May, 2023 Military Aviation News
05/31/2023
Aiming to secure support for Sweden's bid to join NATO, U.S. President Joe Biden signaled a transactional approach in his engagement with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The newly reelected Turkish leader has been one of the most consequential yet complicated members of the transatlantic military alliance.
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05/31/2023
Poland plans to purchase at least two Swedish early warning aircraft to complement additional tethered warning systems, but they’re perhaps not the planes some observers had been expecting. Early last week Poland’s defense minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, announced that he and his Swedish counterpart, Pal Jonson, had been in discussion, and Warsaw was “very advanced in acquiring early warning aircraft from Sweden.
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05/31/2023
The Botswana Defence Force is in talks with India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with a view to acquiring several of its Tejas fighter planes. In a move aimed at enhancing its defence capabilities, the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) is currently engaged in talks with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), India’s state-owned aerospace and defense company.
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05/31/2023
A People's Republic of China J-16 fighter pilot performed an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver during the intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, May 26, 2023. The PRC pilot flew directly in front of the nose of the RC-135, forcing the U.S. aircraft to fly through its wake turbulence. The RC-135 was conducting safe and routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace, in accordance with international law.
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05/30/2023
Josh Lospinoso’s first cybersecurity startup was acquired in 2017 by Raytheon/Forcepoint. His second, Shift5, works with the U.S. military, rail operators and airlines including JetBlue. A 2009 West Point grad and Rhodes Scholar, the 36-year-old former Army captain spent more than a decade authoring hacking tools for the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.
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05/30/2023
The trilateral drills will be done off Bataan province that’s facing the South China Sea from June 1 to 7, according to a Philippine Coast Guard statement Monday. The exercises will “strengthen interoperability” and will include maritime law enforcement training and maneuvering drills, it said.
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05/30/2023
The Ministry of Armed Forces tabled the amendment earlier this month to provide more information about the Rafale program’s upcoming efforts, particularly those related to the new F5 version that will be developed under the Military Planning Program (LPM) 2024-2030.
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05/29/2023
Russia unleashed waves of air strikes on Kyiv overnight in what officials said was the largest drone attack of the city but crowds poured into the streets later on Sunday to celebrate the anniversary of the Ukrainian capital's founding. Ukrainian military said it had downed 58 of the 59 launched drones, described by the air force as a record assault with the Iranian-made "kamikaze" drones. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said all 36 drones targeting Kyiv had been destroyed.
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05/29/2023
Tensions between Afghanistan and Iran escalated over the weekend after a heavy exchange of gunfire near a border post that killed at least three people and wounded several others. The clash appeared to have its roots in a simmering dispute over the rights of the two neighbors to their shared water resources.
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05/29/2023
Malaysia’s MoD signed several contracts for aircraft – Italian-built maritime patrol aircraft, Turkish MALE UAVs and South Korean light combat aircraft – at LIMA 2023 in Langkawi on 25 May. The deal for three Anka-S MALE UAVs was worth MYR423.8 million ($91.6 million) to Turkish Aerospace, and it was much awaited given that the two parties signed a letter of intent in around October 2022 after the RMAF had selected the Anka-S.
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05/28/2023
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have become synonymous with modern warfare. During the early phases of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the latter’s Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2s made international headlines by destroying scores of Russian tanks, armored vehicles, and air-defense systems with seeming impunity.
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05/28/2023
The Canadian defense minister Anita Anand announced at the 12th Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting on May 25 that Canada will supply the Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles to Kyiv. The announcement was part of a larger military assistance program for Ukraine.
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05/27/2023
While in Manila, Senator Penny Wong declared that Australia is committed to continuing its presence in the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea to maintain peace and stability in the region. She added that Australia is open to cooperating with all like-minded states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight over the South China Sea. And in this respect, Australia considers the Philippines a long-standing and important security partner.
