Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

India Considers New Partnership Options For Kaveri Engine

07/21/2013

India’s Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) has confirmed that it has abandoned plans to jointly develop and produce the Kaveri military aircraft engine solely with France’s Snecma. The change in plan has come after India ordered 99 of General Electric’s F-414 engines—in preference to the Eurojet 2000 engine—for its indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Mark II program, for which the Kaveri is supposed to be an alternative powerplant.

Mauritania Receives Brazilian-made Super Tucano Jet Fighter

07/20/2013

Mauritanian Air Force has received its first Brazilian-made Super Tucano jet fighter under a military deal passed last march with the aircraft manufacturer Embraer, without saying how many planes will be delivered to the African nation.

U.S. Navy orders Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye military aircraft, keeps program on track for 2015

07/20/2013

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC) won a $113.7 million U.S. Navy advance acquisition contract for long lead materials and related support for five full-rate production Lot 2 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft.

Russian planes and ships demonstrate economic and political power

07/20/2013

The drills that were launched on the night of July 13 in Russia, following the order from the Supreme Commander to check the combat readiness of the Eastern Military District, have become the largest military exercise of the Russian Armed Forces. In fact, the drills have not finished yet, but it is possible to come to certain conclusions already.

Australia grants 4 military aircraft to Indonesia

07/20/2013

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro and Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty signed an agreement to grant four C-130 type Hercules aircraft to Indonesia, on Friday. “One of the aircraft, with tail number A97-006, is ready to be delivered,” said Purnomo after the signing of ceremony at the Defense Ministry on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Jakarta, as quoted by tempo.co.

Russia 'to buy two UAE-made drones'

07/20/2013

The country's military intends to purchase aerial drones from Abu Dhabi company Adcom Systems, according to a Russian defence industry official who was quoted yesterday by the Russian state news agency, RIA Novosti. "We are talking about at least two United 40 Block 5 models developed by the company Adcom Systems," the source told the agency. The United Yabhon 40 is a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

Why Russia’s guns won’t save Assad

07/20/2013

Russia's decision to furnish Syria with its advanced S-300 missile defense system has sparked a wave of commentary on how the transfer will affect the Syrian government's military posture and staying power. Israel seems to be doing everything it can to convince Moscow not to go through with the promised delivery.

North Carolina-based Fighter Squadron Resumes Flying

07/20/2013

After being stood down for more than three months, the 336th Fighter Squadron here was given the green light July 17 to resume flying hours and get back to combat mission-ready status. The decision comes from congressional action on the $1.8 billion overseas contingency operations reprogramming action that made peacetime dollars available. In mid-July, the Air Force Council approved the use of $208 million of those dollars to restore flying hours for affected units.

ROBOT FIGHTER JET X-47B AUTONOMOUSLY LANDS ON AIRCRAFT CARRIER

07/20/2013

The US Navy’s newest fighter is a high-tech batwing the size of an F/A 18 Super Hornet. The stealthy X-47B can carry 4,500 pounds of weapons at half mach speed, up to 40,000 feet, and over 2,400 miles. The aircraft lacks but one thing. A cockpit. The X-47B is a next-generation military drone.

Georgia On Its Mind: Lockheed Martin Delivers First HC-130J to Moody Air Force Base

07/20/2013

The first Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] HC-130J Combat King II to be assigned to Air Combat Command’s (ACC) 347th Rescue Group at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., was ferried today from the company’s Aeronautics facility located here. Maj. Gen. H. D. Polumbo, Jr., commander, Ninth Air Force, Air Combat Command, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., flew the Super Hercules (Lockheed Martin aircraft serial number 5725) to Moody AFB.

General says US considering use of force in Syria

07/19/2013

The top U.S. military officer told a Senate panel Thursday the Obama administration is deliberating whether to use military power in Syria, where a civil war entering its third year has killed almost 93,000 people. Amid an increasing clamor among President Bashir Assad's opposition for active U.S. involvement, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey said during congressional testimony that he has provided President Barack Obama with options for the use of force.

If David Cameron wants a military capable of toppling Assad, he’ll have to pay for it

07/19/2013

Libya is a success from which David Cameron might not recover. This, at any rate, seems to be the fear of Sir David Richards who has marked his exit as head of the military with a Daily Telegraph interview. He appears to reinforcing a point David Cameron once made: ‘I am not,’ he once said, ‘a naive neo-con who thinks you can drop democracy out of an aeroplane at 40,000 feet.

