Military Aviation News Archive
06/14/2015
United States Air Force has successfully tested its fifth generation fighter aircraft way back in 1997 and has inducted the same in December 2005. It has a total strength of around 187 operational F-22 fighters. It is the only air force in the world which currently operates the fifth generation jets; however it definitely fueled the fifth generation fighter jet development programs around the world either solo or in collaboration.
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06/14/2015
Specialists from Hungary and Italy will carry out a joint observation flight over the territory of Russia under the Treaty on Open Skies on June 15-19, Sergei Ryzhkov, head of Russia's National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center has announced.
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06/13/2015
The United States is planning to establish a chain of military bases with the P-3 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft to monitor China's activities in the South China Sea, says Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news outlet. Countries with the P-3 Orion in their arsenal include Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan, with Vietnam expected to join their ranks in the future.
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06/13/2015
In the battle for Yemen, forces opposed to the Houthi rebels appear to have the upper hand, at least for now. Indeed, over the past week, anti-Houthi fighters have made consistent, albeit limited, territorial gains against the rebels and against forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
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06/13/2015
The clearance for the acquisition of 36 Dassault Rafales as part of India’s medium multi-role combat aircraft bid, following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France in April, is attracting small and medium companies to enter into partnerships to provide offsets for the $4.24 billion deal. The latest to enter the fray is India’s OIS-AT (Hall 5 D210), which has signed a joint venture with French company Rafaut (Hall 2B C157), a specialist in weapons for aircraft interface devices.
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06/13/2015
The A400m was being eyed as a possible replacement to the aging C130’s but, said SANDF spokesperson Simphiwe Dlamini, rising costs, deadlines not being met, and more rising costs meant the idea of the aircraft had to be shelved. Reuters reported the “troop and cargo carrier crashed outside Seville, Spain, on May 9 after three of its huge turboprop engines froze just minutes into a routine, pre-delivery test flight, killing four of its six crew members.”
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06/13/2015
Ukraine’s air force has struggled to find its role in the military conflict sparked by Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula and alleged support for pro-Russian militia occupying eastern Ukraine. The reasons for the inability of Ukraine’s armed forces to make wide-scale use of air power are largely related to the fact that it has suffered from more than two decades of what has been described as “anemic” defense spending since the country gained independence from the former Soviet Union.
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06/13/2015
It could happen in August, or maybe in late July. Depending on who you ask, it could even happen before the end of this month. No one—at least no one who’s talking publicly—seems to know exactly when the U.S. Air Force will award a $55 billion development and procurement contract for the branch’s next-generation long-range bomber.
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06/13/2015
The second intercept was conducted professionally, Warren said. It is routine for military aircraft to intercept others flying near the edge of international airspace and is unremarkable when done safely and professionally, Warren said. But the initial intercept May 30 was troubling because it increased the risk of accident, injury or misunderstanding. "We have diplomatic means to lodge our displeasure with these types of incidents," Warren said.
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06/13/2015
For the first time since the Ukraine crisis drove a wedge between the two countries, officials from the Russian and American navies have met to discuss how to avoid accidental clashes, incidents which could lead - unintentionally - to war.
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06/13/2015
A Saudi Arabian Air Force commander, reported to have died from a heart attack, was actually killed by a Houthi cross-border attack earlier this month, according to an Israeli intelligence and military website.
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06/12/2015
Chinese bombers participated in a joint air-sea military exercise near Taiwan and the Philippines this week. On Wednesday China announced that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) were conducting a joint exercise near the Bashi Channel. The channel sits near islands owned by the Philippines and Taiwan, and the drills were conducted near both of those countries’ Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ).
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06/12/2015
Taiwan's military showcased its newly acquired UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter during a drill Thursday, as part of a rehearsal for a military display in July to mark the 70th anniversary of the Republic of China's 1945 victory over Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The ROC's eight-year fight against Japan was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other axis powers were defeated.
