Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Can the New U.S. Stealth Bomber Get Past the Enemy?

01/05/2016

Will the U.S. Air Force’s new stealth bomber be sufficiently survivable? Naive calculations sometimes presume, to quote Stanley Baldwin’s 1932 speech in the House of Commons, that “the bomber will always get through.” History has proven otherwise, and at the start of a ten-year development effort, the LRS-B’s survivability is clearly a known unknowable.

India confirms order for IAF's Rafale deal with France

01/05/2016

The Indian Air Force's quest for a Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) is finally over with the Indian government confirming the order for 36 Rafale jets with the French government. According to sources, documents for the government-to-government deal were delivered by New Delhi to Paris on New Year's eve, and the agreement is on the same lines as that for the Mirage 2000 aircraft signed in the early 1980s. IAF will buy all the Rafale aircraft from Dassault, in a flyaway condition.

Philippines Looks to Arm Its New Fighter Jets

01/05/2016

The Philippine military will look to purchase more than 100 million pesos ($5.77 million) worth of ammunition for two of its new fighter aircraft from South Korea, defense officials confirmed this week. As I reported for The Diplomat in December, the Philippines had received the first two of a dozen new FA-50 jets it had ordered from South Korea, with the remaining jets expected to be delivered through 2017.

Lockheed Martin Receives $528 Million THAAD Missile-Defense Contract

01/05/2016

The Missile Defense Agency awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) a $528 million contract in December 2015 for production and delivery of interceptors for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The new interceptors will support a growing number of U.S. Army THAAD units.

Japan's 5th Generation Stealth Fighter to Take Off Next Month

01/05/2016

A prototype of the aircraft, developed by the Defense Ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI), will undergo taxiing and ground trials at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries testing center in Aichi Prefecture, before taking to the skies 'sometime in February'. It will be flying to the Gifu Air Field in neighboring Gifu Prefecture.

Syria 2016: Will The War End or Escalate?

01/05/2016

In 2015, the Syrian Army, supported by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, was able to tip the scales against the dark tide of Islamist jihad. Now, the question on geopolitical analysts' minds is whether 2016 will see an end to the brutal conflict, or its escalation and spillover into neighboring countries.

Egypt to Get Ka-52s for their Mistrals

01/04/2016

A deal has been reached external link which will see Egypt acquire forty-six of a navalized variant of the Ka-52 Alligator helicopter. The Ka-52K was developed to operate on the French manufactured Mistral class helicopter carrier that had been initially ordered for the Russian Navy.

French military says airstrikes destroy IS missile factory

01/04/2016

The French military says its warplanes have destroyed a site in Syria used by Islamic State extremists to produce missiles and store weapons. The Defense Ministry said in a statement Sunday that the overnight airstrikes targeted a site east of Aleppo, in an operation conducted by Rafale fighter jets using SCALP cruise missiles.

China's Air Force Conducted Four Drills over the Western Pacific in 2015

01/04/2016

In the past year, China's air force held 4 drills over the western Pacific, aimed at enhancing its combat capabilities over long distances and in the open sea. On March 30, aviation troops of the People's Liberation Army, or PLA, flew to the open sea via the Bashi Channel of Taiwan. This was the troops' first exercise in the western Pacific. The next drill took place on May 21. PLA aircraft flew over the Miyako Strait.

Modi-Putin Meet Signals New Dimensions For Indo-Russian Partnership

01/04/2016

Three developments emerged clearly from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Moscow for the 16th Indo-Russian annual summit with President Vladimir Putin. First, making bilateral ties more broad-based by giving the economic partnership between the two nations its due importance. Secondly, efforts towards transforming Indo-Russian strategic ties from a buyer-seller relationship to that of a partnership.

For Afghanistan in 2016, U.S. plans to deploy 'expeditionary advise and assist' teams

01/04/2016

As U.S. commanders in Afghanistan look ahead to the 2016 fighting season, they plan to keep force levels steady while deploying special operations troops and “expeditionary advise-and-assist” teams to support the Afghan army’s ground-level fight against the Taliban insurgency, a top U.S. general in Afghanistan said.

Another Northrop (NOC)-Lockheed (LMT)-Boeing (BA) Showdown: T-X Trainer Program

01/04/2016

The T-X program may most likely be the next lucrative military contract available for the defense sector, as the Government looks to reduce military spending. Designed to replace T-38 Talon—originally manufactured by Northrop Grumman Corporation —about 350 aircraft are expected to be ordered at an estimated $8.4 billion. The lifetime cycle for the entire program is expected to be nearly 50 years.

