Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Qatar to receive 24 French Rafale fighter aircraft

12/18/2015

France-based contractor Dassault Aviation received its down payment from the government of Qatar for the delivery of 24 Rafale multi-role fighter aircraft. The contract for the jets was signed in May 2015 by French President Francois Hollande and Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Qatari officials say the contract represents a closer defense relationship between the two countries.

India Becomes 15th International Customer for Lockheed Martin’s Apache Targeting and Pilotage Sensor

12/18/2015

The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $107.8 million foreign military sale contract to provide Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) systems to the Indian Army, making India the 15th international customer for the M-TADS/PNVS system.

Russian Inspectors to Fly Over Canada Under Open Skies Treaty

12/18/2015

Russian inspectors will conduct an observation flight over the territory of Canada, under the Treaty on Open Skies, head of Russia's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center Sergei Ryzhkov said.

Russian, UK Military Officials Discuss Communication Channels

12/18/2015

Deputy Chief of the Russian General Staff Ilya Makushev and UK Vice Chief of the Defense Staff Stuart Peach have discussed establishing channels of communication.

US to Arm 2 Kurdish Brigades to Help Retake Mosul

12/18/2015

The United States will provide equipment to the Kurds in northern Iraq in an attempt to help take back the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh), US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said in a release on Thursday.

Government admits only 55% of fighter aircraft fleet operational owing to technical issues

12/17/2015

In a rare, official admission of the dismal state of the combat aircraft fleet, the government has admitted that at any given point of time, just over half of the planes in the air force inventory are in a state to fly, with a large number of platforms grounded due to technical issues.

U.S. Air Force Awards Lockheed Martin $302 Million for JASSM and JASSM-ER Production

12/17/2015

Lockheed Martin has received a $302.2 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 14 contract includes 146 baseline JASSMs for U.S. and international partners, 140 JASSM-ER missiles for the U.S., as well as data, tooling and test equipment. The award brings the total number of missiles under contract to more than 2,600.

Lockheed Martin Selling Apache Helicopter Night Vision System to India

12/17/2015

The US Department of Defense announced that Lockheed Martin won a $215 million foreign sales contract to sell night vision systems for Apache attack helicopters to India.

Norwegian Pilot Flies First Test Mission on F-35 Fighter - US Air Force

12/17/2015

Norwegian pilot training at the Luke Air Force Base in Arizona became the first pilot in his country’s air force to fly a US-built F-35 Lightning II multirole fighter jet, the US Air Force News Service reported.

Russia May Equip Indian Aircraft Carrier With Air Defense Systems

12/17/2015

Nevskoye Planning and Design Bureau General Director Sergei Vlasov said that he Indians refused to install Russian air defense systems on the Vikramaditya, but there is reserved space for Russian air defense systems.

UK Set to Back Muslim-Led Coalition Against Daesh

12/17/2015

Despite pledging not to put "boots on the ground" in either Iraq or Syria, military sources have revealed that the UK is preparing to provide air support and "command and control" resources to the recently formed Muslim nations' coalition against Daesh, also known as ISIL.

Australian military plane flies over disputed South China Sea

12/16/2015

An Australian military surveillance plane has flown near disputed areas of the South China Sea, it emerged Wednesday, with the crew heard warning China's navy it was on a freedom of navigation mission.

Air Force May Be Forced To ‘Defer Or Delay’ F-35, KC-Y; New Fund For LRSB?

12/16/2015

The authoritative Congressional Research Service has just published a report asking the questions in the headline. It;’s a basic problem we’ve written about before. The Air Force faces a funding crunch in the next six years as the F-35 and the tanker programs ramp up. the B-3 (Long Range Strike Bomber) program gets rolling and the service keeps buying drones and C-130s.

Canada feels 'no pressure' to agree to U.S. request on ISIS mission

12/16/2015

Canada's foreign affairs and defence ministers insist there is "no pressure" from the Americans to step up Canada's contributions to the fight against ISIS, despite a letter from U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter asking for more military contributions from its allies. "This letter is just the regular course of routine," Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told reporters Tuesday.

