Military Aviation News Archive
08/23/2019
We’re outside the fence of Zhukovsky Airport in Zhukovsky, Russia, about 40 kilometers from downtown Moscow. The instant Alex’s car comes to a stop we are out and setting up cameras. Alex, who speaks both English and Russian, plugs his earphone into his scanner.
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08/23/2019
MBDA’s Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) appears set for integration on several Indian combat aircraft. The weapon will be part of the missile armament for Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) Tejas Mk-1A, a combat capable version of the Hawk Mk132 called Hawk-India (Hawk-i) and Sukhoi SU-30MKIs, in addition to upgraded Sepecat/HAL Jaguar strike aircraft.
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08/23/2019
The US Air Force (USAF) awarded Boeing a contract worth up to $999 billion for 27 wing replacements for the service’s Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, with the option to order 85 more sets over the contract’s 11-year period.
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08/22/2019
As reported by AirforceTimes, lawmakers at a House Armed Services readiness subcommittee hearing on Mar. 22, 2017 were told by Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, director of the Air National Guard (ANG), about plans to retire its 236 F-15C/Ds to save costs. He added that the service plans to replace those retired aircraft with upgraded F-16s.
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08/22/2019
Northrop Grumman plans to more than double production capacity for the RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-4C Triton unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) to 12 aircraft per year in anticipation of growing demand for the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform.
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08/22/2019
Russian fighter manufacturer RSK MiG is preparing production of an updated version of the Ilyushin Il-114 regional turboprop in a bid to create additional workload beyond its long-standing MiG-29 family.
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08/22/2019
Washington's formal approval to sell 66 new Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D Block 70s to Taiwan provides a much-needed boost for the island state, but has already drawn the (inevitable) ire of Beijing. A Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) statement on the pivotal sale has been expected for some months, with confirmation finally coming late last week from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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08/21/2019
The U.S. Navy says two Blue Angels jets touched midair during a practice run in the Florida Panhandle. Navy spokeswoman Lt. Michelle Tucker tells the Pensacola News Journal a jet made momentary contact with the underside of a second jet’s outer wing Wednesday as the pilots practiced over the Naval Air Station Pensacola. She says no one was injured.
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08/21/2019
As India looks to overhaul its Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fleet for better, India also hopes to make a mark in the defence export market by offering upgraded Sukhoi aircraft to friendly nations. The Russian aircraft is one of the best fighters the Indian Air Force has and now India hopes to sell the tweaked versions to strategic partners.
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08/21/2019
The Turkish Air Force allegedly deployed some of their warplanes to the southern countryside of the Idlib Governorate after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) scored a series of gains near the city of Khan Sheikhoun. According to the aviation publication Avia.Pro, two Russian Su-35 jets intercepted the Turkish warplanes and forced them to leave Syria’s airspace.
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08/21/2019
South Korea is set to receive four additional Lockheed Martin F-35As, bringing the number of the type on the Korean peninsula to eight. According to a report by official news agency Yonhap, quoting military sources, the four aircraft will arrive later this week. By the end of 2019 the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) will have ten examples on the peninsula, out of a total order for 40.
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08/20/2019
Eleven years after the U.S. Air Force retired the type, an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter has made yet another public appearance. Dismantled and being hauled across the American West on a tractor-trailer. Photographer Chris McGreevy spotted the truck and its F-117 cargo on Aug. 16, 2019 on Columbia Way near the Palmdale Regional Airport outside Palmdale, California.
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08/20/2019
The US Navy (USN) is soliciting options to improve or replace the electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) air-to-air and air-to-surface targeting pods on its Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers. The move comes amid concern about the current hardware's readiness state and sustainment cost.
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08/19/2019
The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced formally its decision to select the U.S. F-35B stealth fighter as the country’s short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft. The decision was virtually assured given that the United States and Lockheed Martin, the aircraft’s manufacturer, were the only bidders for the Japanese contract.
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08/19/2019
The interesting photo in this post shows a People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jet wearing a new silver-gray scheme which according to Chinese sources is able to give the aircraft a certain stealth capability.
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08/17/2019
Back in 2013, Pentagon press secretary George Little said that an Iranian air force F-4 Phantom combat plane attempted to intercept a U.S. MQ-1 Predator drone flying through international airspace near Iran. As we reported back then, one of the two F-4 Phantom jets — in service in Iran since the Shah — came to about 16 miles from the Predator, but broke off pursuit after two American planes escorting the drone broadcast a warning message.
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08/17/2019
A photo of the J-20 was recently released as part of China’s recent defense white paper release titled “China’s Defense in a New Era.” Over the last few years, many photos of the J-20 5th generation fighter have been released, including photos of the J-20 in service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). However this J-20 bore a serial number indicating it belonged to a frontline combat unit, marking a major milestone for the aircraft.
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08/17/2019
The Trump administration has approved the sale of new Lockheed Martin F-16Vs to Taiwan, a long considered decision that will likely worsen tensions with China, which wants to bring the island nation back under its control. Several media outlets pegged the sale at $8 billion for 66 jets, citing anonymous sources. The deal was confirmed by a joint statement from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, a Democrat, and ranking member Michael McCaul, a Republican.
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08/17/2019
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Dzyne Technologies have developed a robotic system that successfully flew a 1968 Cessna 206 for 2h during a demonstration at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah on 9 August. The Robotic Pilot Unmanned Conversion Programme intends for a mechanical robot to fly an aircraft in same way as a human pilot would, says the AFRL. Its robotic system is called Robopilot.
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08/17/2019
Boeing has upgraded six Lockheed Martin P-3K2 Orions operated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) to improve their capability in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission. The $22 million project saw upgrades and modifications to both mission systems and aircraft components, the addition of improved simulation for training purposes, and support.
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08/17/2019
Boeing Australia continues work on developing technology for autonomous aircraft, as it aims for the first flight of the Air Teaming System (ATS) prototype in 2020. Work designed to simulate mission capabilities and the aircraft’s lifecycle are taking place at the company’s Systems Analysis lab in Brisbane, says Boeing.
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08/16/2019
Watch out China, India May Be Getting the Super Hornet for Its Aircraft Carrier Boeing is vying for a Indian Navy contract for 57 new fighter jets to operate from its next aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. Dan Gillian, Boeing’s program manager for the F/A-18 and EA-18G, told Economic Times that his company had done simulations of the Super Hornet taking off from a ski jump and the aircraft can be launched with a ‘significant’ payloadwithout any modifications.
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08/16/2019
U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighters held a real hunt for Draken International’s L-159 Honey Badger multi-role aircraft during the Northern Lightning exercise at Volk Field, Wisconsin. U.S. Air Force Airmen on its F-35A fighter jets assigned to the 33rd Fighter Wing take part in annual Northern Lightning exercise. August’s edition of the exercise is the second iteration of Northern Lightning this year, the first of which occurred in May.
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08/16/2019
As reported by TASS, starting from 2019, MiG Corporation and Sukhoi will merge into the combat aviation structural unit of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC). “For us, the year 2019 is the year when we switch to the format of a single company, a single corporate contour while the division will be in the format of a unit of the UAC single company,” UAC President Yuri Slyusar said at Paris Air Show responding to a question about establishing a combat aviation complex based on Sukhoi and MiG.
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08/15/2019
A photograph of what appears to be a small-scale model of Taiwan’s newest jet aircraft was released online a day before the opening of the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE), which is taking place this week from Aug. 14 to Aug. 17 at the Nangang Exhibition Center.
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