Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

2,000 out of 18,000 Ukrainian Troops to Leave Crimea

03/23/2014

Less than 2,000 of Ukrainian troops serving in Crimea decided to leave the peninsula for Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday. "As of March 21, less than 2,000 out of 18,000 Ukrainian servicemen staying on the territory of the Republic of Crimea decided to go to Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement.

France offers 4 fighter jets to Poland, Baltics to boost NATO patrols

03/22/2014

France will offer to send four fighter jets to the Baltic states and Poland to boost NATO air patrols over the region, a source close to the French defence minister said Friday. Besides the Rafale and Mirage 2000 aircraft, Paris will also offer to ensure "AWACS patrols from France around twice a week" if asked by NATO, the source said during the minister's visit to the Estonian capital Tallinn amid the Ukraine turmoil.

A KC-135 Flight Through the Eyes of a Military Wife

03/22/2014

MacDill Air Force Base is hosting its annual AirFest show this Saturday and Sunday. As a preview for the event, members of the media were invited to a ride-along flight on a KC-135 Stratotanker as it completed a training refueling mission. I boarded the massive plane as both a reporter and Air Force wife whose husband is training to become an aviator. I hoped the Airfest "preview flight" would give me a hint as to what my husband will be doing one day.

Software problems threaten further F-35 delays, GAO says

03/22/2014

Delays in testing critical software for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jet are threatening to delay the Pentagon’s most expensive weapon program and boost development costs, according to congressional investigators. “Persistent software problems” have slowed testing to demonstrate the aircraft’s war-fighting, navigation, targeting and reconnaissance systems, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said.

Could the U.S. Face a Cruise Missile Threat from the Gulf of Mexico?

03/22/2014

The United States is puzzling over how to block cruise missiles that theoretically could be launched from the Gulf of Mexico, even after throwing some of its most advanced technologies at the problem. Russia and Iran have been cited as possible threats that might, at some point, lurk in the waters just off U.S. shores.

All guns firing: Russian arms trade on the rebound

03/22/2014

Western weapons manufacturers waging an uphill battle to drive up revenues are finding their market share eroded by a potent new competitor – Russia. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its latest report “Trends in International Arms Transfers – 2013” says Russia’s exports of major weapons increased by 28 per cent between 2004-2008 and 2009-13.

Fighter pilots are ecstatic about the RAAF’s next generation Joint Strike Fighter

03/22/2014

Back in the late 1960s the aircraft chosen as the nation’s key strike weapon into the new millennium — the F-111 swing-wing fighter/bomber — was derided as the “flying Opera House’’ or the “widow maker” due to cost blowouts, delivery delays and serious technical problems that caused several fatal crashes.

Iraq expresses interest in Czechs’ mothballed aircraft

03/22/2014

Iraq is negotiating about the purchase of redundant Czech L-159 combat planes with their maker, Aero Vodochody, the website of weekly Hospodárské noviny writes today. Iraq showed interest in new Czech combat aircraft in 2012, but it eventually bought planes from South Korea.

Philippines to spend US$524m on military aircraft

03/22/2014

The Philippines said on Friday it will buy $524.7-million worth of aircraft from South Korea and Canada as part of a military upgrade amid territorial disputes with superpower neighbour China. The contracts to be signed on March 28 will include the purchase of 12 FA-50 fighter jets from state-run Korea Aerospace Industries for 18.9 billion pesos (US$417.95 million), Defence Undersecretary Fernando Manalo told reporters.

72 Crimean Military Units Request Joining Russia

03/22/2014

A total of 72 military units in Crimea have hoisted Russian flags instead of Ukrainian and applied to join the Russian armed forces, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday. "Yesterday, 72 military units almost in full strength decided to join the Russian armed forces. We are now dealing with service and citizenship issues of officers and soldiers from these units,” he said.

The Pentagon Isn’t Ready for a New Cold War

03/21/2014

There’s an old saying in the military that we’re always training for the last war, so fixated on the lessons of our most recent conflict that we’re blind to the emerging threat. For years, that last war was the Cold War, and the emerging threat was the insurgents of Iraq and Afghanistan. Slowly, painfully, eventually, the military reoriented itself. The result?

The Super Hornet will be coming to the Royal International Air Tattoo

03/21/2014

Boeing has announced it will be displaying its powerful Super Hornet at the Royal International Air Tattoo this year. The multi-role fighter, originally developed by the United States Navy and now in service with the Royal Australian Air Force at Fairford on July 12 and 13.

