Military Aviation News Archive
05/27/2021
Two F4-1 Rafale aircraft test flew for the first time last month as part of the “readiness for use review campaign” in France’s Istres, the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) revealed in a statement. The fleet of eight Rafales, two Mirage 2000s, and two Alphajets performed eight “complex missions ” representing 50 sorties, the French Defense Procurement and Technology Agency stated.
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05/27/2021
The MQ-9 Reaper has become the signature weapon of the war against terror, an eye in the sky able to scrutinize targets on the ground for extended periods before delivering laser-guided precision strikes. As a combat aircraft though, it lacks speed and maneuverability and the ability to survive against modern air defenses. Rather than retiring the drones though, the U.S. military is intent on upgrading its Reapers from assassins to warriors capable of taking on near-peer opponents.
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05/27/2021
While the Air Force’s latest F-35 stealth fighter jets are deadly, early-model F-35s wouldn’t stand a chance against a near-peer rival. The Air Force may start to retire their oldest F-35A airfares in favor of newer, more advanced builds of the same airframe, a senior Air Force official suggested in a recent interview.
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05/27/2021
According to TASS, Russian state aerospace company Sukhoi is now developing new light tactical fighter aircraft. “The Sukhoi company is developing a single-engine light tactical plane with the takeoff weight of up to 18 tonnes. The plane’s maximum speed will be above 2 Mach. It will also have super-maneuverability and improved takeoff and landing performance, thanks to a thrust vector control engine. The plane’s thrust-to-weight ratio will be above 1,” news agency reported, citing an industry so
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05/26/2021
The emergence of photos and videos of Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bombers apparently taken in Syria’s coastal Latakia province suggests that the aircraft are now operating, for the first time, from Moscow’s Khmeimim airbase outpost in that country. Earlier this year, The War Zone examined runway extension work at the base which would help accommodate the big swing-wing bombers, and you can read more about that here.
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05/26/2021
The defense budget coming out May 28 will contain few big surprises. Plans to retire some older planes have already been reported, and the longer-range plans typically surfacing at budget time—known as the Future Years Defense Plan, or FYDP—are still being debated. But inklings of the service’s direction will be sprinkled throughout, all of them designed to maximize options going forward.
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05/26/2021
Saab has secured a contract to upgrade radar warning equipment on the Tornado multi-Role combat aircraft operated by the German Air Force. Saab secured the $48m (Skr400m) task order from German company Panavia Aircraft. The Tornado multirole aircraft is operational in five different forms, including the Tornado GR 1 interdictor strike aircraft for close air support.
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05/26/2021
The Boeing Co. received a $18.9-million delivery order for the production and delivery of 48 automatic backup oxygen system retrofit kits for the T-45 aircraft. Per the terms of the deal, the company will supply installation tooling, engineering reach back, spares and support equipment for these kits. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.
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05/25/2021
Nellis Air Force Base confirmed the pilot killed in a crash Monday afternoon worked for Draken US, the company that provides adversary air support for the installation. The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. near Washington and Nellis. The contracted plane was a Dassault Aviation Mirage F-1. The pilot was the sole occupant.
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05/24/2021
Lithuania on Sunday called for European Union countries to jointly recommend that planes avoid Belarusian airspace, after a Ryanair flight was forced to land in Minsk and an opposition activist on board detained. The proposal for a joint declaration will be put forward at a meeting of European leaders on Monday and will include a call to recognize the incident as a violation of International Civil Aviation Organisation rules, the foreign ministry said.
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05/24/2021
The U.S. and Europe reacted with outrage after Belarus ordered a Ryanair Holdings Plc flight transiting its airspace to land and arrested a journalist on board, an unprecedented violation of European air travel protocols. “The United States strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight between two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Roman Pratasevich,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
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05/24/2021
Where are the greatest opportunities — for the United States and allies as well as their potential adversaries — in terms of military innovation between now and 2040? Where can one expect the greatest vulnerabilities to develop or emerge?
