Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Received queries for LCA Tejas during Bahrain airshow: HAL chief T Suvarna Raju

01/29/2016

Queries were received about the country's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas for possible export, during the recently held Bahrain air show, HAL chief T Suvarna Raju today said but refused to identify the interested countries. He also asserted that the first upgraded Tejas with better radar, missiles system, mid-air refueling capability, would be handed over to the force by 2018.

Japan Unveils First Homegrown Stealth Plane

01/29/2016

Japan on Thursday unveiled its first stealth fighter jet, officials said, with the maiden test flight planned for next month. The defense ministry's acquisition agency showed off the domestically developed, radar-dodging X-2 fighter at a regional airport near the central city of Komaki.

Lockheed Martin Partners with Advanced Electronics Company To Open New Sniper ATP Support Center in Saudi Arabia

01/29/2016

Lockheed Martin and Advanced Electronics Company (AEC) recently celebrated the opening of the Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) Expanded Repair Capability center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This marks the start of operations at the first Sniper ATP support center located outside the United States.

US, Russia Discuss Enhancement of Military Flights Safety Over Syria

01/29/2016

Department of Defense Press Secretary Peter Cook said that the US Department of Defense held a video conference with the Russian Ministry of Defense on ways to further improve safety of military jets operating in Syria.

Recapitalizing JSTARS: the radar

01/28/2016

For more than two decades, the Air Force's Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System has provided valuable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to commanders by detecting, locating and tracking enemy ground forces from afar. Identified as the service's fourth largest acquisition priority, the JSTARS weapon system is currently undergoing a major recapitalization - including its radar.

Design review to unlock Sikorsky HH-60W funds

01/28/2016

US air force’s Combat Rescue Helicopter programme is on track to complete a preliminary design review in April that will unlock funds for five more aircraft. Programme officials from the service and Sikorsky say that during 2015 the two sides came to an agreement on more than 1,000 design requirements and 3,000 subsystem specifications through the government’s "system requirements review" process.

High-end, advanced combat training launches during Red Flag 16-1

01/28/2016

Combat air force squadrons from across the world joined Tyndall Air Force Base’s Checkertails at Nellis AFB, Nevada, this week for the joint-training, full-spectrum, readiness exercise, Red Flag 16-1.

4 RSAF fighter aircraft squadrons competing in Hotshot Challenge

01/28/2016

The RSAF Hotshot Challenge is a biennial air-to-surface competition where squadrons undergo several challenges that test skills in areas like basic weaponry, weapon loading, and precision and creative marshalling.

US Army Mulls Expanding Units Comprising Active, Reserve Pilots

01/28/2016

The US Army is considering how multi-component units might help it achieve greater capability as the force shrinks in a time of budget austerity and implemented such a structure within its fixed-wing aviation branch for the first time.

How the Air Force’s New Planes Could Bankrupt the Pentagon

01/28/2016

The push by the U.S. Air Force to modernize its equipment, even as it pursues big-ticket items like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and a next-generation bomber, is setting up the Defense Department for a budgetary flood of spending, according to a new think-tank study.

F-35 combat jet to be displayed at two UK air shows in 2016

01/28/2016

The F-35 Lightning II will appear at the Royal International Air Tattoo and Farnborough Air Show in July, the US Air Force has announced. It was due to be shown at the 2014 events but was cancelled days before after the entire fleet was grounded in the US following an engine fire. The RAF says the aircraft will place it at the forefront of fighter technology.

Stop chasing France’s Rafale: India’s air warriors can’t fly on foreign wings forever

01/28/2016

The Indian Air Force’s requirement for a medium multi-role combat aircraft continues to remain unfulfilled. In the early 2000s, the IAF decided that the logical answer to its problems of obsolescence, attrition, and declining fleet strength was to induct additional numbers of the single-engined Mirage 2000. This aircraft had an excellent safety and serviceability record, and played a decisive role in the Kargil conflict.

Japan Reports North Korea Readying Long-Range Missile Launch 'Next Week'

01/28/2016

Citing an unnamed government official, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reports that satellite imagery appears to show Pyongyang preparing to launch a long-range missile from a test site known as Tongchang-ri.

Russia Grounds MiG-31s After Crash Over Siberia

01/27/2016

A cornerstone of Russia’s national air defense is temporarily down after the Defense Ministry on Monday grounded all of Moscow’s 120 or so serving MiG-31 interceptors pending an investigation into the loss of a MiG-31 in the skies of Siberia earlier that day. The Russian Defense Ministry announced Monday afternoon that a MiG-31 went down over the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk. The plane’s pilots ejected safely and the crash did not cause any damage on the ground.

