Military Aviation News Archive
03/10/2017
China’s cyber capabilities are continuously evolving in parallel with the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) ongoing military reforms and modernization drives. As the PLA invests in the development of comprehensive cyber capabilities, the character of future conflicts in East Asia will increasingly reflect cyber-kinetic strategic interactions.
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03/10/2017
The Kremlin plans to buy 10 new Sukhoi Su-35S fighter aircraft in 2017, a top Russian defense official disclosed to state-controlled media. Russia's aircraft procurement plans for the year were discussed by First Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov during an interview with the TASS news agency.
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03/10/2017
China has put into service its new generation J-20 stealth fighter, a warplane it hopes will narrow the military gap with the United States, as senior naval officers said the country was building a "first class" navy and developing a marine corps. Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing a sweeping modernization of the country's armed forces, the largest in the world, including anti-satellite missiles and advanced submarines, seeking to project power far from its shores.
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03/10/2017
Georgia is to get rid of its fleet of 12 combat aircraft and replace them with drones, Eurasianet reported on March 7 citing Brigadier General Vladimir Chichibaia. Only one of the dozen Russian-made Sukhoi Su-25 jets has flown recently because the supplier of parts - Russia - has declined to provide them to Georgia.
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03/10/2017
After parting ways with Raytheon, Leonardo is flying solo in the US Air Force’s T-X trainer competition but still plans to establish final assembly for the M-346 trainer derivative in the USA.. The Italian company will announce the location of the manufacturing facility soon, DRS chief executive Bill Lynn told FlightGlobal in a 9 March interview. The T-100 will maintain the M-346’s two Honeywell F124 engines, which are manufactured in Arizona, and its CAE simulators will be built in Florida.
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03/10/2017
The aircraft carrier last sailed under her own power in July 2016, and the fighter compliment of British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS51 fighters were phased out in May 2016. Apart from the Sea Harrier, the integral airborne compliment of the ship comprised Sea King Mk 42Bs, Mk 42 Cs and the Hindustan Aeronautics-built Chetak (SA316 Alouette III). The Dhruv ALH and Kamov Ka-31 were also operated from the aircraft carrier.
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03/10/2017
The US government is working on a plan to replace Afghanistan’s Russian-made fleet of Mi-17 transport helicopters, US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Gen. Joseph Votel told Congress on Thursday.
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03/10/2017
In what could aggravate concern in India, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), China's largest missile maker, is developing a stealth military drone that can evade anti-aircraft weapons."The company is focusing on the development of a long-endurance stealth drone and a near-space drone," said Wei Yiyin, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp's deputy general manager and a member of the CPPCC National Committee, to China Daily.
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03/08/2017
Fifteen years after the Australian government signed on to the Joint Strike Fighter program to deliver a fifth-generation fighter, the F-35 was the star of the recent Avalon Airshow. The appearance of the Lockheed Martin stealth fighters in Australia has long been anticipated and comes in advance of their official delivery to the Australian government in 2018.
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03/08/2017
The MiG-35 is the favourite to win the recently announced tender for 8 multi-role fighters for the Bangladesh Air Force, the official representative of the Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAWAT) told RIA Novosti on Mar. 3. Russia’s Su-35, MiG-35 and Su-30SM are the leading contenders in the tender, the CAWAT official said. The MiG-35 is the only Russian platform equipped with an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, he added.
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03/08/2017
Eight of the world’s 20 biggest military forces by troop numbers are in East Asia, with Japan coming 21st, but the Military Strength Index compiled by Credit Suisse gives only a 5 per cent weighting to personnel on the ground, placing greater importance on a country’s access to military hardware such as tanks, aircraft and warships.
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03/08/2017
For some time now, various news outlets have claimed that Israel is already using its pair of recently-delivered F-35I Adirs in a combat role even before they've been declared operational by the Israeli Air Force. But today, military aviation journalist Thomas Newdick conveyed a report by a French journalist that not only claimed the F-35Is have been active over Syria, but also details what targets they specifically took out on their mission there.
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03/08/2017
The Indian Navy has launched a global search for maritime fighter jets it plans to operate from future aircraft carriers and is awaiting response from top military contractors on what they have to offer. The navy wants 57 multi-role carrier-borne fighters (MRCBF) and the potential order could get bigger with an option clause to buy more jets. The hunt for new deck-based fighters comes at a time when the navy is left with just a solitary aircraft carrier.
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03/08/2017
BlueBird chief executive Ronen Nadir reveals that the new version will not use the flying wing shape of the original MicroB. “We came to the conclusion that this shape limits the aerodynamic capabilities of this small UAV,” he says.
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03/08/2017
In a move analysts expect will inflame tensions between regional powers in the East and South China Seas, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called on the National People’s Congress for reinforcements to increase manpower in waters Beijing claims are integral to the country’s destiny, Chinese media reported.
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03/08/2017
Germany will purchase three MQ-4C Triton aerial surveillance drones manufactured in the United States instead of its initial plans to acquire RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft because of their high price, local media reported Tuesday, citing sources from the German Defense Ministry.
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03/07/2017
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is risking a new showdown with Beijing by stepping up military capabilities to protect holdings in the widely contested South China Sea. The navy of Taiwan, a diplomatically isolated government that claims the entire sea and controls its largest land feature, will increase patrols in the 3.5 million-square-kilometer body of water because of China's own growing military might, Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan told parliament in Taipei last week.
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03/07/2017
The USS Carl Vinson, which is steaming through the South China Sea, is just one of several high-profile displays of U.S. naval power as President Donald Trump's administration weighs options of how to reassure allies and respond to an assertive China.
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03/07/2017
The modernization of the flagship of the Russian Navy, the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, will commence before July 2017 at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk in Northern Russia and will take two and a half years, according to a Russian defense industry source.
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03/07/2017
As the Trump administration's budget plans come into sharper focus, it is increasingly clear that the Pentagon will not be getting enough money to recover from the depressed investment levels of the Obama years. Trump's proposed defense spending level for next year is only 3% above what Obama planned, and there is no guarantee that Congress will repeal budget caps precluding robust investment in new weapons.
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03/07/2017
Missile launches by North Korea confirm that the decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to South Korea was right, US Department of Defense spokesman Navy Commander Gary Ross told Sputnik.
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03/06/2017
A look at recent developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves.
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03/06/2017
The ship — dubbed Project 001A, or CV17, is likely to be launched within weeks. Adding to the atmosphere of expectation is a Beijing state-media video ‘infographic’ outlining the modular design and advanced construction of the as yet unnamed aircraft carrier being built in the Chinese port city of Dalian.
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03/06/2017
A Syrian air force pilot who bailed out as his warplane crashed on Turkish territory told a Turkish rescue team his MiG-23 had been shot down, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Sunday. The 56-year-old pilot was identified as Mehmet Sufhan, and medical staff said he was not in critical condition despite some fractures in his spine. He is being treated at a hospital in the Hatay region, a hospital spokeswoman said on Sunday.
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03/06/2017
Although combat aircraft such as the J-31 stealth fighter and J-15 aircraft carrier strike aircraft have made most of the headlines, China has made significant accomplishments in the realm of military transport, long range maritime patrol and carrier borne AEW&C aircraft over the past year. First operational in 2016, the Y-20 military transport is now the largest such aircraft in production in the world.
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