Military Aviation News Archive
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05/24/2013
It may be high-tech but it's also flawed – for better or worse, the US' F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is here to stay. Today, David Axe walks us through the developmental problems that have plagued this troubled aircraft from the start.
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05/24/2013
The F-35 Integrated Test Force is wrapping up a series of night flights, which are testing the aircraft's capability when flying in instrument meteorological conditions. It is a necessary step in delivering a core competency to the warfighter - the ability to fly the jet safely when there are no external visibility references for the pilot.
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05/24/2013
A United Nations human rights investigator has called for all states to declare a moratorium to prevent so-called “killer robots” being deployed on the battlefield. Christof Heyns, UN special rapporteur on executions, said that unmanned robotic weapons systems with varying degrees of autonomy and deadliness were being tested or used by the United States, Britain and Israel without debate on moral and legal issues.
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05/24/2013
The Indian Air Force will be operating its fleet of about 120 MiG-21Bis fighters until 2019, that is, two years later than they were originally scheduled to be decommissioned, said Norman Anil Kumar Browne, Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. The decision by the Indian Air Force is due to the delay in the commissioning of India’s own HAL Tejas LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) and the purchase of 126 French Rafale fighters.
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05/24/2013
Numerous countries are interested in obtaining a fighter jet jointly developed by Pakistan and China, said a senior officer of the Pakistan air force. "We've been receiving inquiries and expressions of interest on the JF-17 Thunder from many countries in the Middle East, Africa and even as far as South America," Air Marshal Sohail Gul Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, told China Daily on Thursday.
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05/24/2013
In a wide-ranging speech on foreign policy on Thursday, President Barack Obama defended his administration's use of drones to kill terrorists abroad, and in a nod to concerns, outlined plans to limit the use of such strikes. As described in a White House statement, the key elements of the president's policy for the use of force in counterterrorism operations outside the United States and outside a war zone are as follows:
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05/24/2013
The European Aerospace Defense and Space Company (EADS) on Thursday offered to invest US$2 billion in South Korea's long-delayed fighter jet development project if it wins Seoul's jet procurement deal. The multinational defense firm made the offer as its Eurofighter Tranche 3 has been competing with Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth jet and Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle for the 8.3 trillion won ($7.3 billion) contract to replace the South Korean Air Force's aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s.
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05/24/2013
Australia may save millions on state-of-the-art combat aircraft after defence company Lockheed Martin trumpeted the first-ever fall in the cost of the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Lockheed Martin revealed a $US4.5 billion ($4.6bn) reduction in costs in 2012 in an update report to US congress.
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05/24/2013
The news for the May 23 flight of Turkish combat aircraft over Agathonisi does not mainly focus on the fact that the aircraft possibly recorded and photographed the establishments on the island, but on the fact that for some reason the two Turkish RF-4 and the two F-16 that accompanied them stayed in the FIR (Flight Information Region) of Athens and in Greece’s national airspace for 40 minutes.
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05/23/2013
The drawdown of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus tightening budgets, are driving members of the aviation community toward new ways to develop and maintain perishable skills. That doesn’t just mean pilots; those who choreograph aircraft in the sky are also turning to simulators and contracted trainers.
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05/23/2013
Yemen’s president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi and the commander of the country’s Air Force, Brigadier Rashid Al-Janad, have responded to recent crashes of military aircraft in Yemen by saying that “bad people” were behind the incidents, as well as the assassination of Yemeni pilots.
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05/23/2013
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday he had given a "wish list" of military equipment to India during a visit this week, presenting a conundrum for New Delhi as it weighs whether arming the Afghan army is in its interests. India wants to stabilise Afghanistan and is concerned about the resurgence of militant groups after foreign combat troops leave in 2014.
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05/23/2013
If anyone wanted to see evidence of the US Navy’s steps toward rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific last week, it was right there in haze gray. At the biennial International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEX) in Singapore, the littoral combat ship Freedom was open to visitors.
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05/23/2013
South Korea will deploy 200 indigenous Surion light utility helicopters by 2020 to replace its aging fleet of choppers, the Army said Wednesday. The Defense Acquisition and Procurement Agency (DAPA) launched a project to build a two-engine transport utility helicopter in 2006 to replace the Army's UH-1H attack helicopters and 500MD light helicopters, which have been in service for decades.
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05/23/2013
TOP 10 FASTEST AIRCRAFT IN THE WORLD. Got the need for speed? Whether you’re looking for an adrenalin rush or just a faster way to travel from point A – B, check out the following aircrafts that move faster than the speed of sound.
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05/23/2013
International Training and Education Conference (ITEC), an annual forum geared towards to the military, industrial and academic world, will be held, for the first time, in Rome, Italy, from May 22-24, 2013. The conference is designed to foster relationships between participants and allow them to share knowledge in the simulation, education and training fields.
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05/23/2013
Another Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] C-130J Super Hercules (Lockheed Martin aircraft number 5724) was ferried to the 317th Airlift Group at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, today. Brig. Gen. Scott Goodwin, director of Operations, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., flew the aircraft to Dyess AFB. Goodwin is a command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours in four types of aircraft, including the C-130 Hercules.
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05/23/2013
India test-launched a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Russian-built guided missile frigate Tarkash off the coast of Goa on Wednesday, a defense ministry source told RIA Novosti. “The missile performed a maneuver in the pre-determined flight path and successfully hit the target,” the source said.
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05/22/2013
China's all-weather fighter base in Tibet is now widening its range of options in the event of a conflict with India. Intelligence intercepts and satellite monitoring has confirmed that China may have to some extent overcome Tibet's extreme altitude and temperatures to operationalise an all-weather airfield near the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
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05/22/2013
The newest Russian attack helicopters Ka-52 Alligator, Mi-28NE Night Hunter, surface-to-air missile system S-300V Antey-2500 and the combat vehicle tanks BMPT Terminator were presented at the Russian exposition in the Istanbul International exhibition of arms and military equipment IDEF-2013.
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05/22/2013
Singapore has ordered another 20 AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder and 100 AIM-120C7 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles for its 98 American F-15 and F-16 fighters. The AIM-9X-2 is the latest version of the Sidewinder, a missile that has come a long way since it first appeared in the 1950s. The 9X-2 can lock-on-after-launch. That is, the missile can be fired and then directed to a target via a datalink.
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05/22/2013
The Indonesian Military (TNI) is conducting a large-scale war game codenamed “Wibawa Yudha II” from May 6-29. The military drill involves tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of military vehicles, dozens of warships and planes.
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05/22/2013
An “augmented reality” flight helmet for Britain’s new F-35 fighter allowing the pilot to see 360 degrees has “significant technical deficiencies” which have forced designers back to the drawing board.
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05/22/2013
President Barack Obama’s administration has decided to give the Pentagon control of some drone operations against terrorism suspects overseas that are currently run by the CIA, several US government sources said on Monday. Obama has pledged more transparency on controversial counterterrorism programs, and giving the Pentagon the responsibility for part of the drone program could open it to greater congressional oversight.
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05/22/2013
Iraq's Central Criminal Court has resumed an investigation into officials suspected of corruption in a $4.2 billion deal to purchase Russian weapons, the head of the Iraqi Parliament's Integrity Committee, Bahaa al-Araji, said on Tuesday. "The investigation will go ahead. The witnesses and suspects will give evidence, and Defense Ministry experts will evaluate the possible damage," he said.
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