Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Alenia Aermacchi completes first Tranche 3 Eurofighter

03/05/2014

Alenia Aermacchi's first Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoon for the Italian Air Force has been rolled out of a company plant, the company reports. Eurofighter is a multi-role combat aircraft and is produced by a European consortium consisting of Alenia Aermacchi/Finmeccanica, BAE Systems and Cassidian in Germany and Spain.

With 2015 budget, Pentagon looks beyond Afghanistan

03/05/2014

The Pentagon unveiled a $496 billion base budget on Tuesday that looks beyond Afghanistan to future U.S. security challenges after a dozen years of war, cutting the military to afford more training and new weapons as it adapts to an era of tighter spending. The budget set the Obama administration on a collision course with Congress by trying to eliminate popular older weapons systems and curb military compensation while seeking $26.4 billion in additional defense spending.

Russia Adds Upgraded Warplanes to Armenian Base

03/05/2014

Russia announced on Tuesday the deployment of newly modernized warplanes at its military base in Armenia that has already been reinforced with more sophisticated weaponry in recent years. The Russian Armed Forces’ Southern Military District said in a statement that “a batch of fourth-generation multipurpose MiG-29 fighter jets” has arrived at a military airport in Yerevan after undergoing “capital repairs.”

Putin Slams Ukrainian Govt, Says Invasion 'Last Resort'

03/05/2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called the acting authorities in Ukraine illegitimate, but said a military intervention in Russia’s western neighbor would be a last resort. The remarks were the first public comments from Putin on the crisis in Ukraine since protesters in the capital, Kiev, swept to power last month.

Russian fighter jets violate Ukraine air space, troops flow into Crimea

03/04/2014

Russian troops and military planes were flowing into Crimea on Monday in violation of accords between the two countries, Ukrainian border guards said. Since Sunday, 10 Russian combat helicopters and eight military cargo planes have landed on the flashpoint Black Sea peninsula, the guards said in a statement, while four Russian warships have been in the port of Sevastopol since Saturday.

U.S. Navy to order 33 fewer F-35s than planned in next 5 yrs -source

03/04/2014

The U.S. Navy is set to order 33 fewer Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets than originally planned over the five years starting in fiscal 2015 due to budgetary pressures, a defense official said Monday. In a move that will sharply slow work on the F-35 model built to land on aircraft carriers, the Navy will ask Congress to fund 36 F-35Cs instead of 69, said the official, who could not speak publicly ahead of Tuesday's release of the 2015 budget request.

Ukraine Military Poses Meager Threat to Russia

03/04/2014

The U.S. and its NATO allies have trained with the Ukraine military and pumped millions of dollars into that country's defense, but given the size of its armed forces, Ukraine could offer little resistance should its Crimea engagement with Russia escalate into a shooting war. Russia has about 845,000 troops as compared to Ukraine's roughly 130,000, according to the BBC, which cites figures from the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

India, France Agree On Rafale Work Share

03/04/2014

India has finally sealed a work share agreement with the French-firm Dassault Aviation for building 70 per cent of the Rafale fighters domestically, according to New Delhi Television. India will acquire 18 of the 126 Rafale fighter jets it is buying from France in "fly away" condition, and the rest will be manufactured by the local firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Uganda moving combat aircraft out of Entebbe

03/04/2014

The Uganda People’s Defence Force Air Wing (UPDF-AW) is moving its combat aircraft from Entebbe to Nakasongola Air Base to alleviate congestion. Entebbe International Airport is the main base for UPDF-AW aircraft but it has becoming increasingly congested, which could pose a problem for future operations and increase the risk of collisions.

EU Condemns Russia "Aggression" in Crimea

03/04/2014

The European Union accused Russia of “acts of aggression” and a “clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty” in a strongly-worded statement Monday that condemned the movement of troops into Crimea. EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels demanded an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops to the areas of their bases in Crimea under international agreements reached with Ukraine.

Russia Conducts Live Fire Exercises in Baltic

03/04/2014

Russian naval warships and coastal troops conducted live fire exercises Monday in the country’s western Kaliningrad and Leningrad Regions, a Ministry of Defense spokesperson said. The exercises, part of a combat readiness test ordered by President Vladimir Putin last week, come amid a growing international crisis as evidence mounts that Russian troops have been deployed across Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.

Pakistani jets bomb militant hideout a day after Taliban ceasefire plan

03/03/2014

Pakistani warplanes bombed the hideout of a militant leader, killing five insurgents, the military said on Sunday, only a day after the Pakistani Taliban declared a one-month ceasefire to pursue stalled peace talks with the government. The target of the attack, Mullah Tamanchey, directed a deadly assault against a convoy carrying a polio vaccination team and security forces on Saturday in which 12 people were killed, the military said.