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05/27/2023
Egypt is in advanced talks with China for the purchase of around 12 of the latest version of the J-10 Vigorous Dragon multirole combat fighter jet, The New Arab reports. Talks between the two sides started last year and the North African country is expected to send representatives of its Air force to the Chinese state-owned Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group at the International Maritime and Aeronautical Exhibition in Malaysia later this week, the London-based media stressed.
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05/27/2023
Today, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder explained in further detail that the training, and any eventual transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine is meant to support mid- and long-term defense needs, rather than defense in the short term for an expected counter-offensive against Russian forces.
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05/27/2023
Swedish defense minister has revealed that the Scandinavian country is considering training Ukrainian pilots on its JAS-39 Gripen fighter jets as an international coalition to train and deploy Western aircraft to Ukraine is slowly taking shape.
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05/26/2023
Sweden and Poland are negotiating the sale of the GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft. These aircraft will allow Poland to detect, monitor, and target low-flying objects like Russian cruise missiles. However, GlobalEye provides much more than that; it is a multiplier of combat capabilities for air, land, and sea units.
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05/26/2023
The Air Force has selected the Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing as the preferred location to host the service’s next F-35A Lightning II training squadron. The F-35A is the Air Force’s latest and most-capable fifth-generation fighter. The basing decision announced today becomes final when a Record of Decision is signed upon favorable completion of an Environmental Impact Statement on the proposal now underway.
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05/26/2023
The CEO of French group Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, is opposed to European countries that have opted for the US F-35 fighter jet – Belgium in particular – joining the Future Air Combat System (SCAF) programme, which links France, Germany and Spain.
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05/26/2023
The National Guard reports the destruction of one and damage to another Russian Su-25 attack aircraft on the Zaporizhzhia front. One of them was shot down by the Hero of Ukraine, a guardsman with the call sign Bandyt, nicknamed Zaporizskyi Mesnyk (Avenger from Zaporizhzhia).
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05/24/2023
Taiwan has equipped its most sophisticated fighter jet, the F-16 Viper, with new air-to-air missiles in what is being seen as a response to People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes routinely flying sorties close to the self-governing island.
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05/24/2023
South Korea has signed a contract with Malaysia for the export of 18 FA-50 light attack jets, with South Korean Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup attending the signing ceremony.
Earlier, India’s LCA Tejas and Turkey’s Hurjet were considered key contenders for the Malaysian contract but eventually lost to South Korea.
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05/24/2023
The United States Department of Defense has reportedly turned down Thailand’s request to procure advanced fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets, reported Bangkok Post, citing a Royal Thai Air Force source. However, the US has extended an alternative proposal, offering the Southeast Asian nation the opportunity to purchase F-16 Block 70 and F-15 Eagle fighters, the report said.
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05/23/2023
During a meeting with his European Union counterparts in Brussels, the head of the Portuguese diplomacy considered his nation lacks available combat aircraft to send to Ukraine, although it is open to train pilots for the F-16s, according to television reports. Portugal does not have an unlimited number of combat aircrafts, only the necessary ones, in order to fulfill national defense tasks and commitments within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the official noted.
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05/23/2023
In December 2022, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom signed an agreement to partner in the development of a sixth-generation stealth fighter aircraft. The goal of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) is to produce aircraft ready for export and deployment by 2035. This represents a new frontier for Japanese weaponry co-development and is a prime opportunity to enhance regional security cooperation.
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05/23/2023
Only one company will be chosen next year as the overall designer and developer of the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) crewed fighter, despite years of prototype work on different designs by several companies, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said May 22.
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05/22/2023
The US says it will allow its Western allies to supply Ukraine with advanced fighter jets, including American-made F-16s, in a major boost for Kyiv. National security adviser Jake Sullivan said President Joe Biden "informed his G7 counterparts" of the decision at the bloc's summit in Japan on Friday. US troops will also train Kyiv's pilots to use the jets, Mr Sullivan said.
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05/20/2023
The US Air Force has formally begun the competition for its highly-classified Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter aircraft. A contract solicitation for the program’s engineering and manufacturing phase was recently issued to industry partners. The solicitation marks the start of the source selection process and provides interested vendors with the requirements for the sixth-generation aircraft development.
