Military Aviation News Archive
03/31/2012
The military services expect to unveil performance specifications this summer for a new joint vertical-lift aircraft, Maj. Gen. William T. Crosby told congressmen.
Crosby, director of the Army’s Program Executive Office Aviation, testified Tuesday afternoon to the House Armed Services Committee, subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces at a hearing on rotorcraft modernization programs. His counterparts from the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force also testified.
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03/31/2012
Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos has developed an anti-aircraft carrier variant of the 290-km supersonic cruise missile.
"We have achieved the capability to attack aircraft carriers using the supersonic vertical diving variant of the missile and after demonstrating the capability recently with high precision, we will now offer this to the Indian Navy," BrahMos chief A Sivathanu Pillai said here today.
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03/29/2012
Sudan sent military aircraft over a key South Sudanese city Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that has targeted South Sudanese military positions along the two nations' disputed border. No explosives fell from the aircraft, a pair of Russian-made Antonov cargo planes that Sudan has long used to drop bombs on opposing forces, as they "hovered" above Bentiu, the capital of South Sudan's Unity state.
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03/29/2012
Having missed many deadlines for its maiden flight, the naval prototype of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-NP1) is finally expected to fly this week. The LCA-NP1, the country’s first indigenous effort to build a carrier borne naval fighter aircraft, was scheduled to be flight-tested last year. However, technical problems led to postponements a couple of times. “We are looking at scheduling the flight anytime now. Final trials are currently on,” said DRDO sources.
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03/29/2012
The Gillard Government has confirmed it is considering allowing US military surveillance drones to be based on Australian soil. Defence Minister Stephen Smith says a base on the strategically important Cocos Islands is a long-term prospect. But it's a prospect that's winning support from key Australian military experts.
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03/29/2012
Azerbaijan purchased a variety of weaponry, including aerial drones and an advanced anti-missile capable radar, from Israel under a $1.6 bln contract signed in 2011, the APA news agency said on Tuesday, citing data provided by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). According to the SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, Baku bought an unknown number of Gabriel anti-ship missiles, five Heron and five Searcher UAV’s, a Barak-8 air defense system with 75 missiles.
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03/29/2012
Boeing today announced that the UK Ministry of Defence has signed an agreement for the acquisition of one C-17 Globemaster III, bringing the Royal Air Force (RAF) fleet of the world’s most advanced airlifters to a total of eight. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the eighth C-17 later this year.
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03/29/2012
Boeing delivered the last of the Chilean Air Force’s three KC-135E Stratotankers on March 9 after all the aircraft completed Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM) in San Antonio. The final aircraft arrived at Boeing’s San Antonio facility in June for the maintenance work, which included a variety of depot-level inspections, repairs, maintenance, modification and repainting.
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03/28/2012
Senior leaders from Air Force Reserve Command assembled here March 26-27 during the 2012 Senior Leader Conference to discuss the future of the command.
The theme of this year's conference was "Full Operational Capability: Full Spectrum Combat Capability with Unparalleled Efficiency" and how the Air Force Reserve fits into the big picture of the total force.
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03/28/2012
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer said on Wednesday it booked $180 million in orders for its Super Tucano light attack fighters for border monitoring and counter-insurgency missions in Burkina Faso, Angola and Mauritania.
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03/28/2012
Before the launch of a top-secret spy satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, a fleet of small drones will be doing some spying of their own.
In yet another use of robotic aircraft, RQ-11 Raven drones equipped with high-powered video cameras will fly around the craggy launch site northwest of Santa Barbara, scouring the ground below to ensure that the area is clear for blastoff.
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03/28/2012
The US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) scoping out the possibility of buying a full-motion simulator for its fleet of Polish-built PZL M-28 Skytruck light transport aircraft.
A Request for Information (RfI) issued by the USAF is designed to help the service in "assessing the viability of procuring an M-28A Weapons System Trainer," the document reads. The USAF asks potential contractor to respond by 30 April.
