May 30, 2020 Military Aviation News

Attrition: Death And Rebirth In Syria

05/30/2020

The Syrian Air Force suffered major losses between 2011 and 2015 as their aircraft and helicopters were unleashed on rebels and civilian supporters. The Syrian warplanes were in no shape for this much activity and took a beating. Of the 370 usable fixed wing war planes available in early 2011, after two years about half were out of action because of combat or wear and tear.

B-1s Fly with Ukrainian, Turkish Jets over Black Sea

05/30/2020

Two B-1B Lancers on May 29 flew another long-range bomber task force flight to Eastern Europe, integrating with Ukrainian fighter jets and Turkish KC-135s for the first time as well as multiple other allied nations. The flight of B-1s from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., marked a rare trip into the Black Sea region where they met with Ukrainian Su-27s and MiG-29s.

The 60-Year-Old F-5 Tiger: Still a Killer Combat Aircraft?

05/30/2020

It has been sixty years since the first prototype of the Northrop F-5 family of lightweight fighter-bombers took its first flight on July 30, 1959. The F-5 played an important but understated role in the Vietnam War and continues to fly today—albeit with updated equipment—with some air forces and private combat flight training contractors, proving its capability to compete with some of the latest technologically superior light fighters.

Russia keeps unmarked MiG-29 fighters at Khmeymim Air Base

05/30/2020

U.S. Africa Command observed movement of Russian combat aircraft at Khmeymim Air Base in Syria. Last week, the intelligence spotted there a batch of unmarked MiG-29 Fulcrums, the fourth-generation fighter jets. It appears that the planes landed there before departing to Libya, where they could "support forces aligned with rogue Libyan general Khalifa Haftar, who has been fighting for years against the country's U.N.-recognized government". Warzone.com reported that, citing the social media.

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