Military Aviation News Archive
01/16/2013
At least two deadly explosions, possibly caused by airstrikes or bombs, devastated the campus of Aleppo University in Syria on Tuesday as students were taking exams, a major escalation of the violent struggle for control of the country’s largest city. The opposition and the government blamed each other for the blasts, among the worst since the Syrian conflict began nearly two years ago.
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01/16/2013
The Belgian government on Tuesday decided to deploy two C-130 Hercules transport aeroplanes and two rescue helicopters to support France's military intervention in Mali, Defence Minister Pieter De Crem told the Belga news agency. An assessment will be carried out in late February or early March to determine how long Belgium's involvement should last, De Crem said following a cabinet meeting in Brussels.
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01/16/2013
France has continued to launch air strikes against Islamist rebels in Mali as plans to deploy African troops gathered pace on Tuesday. Residents of the besieged town of Diabaly sought shelter inside their homes after a night of bombing aimed at dislodging the insurgents who seized the town on Monday. Local people told journalists they had heard explosions throughout the night, coming from the direction of the garrison town's military camp.
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01/16/2013
US and Japanese fighter jets on Tuesday carried out joint air exercises, an official said, days after Chinese and Japanese military planes shadowed each other near disputed islands in the East China Sea. The five-day exercise, off the southwest of the archipelago, involves six US FA-18 fighters and around 90 American personnel, along with four Japanese F-4 jets and an unspecified number of people, the official said.
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01/16/2013
Russia will issue a $1 billion loan to Bangladesh for purchases of Russian-made arms and military equipment, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday. “Russia…will allocate a $1 billion loan to Bangladesh for purchases of Russian arms and military equipment,” Putin said.
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01/16/2013
ST Aerospace has announced that it has secured a contract to provide the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) with a full scale maintenance and modernisation solution for three of its C130 Hercules aircraft. ST Aerospace will undertake both modernisation and maintenance work at its facility in Paya Lebar, Singapore.
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01/15/2013
The Pentagon is preparing to provide military support to French forces in their new fight against rebel militants in northern Mali, according to senior defense officials. The U.S. is considering a range of options to help, including sending cargo aircrafts to lift more French ground troops into Mali, providing air refueling tankers for French air combat patrols, and offering intelligence gleaned from aerial surveillance.
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01/15/2013
The global aerospace and defence company SAAB had organised a unique contest during Aero-India 2011, which had allowed the winning contestant the privilege of co-piloting the Gripen, Sweden’s newest multi-role jet fighter.
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01/15/2013
Despite undergoing regular test flights, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, called the Lightning II, remains vulnerable to its namesake — lightning. Additionally, attempts to lighten the JSF by 11 pounds may have left the fifth-generation stealth fighter more vulnerable than the aircraft it will replace.
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01/15/2013
Turkey has decided to delay the purchase of its first two Lockheed Martin F-35s by one year, citing technical factors and a "high cost yield". The Turkish government approved an initial two-aircraft purchase on 5 January 2012, before launching talks with Lockheed to finalise a deal. However, an order for the pair has been put on hold because the technical capabilities of the aircraft are "not at the desired level yet", the nation's Undersecretary of Defence Industries procurement agency says.
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01/15/2013
David Cameron today boasted that he had offered Britain's 'most advanced' transport plane to hep France in fighting Al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali, moments before the aircraft broke down. The Prime Minister ruled out 'army boots' on the ground but insisted it was in Britain's interests to provide two RAF C-17 Globemaster cargo planes - 'our most advanced and capable transport planes' - to the French forces.
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01/15/2013
Colombia announced Monday the purchase of another C295 airplane, intended for troop transport and humanitarian aid. Airbus Military, a Madrid-based subsidiary of Airbus, said the Colombian government had placed an order of six C295 transport planes, up from five a year ago, intended for the Colombian Air Force.
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01/15/2013
U.S. military fighter jets provided backup support to a failed French hostage rescue mission in Somalia, the White House announced Sunday in a rare public acknowledgment of American combat operations in the Horn of Africa. In a letter to Congress, President Obama said U.S. combat aircraft “provided limited technical support” to French forces late Friday as they attempted to rescue a French spy who had been held captive for more than three years.
