Military Aviation News Archive
09/25/2017
The United States has substantial air, land, and sea forces stationed in South Korea, as well as several units based in Japan and the western Pacific earmarked for a Korean contingency. Together, these forces far exceed the firepower of North Korea’s armed forces and represent a powerful deterrent not just against Pyongyang but any potential adversary in the region.
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09/25/2017
The F-15 Eagle rightfully boasts of one of the most successful runs in air-to-air combat of all time. In fact, the F-15 Eagle is undefeated when the air-to-air combat has been for real, with over 100 kills. But believe it or not, it has lacked something — something that its arch-rival, the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker, has had from day one.
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09/25/2017
Over the past two decades, the term “modernization” has been widely used by foreign affairs experts, military and political leaders, and intelligence analysts to describe the startling rapidity of the Chinese military’s rise from an arguably primitive force to one of the most technologically-advanced militaries in the world.
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09/25/2017
When it comes to news about aircraft carriers, the US Navy has a virtual monopoly. Its fleet of Nimitz- and Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers outclasses pretty much anything other naval powers, including near-competitors Russia and China, have to throw at them in terms of numbers, pure tonnage, and power projection capabilities.
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09/24/2017
U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers and F-15 jets, flying in international waters, carried out a show of force Saturday off the coast of North Korea aimed at countering what the Pentagon called Pyongyang's "reckless behavior." The Pentagon said the operation was taking place at the farthest point north of the Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea, that any U.S. fighter or bomber aircraft has flown this century.
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09/23/2017
US Air Forces Central Command, Southwest Asia Commander Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian stated that in the recent months the US-led coalition against the Daesh has shot down unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in Syria and one Syrian combat aircraft 'all in defense of our troops'.
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09/23/2017
The US Air Force’s Boeing KC-46 tanker is facing three outstanding issues as it moves through testing, including a boom scraping problem that could pose serious risk to the tanker’s aircrew.
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09/23/2017
In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces a dilemma. He postponed selection of a permanent replacement for a fleet of ageing Boeing CF-18s last year, partly over concerns about the cost of buying 65 Lockheed Martin F-35As. Then, Boeing brought an anti-dumping case against the Bombardier CSeries to the US Commerce Department, forcing him to shelve a planned interim buy of 18 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
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09/23/2017
The Trump administration’s counterterrorism operations may start to include more and more drone strikes and commando raids on "foot-soldier jihadists," according to a new report. Former President Barack Obama required overseas Predator MQ-1 and Reaper MQ-9 attacks on terrorist elements to adhere to a pre-approved plan demonstrating that “the individual’s activities pose a continuing, imminent threat to US persons,”.
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09/23/2017
The 100,000-ton USS Ronald Reagan convened with one Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) helicopter carrier and two destroyers off the Korean Peninsula to conduct military exercises, the Japanese military said Friday.
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09/22/2017
The moment a Syrian Su-22 “Fitter” combat jet was shot down by US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets has been revealed with the release of gun camera footage. It was the first time a fighter had been shot down by US combat jets since May 4, 1999, when a Serbian MiG-29 was destroyed by a US F-16. Now a detailed account of the June incident has been given by one of the pilots involved.
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09/22/2017
The US secretary of defence, retired Lieutenant General James Mattis, has a two-point agenda for his trip starting September 25: get New Delhi to commit to purchasing the Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 combat aircraft along with its assembly line under the aegis of the bilateral Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), and to give assurances that India’s Afghanistan policy will not undercut the American strategy to prevent the restoration of Taliban rule in Kabul.
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09/22/2017
The US Air Force has selected Lockheed Martin’s Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system for its Boeing F-15C, but a potential freeze on Pentagon dollars could delay delivery.
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09/22/2017
Canada's plans to buy the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet may be off the table, but details of the originally requested configuration show a Raytheon-made targeting pod's grip on the Boeing fighter is under pressure from a Lockheed Martin alternative that was long considered incompatible.
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09/21/2017
Saab is exploring the burgeoning red air market with its Gripen Aggressor, but the new adversary aircraft could face a tough competition against cheaper, former military jets.
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09/21/2017
France appears to have accelerated the delivery of 17 Pilatus PC-21 high-speed turboprops which will operate as trainer aircraft for its air force.
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09/21/2017
The US Air Force will next month unveil the results of a study into survivability gaps on its fleet of tankers and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, the service’s head of Air Mobility Command (AMC) says.
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09/21/2017
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers have carried out a routine flight over international waters in the Baltic and Norwegian seas.
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09/21/2017
The Russian Helicopters company exported the first Mi-28NE "Night Hunter" modern attack helicopter with an onboard defense system (ODS) protecting it from guided anti-aircraft missiles with infrared homing heads, the company's CEO Andrey Boginsky said Wednesday.
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09/21/2017
Russia will fulfill the contracted delivery of 12 modernized Su-30K fighter jets to Angola by early 2018, Aleksandr Vorobei, the deputy CEO of the 558 Aviation Repair Plant in Belarus, told Sputnik on Tuesday.
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09/19/2017
On 6 September, Swiss Defence Minister Guy Parmelin presented the Bundesrat (the Swiss Governmental Ministerial Council) with a proposal for the complete replacement of the Swiss Air Force's (SwAF's) 26 F-5E/Fs and 31 F/A-18C/Ds. The plan foresees the replacement of both aircraft types to begin in 2023, in addition to the SwAF's current 35mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft artillery and Rapier surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with a new ground based air defence system.
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09/19/2017
The Qatari and British governments have signed an agreement for the potential sale of 24 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets worth several billion dollars in another move by Doha to bolster its military amid a spat with four of its Arab neighbours. The deal is also a boost for planemaker BAE Systems, which is seeking to keep Typhoon fighter plane production humming.
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09/19/2017
The successful completion of final development trials of ‘Astra’ missile not only paves way for its induction in Indian Air Force but also signifies the beginning of a new era for the domestic defence industry. Astra, the indigenously developed state of the art Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) has been developed by DRDO, with Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) as the lead laboratory.
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09/19/2017
Scores of US-owned Lockheed Martin F-35s would remain in the fleet with a software operating system rated below combat-grade under one of several cost-saving proposals under review by the Joint Programme Office.
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09/19/2017
In an attempt to shed its foreign brand in the US Air Force trainer replacement competition, Saab will establish manufacturing and production in the United States for its Boeing/Saab T-X advanced trainer aircraft.
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