Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Global Power Shift: West to East

03/25/2012

Media coverage of President Barack Obama’s high-profile visit to Australia and plan to boost U.S. presence in Asia may mask America’s shrinking global footprint. The combination of concern over China and the U.S. debt crisis could set Washington on a course to becoming a mere regional power in the Asia Pacific.

U.S. Air Force Tries Again for Combat Rescue Helicopter

03/24/2012

The U.S. Air Force has released a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the combat rescue helicopter (CRH) program, a successor to the ill-fated CSAR-X competition to replace the service’s Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk search-and-rescue helicopters. The CRH will be a scaled-back version of the $15 billion CSAR-X program. The Pentagon settled on Boeing’s HH-47 Chinook in 2006 for the program but ultimately cancelled the order in 2009 after successive protests, amended proposals and delays.

Iranian weapons help Bashar Assad put down Syria protests, officials say

03/24/2012

Iran is providing a broad array of assistance to Syrian President Bashar Assad to help him suppress anti-government protests, from high-tech surveillance technology to guns and ammunition, U.S. and European security officials say. Tehran's technical assistance to Assad's security forces includes electronic surveillance systems, technology designed to disrupt efforts by protesters to communicate via social media, and Iranian-made drone aircraft for overhead surveillance, the officials said.

Aircraft carrier costs will be half what you think, US tells ministers

03/24/2012

The US Navy has intervened over the adaptation of a British aircraft carrier for a new generation of fighter jets, to assure ministers that the cost will be less than half the Ministry of Defence’s estimate. Converting HMS Prince of Wales so that it can be used by the Joint Strike Fighter will require significantly less than the £2 billion quoted by officials, the assistant secretary of the US Navy, Sean J Stackley, insisted.

Sukhoi Promotes the Su-35 Fighter to the Latin American Market

03/24/2012

The Sukhoi Company will show off its multi-purpose Su-35 fighter of the 4++ generation at the upcoming on March 27 17th International Aerospace Exhibition FIDAE 2012 in Santiago, Chile. A model airplane will be presented on the stand of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which includes the Sukhoi holding company.

China takes military preparedness to a new high

03/24/2012

China's People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) conducted a first-of-its-kind live-fire air attack drill on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, state media reported on Thursday. The PLAAF's J-10 fighters conducted ground attack training in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), testing its capabilities at the 3,500-metre-high plateau amid freezing temperatures, the PLA Daily reported.

Norway Reaffirms Its Purchase of the F-35 But Looks to Spread Out Cost of Aircraft

03/24/2012

On Friday the 23rd of March, 2012, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence released the new White Paper for the Norwegian Defence Sector. The paper builds on the significant improvements made over the course of the previous years while ensuring that the Norwegian Armed Forces remain capable of meeting both current and future operational requirements.

Sukhoi Su-30SM: An Indian Gift to Russia’s Air Force

03/24/2012

Russia’s Defense Ministry has ordered 30 heavy Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter planes. Given that the same model has been exported to India for more than 10 years, this choice seems both logical and pragmatic. The Defense Ministry and the Irkut Corporation, an affiliate of the United Aircraft Corporation, have signed a supply contract for 30 Su-30SM multirole fighter aircraft, a Defense Ministry spokesman told journalists Thursday, March 22.

Selex Galileo Improves Grifo Radar for New Applications

03/24/2012

Selex Galileo has added new modes to the long-selling Grifo fire control radar and has also designed a pod-mounted version. Angelo Aprile, the company’s head of capability in Italy, told the Military Flight Training conference in London organized by Defence IQ that more than 450 “advanced but affordable” Grifo systems have been sold worldwide. Applications include the F-5E/F, Mirage III, L-159, F-7 (Chinese-built MiG-21bis) and Sikorsky HH-60 helicopter.

Russian MoD and Irkut Sign Contract on Su-30SM Fighter Aircraft Delivery

03/23/2012

Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and President of the IRKUT Corporation Alexey Fedorov, have signed a contract on Su-30SM multirole fighters delivery for the Russian Armed Forces. Under the contract, the IRKUT Corporation will supply to the Defence Ministry 30 aircraft of this type by 2015.

BRAC for 2013 is dead

03/23/2012

The actions of a Missouri senator effectively have killed any chances of a new round of domestic military base closures next year. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday she will kill any plan to set in motion another Base Realignment and Closure round in 2013.

Profit rises 10%, confident on fighter sales: Dassault

03/23/2012

France's Dassault Aviation on Thursday posted a 10 percent rise in net profit to USD 536 million and expressed confidence about foreign sales of its Rafale fighter plane. "Concerning military aircraft, there are decisive opportunities ... concerning the Rafale and drones," the company said in presenting its 2011 results.

