Military Aviation News Archive
12/16/2013
On December 11th India retired its 124 remaining MiG-21FL jet fighters. This is the first phase of India retiring all of its MiG-21s. There were originally twice as many MiG-21FLs, which was the first MiG and first supersonic jet in Indian service. These aircraft arrived in the 1960s and 70s and until their retirement were used for training new fighter pilots. The MiG-21FL trainers and will be replaced by the new Indian designed and made Tejas light fighter.
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12/16/2013
The second consignment of Russian weapons and military equipment, to be delivered to Iraq under the deal signed in 2012, will arrive later than previously announced, a senior Iraqi lawmaker said on Sunday. Last year, Iraq signed a $4.3 billion deal with Moscow to buy Russian weapons and military equipment, including around 40 Mi-35 and Mi-28NE attack helicopters. Iraq took collection of the first four Mi-35 helicopter gunships this fall.
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12/15/2013
A Chinese air force pilot was killed when a fighter plane crashed during night training in east China's Zhejiang Province, the defence ministry announced on Friday. The Jian-8 plane crashed in Anji County in Zhejiang Province on last night, leaving the pilot dead, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
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12/15/2013
MP Yuriy Syrotiuk (the Svoboda faction) said that two Russian IL-76 military transport aircraft are staying in Hostomel in Kyiv region with unknown purposes. "It’s known for sure that two Russian military aircraft are staying in Hostomel. It's unknown whom and what they brought to Kyiv, but they are staying there," Syrotiuk told a briefing in Kyiv on Saturday.
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12/15/2013
Operational Clearance (IOC) later this month. Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne, said the '4plus generation' LCA designated as 'Tejas', is all set to be inducted in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the project for Mark II, designed to be more powerful and capable, will commence soon. After long delays and several cost overruns, Tejas, which will replace aged fighter aircraft MIG 21, will be inducted on December 20 in Bangalore by Defence Minister A.K. Antony.
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12/15/2013
Typhoon has lost the bid offering 60 aircraft for the Government of South Korea. The Koreans initially favored the newest version of the Boeing F-15, known as the ‘Silent Eagle’, but later reverted to opt buying only 40 of the F-35A stealth fighter from Lockheed Martin. Given this precondition, EADS is currently offering the Koreans a mix of two jet fighters – namely, buying 40 Eurofighter Typhoons and 20 F-35s for their next-generation fighter procurement project.
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12/15/2013
Canada is rejecting a Vatican call for the United Nations to take a closer look at the ethics and legality of drone warfare, The Catholic Register has learned. The Holy See made its first statement ever about weaponized drones and other automated weapons systems at a United Nations arms control meeting in Geneva Nov. 14.
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12/15/2013
And yet, Illustrious' retirement sets the stage for a new age in aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. That same year, Britain aims to launch the lead vessel of a new class of carriers, the HMS Queen Elizabeth. The new Queen will be a technological marvel, equipped with a new "highly mechanized weapon handling system" that can be operated, in a pinch, by as few as a dozen sailors. The entire vessel, twice the size of the carrier it is replacing, will boast a crew of only 679 souls.
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12/15/2013
Two Russian Air Force crew members ejected to safety when their MiG-31 interceptor crashed on Saturday in the Far Eastern Primorye region, local authorities said. The aircraft went down 26 kilometers from the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airbase near Vladivostok, after taking off at 5:07 a.m. Moscow time from the Knevichy airfield.
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12/14/2013
Britain's high-profile drive to sell Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets in the Persian Gulf seems to be running into trouble, with the United Arab Emirates reportedly having second thoughts about acquiring as many as 60 of the aircraft. If Emirates' planned $10 billion procurement to replace its aging Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000-9 jets to counter regional rival Iran is still on, that could boost the prospects of the Typhoon's main rival, Dassault's Rafale multirole fighter.
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12/14/2013
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe has offered SE Asian countries almost $20bn in aid and loans, in what is being seen as an effort to combat Chinese expansion. The announcement came at a summit in Tokyo, weeks after China's declaration of a new air defence zone overlapping areas claimed by Japan and South Korea.