China's second aircraft carrier 'to have military focus'

01/04/2016

China's second aircraft carrier, which is now under construction, will focus on military operations rather than training and technological experiments, according to a senior military researcher. "This carrier will have different missions than those for the Liaoning (the country's first aircraft carrier)," Senior Captain Zhang Junshe with the People's Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute told the official PLA Daily on Friday.

South Sudan army admits acquisition of surface-to-air missiles

01/03/2016

The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), an official army of South Sudan, has admitted to have recently acquired supplies of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles brought through the neighboring countries of Kenya and Uganda, prompting United States government to warn its citizens of danger to fly in South Sudan.

Canada’s military needs better focus and funding: Editorial

01/03/2016

Canada has never been a big spender on the military, outside of wartime. And that’s not likely to change on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cash-strapped watch. In its first throne speech the Trudeau government promised to review the country’s defence capabilities and “invest in building a leaner, more agile, better-equipped military.” At the same time the government has signaled it intends to hold the line on defence spending.

Vietnam Protests as China Lands Civilian Aircraft on Newly Constructed Spratly Airstrip

01/03/2016

The status of China’s artificial islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea hit a new milestone on Saturday. China landed a civilian aircraft on Fiery Cross Reef, drawing a sharp reaction from the Vietnamese government.

RAF bomb raids in Syria dismissed as 'non-event'

01/03/2016

Britain's controversial air campaign in Syria has been branded a “non-event” after it emerged that the Air Force has carried out only one attack on the country in the last four weeks. Since MPs voted for war over Syria on 1 December, more than a month ago, RAF Tornados and Typhoons have mounted only three strike missions – all in the first five days of the operation.

RAF Reapers In Iraq

01/03/2016

In late 2015 Britain revealed that their Reaper UAVs in Iraq had carried out over 230 missile attacks since November 2014 and killed at least 300 Islamic terrorists. The Reapers have flown many more reconnaissance and surveillance missions. While Britain is quite pleased with the performance of their American built Reapers they have also begun using a British made Watchkeeper UAV as well.

Pathankot terror attack: Pre-positioned Crack counter militant troops, NSG minimized damage

01/03/2016

Crack counter militant troops and a NSG team prepositioned at the Pathankot air base in anticipation of an attack contained the terror strike, minimizing damage to the installation as well as preventing them from entering the technical area that houses fighter aircraft and choppers.

Navy to shutdown combat-tested spec ops helicopter squadron

01/03/2016

After more than a year in limbo, the Navy has decided to shutdown one of its two dedicated special operations helicopter squadrons, in a money-saving reorganization to retain the service's spec ops expertise. In March, the Navy will shutter Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 84 in Norfolk, which, along with HSC-85, has flown a decade of shadowy missions in war zones with aging helicopters.

Canadian fighter jets in the Middle East kept busy at the start of 2016

01/03/2016

Canadian fighter jets taking part in the air campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have had a busy start to 2016. The Canadian Forces says two CF-18 Hornets took to the skies on New Year's Day to attack ISIL fighting positions in Ramadi in support of Iraqi security forces.

Two Kurdish Peshmerga Brigades to Be Armed and Trained by US in January

01/03/2016

raqi Kurdistan military officials have announced that two brigades of Kurdish armed forces, known as Pesmerga, will undergo reorganization and armament by the US in mid-January.

Aerospace firms eye pilot training even as Liberals unsure of new fighter jet

01/02/2016

The Canadian government is setting the stage for a multibillion-dollar training program for its military pilots that will see them receive instruction not just on basic skills but also on flying a new fighter jet and other future aircraft.

France to buy four Lockheed C130 military transport planes

01/02/2016

France said on Friday it would buy four C130 Hercules military transport planes from U.S. weapons maker Lockheed-Martin due to problems with European planemaker Airbus's A400M. A Defense Ministry source had said in May that France had penciled several hundreds of millions of euros into its latest defense budget for the possible purchase of those four planes and would make a decision by year-end.

China’s second aircraft carrier to copy a dated Soviet-era design as naval hardware demands increase

01/02/2016

China’s first home-made aircraft carrier will be a copy of a Soviet-era vessel with some refinements, with the navy rushing to ramp up its combat capacity as maritime tensions rise in the region, according to analysts. The defence ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the country’s second aircraft carrier was under construction in the port of Dalian.