor Air Traffic. which was cited by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
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04/15/2020
The delivery of the first batch of four Rafale multirole fighter aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to be delayed by three months, according to local media reports. The delivery flight of the first Rafale fighters from France to India reportedly had to be postponed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Lockdown and social distancing measures imposed by the French authorities to contain the spread of the coronavirus have also negatively impacted the training schedule of Indian pilot
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04/15/2020
Luxembourg’s lone A400M tactical transport made a 5h flight debut from Airbus Defence & Space’s San Pablo final assembly site in Seville, Spain, on 13 April. The Europrop International TP400-D6-powered airlifter (MSN104/CT-01) is scheduled to be delivered before the end of the second quarter of this year, its manufacturer says.
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04/15/2020
The US State Department has approved the possible sale of 10 Boeing AGM-84L Harpoon Block II air-launched missiles for Morocco’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters. The sea-skimming missiles and related equipment are estimated to cost $62 million, according to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency notice posted on 14 April. Associated equipment includes containers, spares, and repair parts, support and test equipment, as well as publications and technical documentation.
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04/15/2020
Boeing has conducted a 90min first flight with Qatar’s lead F-15QA fighter, describing the model as “the most advanced version” of the twin-engined type ever manufactured. The Qatar Emiri Air Force will receive 36 F-15QAs from next year under a $6.2 billion contract awarded in 2017. Boeing also is to provide training for aircrew and maintenance personnel under a separate deal signed last year.
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04/15/2020
Lockheed Martin recently secured a $50 million US Air Force contract to update the venerable U-2 spy plane. The project involves three elements: a new avionics suite, a new mission computer, and modern cockpit displays, says Lockheed.
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04/15/2020
The US government has approved to separate deals to sell India anti-ship missiles and air-launched torpedoes for its fleet of Boeing P-8I Neptune maritime patrol aircraft. The first possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) covers 10 Boeing AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles and related services and equipment for around $92 million, according to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notice to Congress.
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04/14/2020
Japan and Taiwan kept watch on the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and its strike group as they steamed through the Miyako Strait and past Taiwan over the weekend, according to the Japanese Ministry of Defense and published reports Monday. The Liaoning and five accompanying warships passed through the 155-mile-wide strait halfway between the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako on Saturday, turned south and passed east of Taiwan on Sunday, according to reports.
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04/14/2020
The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion has demonstrated its first air-to-air refuelling. The heavy lift helicopter, in development for the US Marine Corps (USMC), completed the 4.5h test over Chesapeake Bay with a Lockheed Martin KC-130J in-flight refuelling tanker on 6 April, says Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) on 9 April.
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04/14/2020
The US government has cleared a potential $675 million deal for the sustainment of South Korea’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters. The Foreign Military Sale package includes follow-on support for the aircraft, engines, weapons, spare parts, software, training, and other elements. It follows a request from the Seoul.
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04/13/2020
A United States military reconnaissance aircraft was reported flying near Taiwan's southern airspace Friday, the same day the Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed Chinese warplanes were monitored southwest of the country. A U.S. RC-135U Combat Sent was operating in the South China Sea, according to a flight chart posted on Twitter Friday morning by Aircraft Spots, a military air movement tracker.
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04/13/2020
Apart from the establishment of new units, he revealed that the NAF, in line with the federal government’s commitment to the security of the nation, has also acquired 22 brand new aircraft in the last four and half years with another 16 due for delivery soon. Said he: “The additional air assets include an Mi-17 helicopter, which is expected to arrive the country this month, as well as three JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter aircraft and 12 Super Tucano attack aircraft.
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04/13/2020
The U.S. Air Force flight demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, performed an inspiring flyover of the greater Las Vegas area on Saturday, April 11, 2020 in honor of healthcare workers and first responders working during the international COVID-19 crisis.
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04/13/2020
Overall, the F-35A fighter is flying exceptionally well. The F-35 Lightning II is now the world’s most dominant multi-role fighter. Its detection range, geolocation, threat identification, and system response capabilities allow the jet to precisely fix and destroy the most advanced threats in the world including every layer of Russia’s latest SA-20 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.
