September, 2021 Military Aviation News
09/30/2021
The new International Flight Training School (IFTS) is a joint venture between the Italian Air Force and Leonardo. Currently located at the 61° Stormo (Wing) at Galatina Air Base, in southeastern Italy but about to relocate to Decimomannu Air Base, Sardinia, (where a groundbreaking ceremony was held in December 2020 to mark the beginning of the construction works of a modern flight training campus).
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09/30/2021
Yesterday, Jeff Babione, the head of Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works advanced projects division declined to comment in a somewhat cryptic way on a video that emerged last week showing what looked to be a stealthy, advanced fighter aircraft-like test shape at the company's secretive Helendale radar-cross section (RCS) measurement facility. Separately, Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown said he was not aware of the clip and couldn't comment on it.
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09/30/2021
China will debut its next-generation, carrier-borne fighter jet later this year, according to the country’s main state-owned aerospace conglomerate and the chief designer of its current carrier-based fighter jet. This comes as China has demonstrated a pair of its land-based J-20 stealth fighters powered by indigenous engines at the ongoing Zhuhai airshow.
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09/29/2021
Argentina insists reports the country is buying the JF-17 Thunder warplane are premature, but analysts believe it could still succeed where other fighter types failed — mostly as a result of British pressure. Speculation arose after media reports highlighted a request in Argentina’s fiscal 2022 draft budget for $664 million to purchase 12 JF-17s from Pakistan.
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09/29/2021
China has finally showed off its most advanced fighter aircraft with domestic-made engines - a significant milestone as Beijing pushes the capabilities of its J-20 stealth jets in a bid to rival the United States' F-22.
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09/29/2021
Combat aircraft designers at Lockheed Martin Corp. will build 16 new F-35 jet fighter-bombers for the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps under terms of a $1.1 billion order announced Friday. Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. - the organization handling F-35 aviation technology procurement for all military forces - are asking the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics segment in Fort Worth, Texas, to build 16, Lot 15 F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
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09/28/2021
The Defence Ministry inked a nearly ?20,000 crore contract with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to procure 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft which will replace Avro-748 planes of the Indian Air Force. The deal, which was struck on Friday, September 24, is part of a series of measures to promote the private sector and break the monopoly of state-owned entities in defence manufacturing.
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09/28/2021
China’s military will display some of its most advanced weaponry and equipment when the country’s largest airshow gets under way this week. Airshow China opens in the southern city of Zhuhai on Tuesday after a year-long delay as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
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09/28/2021
US Navy aircraft carriers have started deploying with F-35C stealth fighter jets, aircraft that one fighter pilot called "a game changer" and said are making US carriers even more lethal. The first US Navy aircraft carrier to deploy with F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters, the variant engineered for carrier operations, was USS Carl Vinson, which departed San Diego last month and sailed through the South China Sea recently with the "Argonauts" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, on board.
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09/27/2021
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Sunday (Sept. 26) that it recently simulated attacks by enemy aircraft and cruise missiles at the Jiupeng military base to verify the combat effectiveness of its air defense weapons. The MND pointed out that air defense forces moved into pre-selected strategic locations that maximized combat strength preservation to conduct operations against an imaginary enemy and showcase their training, CNA reported.
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09/27/2021
Interestingly, the service is now going for secondhand aircraft instead of brand-new ones to make up for its depleting fighter fleet. The EurAsian Times reported that IAF is buying used Mirage 2000 jets from France. The IAF currently operates 32 squadrons out of its mandated strength of 42. Even the ongoing procurements of 36 Dassault Rafale fighters and 83 indigenous Tejas Mark 1A LCAs will not fill this glaring shortfall.
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09/26/2021
India on Friday formalized the purchase of 56 C-295 military aircraft from Airbus, of which 16 will be manufactured at the European group’s plant in Seville and the remaining 40 in the Asian country in partnership with the local Tata group. The 16 units from Seville assembly lines will be delivered within 48 months, while the remaining 40 will be produced in India over the next 10 years under an industrial partnership with Tata that will involve technology transfer, according to a statement by
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09/26/2021
In recent developments, Iraq has decided to purchase 12 JF-17 Thunder Block III fighter jets from Pakistan. According to reports, the defense deal was approved by both the Iraqi and Pakistani governments, and a formal agreement is expected to be signed in Islamabad next month.
