Military Aviation News Archive
10/25/2014
If Darth Vader had a fighter jet, it would be an F-22 Raptor.
Though the Blue Angels are the stars of this weekend’s air show, the ferocious looking Raptors are the baddest birds on the planet. It’s been said that in dogfight training with other U.S. fighters, flying the F-22 is almost unfair.
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10/25/2014
The airstrike coalition aimed at quashing the Islamic State (IS) militant group is gaining momentum, Pentagon Press Secretary and Spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby stated. "We believe the strategy is working. The coalition continues to gain momentum and strength," Kirby was quoted as saying on the Pentagon's Twitter account Friday.
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10/25/2014
The United States and Russia continue to implement the New START Treaty against all odds, US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Rose Gottenmoeller said. "The United States and Russia are continuing to implement the treaty in a businesslike manner, despite all the tensions," Gottenmoeller was quoted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as addressing students Friday.
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10/24/2014
The Islamists have looted military garrisons across the region, and now have tanks, armoured personnel carriers, anti-tank weapons and artillery. Boko Haram claims to have downed a Nigerian fighter jet (and has filmed the beheading of the pilot), so it may have anti-aircraft guns, too. The archbishop of Maiduguri speaks of its “inexhaustible boxes of ammunition”.
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10/24/2014
US and allied aircraft have flown nearly 6,600 sorties in the air war against the Islamic State group and dropped more than 1,700 bombs, the American military. The flights for "Operation Inherent Resolve" include thousands of mid-air fuelling runs, surveillance sorties and 632 air strikes in Iraq and Syria, according to US Central Command.
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10/24/2014
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] delivered another C-130J Super Hercules to the 61st Airlift Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, today. Little Rock AFB’s new C-130J was ferried from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics facility here by Maj. Gen. Michael Stough, director of Strategic Plans, Requirements and Programs, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
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10/24/2014
Swedish Navy stated Friday, that the alleged foreign submarine, which was hunted for in Stockholm archipelago waters, is very likely to be a mini-submarine. Swedish Navy's Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad said at a press conference, that at least one underwater craft was detected by the Armed Forces. "It was a mini-submarine, not a submarine," Grenstad specified.
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10/24/2014
Russia will sue France if Paris refuses to honor a contract on construction of two Mistral-class helicopter carriers for the Russian Navy, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said Thursday.
"We will file a lawsuit and demand compensation [if the contract is not fulfilled], as it's commonly done in a civilized world," Ivanov told reporters.
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10/24/2014
A Russian spy plane has been intercepted by Nato jets over the Baltic Sea, the alliance says, amid heightened tensions in the region. Estonia summoned Russia's ambassador on Wednesday after its military said the Ilyushin-20 plane had entered its airspace for about a minute. But Russia said the plane had been on a training flight and had not violated Estonian airspace.
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10/23/2014
Claims by a Libyan lawmaker that airstrikes by Egyptian planes against jihadists in the country were actually conducted by Libyan pilots appears highly unlikely, according to two aviation experts. The Egyptian intervention marked the first time in decades that the most populous Arab country took part in a conflict outside its borders. But the idea that it outsourced airstrikes to Libyan air force pilots is preposterous, according to those experts.
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10/23/2014
With Islamic State (ISIS) militants proving more resilient to US-led airstrikes than was originally envisaged, US President Barack Obama’s strategy in Iraq and Syria is coming under ever-greater scrutiny. Over the weekend, Sen. John McCain, a Republican, called for “more boots on the ground”, the further arming of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, creating a no-fly zone and buffer zone in Syria and ratcheting up the number of US-led airstrikes.
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10/23/2014
Roketsan and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] signed a teaming agreement today for collaboration on the SOM-J, a new generation air-to-surface Standoff Cruise Missile for the F-35 Lightning II.
The SOM system is an autonomous, long-range, low-observable, all-weather, precision air-to-surface cruise missile. The SOM-J variant is tailored for internal carriage on the F-35 aircraft.
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10/23/2014
A single US airdrop of weapons that were intended for Kurdish fighters and most likely fell into the Islamic State (IS) hands will not give any odds to IS fighters, Pentagon Spokesperson Steve Warren said. "One bundle of weapons and medical supplies, airdropped by US forces to Kurdish fighters in Syria, most likely fell into enemy hands," Warren told reporters Wednesday. "One bundle worth of equipment is not enough equipment to give the enemy any type of advantage at all.