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05/24/2021
Based on Lockheed Martin’s backlog of F-16 orders, planned upgrades, and the recent revelation that the Air Force plans to depend on the fighter into the late 2030s, the F-16’s sunset years now could come in the 2070s, or later.
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05/24/2021
For years now the U.S. military has been looking for the next-generation fighter aircraft, the one that will keep America at the top of the list for aerial supremacy. Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) is how the program meant to come up with the next fighter is called, and we already got a preview of how the thing could look in the United States Air Force’s acquisition report released back in April.
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05/23/2021
The U.S. Navy has declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS), signaling the system’s readiness to provide precision approach and landing capabilities to tactical carrier aircraft at sea.
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05/23/2021
The F-5 was built by the United States mainly for export to nations that could not afford the top-line Western fighters, but did not want the MiG-21s. The F-5 is normally armed with two 20mm cannon, and three tons of missiles and bombs. Introduced in 1962, over 2,200 were built between 1959 and 1987. The F-5 was more reliable and upgradeable than the MiG-21 which is one reason why so many upgraded F-5s are still flying.
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05/23/2021
According to reports, Croatia is likely to purchase 12 second-hand Rafale jets from the French government and finally replace its aging MiG-21 fighter jets. According to a Croatian publication Jutarnji List, the country is planning to purchase 12 used Rafale F3Rs from the French Air Force inventory. The oldest of these airframes could be as much as 10 years old, for a deal just under one billion euros for the entire package.
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05/23/2021
According to reports, the tests of F4-1 were conducted between April 26 and 29, involving test crews from the French Air Force, the French Navy, and Dassault Aviation, under the stewardship of the Director-General of Armament (DGA). The DGA is the French government’s defense procurement and technology agency responsible for project management, development, and purchase of weapon systems for the French military.
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05/22/2021
A Turkish fighter jet pilot knew he was shooting at a Russian warplane in airspace over the Turkish-Syrian border area when he was ordered to fire by the commander of the Air Force, Gen. Abidin Ünal, a senior officer who worked at Air Force headquarters at the time revealed.
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05/22/2021
An interesting report from Air Force Magazine says the new F-15EX performed with “mixed results” in a recent service wargame in Alaska called Northern Edge. Citing Air Force officers involved in the testing and assessments, the report says the newly arrived F-15EX was pitted against extremely sophisticated “red-team” adversary forces to assess its ability to rival or engage 5th-Gen attacks. The F-15EX was also integrated with U.S. 5th-Gen assets such as F-22s and F-35s.
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05/22/2021
The government’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update provided refreshing clarity about our deteriorating strategic environment and the need for new military capabilities to address it. These include long-range strike capabilities to impose greater cost on potential great power adversaries at greater range from Australia. The government also included a shopping list of those capabilities giving a broad outline of schedule and the scale of investment.
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05/22/2021
While Croatia is still officially deciding which one of two contendents will replace its aging fighter fleet, local media reports that the winner was already chosen. In January 2020, Croatia sent a request for bids seeking to buy a squadron of new or used fighter jets in an effort to modernize its air force. The country has been attempting to replace its antique MiG-21BisD/UMD fighters from the Soviet era.
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05/22/2021
An Indian Air Force pilot was killed in a MiG-21 fighter jet crash at Langeana village of Punjab’s Moga district in the wee hours of Friday. The pilot has been identified as IAF MCC Squadron leader Abhinav Chaudhary and he was on night training when the accident happened.
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05/21/2021
On 15 May 2021, Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence François Bausch attended the departure for Mali of a contingent of the Luxembourg Army in support of a European Union Training mission. This was the first operational flight of a Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) aircraft for the Luxembourg Army and the first landing of MMF in Luxembourg.
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05/21/2021
Four Chinese military planes intruded on Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday (May 20), including two fighter-bombers, which breached the median line, as the nation grappled with a surge in COVID-19 cases. On Thursday afternoon, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced that one Y-8 electronic warfare plane and one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft penetrated into the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, while two Xian JH-7 fighter-bombers crossed the Taiwan Strait
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