Military Aviation News Archive
04/15/2012
Thales UK is to sell its fixed-wing aircraft simulator production business and an aircrew training centre in Bangkok, Thailand. The company said all 400 West Sussex staff employed in civil aircraft training and simulation work would be transferred to L-3 Communications. The sale is expected to be completed during the summer. Consultation has started with the staff affected. Thales UK employs 2,500 people in Crawley, including the 400 staff in the business being sold.
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04/15/2012
Singapore's latest early warning surveillance jets were declared battle-ready on Friday, in a move that strengthens the Republic's air defences. The four Gulfstream 550s (G550s) - the same business planes used by the rich and famous - were converted for military purposes and will help combatants to spot and destroy enemy targets more quickly. They replace the Republic of Singapore Air Force's ageing E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, which had been in service since 1987.
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04/15/2012
A U.S. military aircraft crash that killed two Marines Wednesday will give new ammunition to critics of the V-22 Osprey, but the incident alone should not doom the controversial program. The Marines were killed and two others hurt when a V-22 tilt rotor aircraft went down in southern Morocco, where 1,200 U.S. troops are participating in African Lion, an annual exercise with local forces. Marine Corps officials are investigating the crash, and the cause it not yet known.
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04/15/2012
The media feeding frenzy sparked by the auditor general's devastating report on the F-35 has focused on the politicians, from the prime minister to the ministers of National Defence and Public Works. Rightly so. Also in the crosshairs has been the Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Walter Natynczyk, with many journalists calling for his head.
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04/15/2012
Despite widespread praise in Western capitals for NATO’s leadership of the air campaign in Libya, a confidential NATO assessment paints a sobering portrait of the alliance’s ability to carry out such campaigns without significant support from the United States.
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04/14/2012
It has been decided to equip current fighter models with available thrust-vectoring engines. The first batch of upgraded fighters will be handed over to the Air Force by late 2020. It is also planned that all new T-50 fighters will have become operational by then.
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04/14/2012
The U.S. Air Force will restart its stalled $1 billion competition to buy light attack aircraft for the Afghanistan military, it said today. The military will issue a draft request for proposals April 17 and a final version April 30, the service said in an e-mailed statement. A new award is scheduled for early 2013. The Air Force on Feb. 28 canceled a disputed $1 billion contract to Sierra Nevada Corp. after determining the documentation used to make the award was flawed.
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04/14/2012
The storm system headed to the valley hit northern California hard Thursday night with lots of rain and lightning. In fact, a United Airlines flight with 200 passengers on board was hit by a lightning strike just after takeoff in San Francisco over the ocean. "It happens a lot more frequently than people really realize," said SkyFOX Pilot Rick Crabbs.
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04/14/2012
Special operations forces have a dedicated fleet of tricked-out helicopters at their disposal, but as their workload grows, they are increasingly reliant on conventional aircraft to get their jobs done. A high operational tempo in Afghanistan has married conventional and special operations forces like never before, forcing a heightened level of cooperation at all levels, from commanding generals to aircraft pilots and crews.
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04/14/2012
Boeing [NYSE: BA] and its Super Hornet industry partners toured the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais March 20-22 to assess the aerospace capabilities of local companies and to identify opportunities for work with Boeing and its worldwide supply chain. Representatives from Boeing, General Electric, GKN Aerospace, Hamilton Sundstrand, Northrop Grumman, Parker Aerospace, and Woodward participated in the review.
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04/14/2012
Russian warships will be continuously deployed for patrol duty off the Syrian coast in the Mediterranean, a high-ranking source in the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday. “A decision has been made to deploy Russian warships near the Syrian shores on a permanent basis,” the source said. The Russian Kashin-class guided-missile destroyer Smetlivy is currently deployed near the Syrian coast.
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04/13/2012
Air Force Master Sgt. Johnny White lies facedown in the tail of the KC-135 aerial refueling tanker in mid-flight. Below him, a glass window offers a stunning view of the Michigan Thumb area. White’s view becomes partially blocked as an A-10 Thunderbolt II slowly nudges its way under his plane’s tail.
