Military Aviation News Archive
07/07/2012
The Italian Defense Ministry is buying a high-resolution optical reconnaissance satellite from Israel as part of an offset package agreed to in exchange for the Israeli Defense Ministry’s purchase of Italian trainer aircraft, according to industry officials.
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07/07/2012
Not long ago, a thick cloud of rumors settled on the new, much-talked-about IDF [Israel Defense Forces] acquisition of 20 F-35's, a fighter plane known as the Stealth produced by the American Lockheed Martin Company. There were rumors regarding production slowdowns and delays of the F-35, known as the “fifth generation fighter plane” (in contrast to the Israeli fourth-generation F-16's). The fear is that they will reach Israel very late — too late to serve the IDF in coping with future challenge
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07/07/2012
Air Combat Command's senior airman completed F-22 Raptor pilot qualification recently, reinforcing his personal stake in the Air Force's efforts to identify the root cause of unexplained physiological incidents involving a small number of Raptor crews.
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07/07/2012
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin on Friday vowed to meet his agency’s goal to approve the contracts of 138 military modernization projects by the end of the month. Speaking during the 65th anniversary of the Air Force here, Gazmin said the Armed Forces’ upgrade program is “in full swing” and that efforts are underway to equip troops.
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07/07/2012
Poland was in the news in Europe and Asia this week for acquisition of aircraft and delivery of others. Spain-based Airbus Military reported that the Polish air force had signed a contract for five C295 transports. The Ministry of Defense of Brunei Darussalam, meanwhile, reported that PZL Mielec, the Polish subsidiary of Sikorsky, had completed the construction of several S-70i baseline Black Hawk helicopters that the country had ordered.
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07/07/2012
It's America versus Europe again in the latest battle for a giant, multibillion-dollar international order for fighter jets. South Korea is looking to replace some of its older warplanes with more modern machines, and has selected Boeing (NYSE: BA), Lockheed Martin and EADS (Paris: EAD) Eurofighter as finalists, the Korea Times reported.
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07/07/2012
The Canadian arm of the aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney closed a six-year U.S. government probe last week by admitting that it helped China produce its first modern attack helicopter, a serious violation of U.S. export laws that drew a multimillion dollar fine.
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07/07/2012
The titans of the global aerospace industry will converge Monday at the Farnborough International Airshow, ready to talk shop and wow the crowds with impressive flying displays of the latest in civil and military aircraft. But inside the sprawling maze of corporate chalets and exhibition halls in Hampshire, England, the pace of deal making at the show — the world’s biggest aviation bazaar — is likely to be more subdued than in recent years.
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07/06/2012
Taiwan will send back a proposal by the United States to overhaul the country's aging F-16 A/B jet fighters to seal the arms sales deal by the end of next week, Taiwan's military said Thursday. The Ministry of National Defense has recently completed its review of the letter detailing a retrofit package for Taiwan's 145 F-16A/B fighters, and will send back a reply to the U.S. by mid-July, the military told CNA.
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07/06/2012
The Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighter-bomber and the U.S. Marine Corps V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft are among the aircraft scheduled to make flight demonstrations during the Farnborough International Airshow from 9 to 13 July in Farnborough, England.
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07/06/2012
Russia's Aviastar aircraft plant has completed the first flying prototype of the Ilyushin Il-76MD-90A transport aircraft and sent it off for test-flights, the plant's general director, Sergei Dementyev, said on Thursday. The plant has built two of the modernized aircraft, he said.
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07/06/2012
The Russian Knights, one of the world’s best aerobatic teams, missed on Thursday the planned deadline for their departure to the British airshow in Farnborough over the lack of Russian bureaucratic paperwork, a source from the team said. The move could be an implicit answer to Britain stalling on visas for Russian participants of the show in punishment for Russia supporting the Syrian government, Russian media reported earlier.
