Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Squeaky Clean? Swedish ‘Neutrality’ Won’t Stop Successful Arms Export

06/22/2015

When it comes to exporting arms to other countries, Sweden is a true "arms peddler extraordinaire," Politico.eu reported. Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist is about to strike an arms deal with India, selling its JAS Gripen fighter jets to the Asian giant, something which France, one of the world's top arms exporters, found very hard to accomplish.

Russia's Su-35 Fighter: A Trump Card Up Beijing's Sleeve in South China Sea

06/22/2015

Russia's Sukhoi Su-35 super-maneuverable multirole fighters will most likely become China's trump card in its longstanding geopolitical game in the South China Sea, US journalist Zachary Keck noted.

Russian Security Official: Ukrainian Military Experts to Fly Over Russia

06/22/2015

Ukrainian military experts will fly over the territory of Russia under the Treaty on Open Skies on June 22-26, head of Russia's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center Sergei Ryzhkov has announced.

Battle to win £2bn deal to replace Britain's Nimrod spy planes

06/21/2015

Defence groups call for a fair fight in race to land expected contract to replace Nimrod jets that were controversially scrapped Defence companies are lining up to offer a replacement for the Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft, with the Government expected to announce a deal for a new fleet of jets by the end of the year.

Falklands CAN defend: UK troops in anti-aircraft test amid more Argentine aggression

06/21/2015

The live-fire training exercise will see Royal Marines target laser-controlled drones, called Banshees, simulating incoming attack aircraft as they deploy the High Velocity Missile systems next month. Though the HMV is usually tested in Telby, Wales, military sources told the Sunday Express that the decision to mount the exercise in the South Atlantic was to “demonstrate combat capability” and show that the UK could deploy high readiness troops.

Marine Ospreys reassure allies amid Russian saber-rattling

06/21/2015

The Marine Corps' MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor recently completed its first deployment to Romania as part of a multinational training exercise with European allies. The aircraft's deployment sent a strong message about U.S. commitment in Eastern Europe, calming allies as they work to counter Russian saber-rattling, said Brig. Gen. Norm Cooling, the deputy commander of Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa.

Marine Corps proves F-35B’s capability at sea, looks to future

06/21/2015

The Marine Corps F-35B operational test (OT-1) successfully concluded aboard U.S. Navy amphibious ship the USS Wasp (LHD-1). Setting off from Norfolk, Va., on May 18, USS Wasp cut an arc between 50 and 100 miles off the coast of Virginia and North Carolina, as Marine Corps pilots safely conducted 100 short takeoff and vertical landing sorties from the ship.

As Navy missions pile up, so does jet maintenance

06/21/2015

The Navy's fighter jet fleet has been flown hard during nearly 15 years of conflict in the Middle East. And with the next-generation fighter years from being operational, the service's F/A-18 Super Hornets and legacy Hornets must continue flying far longer than originally planned.

Ukraine’s Antonov Upgrades An-26 Aircraft for Combat Operation in Donbass

06/21/2015

Ukraine's Antonov aircraft manufacturer has completed the first stage of upgrading An-26 (Curl) transport aircraft for the country’s Defense Ministry, the company said in a statement. The upgraded aircraft would be the first one to be dispatched for special operations against independence supporters in eastern Ukraine. A total of 14 aircraft will be modernized, the company specified.

Russia’s MiG to Develop Fifth-Generation Jet Fighter

06/21/2015

MiG aircraft-making company will develop a fifth-generation light jet fighter, company CEO Sergei Korotkov said during the 2015 Le Bourget Airshow. "Such a plane has not been ordered yet. But we continue to work on it. We know that there is a broad worldwide market for this type of aircraft," Korotkov said.

Hitting Everything That Flies: New Russian MANPAD Verba Knows No Equals

06/21/2015

The brand new Russian man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD) Verba, presented at the ARMY-2015 exhibition in the Moscow Region, has unique characteristics that make it the best in the world, TVZvezda reported.

Joint U.S., Israeli device seeks to reduce airflow drag

06/20/2015

U.S. Army and Israeli scientists are conducting testing and research on active flow control devices as a means to reduce drag on future Army aircraft. The Suction and Oscillatory Blowing Actuator, or SaOB, invented by Israeli scientist, Dr. Avraham Seifert of Tel Aviv University, uses the active control of airflow to reduce drag.

Lockheed Seeks Savings to Land 3-Year F-35 Block Buy by U.S.

