Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Hopes of selling Typhoon jet fighters to United Arab Emirates are over, according to BAE Systems boss

01/23/2014

Hopes of selling Typhoon jet fighters to the United Arab Emirates are over, the boss of BAE Systems conceded yesterday, just weeks after the firm warned talks about the £6bn deal had stalled. Chief executive Ian King said the UAE negotiation was ‘done’, adding ‘we have no plans to revive it’.

Budget includes money for Raptor fixes

01/23/2014

The new omnibus federal budget has millions of dollars for the Hampton Roads defense community, including money for Virginia-class submarines and construction projects at Joint Base Langley Eustis. Another line item is of particular interest to the F-22 Raptor community.

Lockheed exaggerates number of jobs on F-35 program, new report says

01/23/2014

Lockheed Martin Corp.’s claims that the development and construction of the nearly $400 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will sustain 125,000 jobs in 46 states is “greatly exaggerated,” according to a new report by a research center.

Boeing gets lifeline for Super Hornet fighter from Congress

01/23/2014

The U.S. Congress has given Boeing’s Super Hornet fighter jet a lifeline, at least for now. The omnibus federal spending measure contains a down payment of $75 million for 22 of the fighters that the Navy didn’t request. The funding, signed into law Friday, will prod Navy officials to decide this year whether to spend as much as $2 billion for the unplanned planes as a hedge against delays of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Boeing, United Arab Emirates Partners Look to Harvest Biofuel from Desert Plants

01/23/2014

Boeing and research partners in the United Arab Emirates have made breakthroughs in sustainable aviation biofuel development, finding that desert plants fed by seawater will produce biofuel more efficiently than other well-known feedstocks.

US Air Force Receives 1st B-1 Equipped with Boeing Integrated Battle Station

01/23/2014

The U.S. Air Force on Jan. 21 received the first B-1 bomber upgraded with the Boeing Integrated Battle Station, which essentially turns the B-1 into a new aircraft with the addition of full color displays, moving maps and a new diagnostics system.

Russia Plans Cruise Missile Tests, Bomber Patrols for 2014

01/23/2014

The Russian Air Force is preparing to conduct a series of tests of new cruise missiles, as well as carrying out strategic bomber patrols including stops in other countries, the commander of its long-range fleet said Wednesday. “In 2014 we are planning practice launches of cruise missiles, including new models,” Gen. Lt. Anatoly Zhikharev told reporters, without specifying the missiles to be fired. Russian planes launched 15 cruise missiles last year.

CAE To Provide The Italian Air Force With Predator UAV Mission Trainer

01/22/2014

CAE today announced it was awarded a contract to provide Aeronautica Militare Italiana (Italian Air Force) with an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Mission Trainer representing the General Atomics Predator remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). The CAE UAS Mission Trainer will be delivered in early 2015 to Amendola Air Force Base, and will be used to provide initial and mission training for Predator pilots and sensor operators.

Navy gets ready to start Vikramaditya flying ops

01/22/2014

The Indian Navy has launched preparations to start flying operations from aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. The MiG-29K fighter aircraft have started taking off from the ski-jump and making arrested landings. Having finished training in Russia, 10 top naval pilots have returned home to operate from INS Vikramaditya, which is berthed at Karwar naval base.

Taiwan Unveils First JSOW

01/22/2014

The Taiwan Air Force’s first joint standoff weapon (JSOW), unveiled at a ceremony last week, is intended to suppress enemy air defenses and should complicate any invasion plans China might have in mind, a defense expert said. Dubbed the Wan Chien (Ten Thousand Swords), the weapon was displayed Jan. 16 at the airbase here in southwestern Taiwan during the inauguration of recently upgraded indigenous defense fighters under the 443 Tactical Fighter Wing.

Dassault Gains New Rafale Upgrade Contract

01/22/2014

Dassault Aviation received a development contract from the French Ministry of Defense for a further upgrade of the Rafale combat aircraft. Designated “F3 R,” the upgrade consists mainly of integration of the MBDA Meteor BVRAAM; the laser-homing version of the Sagem AASM air-ground weapon; and the new Thales PDL-NG laser designator pod. There will also be some improvements to the Rafale’s avionics and defensive systems.

