Military Aviation News Archive
09/03/2013
Boeing is set to inch closer to clinching a multibillion-dollar deal to sell 60 F-15 Silent Eagle jets to South Korea, as its competitors have effectively been priced out of the contest. Lockheed Martin and Eurofighter, which vied for the US $7.4 billion fighter contract, failed to submit proposals below the budget.
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09/03/2013
On Friday, Aug. 23, forces from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Eielson Air Force Base concluded a two-week international training exercise with Japan, Australia and the Republic of Korea with a mock battle. About 20 aircraft participated in the final day of Red Flag Alaska, which is conducted each year so crewmembers can gain combat experience.
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09/03/2013
The Arms Procurement Commission has heard that both the Gripen fighter jets and the Hawk fighter trainers had met the Air Force's minimum requirements. Brigadier-General John Bayne, Director of Combat System, who is in charge of the two aircraft, has told the commission that the Air Force would not have accepted them if this had not been the case.
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09/03/2013
Defense firms in the United Arab Emirates and Russia are planning to develop an unmanned combat aerial vehicle based on Russia’s Berkut VL helicopter, that craft’s Russian developer said Monday. Russia’s Berkut Aero design bureau and the UAE’s Adcom Systems are considering the Berkut VL helicopter as a model for a drone to be stationed aboard an aircraft carrier and fly to remote areas, Berkut Aero development director Dmitry Rumyantsev told RIA Novosti.
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09/03/2013
Russian military inspectors will begin a series of monitoring flights over the United States Monday under the international Open Skies Treaty, a Russian Defense Ministry official said.
Experts from Russia will conduct two flights on board a Tupolev Tu-154M-LK-1 plane between September 2 and 16, said Ruslan Shishin, acting head of the ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center.
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09/02/2013
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is closely following developments in the crash investigation of the T-50B lead-in jet fighter that killed two pilots recently, in light of earlier plans to work out with the same manufacturer the purchase of a dozen FA50 jet fighters with the same platform as the T-50B, for P18.9 billion.
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09/02/2013
In April, Opposition defence spokesman David Johnston said the Coalition would use drones to help spot and turn back asylum seeker boats. He laid out a $1.5 billion policy to buy seven drones and have them in the air by 2017-18. But today, Senator Johnston and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott have released the Coalition's defence policy, which states only that it will "consider closely the need for unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles"
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09/02/2013
Bolstering the Indian Air Force's capability to swiftly transport combat troops and equipment such as tanks to the front, Defence Minister A K Antony will on Monday formally induct its biggest 70-tonne C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft into service at the Hindon Air Base near Delhi. Mr Antony will formally induct the aircraft procured from the US under a deal expected to be over Rs. 20,000 crore into the newly-formed 81 'Skylord' Squadron in Delhi, IAF officials said.
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09/02/2013
Iran recently announced that ground crews and other technical personnel at an air force base had spent 45,000 manhours to get two Mirage F1 fighters back into flying condition. Iran received 24 of these aircraft from Iraq in 1991, when Saddam ordered most of his combat aircraft to fly to Iran and surrender (rather than be bombed by coalition aircraft).
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09/02/2013
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and other ships in its strike group are heading west toward the Red Sea to help support a limited U.S. strike on Syria, if needed, defense officials said on Sunday. The Nimitz carrier strike group, which includes four destroyers and a cruiser, has no specific orders to move to the eastern Mediterranean at this point, but is moving west in the Arabian Sea so it can do so if asked.
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09/02/2013
Job creation will stand as the chief factor when the Danish government convenes to select a replacement type for its aging F-16 fleet in mid-2015. Denmark will look for substantial long-term industry value from bidders in the restarted Fighter Replacement Program (FRP), said newly appointed Defence Minister Nicolai Wammen, who replaced Nick Hækkerup following a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt’s coalition government on Aug. 9.
