Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Tejas Handed Over to Air Force, But Training Manual Missing

02/17/2015

After a crippling three decade wait by the Indian Air Force for the home-made fighter jet Tejas, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has reportedly set a deadline of a month for training and maintenance manuals to be shared with pilots. The first Tejas- a Light Combat Aircraft- was presented with much fanfare last month to the Air Force by the manufacturer - state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, which is based in Bangalore.

US Army Awards Airbus $220.5M Lakota Order

02/17/2015

The US unit of Europe's Airbus Group was awarded a contract modification worth $220.5 million to build 41 more UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopters for the US Army, planned as flight trainers at Fort Rucker, Alabama. A service budget official said at a roundtable with reporters earlier this month that next year marks the last of the Lakota fleet for the active Army. The president's budget request for fiscal 2016, released Feb, 3, included $187 million for 28 more helicopters.

Cairo shifts from defensive to offensive with Egyptian air raids on Islamic State

02/17/2015

The raids by the Egyptian air force on Islamic State (IS) camps and arsenals is an escalation in Cairo’s 20-month campaign against the cult. The strikes were in retaliation for the murder by mass beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic workers held hostage by IS in Libya. The air action coincided with Egypt’s shift from a defensive to an offensive strategy for containing and ultimately defeating IS in northern Sinai.

Who's doing what in the coalition battle against ISIS

02/17/2015

It's been more than six months since the United States first sent warplanes to conduct airstrikes against the militant group ISIS, and four months since the formation of an international coalition to help fight the terror group. Since then, warplanes from Western and regional members of the coalition have flown hundreds of missions against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria.

Under Xi, China's defense budget seen defying economic slowdown

02/17/2015

President Xi Jinping is expected to authorize robust defense spending for this year despite China's slowing economy, determined to strengthen the country's armed capabilities amid growing unease in Beijing at Washington's renewed focus on Asia. While China keeps the details of its military spending secret, experts said additional funding would likely go toward beefing up the navy with anti-submarine ships and developing more aircraft carriers beyond the sole vessel in operation.

McCain goes to war against Air Force, determined to save A-10 ‘Warthog’

02/17/2015

Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain does not think much of the raw data the Air Force recently released on the A-10 attack jet, which the service is trying to shelve and which he wants to keep. Air Force tallies show the so-called “Warthog” has killed more “friendly” troops and Afghan civilians since 2010 than any other U.S. aircraft, USA Today reported.

France defends fighter aircraft sale to Egypt

02/17/2015

France and Egypt were poised on Monday to sign a multibillion-euro deal for the first sale of the Rafale fighter jet despite human rights concerns. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was to travel to Cairo to sign the €5.2bn deal for 24 Rafale fighters that Paris hopes will prompt others to snap up its premier combat jet.

Egypt launches second wave of airstrikes on ISIS in Libya

02/17/2015

Egyptian warplanes staged a second wave of airstrikes against ISIS targets in Libya on Monday in retaliation for the slaughter of 21 Egyptian Christians by ISIS militants, Egypt's state-run Ahram Online reported, citing security officials. The airstrikes followed an earlier wave that struck ISIS camps, training areas and weapons depots, the military said in a statement.

USAF chief keeps sights on close air support mission

02/16/2015

The US Air Force's desire to gradually phase out operation of the Fairchild Republic A-10 is in no way indicative of a lack of enthusiasm for the close air support (CAS) mission, its chief of staff Gen Mark Welsh says. Welsh treated reporters at the Air Force Association annual air warfare conference in Orlando, Florida, to an impassioned defence of the CAS mission and plans to retire the A-10, which he said can fly to about 2028, regardless of funding levels.

Central Africa launches regional war against Boko Haram

02/16/2015

New regional war unfolding in central Africa as Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad unite against Boko Haram – with help from France, America and Britain. An MI-24 helicopter gunship, bristling with rockets, clattered over the swirling brown current of the Chari river before landing in Chad's capital, N'Djamena. Moments later, two state-of-the-art Rafale jets – the pride of the French air force – swept overhead, bound for the same airport.

Poland kicks off unprecedented military spending spree

02/16/2015

Looking east to the bloody conflict gripping Ukraine, NATO-member Poland has kicked off an unprecedented military spending spree worth billions to overhaul its forces as Warsaw believes peace in Europe is no longer a given. The escalation of tensions with Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and subsequent role in the crisis in that country's east has sounded the alarm on NATO's eastern flank in countries that were under Moscow's thumb during the Cold War.

CALL FOR END TO FOREIGN AID TO ARGENTINA AS IT BUYS FIGHTER JETS FROM CHINA

02/16/2015

A British politician has called for an end to British tax payers money going to Argentina after it was reveals that the country has reached an agreement with China to purchase fighter jets capable of attacking the Falkland Islands as talks with Beijing start to produce results.

