Military Aviation News Archive
10/14/2022
The Air Force is all-in on the concept of drone wingmen teamed up with human piloted fighters as the future of air combat. But how exactly will the human pilots inside F-35s or the Next Generation Air Dominance platform work with and guide collaborative combat aircraft? And will these drone wingmen be ready to fight under their human pilots’ instructions in a future war?
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10/13/2022
Russian troops continue offensive operations on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts, and the conscripts go to war armed with Soviet-style protective wear and AK-12 assault rifles, which have proven themselves ineffective on the battlefield in Ukraine.
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10/13/2022
A MiG-29K trainer crashed off Goa today after developing a technical malfunction. A MiG 29K was on a routine sortie over the sea off Goa and developed a technical malfunction while returning to base.“The Pilot ejected safely & has been recovered in a swift SAR op; the Pilot was reported to be in stable condition. BoI ordered to investigate the cause of the incident,” said Indian Navy.
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10/13/2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a wave of insecurity running through Europe. As a result, various European nations have expressed interest in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter, with the landlocked country of Austria becoming the latest to join the bandwagon.
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10/12/2022
The Air Force expects to complete its two-year transition to the new undergraduate pilot training curriculum by the end of October, the head of Air Education and Training Command recently told reporters. Service officials contend that “Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5,” a software-heavy, self-paced version of the course, is producing better-prepared pilots faster than before.
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10/12/2022
Tanker aircraft spending is expected to see an upswing in over the next few years, with procurement rising from today’s value of $4.5bn up to peaks of $6.6bn in 2024, according to GlobalData. As various nations alter their armed forces to become more ‘expeditionary’ and mobile in posture, demand for aerial refuelling capabilities will rise to support this increased mobility, predicts Tristan Sauer, defence analyst at GlobalData.
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10/12/2022
With its MiG-29s (pictured) nearing the end of their service lives and the newly acquired F-16 Block 70s not set to arrive for a few years, Bulgaria is planning to field interim fighter aircraft from 2023 to the end of the decade to bridge the capability gap. (Bulgarian Air Force) Bulgaria has begun to receive offers for the supply of interim combat aircraft as it struggles to maintain the airworthiness of its MiG-29s at the same time as managing a delay to the arrival of its Lockheed Martin F-1
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10/11/2022
Tobias Ellwood, Chair of the Defence Committee, asked: “To ask the Secretary of State Defence, how long it takes on average to train (a) fast jet, (b) heavy lift and (c) rotary pilots.” James Heappey, Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence, responded: “The average time for trainee pilots completing flying training in the current Financial Year, to the point of joining an Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) is 4.8 years for Fast Jet; 5.4 years for Multi Engine (heavy lift) and; 6.9 years for
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10/11/2022
The Russian army is trying to keep captured territories under their control and conduct attacks on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts; however, the Russians have suffered additional losses on the Kherson front.
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10/11/2022
In an unprecedented attack that exposed Moscow’s weak military defenses, a mammoth explosion severely damaged Russia’s multi-billion Kerch Bridge. Incidentally, Russia had been trying to defend this bridge from Ukraine for months.
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10/11/2022
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense has requested fighter jet lease offers from four countries, as the nation scrambles to secure its air-combat capabilities until the first eight American F-16s become operational in 2027 or 2028. The development comes shortly after the country’s caretaker government decided to ask the parliament to approve a second F-16 order for a further eight jets, valued at about $1.3 billion.
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10/11/2022
The Italian Eurofighters deployed to Poland have carried out 16 alert scrambles to intercept 19 Russian combat aircraft in the last few weeks. An “impressive number” according to the commander of the Italian Task Force.
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10/11/2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that people were killed and injured in multiple missile strikes across Ukraine, including the first bombardment of the capital, Kyiv, in months. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D'Agata said the strikes, which could signal a major escalation in the eight-month-old war, appeared to be entirely punitive — retaliation meant to terrorize Ukrainian civilians in densely-populated urban neighborhoods, close to government buildings.
