Military Aviation News Archive
04/19/2013
Russia’s positions on the world arms market are very strong - especially, in the combat aviation sector. The jet fighters Su-30 and MiG-29 are well known in many countries, including the South East Asian countries in the first place. The demand for Russian combat aircraft remains very high due to the appearance of such clients as Algeria, Venezuela, Malaysia, Vietnam, Uganda, and Indonesia. Bangladesh is expected to appear on that list soon.
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04/19/2013
The 50th International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, which will be held on June 17-23, will feature 27 national pavilions and at least 110 aircraft. Russia’s Su-35 fighter jet will be making its world premiere at the show. "The UAC will present two combat aircraft in Paris: the Yak-130, produced by the Irkut corporation, and Sukhoi's Su-35.
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04/18/2013
The increasing costs of the new U.S. F-35 fighter are scaring off foreign buyers. The latest country to express doubts about the cost and effectiveness of the F-35 versus their current jet fighters (often F-16s) is the Netherlands. Although the Dutch are buying two F-35s for evaluation, it’s already been noted that the F-35 costs 60 percent more (than the F-16, per flight hour) to operate.
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04/18/2013
Not only Syrian air defenses worried Israel when its warplanes bombed a suspected Hezbollah-bound arms convoy near Damascus on Jan. 30. Also probing the skies were the radars of an unfriendly NATO member close by: Turkey. That helped persuade Israel to end its almost three-year rift with Ankara in a U.S.-brokered reconciliation on March 22.
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04/18/2013
A senior executive at U.S. defense company Raytheon has ruled out the possibility of a U.S. governmental or congressional blockade against the delivery of a critical air defense and anti-missile system, dubbed as T-LORAMIDS, if Turkey chose the Patriot solution in multi-billion dollar international bidding.
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04/18/2013
The CH-47 Chinook’s reputation as the Army’s workhorse is built on solid ground as the government-contractor team behind the heavylift cargo helicopter continues to improve its capabilities. During a media roundtable Thursday that was conducted with members of the media primarily on teleconference to the Army Aviation Association of America annual professional forum and exposition at the Fort Worth, Texas, Convention Center.
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04/18/2013
An influential Senate Democrat on Wednesday said Congress should pass a plan that would void pending cuts to the Pentagon’s 2014 budget if Washington fails this year to craft a “grand bargain” fiscal deal. The 2011 Budget Control Act mandated that Congress and President Barack Obama would need to agree on a $1.2 trillion package of deficit-cutting measures or twin $500 billion defense and domestic cuts would be triggered.
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04/18/2013
F-15 test pilots at Robins are learning to use futuristic helmet technology. The pilots are being trained in the use of electronic helmets that essentially put the heads-up display inside the helmet, which they say offers many advantages in combat. Information such as speed, heading, altitude and the location of friendly and enemy aircraft is projected onto the helmet visor.
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04/18/2013
South Korea on Wednesday selected Boeing's AH-64E Apache Guardian to replace its aging Army helicopters, the Defense Acquisition Procurement Administration (DAPA) said. Under the 1.8 trillion won (US$1.6 billion) contract, U.S. firm Boeing will supply 36 Apache Guardians for Army battalions by 2018, along with training and logistical support, DAPA said.
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04/18/2013
Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), and Representative Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) today sent a letter to the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Tidwell, encouraging the agency to consider the use of the Air Force's soon-to-be retired C-27J aircraft to fight wildland fires in the Rocky Mountain Region, including the Black Hills National Forest. The Air Force plans to divest the C-27J aircraft as part of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act Implementation Plan.
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04/18/2013
The budget at Keesler Air Force Base has been cut 20 percent by sequestration, grounding planes and reducing training, Brig. Gen. Brad Spacy said Tuesday. The commander of the 81st Training Wing spoke about the effects of sequestration at the Biloxi Chamber's Morning Call at Edgewater Mall. He said one of the biggest challenges is the across-the-board cuts came so late in the budget year.
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04/17/2013
The advent of unmanned aerial vehicles taking flight within U.S. national airspace could mean an enormous economic windfall for aviation entrepreneurs and the nation’s economy.
But a booming domestic UAV industry is desperately trying to break free of strict rules that will keep their designs grounded until 2015 at the earliest. UAV advocates are finding their message difficult to deliver, with widespread assumptions that lethal war machines will buzz their neighborhoods.