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01/15/2013
Islamist militants are fleeing major towns in northern Mali after two days of air strikes by French troops, which sources say have left scores of rebels dead. French fighter jets have pounded insurgent training camps, arms and oil depots as the French defence ministry confirmed reports of Islamist deaths, together with at least 11 civilians including three children.
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01/15/2013
A Royal Canadian Air Force heavy lift transport will depart for France Tuesday morning to assist Mali’s effort against Islamist rebels in west Africa. The C-17 plane is expected to take off from Canadian Forces Base Trenton at 8 am (ET). It will be used to assist the French in transporting equipment into Bamako, the capital of Mali. About 35 Canadian Forces personnel, such as flight crew staff, will accompany the plane.
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01/15/2013
A district court in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod Region has ordered the seizure of real estate from a former official found guilty of fraud involving fighter jets for Syria, according to the court’s website. Andrei Silyakov’s land plot and house qualified for confiscation because he had other places to live, the Vachsky court said on Friday without specifying the property’s value.
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01/14/2013
UAVs perform the most extensive and diversified range of missions in the aerial world. The most familiar and most frequent ones are visual intelligence missions. However, UAVs also perform many other military missions, such as escorting and monitoring operations of other elements, providing auxiliary infrastructure, scanning routes, spotting IEDs and providing communication relays. US forces even use UAVs for air strike missions.
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01/14/2013
The new 35 Squadron will be equipped with the Caribou replacement, the new C-27J Spartan transport aircraft which will start entering service from 2015. RAAF chief Air Marshal Geoff Brown said the 35 Squadron had provided combat airlift for Australian personnel in several conflicts. "The C-27J is ideally suited to continue this legacy of support for personnel deployed on combat, peacekeeping or disaster relief operations," he said in a statement on Monday.
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01/14/2013
The RAF C17 transport aircraft, which departed RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Sunday afternoon, will be loaded with French armoured vehicles and other equipment before heading on to Mali on Monday. Earlier, prime minister David Cameron agreed on a deal to support French president Francois Hollande’s intervention in Mali after France sent in forces to support the local government.
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01/14/2013
Defense spending soared in Washington state last year, even as the specter of long-anticipated budget cuts drew closer. The Pentagon steered $9.2 billion worth of work on military contracts to the Evergreen State in the 2012 budget year, up from $8.1 billion in 2011, according to records at the federal spending database usaspending.gov.
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01/14/2013
Defence chiefs have reportedly drawn up new contingency plans designed to protect the Falklands Islands from hostile action by Argentina. In March, islanders will vote on whether or not they want to remain an overseas territory of the UK. Intelligence chiefs have warned David Cameron that a resounding ‘yes’ vote could trigger an aggressive stunt from Argentina. Possibilities include planting their flag on the island or disrupting British oil and gas exploration.
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01/14/2013
Mirage 2000D fighter-bombers struck Islamist targets in northern Mali on Sunday, expanding the reach of a French military intervention, and more French ground troops flew into Bamako, the capital, for what increasingly looked like the beginning of a long campaign.
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01/13/2013
Fears of armed conflict have been raised after Japanese and Chinese warplanes tailed each other above a disputed group of uninhabited islands, officials say. Two Chinese J-10 fighter planes were ordered by Chinese military authorities to perform "verification and monitoring" Friday after Japanese F-15 fighter jets tailed a Chinese transport plane, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
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01/13/2013
A first batch of six U.S.-made AH-64E Apache attack helicopters will be delivered to Taiwan in October, with delivery for the entire purchase of 30 of the aircraft expected to be complete by July 2014, a report said yesterday. The US$20 billion deal for 30 Apache helicopters was announced by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2008, with aircraft manufacturer Boeing taking orders in October 2000, the Central News Agency said.
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01/13/2013
The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists. At the same time, nations in West Africa authorized the immediate deployment of troops to Mali, fast-forwarding a military intervention that was not due to start until September.
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