Military Aviation News Archive
06/01/2022
The Michigan Air National Guard 127th Wing made history with the landing of an A-10 Thunderbolt II on M-32 near Alpena in Northern Michigan on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. The exercise, believed to be the first time modern military aircraft have been landed on a U.S. civilian roadway, was part of the annual Northern Strike war-readiness training exercise hosted by the Michigan National Guard.Provided by the Michigan Department of Military and Veteran Affairs.
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06/01/2022
On 26 May, the US State Department announced preliminary approval of the sale to Egypt of 23 CH-47F Chinook Helicopters for an estimated cost of $2.6 billion. The sale includes related equipment such as engines, GPS, navigation and missile warning systems, software, machine guns and ammunition.
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06/01/2022
On his first trip to Asia as United States President last week, Joe Biden gave his strongest warning yet to Beijing that Washington was committed to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack from China. Biden's comments, which compared a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, appeared to deviate from Washington's decades-old policy of "strategic ambiguity" on the issue and seemingly raised the possibility of a military clash between US and Chinese forces.
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06/01/2022
Turkey is demanding that the US should either change its decision on the F-35 stealth fighter supply program or return the money paid, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. “As for the F-35, Congress needs to reconsider its decision. We say either change the decision or return the money we invested,” Cavusoglu told Turkish news agency Anadolu.
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05/31/2022
Finland will deploy the US-made F-35 fighter jets to its northernmost region, Lapland, to deter the aggression from Russia as it seeks membership in the defensive alliance NATO. Helsinki is expected to receive the first batch of the aircraft in four years’ time, the country’s air force reportedly said in a statement.
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05/31/2022
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is cutting down its largest fighter jet procurement programme by half and has indicated the likelihood of a change in the procurement model to one which is more acceptable to foreign suppliers for compliance to Make in India requirements in view of the reduced numbers.
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05/31/2022
Taiwan on Monday reported the largest incursion since January by China's air force in its air defence zone, with the island's defence ministry saying Taiwanese fighters scrambled to warn away 30 aircraft in the latest uptick in tensions. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for the past two years or so of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone.
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05/30/2022
According to reports, at least one surface-to-air missile was launched at F-16 fighters while they were departing after striking Iranian targets near Syria’s northwestern city of Masyaf.
Exactly who operates the S-300 systems in Syria is unclear. However, reports suggest that Russian military personnel oversee operations of the Syrian S-300s, and Damascus needs Moscow’s authorization before it can fire them.
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05/30/2022
The Japanese government is considering choosing British aerospace and defense contractor BAE Systems to support prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in developing the F-X next-generation fighter aircraft for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), informed sources said.
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05/30/2022
The announcement to base the first F-35 multirole aircraft up north was made by the Finnish Air Force on Friday. “The Air Force’s F-35 fleet will be commissioned first to the Lapland Air Force in Rovaniemi in 2026,” Air Force Commander Brigadier General Juha-Pekka Keränen said.
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05/30/2022
Ukraine pushes back Russians to previous positions around Sievierodonetsk and a reported small counteroffensive had taken place in Kherson Oblast; meanwhile, Rusia had taken control of Lyman and Svitlodarsk. Ukraine says Russia has lost about 30,000 soldiers since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia continues to construct fortifications in Kherson Oblast.
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05/29/2022
Hundreds of Lithuanian citizens rallied together to raise nearly $5 million to purchase an advanced military drone for Ukraine to use in its ongoing war against Russia. The fundraiser was completed in just three and a half days, and was largely comprised of small donations from ordinary Lithuanian citizens, Reuters reported Saturday, citing Laisves TV, a Lithuanian internet broadcaster that launched the effort. The money, a total of $4.7 million, will now be used to purchase a Bayraktar TB2 mili
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05/28/2022
Ukraine has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday, saying the arms would bolster forces fighting Russia's invasion. "The coastal defence of our country will not only be strengthened by Harpoon missiles – they will be used by trained Ukrainian teams," Reznikov wrote on his Facebook page.
