Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Two missiles target Russian passenger plane over Syria

04/30/2013

UNIDENTIFIED assailants reportedly fired two land-to-air missiles at a Russian passenger plane carrying over 150 people when it flew over Syria Monday, the Interfax news agency reported, citing an informed source in Moscow. However, with technical support from Russia, Syria has bolstered its air defences, posing a threat to United States (U.S.) aircraft if America decides to intervene in the war, an American official was quoted by Agence France Presse (AFP) as saying Monday.

'IAF needs 39 squadrons for 2-front war scenario, has only 34'

04/30/2013

The IAF will require 39 combat aircraft units to meet the challenge of fighting a war simultaneously on the Pakistan and China fronts but it has only 34 squadrons, a Parliamentary panel has been informed. In its report, the Standing Committee on Defence has also come down heavily on the government for allocating only Rs 2,000 crore to the IAF for new modernisation schemes whereas Rs 15,000 crore is required only for the Rafale combat jet deal.

France aims to keep firepower while cutting military

04/30/2013

France, which launched an armed intervention in Mali earlier this year, has declared its determination to sustain its punch as a leading military power, despite making fresh cuts to its defence forces. Juggling severe budgetary pressures with its longstanding strategic ambitions, President François Hollande’s socialist government on Monday laid out plans to retain the country’s nuclear deterrent as well as preserve its ability to project significant force beyond its borders.

Iraq to Receive Final Three C-130Js

04/30/2013

The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) is set to receive its final three Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlifters. Aircraft number 5721 was the first of these aircraft to be ferried from Lockheed Martin’s production facility here on April 23, 2013. All three C-130Js were ferried to U.S. Air Force bases prior to delivery to the IQAF.

National Defence expected to lose some F-35s before all 65 delivered: Report

04/29/2013

National Defence scientists predicted in 2011 that the military would have almost certainly lost several of its brand-new F-35 stealth fighters before all 65 were even delivered, Postmedia News has learned. In December 2011, the Defence Department’s research arm, Defence Research and Development Canada, published a report in which it said “that the probability of having 63 or more (F-35s) remaining at this time (when the last one is delivered) is approximately 54 per cent.”

China military planes flew close to disputed isles: report

04/29/2013

Chinese military planes, mostly fighter jets, made more than 40 flights close to Tokyo-controlled islands at the centre of a territorial dispute on a single day this week, a press report said Saturday. The flights took place on Tuesday, when eight Chinese marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off the islands in the East China Sea, which Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyus, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported.

Dozens of Air Shows Cancel Without Military Jets

04/29/2013

Dozens of air shows that draw tens of thousands of people and generate millions of dollars for local economies have been cancelled this year after the military grounded its jet and demonstration teams because of automatic federal budget cuts.

The shape of wings to come?

04/29/2013

At Lockheed Martin’s giant Fort Worth, Texas, plant, they’re building a warplane billed as a game changer for air forces of the U.S. and key allies like Canada. Critics say it’s overhyped, overpriced and underwhelming. The Free Press’s John Lund visited the plant to take a closer look.

New Calls for Syria Response

04/29/2013

Lawmakers pressed the Obama administration to intervene in Syria's civil war, citing the regime's alleged chemical-weapons use, as the White House weighed its response against a sobering fact: Damascus has developed a world class air-defense system.

Sequestration cuts are deep

04/28/2013

Regarding “Fort Gordon events could become casualty of sequestration” (April 20): Canceled fireworks and fairs are visible reminders of the ravages of sequestration. Yet these cuts are having an even more damaging but unseen effect on our economy and our national security – like termites eating through a house’s structure.

NATO Plane Crashes In Afghanistan, Killing 4

04/28/2013

A NATO plane crash in southern Afghanistan killed four international troops on Saturday, the same day the Taliban announced its spring offensive and said it will target military and diplomatic sites with suicide bombers and infiltrate enemy forces to conduct deadly insider attacks.

F-35 simulator brought to MCAS Beaufort in lead-up to jet's introduction

04/27/2013

Marine Corps Cpl. Travis Williams put his experience in the flight simulator for the F-35 Lightning II plainly: "It was like nothing I've ever experienced before." Williams, part of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort's public affairs office, was on hand for a demonstration Friday by Lockheed Martin for local reporters. The contractor unveiled a cockpit simulator of the military's fifth-generation fighter jets.

Is Russia Cutting Off Arms Sales To Azerbaijan?

04/27/2013

For some time now, there have been unofficial reports that Russia has cut off arms sales to Azerbaijan, in particular of military aircraft that Baku has been seeking. There has been no comment from Moscow, either formally or via anonymous sources, and it's not clear why Russia would have made this move.