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04/12/2020
Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry has revealed that pilots from the country’s Air Force have test flown MiG-35 ‘4++ generation’ fighter jets in Russia, with the announcement coming shortly after the country received permission to purchase new high end Russian fighter jets.
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04/12/2020
Over time, Israel will likely acquire additional F-35s, as it intends for the type to replace its fleet of over 320 F-16s. On May 22, Israeli Air Force commander Amikam Norkin announced that its F-35I stealth fighters had flown on two combat missions on “different fronts,” showing as proof a photograph of an F-35 overflying Beirut. While details on those missions have not been released—apparently, they were not deployed in a massive Israeli air attack on Iranian forces in Syria that took place
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04/12/2020
The tactical drill this week involved ten Su-24 bomber and five MiG-31 interceptor-fighters, the press service of Russia’s Northern Fleet in Severomorsk informs. “The crews of upgraded MiG-31 interceptor-fighters will practice assignments at a maximum altitude in the course of tactical flight drills that have stated in the Northern Fleet’s separate composite air regiment this week,” the note from the fleet reads.
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04/11/2020
Germany will replace most ageing Tornado fighter-bomber jets in its air force fleet with Eurofighter aircraft but buy a share of the replacements from US manufacturer Boeing, media reported Friday. From 2025, the Tornados will be replaced by up to 90 Eurofighters built by Airbus and 45 Boeing F-18s, according to news weekly Der Spiegel.
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04/11/2020
As reported in international media, U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors supported by KC-135 Stratotankers and E-3 AWACS aircraft responded to a pair of Russian military Ilyushin Il-38N ASW and Maritime Patrol Aircraft off the Alaskan coast in international airspace on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. But the differences in how the story is being reported around the world is an interesting study in how journalism may influence our interpretation of events depending on where we live.
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04/11/2020
Russian plane-maker Sukhoi finally is gearing up to begin delivering new Su-57 stealth fighters to the Russian air force. How many of the radar-evading planes the air arm acquires, and how quickly, are open questions. To say nothing of the type’s actual capabilities. In any event, deliveries are good news for the air force. The Su-57 first flew in 2010. Sukhoi hand-built ten prototypes.
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04/10/2020
New Delhi still likes Russian technology, but Washington is trying to make a sale and enhance American-Indian ties. If a deal happens, it will further remove India from Russia’s influence. When the Times of India revealed that the Indian air force was revising its single-engine fighter competition to encompass twin-engine jet designs, a collective groan likely rang from New Delhi to Washington—and even Stockholm.
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04/10/2020
Draken International has begun flying supersonic, radar equipped Mirage F1M fighters to support US Air Force (USAF) combat training at Nellis Air Force Base after the aircraft were returned to service by Paramount Aerospace Systems.
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04/09/2020
A U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II, assigned to the 75th Fighter Squadron, performed a successful emergency gear-up landing at Moody AFB, Georgia, on Apr. 7, 2020. The pilot safely escaped the aircraft.
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04/09/2020
An F-16V or F-21 is a radically different warplane compared to the F-16A that first flew in 1978. Lockheed Martin is developing a new variant of its iconic F-16 single-engine fighter in order to compete in India’s 2019 tender for 110 new warplanes. But don’t count on the American firm’s “F-21” to win the contract. According to journalist Angad Singh, the likely winner is French company Dassault’s Rafale twin-engine fighter.
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04/09/2020
Four decades since its Islamic Revolution made it a pariah, Tehran has cobbled together one of the world’s most bizarre air forces—a combination of rebuilt U.S.-supplied planes dating from the 1970s plus homegrown designs of highly varying value and, most strangely of all, scores of aircraft essentially stolen from Iraq after they fled to Iran to escape American attack during the 1991 Gulf War.