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05/20/2023
Denmark will train Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets and is open to discussions on their possible transfer, Acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on May 19. Speaking with Danish media outlets DR and Ritzau, Poulsen didn't provide any further details on the training, saying its format would be finalized with allies during the next month. "We are open to discussing – once we have made the training efforts – whether we should go one step further and donate F-16 fighter jet
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05/20/2023
After months of U.S. insistence that Ukraine did not need F-16s to fight its war with Russia, Washington finally relented to pressure, agreeing not to stop allied nations from sending Kyiv the advanced Western fighter jets it has long desired.
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05/19/2023
The B-2 Spirit is returning to the skies, Air Force officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The first aircraft is projected to take off May 22 after a break in flying operations due to a safety pause. The return to flight was recently approved by Air Force Global Strike Command boss Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, after a roughly six-month safety pause following a mishap in December.
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05/19/2023
NATO Defense Ministers will discuss the issue of a possible transfer of Western fighter jets to Ukraine at a meeting in June, which will precede the Alliance summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Spiegel. Commenting on the issue of a possible transfer of Western fighter jets to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said the supply of weapons developed as the war progressed, the European Pravda publication said.
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05/19/2023
Adedeji Ebo was briefing the Security Council on the issue of Western weapons supplies to Ukraine, called by permanent member Russia – the fourth time it has been presented for discussion in light of the ongoing conflict. The Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs said the transfers of weapons systems and ammunition from Western governments backing Kyiv, was no secret, including battle tanks, combat aircraft, missile systems and helicopters.
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05/19/2023
The plan of the Armada Argentina (Argentine Navy) to reactivate its squadron of fighter aircraft ended. According to Zona Militar, the five Dassault Super Étendard Modernisé jets, bought second-hand from France in 2019, will not be activated. The decision was taken by the Ministry of Defense of the country this week.
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05/19/2023
The U.S. Air Force has formally launched a competition to build its new fighter jet, the Pentagon’s first in two decades, with the winner to be selected next year. The acquisition strategy for the Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, aircraft “incorporates lessons learned from recent Air Force acquisition programs and will leverage open architecture standards,” the Air Force said in a statement released Thursday.
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05/19/2023
Northrop Grumman has once again incorporated what seems to be its notional Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) crewed platform concept into its latest advertisements. This follows another ad from 2021 that teased the same design, although that ad didn’t offer a wide-angle view of it.
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05/17/2023
The historical alliance between South Korea and the United States has led to a reliance on US defence equipment and a considerable market share for US suppliers. However, South Korea’s ongoing indigenous programs indicate its intent to expand its defence capabilities and foster competition within the market.
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05/17/2023
Raytheon Technologies and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) have partnered to upgrade the FA-50 light combat aircraft’s radar technology. Under the collaboration, Raytheon will equip the jet with its proprietary PhantomStrike radars that provide long-range threat identification, tracking, and targeting. The production will be carried out in the US states of Arizona and Mississippi as well as in Scotland.
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05/16/2023
A People’s Liberation Army Navy surface action group is continuing its circumnavigation of Japan ahead of the annual G-7 summit later this month in Hiroshima. The surface action group – which includes cruiser CNS Lhasa (102), destroyer CNS Guiyang (119), frigate CNS Zaozhuang (542) and fleet oiler CNS Taihu (889) – was sighted at midnight on Thursday sailing southwest in an area 56 miles east of Sumisu Island, part of the Izu Island chain that lies south of Japan’s capital of Tokyo.
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05/16/2023
The UK announced on Monday that this summer country will commence an elementary flying phase for cohorts of Ukrainian pilots to learn basic training. “This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke. They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
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05/16/2023
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a versatile combat aircraft with a long history of being tested and proven effective in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack. This compact jet offers a high-performance weapon system at a relatively low cost, making it an attractive choice for the United States and its allies.