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09/25/2021
Partnering with the government of the Australian state of Queensland, Boeing has selected Toowoomba as the preferred site for the company’s first aircraft assembly facility of its kind outside of North America. Boeing Australia will establish the facility in the Wellcamp Aerospace and Defence Precinct at Wellcamp Airport. To produce and assemble the Boeing Airpower Teaming System (also known as Loyal Wingman).
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09/25/2021
As the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps set about overhauling their in-house red air adversary fleets, the first of three F-5N Tiger II aggressor aircraft set to undergo testing as part of a major upgrade program for the type arrived recently at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. The improved F-5Ns will be better suited to replicate more advanced aerial threats and do so more reliably and safely.
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09/25/2021
Lieutenant-General Michael Loh, who heads the Air National Guard, told reporters about this development at the Air Force Association’s Annual Air, Space and Cyberspace Conference recently. The development of the Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk was a closely guarded secret. The fighter jet program received the green light in the 1970s, at the peak of the Cold War. and took its maiden flight in 1981.
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09/25/2021
China's big international airshow in Zhuhai hasn’t even officially kicked off yet, but we are already getting a peek at what is going to be displayed there. One new development is China's J-16D electronic attack jet being seen with jamming pods for the first time. Now we are getting our first lifesize view of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's Cai Hong (Rainbow) 6, better known by its designation CH-6. It is a long-endurance, twin-jet engine, multirole drone.
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09/25/2021
Taiwan said today that 24 Chinese fighter jets have passed the air defense identification zone (ADIZ) after the island asked to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Progressive and Comprehensive Agreement (CPTPP), which Beijing “categorically” opposes.
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09/23/2021
Argentina’s Ministry of Defense issued an official statement on Tuesday in which it denies having selected the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 Thunder fighter. According to the government, a provision of $664 million was included in the 2022 budget for the acquisition of multifunctional fighter jets, however, the competition is still in the technical and financial evaluation phase of five proposals.
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09/22/2021
When we floated the idea of the Eurofighter Typhoon in the Bangladesh Air Force, most people were shocked. How dare they suggest? They mocked as if Bangladesh Air Force would never be good enough to operate the Eurofighter or any high calibre combat aircraft. This mockery is deep-seeded in the psychology implanted into their minds by the old generation
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09/22/2021
Two Russian Aerospace Forces Tu-160 Blackjacks carried out an 8-hour mission that brought the bombers off the Baltic States on Sept. 21, 2021. According to the Russian MOD, the two strategic missile carriers performed a planned flight in airspace over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. The missile-carrier bombers were escorted by two Su-35S aircraft of the Aerospace Force and two Su-27 fighters of the Baltic Fleet’s naval aviation during their mission.
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09/22/2021
The Argentine Defense Ministry published a memo on Tuesday (21) outlining the news that the country will acquire JF-17 Thunder, Block 3 fighters of Chinese-Pakistani origin. On September 17, profile Section AEROSINT PSF — moderated by the Pakistan Strategic Forum of Pakistani Defense Experts — tweeted that Argentina was to include $664 million in funding to buy 12 PAC JF-17A/B Block III fighters (10 JF-17A single-seat and two JF-17B two-seater) in the 2022 draft budget submitted to the governmen
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09/21/2021
The 144th Fighter Wing welcomed the arrival of two F-117 Nighthawk aircraft Sept 13, 2021 to the Fresno Air National Guard Base, California, to conduct dissimilar air combat training missions.
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09/20/2021
The Air Force is moving forward with an amphibious, pontoon-equipped version of the MC-130J Commando II used by its special operators -- and hopes to be able to fly a prototype of the aircraft in less than a year and a half. A U.S. Special Operations Command official said at a conference in May that the military was considering developing an amphibious MC-130, but that concerns about feasibility meant that the Air Force would take a hard look at the idea before proceeding.