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04/17/2013
In its latest account of national defense efforts, China said Tuesday that the United States is destabilizing the Asia-Pacific region by strengthening its military alliances and sending more ships, planes, and troops to the area. The U.S. policy known as the "pivot" to Asia runs counter to regional trends and "frequently makes the situation tenser," the Defense Ministry said in its report on the state of China's defense posture and armed forces.
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04/17/2013
A senior executive at U.S. defense company Raytheon has ruled out the possibility of a U.S. governmental or congressional blockade against the delivery of a critical air defense and anti-missile system, dubbed as T-LORAMIDS, if Turkey chose the Patriot solution in multi-billion dollar international bidding.
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04/17/2013
The Russian aircraft manufacturer MIG said it plans to continue its decades-long cooperation with India in developing and building MiG aircraft. “The MIG corporation wants to broaden cooperation with India's public, military and research organisations,” MIG General Director Sergei Korotkov said in remarks read out from a statement at the Indian Embassy in Moscow.
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04/17/2013
Upcoming shore-based and carrier tests will help the Navy determine its acquisition strategy for the Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS), a large, carrier-based, next-generation drone with a 62-foot wingspan and high-tech sensors engineered to gather and send back images and data, service officials said. “The UCAS will be the first deployed carrier based unmanned air vehicle with persistent ISR and a strike capability,” said Navy spokeswoman Jamie Cosgrove.
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04/17/2013
The Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology (NIAT), a premier training establishment under the Southern Naval Command, is forging alliance with what it terms as ‘six indigenous elements’ as part of its ‘train the trainers’ programme to keep its instructors abreast of emerging aviation technologies and practices.
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04/17/2013
The Gripen NG has much less capability than the F-35, because it is not stealth and never will be. Its range is much smaller, especially in AG configuration. The only advantage of the Gripen NG may be a lower procurement cost, but this is also very uncertain, because so far nobody has ordered the Gripen NG. The future of Gripen NG is not established. Just for comparison, the manufacturing of the 100th F-35 has been started.
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04/17/2013
Delays in the development and fielding of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter have underscored the need for the U.S. military and its allies to keep current jets technologically relevant. It has not been decided whether the U.S. Air Force will outfit about 300 F-16s with Northrop Grumman’s Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) or Raytheon’s Advanced Combat Radar (RACR). Both are capability upgrades from existing systems that give pilots much greater image resolution and target recognition.
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04/17/2013
The Air Force plans to upgrade all 1,018 of its F-16s and 175 F-15C/D Eagles to keep them flying until the F-35A joint strike fighter is fully operational and new weapons systems on the F-22 Raptor are installed, according to the 2014 budget request released April 10. In the fiscal 2014 budget request, the Air Force states the service life extension for all F-16s will add eight to 10 years to each airframe.
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04/17/2013
Just days before President Obama released his fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request, the Air Force reported that it will have to ground one-third of its aircraft due to budget constraints.
Operations and maintenance accounts will be hit particularly hard, causing the Air Force to severely restrict which of its assets will continue to operate. With U.S. military readiness already suffering from years of budget cuts, and many more years of insufficient modernization and recapitalization to come.
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04/16/2013
The US Air Force (USAF) stood down two of 48th Fighter Wing’s F-15 Eagle Squadrons, based at RAF Lakenheath, from operations yesterday. A third squadron will be kept “combat mission ready” until September. The moves comes amid steep defence cuts by the US Government, but last night councillors in Suffolk said they were confident there remained a long-term USAF commitment to the county.
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04/16/2013
The Senegalese Air Force signed a contract to acquire three A-29 Super Tucano light attack, advanced training turboprops from Embraer Defense & Security. The order includes logistical support for the operation and the installation of a training system for pilots and mechanics (TOSS) in Senegal, bringing autonomy to that country's Air Force in preparing qualified personnel. The aircraft will be deployed on border surveillance and internal security missions.
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04/16/2013
A new variant of Eurocopter's Tiger medium-weight support and protection gunship has been approved for use by the French army. The approval, in the form of military qualification by DGA, France's Directorate General of Armaments, opens the door for its production for France and awarding of a joint bilateral qualification for use by Spain from the Organization for Joint Armament Cooperation, a European intergovernmental body that facilitates collaborative armament programs.
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04/16/2013
A few months after the D-Day invasion in June 1944, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower surveyed the Normandy beaches with his son. "You'd never get away with this if you didn't have air supremacy," then 2nd Lt. John Eisenhower told his father. "Without air supremacy," the elder Eisenhower replied, "I wouldn't be here."
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