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05/16/2023
U.S. fighter jets intercepted six Russian aircraft last week operating in international airspace near Alaska, military officials announced Monday. F-16 and F-22 fighter jets on Thursday intercepted Russian aircraft that included TU-95 bombers, IL-78 tankers and SU-35 fighter jets, according to officials with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. The Russian planes remained in international airspace and did not enter U.S. or Canadian territory.
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05/16/2023
Ukraine has no permanent seat at the G7 leaders’ summit. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already made sure his talking points will dominate discussions at the G7’s annual get-together in Japan this weekend. Zelenskyy arrived in the U.K. unexpectedly Monday morning after visiting Italy, Germany and France as part of a diplomatic blitz designed to ramp up military support for his country and — crucially — to build the case among Western allies for modern jet aircraft to be shipped
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05/15/2023
U.S. fighter jets intercepted six Russian aircraft operating in international airspace near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said on Sunday. NORAD described the interception as "routine" and said they happen roughly six or seven times per year in the so-called Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone.The Russian planes included TU-95 bombers, IL-78 tankers and SU-35 fighter jets, NORAD said in a written statement.
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05/15/2023
A former Irish Air Corps captain tells Sky News the existence of a deal with the RAF was an "open secret" among Irish pilots - as a 2022 report warned Ireland "has no air defence capability of any significance".
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05/15/2023
The US Air Force updated the Senate Armed Service Committee regarding the status of its top-secret missile project earlier this month, saying that it could be entering production sometime later this year and at an accelerated rate. This next-generation air-to-air missile program, dubbed by the service as AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, or JATM, has been tightly kept under wraps since it first emerged mid- to late-2010s. It is one, if not the most significant ongoing future weapon projec
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05/14/2023
Located only 200 km from NATO-members Finland and Norway, Olenya Air Base is closely watched by military analysts. The 3,500 m runway normally serves a small fleet of elderly Tu-22M supersonic bombers and a few An-12 military transport planes. Last autumn, however, the role of the air base as a forward deployment field for long-range aviation was activated.
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05/14/2023
After spending over twelve years in the shipyard in Newport News, the US Navy‘s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), has recently departed from its naval homeport for its first global deployment. The lead ship of her class, the USS Gerald R. Ford, previously conducted operations and training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean following its commissioning in 2017.
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05/14/2023
In a sensational development, Ukrainian forces reportedly downed four Russian aircraft on May 13, 2023 – two Russian Mi-8 helicopters, one Su-34 fighter bomber, and one Su-35S fighter. No concrete video evidence of the Su-35S shootdown has been released till the time of posting this report.
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05/14/2023
The MiG-21 LanceR was the longest serving fighter jet in Romanian Air Force. After 61 years of career, the iconic MiG-21 LanceR, the longest-lived fighter aircraft in the history of the Romanian Air Force, successfully completed its final flight mission at Boboc, in eastern Romania. The last flight was celebrated with the traditional passage under a water tunnel.
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05/13/2023
The U.S. Air Force has since the early 2010s concentrated a growing portion of its investments into preparations for a potential hot war against a major state adversary in the Western Pacific. The shift followed the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia,” aimed at reorienting American military and diplomatic attentions toward countering China.
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05/13/2023
Taiwan's air defense capabilities have come into focus in recent weeks, after the Washington Post reported that Taiwan would struggle to handle aerial offensive operations from China, citing classified documents leaked by a 21-year-old American man who was a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
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05/13/2023
urkiye hosted the exercise Anatolian Eagle out of 3rd main Jet Base Konya and provided the multinational participants with realistic combat training opportunities in a high-threat environment from May 5 to 12, 2023.
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05/13/2023
Unconfirmed reports in Iran’s press suggest the country may take delivery of the first batch of Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jets it ordered from Russia in the coming weeks. In an article that has since been removed, Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that the jets, also known as “Super Flankers,” will soon arrive in Iran. In light of the article’s deletion and past rumors that the aircraft began arriving in April.