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09/20/2021
A military training jet crashed Sunday in a neighborhood near Fort Worth, Texas, injuring the two pilots and damaging three homes but not seriously hurting anyone on the ground, authorities said. Both pilots managed to eject from the plane before it crashed in Lake Worth, which is just west of Fort Worth, authorities said at a news conference.
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09/19/2021
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" on Friday, a statement from the US Navy's Seventh Fleet said. "The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific", it said, adding that the US military "flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows".
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09/19/2021
Three U.S. Air Force Airmen make final preparations for a 37th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules aircraft out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to drop 16 Polish special forces members at an abandoned runway near Biala Podlaska, Poland, during Aviation Detachment Rotation 21-4, Sept 15, 2021.
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09/19/2021
Argentina intends to purchase 12 JF-17A Block III fighters from Pakistan according to a draft budget presented to the nation's congress. The news was disclosed on several media webs, including ukdefensejournal. ”The Government of Argentina has officially included US$ 664 Million in funding for the purchase of 12 PAC JF-17A Block III fighters from Pakistan in a draft budget for 2022 presented to its Parliament.”
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09/18/2021
Argentina plans to purchase 12 JF-17 Thunder aircrafts from Pakistan, it emerged on Friday. The news was revealed by Pakistan Strategic Forum on Twitter, stating that the South American country has officially included $664 million in funding for the purchase of fighter jets in a draft budget for 2022 presented to its Parliament.
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09/18/2021
A drill to test the counterstrike capabilities of the domestically-built Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) was held in Taichung Friday, marking the end of the five-day live-fire component of the Han Kuang exercises.
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09/18/2021
In an attempt to strengthen its fleet of fourth-generation fighters, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to acquire 24 second-hand Mirage 2000 fighters, made by Dassault Aviation. The IAF will also secure parts for its two existing squadrons of the aircraft. According to a Hindustan Times report, people in the know have said that IAF has initiated a contract worth €27 million with the manufacturer to buy the fighters, eight of which are in ready-to-fly condition.
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09/18/2021
Northrop Grumman’s Scaled Composites has unveiled a low-cost model of an optionally-crewed aircraft designed to fly alongside manned aircraft in a “loyal wingman” role. Evolving from the aerospace firm’s experimental Model 401 aircraft, the Model 437 technology demonstrator has a reported range of 3,000 miles (4,828 km) and a cruising speed of Mach 0.8. Its payload bay can carry 1,000 pounds (454 kg) of cargo.
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09/18/2021
Taiwan's air force scrambled on Friday to warn away 10 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, Taiwan's defence ministry said, the day after the island announced a $9 billion boost to military spending to counter the threat from China. Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
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09/17/2021
MBDA and BAE Systems have secured additional funding from the British and Italian governments to complete integration of key weapon systems destined to add capability to their F-35 combat jet fleets, the companies announced Sept 17. The cash injection will see MBDA’s SPEAR precision surface attack missile and Meteor air-to-air weapon integrated on the aircraft.
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09/17/2021
The U.S. Air Force has a tanker problem. Just one thing can solve it. A drone. A small, stealthy drone. It’s increasingly clear service leaders understand this. But they’re in no rush to do anything about it. The problem is obvious. In the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. military flies most of its warplanes from just a handful of big bases. And those bases—namely, Kadena in Okinawa and Andersen in Guam—are many hundreds, or even thousands, of miles from likely combat zones over the China and Phi
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09/17/2021
No matter what happens after much drama, tension, and delay -- it is assured that one of the finest multirole combat aircraft in the world; either the Eurofighter Typhoon or Dassault Rafale is arriving to defend the skies of Bangladesh.
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09/17/2021
China’s deployment of radar, anti-ship and anti-air missile platforms, and combat aircraft to outposts in the South China Sea has greatly expanded its ability to project power in waters far from its coast, according to a US think tank. “This feature will illustrate how these three capabilities are fundamentally linked, and how China’s aircraft carriers can take advantage of them to comfortably conduct operations at greater distances,” the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said Wednes
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09/17/2021
Airmen with the 332nd AEW continue to return to base following various forward deployments in support of the Afghanistan noncombatant evacuation operation. Overall, more than 100 332nd AEW personnel forward deployed to Afghanistan and various bases in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to assist in operations.
