Military Aviation News Archive
08/10/2024
During Exercise Pitch Black 24 in Australia's Northern Territory, U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors and Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs participated in a "hot pit" refueling exercise, a key component of the Agile Employment Concept (ACE). This exercise, held at the remote RAAF Base Curtin, emphasized rapid refueling operations in austere environments, reducing ground time to around an hour.
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08/08/2024
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 36 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Tuesday (Aug. 6) and 6 a.m. on Wednesday. Of the 36 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 31 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the nation’s northern, central, southwestern, and southeastern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.
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08/08/2024
Several Ukrainian sources closely linked to the military have reported the loss of one of Russia’s advanced Su-35 fighter jets in the Kursk region. The Telegram channel “Polkovnik GSh” hinted at the loss in its messages, and various Ukrainian monitoring groups have stated that Russia withdrew its strike aircraft following the downing of the Su-35.
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08/08/2024
The United Kingdom’s leading defense industry partners have announced that manufacturing and assembly of the main structure for the country’s first crewed combat air demonstrator in a generation are now underway. According to a press release from BAE Systems, this milestone marks a significant step in developing a new piloted supersonic aircraft aimed at testing a variety of advanced technologies.
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08/08/2024
Pakistan Air Force (PAF) pilots have begun training on the Chinese FC-31 Gyrfalcon (formerly known as J-31) fighter aircraft in China, Pakistan media is claiming. The media says it could soon be operating the 5th-gen fighters after undergoing training. In contrast, the delivery of India’s indigenous fighter jet, Light Combat Aircraft LCA MK1A, has been pushed back by a few months. If Indian defense officials are not proactive, they might end up ‘panic buying’ more Rafale fighter jets.
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08/07/2024
The US military is considering a remote island in Australia as the next potential location for construction under the Pacific Deterrence Initiative. Known as the Cocos Islands, the area sits west of the Australian mainland and is close to an Indian Ocean chokepoint for Chinese oil shipments. According to a US Navy construction tender published recently, the island can house infrastructure that would help improve Washington’s defense posture in the Indo-Pacific.
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08/07/2024
The military issues website BulgarianMilitary.com reported on Saturday, Aug. 3, that eight Spanish F/A-18A+ fighter aircraft supported by around 150 personnel arrived at Romania’s Mihail Kogalniceanu military airbase at the start of a new deployment as part of NATO’s Black Sea Air Policing mission. The Spanish team will be stationed in Romania until December as part of the routine rotation of member nation support to the operation.
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08/06/2024
The United States is bolstering its military presence in the Middle East by deploying F-22 Raptors, along with other fighter squadrons, amid escalating tensions with Iran and its allied militant groups. This move follows recent incidents, including the death of key leaders in Tehran and Lebanon, and a meeting in Iran with Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups.
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08/05/2024
More U.S. military aircraft, warships, and other assets are deploying to the Middle East the Pentagon announced Aug. 2. A U.S. Air Force fighter squadron consisting of stealthy F-22 Raptors is being dispatched to the region, a person familiar with the deployment told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
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08/05/2024
F-16 aircraft are already in Ukraine. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the Day of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. F-16, MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter jets flew over the sky during the ceremony of congratulating the warriors.
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08/03/2024
The Department of the Air Force made the decision to continue funding Anduril and General Atomics for detailed designs, manufacture, and testing of production representative test articles under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The companies not selected to build these production representative CCA vehicles, and execute the flight test program, will continue to be part of the broader industry partner vendor pool consisting of more than 20 companies to compete for future efforts.
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08/03/2024
The US is sending a carrier strike group, a fighter squadron and additional warships to the Middle East as the region braces for an Iranian retaliation to the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran earlier this week. It is perhaps the largest movement of US forces to the region since the early days of the Gaza war, when the Pentagon sent two carrier strike groups toward the Middle East in a very public warning to regional militant groups not to expand the fighting.