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04/13/2012
Such is India’s idiosyncratic procurement system that, in the run-up to the award of the $12 billion Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft program, the joke was that the only thing worse than losing would be winning. For Dassault, that reality is not that far off. After its Rafale offer beat out the Eurofighter Typhoon in January as the low-cost bidder for the MMRCA program, there has been much talk about the fate of the project, but very little action.
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04/13/2012
Emergency services across swaths of England were inundated with calls from worried residents amid reports of a mysterious “loud bang” which turned out to be a sonic boom from two RAF Typhoon jets.
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04/13/2012
The private sector has a number of techniques, called best practices, which they routinely employ to reduce costs and boost performance. A number of these have to do with supply chain management. One of the key reasons that the globalized economy works and companies such as Walmart makes a profit while providing tens of millions of Americans with inexpensive products is because of modern supply chain management techniques.
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04/13/2012
China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) has officially handed over 8 K-8P fighter jet trainers to the Zambian government.
Speaking at the handover ceremony held at Zambia Air Force Mumbwa Air Base today, CATIC President Liu Jianhai said Zambia Air Force (ZAF) is an excellent and trustable force as it has shown strict and professional operation and maintenance of big fleet. Mr. Liu Jianhai said the handover ceremony of 8 K-8P Aircraft marked a new milestone of coo
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04/13/2012
The Airbus Military A400M new generation airlifter for the 21st Century, is to visit Asia between April 14 and 20. Malaysia, an A400M customer, is the first and longest stop of its three-nation Asia tour, with the aircraft staying there from 14 – 17 April. The tour continues with visits to Jakarta, Indonesia, and Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Thailand, before returning to Europe.
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04/13/2012
India's new revised defence-offset guidelines will be applied to all defence contracts awarded after 1 January 2011. They reinforce the nation's focus on augmenting capacity for research and development, fostering the development of internationally-competitive enterprises and also give a boost to the civil aviation and homeland security sectors.
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04/13/2012
A menacing Russian warplane entering UK airspace during the Cold War would have sent Royal Air Force supersonic fighter jets scrambling to intercept it. Britain's Top Gun pilots were on constant standby to take on Soviet aircraft in dogfights for control of the skies over Northern Europe.
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04/13/2012
The tragic MV-22 Osprey crash in Morocco that killed two Marines this week is likely to reopen the debate about the controversial aircraft's safety. The Osprey earned its bad reputation during its development, when 30 Marines died in three crashes, including 19 in a single 2000 accident in Arizona, and its detractors no doubt will point to this crash as further evidence of its untrustworthiness.
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04/13/2012
North Korea’s rocket, launched on Friday, appears to have broken apart minutes after blastoff, CNN quoted U.S. officials as saying. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency on Friday cited South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seook as saying that the reclusive communist state has launched the Unha-3 long-range rocket. Two U.S. officials confirmed the launch, CNN reported. There have been no reports of any injuries or damage inflicted by falling debris, CNN said.
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04/12/2012
South Korea is in the process of selecting a fighter jet to replace the older models in the Air Force’s arsenal. Worth more than 8 trillion won ($7 billion), the FX-III project is the largest single defense acquisition program the country has conducted. Under the program, 60 new fighters will be purchased to replace older models such as the F-4 and the F-5.
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04/12/2012
The U.S. Coast Guard has exercised a $78.5 million contract option to purchase the service’s 16th and 17th HC-144A Ocean Sentry Maritime Patrol Aircraft. The HC-144A is based on the Airbus Military CN235 tactical airlifter, more than 250 of which are currently in operation by 27 countries.
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04/12/2012
"We're fully aware of the team it takes to put these aircraft into the hands of our international partners," said Jeffrey Young, director of the Security Assistance Management Directorate at the recent delivery ceremony. Produced in the United States at the company's Philadelphia, Pa. facility, AgustaWestland configured the AW139s for the Egyptian Air Force's search and rescue missions.
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04/12/2012
Two Russian anti-submarine aircraft have flown over a Japanese destroyer preparing to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it passes over Japan's territory, a Japanese TV channel reported on Wednesday, citing the country's Defense Ministry. According to the ministry, the Il-38 planes were seen on Tuesday off the south-west coast of the largest Japanese island of Honshu, where the destroyer is currently based.
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