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09/17/2021
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has started working with digital twin technology for the design and production of the National Combat Aircraft (MMU), Turkey’s long-awaited 5th generation fighter jet due to leave the hangar on March 18, 2023.
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09/17/2021
Somewhere in the California skies, a real-life scenario similar to scenes from the movie classic “Top Gun” has been playing out this week. And those planes in mock combat have been taking off out of Fresno. A pair of F-117 fighter jets arrived in town Monday for aerial combat training against the F-15 planes based out of the 144th Fighter Wing, the military airbase located next to Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
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09/16/2021
Japan could be the next partner nation for the trinational, British-led next-generation fighter program, an official hinted at the DSEI arms trade show in London. The United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy are jointly developing cutting-edge technologies to feed into the Future Combat Air System effort. The FCAS is to eventually lead to a core fighter aircraft and a raft of new capabilities alongside it by 2035.
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09/16/2021
Taiwan said it intercepted a fleet of nine military aircraft that took off from coastal China and flew sorties near the island on Wednesday, as the Taiwanese armed forces conducted anti-landing drills as part of their largest annual exercise.
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09/15/2021
The United States may not be the only power to utterly and completely disregard Beijing's claims to the near entirety of the South China Sea. Just last month, China announced that it would demand that all "foreign ships" report their course, call signs, and cargo before entering what Beijing has said are its territorial waters.
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09/15/2021
Air Force Reserve Command kicked off a week-long exercise, Rally in the Rockies 2021, by landing a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft on the highway near Rawlins, Wyoming on September 13, according to a release from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Services (DVIDS).
Military officials say that the highway closed early in the morning to ensure the aircrew could safely practice recovering personnel without access to a runway within simulated enemy territory.
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09/15/2021
On the day that America observed the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, its most potent tool for responding to future such assaults was operating near the places they are most likely to originate. The USS Ronald Reagan, hosting 90 strike fighters and other combat aircraft, was underway in the North Arabian Sea, near the mouth of the Persian Gulf and within easy reach of Afghanistan.
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09/13/2021
A British firm is set to strike a deal that will see it design and develop a replacement for the Red Arrows' aircrafts. Suffolk-based Aeralis was given £200,000 by the RAF to develop a new aircraft that could be converted from basic trainer to aggressive fighter by swapping engines and wings earlier this year.
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09/13/2021
The Han Kuang exercises, the nation’s major war games, are to start today and run for five days. The drills are to include a military aircraft emergency takeoff and landing exercise on a regular roadway on Wednesday, featuring all three fighter jet models in Taiwan’s fleet, a military source said last week.
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09/13/2021
Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi, a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate Rostec, introduced a new fighter, dubbed “Checkmate,” at the 2021 edition of the biennial Russian MAKS Airshow. The reveal followed what is perhaps the most sophisticated mass-marketing campaign of any Russian military hardware product, replete with multiple teasers and promotional videos, slick chess iconography, a dedicated splash page with a countdown timer, and a healthy dose of Twitter trolling.
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09/13/2021
"Excellent news: Greece has just announced its intention to acquire six additional Rafales. Together, we are working to build true European autonomy," French Defence Minister Florence Parly tweeted. Greece was the first European country to buy the combat jets made by Dassault Aviation.
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09/13/2021
A Middle-East nation, amid regional tensions, is spearheading massive modernization efforts to replace its aging Mirage 2000 fighter fleet. Billions of dollars have been invested in a bid to procure 96 super-sophisticated aircraft. The US, the UK, and France are the key recipients of these contracts. One of the richest nations in the world is now interested to acquire F-35s from the US after signing deals to acquire Dassault Rafales, Eurofighter Typhoons, Boeing F-15EX.
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09/12/2021
F-16 fighter jets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) were scrambled in response to a potential air threat on Saturday morning (Sept 11). A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "After ensuring that our security was not compromised, we stood down our aircraft." Mindef added that on average, RSAF fighter aircraft are deployed to investigate and deal with 350 potential air threats each year.
