Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Keesler will lose 10 C-130Js, squadron, under Air Force plan

03/21/2013

The Air Force Reserve Command has decided 10 C-130Js from Keesler Air Force's 403rd Wing will be transferred to Pope Field in North Carolina, Keesler officials announced today. A press release from Keesler says the base would lose the aircraft in October, the beginning of the 2014 fiscal year. The aircraft are primarily being used for tactical airlift missions locally and overseas. The plan also says the 815th Airlift Squadron at Keesler will close.

Asia's F-35 buyers forced to wait as China seeks edge

03/21/2013

The Pentagon's F-35 warplane is giving U.S. allies in Asia a headache as they look to replace ageing jets with a cutting edge aircraft now likely to be at least seven years late in offering a strategic deterrent to China. The $400 billion weapons project has suffered technical faults, delays, cost overruns and now U.S. budget cuts that could force Washington to scale back its own purchases.

U.S. Military Considers Its Options In Syria

03/21/2013

The Pentagon has consistently updated its options for using the U.S. military in Syria, as conditions on the ground have changed. But these are only options at this point, and senior military officials say President Barack Obama has not yet asked to see a potential plan of action.

All-female crew flies Air Force's C-130 for first time

03/21/2013

A crew of two women on Wednesday flew a C-130 cargo aircraft together for the first time in their careers, cracking the glass ceiling in the male-dominated Air Force. Capt. Lee Na-kyum and Capt. Oh Hyun-jin of the fifth tactical airlift wing based in Gimhae, 449 kilometers southeast of Seoul, successfully completed their flight mission, marking the first time an all-female crew has flown the military aircraft since female cadets were accepted into the academy in 1997.

India Tests Submarine-Launched Supersonic Missile

03/21/2013

India successfully test fired a submarine-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on Wednesday, the BrahMos Aerospace Russian-Indian company said. The missile was launched vertically from a submerged platform in the Bay of Bengal and flew its complete range of over 290 kilometers, BrahMos chief executive Sivathanu Pillai said.

Saab Says Gripen Export Chances Rise as F-35 Buyers Review Plans

03/20/2013

Saab AB says sales prospects for its Gripen fighter are improving as country’s such as Denmark and Canada reconsider buying the Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and others set fighter purchase plans. Sales of current model Gripens and the NG, the next generation model, may exceed 300 units in the next two decades, Eddy de La Motte, head of Gripen Exports said today.

RAAF Classifies Growlers As Support Aircraft

03/20/2013

Is an electronic attack aircraft a combat aircraft? Not according to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which is classifying its forthcoming squadron of Boeing EA-18G Growlers as a support force distinct from its air combat units. Its move is raising the possibility that the 12 electronic attack aircraft will add to its fast-jet fleet instead of substituting for part of it—although the move may not persuade the government to pay for more fast jets than it has planned.

Foreign military attaches visit Chinese air force division

03/20/2013

Foreign military attaches to China on Monday took a closer look at China's main fighter jet, the J-10, while visiting a division of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force. The 84 military attaches from 67 countries, including Austria, the United States and Hungary, were invited to an air show performed by a J-10 squadron. They also visited the capital air defense command center in Beijing.

Why Japan and China could accidentally end up at war

03/20/2013

The Chinese government on Tuesday continued to deny that a Chinese frigate locked its radar on a Japanese destroyer earlier this year. The denial comes a day after Tokyo-based Kyodo News quoted unnamed "senior Chinese military officials" admitting for the first time that it happened - but only by accident, they said.

Majoring in Drones: Higher Ed Embraces Unmanned Aircraft

03/20/2013

Zachary Waller always wanted to be a commercial airline pilot as a kid. The prestige and paycheck associated with being the captain of a huge airliner appealed to him. But shortly after he arrived at the University of North Dakota in 2008, he realized he could actually take to the skies and secure a good job without having his feet leave the ground.

Top commander says NATO making contingency plans for possible military involvement in Syria

03/20/2013

The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Tuesday that NATO is conducting contingency planning for possible military involvement in Syria and American forces would be prepared if called upon by the United Nations and member countries.

Researchers seek to reduce ear-splitting jet engine noise

03/20/2013

Virginia Tech's College of Engineering is one of several U.S.-based research teams tasked with finding a solution as part of a three-year project funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research's Hot Jet Noise Reduction program, related to a broader Navy initiative known as the Noise Induced Hearing Loss program.

Russia to Get First 3 New Il-476 Cargo Planes in 2014

03/20/2013

The first three modernized Ilyushin heavy-lift transport planes will be delivered to the Russian Defense Ministry in 2014, the aircraft’s designer said on Tuesday. Ilyushin Aviation Complex said the prototype Il-476, also known as Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A, made the first in a series of trial flights on Monday at a testing center near Moscow. “The flight lasted one hour and 55 minutes at altitudes between 2,000 and 10,000 meters,” the company’s press service said.

