Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Boeing's Options After Its Legacy Military Aircraft Wind Down

10/01/2013

September was not a good month for Boeing’s military platforms. Last week, South Korea’s air force indicated that Boeing’s F-15SE (Silent Eagle) proposal, which had earlier been selected as sole compliant bidder by the country’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), would not be acceptable for the FX-3 fighter competition.

Springfield Guard unit in need of more drone pilots

09/30/2013

About 40 pilots fly the MQ-1 Predator on armed recon missions abroad from inside a building at the Springfield Air National Guard Base, but the local Air Guard wing has openings for 10 more. The Air Force as a whole has embraced unmanned aerial technology so rapidly that it can’t find and train those pilots fast enough, according to a recent think tank report.

Robert Perkin: One-size-fits all F-35 does not fit Tucson

09/30/2013

Tim Steller’s recent column is a valuable addition to the debate over the deployment of the F-35 aircraft. Populated with an abundance of military retirees and a supportive business community, there is no question that Tucson is an Air Force town that will continue to favor the presence of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Airbus delivers first A400M military transport plane

09/30/2013

After years of delays and huge cost over-runs, Airbus on Monday delivers its first A400M military transport plane, handing over the huge turboprop to France at its Spanish assembly plant. The pan-European aircraft maker expects the ceremony at the Airbus Military plant in Seville, southern Spain, to be the start of sales to military forces worldwide.

Russia, US Neck and Neck in Hypersonic Research – Rogozin

09/30/2013

Russia and the United States are running neck and neck in their research of hypersonic military technologies, Russia's deputy PM in charge of the defense industry said on Monday.

Lockheed Martin Wins More Than $4.4 Billion in Defense Contracts Friday

09/29/2013

The Department of Defense announced a mind-boggling 113 separate contract awards on Friday, worth $10.92 billion in total. Amazing as this number is, however, three other numbers are even more impressive: One single company won nine of these contracts -- and more than 40% of the Pentagon's money.

Jets Scrambled Twice Saturday; IDF Mum

09/29/2013

IAF fighter jets were scrambled into Israel's skies twice Saturday, for reasons that are unknown. Such events usually occur when it is believed that a foreign aircraft is invading Israeli airspace. The IDF has refused to say why the jets were scrambled.

Hagel calls govt shutdown threat 'shortsighted'

09/29/2013

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel criticized Congress on Saturday as "astoundingly irresponsible" and said that using threats to shut down the government to satisfy a political whim is dangerously shortsighted.

Iran's military launches new indigenous combat drone, Yasir (Video)

09/29/2013

According to the Iranian Press TV, the Iranian Army unveiled Saturday, a new indigenously manufactured combat drone, the Yasir, at a ceremony attended by senior military officials, including the Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan.

F-35 Back in S. Korea Fighter Contest

09/29/2013

After it was dropped from consideration in South Korea’s fighter competition, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter appears to be back in the running after a Defense Ministry source cited the need to counter North Korea with a fifth-generation fighter.

Team Eglin improves CAF capability

09/28/2013

To provide Air Combat Command the best assessment of Maritime Strike Operations, the 53rd Wing partnered with other members of the Team Eglin test community to deliver increased combat capability for the warfighter. The final phase of the two-year evaluation was a month-long test over the Gulf of Mexico that ended Sept. 6.

U.S. Navy Blue Angels look toward a return in 2014

09/28/2013

As the sunshine and blue sky lay above the warm waves on Pensacola Beach, a pair of high performance jets soar high over the northern gulf waters in a aerobatic display which captures the attention of the sunbathers below. The twin U.S. Navy jets quickly break away in a planned maneuver and begin to soar higher into the cloudless sky. Suddenly, the jets ignite a white smoke trail which begins to trace their flight path of twin circles.

Ace Combat Infinity's Story Mode Is Free. As For Multiplayer...

09/28/2013

Ace Combat Infinity is Namco Bandai’s upcoming free to play aerial combat game for the PlayStation 3. Project leader Kazutoki Kono says that for this game, they’re going back to the roots and standards of the Ace Combat series.

Gridlock, sequester deepen military budget morass

09/28/2013

The uniformed chiefs of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps got another shot Wednesday at describing the deepening readiness crisis that Congress has inflicted on the armed forces.

