Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Airmen on the hunt: RPA crews test skills during competition

07/08/2014

Airmen from 17 different squadrons participated in the third annual 432nd Wing Hunt here, June 27- July 2. The remotely piloted aircraft crews, which fall under the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing, were tested on their tactical skills in both the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, using real-world scenarios during the competition.

Moscow to support Baghdad with aircraft as ISIS advances

07/08/2014

Moscow and Baghdad have signed an urgent contract to supply Iraq with Russian Su-25 attack aircraft (estimates vary from five to 10 units). For Iraq, these supplies are a matter of national security. Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki’s government is in dire need of attack aircraft in order to support ground forces on their mission to confront Islamists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), who have taken control of large parts of the country in recent weeks.

Take out the pilot from Australia’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

07/08/2014

Prime Minister Tony Abbott sat in the pilot seat of a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at the time he announced his government will buy an additional 58 planes at a cost of at least A$12.4 billion. But imagine if there was no need for a pilot to fly inside the so-called fifth generation aircraft. The F-35 is said to be the smartest and most complex fighter jet on the planet, designed to conduct lethal strikes on air and ground targets without being detected by radar.

How Nearly 800 U.S. Troops Spent Their Fourth Of July In Iraq

07/07/2014

As the Fourth of July weekend comes to an end, most Americans are still recovering from BBQs and fireworks displays. For several hundred U.S. military personnel, however, the end of the weekend just marks the start of another week in Iraq, helping the struggling Iraqi government fend off the militants that have taken over a vast swath of territory.

Russian Syrian Secrets

07/07/2014

Recently the web site of the Russian company that makes the MiG-29 fighter posted a document stating that four Syrian MiG-29s had been upgraded in 2011 to the MiG-29SM standard. When this tidbit made the Western news media the document on the Russian web site suddenly had the reference to the four Syrian MiG-29s removed.

Afghan Troops Struggle to Retake Parts of Key Province from Taliban

07/07/2014

Afghan forces are struggling to wrest back control of territory from the Taliban in an operation seen as critical to preserving Kabul's hold in the country's south in the wake of a U.S.-troop drawdown. A resurgent Taliban last month amassed hundreds of fighters in northern parts of Helmand province—a hotbed in the long-standing insurgency against Afghanistan's central government and the focus of President Barack Obama's troop surge in 2009 and 2010.

North’s outdated equipment leading to accidents

07/07/2014

The antiquated state of North Korea’s military equipment has resulted in a series of accidents, with the most recent being a half-century-old Soviet-era fighter that came crashing into the West Sea. A North Korea source told the JoongAng Ilbo recently that a MIG-17 fighter jet crashed into western waters late May. After the accident, Pyongyang issued a mandate prohibiting the use of Air Force aircraft, including the MIG-17 model.

HAL seeks assistance in reducing HJT-36 weight

07/07/2014

India has sought foreign technical assistance to help reduce the weight of its military training aircraft being developed by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). Development of the HJT-36 Sitara intermediate jet trainer aircraft has struggled with technical issues and three incidents, delaying adoption by the Indian Air Force (IAF), its sole customer.

Thousands cheer pro-Russia rebels at Ukraine rally

07/07/2014

Driven out of their key stronghold in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russia separatists regrouped yesterday in the city of Donetsk, vowing to renew their fight against the government in Kiev before thousands of cheering supporters at a rally. Ukrainian troops on Saturday forced the rebels out of Slovyansk, a city of about 100,000 that had been the center of the fighting. The government's success there suggested it may finally be making gains in the months-long battle against the insurgency.

Defence and aerospace giant BAE reveals four technologies that could transform aircraft engineering by 2040

07/07/2014

Defence and aerospace giant BAE Systems has seemingly borrowed from Hollywood script-writers with futuristic concepts for military and civil aircraft. The company has revealed four technologies it reckons could transform the way aircraft engineering could evolve by 2040. Dubbed ‘The Transformer’, one design envisages smaller combat jets that join together in flight to boost fuel efficiency and increase their range before splitting up to attack.

100 years of carrier aviation to be on show at RNAS Yeovilton Air Day

07/07/2014

rom fabric and wires to fly-by-wire, almost 100 years of Carrier Aviation will be represented at RNAS Yeovilton Air Day on Saturday, July 26. With the Royal Navy's next generation aircraft carrier being named on July 4 and edging closer into service, types as diverse as the WW1-era Sopwith Triplane, the cutting-edge Dassault Rafale and the Wildcat HM2 will highlight naval airpower, past, present and future at the show.

Delayed deals

07/07/2014

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’ visit to India will hopefully pave the way for an early finalisation of the long-stalled agreement on France’s delivery of Rafale fighter aircraft to India. While his visit did not culminate in an announcement as to when an agreement will indeed be signed, face-to-face talks between the two sides could have provided a push for a tying of the last knots before the finalising of an agreement.