Ex-Navy air boss: F-35s 'essential' for carrier air wings

02/16/2015

Retiring Vice Adm. David H. Buss, who stepped down as the Navy's "air boss" Jan. 22, has guided the Navy's F-35C Lightning II through some difficult times. But he insists the controversial next-generation fighter jet is now well on its way to becoming operational and, more than that, is essential to the future of carrier air wings. "I'm very happy with where we are with the program now," Buss said during an interview at his office at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.

Extra space on the America enhances flight ops

02/16/2015

The Navy's newest amphibious assault ship, America, has some of the fleet's most advanced command and control capabilities and electronic warfare technology, but one low-tech asset has won over sailors and Marines who have been underway: space Compared with earlier big-deck amphibs, the America has more room throughout its aviation spaces. This allows the ship to generate sorties farther from shore,

Reports indicate ceasefire in Ukraine is holding

02/16/2015

After days of ferocious attacks, a ceasefire went into effect after midnight Sunday in Ukraine, followed by brief accusations of violence. President Petro Poroshenko ordered the Ukrainian military to hold its fire against pro-Russian militants in the nation’s East. The separatist Donetsk People’s Republic also announced a truce. The ceasefire aims to end 10 months of violence in eastern Ukraine.

Time for India to have its own Medium Combat Aircraft

02/16/2015

The question of what airplanes the Indian Air Force will be flying in 2030 is not easy to answer. The important factor is how the Indian economy grows in the next decade which determines how much money is spent on defense. And even when there is money to spend, previous Governments had the lazy attitude that “lets just buy it from another country”. At least Narendra Modi is the first Prime Minister to push “Make in India” even for defence purchases.

Militants are only casualties in suicide attack on air base

02/15/2015

Islamic State fighters led a suicide attack on an air base where U.S. and coalition troops are training Iraqi forces after taking a nearby town, the first territorial gain by the militant group in months, the Pentagon said Friday. Most of the Islamic State fighters died in the attack, killed either by Iraqi government forces or by detonating their suicide vests, said Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman.

Putin accused of putting Russia on war footing

02/15/2015

VLADIMIR PUTIN has been accused of putting the Russian economy on a “war footing” as the Kremlin spends billions of pounds a year on nuclear submarines, combat jets, supersized drones and ballistic missiles. Admiral Lord West of Spithead, a former head of the Royal Navy, said Russia’s rearmament of its military forces was “extremely worrying”. It would be “madness” if Britain slashed defence spending after the next election, he added.

World events make A-10 more crucial than ever, backers say

02/15/2015

As Congress takes up the fiscal year 2016 defense budget, supporters of the A-10 Thunderbolt II jet say world events show the combat-proven “Warthog” is needed now more than ever. There’s no telling whether that argument helps save the A-10 — a mainstay mission of Tucson’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base — from its proposed retirement amid an expected pitched battle over the Pentagon budget.

DoD study: Army aviation plan saves money, less risky

02/15/2015

A Defense Department study of the Army's controversial Aviation Restructuring Initiative found the service's plan saves more money and presents less "risk" compared with the National Guard's proposed alternative, according to findings obtained by Army Times. The study by DoD's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office found:

Women in combat: a global comparison

02/15/2015

Women in the military: a worldwide sampling

U.S.: Iraqi forces repel attack on al-Asad air base

02/14/2015

Eight Islamic State fighters were killed when they attacked an air base where U.S. and coalition forces are training Iraqi forces. Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said that initial reports Friday showed that all of the IS attackers were killed by Iraqi troops at or inside a gate to al-Asad air base in the western province of Anbar.

The Real Reason Egypt Is Buying Fighter Jets From France

02/14/2015

After twenty years of searching, France has finally found a buyer for its Rafale fighter jet. President Francois Hollande announced on Thursday that Egypt will buy 24 aircraft as part of a deal reportedly valued at 5.2 billion euros ($5.9 billion), and his Defense Minister is heading to Cairo on Monday to sign the agreement.

ISIS is now dangerously close to a base where US Marines are training Iraqi soldiers

02/13/2015

Islamic State insurgents took control on Thursday of most of the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, threatening an air base where U.S. Marines are training Iraqi troops, officials said. Al-Baghdadi, about 85 km (50 miles) northwest of Ramadi in Anbar province, had been besieged for months by the radical Sunni Islamist militants who captured vast swathes of Iraq's north and west last year.

US Sends A-10 Thunderbolt II Aircraft To Germany, Just As Ukraine Ceasefire Signed

02/13/2015

As a new ceasefire for eastern Ukraine was signed on Thursday, in an attempt to halt the worsening conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian rebels, the United States is sending to Europe a warplane that was designed during the Cold War for one purpose: to destroy Russian tanks in Europe.