Russian Air Force Readies for Massive Drills

03/20/2013

More than 70 aircraft and some 1,000 troops will be deployed in a series of tactical drills in preparation for a large-scale exercise next week in northwest Russia, military officials said on Tuesday. Preparations for the exercise, codenamed Ladoga-2013, have begun in the Republic of Karelia, and the Leningrad, Smolensk and Tver regions with tactical drills by fighters, bombers and army aviation.

Iconic war veteran MM Alam passes away

03/19/2013

Celebrated war veteran air commodore (retd) Mohammad Mahmood Alam, popularly known as MM Alam, died in Karachi on Monday after a protracted illness. He was 78. The hero of the Pakistan-India 1965 war, who inspired several generations to join armed forces, breathed his last at the PNS Shifa, where he had been under treatment for several weeks.

Saab in reopened fighter competition

03/19/2013

Saab of Sweden says its Gripen fighter is one of four aircraft under consideration in Denmark's reopened competition for new aircraft. Other aircraft under consideration are Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin.

Pakistani Buying of Chinese Arms Makes Beijing 5th Biggest Exporter

03/19/2013

New research shows Pakistan's growing purchases of Chinese military hardware have helped Beijing become the world's fifth biggest exporter of conventional arms, overtaking Britain. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says Pakistan bought 55 percent of China's weapons exports in the years 2008 to 2012. Pakistan and China are longtime allies.

Reports of Syrian jet fire into Lebanon called 'significant escalation'

03/19/2013

Two Syrian jets fired three rockets that hit empty buildings near the Lebanese town of Arsal near the Syrian border Monday, a local source said. There were no injuries, according to the source. Also, Lebanese state-run news agency NNA reported that Syrian warplanes attacked sites in northern Lebanon. The government's use of fighter jets to fire rockets into Lebanon is a "significant escalation," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday.

Federal Cuts Could Upset F-35 Production In Connecticut

03/19/2013

The U.S. Marine Corps version of Lockheed Martin's F35 Joint Strike Fighter, F-35B test aircraft BF-2 flies with external weapons for the first time over the Atlantic test range at Patuxent River Naval Air Systems Command in Maryland in a February 22, 2012 file photo. It's called the "death spiral," and America's newest warplane, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is in danger of falling into it before the plane has even gone into service.

F-35 Enters Operational Testing at Edwards and Nellis Air Force Bases

03/19/2013

The F-35 Lightning II program at the Air Forces’ flight test center at Edwards FAB has entered a new phase of testing with the arrival of the first two operational test aircraft March 6, 2013. Team members from the 53rd Wing’s 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, a tenant unit here, will determine how to best tactically operate the F-35A. Another 53rd Wing squadron, the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) at Nellis AFB, Nev..

Analyzing the pros and cons of the Boeing Super Hornet as Canada’s next generation fighter

03/19/2013

The successor to the original F/A-18 Hornet family (of which the CF-18 is a member), Boeing’s Super Hornet has already amassed an impressive combat record in its 14-year operational history. It is by far the most proven airframe among the various contenders in the running to replace the CF-18. The F/A-18E/F was originally intended to be an interim aircraft until the development of a stealthy naval strike attack aircraft could be completed.

Military jets to roar in for spectacular RAF Cosford show

03/19/2013

High-speed military jets and aerobatic performers will roar into RAF Cosford for the air base’s 75th Anniversary Air Show this year. The RAF Tucano and Typhoon display teams will be in the skies at the event on June 9 alongside crowd favourites the Red Arrows and the Blades Aerobatic Team.

Lockheed Martin Names Orlando Carvalho Executive Vice President, Aeronautics; Lorraine Martin To Lead F-35 Program

03/19/2013

Lockheed Martin Corporation announced that its board of directors has approved the appointment of Orlando Carvalho, 54, to executive vice president of the Aeronautics business area, and Lorraine Martin, 50, as vice president and general manager of the F-35 Lightning II program. The board also elected Martin a corporate officer. Both appointments are effective immediately and follow the retirement of Larry Lawson, 55, on April 5 after 26 years with Lockheed Martin.

Pentagon has spent billions on doomed programs

03/18/2013

The Pentagon has squandered billions of dollars over the past two decades on weapon systems it never produced and on rosy cost estimates that ballooned to sizes that ate up funds for other projects, according to government reports and defense analysts.

Lockheed Martin wins $253m Saudi contract

03/18/2013

Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company, said it has won a $253 million contract to provide F-15SA pilot and maintenance training systems for the Royal Saudi Air Force. The US defence giant has served as the Royal Saudi Air Force’s F-15 training partner for more than three decades. The company also provides the service’s weapons systems officer training program.