US, UK military to stage NATO exercises in Ukraine

03/21/2014

Ukraine will play host, but the US military will call the shots, in an upcoming military exercise called Rapid Trident that will bring together some 1,300 international forces in Ukraine for a long-planned exercise. Although the United States canceled Atlas Vision 2014, which was scheduled to take place in July in the northeastern Russian city of Chelyabinsk, the Pentagon says it will go ahead with plans for a multinational military exercise this summer in Ukraine.

Thunderbirds arrive for MacDill AirFest

03/21/2014

If your windows rattled Thursday, no need to worry. That was just the Air Force, not an earthquake. The Air Force's aerial demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, arrived Thursday afternoon at MacDill Air Force Base as its F-16 pilots prepared for this weekend's Tampa Bay AirFest 2014.

Budget Doesn’t Delay F-16 Life Extension Upgrades

03/21/2014

The Air Force is surging ahead with work to extend the service life of its fleet of F-16 fighter jets despite recent budget cuts to programs aimed at upgrading the planes, service officials said. The service is in the early phases of a Service Life Extension Program, or SLEP, for about 300 of its fleet of 976 F-16s designed to add eight to ten years of additional combat life to the aircraft, said Maj. Sean Tucker, F-16 program element monitor.

Pentagon 2015 budget: Under fiscal strain, USAF justifies fleet retirements

03/21/2014

The US Air Force (USAF) is defending plans to retire entire fleets of aircraft over the next five years, citing budget pressure and the need for better technology. The USAF favoured procurement of new platforms in its fiscal year 2015 (FY 2015) budget proposal in order to keep pace with adversaries' increasing technological sophistication, officials said on 18 March. However, doing so forced service planners to make difficult cutbacks in its legacy fleets.

Israel unveils new advanced training jets

03/21/2014

The Israel Air Force showed off its new cutting-edge training aircraft, the M-346, on Thursday. The plane underwent a successful test flight, and was presented at a ceremony in Italy by provider Alenia Aermacchi. Officials from the Defense Ministry brokered theUSD $1 billion dollar deal to purchase 30 jets from the Italian manufacturer in July 2012, and on Thursday representatives from the ministry and the IAF attended the event.

Counting The Squishy Bits

03/21/2014

Large air forces are rare. As a result ten nations (U.S., China, Russia, India, North Korea, Egypt, South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, and Taiwan) have about 60 percent of the combat aircraft in service. But while the U.S. has only 19 percent of the 15,000 combat aircraft in service, they have a far higher percentage of the air combat capability. This becomes clear when you take into account the quality of the aircraft, pilots and support services.

Breaking Defense Ties With Russia Would Hurt Ukraine – Official

03/21/2014

Ukraine would be inflicting unnecessary damage upon itself if it breaks off ongoing cooperation with Russia’s defense industry, a senior Russian official said Thursday. “If the Ukrainian leaders who recently came to power choose the path of destructive engagement with Russia, I think they will be punishing themselves, punishing the Ukrainian people, who are happy to work with our businesses,” Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said.

Russia Signs Treaty to Annex Crimea

03/20/2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin defied Western warnings and signed a treaty to annex Ukraine's Crimean peninsula Tuesday, while accusing the United States and its allies of going too far in luring post-Soviet nations away from Moscow.

Israeli air force strikes Syrian targets

03/20/2014

After many so-called "phantom attacks" conducted inside Syria in recent months were attributed to Israel, the nation's air force performed widespread attacks on Syrian targets over the night of 18 March.

U.S. lawmakers urge end to Pentagon contracts with Russian firm

03/20/2014

U.S. lawmakers who oppose the Pentagon's dealings with Russia's state-owned arms exporting firm are using Moscow's intervention in Ukraine to press the argument that contracts with Rosoboronexport should end.

How Ukraine’s Military Stacks Up Against Russia’s

03/20/2014

The worst-case scenario in the Russia-Ukraine crisis would be a war between the two states. How do their respective forces compare? Russia has about four times as many soldiers as Ukraine does, twice as many tanks, and more than six times as many combat aircraft. The huge imbalance in forces reflects the defense budgets of the two countries. Russia spends about $78 billion on its armed forces annually, Ukraine $1.6 billion.

SIPRI on international arms exports and imports

03/20/2014

The volume of Indian imports of major weapons rose by 111% between 2004/08 and 2009/13 and its share of the volume of international arms imports increased from seven to 14 % the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reports. At the same time Pakistan’s imports of major arms increased by 119%.

A-10 On Death Row Again

03/20/2014

Citing growing budget shortages (and the enormous costs of developing and building the new F-35) the air force plans to retire 410 combat aircraft (and about a hundred support planes) in the next five years. These include 340 A-10s and 70 F-15Cs. In that same time period over a hundred new F-35s would enter service leaving the air force with about 300 fewer combat aircraft.