Military Aviation News Archive
02/07/2018
Lockheed Martin’s aeronautics head believes a new software update regime for the F-35 fighter will greatly improve efficiency, and also says that sustainment for the type is improving. The plan will see smaller updates applied more frequently, as opposed to sweeping, all-inclusive updates applied every few years. Lockheed says “our plan is to move ahead with it for the F-35 as part of follow-on modernisation.”
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02/07/2018
The US Air Force may set a temporary altitude restriction to lift a grounding order on the Beechcraft T-6A Texan II after the fleet of primary trainers became the latest military aircraft type to cause pilots to experience a rash of hypoxia-like symptoms, a top US Air Force official informed Congress on 6 February.
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02/07/2018
Boeing has made several updates about its P-8 Poseidon programme, as it pursues further refinements for the platform. Speaking to media during a programme update briefing at the Singapore air show, Matt Carreon, head of global sales and marketing for Boeing Defence, Space and Security, listed over four updates that the manufacturer will implement on the P-8.
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02/07/2018
A Korea Aerospace Industries T-50B aircraft from the Black Eagles display team crashed while taking off from Changi airport’s runway 1. The crash occurred at 13:24 local time when the jet “skidded and crashed into the grass verge at the side of runway 1 and caught fire,” says the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore in a statement.
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02/06/2018
The Saab JAS-39 C/D Gripen fighter is appearing for the first time at the Singapore air show. The two aircraft are operated by the Royal Thai Air Force, and will appear both on the static line and aerial display.
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02/06/2018
Sikorsky sees regional opportunities for its Armed Black Hawk initiative, which turns its iconic UH-60/S-70 platform into a hard-hitting helicopter gunship. At a briefing at the American Chamber of Commerce, chief engineer for the S-70 programme Joe Palumbo said the system can come with newly delivered rotorcraft, or be retrofitted. This is particularly useful for operators who lack the resources to operate dedicated gunships such as the Boeing AH-64 Apache or Bell Helicopter AH-1Z Viper.
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02/06/2018
Aviation services firm SkyTech has signed a letter of intent for up to six Embraer KC-390 tactical transport aircraft. “The aircraft are earmarked for multiple defense projects and both companies have also agreed on a potential strategic collaboration to jointly explore new business opportunities in training and services,” says Embraer.
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02/06/2018
Boeing continues to press forward with sales opportunities in the Asia-Pacific, both for combat and support aircraft. Speaking at a media roundtable at the company's office, Gene Cunningham, vice president of Boeing Defense, Space & Security listed a number of opportunities in which the company is engaged.
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02/05/2018
South Korea's military has completed the deployment of an advanced nighttime targeting system for its fighter aircraft, the country's arms agency said Monday. It would greatly improve the precision strike capability of KF-16s, a key combat element of the Air Force, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
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02/05/2018
Even as the skies are becoming more crowded with airplanes and drones, the creaky U.S. air traffic control system is struggling to keep up. Hence the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has come up with a plan that requires aircraft to broadcast their positions to avoid mid-air collisions.
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02/05/2018
Harris Corporation is promoting its electronic warfare (EW) systems to the region’s air forces, with a particularly focus on the Lockheed Martin F-16 fleet. The company sees three main areas of EW focus among the region’s countries: mission success in contested domains, marine awareness in congested seas, and battlefield communications.
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02/05/2018
Singapore possesses Southeast Asia’s most powerful air force, but maintaining its edge in an increasingly volatile region requires constant assessment of new technologies and ideas. In an interview with FlightGlobal, Chief of the Republic of Singapore Air Force Major-General Mervyn Tan discussed future plans and emerging capabilities, on the year of the RSAF’s fiftieth anniversary.
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02/04/2018
Syria’s former al-Qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility Saturday for the downing of a Russian warplane in northern Syria, apparently using a surface-to-air missile to target the aircraft.
The pilot was killed after he ejected and exchanged gunfire with militants on the ground, the Russian Defense Ministry and a monitoring group said.
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02/04/2018
The US Air Force has excluded the Textron AirLand Scorpion light-attack aircraft from the next phase of its OA-X experiment, leaving Textron Aviation's Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine and the Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano as the finalists for a potential follow-on acquisition deal.
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02/04/2018
Norway has concluded that its on-order fleet of NH Industries NH90 naval helicopters will not deliver sufficient flight hours to perform the roles originally intended for the 11t-class rotorcraft and recommends that all are converted to the anti-submarine warfare mission.
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02/04/2018
The French army has begun early definition work with Airbus Helicopters on the H160Ms it will obtain as part of a tri-service procurement.Paris in March 2017 selected the developmental H160M to form the basis of its hélicoptère interarmées léger (HIL) programme, splitting 160-190 rotorcraft between the air force, army and navy to replace a sizeable fleet of aged types.
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02/02/2018
The U.S. military is worryingly dependent on GPS. Our global positioning satellites tell planes where they are, provide targeting info for smart weapons, and support communication and navigation systems. But in a war with a tech-advanced adversary—think China, Russia, or Iran—GPS could become a big liability because it could be jammed, spoofed, or outright destroyed.
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02/02/2018
A military aircraft crash in Guizhou this week killed at least a dozen crew members and exposed the “fatal gap” between the air force’s ambitions and its technology, the South China Morning Post has learned. Military sources say the crash has severely affected air force morale. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force has confirmed that an aircraft crashed in the southwestern province during a training exercise on Monday.
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02/02/2018
The Russian Ministry of Defense has mocked the crews of American spy planes as overly cautious and suggested the United States either stop such missions near its borders or agree to a set of rules governing those flight. The official statement comes after the U.S. Navy released half a dozen videos showing one of Russia’s Su-27 Flanker series fighter jets flying dangerously close to an EP-3E Aries II intelligence aircraft in international air space over the Black Sea.
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02/02/2018
India’s ministry of defence has issued a fresh request for information for six mid-air refueling tankers, following two abortive earlier attempts. This time the requirement specifies that the tanker aircraft be powered by two turbofan engines, ruling out the Ilyushin IL-78.
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02/01/2018
India celebrated Republic Day by parading troops and locally made weapons in front of New Delhi's colonial-era sandstone buildings and past 10 Southeast Asian heads of state -- all potential buyers.
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02/01/2018
NH Industries (NHI) is hopeful that it can finally secure a firm order from Qatar this year for both variants of its NH90 helicopter. Doha four years ago signed a tentative agreement with the three-way consortium for 22 examples of the 11t-class rotorcraft: 12 TTH troop transports and 10 NFH maritime helicopters.
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02/01/2018
Germany has confirmed that its future fleet of heavy-lift helicopters will require in-flight refuelling capability. Berlin in late 2017 gave the go-ahead for its BAAINBw procurement agency to begin the acquisition of around 60 helicopters to replace an existing fleet of 70 elderly Sikorsky CH-53G/GA/GS transports operated by the German air force.
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02/01/2018
Initial work is under way to replace the British Army's active fleet of 22 elderly Aérospatiale Gazelle AH1 helicopters, as the venerable type nears retirement. "We do have plans to replace the Gazelle," says Air Cdre Al Smith, capability air manoeuvre at the UK's Joint Helicopter Command. "It hinges on operational outputs so the customer gets the same or better product," he adds, noting: "I think we can probably do better than we do today."
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01/31/2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the performance of the Russian military and its hardware during the Kremlin’s campaign in Syria, but stressed that Moscow has to fix problems that were brought to light during those operations. “The rout of the well-equipped terrorist groups in Syria demonstrated the power of our Army and Navy, and the course of the operation demonstrated the tradition of reliability and effectiveness of Russian weapons,” Putin said in a speech.
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