Military Aviation News Archive
08/07/2014
Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Oboronprom, part of State Corporation Rostec, is pleased to announce that Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAP) has produced its 850th Mi-171-series helicopter. The landmark aircraft was a Mi-171A1 built for Brazilian commercial operator Atlas Taxi Aereo. The Mi-171A1 is one of the latest commercial models of the world-famous Mi-8/17 series.
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08/07/2014
An arms embargo should be imposed on Israel, the former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has said , as he warned that the level of misery and carnage in Gaza was likely to poison the remaining goodwill in the region for generations. Mitchell also said on Wednesday that UN schools in Gaza should not have been targeted for attacks since they were places of sanctuary.
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08/07/2014
Rising concerns that Moscow is poised to launch an invasion into Ukraine are well-grounded because Russian troops are continuing to mass along the volatile border between the two countries, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday. “There is no question that Russia continues to build up on the border.
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08/07/2014
India’s government officially opened up the defense industry to foreign investors Wednesday, allowing defense contractors from abroad to own up to 49% instead of 26% of Indian military equipment makers. The plan was first announced in the July 10 budget by new finance minister, Arun Jaitley. The cabinet approval is all the proposal needed to become a national policy.
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08/07/2014
The 15th P-8A Poseidon built by Boeing [NYSE: BA] arrives at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., where it will help expand the U.S. Navy’s long-range maritime patrol capabilities. The aircraft, delivered on schedule July 31st, joined the other Poseidon aircraft being used to train Navy crews in preparation for deployment.
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08/07/2014
Boeing has received a contract from NATO worth approximately $250 million to install digital flight decks and avionics on 13 of the alliance’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, which are based on the Boeing 707 commercial airplane. The new technology ensures compliance with current and future air traffic control and navigation requirements, giving the aircraft broader access to airspace around the world.
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08/06/2014
Iraq's government sent its air force on Monday to back Kurdish forces struggling to blunt a jihadist advance, an extraordinary move that reflects alarm over the insurgents' brash new offensive against Kurds in both Iraq and Syria. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's authorization of air support came after the Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, lost a string of towns over the weekend to the militant group, which calls itself Islamic State.
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08/06/2014
The Ukrainian military on Monday appeared to be readying a long-awaited major assault on the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, warning civilians to leave as troops tightened their ring around the city amid heavy fighting. Extra evacuation corridors were set up for cars bearing white flags, said Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesman. The Donetsk city government posted the corridor routes on its Web page.
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08/06/2014
The USAF is working to extend the service life of its fleet of C-130 combat delivery aircraft by replacing center wing boxes on some of the planes and adding new avionics, electronics and instrumentation, service officials told Military?.com. The modernization effort encompasses maintenance and technological improvements to the older C-130 H-model planes as well at the more modern C-130J aircraft, said Col. Robert Toth, division chief for special operations, rescue and trainer programs.
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08/06/2014
No matter it is ceasefire or war time, the British government has decided to take a call on reviewing arms sales to Israel. The Downing Street has ordered a review of all the export licences in the aftermath of the Gaza assault that killed 1,700 Palestinians. An official spokesman of the PM's office confirmed that the government is getting ready to review all the export licences to Israel.
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08/06/2014
The United States (US) State Department has approved the sale of two C-130 planes to the Philippines in a move seen to boost the strategic partnership between the two countries. The package has an estimated cost of $61 million or roughly P2.67 billion and would include equipment, parts, training and three-year logistical support, a statement by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said.
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08/06/2014
Japan’s annual defence whitepaper underlines the importance Tokyo places on the industrial participation aspects of the Lockheed Martin F-35A programme, and casts a wary eye on airpower developments in China. The whitepaper, produced annually by the Ministry of Defense, touches on all aspects of Tokyo’s security situation, from the disruptive potential of non-state actors to challenges posed by major powers, namely China.