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08/02/2024
More than four decades after its creation, Bangladesh military aircraft will roar over the skies of India for the first time. In the exercise Tarang Shakti (Power of Waves), the Bangladesh Air Force will participate with its fighter jets, along with other Western air forces. So far, Bangladesh Air Force aircraft have never operated from Indian soil. They will participate in the second phase of the exercise at Jodhpur Air Base in Rajasthan, home to the Indigenous Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) ‘Pr
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08/02/2024
A large tri-national force comprising 23 aircraft from the air forces of France, Germany, and Spain will be transiting to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Subang, from Aug 5-6.
This trilateral deployment, dubbed Pacific Skies 2024, follows the three-week deployment to this year’s edition of Exercise Pitch Black 2024, in Darwin, Australia.
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08/01/2024
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 29 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Wednesday (July 31) and 6 a.m. on Thursday. Of the 29 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 13 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the country’s northern, southwestern, and southeastern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND.
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08/01/2024
The F-15SA, a heavily upgraded version of the F-15S, features advanced avionics, electronic warfare systems, and weaponry, making it one of the most capable aircraft in Saudi Arabia's arsenal.
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08/01/2024
After a long wait, it appears that Ukraine has just received the first batch of F-16s provided by the international fighter jet coalition. The news, first disclosed by Bloomberg on Jul. 31, 2024, has also been confirmed by a U.S. official to the Associated Press.
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07/31/2024
The F-35 Lightning II fighter is the most advanced fighter jet in the world, but it has several updates and upgrades lined up. To begin with, Lockheed Martin is currently rolling out the TR-3 software update that is necessary for the aircraft to remain at the tip of the spear of combat aviation.
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07/31/2024
The Swedish Air Force has embarked on a comprehensive study into the viability of launching small satellites from the JAS-39 Gripen multi-role fighter aircraft. Called “Stella,” the study is inspired by a statement from a former Ukrainian space agency official who said a responsive satellite launch capability with an aircraft would have been useful in preparing for an enemy attack.
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07/31/2024
After months of hinting at a disruption in the program, the US Air Force has formally decided to “pause” its effort to field a new stealth fighter, according to Secretary Frank Kendall. “We’re taking a pause there,” Kendall said today at the Life Cycle Industry Days conference here. “With the platform itself, we’re taking a pause. With the rest of the elements of the air dominance family of systems, we’re moving forward as fast as we can.”
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07/30/2024
As far as combat aircraft programmes go, there appears to be one inescapable fact; although every new generation of combat aircraft aims to outperform its predecessor and often does so, it is unable to achieve a significant reduction in costs. Despite efforts to control costs, the reality of designing, developing and fielding an advanced combat aircraft system and what seems to be a global problem in achieving effective programme management, that can deliver on time and on cost, adds to programm
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07/30/2024
France renewed a commitment to help defend freedom of navigation and overflight in the Asia-Pacific Sunday and said that its supersonic fighter jets — a pair of which landed for the first time in the Philippines — and advance military power would enable it to respond rapidly to any humanitarian or security crisis in the region.
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07/29/2024
The F-15EX Eagle II, the latest variant of the iconic F-15, boasts numerous upgrades, making it one of the most advanced fighters in the U.S. Air Force. Featuring powerful F110-GE-129 engines, the F-15EX can achieve Mach 2.5 and carry nearly 30,000 lbs of payload. Advanced sensors, including the APG-82 AESA radar and Legion Pod IRST, enhance threat detection, while the EPAWSS system ensures superior situational awareness.
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07/29/2024
China could benefit from familiarizing itself with the Mirage 2000’s performance and capabilities, as well as from the possibility of engaging in dissimilar air-combat training. This preparation could be advantageous in the event of a conflict with Taiwan.
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07/28/2024
South Korean defense contractor Hanhwa Defense announced recently that the domestic jet engine that will power the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) KF-21 fighter will be identical in size to the F414 engine made by General Electric (GE) and used on Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and HAL Tejas Mk2, among others, but it will produce superior results.
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