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04/09/2020
An HH-60W Jolly Green II, the U.S. Air Force’s new combat search-and-rescue helicopter, has completed a month-long trial of extremes inside the McKinley Climatic Lab. The Sikorsky test aircraft endured real temperatures ranging from 120 F to -60 F as well as 45 mile-per-hour winds coupled with heavy rainfall. All of those scenarios were created within the lab’s 55,000-square-foot test chamber.
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04/09/2020
The Marine Corps wants to know whether the defense industry can transform its heavy weapons-mounted Joint Light Tactical Vehicles into mobile air defense systems for tracking and killing enemy drones, helicopters and fighters. Marine Corps Systems Command recently invited defense firms to submit ideas for creating the Direct Fire Defeat System being developed by Program Manager Ground Based Air Defense, according to a March 27 request for information.
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04/08/2020
In twelve years from now, a twin engine variant of India’s Tejas fighter could start replacing Russian built MiG-29K jets deployed on board the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers INS Vikramaditya and Vikrant which is yet to be inducted.
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04/08/2020
Pacific Air Forces has been fine-tuning the Agile Combat Employment concept in training exercises for years, but the new coronavirus outbreak has required real-world execution. “When it comes down to the Pacific theater and the … challenges we face out here, COVID is merely just another challenge to the world order,” Maj. Gen. Scott Pleus, the command’s director of air and cyberspace operations, told Air Force Magazine.
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04/08/2020
Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) said on Monday that the agreement to sell 10 FA-50 light fighters to the Argentine Air Force was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. “It must have been difficult for Argentina to spend its defense budget for fighter jets when it is experiencing difficulties due to the virus spread,” a KAI official said to a local newspaper in South Korea.
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04/08/2020
U.S. Navy carrier aviation experts are ordering three unmanned aerial tankers from the Boeing Co. in preparation for future larger orders and eventual carrier deployment of these unmanned tanker aircraft. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced an $84.7 million order to the Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis last week for three new MQ-25 unmanned tanker aircraft for system demonstration.
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04/08/2020
Russia is ready to supply combat aircraft to Azerbaijan, local media reported citing the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan on April 7. 'Within the framework of military-technical cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation, a delegation of specialists of the Azerbaijan Air Force visited the enterprises included in the Russian military-industrial complex.
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04/07/2020
On Monday, the U.S. State Department criticized China after reports emerged that a Vietnamese fishing vessel had been sunk near the disputed Paracel Islands. In a statement, Morgan Ortagus, the U.S. Department of State’s spokesperson, said that the United States was “seriously concerned by reports of the PRC’s sinking of a Vietnamese fishing vessel in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.”
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04/07/2020
Military avionics experts at the Boeing Co. will integrate the Advanced Display Core Processor (ADCP) II aboard versions of the U.S. Air Force F-15 combat jet under terms of a $8.2 million order announced last week. Officials of the Fighter/Bomber directorate of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, are asking the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis to install and repair the environmental control system on the ADCP II boxes onto F
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04/07/2020
Renewed fighting in Libya, where both sides rely on drone support from foreign backers, has fueled a battle for air supremacy that augurs further escalation despite the coronavirus outbreak in the country. It also raises the prospect of Turkey sending more military aid to its allies.
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04/07/2020
Israel gets a large amount of defense aid from the United States in the form of both cash, weapons, and weapons platforms — but why doesn’t Israel have the F-22 stealth fighter? Perhaps the most prominent example of American-Israeli cooperation is the Israeli version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, which Israel — and Israel alone — is allowed to modify to better fit Israeli requirements for the Middle East.
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04/06/2020
Chinese engineers have modified an old fighter jet to create a training aircraft for pilots who will serve on the country’s newest aircraft carrier – the Type 002 – which is currently in development, according to the plane’s manufacturer. The adapted JL-9 – also known as the FTC-2000 Mountain Eagle or “Shanying” – was produced by Guizhou Aircraft Industry Corporation (GAIC) specifically for use on the Type 002, which will have a catapult launch system, Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said.
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04/06/2020
Russian forces in Crimea have carried out massive exercises simulating a full scale missile attack on facilities there. The drills were centred around S-400 battalions stationed in the newly claimed Russian territory - which is still hotly disputed by Ukraine and the Western Bloc and joined the Russian Federation in 2014. The peninsula is among the most heavily fortified of Russian territories, and is on the frontlines of a potential war with NATO or Ukraine.