Taliban vs. Turboprops: Afghanistan’s New Attack Planes

01/27/2016

On January 15, four A-29 attack planes touched down at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan. For a project beset by seemingly never-ending delays and military-industrial rivalries, the event was a major milestone.

Russia learns stealth warplanes are hard to do

01/27/2016

After confronting serious technical and economic difficulties, Russia has dramatically cut back its air force program to field its first radar-evading “stealth” fighter jet. By delaying large-scale acquisition of the Sukhoi T-50 fighter, the Kremlin is tacitly acknowledging a truth that the U.S. military learned decades ago — and that China might also learn in coming years: developing stealth fighters is hard.

German Military Called 'Overstretched, Underfunded'

01/27/2016

Germany's military is overstretched and underfunded as its troops are engaged in anti-jihadist missions from Syria and Afghanistan to Mali while also aiding refugees at home, the defense commissioner said Tuesday, according to Agence France-Presse. Plagued by a series of defense equipment failures, the military is "at a crossroads" and has reached "the limit of its capacity for interventions," said Hans-Peter Bartels.

A-10 Dodges Another Bullet

01/27/2016

As of early 2016 the U.S. Air Force struggle to retire all its A-10 ground attack aircraft is over. For the moment at least. The air force now says that the war against ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) and the threat from Russia caused this change of mind. The real reason is that the A-10 has long been the most effective and popular ground attack aircraft and that Congress agreed with these troops rather than the air force generals.

Expert urges RAAF to drop JSF for F-22

01/27/2016

Australia will never achieve regional air superiority with the new Lockheed F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter and should instead look to the US F-22 Raptor, a former RAAF officer says. Retired Wing Commander Chris Mills said the F-35 was never designed to achieve air superiority and was outclassed by advanced new Russian aircraft entering service in regional air forces.

F-22 with historic Maloney’s Pony insignia has been the first Raptor to go into combat in Syria

01/27/2016

A very special F-22 belonging to the 27th Fighter Squadron from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia visited the 411th Fighter Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, California in June and November of 2015 as part of the Signature Management Program, which is aimed to maintain its stealth characteristics.

Air Force refits training aircraft for combat mission

01/27/2016

The Nigeria Air Force headquarters says it has reconfigured two demilitarized Alpha Jets acquired without weapons delivery capability for counter-insurgency operations in the north east. A statement on Tuesday by Air Force spokesman Group Captain Ayodele Famuyiwa said the two aircrafts are among the four Alpha Jets bought from the United States in 2015.

Boeing to Provide C-17 Training to NATO

01/27/2016

The Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) program will soon train C-17 aircrews at Boeing’s [NYSE: BA] C-17 International Training Centre (ITC) in the United Kingdom under a new $8 million contract. SAC is comprised of ten NATO countries and two NATO Partnership for Peace countries. The program will begin training its multinational aircrews early this year. Prior to this contract, the SAC program sent aircrews to the United States for training.

Russian military denies rumors of new air base in Syria

01/26/2016

Russia’s Defense Ministry has denied speculations about constructing second air base in Syria. The rumor could be a false flag operation by Ankara to cover up the concentration of Turkish forces on the Syrian border, MoD spokesman said. “There are no ‘new’ airbases or additional ‘jump-up bases’ for Russian warplanes in the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as no plans to create any,” Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov told media briefing on Monday.

Boeing Tanker Passes First Midair Refueling Test for Air Force

01/26/2016

In perfect weather for a test flight Sunday, Boeing's KC-46 tanker successfully passed jet fuel to an F-16 jet fighter in the air, the first time the new tanker has accomplished an air-to-air refueling mission. The Air Force said the tanker passed 1,600 pounds of fuel to an F-16 piloted by Lt. Col. Daniel Alix, 416th Flight Test Squadron, 412th Test Wing out of Edwards AFB, Calif., who characterized the mission as a complete success.

Germany Picks CH-53K , CH-47F as Options for New Helo

01/26/2016

The German armed forces has shortlisted the CH-53K from Sikorsky and the CH-47F Chinook from Boeing as potential successors to its aging fleet of CH-53 heavy-lift helicopters, a spokesman for the German Air Force confirmed. A selection should be made by the end of this year, the spokesman said, but added there is currently no favorite.