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10/23/2014
The Russian Ministry of Defense has denied the claim by the Estonian military that a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft breached Estonian airspace, the Ministry's Media Affairs and Information Department said on Wednesday. "The Russian military aircraft did not breach Estonian airspace. On October 21, 2014 a Russian military aircraft that had been conducting a planned training flight from Khrabrovo military base in Kaliningrad flew over neutral waters in the Baltic Sea," said the statement.
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10/22/2014
Heavy security controlled the scene at 4 Wing, Cold Lake, as six CF-18 Hornet fighter jets took off from northern Alberta Tuesday morning with their sights set on Iraq. Minister of Defence Rob Nicholson was on the ground as the pilots deployed to Iraq and acknowledged the elevated security on home-soil after a soldier in Quebec was killed and another injured Monday in what appears to be a 'lone wolf' terrorist attack.
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10/22/2014
The Swedish military is reported to be hunting the seas around Stockholm for a damaged Russian submarine, as an amateur photographer captured a picture of a submerged object in the water. Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad said the armed forces had made three separate sightings of "foreign undersea activity" in the past few days, which has seen the launch of a large search operation reminiscent of the Cold War.
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10/22/2014
If the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was learning to fly stolen Syrian fighter jets, it may have seen its fleet of three reduced to just one "ineffectual" aircraft. CBS News' George Baghdadi reports Information Minister Omran Zoubi said late Tuesday that Syrian military aircraft had shot down two of three fighter jets allegedly stolen by ISIS as it rampaged across northern Syria seizing army and air bases in the Aleppo region.
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10/22/2014
Brazilian planemaker Embraer unveiled its new KC-390 military transport Tuesday as the country expands its foray into the global security and defense air transport market. Developing the KC-390, the biggest plane Embraer has produced, cost 4.6 billion reais ($1.9 billion), paid by the Brazilian Air Force in partnership with Argentina, the Czech Republic and Portugal.
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10/22/2014
Britain finally got its own locally made large UAVs operational in late 2013 and since August some have been seen in Afghanistan. This has been a long time coming because it was back in 2006 that the British began developing the Watchkeeper UAV and by 2010 got one airborne for the first time. The Watchkeeper 180 and the Watchkeeper 450 are both are based on Israeli designs (the Hermes 180 and 450).
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10/22/2014
U.S. Defense Department leaders have called for a renewed effort to sustain America’s military technological dominance, but to do so they will have to fight an uphill battle against entrenched bureaucratic interests competing over a shrinking budgetary pie. Whether this initiative will be more than simply Pentagon pabulum depends on the future direction of the Navy’s carrier air wing.
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10/22/2014
Robbin Laird, a member of our Board of Contributors, and Ed Timperlake conducted what looks like it will be the last interview with Gen. Mike Hostage, the head of Air Combat Command, before he retires in early November. Hostage has overseen the Air Force’s transition to fifth generation aircraft with the introduction of the F-22 and preparations for introduction of the F-35 fleet.
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10/22/2014
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has grounded its entire fleet of Russia-developed Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft to undergo safety checks, an IAF spokesperson said in an official statement Wednesday. "The fleet has been grounded and is undergoing technical checks following the latest accident in Pune. It would be back in air only after a thorough check," Wing Commander Simranpal Singh Birdi said.
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10/22/2014
NATO scrambled fighter jets - including two Canadian F-18's - twice in two days to intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, it said Tuesday amid reports that Russian military activity in the region is increasing. Lt. Col. Robert Gericke said the Russian aircraft were flying in international airspace and had not violated the territory of alliance members. Two Canadian F-18 Hornet jets were scrambled from the Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania on Monday to intercept a Russian Il-20.
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10/21/2014
Official Minsk is yielding to the Kremlin’s pressure in terms of allowing a larger Russian military presence in Belarus. The Kremlin does not intend to modernise the Belarusian army or equip it with modern weapons, as this could strengthen Belarus’ political independence. By beefing up her military presence in Belarus, Russia aims to fortify her western borders and exert additional pressure on the Belarusian leadership, as well as on other countries in the region.
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10/21/2014
Britain will deploy both Reaper and Rivet Joint drones to Syria “very soon” to participate in surveillance missions, to gather intelligence on Islamic State (IS/ISIS/ISIL) militants. The drones will be armed, but not permitted to fire on targets.
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