Military Aviation News Archive

Franco-Indian Rafale Saga Ends? Deal is Close to Getting Signed

01/07/2016

The Indian Ministry of Defense is busy finishing up a final agreement, which is expected to be signed during French President Francois Hollande’s visit to India later this month, the Indian newspaper Financial Express reported.

Just What the Middle East Needs: Turkey’s Getting an Aircraft Carrier

01/06/2016

Turkey is getting ready to widen the reach of its military considerably by building a multipurpose aircraft carrier with “trans-continental” capabilities. The 225-meter ship dubbed the Anadolu (or Anatolia), set to enter service in 2021, is designed to take fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, tanks, troops, and landing vessels to areas around the Mediterranean and as far as the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans, officials say.

China lands 1st civilian plane on disputed islands, sparks neighbors' military fears

01/06/2016

A test flight by a civilian plane landed on an island in the South China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. It’s the first time the country has done so in the disputed Spratly Islands. Tensions are now high with neighboring Vietnam and the Philippines.

Spain and Belgium prepare to take on Baltic policing duties

01/06/2016

On 7 January, Spain will take the lead role for the next four-month, NATO-led Baltic Air Policing (BAP) rotation, as it deploys four Eurofighters to Šiauliai air base in Lithuania.

Pakistan to sell JF-17 Thunder aircraft to Sri Lanka

01/06/2016

Pakistan to sell eight combat JF-17 Thunder aircraft to Sri Lanka under an agreement signed during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit on Tuesday. The multi-roll fighter aircraft is the joint production of Pakistan and China. Defence officials accompanying the prime minister said that both countries signed eight agreements related to defence, security, anti-terrorism, trade and science and technology and Pakistan would provide eight JF-17 fighter jets to Sri Lanka at the first phase.

Algeria Orders 12 Su-34 'Fullback' Fighter-Bombers from Russia

01/06/2016

The Algerian Air Force has ordered 12 Sukhoi (Su-34) 'Fullback' fighter bombers from Russian aircraft manufacturer Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association to replace an aged fleet of Soviet-era MiG-25s, which are long over-due for retirement from service, as part of an ongoing force modernization program.

FG to spend N65bn on warplanes, weapons, others

01/06/2016

The Federal Government is proposing to spend N65.03bn for the acquisition of various military aircraft, combat equipment, trucks and maintenance of boats among others in the 2016 fiscal period. Details of this amount are contained in the 2016 budget which President Muhammadu Buhari presented to a joint session of the National Assembly in December, 2015.

India’s New Fighter Jet Will Make International Debut in Bahrain

01/06/2016

India’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) will conduct a flight demonstration during this year’s Bahrain International Air Show held from January 21-23, The Business Standard reports based on information obtained from India’s Ministry of Defense. “The show will witness flying demonstration of the ‘Tejas’, the latest and state of the art Light Combat Aircraft, the ‘Four-plus’ generation and highly cost effective fighter aircraft,” a defense ministry spokesperson said on January 1.

New MiG-29 Jets to be Deployed to Russian Airbase in Armenia

01/06/2016

A group of MiG-29 multirole jet fighters will be deployed to the Russian airbase Erebuni in Armenia in the second half of 2016, the press office of the Russian Southern Military District reported. MiG-29 jets which will be deployed to the airbase after being fully repaired have been used to protect Armenia’s airspace within the joint air defense systems of the CIS. They have also been involved in regular training flights in accordance with the combat readiness program.

The End is Near: Syrian Opposition Forces on Offensive in Raqqa

01/06/2016

The units of the SDF, which are also supported by Russia, have been advancing on the Daesh forces near the town of Ain Isa in the country’s northern Al-Raqqa province, SDF spokesman, Colonel Talal Selo, said. "We no longer think as we did before that Daesh cannot be defeated," he added.

BAE and Northrop developing self-protection suite for US gunship

01/05/2016

Two industry heavyweights of electronic warfare have been chosen to equip special-mission Lockheed Martin AC-130J and MC-130Js with next-generation radio frequency countermeasures (RFCM) systems that can “detect, disrupt and defeat” anti-aircraft weapons, radars and other threats that use electromagnetic signals.

The Importance of Area Denial in War

01/05/2016

The military concept of delaying or preventing opposing forces from capturing a specific area is as old as warfare. History is littered with brave examples of the few holding off the many, though "famous last stands" are just as numerous. When discussing contemporary anti-access and area denial, however, the focus is typically on naval and aerial operations that establish tactical superiority, not ground operations.

China Assembles Its Stealth Jet Fleet

01/05/2016

China has apparently begun mass production of its new J-20 stealth fighter, making it only the second country in the world to produce radar-evading warplanes on a large scale. But as with all military developments in China, it’s hard to separate fact from Communist Party-sponsored fiction—and equally difficult to predict just how heavily even large numbers of working J-20s could weigh on the military balance of power in the Pacific region.

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.