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10/10/2022
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday officially introduced a domestically developed light-combat helicopter into the Indian Air Force, hailing the aircraft’s addition as a big step for India’s self-reliance in the defense sector. “For a long time, India has had to be dependent on foreign attack helicopters,” said Mr. Singh, speaking at an Air Force base in the western desert state of Rajasthan. “This is an important milestone in India’s defense production.”
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10/10/2022
The UK Ministry of Defence reported early on 08 October 2022, an explosion damaged the Kerch Strait Bridge, the road and rail crossing which links Russian-occupied Crimea and the Krasnodar region of Russia. Two of the four carriageways of the roadway have collapsed in several places over a length of approximately 250m. It is almost certain that some vehicle transits via the other two carriageways have resumed, but capacity will be seriously degraded.
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10/10/2022
The Su-75 "Checkmate" is Russia's attempt at an export fifth-generation fighter. Billed as a cheaper F-35 with better specs than the JAS-39 Gripen, Russia designed the Su-75 specifically to sell to countries with no homegrown aeronautical industry. Originally revealed at the MAKS Airshow last year, the Su-75 was hailed as a solid move by Russia's United Aerospace Corporation, building off the Su-57 platform — Russia's first fifth-generation fighter.
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10/09/2022
Turkey has intensified the search for another option after the cancellation of the deal for F-16 fighter jets with America. Turkish media have reported that if the F-16 plan fails, the Eurofighter Typhoon may be considered for purchase from Europe. The Eurofighter Typhoon has been jointly developed by the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo together manufacture this fighter aircraft.
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10/09/2022
In light of North Korea's ongoing missile launches, the United States and Japan are conducting a combined military exercise with the American aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan in the vicinity of Japan, the Japanese defence ministry announced on Saturday.
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10/09/2022
The Russian armed forces are not on the verge of collapse. And No! The Su-35 doesn’t lack the capability associated with it. And certainly not! Russian fighter pilots are not a bunch of kick-the-tire and light-the-jocks! The apparent regression in employed tactics likely has an excellent reason. Russian forces appear to be adapting to the realities of a protracted conflict against an adversary drawing on an unending supply of troops, equipment, and ammunition from the West.
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10/09/2022
An explosion caused the partial collapse of a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia on Saturday, damaging a key supply artery for the Kremlin's faltering war effort in southern Ukraine. Russian authorities said a truck bomb caused the blast and that three people were killed.
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10/08/2022
With a flying radius of 1500 km without mid-air refuelling and a 450-km Extended Range variant of the BrahMos missile system, the IAF believes that the combination would be a deadly weapon package with strategic reach to hit targets at sea and land.
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10/08/2022
The Indian Air Force has initiated a project to carry out life extension studies on its Su-30 MKI frontline fighter aircraft to determine the feasibility of enhancing its calendar life by at least 10 years from 25 years to 35 years.
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10/08/2022
When the House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023, it included a section requiring the Navy to maintain “a minimum quantity of high-demand, low-density EA-18G aircraft capabilities.”
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10/07/2022
The U.S. Air Force deployed four B-52H Stratofortress aircraft to the U.S. European Command theater August 18-September 21, 2022 to conduct Bomber Task Force missions with key allies and partners. The strategic bombers are assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base), North Dakota. The aircraft operated out of Royal Air Force Fairford, England, which marks the second time this year B-52s from Minot have flown to RAF Fairford for a bomber task force mission.
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10/07/2022
According to Pozdnyakov, the tests would comprise climatic and resource tests and examine ‘mechanical impacts.’ This implies checking whether the structural integrity is maintained and if the system can withstand the extreme pressures on the seat while being ejected by rocket boosters mid-flight. In July 2021, Pozdnyakov said that the deliveries of the seats to the Tupolev Public Joint Stock Company (PJSC) should begin by 2023.
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