Military Aviation News Archive
02/07/2013
The U.S. military is planning to shrink its aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf from two to one due to looming budget constraints - in a dramatic signal from the Pentagon about the real-world impact of automatic budget cuts that still have not been averted. U.S. military officials confirmed Wednesday that the Navy would reduce its presence. The decision will go into effect immediately.
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02/07/2013
According to the report, the country’s Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi praised the growing military cooperation between Egypt and the U.S. after receiving the four fighter jets.
At a ceremony in honor of the F-16s received from the U.S., Sisi said Egypt looks forward to further cooperation to build and develop the combat capabilities of the Armed Forces. The four aircraft are part of a group of 20 F-16s that are expected to be delivered to Egypt this year.
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02/07/2013
Warplanes thundered and helicopters performed in concert in the skies as they brought up the curtain on Aero India 2013 at the Yelahanka Airbase on Wednesday. Considered Asia’s biggest air extravaganza, the air show that was held in the national aerospace heartland was a display of the country’s military strike power. A coordinated flypast of three MI-8 helicopters, carrying the flags of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, signalled the start of the event on a sunny morning.
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02/07/2013
India’s proposal to buy 126 Dassault Aviation SA fighter jets is being evaluated by a government panel before it goes to the finance ministry and the cabinet for approval, Defense Minister A.K. Antony said. The proposal, being vetted by the cost negotiation panel, has to go through as many as “seven layers” once the contract discussions are completed, Antony told reporters in Bangalore at the Aero India 2013. Dassault declined to comment on the status of the negotiations.
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02/07/2013
US President Barack Obama and his administration may consider themselves capable of correctly determining whether a US citizen can be assassinated for their ties to al-Qaida.
But what about the next American president? “They have to think about whether a future administration may use force in situations that decision-makers today might be uncomfortable with,” former US State Department attorney David Kaye told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
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02/07/2013
India is to equip its Perspective Multirole Fighter (PMF) variant of the Russian T-50 fifth-generation combat aircraft with avionics similar to Russia’s version of the plane, United Aircraft Corporation President Mikhail Pogosyan said on Wednesday. “The future plane (PMF) will have not only the same airframe, but also an integrated system of onboard equipment,” Pogosyan said, stressing this was a requirement of the Indian Air Force.
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02/07/2013
Converted from an Airbus A330 commercial passenger jet by Airbus Military at Getafe near Madrid, the aircraft will serve with the UAE Air Force and Air Defence. The remaining two aircraft are at an advanced stage of conversion and will be delivered by mid-2013. The type has now been delivered to all four current customers – Australia, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the United Kingdom.
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02/06/2013
The head of the General Staff of Brazil, Jose Carlos de Nardi, said that Brazil will buy Igla (Needle) portable air defense systems and Panzer-C1 air defense systems from Russia. Moreover, Brazil will receive the technologies and the right to build a plant for their assembly in the country. It is quite possible that the Russian Federation will take part in a fundamentally new organizational scheme of Brazil's air defense.
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02/06/2013
The much-delayed indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas aircraft is expected to be ready for induction into operational service by 2015, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne said today. Talking to reporters, the IAF chief said the indigenous aircraft will have to be modified further for operating in high-altitude areas as recently during trials in Leh, its engine "did not work".
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02/06/2013
Experts predict that the attention of the visitors will be drawn, first of all, to Russian anti-missile systems, which have no analogue in the world. Within many years, Russia has been the largest exporter of arms and various kinds of military equipment to India. About 70% of the weapons that the Indian army currently has have been made in Russia.
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02/06/2013
Iran is hailing it as one of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world, capable of evading radar, bombing, dog fighting and landing on short airstrips. The jet, known as the 'Qaher 313', was unveiled Saturday at a ceremony involving Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other high-level officials. But aviation experts have expressed doubts about the aircraft based on an analysis of photos released by the Iranian government - not least of which is 'can it actually fly?'.
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02/06/2013
Military and Defence industry leaders are set to meet at Defence IQ's Military Flight Training conference in March to provide a 360 degree perspective of current and future military fixed wing and rotary flight training requirements, capabilities and technologies.
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02/06/2013
Boeing today underscored the strength of its commitment to expand its partnerships in India to become the aerospace company of choice in this important market. Company executives at the Aero India 2013 trade show in Bengaluru further emphasized that local presence, collaboration and integration are key to Boeing’s success in India, and that the company is uniquely positioned to offer Indian customers the best in technology, capability and support.
