Military Aviation News Archive
04/29/2014
Moscow is ready to discuss military aspects of the crisis in Ukraine within the framework of the OSCE’s Forum for Security Cooperation, the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control said Monday. However, the discussions should not be linked to chapter three of the Vienna document, which defines mechanisms for consultation and cooperation regarding unusual military activities, the ministry said.
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04/29/2014
The US Air Force (USAF) has received into service the first of 76 B-52H Stratofortress bombers to go through the Combat Network Communications Technology (CONECT) digital data suite upgrade. The aircraft was accepted during a ceremony at Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB), Louisiana, on 25 April after having gone through the nine-month upgrade at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex located at Tinker AFB.
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04/29/2014
On April 2, India’s outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, told a conference that: “As a responsible nuclear weapon state that remains committed to non-proliferation, India supports the idea of a nuclear-weapon-free world because we believe that it enhances not just India’s security, but also global security.”
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04/29/2014
Bulgaria's defense minister has announced job cuts in the army to free funds for the modernization of the armed forces. Angel Naydenov said Monday that the army will be downsized by 1,300 servicemen by the end of this year and called the purchase of new combat aircraft "the most urgent task" which should have government approval by mid-year.
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04/29/2014
Built in more than 11,000 examples and acquired by countless countries around the globe, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 was introduced in several Arab arsenals in the early 1960s, becoming the most modern among the Soviet jets flown in the Middle East in that period.
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04/29/2014
Britain is dispatching four Typhoon fighter jets to patrol the airspace of Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, British media said Monday. They will perform their patrolling mission alongside with six fighter jets of the Polish Air Force and will serve as a replacement for six F15 jets of the US Air Force.
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04/29/2014
The Australian Government's mission to upgrade the defence force fleet of ageing aircraft with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been controversial since it began more than a decade ago. Australia formally began looking for options to replace its F/A-18 and F-111 aircraft in May 1999 with the creation of project AIR 6000 – New Air Combat Capability. Phase 2, a Project Definition Study, was to commence in the 2002/03 financial year with a final decision expected around 2005/06.
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04/28/2014
The Malaysian prime minister has finally confirmed reports that the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was tracked by military radar, as he prepared to host US President Barack Obama in Kuala Lumpur seven weeks after the plane disappeared. Najib Razak said a preliminary report into the incident would be made available to the public over the course of the coming week.
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04/28/2014
The U.S. military has prepared options for a muscular response to any future Chinese provocations in the South and East China seas, ranging from displays of B-2 bomber flights near China to aircraft-carrier exercises near its coastal waters, officials said. The menu of options, described by officials briefed on the action plan, reflects concerns that U.S. allies in Asia have questions about the Obama administration's commitments to its security obligations.
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04/28/2014
China has surpassed Japan in the construction and purchasing of new surface combat vessels, according to an Apr. 25 article on the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review operated by military analyst Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov.
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04/28/2014
While many stealth proponents point to Red Flag exercises as proof of superiority of stealth aircraft, reality is, as usual, very different from official accounts. It is simple truth that exercises never can replicate reality perfectly; limitations must be placed to ensure safety of pilots and aircraft; other limitations are also in place which would not be in war, such as operational g limit being placed at 9 g for most modern fighter aircraft, despite many of them being able to pull 11-12 g.
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04/28/2014
The US Air Force’s decision to divest itself of the A-10 has created a massive headache to the service, with the Warthog community teaming up with supporters on Capitol Hill to try to block the combat jet’s retirement. But one constituency that has not chimed in? The powerful adjutants general leading the military forces at the state level.
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04/28/2014
The F-35 will go places other jet fighters cannot go safely and it will shoot down the enemy before it knows it is there. That is what a "fifth generation" fighter will deliver, according to US Lt-Gen. Christopher Bogdan, who heads the Pentagon's F-35 program.
