Military Aviation News Archive
02/16/2013
The integration of the Indo-Russian BrahMos missile on 40 of the Indian air force (IAF) Su-30MKI fleet of combat aircraft is proceeding this year. The land- and ship-launched version of the highly maneuverable, supersonic, anti-ship cruise missile have already been tested successfully.
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02/16/2013
Two Russian nuclear-armed bombers circled the western Pacific island of Guam this week in the latest sign of Moscow’s growing strategic assertiveness toward the United States. The Russian Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers were equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and were followed by U.S. jets as they circumnavigated Guam on Feb. 12 local time—hours before President Barack Obama’s state of the union address.
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02/16/2013
Defence and security company Saab has signed an agreement with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) for Gripen E. The agreement includes development and modification of Gripen E for Sweden during the period 2013-2026 and a possible order for new production of Gripen E from Switzerland. FMV has today placed an initial development order of SEK 2.5 billion for operations during 2013-2014.
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02/16/2013
Canada has announced it will extend its loan of C-17 transport aircraft for the military mission in Mali by 30 days. It is the second time the Harper government has extended its loan of a C-17 Globemaster to the French military, which is involved in an assault against Islamist rebels in the North African country.
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02/16/2013
Dozens of American states are in a fierce competition, vying to become home to one of six new proposed drone test sites, a major step towards the widespread use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in American skies, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) told RIA Novosti Friday.
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02/15/2013
Syrian opposition fighters appear to be making significant gains on the battlefield this week, following an offer by their top political leader for negotiations with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. This military and diplomatic news may appear positive. But Syrian sources caution that the battlefield advances may accelerate movement toward a breakup of the country, as Alawite supporters of the regime retreat to their ancestral homeland in the northwest region around Latakia.
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02/15/2013
Russia will continue to supply "defensive" weapons to Syria, the head of the state arms exporter said on Wednesday even as the UN said the intensifying civil war has probably killed over 9,000 people since the beginning of the year, taking the toll to nearly 70,000 so far.
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02/15/2013
Eric Trappier, chairman and chief executive officer of Dassault Aviation, the maker of Rafale combat jets, Thursday said he does not see any serious fall out of the Finmeccanica controversy on the Rafale deal.
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02/15/2013
Last month, the U.S. Air Force released a vision statement which proclaimed “America is – and always will be – an aerospace nation. To fully realize the Nation’s aerospace potential, President Truman established an independent Air Force in 1947 to better protect America, its citizens, and its allies.
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02/15/2013
Set to demonstrate its ‘swing-role’ capability by firing both missiles and laser-guided munitions at the Air Force firepower demonstration ‘Iron Fist’ in Pokhran later this month, the long-delayed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will face its biggest ever challenge once it receives complete initial operational clearance, IOC-2 as it is called, hopefully by the end of the year.
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02/15/2013
Afghanistan’s fledgling air force is more like a bicycle than a modern fighting machine, its commander has said, pleading for advanced aircraft to fight the Taliban as US-led Nato forces prepare to withdraw. Air power is crucial in the rugged country where a poor road network is often mined by insurgents, and the Afghan government is pressing hard for the US to boost its air capability before it pulls out next year.
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02/15/2013
India's multibillion-dollar deal to purchase French fighter jets for its air force and a separate agreement to build the world's biggest civilian nuclear power complex in the west of the country were reviewed by the nations' leaders yesterday. The visiting French president, Francois Hollande, and the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, held talks in New Delhi that also focused on defence, regional security and space exploration.
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02/15/2013
Members of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) boarded the U.S. military’s MV-22 Osprey, the controversial tilt-rotor aircraft, for the first time this week as part of joint exercises. However, Japan’s first use of the transport planes didn’t take place in Okinawa, where the stationing of the potentially unsafe Ospreys has resulted in heavy protest from locals.
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02/15/2013
Lockheed Martin’s Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM®) recently completed Reliability Assessment Program (RAP) Lot 6 testing with two final flights.The tests met success criteria and demonstrated the effectiveness of hardware enhancements to Lot 6 missiles.
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02/15/2013
Russian Northern Fleet aircraft have started patrolling the Arctic Ocean on a regular basis, Defense Ministry spokesman Capt. First Rank Vadim Serga said on Thursday. “So far this week, Northern Fleet aircrews have made three flights to the Arctic region,” he said. Two flights were made by an Ilyushin Il-38 May maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft and one by a Tupolev Tu-142 Bear maritime reconnaissance and ASW aircraft, he said.
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02/14/2013
The Pentagon is creating a new high-level military medal that will recognize drone pilots and, in a controversial twist, giving it added clout by placing it above some traditional combat valor medals in the military’s “order of precedence.” The Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded to pilots of unmanned aircraft, offensive cyber war experts or others who are directly involved in combat operations but who are not physically in theater.
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02/14/2013
The U.S. military faces devastating losses in troop strength and training, equipment procurement and maintenance, and mission capability if Congress does not avert automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1, top defense officials testified Tuesday."Secretary [Leon E.] Panetta and I have been using the word devastating for 16 months now," said Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, who testified with military leaders at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
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02/14/2013
Since January, a detachment of Harfang unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been engaged in Operation Serval, France’s intervention in Mali, where they joined dozens of French air assets, from maritime patrol aircraft to tankers.
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02/14/2013
Afghanistan’s fledgling air force is more like a bicycle than a modern fighting machine, its commander has said, pleading for advanced aircraft to fight the Taliban as US-led Nato forces prepare to withdraw. Air power is crucial in the rugged country where a poor road network is often mined by insurgents, and the Afghan government is pressing hard for the US to boost its air capability before it pulls out next year.
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02/14/2013
The Russian aircraft company “Irkut”, which is located in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, is currently perfecting the combat and training plane “Yakovlev-130”. The new, modified model of this plane will most likely be of great demand both in Russia and in several other countries.
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02/14/2013
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has received two production contracts totaling $161.7 million from the U.S. Army to continue upgrades of the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) program for the Apache attack helicopter.
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02/14/2013
Russia’s state-run arms dealer Rosoboronexport is supplying air-defense missile systems and maintenance and servicing equipment to Syria but not combat aircraft, the company's director Anatoly Isaikin said on Wednesday. Russia and Syria have previously signed a contract for delivery to Damascus of Yak-130 Mitten jet trainers, but it has been suspended, he added.
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02/14/2013
Thales will be participating in IDEX from 17th to 21st February 2013 in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), UAE and will be showcasing its air mission system capabilities, as well as its advanced optronics and communications systems.
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02/13/2013
Israel's air force is preparing to receive the first of 19 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, which will become its strategic spearhead, and 30 Italian M-346 advanced trainers for a new generation of pilots who will one day fly the U.S. stealth jet.
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02/13/2013
One of America’s largest and most sophisticated unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles, more commonly known as spy drones, is operating in the South Pacific. Last week a Northrop Grumman Global Hawk flew from Edwards Air Force Base in California to a point north of Tahiti and back. During the mission, which lasted almost 24 hours, the drone flew at a height of 65,000ft at a speed of almost 650km/h.
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