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06/12/2015
President Barack Obama’s plan to send an additional 450 to 500 soldiers to Iraq’s Anbar province won’t be his last word on the crisis posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), several senior serving and retired U.S. military officers believe. Turning the tide against ISIL in Iraq will require a more robust U.S. military commitment, with options for escalation a matter of lively debate.
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06/12/2015
The House on Thursday approved a $579 billion defense spending bill that offers a slight pay raise to U.S. troops, but reflects deep divisions on budget priorities and whether President Barack Obama needs new war powers to fight Islamic State militants. The vote was 278 to 149 in favor of the bill, which drew stiff opposition from Democrats because it uses a war-fighting account to raise defense spending next year.
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06/12/2015
Recent events in Iraq, Libya, Russia, Syria and Yemen have sharpened the fundamental questions European nations face as they consider medium- and long-term force structure and equipment needs. In the short term, the focus for much of Europe’s defense aerospace sector is on understanding fully the cause of the crash of an Airbus A400M, that lead to the death of four of the six crew. It served as a sad reminder that risk remains an inherent element of aerospace development.
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06/12/2015
At present, the Finnish Air Force has 62 of the American-made F-18 Hornet jet fighters. Several different aircraft are initially being looked at as replacements. A working group report turned over to Defense Minister Jussi Niinistö proposes that the Hornets, which will reach the end of their lifecycle in 2030, be replaced by new multirole combat jets.
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06/12/2015
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) recently completed 25,000 hours of simulated flight time on an F-16C Block 50 aircraft, demonstrating the safety and durability of the F-16 well beyond the aircraft’s original design service life of 8,000 Equivalent Flight Hours (EFH). Further testing is being conducted to identify a definitive, safe flight hour limit for the aircraft.
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06/12/2015
Turkey should play a bigger role in cutting the flow of terrorists into Syria as part of its cooperation with the US-led coalition against the Islamic State, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a briefing on Thursday.
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06/12/2015
In Iraq, airstrikes eliminated tactical units, fighting positions, weapons and ammunition as well as infrastructure near Al Qaim, Bayji, Haditha, Kirkuk, Mosul, Sinjar and Tal Afar. Airstrikes in Syria similarly led to the destruction of Islamic State personnel, weapons and infrastructure in Al Hasakah, Ar Raqqah, Dayr Az Zawr and Kobani.
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06/11/2015
Coalition military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq June 9. In Syria, coalition military forces conducted five airstrikes using bomber and fighter aircraft. Separately in Iraq, coalition military forces conducted 16 airstrikes approved by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense using attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL terrorists.
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06/11/2015
Almost unnoticed and barely reported, except in some national dailies, was a news in the website of the People's Liberation Army indicating that China's aviation industry is working on a new short-takeoff, vertical-landing aircraft that is "needed for an important role in the Chinese navy's future operations" and that research and development of the fighter aircraft's engine and other components have already begun.
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06/11/2015
Sweden is interested in selling its next generation Gripen fighter aircraft to India under a government-to-government deal, Defence Minister Peter Hultqrist, who is on a day’s visit to India, told The Indian Express. Gripen, manufactured by Swedish aerospace company Saab, was one of the contenders for the 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) fighters to be supplied to the Indian Air Force.
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06/11/2015
Yesterday the INS Vikrant — India’s first homemade aircraft carrier — was undocked for the first time in a low-profile ceremony. The ambitious 40,000 tonne warship is undergoing final fitout and is expected to begin sea trials early next year. Once active, the Vikrant will add India to an elite group of nations capable of building such vessels — The US, Russia, UK and France.
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06/11/2015
In the world of Russian jet fighters, Moscow's finest? — ?such as the Flanker and the fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50? — ?tend to grab the most headlines. But the Yakovlev Yak-130, a comparatively non-glamorous twin-seat jet trainer, is quietly turning heads … because it's obviously more than just a trainer. The twin-engine jet dubbed "Mitten" by Western intelligence is now showing its credentials as a genuine multi-role fighter.
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