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09/12/2021
On Sunday, Taiwan accused China of sending 19 strike fighters, four strategic bombers and one surveillance aircraft into its air defence zone. Since 2013, it’s launched more than 4400 flights to test the defences of its least compliant neighbours. Why? International affairs analysts say they’ve uncovered a pattern.
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09/12/2021
Col. Todd Nehls of the Wisconsin Army National Guard had just completed a year-long tour of duty for the National Guard Bureau, to be the Wisconsin National Guard’s subject matter expert on terrorism, shortly before the Sept. 11 terror attacks. “I was in disbelief,” Nehls said when he learned that terrorists had flown passenger jetliners into both World Trade Center towers. “Though this was a scenario talked about for years, few listed it as probable.”
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09/11/2021
Russia’s Su-30SM multi-role fighter jets arrived in Belarus to form a joint military training center for the two countries’ air forces and air defense, the Belarusian defense ministry reported on Wednesday. The aircraft landed at the Baranovichi airfield in the Brest region, 94 kilometers away from Hrodna, which homes the training center. The aviators are supposed to carry out joint combat duty to guard and patrol the borders of the supranational Union State.
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09/10/2021
Indonesia has quietly signed a contract with Lockheed Martin for C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, multiple sources have told Defense News. Photos taken during the Indonesian Air Force chief’s visit to the aircraft’s production line suggests construction on the first aircraft is underway. The government and industry sources told Defense News that Indonesia will acquire five C-130Js under a Direct Commercial Sales contract.
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09/10/2021
A second U.S. Marine Corps squadron in Japan has declared its F-35B fighters are ready for operations, less than a year after officially kicking off the process of transitioning to the stealthy fifth-generation aircraft. The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing announced Thursday that Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 attained initial operational capability with the Lockheed Martin-made jet, 10 months after transitioning away from the Boeing-made F/A-18D Hornet.
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09/10/2021
During Red Flag Alaska 21-3, fighter jets complete multiple sorties, practice tactical maneuvers, and multi-squadron simulated combat objectives. Spending numerous hours in the air at a time requires a hefty load of fuel to keep them airborne. How are fighter jets able to stay in the air for prolonged periods? It’s in large part because of the KC-135 Stratotanker, which acts as a gas station in the sky, allowing jets to refuel midflight without the need to touch back down.
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09/10/2021
The U.S. Navy’s second new America-class Amphibious Assault Ship, which can carry F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, is now making great progress toward deployment and operational service with the completion of the Final Contract Trials (FTC).
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09/09/2021
A Navy aircraft carrier strike group and a destroyer steamed separately through the South China Sea on Wednesday, just days after China imposed a law requiring foreign vessels to give notice before entering waters claimed by Beijing. The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold “asserted navigation rights and freedoms” within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, according to a 7th Fleet news release Wednesday.
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09/09/2021
India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday cleared the much-delayed purchase of 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft to replace the Indian Air Force’s ageing fleet of Avro-748 planes, the defence ministry announced on Wednesday. The deal is expected to be worth $2.5 billion.
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09/09/2021
Members of the 1st Fighter Wing and 192nd Wing from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, participated in Red Flag Alaska 21-3 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, from Aug. 12 - 27, 2021. Red Flag-Alaska 21-3 is a large-scale exercise meant to simulate a real-world combat scenario, hosted by Pacific Air Forces and conducted over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex.
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09/09/2021
The Indian Air Force (IAF) would procure 350 more aircraft over the next two decades, including a fleet of Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), said IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, on Wednesday. All efforts, he added, would be made to procure combat aircraft from indigenous sources.
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09/09/2021
Turkey is open to foreign cooperation in jointly manufacturing its defence industry projects such as its planned 3rd generation national combat aircraft, Ismail Demir, the head of Turkish Defence Industries Directorate (SSB) said. Turkey can negotiate with those who want to participate under its own terms, Demir told state-run broadcaster TRT on Monday.