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02/06/2013
Over 400 organizations from 26 countries will take part in an international aerospace exhibition in India, with Russia’s famed Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) aerobatics team to feature in the event’s demonstration program, Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation said on Wednesday. The service said the Russian exposition at the show that opens Wednesday will be organized by the Rostec state corporation.
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02/06/2013
The Russian Air Force's Military Transport Aviation (MTA) will receive a total of 48 Ilyushin Il-476 heavy transport planes by 2020, rather than the previously stated 39, its commander Col. Gen. Vladimir Benediktov said on Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry said last October it had signed a contract worth about 140 billion rubles ($4 billion) with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) for the delivery of 39 Il-476 planes by 2020.
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02/06/2013
Russia is losing arms markets in Asia and the Middle East, two of its traditional strongholds, but gaining new ones in Latin America and Africa, a Russian arms official said this week ahead of an aviation expo in India, a major buyer of Russian weaponry that has recently been opting for Western hardware.
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02/06/2013
The latest generation CMA-9000 flight management system SparrowHawk from Esterline CMC Electronics which included head-up display (HUD) has been selected by Qatar and Saudi air forces for their new PC-21 turboprop training aircraft.
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02/05/2013
Spain's government has tendered a proposal to its Peruvian counterpart covering the possible sale of 18 Tranche 1 Eurofighter combat aircraft currently in service with its air force. Reportedly valued at €45 million ($61 million) per aircraft, the proposal was submitted at the request of the Peruvian defence ministry. If negotiations go forward, the intention would be to transfer all of the fighters to Peru within one year of a contract signature.
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02/05/2013
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) is expected to unveil an armed variant of its Rudra advanced light helicopter (ALH) at the Aero India show this week. The helicopter will be in the flying display along with the HAL Light Combat Helicopter. Meanwhile, scale models of the Light Utility Helicopter, Hawk, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and Su-30 aircraft in which the Indian group is involved on partnership terms will be on display at the company’s stand.
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02/05/2013
Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilots of the future could be spending almost as much time in a simulator as they do in the cockpit under a revised training regime that has its eyes on the bottom line as much as technology, say internal documents. The idea was just one of a series of options being examined as military planners look towards the eventual replacement of the CF-18 fleet, possibly by the end of the decade.
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02/05/2013
Brazilian defense manufacturer Embraer has added more international partners to its program for marketing KC-390, said to be a cheaper alternative to Lockheed Martin's C-130J. The C-130J updates the internationally renowned tactical transport workhorse C-130 Hercules, the four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft that was originally designed and built by Lockheed, precursor to Lockheed Martin.
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02/05/2013
Not including our purchase of the F-18 Hornet, the approximate total expenditures in 2012 dollars that Canada has spent in purchasing the SAGE/Bomarc missile system, 200- F104 Star fighters, 66 F-101 Voodoos, 138 F-5 Freedom Fighters plus cancellation fees for the CF-105 Arrow as well as the Sparrow/Astra missile systems, is $11.1 Billion in 2012 dollars.
With the exception of the F-18, all of the other weapons system procurements were fiscal fiascos in one way or another.
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02/05/2013
European aerospace major Cassidian designed and developed two avionic products at its Indian centre in this tech hub primarily for military aircraft, a company official said Monday.
"The two avionic products - a 'high accuracy air pressure measurement system' and a 'structurally integrated antenna' have been designed and developed by Indian engineers at our engineering centre here," Cassidian India chief executive Peter Gutsmiedl told reporters here.
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02/05/2013
Even though most of the fighter planes have decided to give the 2013 Bangalore air show a go by following India’s shortlisting of Rafale as the preferred choice for 126 new fighters, the French-origin jets will leave no stone unturned to impress defence ministry officials as the two countries are yet to sign the much-awaited multi billion dollar commercial agreement.
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02/05/2013
Boeing delivered the sixth production P-8A Poseidon aircraft to the U.S. Navy Jan. 31, successfully completing the first group of low-rate initial production aircraft that are dramatically improving the service's maritime patrol capabilities. The delivery is the final aircraft from a contract awarded in January 2011. Boeing is on schedule to build 24 P-8A maritime patrol aircraft as part of contracts awarded in 2011 and 2012.
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