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09/02/2013
As the United States considers military action against Syria in response to a disputed chemical weapons attack on civilians, we profile some of the weapons that may be deployed by both sides in the days ahead.
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09/02/2013
Turkish Basic Trainer Aircraft Hurkus 350 which was designed and manufactured by TAI to meet the training and Light Attack/Armed reconnaissance aircraft requirements of Turkey's armed forces, successfully made its maiden flight at TAI's premises in Ankarathis week.
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09/01/2013
US President Barack Obama slammed the brakes Saturday on fast-moving plans to launch a military strike on Syria, saying he would seek approval from Congress first even though he believes such action is necessary and justified. In a statement from the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he had decided that the United States should take military action against targets in Syria.
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09/01/2013
Damascus residents, already accustomed to incessant warfare within the Syrian capital, were making final preparations this weekend for an attack from outside, attempting to anticipate where American missiles might strike.
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09/01/2013
Military planes flew over Turkey's Incirlik air base on August 31 as the United States made clear on August 30 that it would punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the "brutal and flagrant" chemical weapons attack that it says killed more than 1,400 people in Damascus last week.
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09/01/2013
Overall production of military aircraft will decline in the next 10 years, mainly as a result of shrinking defense budgets, according to a new study. Market research and analysis firm Forecast International said the downturn will primarily affect Western-built aircraft, but some segments of military aircraft production are anticipated to grow as Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter and Airbus Military's A400M transport/tanker enter full production.
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09/01/2013
While the United States is ready to strike a handful of targets on the ground in Syria, any international conflict there will take place on a much larger stage. The entire region is full of a witches' brew of military hardware from more than half a dozen nations with interests in the Syrian conflict.
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09/01/2013
Defence companies Boeing has unveiled improvements to the Super Hornet jet fighter which they say make it far more stealthy and give improved combat range. These improvements can be incorporated in new production aircraft, including the 12 "Growler" electronic warfare Super Hornets Australia has on order. But they can also be retrofitted to existing Super Hornets, such as the 24 now in RAAF service.
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09/01/2013
Although several air forces, and many more commercial air lines, have adopted the use of tablet computers to replace paper manuals, maps and other documents used in its aircraft (mainly in the cockpit) of larger aircraft there has been little done for fighter pilots. That is changing with at least one firm developing an eight inch tablet (the Iconia W3) that can be strapped to the leg of a fighter pilot and provide information as well as custom apps (software).
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09/01/2013
Russia is developing a fifth-generation unmanned fighter jet and a completely new missile defense system which can simultaneously engage several supersonic targets in space, it has been revealed at the MAKS-2013 airshow.
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09/01/2013
Britain will continue to play an active role in any military strikes on Syria, despite David Cameron’s vow not to join the attacks following his Parliamentary defeat last week. The UK’s intelligence-gathering assets based in the Mediterranean are to provide the US military with information, as it prepares to carry out cruise missiles strikes against President Bashar al-Assad.
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09/01/2013
Russia is postponing supplies of fighter jets and S-300 missile defense systems to Syria because official Damascus failed to pay for them, Kommersant newspaper said Saturday. The 12 MiG-29M/M2 jets that Russia agreed to sell to Syria will not be supplied before 2016-2017, the daily said, citing an unnamed source at Russian state arms exports monopoly Rosoboronexport.
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08/31/2013
Cameroon has ordered an undisclosed number of Mi-17 transport helicopters from Russia at the MAKS 2013 International Air and Space Show, Russian Technologies has revealed. The contract was signed by Rosoboronexport General Director Anatoly Isaikin and Cameroonian Defence Minister Alain Mebe Ngo’o at the MAKS show held outside Moscow.
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08/31/2013
Without any need to seek parliament's approval for a military operation, Mr Hollande made clear his readiness to order French forces into action alongside their American allies. Russia, for its part, moved to maximise Britain's discomfort, saying that the Commons vote showed that London had joined the European mainstream by voicing unease with the "dangerous" course chosen by America.
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