Military Aviation News Archive
07/11/2012
With the delivery of four Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft since June 29, an important milestone was achieved as the Department of Defense now possesses more operational-coded F-35s than test aircraft. A total of nine F-35s have been delivered for the year, giving the DOD a total of 30 aircraft fleet-wide. Of these, 16 are operational aircraft and 14 are test planes.
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07/11/2012
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has received a $23 million contract from the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) to provide additional Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP) for their F-16 fleet. In addition to the new Sniper pod deliveries, the contract also includes upgrades to the RAFO’s existing pods and support.
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07/11/2012
Embraer and Boeing today at the Farnborough Airshow announced an agreement that further enhances the collaboration between the two companies and brings additional capabilities to Embraer's A-29 Super Tucano through new weapons integration developments to meet future customer requirements.
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07/11/2012
The Boeing Company and Elbit Systems today at the Farnborough Airshow signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on the marketing and sales of Elbit Systems' Hermes 450 and 900 unmanned airborne system (UAS) product lines in the United States and select international countries.
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07/11/2012
Boeing today announced that it is offering a medium-sized Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) to the global market. MSA builds on technologies developed for Boeing's larger Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms to provide a highly capable, low-risk and cost-effective ISR solution.
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07/11/2012
Raytheon's AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder air-to-air missile has been ordered by Morocco for integration with its 24 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters.
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07/10/2012
British Prime Minister David Cameron has unveiled a major sales push for the Eurofighter Typhoon armed with new weapons systems, with the Persian Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates and Oman as key targets. The Typhoon is built by the German and Spanish arms of European aerospace giant EADS, BAE Systems, Britain's leading defense contractor, and Italy's Finmeccanica.
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07/10/2012
Open-sea testing of the new Indian Navy aircraft carrier Vikramaditya and her primary weapons, in the form of MiG-29K/KUB deck fighters, means that the MiGs won’t be making appearance here at the 2012 Farnborough International Airshow. The ship has been bought from Russia to replace the former British-built HMS Hermes, which India acquired in 1986 and renamed Viraat.
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07/10/2012
Production of Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engines that power Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter is set to peak this year at 50 units before flattening out in the coming years as the U.S. defers deliveries of the new aircraft. According to Pratt & Whitney Military Engines president Bennett Croswell, the engine maker won’t have to substantially reduce its production rates in response to the slowdown, it will defer plans it had hatched to ramp up output that would have compensated for reduced rates of produ
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07/10/2012
The RAF's next generation military transport aircraft has officially been named Atlas at the Royal International Air Tattoo, which is taking place at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. The aircraft, which has until now been known as the A400M, will replace the RAF's existing C-130 Hercules fleet and, along with the Voyager and C-17, will provide the UK military's future air transport force.
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07/10/2012
Esterline CMC Electronics (CMC) will launch its new Cockpit 4000 NexGen technology demonstrator at the Farnborough Air Show. The Cockpit 4000 NexGen avionics suite is a configurable, fully integrated glass cockpit solution featuring a Large Area Display (LAD) with touchscreen technology. It is designed to enhance mission effectiveness and provide cross-platform training flexibility for advanced military trainers, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) and light attack aircraft.
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07/10/2012
United Technologies Corp on Monday announced that its Sikorsky Aircraft unit had signed a five-year, $8.5 billion contract to build 653 H-60 Black Hawk and Seahawk helicopters for the U.S. Army and Navy. The contract includes options for up to 263 more aircraft that would increase the value of the contract to $11.7 billion if exercised. Actual production quantities will be determined year-by-year based on funding allocations set by Congress and Pentagon acquisition priorities, the company said.
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07/10/2012
Lockheed Martin has signed an agreement authorizing Marshall Aerospace to become the world’s first commercial company to install C-130 Center Wing Boxes (CWB). Marshall Aerospace is also the first C-130J Heavy Maintenance Centre (HMC) in the world.
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07/10/2012
The initial ground shelter for a vigilant “Dragon Shield” has been delivered to the Finnish Air Force by Lockheed Martin. The ground system will support a CASA C-295 aircraft that Lockheed Martin is modifying to accommodate an advanced surveillance system for the Finnish Air Command.
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07/10/2012
Oman has selected the General Electric F110-GE-129D for the 12 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 50 fighters it ordered last year. Deliveries are due to begin next year. The order was for ten single seat and a pair of two-seaters. The Oman force already operates F-16s with a further 12 in service.
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07/09/2012
Rise in temperature triggering snow melt in the mountains have revived hopes of locating the wreckage of the plane that reportedly exploded in air during nocturnal combat exercise. Two planes had left Adampur air base in Jalandhar on October 18, last year. While one came back safely, the other plane went missing.
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07/08/2012
Raytheon Company successfully demonstrated a wireless method of integrating its combat-proven Enhanced Paveway™ II precision-guided bomb on the French Navy RAFALE aircraft. Called WiPAK®, the avionics kit enables integration of Paveway on a variety of aircraft without any modifications to aircraft wiring or changes to the flight and stores management software.
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07/08/2012
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has another high-tech project in the works, according to an agency press release. The same agency whose stealth technology in the 1970s and 1980s led to the world’s most advanced radar-evading aircraft will once again flex its muscles to give a strategic national security advantage to the United States. DARPA says that to restore a military advantage to the U.S. it will need invest in hypersonic technologies.
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07/08/2012
South Korea’s primary defense acquisition agency, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), announced that evaluations would begin next week to select the winning bid in the competition for a $7.3 billion contract for 60 advanced fighter aircraft. Previously submitted bids from three defense contractors were found to be lacking relevant details and were resubmitted, at South Korea’s request, on 5 July.
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07/08/2012
Irkut is pursuing its ambition of capturing a 10-percent share in the world market for narrowbody airliners by funding its new MC-21 twinjet largely from funds earned from fighter sales. The Russian airframer now claims a 15-percent share of Russia’s overall military exports by value.
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07/08/2012
Geopolitical shifts including regime-change in Libya, the stiffening of international sanctions against Iran and violent unrest in Syria, are among the trends compelling Russian military export agency Rosoboronexport to keep looking for new clients worldwide. This is, to a large degree, one of its primary motives for exhibiting at the Farnborough International Airshow.
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07/07/2012
Malaysia is considering five competing bids, including a reported RM12 billion deal with UK-based BAE Systems, to replace its 10 Russian-made MiG fighter jets delivered 17 years ago.
BAE was reported in March to be “bullish” about securing the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) replacement deal, but Defence Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi today said, “Everyone says they are bullish.”
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07/07/2012
Hirokazu Nakaima, governor of Japan’s Okinawa prefecture, has been making headlines this summer for his persistent calls to cancel the United States' planned deployment of 24 MV-22 Osprey aircraft to its Futenma base due to concerns over the aircraft’s safety record.
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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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