Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Netherlands to Conduct Airstrikes Against Daesh in East Syria

01/30/2016

Airstrikes against Daesh in Syria will make the fight against the group in Iraq, where the Netherlands is already carrying out attacks, more effective, the government said. "Disrupting supply chains in eastern Syria is crucial," Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement published by the government.

Air Force Awards Rolls-Royce 2 Contracts for Super Hercules Work

01/29/2016

Rolls-Royce has been given two firm-fixed-price Air Force delivery orders, each worth more than $70 million, relating to the C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, the U.S. Department of Defense announced in its Wednesday publication of military contracts.

U.S., South Korea practicing joint air force drills

01/29/2016

The United States and South Korea are conducting a joint drill involving fighter pilots from both air forces in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test. The exercises are ongoing as the United States vowed Thursday to defend another ally, Japan, should a chain of disputed islands claimed by Tokyo and Beijing fall under attack – in a statement that directly warned China against provocations.

Pentagon: Russian Fighter Conducted ‘Unsafe’ Intercept of U.S. Recon Plane Over Black Sea

01/29/2016

A Russian fighter intercepted a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance flight in an “unsafe and unprofessional manner’ in international airspace over the Black Sea, a Pentagon spokeswoman confirmed to USNI News on Thursday. According to the Pentagon, a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker intercepted a RC-135U Combat Sent “flying a routine route in international airspace over the Black Sea,” read a statement provided to USNI News.

Lawmaker Calls on Obama to Fund A-10, Develop Replacement

01/29/2016

Ahead of President Barack Obama’s budget rollout next week, an influential Air Force pilot-turned lawmaker called on the commander-in-chief and his defense secretary to request full funding for the legacy A-10 until plans for its replacement take shape.

Murphy's Law: America Mysteriously Denies Arab Allies New Aircraft

01/29/2016

For two years the United States has delayed action on a Qatari attempt to buy 36 (and eventually 73) F-15E fighter bombers (for nearly $4 billion) and Kuwaiti efforts to buy 28 F-18E fighters (for $3 billion). The American Department of Defense and State Department approved the deal and there was support in Congress but for reasons unclear the American president refused to approve (or disapprove) the deal or even explain why not.

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.