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03/27/2012
Embraer said it expects a cancelled US Air Force contract for light attack aircraft to be re-tendered “within weeks” in a deal seen as crucial to the defence ambitions of the Brazilian aircraft producer. Embraer’s bid to sell 20 of its Super Tucano to the US for use in Afghanistan comes as the world’s third largest commercial jet maker is looking to grow its defence sales by nearly 10 per cent this year.
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03/27/2012
AUSTRALIA'S Cocos Islands territory could be used as a staging point for spy flights by United States military drones over the South China Sea, according to an US newspaper report.
Citing US and Australian sources, The Washington Post said the Pentagon was eyeing the Indian Ocean territory's coral atolls as an ideal site to launch Global Hawk surveillance drones, as well as manned surveillance flights.
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03/27/2012
The severe budget austerity gripping much of Europe does not augur well for air forces looking to achieve leaps in capability for the next decade. It is somewhat a matter of luck, then, that foreign demand is effectively pushing stingy treasuries to provide funding to field upgrades. The list of European militaries likely to benefit from these export-driven enhancements is long and includes the Swedish, French, British and German air forces.
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03/27/2012
Business leaders, elected officials and others in Michigan are joining forces to persuade Air Force brass to pull back the throttle on their plan to cut hundreds of Air National Guard personnel in Macomb County, Battle Creek and Alpena. The planned cuts have done the seemingly unthinkable.
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03/27/2012
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer has selected AdaCore's GNAT Pro avionics software as part of its strategy to upgrade Brazilian Air Force AMX combat aircraft. GNAT Pro, a commercial-grade open source software written in Ada computer programming language, has seen its usage expand from aviation to other means of transport and public and private sector systems.
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03/27/2012
Europe's ability to develop next-generation combat aircraft has been dangerously eroded, and will reach "a point of no return" unless collaborative funding decisions are made soon, a new industry study warns. Commissioned by the European Defence Agency (EDA), the Future Air Systems for Europe (FAS4Europe) group study says "the situation for future air systems is severe, with some important industrial capabilities and technologies already at risk".
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03/27/2012
The message is embarrassing but clear: with India failing to get its act together to build a strong defence-industrial base (DIB) unlike China, it will continue to be the world's largest arms importer in the foreseeable future. So, gleeful global armament giants are again lining up to hard-sell their aircraft, helicopters, drones, submarines, howitzers, futuristic infantry combat vehicles, missiles, assault rifles and carbines at India's biennial arms jamboree here.
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03/27/2012
The first night refueling in the history of the Lockheed Martin F-35 program was completed Thursday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Piloted by U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Vitt, AF-4, an F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, rendezvoused with an Air Force KC-135 tanker and successfully received fuel through the F-35’s boom receptacle.
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03/27/2012
Airbus Military has successfully completed receiver qualification of the two primary aircraft-types that the UAE Air Force will refuel from the three A330 MRTT multi role tanker transports that it currently has on order.
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03/26/2012
It may seem difficult to believe, but the United States can fly an unarmed military reconnaissance aircraft anywhere over Russia and 32 other nations, with only 24 hours notice of the intended flight plan. The Russian Federation has a reciprocal right to conduct aerial photography flights over the United States and other treaty members. Over 840 of these reconnaissance missions have been flown over Europe, Russia and North America since 2002 under the auspices of the Open Skies Treaty.
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03/26/2012
Congress and the Pentagon are in favor of commissioning stealthy new bombers at $55 billion apiece. But it's not clear why we need so many expensive features. When the Obama administration dispatched three B-2 bombers from a Missouri air base on March 19 last year to cross the ocean and reach Libya, it put roughly $9 billion worth of America's most prized military assets into the air.
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03/26/2012
There have been a number of articles lately about the U.S. developing a new unmanned aerial vehicle in secret. Dave Majumdar, at Air Force Times, recently had an article about how the U.S. Air Force’s decision to postpone development of a next generation unmanned combat aircraft suggests that service might be developing something else in the “black world.”
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03/26/2012
A recent study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) indicates India was the biggest arms importer in the period 2007-11, accounting for 10 percent in the weapons volume. China, which in 2006 and 2007 was the world’s top arms importer, has now dropped to fourth place. Globally the volume of international transfers of major conventional weapons was 24 percent higher during 2007-11, as compared to the 2002-06.
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