Analysts predict military helicopter market downturn

03/23/2012

Analysts at Forecast International are predicting a downturn in the military helicopter market that will last for several years. The consulting company, which is based in Newtown, Connecticut, says that 4,384 medium- to heavy-lift military rotorcraft worth $104 billion will be built during the next 10 years.

India’s Military Inferiority Complex

03/23/2012

Indian officials are preoccupied by China’s growing military power. They would do better to fix their own incoherent defense establishment. Modern India is economically and strategically buoyant, and has every reason to feel confident as the 21st century progresses. So it’s strange to think that this same confident place is developing an inferiority complex over China’s military power.

Budget Contraints May Delay Aviation Programs

03/23/2012

Some modernization programs may be delayed, but not reduced or cancelled due to a tightening of the budget, senior Army leaders told senators Wednesday. Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno testified Wednesday morning to the Senate Appropriations Committee, subcommittee on Defense regarding the service's fiscal year 2013 budget request.

Europe's armed forces team up on refuelling aircraft

03/23/2012

The projects are part of the European Union's efforts to pool and share military resources as the debt crisis and a US strategic pivot towards Asia forces Europe's armed forces to band together. The ministers, who met in Brussels, emphasized in a statement "the urgent political necessity to retain and develop the military capabilities for sustaining and enhancing" their common security policy.

Military Investigates Showboating in Copter Crash

03/23/2012

The U.S. military is investigating whether an attack helicopter pilot was “showing off” when he made a low pass over a remote Afghan outpost and then slammed violently into the ground, according to a defense official. The dramatic crash was captured on amateur eyewitness video, which recently surfaced online.

Russia Eyes Development of Futuristic Weaponry

03/23/2012

Proposals for the development of weaponry based on futuristic concepts will be ready by December this year to be included in the next state arms procurement program, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Thursday. “The development of weaponry based on new physics principles; direct-energy weapons, geophysical weapons, wave-energy weapons, genetic weapons, psychotronic weapons, etc..

The Israeli Red Flag

03/22/2012

For the third time in the last six months the Israeli Air Force has hosted foreign fighter pilots for tactical training. Israeli fighter pilots are considered the best trained in the world, and Israel maintains a special training program, complete with pilots trained and equipped to operate as likely foes would, to train their own pilots. The latest nation to send fighters and pilots for training is Poland, flying F-16s in for that purpose.

Rolls-Royce wins $275M military service contracts

03/22/2012

Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC , a global power systems company, said Thursday it has received recent contracts exceeding $275 million to provide support services for the U.S. Armed Services.

Why Has India Become the World’s Top Arms Buyer?

03/22/2012

India has replaced China as the world’s largest arms buyer, accounting for 10 percent of all arms purchases during the past five years, a Swedish research group said. India purchased some $12.7 billion in arms, 80 percent of that from Russia, during 2007-2011, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). China’s arms purchases during that time were $6.3 billion, 78 percent of which came from Russia.

Fighter Trends Change For 2020 And Beyond

03/22/2012

The past few years have made it abundantly clear that the mid-term future of airpower is not what a lot of people planned. Large-scale procurement of the stealthy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has slipped into the 2020s. The aircraft types in service today—which made their first flights as much as 40 years ago—will be the world’s frontline fleets through the rest of this decade, and will make up the majority of fighting forces well into the 2020s.

ANDERSEN HOSTS STRIKE FIGHTER ADVANCED READINESS PROGRAM

03/22/2012

The U.S. Pacific Air Forces issued the following news release: Four squadrons of F-18s from the Naval Air Facility at Atsugi Japan, along with approximately 550 military aircrew personnel, are at Andersen Air Force Base (AFB) until April 10 for the Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness Program (SFARP). The fighter squadrons deploy to the island biannually for air-to-air and air-to-ground training to maintain the proficiency and readiness of the air wing.

Guard fights to keep planes

03/22/2012

Here we go again. Another federal budget battle is under way. On Tuesday, the Ohio Air National Guard’s 179th Airlift Wing based at Mansfield hosted an event for media around the state, along with members of the Ohio Congressional delegation. The purpose was to acquaint the visitors with the U.S. Air Force’s budget-cutting proposal, which includes eliminating the C-27J cargo planes.

China's military buildup breeds distrust

03/22/2012

Since China announced another big rise in its military spending earlier this month, Chinese officials in Beijing and diplomats posted in Asia-Pacific countries have been trying to spread an orchestrated message to the region: Don't be alarmed. China is in a bind. Its declared defense budget, already the second highest in the world after the United States, will increase by 11.2 percent this year to $106.4 billion, after a 12.7 percent hike in 2011.