Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Warning Shots Fired As OSCE Mission Denied Entry to Crimea

03/09/2014

A mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was denied entry to Ukraine’s breakaway region of Crimea on Saturday. Warning shots were fired after the military assessment team from OSCE states neared the checkpoint in the city of Armyansk, according to OSCE’s official Twitter account.

U.S. general’s comment further clouds viability of F-35 fighter for the RCAF

03/09/2014

The suitability of the controversial F-35 jet fighter as a replacement for the Royal Canadian Air Force's aging CF-18s is getting even murkier, if that's possible. The fighter-replacement program has been thrown into limbo already over cost issues and development delays, with Ottawa considering whether to abandon the U.S.-sourced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and reboot the search for another candidate.

Sikorsky awarded $15 billion Air Force contract for combat rescue helicopter

03/08/2014

Sikorsky Aircraft will build the next-generation Combat Rescue Helicopter for the U.S. Air Force under a contract that could be worth as much as $15 billion. The Air Force is rearranging its budget to get the program started, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said.

U.S. military presence in Africa growing in small ways

03/08/2014

Amid a surge of Islamic militancy in North Africa, a team of fewer than 50 U.S. special operations troops with a single helicopter arrived at a remote base in western Tunisia last month. Their mission: train Tunisian troops in counter-terrorism tactics. The operation was one of dozens of U.S. military deployments in Africa over the last year, often to tiny and temporary outposts. The goal is to leverage American military expertise against an arc of growing instability in North Africa and many su

Israel scrambles F-16s as Syrian jets near border

03/08/2014

Israeli air force fighters have been scrambled four times on 7 March so far, when Syrian combat aircraft approached the border with Israel on the Golan Heights. Syrian opposition sources reported that the Syrian air force bombed the village of Rdir El - Bustan using so-called "bomb barrels", and approached the Israeli border on their way to and from their targets.

Pilot completes UK's first vertical landing in an F-35

03/08/2014

Royal Air Force pilots are currently undergoing training on the UK's next generation stealth combat aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Squadron Leader Hugh Nichols is the first UK instructor pilot to perform a vertical landing in the F-35B Lightning II - the UK’s next generation stealth combat aircraft.

US military transit center in C. Asia completes last operation

03/08/2014

The commander of a US military air transit center in Kyrgyzstan said Thursday that the facility has performed its final mission, well ahead of its scheduled closure later this year. Colonel John Millard said flights from the base for in-flight refueling and cargo and personnel transport in support of operations in Afghanistan had been completed. Remaining work will focus on clean-up and transferring the facility over to the Central Asian nation’s authorities by a July 11 deadline, Millard said.

F-35 ‘irrelevant’ without accompanying stealth jet, says U.S. general

03/08/2014

New questions are being raised about whether the F-35 stealth fighter is the right aircraft for Canada after a U.S. general acknowledged the jet is limited in what it can do and needs to be accompanied on its missions by another multi-million-dollar aircraft. The issue for Canada and other potential F-35 buyers is that the other aircraft referred to by the general – the F-22 – isn’t available for foreign sales because of its sophisticated technology.

Pentagon Defends Cutting Guard’s Combat Aircraft

03/08/2014

Lawmakers criticized the Pentagon’s fiscal 2015 defense budget today, arguing that it will strip the National Guard of two key combat aircraft – the AH-64 Apache helicopter and the venerable A-10 Warthog. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s defense spending plan proposes to retire the entire fleet of A-10 aircraft, a close air support platform designed to kill Soviet tanks during the Cold War. The A-10 is operated by the Air National Guard and has been highly effective against ground targets during

Russia Starts Massive Air Defense Drills Amid Crimea Standoff

03/08/2014

Russia’s Western Military District has begun large-scale air defense drills at its southern testing range of Kapustin Yar on the backdrop of further escalation of tensions with the West over Ukraine. Kapustin Yar, located some 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, will host about 3,500 troops and over 1,000 units of military hardware for about a month. The exercise will culminate with live-firing drills, involving S-300, Buk-M1 and other air defense systems.

U.S. Moves Six Fighter Jets to Baltics, More Airmen to Poland

03/06/2014

The U.S. military is increasing its presence in Poland and the Baltics in response to the crisis in Ukraine, officials said Wednesday. The military will deploy jets now in the Britian — six F-15 fighters and one KC-135 re-fueler — to Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania, a U.S. defense official told NBC News.

US taking steps to help NATO allies in Europe

03/06/2014

The Obama administration took steps Wednesday to support the defenses of U.S. allies in Europe in response to Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S. was stepping up joint aviation training with Polish forces. The Pentagon also is increasing American participation in NATO's air policing mission in its Baltic countries, he said.

