Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Team Apache Sensors Conducts Test Flight of the Modernized Day Sensor Assembly on the AH-64E Apache Attack Helicopter

02/20/2014

Team Apache Sensors, including the U.S. Army Apache Attack Helicopter Project Management Office, the U.S. Army Aviation Flight Test Directorate and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], conducted a test flight of the Apache AH-64E Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) during an event at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., yesterday.

Belarus to Bolster Air Defense During Hockey Tournament

02/20/2014

Belarus will bolster its air defense systems during the Ice Hockey World Championships in May, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. Air defense divisions will be operating in a “special regime,” including raising the number of staff members on duty, the ministry’s newspaper “For the Glory of the Motherland” reported.

Swiss jets not scrambled over hijacked plane because 'airbases closed at night'

02/19/2014

An incident with a highjacked Ethiopian passenger jet has exposed the Swiss Air Force’s inability to deal with threats in ‘off-duty’ hours. An emergency escort to the aircraft in distress was carried out by vigilant colleagues from Italy and France.

Royal Thai and U.S. Marines conduct bilateral external lift exercise

02/19/2014

Royal Thai and U.S. Marines conducted a bilateral external lift exercise with an MV-22B Osprey at Utaphao, Kingdom of Thailand Feb. 17 during exercise Cobra Gold 2014. Roaring in with the ferocity of a mini-tornado, the Osprey kicked up enough dust and debris to completely engulf the aircraft and ground crew below. Jointly the propellers are capable of roughly 12,000 horse power, which potentially can produce ground speed winds up to 200 mph.

Syria rebels threaten Assad with massive spring offensive

02/19/2014

Rebels in southern Syria say they are planning a spring offensive against Damascus, which regime and opposition sources say will include fighters trained by Western forces in neighbouring Jordan. The Syrian army, meanwhile, is redeploying troops in Quneitra province located on the ceasefire line with Israel, and stepping up shelling on rebel positions in Daraa on the Jordan border to stop any advance, opposition fighters say.

Cope North commences on Guam

02/19/2014

More than 1,800 service members and approximately 50 aircraft from the Air Force, Navy, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Royal Australian air force and South Korea air forces came together to kick off the 85th iteration of Pacific Air Forces' Cope North exercise Feb. 14 on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

DGA Chief: Expect New Programs, Renegotiation of Some Deals for France

02/19/2014

This year will see programs launched for combat vehicles, light tanks and a new infantry rifle for the French Army, an order for 12 transport and tanker jets for the Air Force, and a signing for a fourth nuclear attack submarine for the Navy, France’s procurement chief said Feb. 18.

Red Arrows unveil 50th season livery

02/19/2014

The Red Arrows unveiled a new tailfin design to celebrate their 50th display season at their home at RAF Scampton near Lincoln. The makeover is the most significant change to the look of the team’s aircraft in its history. All of the team’s jets are receiving the fresh look, although their red and white fuselage remains unchanged.

A Hardcore Military Flight Sim That'll Run On A Laptop

02/19/2014

Modern flight simulators - not the recreational kind, the actual kind used to train pilots - are enormous, expensive things. They're impressive, sure, but their cost and size mean they can't exactly be used every day. Which is why a company has been given money by the US Air Force to develop something a little more accessible.

IAF's take on bid for medium multi-role combat aircraft

02/19/2014

The Air Force has told a parliamentary committee that it could have bid for F-22 or B-2 aircraft in its quest for Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) but decided against them as both are among the costliest planes which they did not need.

U.S. Navy Tests Infrared Search and Track on Boeing Super Hornet

02/19/2014

The U.S. Navy recently tested, for the first time on a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft, the Infrared Search and Track (IRST) sensor that will find hard-to-detect targets over long distances. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are developing and integrating IRST, an essential upgrade to the combat capability of the Navy’s Super Hornets.

Israeli Fighter Jets Challenge Cypriot Air Defense in Mock Battle Exercise

02/18/2014

Sharing a common interest in securing offshore mineral exploration areas throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, Israel and Cyprus are tightening defense cooperation through a series of air and naval exercises conducted over the Islands’ southern coast. The relations between Israel, Cyprus and Greece are warming since 2008, as Israel’s close relations with Turkey deteriorated since the rise of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to power.

$35M military plane upgrades highlight Canada's procurement delays

02/18/2014

In what amounts to another tacit admission that Canada's military is somehow structurally unable to swiftly procure the gear it needs, the Conservative government has quietly announced it's restarting a twice-cancelled plan to extend the life of the CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft.