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08/06/2014
Russia’s aircraft maker Sukhoi has delivered another batch of its multirole fighters Su-30M2 to the country's Air Force, according to the company’s press office. “Under the state arms procurement program, the Sukhoi company handed over a batch of multirole fighter jets Su-30M2,” it said Tuesday in a press release.
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08/06/2014
The US and European Union are stepping up their campaign against Russia as the Ukrainian army intensifies its attack on the civilian population in the east of the country, unleashing a humanitarian catastrophe. Meanwhile, in leading political and military circles there is increasing talk of a direct military engagement with Russia.
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08/06/2014
Due to “inordinate delay” in intermediate jet trainer (IJT) programme of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the Indian Air Force (IAF) has initiated action to look for alternatives and extend the technical life of the Kiran trainer aircraft, Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
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08/06/2014
Philippine News Agency – With two South Korean F/A-50 “Fighting Eagle” jet aircraft expected to arrive and be in commission by 2015, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) announced that it will soon form an assessment team that will sift through the technical specifications of the various fighter aircraft available and decide which one is the best and affordable for the country.
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08/05/2014
Kurdish military commanders and observers have been left stunned by an offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in northern Iraq over the weekend which has seen the group seize control of a number of areas from Kurdish forces. Reports over the weekend said ISIS fighters had captured a number of towns in northern Iraq, and came close to seizing Iraq’s largest dam.
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08/05/2014
The Ukrainian military on Monday appeared to be readying a long-awaited major assault on the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, warning civilians to leave as troops tightened their ring around the city amid heavy fighting. Extra evacuation corridors were set up for cars bearing white flags, said Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesman. The Donetsk city government posted the corridor routes on its Web page.
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08/05/2014
When Russian forces invaded Crimea Ukrainian Air Force aircraft deployed near Sevastopol were dismantled, loaded on trucks and relocated to the mainland Ukraine. But 7 healthy MiG-29, MiG-29UB two seater Fulcrums and 3 L-39 stored there remained on the Crimean repair plant.
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08/05/2014
On a September day in 1974, Capt. Harold "Buck" Adams set the world speed record in the U.S. military's SR-71 Blackbird aircraft. At the controls of the twin-engine supersonic plane, Adams flew from London to Los Angeles in a blistering 3 hours, 47 minutes and 39 seconds.
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08/05/2014
The U.S. Navy is greatly endangered by the global proliferation of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles. Some analysts, like Dennis Gormley, Andrew Erickson, and Jingdong Yuan at the National Defense University, say U.S. aircraft carriers in the western Pacific are sitting ducks for communist China’s missiles, especially their CM-400AKG Mach 5.5 Wrecker cruise missile and their DF-21 ballistic missile, dubbed “the carrier killer.” They are wrong.
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08/05/2014
The modernisation of the Indian air force is massive in scale and hugely expensive, but should deliver capability that will put the service at the forefront of any future conflict. At the beginning of this decade New Delhi embarked on a modernisation of the Indian air force on an unprecedented scale. The process is under way as part of the long-term integrated perspective plan, which spans a period of 15 years from 2012.
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08/05/2014
Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer plans to sign another contract with India in the framework of the joint project for the construction of a fifth generation multipurpose combat jet, Alexander Klementyev, a Sukhoi deputy director general told Itar-Tass. “We hope the contract [for experimental design works] will be signed soon,” he said.
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08/05/2014
The Cold War brinkmanship between Russia, NATO and the United States is back with military aircraft once again playing their deadly game of “chicken” in the skies. The latest incident at the weekend — involving a US “electronic intelligence” surveillance jet flying in what the US insists was international airspace over the Baltic Sea — is just one of an apparently escalating series of probe, counter-probe and mid-sky standoff. Such aerial bravado has been rare since the fall of the Soviet Union.
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08/05/2014
Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb (DMLGB) was successfully employed during recent U.S. Marine Corps weapons and tactics instructor training. During the training exercises at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma in Arizona, AV-8B Harrier aircrews released 19 GBU-12F/B DMLGB weapons. The weapons were released in tactically representative engagements, and used various targeting modes against fixed targets.
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