Military Aviation News Archive
08/08/2014
The United States has suspended the delivery of military aircraft to Iraq. Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has rebuffed Iraqi requests for the combat aircraft after concluding that the Iraqi military was not capable of securing these platforms amid the advance of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The officials said the F-16s no longer had a home with the ISIL siege on the Iraq Air Force base at Balad.
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08/08/2014
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan has suspended its cooperation with the Afghan National Army (ANA) at various military facilities after the killing of a US major general, Der Spiegel reported Thursday. ISAF commander Joseph Dunford suspended the Afghan military support mission by ordering on Tuesday all international instructors and military consultants to remain in their camps until Friday, while the incident is being investigated.
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08/07/2014
Recent events have cast the Baltic States in a new light, as a barrier between Russia and the West. NATO, especially U.S. involvement, has shown the world the strategic importance of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, as well as Poland. NATO training exercises are being conducted in response to both the crisis in Ukraine, as well as the increasing Russian presence in the Baltic Sea region.
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08/07/2014
Lockheed Martin has delivered its first of three KC-130J tanker/transports to the Kuwait air force, providing the service with a new air-to-air refuelling capability. Carrying the registration KAF 326, the short-fuselage aircraft will be followed by another two contained within a production order signed in 2010. These are to be handed over before the end of this year, according to Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database.
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08/07/2014
Alenia Aermacchi has completed the first phase of integration tests of the Storm Shadow missile into the Typhoon multi-role combat aircraft. Working in collaboration with Cassidian and BAE Systems, the company evaluated various aspects of aeromechanical missile integration into the aircraft, at its facility at Decimomannu Air Base in Sardinia, Italy. The tests started in December last year with instrumented production aircraft 2 (IPA2).
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08/07/2014
Russian Helicopters, a subsidiary of Oboronprom, part of State Corporation Rostec, is pleased to announce that Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAP) has produced its 850th Mi-171-series helicopter. The landmark aircraft was a Mi-171A1 built for Brazilian commercial operator Atlas Taxi Aereo. The Mi-171A1 is one of the latest commercial models of the world-famous Mi-8/17 series.
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08/07/2014
An arms embargo should be imposed on Israel, the former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has said , as he warned that the level of misery and carnage in Gaza was likely to poison the remaining goodwill in the region for generations. Mitchell also said on Wednesday that UN schools in Gaza should not have been targeted for attacks since they were places of sanctuary.
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08/07/2014
Rising concerns that Moscow is poised to launch an invasion into Ukraine are well-grounded because Russian troops are continuing to mass along the volatile border between the two countries, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday. “There is no question that Russia continues to build up on the border.
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08/07/2014
India’s government officially opened up the defense industry to foreign investors Wednesday, allowing defense contractors from abroad to own up to 49% instead of 26% of Indian military equipment makers. The plan was first announced in the July 10 budget by new finance minister, Arun Jaitley. The cabinet approval is all the proposal needed to become a national policy.
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08/07/2014
The 15th P-8A Poseidon built by Boeing [NYSE: BA] arrives at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., where it will help expand the U.S. Navy’s long-range maritime patrol capabilities. The aircraft, delivered on schedule July 31st, joined the other Poseidon aircraft being used to train Navy crews in preparation for deployment.
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08/07/2014
Boeing has received a contract from NATO worth approximately $250 million to install digital flight decks and avionics on 13 of the alliance’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, which are based on the Boeing 707 commercial airplane. The new technology ensures compliance with current and future air traffic control and navigation requirements, giving the aircraft broader access to airspace around the world.
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08/06/2014
Iraq's government sent its air force on Monday to back Kurdish forces struggling to blunt a jihadist advance, an extraordinary move that reflects alarm over the insurgents' brash new offensive against Kurds in both Iraq and Syria. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's authorization of air support came after the Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, lost a string of towns over the weekend to the militant group, which calls itself Islamic State.