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05/12/2023
According to the report, 12 fighter jets were transferred from the United States to a Polish airbase for military drills in early April. Three of the fighters arrived at Estonia’s Amari airbase near Tallinn this week. The drills include the practice of quickly responding to threats in cooperation with other countries.
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05/12/2023
The UK’s decision to supply Storm Shadow air-launched land attack missiles to Ukraine, offering a long-range, stand-off strike capability with a range of more than 250km, represents that latest evolution of London’s support to Kyiv, ahead of a much-anticipated counter-offensive against Russia.
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05/12/2023
A recent report published in BBC details how the Ukrainian fighter jets are forced to maneuver and fly at very low altitudes to escape an air-to-air missile fired by the Su-35 fighter jet of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS). When fired on, the fighter pilots know they must abort their mission and do whatever they can to survive.
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05/11/2023
Activities begin this month across 10 countries in Europe and continue through June as part of a U.S. Army-led exercise DEFENDER 2023, which U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa is supporting in several ways. Six C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from Air Mobility Command’s 62nd Airlift Wing based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and three C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Air Force Reserve Command’s 403rd Wing based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, will support DEFENDER 23.
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05/11/2023
A dramatic game of cat and mouse has unfurled in the skies over the Black Sea, pitting Western surveillance aircraft against Russian fighter jets. The encounters roughly started when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and Ukraine increasingly leaned on Western intelligence to counter the Russian threat. Even since the military operations, the ‘encounters’ have only intensified. Earlier this week, a Russian warplane came dangerously close to a Polish aircraft over the Black Sea.
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05/11/2023
The Czech Republic could give Ukraine some of its L-159 fighter jets to support its planned counter-offensive, Czech President Petr Pavel was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Prague has been among Kyiv's staunchest allies from the outbreak of Russia's aggression last February, providing material from ammunition to tanks worth billions of dollars.
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05/10/2023
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall insists the service needs to modernize rapidly to face the threat of China. But modernization does not just mean fielding new aircraft, Kendall and other service leaders argue—the Air Force also needs to retire its aging airplanes. “The truth is the Air Force needs things like electric warfare, battle management, intelligence, cyber capabilities, all of these things,” Kendall said at the Ash Carter Exchange defense conference May 9. “It doesn’t just need airplan
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05/10/2023
NATO Air Policing troops have been put on high alert after a Russian fighter jet approached a Polish Border Guard aircraft over the Black Sea, the Polish press agency PAP reported on Tuesday. The Polish crew reportedly lost control of the aircraft for a moment but landed safely, said Polish Border Guard spokeswoman??????? Anna Michalska. The plane landed safely at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport and none of the crew members on board were injured as a result of the incident, she said.
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05/10/2023
The F-35 and F-15EX are so different in so many respects that comparing them might not make sense. Yet, the two aircraft have been analyzed in relation to one another for years, given the ongoing debates about whether it makes sense to add a fourth-generation "plus" plane in more significant numbers and reduce the size of the F-35 buy.
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05/10/2023
Finland is in charge this year as the planes now start to arrive at the four different military air bases in the three countries. Kick-off is May 29 and the exercise will see daily combat training in the skies until June 9. Playgrounds for the war games are from near the border with Russia in the east to the coast of the Norwegian Sea in the west.
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05/08/2023
When it comes to military hardware, nothing quite catches the ordinary person’s imagination like fighter jets. They are, in many ways, charismatic objects elevated often to being sources of national pride. This is doubly the case if the plane in question can be labelled to some degree as being indigenous.
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05/08/2023
The 156th Wing, along with four other Air National Guard Wings, two Air Force Reserve Wings, the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies partnered to execute Operation Hoodoo Sea, an agile combat training exercise led by the Virginia Air National Guard, which occurred on the southeast U.S. coast, during the first week of May.
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05/08/2023
Türkiye does not ask the United States to allow Ankara to return to the F-35 fighter jet program but just wants reimbursement of its money already paid for the project, the Turkish foreign minister has said on May 7. “We are not saying ‘Let’s go back to the F-35 [program] right now.’ We are saying ‘Give us our money back.’ Because we produce our own national combat aircraft,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu said in a televised interview.