06/20/2015

Lockheed Martin officials said at the Paris Air Show the company is working with suppliers and engineers to find savings to land a block buy of up to 500 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to convince U.S. and international lawmakers to approve the deal. Lorraine Martin, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program manager, said the company is aiming for about a 10 percent savings in exchange for a three-year order of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The U.S. has been making orders on an annual basis.

Experts: Accidental Conflict Is True Danger Of Russia-West Clash

06/20/2015

Military posturing and increasingly hostile rhetoric between Russia and the West are raising the risk of an accidental slide towards a wider conflict that neither nuclear-armed side wants, experts warn. Within days of reports that the United States was poised to send heavy military equipment to eastern Europe and the Baltic states, Russia retorted by announcing it planned to add 40 intercontinental nuclear missiles to its arsenal.

Deliveries of Airbus military plane to re-start two months after crash which killed four crew members

06/20/2015

Airbus is to resume deliveries of its military transport plane the A400M which had been stopped after a crash in Spain. The wings are made at the firm’s plant in Filton, just outside Bristol, then shipped to Seville where the plane is assembled. Four crew members were killed when the plane crashed during a test flight near the Spanish city in May.

Alenia Aermacchi’s M-346 To Train Italian Pilots For Eurofighter Operations

06/20/2015

Italian Air Force will start testing the capability of Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi’s M-346 Master, a military transonic trainer aircraft, as an "aggressor" in dissimilar combat training missions with the Eurofighter aircraft. Starting next August the students of the Italian Air Force who are to fly on the combat aircraft will accomplish the training’s phase IV on the new M-346, the final step before the passage to the operational airplanes.

Controlling chaos: ground troops guide fire from sky

06/20/2015

The enemy is near – and within sight. A coordinated network of exacting service members pinpoint their location, and then relay this critical information to highly skilled fighter pilots in the sky. One’s imagination can picture the rest.

F-35B Completes First Release of a U.K. Paveway IV Bomb

06/20/2015

The F-35 Lightning II program made aviation history June 12 as Royal Air Force (RAF) Test Pilot Squadron Leader Andy Edgell released two inert 500-pound dual mode Paveway IV precision-guided bombs over the Atlantic Test Ranges, the U.S. Navy reported.

Ghana to buy 5 Combat Aircrafts in Brazil

06/20/2015

The Government of Ghana (GoG) through the Ministry of Defense has entered into a contract for the supply of five combat aircrafts with Brazilian Aircraft manufacturer, Embraer Defense and Security. The aircrafts in question are A-29 Super Tucano light attack and advanced training turbo props. This information was contained in a press statement released in Paris by the company.

US Navy Acquires Advanced Radar for Surveillance Aircraft

06/20/2015

The US Navy will acquire 53 advanced radars for its P-8A Poseidon aircraft in a $153 million deal to outfit the anti-submarine, anti-surface warfare surveillance and reconnaissance plane, US defense contractor Raytheon said in a statement on Friday.

New V-280 Valor Tiltrotor May Replace Entire US Army Helicopter Fleet

06/20/2015

The V-22 Osprey has had a number of setbacks. It has earned a reputation for being unsafe after a series of fatal crashes, most recently last month. Its price tag has also ballooned far past the original $2.5 billion estimate. By 2008, $27 billion had been spent on production, with another $27 billion still to go.

The Year of the Scorpion (Jet)

06/19/2015

The Scorpion reconnaissance and attack aircraft displayed at the Paris Air Show this week is currently on its second European tour, visiting mainland Europe and the UK. Following this week the aircraft will perform demonstration flights as the guest of several European air forces, before arriving at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford, UK, from July 17 to 19.

Cockpit video of the Pakistani JF-17 Thunder during air display at Paris Air Show

06/19/2015

The JF-17 Thunder is a light, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft jointly manufactured by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China. The Pakistan Air Force plans to operate 160 JF-17 multirole jets about one-third of those are already in active service.

What it’s like onboard an aircraft carrier

06/19/2015

The steel deck shakes as the steam powered catapult and the deafening roar of 40,000 pounds of jet thrust propels the 20-tonne Hornet strike fighter from zero to 260km/hr and skywards in just two seconds.

Malaysia is a Typical Battleground for the Euro-Canards

06/19/2015

At the ILA Berlin Airshow three years ago, the head of the European Defence Agency (EDA) publicly bemoaned the fact that the continent’s prime aerospace companies were engaged in damaging and wasteful competition to export three rival fighters. That nothing has changed was quite evident at the recent Langkawi International Marine and Aerospace (LIMA) airshow and exhibition in Malaysia.