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12/14/2013
Japan's Self-Defense Forces will acquire 17 of the U.S. military's controversial Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft over five years from next April, a source close to the issue said Friday. Japan will also purchase three surveillance drones and 52 amphibious vehicles to enhance its capability to defend remote islands, the source said.
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12/14/2013
An Indian Defence Ministry document has revealed that it will take nearly 15 years for the South Asian country to improve its fighting capacity to China’s level as the communist neighbour is currently outnumbering India’s combat power by a 3:1 ratio.
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12/14/2013
The first F-35A Lightning II fighter jet destined for Luke Air Force Base rolled out of a Lockheed Martin assembly plant here Friday amid cheers and whoops from military and political leaders, and a blaring rendition of rock legend AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” Dozens more of the twin-tailed planes will follow.
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12/14/2013
A Chinese naval vessel tried to force a U.S. guided missile warship to stop in international waters recently, causing a tense military standoff in the latest case of Chinese maritime harassment, according to defense officials. The guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens, which recently took part in disaster relief operations in the Philippines, was confronted by Chinese warships in the South China Sea near Beijing’s new aircraft carrier Liaoning, according to officials familiar with the incident.
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12/14/2013
At a ceremony attended by more than 2,000 employees and guests, Lockheed Martin celebrated the production of its 100th F-35 Lightning II. Defense leaders Gen. Robin Rand, Commander, Air Education and Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, and Brig. Gen. Michael Rothstein, Commander, 56th Fighter Wing, Luke AFB, Ariz., joined the employees who build the F-35 for the celebration.
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12/14/2013
The 61st Airlift Squadron at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., received another C-130J Super Hercules that was ferried from the Lockheed Martin plant here by a U.S. Air Force crew, Dec. 12, 2013.
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12/14/2013
Greek armed forces test-fired a Russian-made S-300 air defense system on Friday, for the first time since it was bought 14 years ago. Greece is the only NATO member that has an S-300 in service. The system was initially purchased by Cyprus in the mid-1990s, and was later transferred to the Greek island of Crete following objections from Turkey.
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12/13/2013
This morning, Textron AirLand successfully completed the first flight of the Scorpion, the company's new tactical twinjet, which was announced earlier this year. The Scorpion took off from McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, and flew for 1.4 hours.
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12/13/2013
The Indian Air Force is negotiating with French aviation major Dassault Aviation's Rafale for 126 medium fighter jets in a multi-billion dollar deal, Chief of Air Staff of IAF, Air Chief Marshall N A K Browne today said. The deal suffered a "setback" due to the death of an official, who handled the negotiation, in September. Now a new Joint Secretary has joined last week to take the negotiations forward, Browne told reporters here.
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12/13/2013
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Singapore's Defense Minister Dr. Ng Eng Hen met today at the Pentagon and reaffirmed their countries’ longstanding defense relationship. Minister Ng is in the United States to witness the Singapore Armed Forces' Exercise Forging Sabre and the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Republic of Singapore Air Force's Peace Carvin II F-16 detachment.
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12/13/2013
Ukraine has served as a back channel for China to circumvent Russia’s intellectual property rights protections. In recent years, debt-ridden Kiev sold to Beijing hundreds of Russian-made aircraft engines to equip China’s JL-trainers and J-10 and J-11 combat aircraft — themselves knockoffs of Russia’s Sukoi fighter jets.
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12/13/2013
The MiG-21 FL fighter jet from Indian Air Force (IAF), which had changed the course of the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh due to its accuracy, flew into the annals of history yesterday. “I have the greatest professional regard for MiG-21. The agility of MiG-21 cannot be matched by any of the present day fighters,” the Hindustan Times quoted Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne as saying while bidding farewell to one of the first variants of MiG-21 combat aircraft.
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12/13/2013
Artyom Ivanovich Mikoyan, the outstanding Soviet aircraft designer, created aircraft that set 55 world records. Here’s a look at five of the most interesting designs produced by the MiG Experimental Design Bureau.
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12/13/2013
The indigenously developed light combat aircraft 'Tejas' would officially replace the MiG-21 FL fighter jet, Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne said on Thursday. "One major phase has passed over and now we look toward the new induction into the force. The LCA will replace the MiG-21," Browne told reporters at the headquarter of Eastern Air Command here.
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