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09/08/2021
There’s a war going on and, like it or not, you’ve already been drafted into it. But there’s no battlefield, no explosions, and no uniforms in this fight. Instead, it’s unfolding in Reddit threads, Facebook comments, and other social media forums where people swap information and, unwittingly or not, disinformation.
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09/08/2021
A new tactical aircraft study underway could make certain what has until now been a suspicion: The U.S. Air Force is unlikely to purchase all of the 1,763 F-35A jets in its program of record.
The service is undertaking the study as it readies its fiscal 2023 budget and grapples with reducing the types of fighters it flies from seven to four main platforms by 2030, as prescribed by the service’s chief of staff.
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09/07/2021
A scheduled military aircraft emergency takeoff and landing drill on a regular roadway will take place early in the morning on Sept. 15 and feature all three models of fighter jets in Taiwan's fleet, a military source told CNA on Monday. The drill will begin at 6:30 a.m. on a 3-kilometer section of Provincial Highway No. 1 near Jiadong and Fangliao in Pingtung County, and feature an Indigenous Defensive Fighter (IDF), an F-16V, a Mirage 2000-5, and a E-2K airborne early warning aircraft, the sou
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09/07/2021
The defence ministry said 19 aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers entered its so-called air defence identification zone (ADIZ). Taipei has been complaining for more than a year about repeated missions by China's air force near the island. China sees democratic Taiwan as a breakaway province, but Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign state.
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09/07/2021
U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, who leads Air Combat Command, wishes he could tell the public more about the service’s secretive sixth-generation fighter program, Next Generation Air Dominance. Last September, the Air Force disclosed that a full-scale NGAD demonstrator had already flown, signaling that the program is further along than most outside aerospace analysts predicted.
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09/06/2021
Satellite photos expose a showdown brewing in the South China Sea. Against all assurances, Beijing has armed its artificial island fortresses with aircraft and warships. Now the world is pushing back. Beijing said it guaranteed free and open access to the South China Sea’s shipping lanes. Beijing said it would never militarise the region. But that’s all changed.
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09/06/2021
The Chinese-claimed island dispatched combat aircrafts to warn away the Chinese advances, as well as monitoring them with missile systems, according to the defence ministry. The ministry reported ten J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, along with an anti-submarine aircraft. Reportedly four H-6 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, were also among the Chinese aircraft. Taiwan reported the latest incursion into its airspace on Sunday.
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09/06/2021
India is pitching its HAL Tejas light combat aircraft to the Southeast Asian country. “The Russian side is considering the possibility of Rosoboronexport’s [Russia’s state arms exporter] participation with MiG-35 in the Malaysian Air Force tender for the supply of training and light combat aircraft.
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09/06/2021
Taiwan's air force scrambled on Sunday against renewed Chinese military activity, with its defence ministry reporting that 19 aircraft including nuclear-capable bombers had flown into Taiwan's air defence identification zone. Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the self-ruled island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
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09/05/2021
Two Philippine Air Force (PAF) jets scrambled to intercept an unidentified foreign aircraft spotted flying toward the country’s airspace last Thursday. In a statement, the PAF said it deployed two FA-50 aircraft to intercept the unknown aircraft, which was detected flying about 120 nautical miles northwest of Bolinao, Pangasinan.
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09/05/2021
Five sailors missing after a helicopter went into the sea after crashing on the deck of an aircraft carrier on Monday are now presumed dead, U.S. 3rd Fleet said today. The MH-60S was on the deck of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) when an unspecified mishap caused the helicopter to fall into the Pacific about 60 miles off the coast of San Diego, Calif., on Aug. 31 at 4:30 p.m. local time.
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09/05/2021
One of the lesser-known Lightning II variants, the F-35B is nonetheless slated to become a core pillar of the Marine Corps’ ability to project power. Although commonly referred to in the singular, Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter is technically three different planes: the F-35A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variant that is being procured by the US Air Force (USAF) to phase out the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) varian
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09/05/2021
The Liberian-flagged tanker Mercer Street was transiting through the Gulf of Oman on July 29, bound for the United Arab Emirates, when it was attacked by two delta-winged drones packed full of explosives. The startled crew issued several distress calls. But before help could arrive, a third drone slammed into the pilothouse early in the morning of July 30. The explosion ripping a six-foot-hole in the vessel and killing the ship’s Romanian captain and his British bodyguard.