CIA May Start Using New Drones To Target Militants In Pakistan

02/18/2014

To overcome some of the logistic hurdles posed by the slower-moving unmanned aircraft now being deployed from U.S. bases in Afghanistan, the Central Intelligence Agency may start using new jet-powered drones to target al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan, Press Trust of India reported.

China warships in Pacific raise alarm

02/18/2014

Three Chinese warships have sent dark new clouds scudding over Australia's strategic horizon, adding to growing unease across the region as Beijing flexes its muscles through the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific. The sudden appearance near Australia of the guided missile destroyers Wuhan and Haikou, in company with the advanced, 20,000-tonne landing ship Changbaishan, led to the RAAF Orion patrol aircraft being scrambled and sent north of the continent.

Air Force shows off a big, black, brawny B-2 after Red Flag exercises at Nellis

02/18/2014

After a rip-roaring Red Flag air combat exercise at Nellis last week, the bomb squad from Whiteman Air Force Base that steers the big, black, bat-shaped B-2 Spirit jets returned to Missouri. With them they took lessons learned from flying mock war sorties with a mix of 100 U.S. and foreign warplanes.

New Chief Of General Staff, Modernisation Of Air Force, S-300 - Belarus Security Digest

02/18/2014

Aliaksandr Lukashenka made a good personnel decision by appointing a new Chief of General Staff. Security agencies suffer from underfunding. It forces them to adopt austerity measures and negatively impacts the number of those who want to choose to serve in the military. Unable to procure new combat aircraft, the Belarusian authorities have decided to modernise their existing fleet.

RAF jets train over Nevada

02/18/2014

Typhoon crews from 1(Fighter) and 6 Squadrons, based at RAF Leuchars near St Andrew's, took part in Exercise Red Flag in Nevada along with around 160 military aircraft from the US, elsewhere in the UK and Australia. The exercise was designed to replicate combat as closely as possible and saw RAF Typhoon's take off from Nellis Air Force Base, close to the famous Las Vegas strip, for training above the vast Nevada ranges.

Defence ministry gets Rs 224K cr, 10% more than last time

02/18/2014

Amid its modernisation drive, the defence ministry was today allocated Rs 2,24,000 crore in the interim General Budget, marking a 10 percent increase over the last Budget. The allocation for the ministry in the last financial year (2013-14) was Rs 2,03,672 crore, of which around Rs 80,000 crore was to be spent on modernisation.

Swiss Clock-Punching Air Force Relies on France for Hijacked Jet

02/18/2014

Want to invade Switzerland? Here’s a tip: strike outside office hours. After an Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise aircraft carrying 202 passengers entered Swiss airspace today after being hijacked by the co-pilot en route to Rome, Switzerland’s Air Force remained on the ground. That’s because the incident occurred outside normal office hours. Instead, French and Italian fighter jets escorted the Boeing 767 to a safe landing in Geneva.

Boeing and Air France Industries Successfully Complete Major Modification of French AWACS Aircraft

02/18/2014

Boeing and Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) have successfully completed the Mid-Life Upgrade modification on the first of four E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft for the French Air Force. The upgrade is part of a Foreign Military Sale in 2010 between France’s Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) and the U.S. government.

At Asia Air Show, Plenty of Competition for Sales of Drones

02/17/2014

While the supersonic jets, attack helicopters and surface-to-air missiles longer than a stretch limousine wowed an estimated 80,000 people who attended the final days of the Singapore Airshow over the weekend, it was a small, silent and unarmed weapon that took center stage as major players in the Southeast Asia weapons market hawked their wares.

Bush carrier group headed for Mediterranean, Middle East

02/17/2014

More than 6,000 sailors departed Norfolk, Va., Saturday with the USS George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group heading for the Mediterranean Sea and Middle East. This is only the second deployment for the Navy’s newest Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier named after the 41st U.S. President — the last of the Nimitz series. Four ships and eight aircraft squadrons will accompany the Bush to the U.S. 6th Fleet and 5th Fleet areas of responsibility.

Tokyo set to approve U.N. global arms pact

02/17/2014

A bill to ratify the Arms Trade Treaty, the first international pact to regulating trade in conventional arms, is scheduled to be submitted to the Diet by the end of this month, government sources said. The measure, coming less than a year after Japan signed the treaty adopted at the U.N. General Assembly last April, underscores Tokyo’s eagerness to nudge others to join the framework, the sources said Saturday.

British Taranis Stealth UCAV is Expanding Flight Envelope over Australia

02/17/2014

Last week the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and BAE Systems confirmed that the Taranis stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator surpassed all expectations during its first flight trials last year. Since the first flight, conducted August 10th, 2013 the UCAV has been expanding the flight envelope in preparation for the follow-on operational demonstration phase.