Military Aviation News Archive
02/13/2018
Chinese state media announced on Friday that the Chengdu J-20 stealth jet had officially entered into service as a combat-ready platform — but inside sources say it's a long way from fighting fit and has an embarrassing flaw. Citing military sources with knowledge of the J-20's development, the South China Morning Post reported that the jets that entered service didn't feature the engines China custom-built for the platform but used older ones instead.
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02/13/2018
The US Air Force has confirmed plans to re-engine the Boeing B-52H fleet and retire the Northrop Grumman B-2 and the Rockwell B-1 as Northrop’s next-generation B-21 stealth bomber ramps up deliveries.
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02/13/2018
The US Air Force’s has decided to retire its primary aerial ground surveillance platform in the mid-2020s and replace it with a network of existing and new sensors linked to a ground-based command and control system.
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02/12/2018
Months after it announced a joint venture with the Adani Group, Swedish defence giant Saab has said it plans to partner with a few other Indian entities for manufacturing a broad portfolio of products in view of the improving business climate in India. Mats Palmberg, Vice President of Saab's International Partnerships, said the company was also bringing its global partners to India to expand on its product range.
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02/12/2018
The drone that Israel said it shot down this weekend appeared to have been developed by Iran from technology obtained when it captured a U.S. stealth aircraft in 2011, according to aviation experts and Israeli officials. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for Israel’s military, and Yuval Steinitz, a minister in Israel’s security cabinet, said the craft was a copy of a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone, which Iran claims to have reverse-engineered.
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02/10/2018
Israel’s army said it had launched a “large-scale attack” inside Syria on Saturday after one of its jets was downed under Syrian antiaircraft fire, in a series of cross-border incidents that threatened to destabilize the volatile region between the two countries. Israel says the situation started with an Iranian drone crossing into its territory from Syria at around 4:30 a.m. It was shot down by an Israeli attack helicopter.
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02/10/2018
An Israeli F-16 fighter jet has crashed amid Syrian anti-aircraft fire after an offensive against Iranian targets in Syria, the Israeli military says. The two pilots parachuted to safety before the crash in northern Israel. It is believed to be the first time Israel has lost a jet in the Syrian conflict. Israel was carrying out strikes after the launch of an Iranian drone into Israel. The drone was shot down.
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02/10/2018
Donning a helmet mounted display (HMD) or night vision goggles (NVGs) has been a far from seamless issue for American fighter pilots since the widespread introduction of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) well over a decade ago. Now that is changing via a fairly novel piece of technology that leverages existing cockpit HMD infrastructure and NVGs called the "Digital Eye Piece."
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02/10/2018
The US Air Force has commissioned Boeing to produce a new batch of GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), the 13,600kg (30,000lb) mega-conventional bombs used for burrowing deep inside fortified bunkers and detonating.
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02/10/2018
The US Air Force has released draft acquisition documents showing plans to buy up to 116 new wing sets for the Fairchild Republic A-10 fleet that call for reviving production after March 2019 with a new contractor.
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02/10/2018
France has unveiled an ambitious and wide-ranging military modernisation programme that includes the acquisition of additional Dassault Rafale fighters, an all-new fleet of light helicopters and additional aerial refuelling tankers. Still to be ratified by lawmakers, the military spending plan, or LPM, covers the period 2019-2025.
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02/10/2018
Lockheed Martin has tapped BAE Systems to upgrade heads-up displays (HUD) for the United Arab Emirates F-16 Block 60 fighters. The work will see the aircraft's existing cathode ray tube projector with a digital projector, says BAE in a statement.
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02/08/2018
Russian media have lauded a pilot killed in Syria as a hero, saying he detonated his grenade to avoid being captured by jihadists who had shot his plane out of the sky. Roman Filipov's reported last words were: "Here's for the guys." His Sukhoi-25 ground-attack aircraft was shot down over rebel-held Idlib province. He survived the attack and ejected, but died in a ground fight.
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02/08/2018
A Syrian military statement said its air defence systems blocked most of the missiles, but gave no further details. A monitor said ammunition depots in Jamraya were hit. It is the location of a scientific facility where the West suspects chemical weapons are produced. Israel, which has acknowledged carrying out at least 100 clandestine strikes in Syria since 2011, declined to comment.
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02/08/2018
Lockheed Martin is promoting infrared search and track (IRST) to help upgrade the sensor capabilities of the region’s fighter fleets. Unlike radar, IRST is a passive sensor. It detects targets by sensing their IR signatures. This eliminates the need for an aircraft to give away its position through the transmission of radar waves.
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02/08/2018
The head of Lockheed Martin’s aeronautics division has dismissed recent media reports that it has developed the SR-72, a successor to the iconic SR-71 Black Bird. “I can tell you unequivocally that it has not been built,” says Orlando Carvalho, executive vice-president of aeronautics at Lockheed Martin.
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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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