Military Aviation News Archive
02/19/2013
Piaggio Aero Industries, together with Selex ES, today presented the Piaggio Aero P.1HH 'HammerHead' - Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) at IDEX 2013. After two years of development, the P.1HH 'HammerHead' UAV has been rolled out after successfully completing its first engine start and run way taxi on February 14 at an Italian Air Force base.
Read More...
02/19/2013
BAE Systems received a contract valued at nearly $23 million to provide F-16 support equipment, test systems, and spares to the government of Oman. The contract continues the company’s strong global position to deliver the right systems and expertise to support F-16 aircraft operated by U.S. allies.
Read More...
02/19/2013
Performance worries over military and commercial helicopter operations in the harsh conditions of the Middle East deserts could be eased with a new distributorship deal signed today. Honeywell Aerospace has signed the deal — the first of its kind in the Middle East — with Transworld Aviation (TWA) in Dubai to distribute its line of health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) across the Middle East markets.
Read More...
02/18/2013
Fighting breaks out in Liberia. Gunfire and explosions erupt on city streets, and marauders soon turn their fury on Westerners. An SOS goes out that civilians are in peril. But the Navy has scaled back its deployments off the African coast. It has no amphibious assault ship, carrying helicopters, landing craft and Marines, nearby.
Read More...
02/18/2013
India will proceed with extreme caution while finalizing its biggest-ever defence deal till now, the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 fighter jets. It can live with the midway scrapping of the Rs 3,546 crore contract to get 12 VVIP helicopters, with no operational military value. But after spending several years to bring the critical MMRCA project to the verge of finalization.
Read More...
02/18/2013
France is deepening its interest in acquiring the Reaper UAV from the U.S., a move that would stir political sensitivities over purchasing a weapons-firing UAV, while Paris readies to cut its defense budget, government and industry sources said. Meanwhile, EADS has submitted an offer to extend the contract for its Harfang medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV, the sources said.
Read More...
02/18/2013
The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, and Member of Parliament for Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean, on behalf of the Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Associate Minister of National Defence and Minister of State , and Member of Parliament for Madawaska-Restigouche, today announced a significant contract to support training for Canada's fighter jet pilots.
Read More...
02/18/2013
The UK and the UAE are in talks on Typhoon combat aircraft, Philip Dunne, UK minister of defence equipment, support and technology told the Gulf News. “We are in talks now,” said the British minister, without disclosing any further details about the expected deal and the number of aircraft.
Read More...
02/18/2013
Britain is still likely to push for the Eurofighter Typhoon during Prime Minister David Cameron 's India visit, less than a week after French President Francois Hollande left New Delhi without any announcement over the fate of the $10 billion contract for Rafale fighter jets. "The issue of Eurofighter Typhoon jets may come up... But I don't think it will be top on the agenda," a British diplomatic source told IANS Sunday.
Read More...
02/18/2013
Malaysian combat pilots will have another opportunity to pit their skills against one of the best fighters in the world in April. A detachment of at least four Eurofighter Typhoons will be deployed to the country for the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition at the end of next month.
Read More...
02/18/2013
The commander of US-led forces in Afghanistan has said he would comply with President Hamid Karzai's order banning Afghan security forces from seeking NATO air support. Mr Karzai said on Saturday that he would issue a decree ordering an end to local security forces calling in NATO air strikes amid new tensions over civilian casualties caused by such attacks.
Read More...
02/18/2013
A global terror threat of missile attack against fixed wing aircraft or helicopters is being met head on by one exhibitor at IDEX – the defence and security event opening in Abu Dhabi today. Head of state aircraft, passenger jets and the helicopters of high net worth individuals have been targets for advanced Infrared (IR)-guided missiles but Selex ES, a Finmeccanica Company, using IDEX to launch the Miysis Directed InfraRed CounterMeasure (DIRCM) system.
Read More...
02/17/2013
Russia delivered a powerful message to the United States just hours before President Obama's State of the Union address, one the American people are only just now beginning to learn about, starting with the conservative blogosphere. Bill Gertz of the Washington Free Beacon reports.
