Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

UK Bolsters Falkland Defenses to Counter Argentine Air Ambitions

01/12/2015

British military capability planners are eyeing a major improvement to ground-based air defenses in the Falkland Islands amid continuing signs that Argentina is looking to update its Air Force with modern strike aircraft. Argentina and the UK fought a short but bloody war over the British territory in 1982. The dispute received new life recently by Argentinean President Cristina Kirchener's launching a diplomatic war of words in an effort to eject the British.

Japan wrestles with wartime legacy as it starts selling weapons

01/12/2015

Seventy years after the end of World War II, talk about any kind of military expansion remains highly sensitive here in Japan. Just consider the position of Akifumi Arai, president of the Tamagawa Trading Company, a relatively small Nagano-based business that supplies sensors and gyroscopes used to guide torpedoes and missiles for Japan's self-defense forces.

Rafale deal hits rough weather

01/12/2015

India plans to take a final call, one way or the other, on the gigantic $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 French Rafale fighters before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits France and Germany in April.

Swedish Forces Admit Second Submarine Hunt Near Stockholm: Reports

01/12/2015

A second, this time secret submarine hunt was launched in the Stockholm archipelago when a "very credible" informant reported seeing a possible conning tower a week after Sweden called off the initial search operation, the Swedish Armed Forces said Sunday. “We consider the informant to be very credible. We had ships and ground units nearby, so we were able to quickly respond to that observation.

North Korea Offers to Suspend Nuclear Tests if U.S. Suspends Military Drills

01/11/2015

North Korea said on Saturday it was willing to suspend nuclear tests if the United States agreed to call off annual military drills held jointly with South Korea, but Washington rejected the proposal as a veiled threat.

Dassault Insists on Latest Rafale Version for India, Doubles the Price

01/11/2015

Dassault has offered the latest version of the Rafale fighter, the F3R for nearly double the price of the F3 version it originally bid with in the Indian fighter aircraft competition. The company is reportedy insisting that India take the latest version as the French company is upgrading aircraft in the French Air Force to the F3R version and all future aircraft manufactured will be of the latest version.

Japan wrestles with wartime legacy as it starts selling weapons

01/11/2015

Seventy years after the end of World War II, talk about any kind of military expansion remains highly sensitive here in Japan. Just consider the position of Akifumi Arai, president of the Tamagawa Trading Company, a relatively small Nagano-based business that supplies sensors and gyroscopes used to guide torpedoes and missiles for Japan’s self-defense forces.

Light Combat Aircraft Tejas-PV1 equipped with new generation electronic warfare suite

01/11/2015

An advanced electronic warfare (EW) suite developed by the DRDO was successfully tested onboard the country's Light Combat Aircraft Tejas-PV1 today. "After obtaining due flight clearances and certification, the first flight sortie of LCA PV1 with the EW equipment operational took place today. The equipment was noted to be detecting radar signals operating in and around the flight path," a Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) release said here.

Russia, India Complete Draft Project for Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft

01/11/2015

The regional director of international cooperation at the united Russian-Indian aircraft manufacturing company reported Saturday that Russia and India have completed the creation of the export version of the Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft.

U.S. air strikes destroy U.S. battle tanks stolen by ISIL from Iraq

01/10/2015

The United States has conducted thousands of sorties in an effort to destroy its combat platforms stolen by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. Officials said the U.S. Air Force conducted thousands of missions against ISIL. They said the air strikes damaged or destroyed 3,222 targets since August 2014.

Military establishes new Pacific task force

01/10/2015

Military officials held a ceremony yesterday at U.S. Naval Base Guam in Santa Rita to establish a new Navy task force as part of a rebalance of forces in the Asia-Pacific region. "In the past few years, it's been a priority to rebalance forces as we wind down from Afghanistan and Iraq and move into the Pacific region," said Joint Region Marianas Public Information Officer Lt. Tim Gorman.

Russia is modernizing Soviet era airborne combat laser program to match US and China combat lasers

01/10/2015

Russia is also developing combat laser weapons alongside with the US said army general Yury Baluevsky, former Chief of the Russian General Staff. The US is field testing various combat 50-150 KW combat lasers on ships, trucks and fighter jets. Last year, China indicated that their combat lasers were shooting down drones. The Chinese laser defense system is able to shoot down various small aircraft within a two-kilometer radius and can do so in five seconds after locating its target.

Advice to student F-18 pilots: Bomb the right target

01/10/2015

Minutes after returning from a flight over the Avon Park Air Force Range, where they participated in laser-guided weapons practice, Navy Lts. Kevin Loughmiller and Nick Adams stood on the soggy flightline at MacDill Air Force Base recalling “a mindblowing” experience from a few days earlier.

