Military Aviation News Archive
05/09/2013
It could be the roar the engine makes as it soars above the battleground scattering enemy activity from the fight or when its rugged body loaded with a high-tech weapons system delivers an aerial arsenal, but whatever the reason, the A-10 fighter aircraft is loved by battlefield service members.
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05/09/2013
Senior Israeli Air Force leaders believe that unmanned aircraft are the future, including autonomous (at least some of the time, under software control) fighters and bombers. Israeli UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) manufacturers, who have long been leaders in the field, were asked to move more aggressively in this direction. The Israelis are following the lead of the U.S. Navy, which is currently out front when it comes to UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle) development.
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05/09/2013
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] today announced that it has successfully demonstrated the Area Defense Anti-Munitions (ADAM) system in multiple tests against free-flying Qassam-like rocket targets. The prototype laser system has destroyed eight small-caliber rocket targets in flight at a range of approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) in tests conducted in March and April 2013.
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05/09/2013
Ten Turkish companies participated in the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] F-35 Industry Recognition Event during the IDEF tradeshow today. Turkish companies are major contributors to the current international production of the F-35 Lightning II and the advanced Turkish SOM weapon in development to be used on the F-35 and have resulted nearly a thousand jobs for Turkish industry.
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05/09/2013
Estonia will hold annual military exercises involving about 4,500 personnel from several NATO countries on May 9-25, the General Staff of the Estonian Defense Forces said. The Spring Storm drills have been held annually in different parts of Estonia since 2003. This year they will involve for the first time units from the UK, Belgium and Poland as well as the Estonian navy.
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05/09/2013
FLYHT Aerospace Solutions has received a purchase order from a major avionics integrator for seven AFIRS 228 (Automated Flight Information Reporting System) for Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules aircraft owned and operated by a Middle-Eastern country's air force.
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05/08/2013
A brand new F-35 with additional capabilities landed Monday afternoon. The new jet marks the beginning of a significant ramping up of Air Force training at the F-35 schoolhouse and an increase in some capabilities for the program. The Air Force’s 58th Fighter Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base is set to receive an additional 13 of the new F-35s, known as Block 2 aircraft, by the end of the year.
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05/08/2013
Military sources have revealed that the Nigerian Air Force Alpha combat aircraft, which crashed near Niamey, Niger Republic on Monday, killing the two pilots on board, was returning from a reconnaissance (recce) mission in Mali in support of the AFISMA operations in the country.
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05/08/2013
From potent long-range missiles and new-generation nuclear submarines to expanding space, electronic and cyber warfare capabilities, China is pursuing ``long-term comprehensive'' military modernization designed to ``fight and win short-duration, high-intensity regional military conflicts''.
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05/08/2013
Bulgaria’s caretaker government under Prime Minister Marin Raykov sees the acquisition of new fighter jets for the country as a priority and is keeping the process going, although it will not be empowered to make a decision and there is no Parliament to vote on any such decision. This emerged on May 7 2013, a day after President Rossen Plevneliev, constitutionally the Bulgarian military’s commander-in-chief, spoke out strongly in favour of going ahead with the acquisition.
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05/08/2013
France's National Assembly and Senate have voted to extend the country's military intervention in Mali. A resolution passed both houses of parliament on April 22. Not a single vote was cast in opposition. Three days later, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 2100, creating a policing mission beginning July 1, 2013. The mission is called by its French acronym MINUSMA. Its projected size is 11,200 soldiers and 1,440 police.
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05/08/2013
Air Force officials say the across-the-board spending cuts have led the service to cease operations for one third of the bomber and jet fighter force. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Mark Welsh told a Senate committee that nine fighter units and three bomber units have stood down.
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05/08/2013
Boeing is providing an upgraded communications system for U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers so aircrews can send and receive information via satellite links, allowing crews to change mission plans and retarget weapons in flight and better interact with aircraft and ground forces.
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05/08/2013
Boeing has delivered a training center for the C-17 Globemaster III airlifter to the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, enabling the base to cut costs by training pilots and loadmasters onsite.
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05/08/2013
Tests of Russia’s fifth-generation T-50 fighter jets in the Chkalov state flight test center in Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan Region in south Russia may start in July, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said. “In two months,” he said Monday when asked when the center would start tests of such jets, adding that the first serial fifth-generation jet may be manufactured in 2014-2015.
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05/07/2013
Syrian rebels shot down a military helicopter in the country's east, killing eight government troops on board a day after opposition forces entered a sprawling military air base in the north, activists said Monday. In the past months, rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad have frequently targeted military aircraft and air bases in an attempt to deprive his regime of a key weapon used to target opposition strongholds and reverse rebel gains in the 2-year-old conflict.
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05/07/2013
The 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron executed the first combat Extracted Container Delivery System, or XCDS, airdrop April 29, successfully demonstrating the increased accuracy that this new technology provides. The new airdrop method is designed to pull the bundles out of the aircraft at a faster rate than the current airdrop process, which improves the overall accuracy of the drop itself.
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05/07/2013
India abstained from the Arms Trade Treaty adopted by the United Nations and the government will take all measures to ensure that it does not impact national interest, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. In a written reply to the House, Defence Minister A K Antony also said India's position in this regard has been placed on record at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
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05/07/2013
A Nigerian warplane crashed in Niger on Monday, from where it was conducting military operations in neighbouring Mali, and the two pilots were killed, an army source in Niamey said. The fighter jet was part of Nigeria’s air fleet engaged with an African force battling hardline Islamists in Mali. The Niger military source said it had suffered a “mechanical” problem.
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05/07/2013
India is still to finalize the terms for a potential purchase of 126 fighter jets from Dassault Aviation S.A.,more than a year after the French defense contractor was chosen for the deal estimated to be worth more than $10 billion. Commercial discussions are continuing with Dassault because of which a specific time frame cannot be provided for the delivery of the Rafale combat planes, Defense Minister A.K. Antony told a lawmaker in the lower house of Parliament Monday.
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05/07/2013
India will commission MIG-29K fighter jets for the first time into its Navy later this week in the western state of Goa, a senior defense official has said. A squadron of the combat aircraft, MIG-29K (K stands for " Korabelny" meaning "Carrier Borne" in Russian), will be commissioned into the Indian Navy by Defense Minister A.K. Antony on 11 May at INS Hansa naval base in Goa, the Indian Navy PRO told the media.
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05/07/2013
A no-fly zone over Syria means American boots on the ground. Among President Obama's difficult options as he grapples with growing pressure to intervene with force in the war in Syria is a no-fly zone, an option that would effectively block Syria's ability to use its air power or missiles against rebel forces or to strike outside its borders.
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05/07/2013
President Museveni has continued to pursue the air defence revolution that began in July 2011 with the acquisition of a fleet of Su-30 fighter jets. "Fighter jet planes from Russia were recently delivered at the Entebbe military airbase," an insider source told The Observer at the weekend. The Observer has learnt that another fleet of Su-30 fighter jets were delivered in the country early this month.
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05/07/2013
US officials are “highly skeptical” of claims that Syrian rebels had deployed chemical weapons in their war with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday. “We find it highly likely that any chemical weapon use that has taken place in Syria was done by the Assad regime. And that remains our position,” Carney said.
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05/07/2013
Serbia is planning to buy several MiG-29M/M2 Fulcrum fighter jets from Russia, and Serbian pilots are already being trained in flying the aircraft, the country’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday. Serbia expects to buy the aircraft on credit, he said, adding that the final cost of the deal will depend on what weapon systems are installed on them as well as on the volume of spare parts to be purchased.
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