MiG-29K Carrier Trials Complete

09/28/2013

Flight trials of the MiG-29K on the INS Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov) in the Barents Sea have been completed. Deliveries of the naval version of the fighter to India continue, with the carrier to follow on November 15, and the Russian Navy will soon receive its first MiG-29K. The Russian defense ministry confirmed this month that its only remaining carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, will be modernized to accept MiG-29Ks as well as the Sukhoi Su-25UTG light attack and Su-33 combat aircraft.

F-16 Fighter Jets Can Now Be Converted To Unmanned Drones

09/28/2013

The F-16 was one of the iconic fighter jets of the twentieth century, but, like all military hardware, it was eventually replaced by something else and retired to a stately desert to quietly rust away. At least until Boeing decided they could totally turn them into awesome robots.

Military's procurement paralysis may see big changes

09/28/2013

CBC News has learned the Conservative government intends to reform Canada's troubled system of military procurement and could announce its plans as early as next month's speech from the throne. Those plans could see the formation of a new agency under a single minister to manage all military procurement, or a secretariat of bureaucrats from each of the departments currently involved in sourcing Canada's military equipment.

South Korea Returns to Fighter Jet Conundrum

09/28/2013

After South Korea decided this week that Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle was not good enough for its next generation of fighter jets, the country returned to the quandary it has been grappling with for the past two years. On one hand, the F-15SE may not be sophisticated enough, but it is cheap enough to meet the South Korean military’s budget cap of 8.3 trillion won, or $7.7 billion.

337th TES B-1s fly maritime ops

09/28/2013

Since its introduction to the Air Force in 1986, the B-1B Lancer has been the backbone of the bomber fleet because of its speed, payload and continuously upgraded capabilities. On Sept. 4, a single B-1 from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron took off from Dyess Air Force Base, with the Gulf of Mexico as its destination.

Replacing J-STARS planes gets high priority

09/27/2013

Recent comments by the Air Force chief of staff were cause for excitement for those who work in the J-STARS mission at Robins Air Force Base. The Air Force has previously listed its top three acquisition priorities as the KC-46A refueling tanker, a long-range strike bomber and the F-35 fighter. However, while speaking at an Air Force Association conference, Gen. Mark Welsh added a fourth priority, which is new planes for J-STARS, or Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.

AFSOC Receives Additional MC-130J Commando II

09/27/2013

A U.S. Air Force crew ferried an MC-130J Commando II Special Operations Forces tanker from the Lockheed Martin facilities here yesterday. The Super Hercules aircraft is assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command and will be based at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. The Commando II supports such missions as in-flight refueling, infiltration/exfiltration, and aerial delivery and resupply of special operations forces.

Indonesia receives last delivery of Sukhoi Flanker fighter jets, completing full squadron

09/27/2013

Indonesia has received the last delivery of Sukhoi fighter jets it ordered from a Russian producer, thus turning its Sukhoi Flanker air superiority fighter jet fleet into one full squadron. The delivery of the last two Su-30 Mk2 planes took place on Wednesday in Indonesian air forces base of Hasanuddin, located in the capital city of South Sulawesi province, Makassar where the air forces' 11th squadron wing 5 is based.

Senator blocks USAF secretary nominee over possible A-10 cuts

09/27/2013

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., has placed a hold on the White House’s nominee for Air Force secretary, blocking the confirmation process of Deborah Lee James until questions are answered regarding potential cuts to the A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, according to an Ayotte aide.

Will Asian Drones Make Conflict More or Less Likely?

09/27/2013

Those intellectual swashbucklers from the Center for a New American Security are at it again, this time with an essay over at Foreign Policy detailing the dangers likely to accompany drone operations in Asia. Precipitating their commentary was China's first deployment of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Senkaku Islands. The overflight took place earlier this month, timed to coincide with the one-year anniversary of Tokyo's nationalization of the archipelago. (So much for Chinese subtlet

British Defense BAE Systems (BA) Uniquely Protected Against US Defense Spending Cuts Because Of Non-US Clients: UBS Note

09/26/2013

British defense company BAE Systems PLC, one of the world’s largest, may be unique within the global defense industry as a company well prepared for reduced U.S. military spending, wrote UBS AG analysts on Wednesday. “BAE Systems is unique in our defense coverage in that it has a large enough growth market in the Middle East (mainly Saudi Arabia) to offset the decline in the U.S. defense,” wrote defense analyst Charles Armitage in a research note.