How Russian, Ukrainian forces stack up

03/06/2014

Underfunded, underequipped and with its senior leadership often seen close to Moscow, Ukraine's military has been something of a no-show in its confrontation with Moscow. But that, experts say, has probably been largely deliberate. Ukrainian forces have been involved in some stand-offs with Russian forces particularly around bases in Crimea, some of which have long been shared between Kiev and Russian forces attached to the Black Sea Fleet.

Obama Budget: New Sikorsky Helicopter Funded But Not Guaranteed

03/06/2014

The president's $496 billion budget proposal for the military has nothing but good news for Sikorsky. In it, the Pentagon plans to buy more Black Hawk helicopters than last year and to move forward with a new multibillion-dollar program for a combat rescue helicopter, the competition for which Sikorsky was the sole bidder.

Air Force would cut 20,400 airmen, 2,700 civilian jobs under budget proposal

03/06/2014

The Air Force would cut 20,400 airmen and about 2,700 civilian jobs and retire dozens of planes under a $109.3 billion fiscal year 2015 budget request focused on replacing an aging aircraft fleet and boosting readiness hurt through sequestration, according to federal budget documents released Tuesday.

China's Xi ramps up military spending in face of worried region

03/06/2014

China announced its biggest rise in military spending in three years on Wednesday, a strong signal from President Xi Jinping that Beijing is not about to back away from its growing assertiveness in Asia, especially in disputed waters. The government said it would increase the defence budget by 12.2 percent this year to 808.23 billion yuan ($131.57 billion), as China seeks to develop more high-tech weapons and to beef up coastal and air defences.

Analysis: Japan MoD Offers Evidence of Chinese Aircraft Intrusions

03/06/2014

Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has posted an impressive interactive stop/play website that explains to readers in animated graphic terms the flight patterns of Chinese military aircraft in the East China Sea “China has rapidly intensified its activities surrounding Japan’s airspace, expanded its operational areas, and diversified its flight patterns,” said the website.

Decision time: Canada needs new fighter jets – now

03/06/2014

Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets are due to retire in 2020. They need to be replaced, but no fully operational F-35s will be available by that date. Stephen Harper has a decision to make: buy another model of fighter jet, or face a dangerous capability gap. He cannot expect our pilots to fly supersonic aircraft beyond their lifespan.

Russia Reinforces Armenian Base With Overhauled MiG-29 Fighter Jets

03/06/2014

Russia has strengthened its airbase in Armenia with a batch of overhauled MiG-29 fighter jets, a military official said Tuesday. Russia’s 3624th Air Base at the Erebuni airport in Yerevan previously hosted at least 16 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets operating under the framework of air defense agreements concluded between the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Turkey scrambles fighter jets to intercept Russian aircraft

03/05/2014

Turkey scrambled eight F-16 fighter jets to intercept a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft over the Black Sea coast on Monday when the Russian military plane began flying parallel to Turkish airspace, the Turkish military announced on Tuesday.

Sweden sends jets to Baltic after Russian move

03/05/2014

The Swedish Armed Forces sent extra air defence to the island of Gotland on Tuesday in response to a large-scale Russian training exercise being carried out in the Baltic Sea. "Due to the increased air operations in the area, and especially as a result of the Russian training exercise going on, we've decided to base parts of our regular incident response team on Gotland," Göran Mårtensson at the Armed Forces (Försvarsmaktens) said in a statement.

Design of long-delayed KF-X still in debate

03/05/2014

After a decade-long delay, Korea’s indigenous fighter program is about to officially hit the road with bidding by partner firms scheduled for next month. However, which design concept to go with — a single- or twin-engine aircraft — is emerging as the biggest sticking point in the program, codenamed KF-X.

US, Greek forces complete bilateral flight training, build partnerships

03/05/2014

U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles and Hellenic air force F-16s flew a combined 270 missions during two weeks of NATO training at Souda Air Base, Greece. The 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, known as the Mighty Black Panthers, departed Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, Feb. 13, to work alongside the pilots of the HAF's 343rd Squadron at the 115th Combat Wing on the Greek island of Crete.

Air Force Budget Slashes Legacy Aircraft

03/05/2014

The Air Force on Tuesday released a 2015 budget that translates into fewer airmen and fewer aircraft across its active-duty, reserve and guard components with officials saying the service has chosen to recapitalize the fleet versus upgrading legacy aircraft. Air Force personnel would drop across the force from 503,400 to 483,000 under the 2015 plan.

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.