Air Force losing more drone pilots than it trains

01/10/2015

The Air Force expects to lose more remotely piloted aircraft pilots to attrition than it trains this fiscal year, Air Combat Command spokesman Benjamin Newell said Friday. The active-duty Air Force already has a shortfall of RPA pilots, in part because more RPA pilots are joining Air National Guard units, an Air Combat Command official told reporters Thursday.

Army Nearing Decision On Who Will Protect Helicopters Against Heat-Seeking Missiles

01/10/2015

The biggest threat to U.S. military helicopters flying in combat zones today is heat-seeking missiles. The compact, shoulder-fired missiles are gradually becoming available to virtually every militant group that threatens U.S. overseas interests, and the latest versions are equipped with seekers that can readily distinguish between real targets and simple countermeasures such as flares.

Iran begins mass production of Saeghe fighter

01/10/2015

Iran has begun mass production of the Saeghe (Thunderbolt) indigenously developed combat aircraft, state media announced on 7 January. Quoting an Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) spokesperson, the Fars News Agency reported that the country now has 'several squadrons' of the Northrop F-5E Tiger II-derived aircraft in operational service. Prior to the report, the IRIAF was understood to have only about three Saeghe fighters flying with the 23rd Fighter Squadron.

Boeing Delivered All P-8As to U.S. Navy on Schedule and on Cost in 2014

01/10/2015

Boeing last month delivered the eighth P-8A Poseidon of 2014, completing all planned deliveries to the U.S. Navy for the year on time and on cost. That airplane, the 21st overall for the program, flew from Seattle to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida on Jan. 8. It joined other P-8As being used to train Navy crews.

Tehran Warns NATO Against Flying Planes Over Iranian Airspace: Commander

01/10/2015

NATO airplanes are not allowed to pass over Iranian airspace, commander of the Khatam ol-Anbia Iranian air defense base said. The official made reference to an early September ISAF flight, which was reportedly forced to land.

US military to close 15 bases in Europe

01/09/2015

The Pentagon says the move will save around $500m (£300m) a year, and comes as the US military seeks to shift its attention towards Asia. But the US has named RAF Lakenheath to be the first permanent European base for the F-35 aircraft. The US currently has more than 60,000 troops stationed in Europe, mostly in Germany, Italy and the UK.

USAF employing significantly more munitions against the Islamic State

01/09/2015

The US Air Force (USAF) has employed considerably more munitions in its campaign against the Islamic State over recent weeks, the service disclosed on 6 January. This increased expenditure of weaponry was revealed in an article on deployed USAF armourers that was published on the service's official website.

ISIL on its 'back foot,' says Canadian general

01/09/2015

Islamic insurgents in Iraq are on their “back foot” and haven’t been able to launch successful counter-attacks, according to the commander overseeing this country’s Iraq air campaign. Brig.-Gen. Dan Constable, who commands Joint Task Force Iraq, told journalists Thursday that coalition air strikes have allowed Iraqi forces on the ground to push back the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Ditching Rafale

01/09/2015

Like an able pilot with his wits about him in an out-of-control warplane, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar may be preparing to ditch Rafale touted as the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) answer, which the Indian Air Force has set its heart on procuring at any cost, and going for the more economical and sensible Su-30 option instead.

Turkey announces major defense projects

01/09/2015

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced five defense projects on Wednesday, following a Defense Industry Executive Committee meeting in Ankara. Davutoglu said that Turkey would order four more fifth generation Stealth F-35s, which will be the new front line fighters of the Turkish Air Force.

Air Force considers larger retention bonuses for drone pilots

01/09/2015

The demand for drones to fly surveillance missions keeps going up, but the number of remotely piloted aircraft pilots is going down, so the Air Force is considering increasing retention bonuses for RPA pilots, said Col. Ray Alves of Air Combat Command. "We're looking at incentives of how we maintain people in the career field and how we incentivize growth in the career field … to give them bonuses similar to what I received as a young major, my pilot retention bonus," said Alves.

Boeing Delivers F-22 Training Center with Advanced Visual System

01/09/2015

Boeing has improved the realism of ground-based F-22 Raptor training by delivering the first simulators for that aircraft with an immersive, 360-degree visual environment. Two simulators were installed, each paired with the Constant Resolution Visual System (CRVS), Boeing’s patented display that provides high-resolution imagery for pilots to train with nearly 20/20 acuity.