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05/08/2023
On Friday, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet performed a dangerous interception of an L410 TURBOLET aircraft belonging to the Polish Border Guard Service, which was on a scheduled patrol mission under the auspices of Frontex over the Black Sea in international airspace in cooperation with Romanian services. The incident happened around 13:20, 60 km to the east from Romanian airspace.
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05/07/2023
An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, crashed in an agricultural area about 11½ miles from Osan Air Base at approximately 9:45 a.m. Saturday. The pilot ejected safely and was transported to the Osan Air Base Urgent Care Center for evaluation, according to a news release from the 51st Fighter Wing, the host unit at Osan. The pilot is in stable condition and no other injuries, including civilians, have been reported.
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05/07/2023
Ukraine said it has shot down a Russian hypersonic missile over Kyiv using newly acquired US-made Patriot defense systems. Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk announced the operation on Telegram on Saturday. He said that a Kinzhal-type ballistic missile was intercepted in an overnight attack on May 4.
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05/06/2023
For most of the past year, one of the central mysteries of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been the question of why the Kremlin’s much-vaunted air force didn’t show up to the fight. Russia’s fifth-generation Sukhoi fighter jets were even absent from the Kremlin’s last Victory Day parade commemorating the end of World War II, and U.S. defense officials believed that the war had ground down the defense industrial base churning out fighters and bombers.
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05/06/2023
We can assume that the F-22’s new integral ladder means that Raptor’s CONOPs have changed and that the aircraft can be now operated out of unprepared locations. Five Air National Guard wings are conducting agile combat training as part of an exercise called Operation Hoodoo Sea in the coastal southeast of the US. Airmen from multiple job specialties will be tasked to operate as multi-capable Airmen, supporting the F-22, KC-135, C-17 and strategic bomber aircraft active in the exercise.
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05/06/2023
Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology President, Zhang Zhongcheng, said he can “unmanned” the F-5 fighter jets being retired by the Taiwan Air Force to deal with frequent incursions of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft into Taiwan’s airspace.
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05/06/2023
Ukrainian aviation industry to start producing aircraft for military purposes in cooperation with Czech colleagues. During his visit to Kyiv on April 28, 2023, President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel announced his intention to develop cooperation with Ukraine in the defense sector in six areas. The President noted that this cooperation could include partial or complete transfer of technologies and production to Ukraine, as well as an appropriate level of localization.
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05/05/2023
Commandos and pilots with the US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) successfully landed a range of aircraft on a rural highway in Wyoming during recent training exercises. The drills on 2 May near Rawlins, Wyoming, included a Lockheed Martin MC-130J Commando II multi-role special operations transport, Fairchild Republic A-10 ground attack jets, a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and two Boeing MH-6M Little Bird helicopters from the US Army.
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05/04/2023
A Russian surface-to-air missile came close to striking an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over Syria in November, passing and detonating within 40 feet and damaging the aircraft, according to new details disclosed by a U.S. official to Air & Space Forces Magazine. The U.S. had already revealed the launch of a Russian SA-22 Pantsir surface-to-air missile against the drone but previously did not disclose the damage or how close the missile came to downing the aircraft Nov. 27. The drone was able to re
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05/04/2023
Colonel Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesperson for the Air Force, disclosed this information at a press conference held at the Ukraine-Ukrinform media center, according to local media reports. The Air Force spokesperson claimed the Russian military possesses two advanced aircraft – the Su-57 Felon and Su-75 Checkmate. He added that these advanced planes, dubbed “super-planes,” are considered sixth-generation fighters and have been showcased at exhibitions.
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05/04/2023
On Sunday, RAF Lossiemouth based Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian Tu-142 Maritime Patrol aircraft that was operating near UK airspace. The aircraft, known by the NATO code name Bear-F, approached from the North-East and was monitored by NATO forces including Norwegian F-35A fighter aircraft. RAF Typhoons were launched as part of Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) procedures to ensure the safety of UK airspace, as per information published by the Royal Airforce.