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04/28/2014
A perilous face-off intensified Saturday when Russia state news complained that Ukraine had mobilized 15,000 troops in the suburbs of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine "in order to wipe out the city and its residents." Quoting a Russian Defense Ministry source, RIA Novosti said satellite photos showed the force forming around the city that has become a friction point between the Ukraine military and pro-Russian militants.
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04/28/2014
The crew parachutes came out of the U.S. Air Force KC-135 flying members of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's entourage during his 1959 visit to the United States. It would have been awful public relations, after all, if an emergency forced the U.S. crew to bail out while leaving Soviet passengers behind to die in a crash. The crew didn't care, pilot Bill Lusk said, because they knew parachutes are about as useful in a KC-135 as they are on a submarine.
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04/28/2014
The Philippines used to be a central hub for U.S. military operations in the Asia-Pacific, and the Southeast Asian country looks set to fulfill that role once more – albeit on a smaller scale – as the two countries reboot their long-standing alliance. U.S. President Barack Obama and his Philippine counterpart Benigno Aquino III are expected to sign a new security pact – the Agreement on Enhanced Defense Cooperation – in Manila on Monday.
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04/28/2014
A first batch of five F-16 fighters was added to fleet of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Sunday. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt said that addition of new fighter aircrafts would increase the capacity of air force. The PAF chief was speaking at the PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha where the force received its first batch of five F-16 fighter jets from Jordan.
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04/27/2014
A fatal helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan which killed all five UK personnel on board appears to have been a "tragic accident", the MoD has said. An investigation has begun into how the Lynx helicopter came down in Kandahar province on Saturday morning.
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04/27/2014
As new U.S. sanctions against Russia loom, the Kremlin has shut down—at least for now—intensive high level communications between top U.S. and Russian officials. Since the invasion of Crimea, President Vladimir Putin and President Barack Obama have had regular phone calls in an often half-hearted attempt to deescalate the ongoing crisis inside Ukraine. But as the U.S. and EU prepare to unveil new sanctions against Russia, Putin has decided the interactions should stop.
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04/27/2014
Five troops have been killed in a British military helicopter crash in Afghanistan, with the cause of the incident under investigation. The identities of those on board are yet to be confirmed, though sources say they are all thought be to British service personnel. The crash in southern Afghanistan is the largest single loss of life for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since a US helicopter crashed in December after being hit in a Taliban insurgent attack.
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04/27/2014
As Western governments vowed to impose more sanctions against Russia and its supporters in eastern Ukraine, a group of foreign military observers remained in captivity Saturday accused of being NATO spies by a pro-Russian insurgency. The German-led, eight-member team was traveling under the auspices of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe when they were detained Friday.
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04/27/2014
President Benigno Aquino III on Friday unveiled a plan to acquire more air assets, including patrol aircraft, to boost the capability of the Air Force. Presiding over the Philippine Air Force change of command in Lipa City, the President said the Armed Forces would purchase eight combat utility helicopters, six close air support aircraft, two-long range patrol aircraft and radar systems.
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04/27/2014
The G7 group of nations agreed on Saturday to impose sanctions on Russia over its meddling in Ukraine, adding to international pressure on Moscow. The move effectively adds the voices of Canada and Japan to Friday's announcement by America, Germany, France, Italy and the UK that further sanctions were imminent.
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04/27/2014
US President Barack Obama’s visit to Japan this week came at an opportune time, given the growing friction between Asia’s two largest military powers over disputed territories. Just last week, Japan began its first military expansion in more than 40 years by breaking ground on a radar station on Yonaguri, a tropical island off Taiwan.
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04/27/2014
With the arrival of the last four F-22s earlier this month, the Air Force’s newest Raptor squadron is operational, and Tyndall Air Force Base is now home to the largest group of the fifth-generation fighter. Four F-22s touched down April 8 at the Florida base, completing the transfer of 24 Raptors originally scheduled for early 2013. The flight finished the transfer of the 24 F-22s, seven T-38 Talons and most of the planned contingent of 620 active-duty and 230 Air Force Reserve airmen at the ba
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