Michael Donley, Air Force Secretary, Stepping Down After Five Years

04/27/2013

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley will step down after a five-year tenure during which he improved the service's handling of nuclear materials, but had to deal with scandals surrounding aircraft contracts, sexual assaults by service members and the mishandling of war dead. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement Friday that Donley is returning to private life. His last day on the job is June 21.

MiG Still Hopes for Indian MiG-35 Order

04/27/2013

Russia has approached India again with an offer for MiG-35 fighters. The move comes as negotiations drag on to finalize a contract for the Dassault Rafale, which was declared the winner of the medium multirole combat aircraft (MMRCA) competition in January last year. Explaining the move, Sergei Korotkov, general director at Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG (RAC MiG), told Russian media, “Although we lost the tender, we nonetheless met all the requirements set by the tender committee.”

Israel builds up its war robot industry

04/27/2013

Israel, which has the most advanced defense industry in the Middle East, is in the forefront of the rapidly expanding drone business that's changing the way wars will be fought for decades to come. With state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, Elbit Systems and Aeronautics Defense Systems developing new and more agile unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as ground and seaborne drones, the Jewish state seems well-placed to corner a big slice of a market valued at around $50 billion a year.

Alone on the Ice

04/27/2013

In the innermost ring of Dante's "Inferno," Satan is encased in a block of ice. The subjects of Mitchell Zuckoff's excellent, affecting "Frozen in Time" would understand the great poet's startling imagery. For those brave, beleaguered persons, subzero temperatures, merciless snow and ice, and treacherous glaciers were as hellish as fire and brimstone.

Norway To Buy Six F-35s in 2017 And Then Six More Every Year Following Until 2024.

04/27/2013

This just came into Defence Watch from Norway’s Defence Ministry: The Norwegian government today submitted a formal request to the Norwegian parliament for authorization to procure six F-35 Lightning II aircraft for delivery in 2017. In doing so, the Norwegian government follows up on its renewed plans from 2012 to stretch its procurement of the F-35 over additional years, and to accelerate its initial purchase by one year.

Seoul Plans Phased-Development, Typhoon-Size Fighter

04/27/2013

n all of the West, only one all-new fighter, the Lockheed Martin F-35, is in full-scale development. If it outlasts its predecessors, as new products usually do, it could find itself to be the last man standing. The F-35 will have Russian and Chinese competition, but only the U.S. fighter is likely to be engineered to standards that facilitate integration of Western weapons and sensors. For many countries, there will be no real alternative.

Russia to Join NORAD in Antiterror Drills

04/27/2013

A Russian military delegation has arrived in the United States to take part in a series of planning meetings with US and Canadian counterparts ahead of the joint Vigilant Eagle 2013 anti-terrorism drills to be held this summer, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The meetings will coordinate the scenario and the schedule of the drills, the composition of trilateral air force assets involved, communications and security issues, according to the ministry.

EADS NORTH AMERICA DELIVERS 250TH UH-72A LAKOTA TO U.S. ARMY

04/26/2013

The U.S. Army has fielded the 250th UH-72A Lakota helicopter delivered to Army and National Guard units by EADS North America since 2006. Every Lakota – including an additional five produced for the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School – has been delivered on time and on budget, by an American workforce that is more than 50 percent U.S. military veterans.

Army: AH-64E Apaches Are A-OK; Transmission Problem Didn't Hit Cost Or Schedule

04/26/2013

The Army's newest attack helicopter is on track, the colonel in charge said in response to congressional concerns: Delays in manufacturing transmissions for the Boeing-built AH-64E Guardian have neither driven up the price nor slowed its fielding to combat units.

UK starts controlling drones in Afghanistan from British soil

04/26/2013

RAF's unmanned Reaper aircraft had been operated from Creech airforce base in Nevada, but missions from Lincolnshire began this week. Remotely controlled armed drones used to target insurgents in Afghanistan have been operated from the UK for the first time, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.

Israel says it shot down drone near Lebanon

04/26/2013

Israel said Thursday that it shot down an unmanned aircraft that had entered Israeli airspace off the northern coast near Haifa, the second such incident in nearly seven months. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, said the drone was first detected as it was flying along the coast of Lebanon toward Israel. When it became clear that the aircraft was not going to stop or change course, Israel dispatched helicopters and F-16 warplanes to destroy it about five miles off the coast.

Kazakhstan Grounds MiG Jets After Crash

04/26/2013

Kazakhstan's military authorities have grounded all the nation's MiG jet fighter aircraft following a crash earlier this week that killed the pilot and injured the navigator of a MiG-31 interceptor, Kazakhstan’s air force chief said on Thursday. The Kazakhstan Air Force Mikoyan MiG-31 interceptor crashed during a training flight in central Kazakhstan on Wednesday. The crew managed to eject from the plane before the crash, but the pilot died. A probe was opened into the accident.