FGFA boasts cutting-edge life support systems

07/19/2013

The Russian Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation fighter jet is equipped with cutting-edge computerized life support systems, including an oxygen station securing unlimited breathing gas supply and advanced pilot’s compensation system that anticipates gravity overload.

Israel Is Letting Its Guard Down

07/19/2013

If finally compelled to do so, Israel is able to destroy the Iranian nuclear-weapons program, even if at breathtaking risk. Whether or not Israel succeeds on that front, it faces yet another existential military problem, less immediate and on a different register, in regard to which it has made the wrong choice.

RAF Fairford Air Tattoo: Ten of the best aircraft to see

07/19/2013

If you are going to the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford this weekend make sure not to is the top 10 aircraft.

The Impact of a Declining Defense Budget on Combat Readiness

07/19/2013

Combat readiness is defined as “[t]he ability of US military forces to fight and meet the demands of the national military strategy.” This is the most important factor to our war fighters, but as basic as it is to them, it remains a complicated subject for others to understand. Due to its multidimensional and somewhat diffuse nature, it also has few natural supporters.

Russia Delays India’s 5th-Gen. Fighter Program

07/19/2013

According to news reports this week, the Indian Air Force (IAF) might have to wait longer before it can induct its first fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) after Russia, with which it is co-producing the platform, imposed delays and unexpectedly hiked development costs.

Japan and South Korea scramble Russian aircraft from military exercise

07/19/2013

A Russian military exercise involving nuclear bombers caused neighbours Japan and South Korea to scramble as they were found near Hokkaido and the Korean Peninsula on Monday. Japan and Russia reported that both aircrafts were intercepted by three Japanese fighters. The Russian Defense Ministry also said that both bombers were on practice strikes and had been airborne for 7 hours since taking off from Ukrainka Air Base in Amur Oblast.

Pentagon Stands By Russian Arms Deal

07/19/2013

The Pentagon has no plans to halt a $550 million deal with Russia to acquire helicopters for the Afghan Special Mission Wing, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday. In late June the Special US Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction urged the Pentagon to put the deal on hold until the unit was fully recruited and properly trained.

Boeing Maritime Jet Gains Favor in Australia, Paring Drone Need

07/18/2013

Australia plans to buy more Boeing Co. (BA) P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol jets than initially projected to replace planes dating from the 1970s, reducing its requirement for drones built by Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) Funding for the purchase will be sought next year, with talks under way about the exact mix of P-8s and MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft, the head of the Royal Australian Air Force, Air Marshal Geoff Brown, said in an interview in London.

Dambusters to get new F-35 Lightning II fighter

07/18/2013

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, head of the RAF, will today announce the famous 617 Squadron will become the first to fly the F-35 stealth fighter known as the Lightning II. The decision secures the future of the world-famous squadron when it stops flying its ageing Tornado GR4 jets next year.

Air Force Thunderbirds Resume Practice for 2014 Air Shows

07/18/2013

The Thunderbirds F-16 fighter jet demonstration team will take to the air to train in preparation for the 2014 show season. Nationwide, attendance has "plummeted" 40 to 80 percent at air shows this season without military aircraft on display.

Training for joint, U.K. F-35 programs heat up

07/18/2013

The largest fleet of F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighters ramped up to 28 aircraft June 25, bringing in new capability for the F-35 Integrated Training Center as the team trains to provide combat operations capability in the years ahead. The U.S. Navy's Strike Fighter Squadron-101 received a second F-35C from Lockheed Martin, Fort. Worth, Texas. The Navy's variant is designed to land on the decks of aircraft carriers.

Panama wants help from UN after finding North Korean arms on ship

07/18/2013

Panama says it wants the United Nations to investigate why a rusting North Korean cargo ship was carrying rockets, missile parts and even a couple of Cold War-era fighter jets from Cuba under sacks of brown sugar. The United States has said any shipment of arms or related material aboard the freighter would violate at least three U.N. resolutions.

Lakenheath: Fighter jets are back in the air again - for now

07/18/2013

Two of 48th Fighter Wing’s F-15 Eagle Squadrons are now back in the skies over Suffolk following the announcement in April that the planes would be out of action until September. But base commanders have warned that the resumption of “critical training” could only be for the next two and a half months.