U.S. confronts difficulties in arming Iraqi air forces with missiles and F-16s

07/06/2014

Despite complaints by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the United States has been slow in its delivery of F-16 fighter jets, no Iraqi pilot team has qualified to fly the aircraft in combat and none will be ready before mid-August, according to an official at the U.S.-based program where the pilots are being trained.

F-35 Joint Strike Fighters grounded after engine fire

07/06/2014

Australia's newest and most expensive defence technology acquisition, the high-tech F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, has been grounded in the US where it is being built, after one of the stealth bombers experienced an unexplained engine fire. Australia is expected to take possession of its first two JSFs within weeks - more than two years after they were originally planned to be delivered.

Why the world is wooing India? It’s defense deals, stupid!

07/06/2014

So, what is happening? Why have leaders from three P5 nations chosen to visit New Delhi in such a short space of time? Is there a common thread in their India visits? Well, here is one word answer: business. No, it is not business in the sense of trade and investment. It is much more lucrative than that. It pertains to defense deals which are generally big-ticket and tend to go into billions of dollars.

Q. and A.: Lyle Goldstein on China and the Vietnamese Military

07/06/2014

As friction increases between China and Vietnam over the South China Sea, an important question is how Vietnam’s military, famed decades ago for its resilience and guerrilla warfare, measures up. For the last two months, Chinese and Vietnamese Coast Guard vessels have been jostling each other around a billion-dollar Chinese oil rig that Vietnam says was unilaterally placed in its waters by Beijing.

Remembering the F-117A Shot Down in Serbia in 1999

07/06/2014

The Lockheed F-117A Night Hawk was an aircraft developed over decades and benefiting from a combination of advanced American engineering and also unique theories about stealth from a Russian scientist that Ben Rich, Lockheed’s top man over the design of secret new military aircraft, believed would give a new American fighter an edge over any other jet or ground defenses.

AN UPDATE ON THE A400M, JUNE 2014: TURNING PROMISE INTO REALITY

07/06/2014

The lack of noise within the aircraft was noticeable compared to the C-17, C-130 or other aircraft. The seats are more comfortable as well. I did not hear the engines start up, and so was surprised when the aircraft took off. And then the incredibly rapid takeoff demonstrated its capability to lift from very, very short fields. The plane had a very stable performance in flight. And all of this is happening inside a very large cargo aircraft.

Foreign forces ready to defend interests in Iraq

07/06/2014

Foreign forces, small in numbers but militarily potent, are already in Iraq, positioned to shape the outcome of the bloody sectarian war threatening to tear the country apart. But it’s clear that while the U.S., Russia and Iran are willing to commit military personnel, munitions or both to the fight, the three have different and sometimes opposing objectives.

Ukraine: Russia lets rebels attack from its side

07/05/2014

Russia is letting separatist rebels use its territory to attack Ukrainian border posts, a top security official charged Friday as clashes in southeastern Ukraine killed nine more government troops. National Security Council Secretary Andriy Parubiy also said Russia was massing troops near the Ukrainian border — a statement that could not immediately be verified.

Come fly with me: Stunning images capture Australian military aircraft in full flight - from Sydney to southern Iraq - and the grand scale of their sophisticated refueling operations

07/05/2014

ncredible images have been released by the Department of Defence which captures Australian military aircraft during some recent aerial refueling operations. Some of them include hornets flying in a formation over Australia's Northern Territory while another shows a Seahawk helicopter on the deck of HMAS Melbourne in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney.

ISIS'S WEAPON INVENTORY GROWS

07/04/2014

The area controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) expanded suddenly after ISIS made a move into central Iraq from the east of Syria. While the world spoke about this expansion, weapons that ISIS seized, many of which were U.S. weapons given to the Iraqi army, became the main point of discussion.

The samurai stirs

07/04/2014

For the economy Japanese prime minister Abe has arrows, for foreign policy he wants missiles and for the constitution, well, has just driven a tank over it. The world changed on July 1. That sentence is not a resort to a clapped-out cliché. When the Tokyo cabinet "reinterpreted", in fact overrode, a key clause in its constitution meant to ensure the country's post-war pacifist approach, it ushered in an era of uncertainty.

RAF Doubles Number Of Reaper Drones In Afghanistan

07/04/2014

Five new Reaper drones, the most recent addition to the RAF’s arsenal, have started combat operations in Afghanistan, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The unmanned aircraft, which are based at Kandahar airfield, are being used to collect intelligence to help UK and USAF operations, with the latest deployment doubling the RAF’s Reaper force in the region.

Russia to provide additional Su-25 fighters to Iraq by September

07/04/2014

Russia is likely to deliver additional Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft to the Iraqi Ministry of Defence (MoD) by September this year. Russian ambassador to Baghdad Ilya Morgunov told RIA Novosti that the country will supply five to ten Su-25 fighters to Iraq by the end of summer. The contracts for military hardware signed in 2013, are being implemented according to schedule Morgunov added.