Military Aviation News Archive

Fighter Jets on High Alert in Western Russia for Flight Exercises

07/16/2016

Russia’s MiG-31BM and Su-27 fighter jets have been put on alert for tactical flight exercises in the Tver Oblast in the country’s west.

South China Sea sovereignty decision: Peter Jennings says China must be told might isn’t right

07/15/2016

IT’S not often that a complex legal judgment has such an obvious and devastatingly clear outcome. But that is what the Permanent Court of Arbitration achieved at The Hague in the Netherlands this week, when it ruled on a dispute between the Philippines and China over who owns a number of rocks and reefs in the South China Sea.

US Military Preps F-35 for Operations, Including Possible ISIS Strikes

07/15/2016

The Marines' F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has four deployments lined up across the next five years, a senior official said this week - and some of them could take it into the heart of the coalition fight against the Islamic State. Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow on Monday, Col. William Lieblein said by 2021 the aircraft will have completed three shipboard pumps with a Marine Expeditionary Unit, and one on an aircraft carrier.

FARNBOROUGH: Brimstone 2 hits the spot in Apache testing

07/15/2016

MBDA and Boeing completed the first firing of the former's Brimstone 2 air-to-surface missile from an AH-64E attack helicopter in June. The system – which its developer calls the Future Attack Helicopter Weapon – is being marketed as the primary armament for the British Army’s future fleet of AH-64Es. Made on 13 July, the announcement about the test success came three days after then-Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed plans to purchase 50 of the rotorcraft.

VIDEO: F-35B wows the Farnborough crowds

07/15/2016

The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II has flown its first public displays in the UK this week at Farnborough and the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. The US Marine Corps aircraft, which is usually based at MCAS Yuma in Arizona, is operating out of RAF Fairford and performed its first full Farnborough display on 12 July. It also made flybys with the Red Arrows and a USMC KC-130 earlier at the show.

FARNBOROUGH: Lockheed sees bright future for F-16V

07/15/2016

There might only be 15 F-16s remaining to be built at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facility in Texas, but there is still a lot of life in the fighter, the company says. While many at Fort Worth are now focussed on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Randy Howard, director F-16 business development, has a different task.

VIDEO: Eurofighter on target with Storm Shadow integration

07/15/2016

Integration of MBDA's Storm Shadow cruise missile with the Eurofighter Typhoon has cleared a key milestone, with a powered firing having recently been performed in the UK. Building on a significant number of carriage and release trials performed in 2014 and 2015, the integration activity "culminated in a powered firing which took place from a development aircraft on 14 June, flying out of BAE Systems' site in Warton, Lancashire," Eurofighter says.

Sweden's Saab Hopes to Seduce Canada With New Gripen Fighters

07/15/2016

Saab's promotion campaign for the new Gripen E fighter jet has suffered major setback. It is therefore hardly surprising that Saab's leadership has been clutching at straws. Recently, the company has been pinning all its hopes of international triumph on Canada's indecision regarding the updating of its fleet of military jets.

Russian MoD Denies Plans for Nuclear-Capable Outer Space Strategic Bomber

07/15/2016

Reports claiming that the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Academy is developing a hypersonic nuclear-capable outer space strategic bomber are not true, a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters Thursday.

US to Propose Establishing Joint Operational Center on Syria to Russia

07/15/2016

The new US proposal on military cooperation with Russia on Syria includes a plan to establish a joint command center with prospects of integrated operations, The Washington Post reports.

Blackhawk’s possible successor unveiled: ‘You need this kind of speed and range’

07/14/2016

The possible successor to the U.S. military’s iconic Blackhawk helicopter was unveiled Tuesday at the Farnborough International Airshow. Bell Helicopter gave attendees an up-close look at the V-280 Valor, which is part of the Army’s Joint Multi-Role (JMR) program for assessing next-generation aircraft capabilities. Bell teamed up with Lockheed Martin to produce the aircraft’s advanced tiltrotor systems.

Desperate for planes, military turns to the 'boneyard'

07/14/2016

It's something akin to raising the dead. A troubling shortage of flyable combat aircraft - one military official recently called the air fleet the "smallest, oldest and least ready" in history - is forcing the military to go to its "boneyard." The Marine Corps announced last month it was taking the extreme step of resurrecting 23 F/A-18 Hornets to meet fleet requirements until the new - and much-delayed - F-35 fighter is eventually delivered.

