Military Aviation News Archive
09/07/2012
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has received a $152 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) sustainment support over a five-year period, beginning in September 2012.
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09/06/2012
The first of six C-130J Super Hercules for the Iraqi Air Force recently completed its first flight here. The Iraqi Air Force intends to use the C-130J for intra-theater support of its troops and humanitarian relief operations in various locations. These new transport aircraft will provide Iraq with the ability to operate seamlessly with U.S., NATO and coalition forces. The first C-130J for Iraq is scheduled for delivery later this year.
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09/06/2012
Ukraine is planning to upgrade and repair 86 combat aircraft and helicopters in 2012-2017, says the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant-General Yuriy Baidak. The press service of the Defense Ministry reported on Monday that according to Baidak, 12 MiG-29s, Su-27s and L-39s had currently been upgraded, taken into service, and that they were undergoing trials in tactical aviation units.
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09/06/2012
The terrorist group consisting mainly of foreign mercenaries , backed by the United States, calling itself the “Free Syrian Army (FSA) has recently threatened to start attacks on civilian aircrafts using Damascus and Aleppo airports”, according to Hamsayeh.Net. This comes amid reports that the FSA has acquired U.S. made Stinger missiles.
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09/06/2012
While the U.S. and Europe mull what steps, if any, to take in intervening against President Assad’s brutal crackdown on Syria’s opposition movement, it seems as though the Free Syrian Army has ramped up efforts to take control of the country’s airspace. Word comes via Twitter (so it should be taken with a grain of salt) that the Free Syrian Army has successfully shot down one of that country’s MiGs in the northern suburb of Hama, a city in the west of the country and only 30 miles from Homs.
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09/06/2012
The first C-130J Super Hercules for the Sultanate of Oman was formally accepted at ceremonies, Aug. 30, at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta facility. This is the first of three C-130Js on order for Oman and is scheduled for delivery later this year. The new C-130J will be used to support internal country operations where its ability to operate out of remote austere airstrips will be invaluable.
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09/05/2012
Irreversible engine failure caused the crash of an unmanned MQ-1B Predator aircraft on April 14, according to a military accident investigation board report released on Tuesday. The plane crashed into an unpopulated mountainside in Afghanistan.
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09/05/2012
The Turkish newspaper, the Hürriyet Daily News, is reporting that Turkey is expected to purchase a second pair of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to be delivered in 2016. The first pair is set for delivery in 2015, the newspaper notes.
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09/05/2012
A Nashua-based defense contractor will be getting another large contract as part of the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet project, described as the largest Department of Defense program in history. BAE Systems is scheduled to receive 15 percent, approximately $30 million, of a $206 million contract awarded to Lockheed Martin Corp., according to a Department of Defense report dated Aug. 28.
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09/05/2012
Airbus Military may resume a pivotal test phase for the A400M troop transporter next month after making fixes to the engines that have halted progress. The first gearbox to undergo modification was fitted with a new plate, reassembled, and tested over the weekend, and is now joining the engine again, said Nick Britton, a spokesman for engine consortium partner Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc. (RR/)
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09/05/2012
While the Republic of Iraq anticipates an initial delivery of F-16 Fighting Falcons in September 2014, the pilots who will fly them have embarked on a historic partnership with the Arizona Air National Guard's 162nd Fighter Wing in the US, to learn how to fly the multipurpose fighter.
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09/05/2012
Diamond Aircraft's DA42 Guardian equipped with a radio detection system is being launched at the ILA show in Berlin next week. Equipped with a COMINT system from Rohde & Schwarz the DA42 remote sensing platform reliably detects, identifies and locates radio signals and is being flagged as the perfect solution for border guard, maritime rescue or military missions.
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09/04/2012
Exactly 30 years ago a potent new combat aircraft appeared in the skies over Russia. Without firing a shot in anger, the MiG-31 achieved what Soviet air defence had been attempting for years – send the SR-71 spy plane into early retirement.
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09/04/2012
The slowdown in economy is now forcing the finance ministry to cut down on the defence budget mid-way through the financial year. In several meetings held last week, finance ministry babus have told their counterparts in the defence ministry that there will be ‘no funds’ for big-ticket defence procurement plans if the economy does not improve by September end.
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09/04/2012
The crash of an F/A-18C jet at Naval Air Station Fallon in which a San Diego-based Marine pilot safely ejected over the weekend was under investigation. The crash near the western Nevada "TOPGUN'' airfield occurred about 3:15 p.m. during training, and the pilot was released from a local hospital after being checked out, the U-T San Diego reported.
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09/04/2012
When a pilot in a Eurofighter Typhoon jet glances down, he doesn't see a steel-grey floor. Instead he sees clouds, and maybe sheep and cows in green fields below. If he were to spot an enemy down there, or anywhere near the aircraft, he would not need to point the plane towards the target. He would simply look at it - through the solid hull of the plane - make sure that a tiny symbol displayed on his helmet's visor was aligned with the object, press a button and fire.
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09/04/2012
The planes Canada needs, Aug. 30. I read with interest Brian Preston's letter, in which he suggests we can't afford to buy the fighter aircraft our experts recommend we buy. Like his old man, I flew Spitfires in the Second World War, 70 years or so ago, and also survived.
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09/04/2012
Russia has delivered the next batch of Mi-35M Hind E attack helicopters to Brazil and will complete the contract by the end of the year, a military trade think tank said on Monday. A total of 12 helicopters are to be delivered under a 2008 contract worth $150 million. “The latest three machines were delivered on August 29,” said Igor Korotchenko, head of the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Global Arms Trade.
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09/04/2012
Boeing has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korean province of Gyeongsangbuk-do and the city of Yeongcheon to establish an avionics Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in the region that will service avionics components for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) fleet of F-15K Slam Eagles.
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09/03/2012
“I can talk to the airplane with voice-activated commands to tell it what I want to do,” he said. “I was able today, when we were out doing some basic aircraft handling and radar familiarization work, to fly for about 10 minutes without actually touching the stick.”
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09/03/2012
Most discussions of the role of the U.S. Navy in the new defense strategy have focused either on combatants such as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, Aegis air and missile defense capable destroyers, cruisers and nuclear attack submarines or on airborne systems such as the F-35, P-8, or Global Hawk high-altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial system. Often overlooked, but of increasing importance, are the ships and aircraft that provide at-sea logistics support to the Navy.
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09/03/2012
The Philippine Navy (PN), coast guard and maritime police will hold the Coast Watch System Capability Exercise from Sept. 3 to 7 in the southern Philippines, the military announced today. Codenamed CWSCAPEX 2012, the exercise will hold its Command Post Exercise (CPX) and Fleet Training Exercise (FTX) at the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM) area of responsibility (AOR).
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09/03/2012
Thwarted by aerial attacks, Syrian rebels appear to have begun systemically targeting government air bases and aircraft, while trying to capture antiaircraft missiles that can shoot down helicopters and fighter jets. An opposition group reported Saturday that insurgents had captured an air defense base in eastern Syria, close to the Iraqi border, and that battles were raging near a military airport in the area.
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09/03/2012
Four A-29 Super Tucano fighter planes arrived at East Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusuma Base on Saturday in the first wave of new “counter-insurgency” turboprop fighters purchased as part of the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) push to modernize its fleet.
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09/03/2012
Last December an old, rarely used word–spoofing, –meaning to hoax or to fool others–entered worldwide aviation vocabularies virtually overnight. Simultaneously it brought a new and disturbing strategic escalation to military tactics and a potential, albeit probably lesser, threat to civil aircraft operations.
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