Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Syria – a test bed for high-tech weapons of electronic warfare

10/18/2015

The relationship between Russia and the West is becoming increasingly dangerous with potential flashpoints developing in both eastern Europe and Syria. After repeated incursions into Turkish airspace by Russian warplanes on bombing raids over Syria, NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg warned Moscow that it stands ready to “defend all allies”.

F-35C completes carrier tests aboard the Ike

10/18/2015

Across the board success was how the test pilots scored the second carrier testing run for the Navy's F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, which wrapped up Oct. 9 aboard the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower. The multifaceted two-week flight test was used to develop launch and recovery bulletins. The former focused on 55,000 and 60,000-pound catapult shots at military, the catapult shot with standard jet thrust, and maximum power.

Turkey Says Wouldn't Hesitate to Shoot Down Planes Violating Air Space

10/18/2015

'We downed a drone yesterday. If it was a plane we'd do the same,' Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu tells a party rally; Turkey is still investigating where the drone came from, but U.S believes it was Russians'.

Here's one surprising reason Russia might not want to pick a fight with US planes over Syria

10/18/2015

The skies over Syria are dangerously crowded these days with the US, Russia, and the Assad regime all bombing various actors on vaguely opposite sides of the country's multidimensional conflict. In both Iraq and Syria, the reality of overlapping aerial operations among countries with little geopolitical fondness toward one another has already led to claims that British aircraft have been authorized to engage Russian aircraft over Iraq if threatened.

DARPA Developing Tech To Keep Squadrons Connected Even With Jamming Attacks

10/18/2015

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is responsible for developing emerging technologies for military use, is coming up with a technology that will keep squadrons connected even when during jamming attacks.

Chinese Bomber Can Now Launch Long-Range Strikes

10/18/2015

The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has revealed its long-range precision strike capabilities. Beijing’s H-6K bomber can strike distant targets with precise ammunition, according to Chinese media.

Russia to Hold Talks With Egypt on Sales of Equipment for Mistrals

10/18/2015

Russia will hold talks with Egypt on the possible purchase by Cairo of the Russian equipment for the Mistral helicopter carriers on October 21-23, a source in the military-technical cooperation sphere said Saturday.

F-35's Heavier Helmet Complicates Ejection Risks

10/17/2015

In the latest hurdle for the Pentagon's F-35 joint strike fighter, testers this summer discovered an increased risk of neck damage when a lightweight pilot is ejecting from the plane. The Joint Program Office blamed the phenomenon on the jet's ejection seat, Martin-Baker's US16E. But interviews conducted by Defense News in recent weeks indicate the added weight and bulk of the new F-35 helmet complicates the problem.

Cameroon recon: US troops to Nigerian border to monitor Boko Haram

10/17/2015

Boko Haram has spilled out of the forests and villages of northern Nigeria and into the cross hairs of the U.S. military. Nearly 100 American military personnel are headed to the Central African nation of Cameroon, with another 200 expected to follow in the near future. Using drones to gather intelligence, they will help their counterparts in Cameroon monitor the growing threat from the Islamic terrorist group as it expands its bloody reign out of its stronghold in Nigeria.

Wright-Patt sold $19B to foreign militaries in FY 2015

10/17/2015

The Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, headquartered at Wright-Patterson, had the second highest sales to foreign militaries in a decade reaching $19 billion, more than doubling sales from the year prior, figures show. Sales of the fifth generation F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter to South Korea at $6.3 billion, to Israel at $2.8 billion and to Japan at $1 billion were the biggest driver of higher spending, according to figures released to this newspaper Friday.

Air Force sets weight restrictions for F-35 pilots

10/17/2015

Air Force leaders recently made a decision to restrict pilots weighing less than 136 pounds from flying the F-35A Lightning II due to safety concerns about the ejection seat in a portion of the flight envelope. The manufacturer of the seat has been conducting tests to ensure the escape system works reliably and safely in all planned conditions.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter Denies South Korea's Request For Transfer Of Fighter Jet Technology

10/17/2015

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday denied South Korea’s request for transfer of key American technologies for its project to develop KF-X indigenous fighter jet, Yonhap News Agency reported. South Korea is represented by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and Korea Aerospace Industries for the KF-X program, for which America's Lockheed Martin Corporation was selected in March.

Iraq shows off airstrike by new Chinese-made combat drone (VIDEO)

10/17/2015

The Iraqi military has released a video displaying the combat deployment of a CH-4B drone which the country recently bought from China. Baghdad has been diversifying its arms supply to decrease its reliance on American producers. The Caihong (Rainbow) 4B drone flew from the al-Kut Air Base southeast of Baghdad and shot an AR-1 laser-guided anti-tank missile at an Islamic State target, according to the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

Thank You for Being a Friend

10/17/2015

“Sweeter than the sweetest honey in this world, deeper than the deepest sea in the world . . . ,” the suitor crooned, “higher than the highest peak . . .” Soul singer Barry White? No, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, remarking on Pakistan's relationship with China in 2014, using words that had been repeated many times before over the past 40 years.