LONGBOW LLC Receives $89 Million Contract for Apache Radar Upgrades

07/14/2016

The U.S. Army awarded the LONGBOW Limited Liability Company (LLC) an $89.8 million contract to upgrade the Apache attack helicopter’s LONGBOW Fire Control Radar (FCR). The LONGBOW LLC is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The contract includes the production of 84 Radar Electronics Units (REUs) as well as software upgrades.

FARNBOROUGH: ?Bombardier looks to open up talks with USAF over Compass Call sole-source

07/14/2016

Bombardier has provided additional information to the US Air Force following the service’s proposal to sole-source a Gulfstream G550 to fulfill the EC-130H Compass Call’s mission. In May, the air force suggested Gulstream’s jet was the only option which did not require additional development or certification work.

FARNBOROUGH: Rafael and Northrop team to offer Toplite for V-22

07/14/2016

Rafael and Northrop Grumman are teaming to offer the former’s Toplite optronic system for the US Marines Corps’ Bell Boeing MV-22 tilt rotor. The two companies teamed to respond to a request for proposals issued for an advanced optronic system that is needed to improve the operational capabilities of the MV-22 in different combat scenarios.

FARNBOROUGH: Embraer on track to deliver Super Tucanos to Lebanon

07/14/2016

Production is under way on the first Embraer A-29 Super Tucanos for the Lebanese Air Force, with delivery to start at the beginning of 2017. In November, the US government agreed a $173 million foreign military sales contract that will see Embraer's US partner Sierra Nevada deliver six of the light-attack turboprops to the Lebanese air force by 2019.

French Aircraft Carrier to Return to Anti-Daesh Mission in Persian Gulf

07/14/2016

French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will return to its mission to combat Daesh terrorist group in Persian Gulf, after undergoing technical maintenance in France, French President Francois Hollande said Wednesday. The head of the country added, that France will boost its assistance to the Iraqi army in the fight for freeing Mosul from terrorists in northern Iraq by sending military instructors to the country.

US Delivers ‘Sniper’ Weapon Pods for F-16 Combat Jets to Netherlands

07/14/2016

The Netherlands Air Force has received 14 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods for air-to-ground firepower support, according to Lockheed Martin statementr.

Shifting Allegiances: Did Turkey Just Give Up on Toppling Assad?

07/14/2016

In what appears to be a major reversal, the Turkish government has issued a call for improved relations between Iraq and the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

New Russian Bomber to Be Able to Launch Nuclear Attacks From Outer Space

07/14/2016

The Russian Strategic Missile Forces Academy is developing a hypersonic strategic bomber capable of striking with nuclear warheads from outer space, Lt. Col. Aleksei Solodovnikov told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

Inside look at U.S.-led coalition's deadliest single attack on ISIL

07/13/2016

The initial reports coming into Baghdad’s operations center seemed implausible: A convoy of dozens of Islamic State vehicles were preparing to flee advancing Iraqi forces in Fallujah. A surveillance drone dispatched to the area confirmed the reports. Staff officers gathered around screens and stared incredulously as the numbers of vehicles continued to expand, the militants apparently oblivious to the target they presented from the air.

Russia's Next Military Game Changer: Microwave Weapons?

07/13/2016

Russia will arm its sixth-generation combat drones with microwave weapons. These weapons, which disable an aircraft’s electronic equipment, already exist today “and can hit targets within a radius of tens of kilometers,” said Vladimir Mikheev, a director of state-owned Russian electronics firm KRET, in an interview with TASS.

South China Sea: Court rules in favor of Philippines over China

07/13/2016

An international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in a maritime dispute Tuesday, concluding China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea. Chinese President Xi Jinping rejected the decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which is likely to have lasting implications for the resource-rich hot spot, which sees $5 trillion worth of shipborne trade pass through each year.

Lockheed Martin Explores Adaptable Weapons Kit for International BLACK HAWK Helicopter

07/13/2016

Lockheed Martin is exploring options to bring its weapons integration expertise to bear on the European S-70 BLACK HAWK helicopters made by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company. The goal is to produce an armed kit scalable to the requirements of customers that procure BLACK HAWK aircraft direct from Lockheed Martin.

FARNBOROUGH: L-159 set for Red Flag debut with Draken

07/13/2016

Czech manufacturer Aero Vodochody is looking forward to its L-159 light attack aircraft taking part in a Red Flag-series exercise in the USA for the first time. The aircraft is going to be used by contractor Draken International as an aggressor during the exercise, which will pit it against a number of different US Air Force fighters, as well those from other allied forces.