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09/05/2021
The U.S. Navy has just unveiled one of its latest ships: the Kansas City LCS 22, an Independence-Class Littoral, in San Diego. It is one of the most nimble ships the Navy has ever created. It's also controversial, with critics calling out its troubled history and saying it breaks down too easily. As recently as 2018, and after billions of dollars in investment, it wasn't clear the Littoral Combat Ship program had much of a future at all.
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09/04/2021
The UAE and Egyptian navies have embarked on a 10-day joint marine drill in Emirati waters as part of the countries' Zayed 3 military exercise programme. Zayed 3 was launched in May, and has also featured land and air elements. It is the third such joint exercise between the UAE and Egypt since 2014.
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09/04/2021
The crews of Su-24 bombers and Su-30SM multirole fighters of the Baltic Fleet’s naval aviation delivered precision bombing strikes from an altitude of 2,000-meters against targets that simulated a notional enemy’s command posts, manpower and combat hardware during drills in the Kaliningrad Region, the Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.
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09/04/2021
No requests have come from foreign states yet for the purchase of Russia’s most advanced Checkmate light tactical fighter jet, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Friday. "No," he said in response to a corresponding question.
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09/04/2021
South Korea's planned aircraft carrier could have a distinctly British flavor. In fact, it could be a mini version of the Queen Elizabeth. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) this week signed a memorandum of understanding with top British defense contractor, Babcock International, to work together to design and build the new CVX, South Korea's light aircraft carrier.
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09/03/2021
Senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Motaqi has called on the residents of the Panjshir Valley to lay down their weapons, but there is little sign of them complying. Dozens of Taliban fighters are said to have been killed in skirmishes along its borders since 15 August, when Kabul fell, and fighting is continuing.
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09/03/2021
Even though the Biden administration has stopped its efforts to evacuate people from Afghanistan, private citizens are working around the clock to rescue those who have been left behind. The group Ark Salus intends to rescue Afghans who helped the U.S. military during nearly two decades of war.
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09/03/2021
A Philippine aircraft carrying soldiers crashed in July after an "unrecoverable stall", killing more than 50 people in one of the country's worst military air disasters, the armed forces said Thursday. The C-130 Hercules transport plane was loaded with nearly a hundred people, most of them fresh army graduates, when it overshot the runway while trying to land on the southern island of Jolo in Sulu province.
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09/03/2021
U.S. troops destroyed or disabled nearly 100 combat vehicles and dozens of aircraft before vacating the airport in Kabul on Monday, in a last-ditch bid to deprive the Taliban of the use of some American military equipment.
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09/01/2021
Hours after the U.S. Military officially withdrew from Afghanistan Monday, video surfaced of Taliban fighters celebrating at Kabul’s airport. The militants can be seen sitting inside cockpits of airplanes and helicopters the U.S. provided to the Afghan Air Force. While U.S. forces were able to get some of the equipment out of the country, much of it was abandoned. The Pentagon says troops disabled the gear before they left Afghanistan.
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09/01/2021
It’s a rare thing for an alliance to last as long as the ANZUS Treaty, signed 70 years ago today. A Brookings Institution study in 2010 reviewed 63 major alliances over the past 500 years and found only 10 lasted more than 40 years. These included NATO, ANZUS and the US–Japan treaty.
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09/01/2021
The Nigerian air force has about a squadron worth of light attack aircraft — their pilots and maintainers trained by U.S. Air Force personnel — to fight terrorists in the African nation. U.S. Africa Command noted the induction ceremony for the A-29 Super Tucano, a turboprop light attack aircraft, in an Aug. 31 release.
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09/01/2021
Red Flag-Alaska 21-3 concluded at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Aug. 27, strengthening interoperability and showcasing air dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. RF-A is a Pacific Air Forces-sponsored multinational exercise that provides a simulated combat environment through a series of large force employment training, close air support, and joint offensive counter-air exercises.
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