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08/06/2014
The Ukrainian military on Monday appeared to be readying a long-awaited major assault on the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, warning civilians to leave as troops tightened their ring around the city amid heavy fighting. Extra evacuation corridors were set up for cars bearing white flags, said Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesman. The Donetsk city government posted the corridor routes on its Web page.
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08/06/2014
The USAF is working to extend the service life of its fleet of C-130 combat delivery aircraft by replacing center wing boxes on some of the planes and adding new avionics, electronics and instrumentation, service officials told Military?.com. The modernization effort encompasses maintenance and technological improvements to the older C-130 H-model planes as well at the more modern C-130J aircraft, said Col. Robert Toth, division chief for special operations, rescue and trainer programs.
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08/06/2014
No matter it is ceasefire or war time, the British government has decided to take a call on reviewing arms sales to Israel. The Downing Street has ordered a review of all the export licences in the aftermath of the Gaza assault that killed 1,700 Palestinians. An official spokesman of the PM's office confirmed that the government is getting ready to review all the export licences to Israel.
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08/06/2014
The United States (US) State Department has approved the sale of two C-130 planes to the Philippines in a move seen to boost the strategic partnership between the two countries. The package has an estimated cost of $61 million or roughly P2.67 billion and would include equipment, parts, training and three-year logistical support, a statement by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said.
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08/06/2014
Japan’s annual defence whitepaper underlines the importance Tokyo places on the industrial participation aspects of the Lockheed Martin F-35A programme, and casts a wary eye on airpower developments in China. The whitepaper, produced annually by the Ministry of Defense, touches on all aspects of Tokyo’s security situation, from the disruptive potential of non-state actors to challenges posed by major powers, namely China.
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08/06/2014
Russia’s aircraft maker Sukhoi has delivered another batch of its multirole fighters Su-30M2 to the country's Air Force, according to the company’s press office. “Under the state arms procurement program, the Sukhoi company handed over a batch of multirole fighter jets Su-30M2,” it said Tuesday in a press release.
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08/06/2014
The US and European Union are stepping up their campaign against Russia as the Ukrainian army intensifies its attack on the civilian population in the east of the country, unleashing a humanitarian catastrophe. Meanwhile, in leading political and military circles there is increasing talk of a direct military engagement with Russia.
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08/06/2014
Due to “inordinate delay” in intermediate jet trainer (IJT) programme of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the Indian Air Force (IAF) has initiated action to look for alternatives and extend the technical life of the Kiran trainer aircraft, Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
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08/06/2014
Philippine News Agency – With two South Korean F/A-50 “Fighting Eagle” jet aircraft expected to arrive and be in commission by 2015, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) announced that it will soon form an assessment team that will sift through the technical specifications of the various fighter aircraft available and decide which one is the best and affordable for the country.
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08/05/2014
Kurdish military commanders and observers have been left stunned by an offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in northern Iraq over the weekend which has seen the group seize control of a number of areas from Kurdish forces. Reports over the weekend said ISIS fighters had captured a number of towns in northern Iraq, and came close to seizing Iraq’s largest dam.
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08/05/2014
The Ukrainian military on Monday appeared to be readying a long-awaited major assault on the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, warning civilians to leave as troops tightened their ring around the city amid heavy fighting. Extra evacuation corridors were set up for cars bearing white flags, said Andriy Lysenko, a military spokesman. The Donetsk city government posted the corridor routes on its Web page.
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08/05/2014
When Russian forces invaded Crimea Ukrainian Air Force aircraft deployed near Sevastopol were dismantled, loaded on trucks and relocated to the mainland Ukraine. But 7 healthy MiG-29, MiG-29UB two seater Fulcrums and 3 L-39 stored there remained on the Crimean repair plant.
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08/05/2014
On a September day in 1974, Capt. Harold "Buck" Adams set the world speed record in the U.S. military's SR-71 Blackbird aircraft. At the controls of the twin-engine supersonic plane, Adams flew from London to Los Angeles in a blistering 3 hours, 47 minutes and 39 seconds.
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