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04/06/2020
Right now, Hill Air Force Base looks drastically different than it did just a few weeks ago. To help combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, base brass has restricted access to the commissary and restaurants, closed all morale, recreation and welfare centers, and ordered a large percentage of Hill's workforce move to "mission essential reporting" duty status. That status requires that all nonessential base workers stay off the installation unless they are granted permission from a supervisor
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04/05/2020
China is laser-focused on maritime primacy — quite literally. Beijing is leveraging lasers and other emerging technologies to expand and police its offshore sphere of influence and keep American and allied naval power at bay. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) finds it insufficient to fabricate law with expansive nine-dash line claims and coerce others the old-fashioned way via ramming and gunboat diplomacy.
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04/05/2020
“We’re honored to have the Navy’s confidence in our system design and performance that is evident from this additional order,” said Dave Bujold, Boeing’s MQ-25 program director. “This order establishes uninterrupted production of the first MQ-25 aircraft and lines up with the Navy’s MQ-25 test and training plans for fleet introduction. The MQ-25 program is vital in ensuring the Navy can deliver a critical unmanned aerial refueling capability to the carrier air wing.”
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04/04/2020
Boeing has suspended operations at its Ridley Township, Pennsylvania facilities due to the spread of coronavirus, the company said Thursday. The site includes manufacturing and production facilities for military rotorcraft such as the H-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, the MH-139A Grey Wolf multi-mission helicopter and the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft for defense customers, Boeing said.
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04/04/2020
The Chinese defense industrial base is infamous for its tendency to “borrow” from foreign designs, particularly in the aerospace industry. Almost the entirety of China’s modern fighter fleet have either borrowed liberally from or directly copied foreign models.
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04/04/2020
The US Air Force (USAF) Reserve has received its first Lockheed Martin HC-130J Combat King II. The turboprop transport is to be operated by the 39th Rescue Squadron, part of the 920th Rescue Wing, at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, says Lockheed Martin on 2 April. The Reserve flies the older HC-130 P/N Combat King search-and-rescue transport. The USAF received its first HC-130J in 2011. The US Coast Guard also operates a fleet of HC-130Js for search and rescue.
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04/04/2020
The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) has taken delivery of its first Boeing CH-47F Chinook produced in the manufacturer’s latest standard, with its Defence Helicopter Command to eventually operate 20 of the tandem-rotor transports. “The RNLAF made it clear to us that they need the advanced, proven capability of the CH-47F now,” says Andy Builta, the manufacturer’s CH-47 programme manager.
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04/04/2020
The US government has awarded Lockheed Martin $512 million to produce eight F-16 Block 70 fighters for Bulgaria. The project is expected to be completed by 31 January 2027, says the US Department of Defense in a contract announcement. The work will take place in Fort Worth, Texas and at Lockheed’s new F-16 line in Greenville, South Carolina.
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04/03/2020
The agreement puts an end to years of negotiations between the Air Force and aerospace giant over the nature and extent of redesign work needed to correct the Remote Vision System, the collection of cameras and sensors that provide boom operators the imagery needed to steer the boom into another aircraft and safely transfer fuel.
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04/03/2020
Israeli and American fighter pilots held a joint F-35 training drill over southern Israel in recent days, meeting only in the air due to the coronavirus pandemic. Face-to-face meetings for briefings and after-drill reviews were instead conducted over the phone and video conferences. The one-day exercise, held on March 29, and dubbed “Enduring Lightening,” saw fifth-generation jets fly in joint squadrons and tackle a range of mock threats in Israeli skies.
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04/03/2020
The Chinese military command responsible for patrols around Taiwan stepped up its drills by staging a long-endurance early-warning exercise in March, the official PLA Daily reported on Wednesday.
