Military Aviation News Archive
03/25/2014
France and the Czech Republic have become the latest NATO countries to offer fighter aircraft protection to those alliance members concerned over the situation in Crimea and the continuing Russian build-up on Ukraine's eastern border.
Read More...
03/25/2014
In 2005, Lockheed Martin labeled the F-35, the stealthy new jet they were building for the Pentagon, as a “fifth-generation” fighter. Ironically, it was a term that they had borrowed from Russia to describe a different stealthy fighter, the F-22. But the term caught on. Some of Lockheed’s rivals tumbled into this rhetorical trap and tried to argue that “fourth-generation” was just as capable—whether it is true or not, making such a case is an uphill struggle.
Read More...
03/25/2014
The U.S. government's decision to deploy military aircraft and additional troops could be "the decisive game changer" in the hunt for fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony, whose notorious group, the Lord's Resistance Army, appears weaker than ever before amid growing defections and the loss of senior commanders, an expert said Monday.
Read More...
03/25/2014
All military units stationed in Crimea are now under the control of the Russian military, and remaining Ukrainian servicemen are departing the peninsula, the region’s first deputy prime minister, Rustam Temirgaliyev, said on Monday. As Crimea’s reunification process began last week, a total of 147 military units in the predominantly Russian-ethnic region have replaced Ukrainian flags with Russian ones and applied to join the Russian armed forces.
Read More...
03/25/2014
The volume of Russia’s arms exports this year has topped the $2 billion mark, with outstanding weapons orders standing at $47 billion, a senior government official said Monday. “As of today, Russia has supplied military products worth $2 billion to its foreign customers,” said Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.
Read More...
03/24/2014
A high-level Argentine military delegation visited Israel recently to finalize a purchase of Israeli fighter-jets. The Kfir has not been in operational use by the Israel Air Force for nearly 20 years and will be upgraded by Israel Aircraft Industries if the contract is signed. The deal is going ahead at a low point in Israeli-Argentine relations.
Read More...
03/24/2014
Even as Russia's annexation of Crimea is answered with an economic, rather than a military, response from the West, the crisis is provoking some uncomfortable reckoning on the part of NATO. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called it a “wake-up call” that should prompt both the U.S. and Europe to ratchet up their commitment to the transatlantic alliance.
Read More...
03/24/2014
The plane crash occurred during a routine flight on Friday, March 21. The pilot and navigator ejected safely. The accident will be investigated by a special commission. The 7th Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force of Ukraine is based near Starokonstantinov, it contains Su-24 and L-39 training aircraft of Czech production. No civilian casualties and destruction reported.
Read More...
03/24/2014
The same week that the US Air Force said it had figured out a way to get its counterparts in Taiwan new radars for its 146 F-16 fighter jets, sources at Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) are accusing US officials of lying to them and avoiding questions on the impact that the cancellation of the upgrades on the US side will have on Taiwan.
Read More...
03/24/2014
One in three of the RAF’s £60million Typhoon fighters are also grounded, according to the latest government figures. RAF sources claim that wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and the crisis in Libya have all taken their toll on frontline aircraft, some of which have been on operations for almost 12 years.
Read More...
03/24/2014
A deepening crisis in Ukraine has sharpened the defense policy of NATO member states in Eastern Europe, with the Estonia prime minister calling for higher military spending and Poland seeking early orders for missile defense and drones. Warsaw and the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — have been among the most vocal following Russia’s military intervention in Crimea, while a European Union summit pledged on March 21 to sign political cooperation pacts with Georgia and Moldova.
Read More...
03/24/2014
The Russian military force on Ukraine's eastern border is 'very, very sizeable and very, very ready', according to Nato's top military commander. General Philip Breedlove said he was worried they could make a move for Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region. 'There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome,' said Nato's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
Read More...
03/24/2014
Electronic warfare (EW) experts at the Exelis Electronic Systems segment in Clifton, N.J., will provide the U.S. Navy with 42 sophisticated EW systems designed to protect Navy combat aircraft from incoming radar-guided missiles.
Read More...
03/24/2014
Australia is likely to push ahead with the acquisition of its first operational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, according to a report by an independent defence think tank. In a report released on Monday, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says it makes most sense for the federal government to commit to spending between $8 billion and $10 billion on 58 of the fighters, which are expected to enter service in 2020.
Read More...
03/24/2014
Turkey, which backs the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, warned Damascus against testing its determination and pledged a tough response if Syrian warplanes violate its airspace again. It was the most serious incident since Turkish warplanes last September downed a Syrian helicopter that Ankara said was 2km inside its airspace.
Read More...
03/23/2014
As the world remains riveted on Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Russian President Vladimir Putin is shifting gears to Latin America. As first outlined by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last February, Putin now plans to keep the United States off-balance as Moscow sets up actual military bases and massive arms sales in the Latin American region.
Read More...
03/23/2014
The modern world that emerged from the end of the Cold War and the disastrous terrorist attacks of 9/11 has deceived the United States and her traditional allies into assuming that war between states was a thing of the past. As the world sees Russian advances in Eastern Europe and Chinese power plays in the Asia-Pacific region, U.S. partners such as the Philippines should use these watershed events as case studies for developing stronger defense policies.
Read More...
03/23/2014
Ukraine’s government has decided to set aside an additional 6.8 billion hryvnia (US $697 million) for defense spending to mobilize troops, modernize weapons and improve the operational capacities of the country’s armed forces, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.
Read More...
03/23/2014
Bangor-based Denroy Plastics has secured a £1 million contract to supply more parts for the world's most advanced military combat aircraft. And to celebrate the deal the Eurofighter plane performed a fly-over at the Balloo road site yesterday before landing at RAF aldergrove.
Read More...
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.
Read More...
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.
Read More...
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.
Read More...
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.
Read More...
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.
Read More...
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.
Read More...