Read More...
02/17/2013
The sight of twin jets buzzing low in northwest Louisiana skies soon will be a thing of the past as one of the most historic units in the Air Force readies to furl its flag and stand down once again, the victim of budget cuts.
Read More...
02/17/2013
All Finmeccanica companies attending IDEX and NAVDEX have a long track record as suppliers of high-tech products to the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the region, and are acknowledged as reliable industrial partners in the development of growth strategies in international markets.
Read More...
02/17/2013
A global video gaming company that funded a high-profile hunt for dozens of World War II-era British fighter jets in Myanmar has some bad news for aviation enthusiasts: It says none of the legendary planes are buried in the Southeast Asian country. Excavation teams carrying out surveys on the ground, however, said Saturday that they would not give up the search.
Read More...
02/17/2013
The Indian Air Force (IAF) Saturday asserted that it is going to demonstrate its operational capabilities by day, dusk and night at the sprawling facility of the Pokharan Range, the air –to-ground weapons firing range of training in the delivery of heavy armament, near Jaisalmer, in the arid Rajasthan Sector in an Exercise named – The Iron Fist.
Read More...
02/17/2013
It is not quite a steal but the man who purchased New Zealand's grounded Skyhawk fighter aircraft has discovered he got a bargain. Eight A-4K Skyhawks that sat in plastic cocoons at Woodbourne since 2001 will next month return to the air in formation over Florida in the United States.
Read More...
02/17/2013
Two Russian Tu-95 bomber aircraft circle Guam on Feb. 12. The aircraft are capable of carrying nuclear cruise missiles. The two bomber aircraft were followed by two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft from Andersen Air Force Base, according to Air Force Capt. Kim Bender, a spokeswoman for the Pacific Air Force in Hawaii. She said the jets “scrambled and responded to the aircraft.”
Read More...
02/17/2013
A small plane in the flight zone restricted during President Obama's visit was escorted away by two military aircraft shortly after noon today. Resident Isaac Cubillios saw the 12:05 p.m. interception from his home and said: A small Cessna was flying east over the Florida Turnpike at Becker Road had entered a restricted zone where President Barack Obama is staying nearby.
Read More...
02/16/2013
The US Air Force is seeking information on a "communications gateway" that would one day be able to digitally link fourth and fifth-generation fighters inside a highly contested threat environment. The US Air Force is seeking information on a "communications gateway" that would one day be able to digitally link fourth and fifth-generation fighters inside a highly contested threat environment.
Read More...
02/16/2013
The 57th Wing is preparing for the arrival of four F-35 Lighting IIs Feb. 28. Arrival of the F-35s to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., will mark the first time in the aircraft's history operational tests will be performed on the aircraft. "It's the largest [Department of Defense] acquisition project in history," said Lt. Col. Kevin Wilson, 53rd Wing chief of joint strike fighter integration. "The Air Force's piece of that is the F-35 A model.
Read More...
02/16/2013
The integration of the Indo-Russian BrahMos missile on 40 of the Indian air force (IAF) Su-30MKI fleet of combat aircraft is proceeding this year. The land- and ship-launched version of the highly maneuverable, supersonic, anti-ship cruise missile have already been tested successfully.
Read More...
02/16/2013
Two Russian nuclear-armed bombers circled the western Pacific island of Guam this week in the latest sign of Moscow’s growing strategic assertiveness toward the United States. The Russian Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers were equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and were followed by U.S. jets as they circumnavigated Guam on Feb. 12 local time—hours before President Barack Obama’s state of the union address.
Read More...
02/16/2013
Defence and security company Saab has signed an agreement with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) for Gripen E. The agreement includes development and modification of Gripen E for Sweden during the period 2013-2026 and a possible order for new production of Gripen E from Switzerland. FMV has today placed an initial development order of SEK 2.5 billion for operations during 2013-2014.
Read More...