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04/03/2020
The United States Air Force is now considering private contractors to help refuel its bombers and fighters within the next two years as it faces a near-term shortage of refueler aircraft. This comes as the USAF's 2021 budget proposal calls for cutting sixteen active-duty KC-10s and thirteen KC-135s from the active and reserve fleets.
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04/03/2020
US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) plans to conduct a flight demonstration as part of its Armed Overwatch light-attack aircraft prototype project in November 2020. Should SOCOM decide to move forward with Overwatch after demonstrations, one company could be awarded a production contract for 75 aircraft to be delivered over a five- to seven-year period, the service says in a 2 April online notice.
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04/03/2020
The US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is expediting the development of a system that improves low-speed performance of the Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter in poor visibility conditions. US Marine Corps (USMC) operations in the Middle East have showed that in “brownout” conditions caused by sand billowing up from landing zones, helicopters have a tendency to “drift” when attempting to land and take off, NAVAIR says.
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04/03/2020
The US military has conducted joint operations in the Arabian gulf to demonstrate army attack helicopters teaming with naval assets to engaged simulated surface targets. The work involved the army’s Boeing AH-64E attack helicopters operating from the USS Lewis B Puller, an Expeditionary Sea Base ship, says the US Naval Force Central Command.
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04/02/2020
A quarter-century after the last OV-10 Broncos left U.S. military service – not counting experiments and a brief field test in Iraq involving a pair of heavily modified OV-10G+ variants on loan from NASA – U.S. Air Force Forward Air Controllers, now dubbed Joint Terminal Air Controllers (JTACs), may find themselves working with these light attack planes again soon during training programs and exercises.
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04/02/2020
One of their lesser-known, and indeed less-capable airframes is a copy…of a copy. Meet the J/F-7. The F-7 (or sometimes called J-7, after it’s Chinese parent) is an odd duck. The F-7 is a copy of the J-7, which is a copy of the MiG-21. This video of Albanian F-7’s or J-7s shows the decidedly Soviet and antiquated nature of the airframes.
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04/02/2020
Japan has rejected proposals by foreign aircraft manufacturers, including Lockheed Martin, to develop a next-generation combat aircraft based on existing designs under the F-X future fighter program, according to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense’s (MoD’s) Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA).
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04/02/2020
The US Navy (USN) intends to award a sole source contract to Northrop Grumman to start production of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER). The quantity of the forthcoming order was not disclosed, but would be part of low rate initial production lot one, says the service in a notice posted online on 31 March.
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04/02/2020
Moored nose-to-tail in Portsmouth harbour for the first time earlier this year, the UK’s two largest ever warships made an imposing presence, despite the absence of the Lockheed Martin F-35Bs which will in time deliver the Royal Navy (RN) vessels’ firepower during operations around the globe.
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04/01/2020
The captain of an American aircraft carrier deployed to the Pacific Ocean has pleaded with the Pentagon for more help as a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship continues to spread, officials said Tuesday. Military officials say dozens of sailors have been infected.
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04/01/2020
Lockheed Martin picked up three contracts totaling $4.9 billion for work on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft Tuesday, according to the Pentagon. The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter -- a single-engine stealth multirole combat aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps - is considered the most advanced fighter aircraft in the sky.
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04/01/2020
The Swedish air force is poised to begin modernising its pilot training system, with the process from later this decade to involve the interim use of Saab Gripen C/Ds during advanced instruction phases. Stockholm has employed the Saab 105 (Sk 60) for both basic and advanced/tactical training since 1986, but Colonel Torgny Falthammar, Gripen programme head at the nation’s air staff organisation, says steps will be taken to replace the aged type.
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04/01/2020
The US government has cleared a potential sale of Mode 5 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) and the Link 16 tactical datalink to South Korea for its Lockheed Martin F-16s. The deal is worth $194 million, and includes a range of services and equipment related to the acquisition, says the US State Department.
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04/01/2020
Dassault hopes to begin gradually recommencing production at its French facilities in the coming days following an agreement with workforce unions. Final assembly of Rafale combat aircraft and Falcon business jets has been suspended since 18 March, with parts manufacturing similarly halted four days later, in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.
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