Work well underway on China's two new aircraft carriers: Military Parade

03/03/2014

The Moscow-based Military Parade has revealed more details on China's mysterious indigenous aircraft carriers currently under construction in Dalian and Shanghai. In an report on Feb. 28, the Russian website said that the first vessel — known as 001A and designed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation — is being built in Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province and will be equipped with a steam catapult.

China's Stealth Chengdu J-20 Jet Fighter Rivals American F-22

03/03/2014

A new Chinese fighter jet with stealth capabilities, the Chengdu J-20, was observed conducting a successful test flight Saturday at noon. Photos and video of the flight were leaked on military forums like Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter. But this is not some big secret, NATO and western nations are familiar with the new plane, however they don't necessarily like having their F-22 Raptor, which reportedly costs as much as $361 million per aircraft to build.

Navy jet crashes during training flight in Nevada

03/03/2014

The search for the pilot of a jet that crashed near a U.S. Navy range in Nevada continued Sunday, the Navy said in a press release. The pilot's name is being withheld until family is notified. The crash of the U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C happened at about noon ET Saturday at Naval Air Station Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno. The aircraft appears to be a "total loss," the Navy said.

Jet Engine Technology at The Heart of DoD's Drive To Preserve At-Risk Sectors

03/03/2014

The Pentagon for years has said it would intervene to protect vulnerable areas of the industrial base during a period of declining defense spending. Now it’s acting on that policy. Senior US defense officials last week said the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal, which is being sent to Congress on March 4, would put money toward preserving at-risk sectors of the industrial base to protect technological know-how.

Hill Air Force Base trying to maintain F-35, lower costs

03/03/2014

Hill Air Force Base will celebrate a milestone in the coming days when the first F-35 stealth fighter jet rolls out of its maintenance hangars, powers up its engines and flies back into service. How quickly — and at what cost — more F-35s leave Hill and return to home bases around the world will be a key issue for the weapon that is expected to cost more than a trillion dollars over its life span.

Boeing may slow F/A-18 plane output to keep line going longer

03/03/2014

Boeing Co is considering a slower build rate and other options to keep production of its EA-18G electronic attack planes running into 2017, and give Congress time to add more orders, a top company executive told Reuters in an interview. The St. Louis production line for Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers is slated to shut down after 2016 unless the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier wins additional U.S. or foreign orders for the planes soon.

Ukraine Closes Airspace to Military Aircraft

03/03/2014

Ukraine has closed its airspace to military aircraft. Acting president Oleksandr Turchynov announced Sunday that Ukraine had closed its airspace to non-civilian aircraft. Ukraine's acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of "declaring war", citing the decision for Russian forces to surround military bases in Crimea.

Ukrainian Troops in Crimea Side with Pro-Russia Forces

03/03/2014

Ukrainian servicemen stationed in Crimea are leaving en masse their military units and handing over weaponry and arsenals to local pro-Russia authorities and militia, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Sunday. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry immediately denied the report, which was also circulated by other Russian media, calling it “a provocation.”

US transit hub in Romania fully operational

03/02/2014

A temporary U.S. base in Romania that will serve as the primary hub for American forces leaving Afghanistan officially reached its full operating capacity Friday. Since Feb. 2, some 6,000 American servicemembers have transited through the center at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, located about 25 miles northwest of the Black Sea city of Constanta and about 2,500 miles northwest of Afghanistan.

Goodbye AC-130H

03/02/2014

The U.S. Air Force is mothballing its last eight AC-130H gunships. Only 47 AC-130 gunships have been built, the first of them, the AC-130A, entering service in 1968. Some were upgraded to AC-130Es. Eleven were upgraded to AC-130H in 1972 and the eight surviving aircraft of that group are now being retired, not scrapped.

End may be near for F/A-18 Super Hornet

03/02/2014

Workers at Northrop Grumman's 1-million-square-foot facility in El Segundo have been cranking out fuselage sections for the Navy's F/A-18 fighter jet for decades. But now, the end may be near. Since entering service in 1983, the lithe twin-engine fighter-bomber has been a symbol of U.S. military might, catapulting from aircraft carrier decks and obliterating targets in the sky and on the ground.

Is a Light Carrier in Singapore's Future?

03/02/2014

For years, Singapore’s ST Engineering Marine has been parading a ship model of a landing helicopter dock (LHD) vessel that could handle the jump-jet variant of the F-35 joint strike fighter. The model was most recently on display at last month’s Singapore Airshow. And while Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) won’t confirm that it has plans to build such a vessel, it’s also not denying it.

As Poland Pursues Stealth Jets, Eurofighter Flies Into Picture

03/02/2014

Poland is scrapping previous plans to buy F-16 fighter jets in five years, but what it will buy instead is up in the air. The Defense Ministry wants to wait and buy fifth-generation jets, which experts say could be F-35 joint strike fighters. The deal would enable a technological leap for the Polish military by replacing its Soviet-designed aircraft with high-end fighters.