U.S., British, French forces fly together at Langley

12/16/2015

The F-22 Raptor is a familiar sight in the skies above Hampton Roads. For the past two weeks, however, it hasn't been the only fighter jet up there. The United Kingdom Royal Air Force and French Air Force brought more than a dozen aircraft and 250 pilots and ground personnel to Langley to train with their U.S. counterparts. The training, named Trilateral Exercise, started Dec. 2 and extends through Friday.

U.S. presses Turkey to do more in coalition's fight against Islamic State

12/16/2015

U.S. fighter jets and armed drones scream skyward every few minutes from this sprawling air base in southern Turkey, flying deep into neighboring Syria on bombing runs against Islamic State targets. The intensity of the U.S.-led air war has increased sharply since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in September to let U.S. warplanes fly combat sorties from Incirlik, drastically reducing the flight time into Syria compared with using more distant U.S. bases.

US to help India make engine for next combat jet

12/16/2015

India and the US will jointly develop a jet engine for the proposed Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project and participate in development of Electromagnetic Launch Systems (EMALS) for future aircraft carriers on government-to-government basis under the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI). Joint working groups on both projects were reviewed by defence minister Manohar Parrikar and his counterpart Ashton Carter during the former’s four-day US visit this month.

Chinese Submarine Rehearsed Attack on US Aircraft Carrier Reagan

12/16/2015

With tensions high between Washington and Beijing, American defense officials claim that a Chinese submarine recently conducted a simulated cruise missile attack on the USS Reagan.

US, Russia Discuss Safe Interaction of Aircraft Over Syria

12/16/2015

Defense Department spokeswoman Michelle Baldanza said that the US and Russian military chiefs discussed safe interaction of the two countries’ aircraft in the Syrian airspace during a phone conversation.

Russian Military to Help Unite Syrian Govt., Opposition to Fight Daesh

12/16/2015

The Russian military will help coordinate efforts by the Syrian army and numerous armed opposition groups in the fight against Daesh, the Russian General Staff said Tuesday.

RAF fighter planes prepare to target IS leadership

12/15/2015

It was the first time Typhoon jets flew missions over Syria. Four Tornado jets launched the first air strikes on Thursday, hitting the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria. MPs backed United Kingdom military action against IS in Syria, by 397 votes to 223, after a 10-hour Commons debate on Wednesday. Across the border in Iraq, an unmanned RAF Reaper drone – flying close support for Kurdish peshmerga ground forces – destroyed an IS truck bomb with a direct hit from a Hellfire missile, the MoD said.

F-35 fighter pilots are gearing up for the new planes virtually

12/15/2015

US Air Force pilots are flying the newest fighter jets in a virtual world. The military’s fifth generation fighter jet, the F-35 Lightning II, will be flown by the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force. They are not expected to be deployed until 2016 but that’s not stopping Air Force pilots from getting ready to fly missions.

The Russo-Iranian Military Coalition in Syria may be Deepening

12/15/2015

The Russo-Iranian military coalition in Syria may be deeper than many have believed. The Iranian armed forces appear to be allowing Russian aircraft to use their military airfields in support of combat operations over Syria. This development is remarkable: Iran is one of the most virulently anti-colonial regimes in the world, and yet it is allowing a former colonial power that had partitioned Persia with Great Britain to place military forces on its territory.

U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin Conduct First LRASM Captive-Carry Flights on F/A-18E/F

12/15/2015

Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy recently completed the first Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) prototype captive-carry flight tests on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The flights were conducted at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland. These initial airworthiness flight tests used a LRASM mass-simulator vehicle attached to the Navy’s F/A-18E/F to evaluate flight and handling characteristics, as well as to measure structural loads and strains on the aircraft.

Lockheed Martin Delivers Final C-5M Super Galaxy For 2015

12/15/2015

Lockheed Martin delivered the 32nd modernized C-5M Super Galaxy to the U. S. Air Force on Dec. 9. This aircraft was the ninth and final C-5M scheduled for delivery in 2015. The aircraft was delivered more than a week ahead of the contract commitment delivery date.