Military Aviation News Archive
08/12/2013
The airman killed in a helicopter crash on Okinawa was a decorated para-rescue veteran whose effort to recover a wounded soldier was captured in one of the most iconic combat photos to come from the war in Afghanistan, the Air Force said Saturday.
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08/12/2013
British military inspectors will fly over the territories of Russia and Belarus starting from Monday as part of the international Open Skies Treaty, a Russian Defense Ministry official said. “In the period between August 12 and 16, a group of British experts will make a surveillance flight above the territories of Russia and Belarus on board of a Swedish SAAB-340 observation aircraft,” Ruslan Shishin, the acting head of the ministry’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, said.
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08/11/2013
Israel is shrinking its military, along with its defense budget. To deal with these changes the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) is selling off older equipment, much if from semi-retired status (kept in reserve for an emergency) rather than stuff being used regularly. Among the items being offered are probably the last Kfir jet fighters (25 0f them) available for sale.
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08/11/2013
The Egyptian military has confirmed that Friday's air raid on targets in the Sinai region that killed four fighters was carried out by one of its aircraft. The armed group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis had earlier said Israeli drones were behind the attack. It further accused the Egyptian army of co-ordinating the attack with the Israelis.
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08/11/2013
Government officials say they will soon begin negotiations with the United States on a larger American military presence to help deter what they say is increasing Chinese aggression in Philippine-claimed waters in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
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08/11/2013
PRINCE HARRY is to join the Army’s most elite Apache helicopter unit and could soon be flying from an aircraft carrier taking part in some of the most challenging missions faced by pilots. Recently qualified Apache commander Captain Wales is one of three pilots earmarked for operational experience with the Royal Navy’s high-readiness force, known officially as the UK’s Response Force Task Group.
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08/11/2013
The F-35s soaring through the sky are continuing to ramp up their training operations and have started to simulate some combat-type missions. For the first time last month, the Joint Strike Fighter was controlled by an air battle management squadron on the ground at Tyndall Air Force Base.
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08/10/2013
The crash of an F-22 Raptor jet fighter Nov. 15 at Tyndall Air Force Base was caused by a “chafed wire” that ignited a fire and caused the jet to lose power, the Air Combat Command Investigation Board announced Friday.
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08/10/2013
The Joint Strike Fighter Pilot Training Center was completed this month with capabilities to hold 8 full mission F-35B simulators, classrooms, briefing rooms and more. Construction of new facilities aboard Fightertown continue for the expected arrival of two training and three operational F-35B squadrons.
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08/10/2013
South Korean F-15K combat jets have flown nonstop to Alaska, using in-flight refueling to take part in an upcoming U.S.-led multinational exercise known as "Red Flag," South Korea's Defense Ministry said Friday. The flight to Alaska "has become the first time for our fighter aircraft to fly non-stop by aerial refueling to participate in a joint drill overseas," spokesman Wi Yong Seop told a news briefing.
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08/10/2013
A plane crash-landed in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu Friday, killing four people when the aircraft burst into flames on the tarmac of Aden Adde International Airport. All six onboard were crew members; the two survivors are being treated at an African Union hospital in the city.
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08/10/2013
The Russian Defense Ministry will procure up to 60 Mi-28UB helicopters to improve the training of pilots for Mi-28N gunships, the Air Force commander said. The Mi-28UB is a combat training variant of the Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopter that can be operated both from the pilot's cockpit and the flight instructor's cockpit as it is equipped with a dual hydromechanical flight control system.
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08/10/2013
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed “philosophical” matters, not an arms deal, with Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief during a recent meeting in Moscow, a presidential aide said Friday. Western media reported after the meeting that Saudi Arabia had offered to buy Russian arms worth $15 billion if Moscow agreed to stop backing the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The story was credited to anonymous sources and was never confirmed by Russian or Saudi officials.