Boeing Mulls Chinook/Apache Assembly Line in India

10/17/2015

In what may come as a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India campaign, American aviation manufacturer Boeing on Friday said that it will assemble its Chinook heavy-lift helicopters or Apache attack helicopters in India.

US suspects Turkey shot down Russian drone aircraft near Syrian border, official says

10/17/2015

Turkey has shot down an aircraft that US officials have suggested was a Russian drone in its air space near the Syrian border. The Turkish general staff said it shot the aircraft in accordance with its rules of engagement, giving three warnings, and would continue to follow its duties in line with its rules, in a statement posted on the military's website.

Russian Su-30SM performed a Visual ID intercept on a U.S. plane over Syria

10/16/2015

On Oct. 10, a Russian Su-30SM belonging to the contingent deployed to Latakia, in Syria, had a close encounter with a unspecified U.S. combat plane supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. According to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, the Flanker-derivative 4++ Gen aircraft was providing air escort for a package of attack planes in Syria when it approached the American plane, to perform a VID (Visual Identification).

Hill commemorates new era in combat airpower

10/16/2015

Base officials and the Top of Utah community officially welcomed the F-35 Lightning II at a ceremony here Oct. 14, an event that formally marked the beginning of F-35 operations for the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings. Members of the Utah congressional delegation, Lockheed Martin and the Air Force addressed a crowd of more than 500 people, which included Airmen and their families, local civic leaders and the media.

DARPA's developing a data network that connects squadrons even when jammed

10/16/2015

Burning OilfieldsDARPA issued a Broad Agency Announcement solicitation for a new program called Dynamic Network Adaptation for Mission Optimization (DyNAMO) which aims to keep America's manned (and unmanned) combat aircraft connected even if enemy forces attempt to jam their communications. But that's not as straightforward as it sounds. US aircraft are additionally hindered by the fact that many of the platforms operate on incompatible radio networks using different encryption schemes.

The U.S. Military's 6th Generation Fighter: 5 Ways To Dominate the Sky

10/16/2015

The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the Boeing F/A-18E/F are both aging platforms and will need to be replaced in the mid-2030s. Moreover, for the U.S. Air Force, it needs to replace the venerable F-15C Eagle—which was supposed to have been replaced by the Raptor until that program was prematurely terminated.

Stop Complaining About The Tejas: It Is A Great Indian Achievement

10/16/2015

‘India doubles down on crappy homemade jets‘, proclaims one analyst. ‘Modi pushes ‘obsolete’ made-in-India plane on reluctant military‘, a newspaper headline asserts. A third suggests that the jet ‘could hurt [the] Indian Air Force‘. With the Indian government deciding this September to limit the purchase of French Rafale multi-role fighters to just 36 airframes and acquire 120 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) instead, criticisms of the Tejas seem to have surfaced with renewed vigour.

Obama extends Afghanistan mission into 2017

10/16/2015

President Obama's long dream of concluding the war in Afghanistan before he departs the White House officially ended Thursday with the announcement that the U.S. will leave up to 5,500 troops there into 2017. The announcement came after months of bad news from Afghanistan: The Taliban has scored a series of battlefield victories, the Afghan army's casualties are soaring and there are mounting worries that the Islamic State is gaining a foothold in rural areas.

U.S. Air Force Awards Lockheed Martin $305 Million Contract for JASSM and JASSM-ER Production

10/16/2015

Lockheed Martin has received a $305.4 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for continued production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and its Extended Range (ER) version. The Lot 13 contract includes 140 baseline JASSMs for U.S. and international partners, 140 JASSM-ER missiles, data, tooling and test equipment. The Lot 13 award represents the largest JASSM-ER order to date and brings total missiles under contract to more than 2,300.

US-Led Coalition Destroys ISIL HQ, Military Commander in Northern Iraq

10/16/2015

Airstrikes of the US-led international coalition destroyed on Thursday an Islamic State (ISIL) coordination headquarters, killing one of the group's northern Iraq military commanders, local media reported, citing a military source.

Russia and US Close to Agreement on Flights Over Syria

10/16/2015

Over the past 24 hours, Russian warplanes completed 33 sorties in Syria, striking ISIL facilities in the provinces of Idlib, Hama, Damascus, Aleppo, and Deir az-Zor, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.