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07/06/2012
Newsagency Reuters has reported that the Airbus A400M has pulled out of the flying display at next week's Farnborough Airshow due to continued engine problems. The move repeats a decision at last year's Paris Airshow, but is not expected to disrupt plans to deliver it to its first customer, France, around the end of the year.
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07/05/2012
The United States is moving ahead with plans to deploy its first Osprey military transport aircraft to Japan, despite strong opposition from residents over safety issues following two recent crashes, officials said Wednesday. The first 12 Ospreys left San Diego on a ship bound for Japan on Sunday. They will be assembled at a Marine base in the city of Iwakuni before being deployed to the southern island of Okinawa, which has a large and often sensitive U.S. military presence.
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07/05/2012
Taiwan's Air Force will formally commission three search-and-rescue helicopters purchased from Europe to beef up its disaster response capabilities at a ceremony July 10, the military said recently. The advanced EC-225 Super Puma helicopters, which Eurocopter delivered to Taiwan's military last November, will be the first Europe-made choppers to be incorporated into the Air Force's rescue squadron.
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07/05/2012
The bodies of two Turkish pilots of a jet downed by Syria in the Mediterranean Sea were found on Wednesday, the Hurriyet daily reported. Pilot Cpt. Gokhan Ertan and pilot Lt. Hasan Huseyin Aksoy had been missing since their RF-4 plane was shot down by Syria on June 22.
The bodies were located at a depth of 1,260 meters.
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07/05/2012
Samara-based AVIACOR aircraft maker will build six Antonov An-140-100 light transport planes under a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry by the end of 2012, the regional government said on Wednesday. The An-140-100 was developed by Russia's Antonov design bureau as a replacement for the An-24 and An-26 series aircraft. It can carry up to 6 metric tons of cargo to a range of over 2,000 kilometers, and can be used for patrol, military transport and spec-ops missions.
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07/05/2012
Russia’s Yakovlev Yak-130 Mitten trainer/light attack aircraft will be showcased for the first time at the Farnborough International Air Show as part of a large Russian exhibit. About 55 Russian companies, including 19 defense industry firms, will take part in the airshow near London on July 9-15 to exhibit the latest achievements in the Russian aircraft industry.
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07/04/2012
The atmosphere in the Dubai air show briefing room in November 2011 was electric. Journalists occupied every seat and photographers squeezed into the back of the room. Also present were a dozen senior Pakistan air force officials, who were forced to stand along one wall, as well as several Chinese executives in business suits.
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07/04/2012
Two RAF Tornado jets crashed Tuesday on Scotland's coast, leaving two British airmen missing after two others were plucked from the sea by helicopter. It was not clear if the jets crashed into each other. The search for the two missing airmen and the wreckage was continuing, British officials said.
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07/04/2012
In response to a flight of three Syrian military helicopters near Turkish border, a Turkish 2XF-16 military aircraft carried out a control flight over territory of Turkish Province of Hatay, which borders with Syria, the Sabah newspaper quotes Turkish General Staff's website as reporting on Tuesday.
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07/04/2012
The German air force's Fighter Wing 74 (JG74) brought eight of its Eurofighter combat aircraft to a Red Flag-Alaska exercise at Eielson AFB in Alaska during June, representing its first ever such deployment.
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07/04/2012
Despite a cooling off in relations between Russia and NATO countries, neither party has refused taking part in joint military programs. One such program is the regular aerial combat training exercise of the US Air Force and its allies, called “Red Flag”. The next exercise is scheduled for October 2012.
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07/04/2012
The United States has quietly moved significant military reinforcements into the Persian Gulf to deter the Iranian military from any possible attempt to shut the Strait of Hormuz and to increase the number of fighter jets capable of striking deep into Iran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates.
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07/03/2012
Among a broad range of topics to be addressed by Indonesian and Australian leaders in Darwin this week, the two nations will discuss the Australian government’s plan to grant military aircraft and cooperation on disaster mitigation and transnational crime. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would discuss the grant for Hercules C-130 military transport planes at a meeting to be held on Monday afternoon.
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