Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

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 Moreover, for the U.S. Air Force, it needs to replace the venerable F-15C Eagle—which was supposed to have been replaced by the Raptor until that program was prematurely terminated.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.

Russian Aircraft Carrier To Syria? Admiral Kuznetsov Will Not Travel To Mediterranean Region, Officials Say

10/15/2015

Russian military officials denied Wednesday that its sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, was on its way to Syria to help the Russian military in the conflict against Syrian rebels and the Islamic State militant group, also known as ISIS, according to Russian news site Sputnik.

Fighting Boko Haram: Obama sends US troops, drones to Cameroon

10/15/2015

The United States is sending 300 troops, along with surveillance drones, to Cameroon to bolster a West African effort to counter the Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram, US officials said on Wednesday. In a notification to Congress, US President Barack Obama said an advance force of about 90 military personnel began deploying to Cameroon on Monday, with the consent of the Yaounde government.

State Dept. OKs Possible Black Hawk Sale to Saudi

10/15/2015

The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia for nine UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopters at an estimated cost of US $495 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on Tuesday delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale, the agency stated on its website.

Crashed Swiss jet mysteriously “lost altitude”

10/15/2015

The Swiss air force has no immediate explanation as to how an F/A-18 fighter jet suddenly lost altitude and crashed in France on Wednesday, injuring the pilot. Air force commander Aldo Schellenberg said that there was no mid-air collision.

Germany stops receiving Eurofighter after finding manufacturing defect

10/15/2015

The Goverment of Germany has reportedly halted the delivery of Eurofighter combat aircraft following the discovery of a manufacturing defect. Citing a German lawmaker from the Defence Ministry, Reuters reported that the manufacturing issue found in the fuselage of the aircraft was caused by rivet holes in the rear part of the fuselage being incorrectly filed off.

Russian Combat Aircraft Complete 41 Sorties Against ISIL in Syria

10/15/2015

Russian Aerospace Forces have completed 41 sorties against 40 Islamic State infrastructure facilities in Syria’s governorates of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, and Deir ez-Zor.

Lockheed Martin to Upgrade System Used to Process Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Benefits

10/15/2015

Improvements to the system used to process veteran benefits will soon ensure that recently transitioned veterans and eligible spouses will have access to money for continuing education. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded a contract that will advance the reliability of their Chapter 33 (CH33) system to Systems Made Simple, a Lockheed Martin company.

Iraqi Army Liberates Major Oil Refinery in City of Baiji From ISIL

10/15/2015

The Iraqi army liberated on Wednesday the country's largest oil refinery in the central city of Baiji, Salah al-Din province, from Islamic State militants, an officer in counter-terrorist forces said.

ISIL Confirms Their Second-in-Command Killed in US Airstrike

10/15/2015

"America is rejoicing over the killing of Abu Mutaz al-Qurashi and considers this a great victory," IS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani said in an audio recording posted on jihadist websites. He didn't comment on the details of the circumstances surrounding the second-in-command's death.

Russian, US Militaries Improve Undestanding on Syrian Flight Safety

10/15/2015

Russian and US military experts held a professional and constructive discussion of the flight safety in air missions over Syria during a conference call on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

USAF’s KC-46A tanker installs systems supporting aerial refuelling

10/14/2015

The US Air Force's (USAF) Boeing-built KC-46A Pegasus tanker (EMD-2) has marked another millstone with the deployment of both drogue systems and the boom to support aerial refueling. As part of this development, EMD-2 extended the drogue refuelling baskets from both the Centerline Drogue System (CDS) and the wing aerial refuelling pods (WARP) for probe receiver aircraft.

Dangerous Skies: Why China's ADIZ Moves Matter

10/14/2015

While China’s unilateral declaration of an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over disputed waters in the East China Sea (ECS) caught many by surprise, today’s debate circles around the likelihood that Beijing might take the same action over the South China Sea (SCS). In its pursuit of maritime primacy in Northeast Asia, China has strayed far from the international norms that dictate the implementation and use of an ADIZ.

Passengers' panic as fighter jet called to intercept holiday flight from Birmingham to Madeira

10/14/2015

A fighter jet was called to intercept a holiday flight into the UK after the plane lost contact with air traffic control. Stunned passengers on the Monarch Airlines flight ZB983 from Madeira to Birmingham said the military plane was so close they could see the pilot in the other cockpit. Grandma Caroline Regan, who was on board with her husband Tony, said passengers were offered no firm explanation of why the jet was so close to their plane.

Confirmed: A Russian-Made Warhead Downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17

10/14/2015

The Danish Safety Board has determined that a Buk surface-to-air missile was used to take down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in July 2014. All 298 passengers were killed. At the time of the crash, analysts suggested that this particular missile system was likely used, but both Ukrainian and Russian officials accused the other of responsibility.

The U.S. Military's 'Top Guns' in the Air Have a Big Weakness

10/14/2015

In the 25 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Pentagon has more or less taken air superiority for granted; but that complacency is coming back to haunt the Department of Defense. Neither Donald Rumsfeld nor Robert Gates took air power seriously, and as such, the U.S. Air Force is left with a tiny fleet of 186 Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors instead of the minimum 381 it needs.

Does the U.S. Navy Need a 21st Century F-14 Tomcat?

10/14/2015

While the requirement for a carrier-based long-range strike capability is a frequent subject of discussion around Washington, the U.S. Navy’s need for improved air superiority capabilities is often neglected. The service has not had a dedicated air-to-air combat aircraft since it retired the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in 2006. But even the Tomcat was adapted into a strike aircraft during its last years in service after the Soviet threat evaporated.

1000s of Iranian Troops Enter Syria for Offensive Backed by Russian Strikes

10/14/2015

With Russian airstrikes dealing heavy losses to the self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group, reports have surfaced that Iranian troops will soon launch a ground offensive alongside the Syrian army to retake Aleppo.