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05/28/2022
President Vladimir Putin has signed a law enabling people over 40 to enlist for the armed forces. They are expected to be people of normal working age. Previously the army had age limits of 18-40 years for Russians and 18-30 for foreigners. Russia is presenting it as a move to recruit more technical specialists. The new law says specialists are required to operate high-precision weapons and "experience shows that they become such by the age of 40-45".
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05/28/2022
Tensions with Russia have been escalating in the area since Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO on May 18. A Mikoyan MiG-31 'Foxhound' and a Sukhoi Su-24 'Fencer' jet were intercepted near Norway’s airspace on Thursday. The jets were observed outside Finnmark, in Norway's far north, but did not enter official Norwegian airspace.
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05/28/2022
The relevant statement was made by the Air Assault Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “Today Ukrainian servicemen from the anti-aircraft artillery missile battalion of the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade have shot down another combat helicopter used by Russian occupiers, Ka-52 ‘Alligator’,” the report states.
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05/28/2022
A Swiss alliance seeking to block the purchase of F-35 fighter jets said Friday it had received nearly enough support to put the controversial military contract to a referendum. The left-wing Stop F-35 alliance said it had almost secured the 100,000 signatures required under Switzerland’s direct democracy system to force an issue to a vote. The consortium has said it does not want the jets because they are costly, and because of a number of technical issues reported with the planes.
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05/28/2022
“Today, May 27, around 14.00 o’clock a MiG-29 fighter of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down a Russian fighter Su-35, which posed a threat to Ukrainian aircraft in the sky of Kherson region”. This is the very short text that has been released few hours ago on Telegram and other social networks by the Ukrainian Air Force.
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05/27/2022
The Armed Forces of Ukraine eliminated almost 90 Russian invaders, also destroying a helicopter and two enemy mortars in the past day. That’s according to the Operational Command East’s report on Facebook, seen by Ukrinform. It is noted that Ukrainian defenders continue to hold back Russian troops in the east.
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05/27/2022
The commander of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), Brigadier Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, stated on Monday that he will seek to reduce the number of KC-390 Millennium ordered from Embraer from 22 to 15 units. This is the second time that the FAB intends to reduce the acquisition of the KC-390. Originally 28 units had been ordered from Embraer, but the reduction in the expected Defense budget because of the economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
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05/27/2022
Ukrainian air defenses have claimed another victim: a top Russian fighter pilot. Kanamat Botashev, a retired major general in the Russian Air Force, was killed when his Su-25 ground attack aircraft was hit by a Stinger missile, according to the BBC’s Russian-language service (English translation here), which contacted three of Botashev’s former subordinates.
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05/27/2022
The U.S. military estimates that Russia has lost nearly 1,000 tanks and “a not insignificant amount” of personnel in its now three-month long attack on Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday. “We believe they’ve lost or rendered inoperable almost 1,000 of their tanks in this fight,” the official told reporters, but noted that “they still have a lot left available to them.”
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05/26/2022
Alert 5 reported that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin disclosed during a press briefing which the Czech Republic has transferred its attack helicopters to Ukraine. “I’m especially grateful to Denmark, which announced today that it will provide a Harpoon launcher and missiles to help Ukraine defend its coast. I’d also like to thank the Czech Republic for its substantial support, including a recent donation of attack helicopters, tanks and rocket systems.
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05/26/2022
Four Chinese H-6 bombers and two Russian Tu-95 bombers conducted joint flights together on Tuesday around Japan and the Republic of Korea, prompting both countries to scramble fighter aircraft to monitor the flights. The joint flights took place the same day U.S. President Joe Biden was meeting his Australian, Indian and Japanese Quad grouping counterparts in Tokyo, though both the Russian and Chinese defense ministries stated that the flights were part of their annual military cooperation plan.
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05/26/2022
A short overview of developments at the front as of the evening of 24 May 2022 according to military expert Roman Ponomarenko: The battle for the Donbas is underway, where Putin has deployed a lot of forces. In Luhansk Oblast alone, the Russians have 25 battalion-tactical groups (20,000 soldiers) and according to President Zelenskyy’s May 23 statement, they have “20 times more equipment” in the Donbas than the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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