Hungary, Slovenia sign air space protection agreement

01/22/2014

The air force of Hungary will join Italy in protecting Slovenia's air space under an agreement signed late last week. Slovenia, once part of the former Yugoslavia, joined NATO in 2004 and opted for allied protection of its air space rather than purchasing aircraft. The Hungarian air force flies fourth-generation Gripen fighters, which are made by Saab of Sweden. The fighters are single-engine multi-role aircraft with a maximum speed of 1,312 miles per hour at altitude and a combat radius of 500

New federal budget means more work for Sikorsky

01/22/2014

The $1.1 trillion federal budget adopted last week preserves jobs at Sikorsky Aircraft and continues development of a new rescue helicopter for the Air Force. Connecticut received $3.3 billion in defense spending in the 2014 budget deal signed by President Barack Obama, enough to keep the 6,566 Sikorsky workers in Stratford on the job and fund Connecticut's other defense contractors.

Taiwan To Slash Armed Forces By Up To 20%

01/22/2014

Taiwan has said it plans to slash its armed forces by up to 20 percent from 215,000 over the next five years, in the latest sign of warming ties with former rival China. Defence Minister Yen Ming said the military would be cut to 170,000-190,000, but that defense capabilities would not be compromised in the project to build “smaller but leaner and more professional armed forces.”

Japan Is Scrambling Jets Against China More Than Ever

01/22/2014

Japanese fighter jets scrambled against Chinese planes a record number of times in April-December, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, as Sino-Japanese ties are strained by an island spat and disputes stemming from Tokyo's wartime past.

Pantsir-S1 missile system to be tested beyond Polar Circle - developer

01/21/2014

The Tula-based instrument-building design bureau, KBP, plans to test the Pantsir-S1 combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery system beyond the Polar Circle, KBP's first deputy managing director, Nikolai Khokhlov, told reporters on Monday.

Enhanced Missile Warning System to Protect U.S. Army Troops

01/21/2014

The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $39 million contract for more than 300 third-generation (Gen3) Common Missile Warning System (CMWS), a key element in helicopter and aircraft countermeasures systems protecting US aviators in combat theatres; The Army has already acquired 2,100 such systems and has operated them in combat, accumulating more than 2,000,000 combat flight hours.

CT defense industry wins big in U.S. budget bill

01/21/2014

The massive omnibus spending bill creates winners and losers – and at first blush it seems that Connecticut is chiefly in the winner’s column. Like other state governments, the Malloy administration is still trying to determine the impact of the $1.1 trillion federal budget approved by Congress last week.

China begins naval drills in South China Sea

01/21/2014

Chinese naval vessels including an island landing ship began drills today in the South China Sea, where China and several other nations are locked in territorial disputes. Two destroyers and China's largest amphibious landing craft started the exercises after sailing from the naval base on the southern island province of Hainan, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The ships also boast three helicopters and a company of marines.

Rafale a worthy choice by the IAF

01/21/2014

Like the most people of Indian origin, I have been an avid reader of news on the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender. It is safe to say that in the last five years many of India’s defence projects have come if not of age, at least into adolescence. The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is now flying as a genuine albeit underpowered and slow combat aircraft. The indigenous Kaveri jet engine operates on target except at high altitude, the crystal turbine blades not yet a proven quantity.

Aim of China's Military Reforms

01/21/2014

Modernisation of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has entered the final stage of its current phase. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s Third Plenum, which was held in November 2013 and represents a major advance in China’s reforms, provided a substantive push to the PLA’s modernisation when it approved proposals for major organisational restructuring. The reforms coincide with China’s continuing assertiveness that has unsettled its neighbours.

Russia can't deliver on Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft: IAF

01/21/2014

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has done a stunning about-turn, sharply criticising the showpiece Indo-Russian project to co-develop a futuristic Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). Even as New Delhi and Moscow finalise a $6 billion deal to co-develop an FGFA with capabilities tailor-made for India, the IAF has alleged the Russians would be unable to meet their promises about its performance.

Russian Military Research Agency to Get $100M in 2014

01/21/2014

Russia’s prospective rival of the US breakthrough military research agency DARPA will receive 3.3 billion rubles ($100 million) of state funding this year, its spokesman said Monday. But this year’s budget for Russia’s Advanced Research Foundation was actually decreased 12.5 percent year-on-year, the spokesman said. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), founded in 1958, has an estimated annual budget of $2.8 billion.

UK orders near for F-35 'stealth’ jet

01/20/2014

Britain's Ministry of Defence is close to placing its first major tranche of orders for the F-35 fighter jet, with an award for about 14 of the “stealth” warplanes due in the next few weeks. The orders for the new plane, being built in an international project led by US defence giant Lockheed Martin, will signal the increasing role of the British military in the controversial F-35 programme.

Syrian military jets kill 34

01/20/2014

Government warplanes on Saturday launched raids on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, killing 34 people, including five children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Air raids launched by government jets and helicopters left 23 people dead in the city itself, and killed another 11 in the surrounding countryside, the Observatory reported.