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05/04/2023
On April 11, General Atomics announced that AI and human pilots had successfully done combat maneuvers with the company's MQ-20 Avenger unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The test involved human operators sending commands to the aircraft through a satellite in low earth orbit. The aircraft were also tracked and maneuvered by AI pilots operating autonomously. Data was collected and used to retrain and redeploy AI pilots via satellite connection while the aircraft was still airborne.
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05/03/2023
Fighter and advanced trainer jets from the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and United States Air Force (USAF) have dominated the country’s skies for the launch of the Cope Thunder Philippines Exercise (CT Ph) 23-1 on Monday, May 1.
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05/03/2023
South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) plans to increase its manufacturing capacity for the FA-50 Fighting Eagle by building two additional production lines in 2024. According to reports from local media, the move seeks to meet the apparent high demand for light combat aircraft. Multiple new customers are reportedly considering the Fighting Eagles due to their competitive price and fast delivery timelines.
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05/03/2023
Combat aircraft designers at Lockheed Martin Corp. will build 126 F-35 jet fighter-bombers for U.S. military services and allies under terms of a $7.8 billion order announced on 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 procure 126 Lot 15 F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft.
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05/03/2023
Türkiye's domestically developed KAAN fifth-generation fighter jet will make its maiden flight after completing high-speed taxi tests, a test pilot of the aircraft said. Gökhan Bayramoglu told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the KAAN is on its way to becoming an effective weapon of the Turkish military with indigenous software and hardware.
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05/02/2023
Poland has struck a landmark agreement with the UK to acquire MBDA CAMM missiles and iLaunchers to equip 22 PILICA+ air defense batteries, as it continues a major military spending spree to deter Russian aggression.
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05/02/2023
Air Combat Command (ACC) told Air & Space Forces Magazine, that if Congress agrees with the US Air Force (USAF) ’s request to retire 32 Block 20 F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets as part of its fiscal 2024 budget, the aircraft will be used as trainers a while longer, then stored for an undetermined period at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base’s Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) “Boneyard” in Arizona.
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05/02/2023
Top guns flying in Britain's new supersonic stealth jet will go to war with a fleet of 'Terminator-style' drones capable of detecting and destroying enemies by themselves, with developers today insisting: 'Nothing is off the table.' The Tempest fighter jets will be the most sophisticated warplanes on Earth, armed with an array of deadly weaponry, including hypersonic missiles and Star Wars-style 'energy-directed' weapons, as well as kit that will help them evade enemy radar.
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05/02/2023
Türkiye’s domestically developed 5th-generation fighter jet will be named "KAAN," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Monday. Erdogan’s remarks came after the TF-X, known as the National Combat Aircraft (MMU), made a runway debut and successfully completed its first taxi test after starting its engines for the first time in mid-March. “Türkiye is now in every field, on land, in sea and submarine, in air and space,” Erdogan told the "Century of the Future" event in the capital Ankara.
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05/01/2023
Singapore’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong recently managed what few other global leaders would be able or willing to do: travel to China and publicly praise a US-led Asian initiative. “Asia should always remain an open region,” Lee said at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan. “As Asian countries develop co-operation among ourselves, we should also cultivate our relations with the US, Europe and other parts of the world.”
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05/01/2023
The Air Force expressed condolences for the accident involving a civilian aircraft in which the two occupants lost their lives in the late afternoon yesterday, including the captain Alessio Ghersi, pilot in service with the 313th aerobatic training group “Frecce Tricolori”. The accident took place around 18:30 yesterday, when some witnesses saw the aircraft crash wrapped in a cloud of smoke released after a flame or an explosion.
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05/01/2023
According to Ukrinform, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said this in an evening update published on Facebook. "The Russian Federation continues to use terror tactics. Today, the enemy launched two missile strikes on the cities of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka. Also, throughout the day, it launched 15 air strikes and mounted about 30 attacks using multiple launch rocket systems on the positions of our troops and settlements," the update said.
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