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08/10/2013
India and China are interested in using Ukraine’s carrier-deck pilot training site in Crimea, a senior defense official said Friday. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti in mid-July that Moscow had officially informed Kiev that it will not use the Nitka site in 2013. “There are other countries that are showing some interest in using Nitka. These are India, China and others,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Mozharovskiy said.
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08/10/2013
Russia has postponed the delivery of a batch of S-300 missile defense systems to Syria, despite having received advance payment, a prominent Russian newspaper reported Friday.
The delivery, originally scheduled for spring 2013, has been pushed back to June 2014, Vedomosti business daily said, citing an annual report by the Moscow-based company Avangard, which manufactures rockets for S-300 systems.
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08/09/2013
Camp Grayling is hosting National Guard soldiers from all over the country this week for the annual combat training exercises known as Northern Strike. Each year, hundreds of soldiers participate in live fire exercises to practice defending American soil. Northern Strike is a two week program that brings 24 National Guard units from 12 different states to Grayling.
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08/09/2013
Obama administration policy toward Syria is a slow train wreck. Unremitting pressure from war-minded elites is pushing President Barack Obama closer to military intervention in the bloody civil war. Yet getting involved would be a fool's errand. Nevertheless, America's putative allies appear to believe that they are entitled to U.S. support. The president should disabuse them of this dangerous notion.
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08/09/2013
The crash of a U.S. Air Force helicopter inside an Okinawa military installation Monday amid local opposition to the deployment of tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey aircraft at a U.S. Marine Corps base on the main island has put Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government on the spot. Despite the central government’s swift request that helicopters of the type involved in the accident, in which one of the four-member crew was believed killed, be grounded until the cause of the crash is identified.
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08/09/2013
NATO will conduct a series of dynamic and demanding exercises this autumn that will put both troops and commanders from the NATO Response Force (NRF) to the test. The Alliance has ambitious plans to increase training activity over the next few years to maintain readiness and interoperability. This will include more ambitious and frequent exercises, a broader range of scenarios and a comprehensive training plan to cover the full range of Alliance missions.
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08/09/2013
Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15J Eagles landed here Aug. 4 to participate in this calendar year's first RED FLAG-Alaska. The F-15Js form part of the JASDF fighter-interceptor aircraft inventory used to engage hostile aircraft. The F-15J was brought to RF-A 13-3 to help JASDF members improve their tactical flying skills and their ability to generate aircraft in a simulated combat environment.
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08/09/2013
Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornet demonstration pilot Capt. Patrick "Flocho" Pollen is ready and raring to go for the Abbotsford International Airshow this weekend - literally.
"I'm strapped into the cockpit as we speak," said the fighter pilot during an interview over the phone with the Times on Wednesday. "I'm making a quick stop in Cold Lake this afternoon . . . then zipping down to Abbotsford right after.
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08/09/2013
On July 15, a Russian-made MIG-21 Bison fighter jet, operated by the Indian Air Force, crashed while attempting to land at the Uttarlai air base in the Barmer district of Rajasthan. This was the second MIG-21 crash, at the very same air base, in two months. However, unlike in the previous accident, which had no casualties, this time the pilot was killed. The crash has been attributed to pilot error.
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08/09/2013
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Army celebrated one million flight hours for the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) during ceremonies held today at Lockheed Martin’s Orlando, Fla., facility.
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08/09/2013
The U.S. Navy recently flew Boeing EA-18G Growler aircraft with sensor system upgrades and its newest data network, demonstrating how the enhanced technologies would allow aircrews to locate threats more quickly and accurately.
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08/08/2013
Airmen from South Korea and Japan will join U.S counterparts for military combat training this week at Eielson Air Force Base outside Fairbanks. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the Red Flag Alaska training exercise begins Thursday and runs through Aug. 23.
The Air Force says at least six types of aircraft will be involved, including F-16s, F-15s, A-10s, KC-135s, KC-130s and F-18s.
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