Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Georgia Test Flies First Domestically Designed Drone

04/11/2012

Georgia conducted a test flight of its first domestically produced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on Tuesday, the Georgian Defense Ministry said in a statement. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili observed the “successful” test flight, which took place at a military base near the capital of Tbilisi “amid complex terrain and climate conditions,” the statement said.

Chinese Navy goes unmanned for the first time

04/10/2012

The Chinese military has added sea-based unmanned aircraft to its rapidly growing arsenal, with the first of those aircraft already deployed. The People's Liberation Navy (PLN) has begun fielding unmanned surveillance aircraft aboard its fleet of warships, according to recent news reports. Foreign intelligence agencies have already confirmed the existence of one Chinese-built maritime aerial drone aboard PLN ships, United Press International reported Monday.

The SDSR is a slash-and-burn campaign plan - and it's time the Government admitted it

04/10/2012

As independent analysts everywhere accused the government of fantasy, a serious charge when the nation’s defences are in question, again we must ask if the charge is too harsh. To this the analysts reply that the hub of the SDSR’s thinking is the acquisition at some time in the future of two aircraft carriers equipped, at some further time in the future, with squadrons of the F-35B or F-35C Joint Strike Fighters.

American Enterprise in Gulf: Second aircraft carrier deployed

04/10/2012

The USS Enterprise has been sent to the Persian Gulf, the US Navy said Monday as tensions rise over Iran’s nuclear program. It will be the fourth time in the last decade the US has had two aircraft carriers on simultaneous missions in the area. The deployment of the second aircraft is "routine and not specific to any threat," stated Commander Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. The Enterprise and its strike group entered the fleet’s area of responsibility on April 3.

B-52 bomber marks major milestones in 2012

04/10/2012

It was 50 years ago this summer and fall that the last of the 744 B-52s built, an H-model that is still flying out of Minot Air Force Base, N.D., rolled off the assembly line and was accepted into the fleet. October also marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when all of the old Strategic Air Command’s bombers, including Barksdale’s B-52s, were put on 100 percent alert status for a full month.

B-1 Pilots Turn Their Bombsights to the Pacific

04/10/2012

One of the hottest topics in the defense and diplomatic worlds is the Obama administration's "rebalancing" of U.S. interests toward Asia. The new focus is a slate of military and geopolitical strategies meant as a hedge against China, and to a lesser extent its client, North Korea. But what does it mean for the armed forces when the White House focuses its gaze on a new part of the world, and a new foe?

Top Iran army official: No country would dare strike us

04/10/2012

No country would dare attack Iran, a top officer in the country's elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Monday, adding that Iranian forces planned to engage in more military drills in order to preserve their combat vigilance.

Parliamentary panel summons military chiefs

04/10/2012

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence has summoned the chiefs of the three armed services to testify before it, an unprecedented move made after top military officials told the members that India may not be able to meet a two-front war.

Boeing to Upgrade B-1 Navigation System for US Air Force

04/10/2012

Boeing has received a $55.3 million production contract from the U.S. Air Force to upgrade the B-1 Lancer navigation system. The upgrade will replace the original navigation hardware with a new ring laser gyro system. "We are no longer using a spinning mass gyro," said Rick Greenwell, B-1 program director for Boeing.

Georgia to Test First Domestically Designed UAV

04/10/2012

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Monday he will attend Tuesday’s test of Georgia’s first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). “Tomorrow I will test our first drone, which has been designed to the highest technological specifications,” Saakashvili said. “More Georgian technology will follow.”

MiG Test Pilot Ostapenko Dies Age 83

04/10/2012

One of the Soviet Union's greatest test pilots, Pyotr Ostapenko, who helped develop MiG fighter planes for over thirty years, died aged 83 on Sunday, MiG said. "One of our country's oldest test pilots passed away on April 8," MiG said. "All his life Pyotr Maksimovich Ostapenko was inseparably connected with national and world aviation. His contribution as a test pilot to the development of world aviation was priceless."

Pilot dies as plane crashes in Tangail

04/09/2012

A Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) pilot died on Sunday an hour after a training aircraft crashed into a paddy field at Madhupur in Tangail district. 'Sharif' passed away while undergoing treatment at Combined Military Hospital at Ghatail cantonment in the district, said additional police superintendent of the district MA Masud.

Chinese Navy Employs UAV Assets

04/09/2012

China’s navy has begun using unmanned aerial vehicles as part of its blue-water operations. At least one type has been photographed by foreign reconnaissance aircraft, and other variants have been reported. Not only has China been displaying an assortment of models at air shows, it also is incorporating advanced U.S. unmanned vehicle technology into current and future systems.

Defense contractors brace for military spending cuts

04/09/2012

Robert Arrighi was already concerned about defense-budget cuts last summer when the Obama administration issued a stop-work order for the alternate engine for the F-35 joint strike fighter plane. Mr. Arrighi's Long Island City, Queens, company, Kerns Manufacturing, was planning to work on the joint General Electric and Rolls-Royce project. He had hopes of hiring 50 people and bringing in an additional $12 million a year in revenue.

China’s New Defence Budget: What Does It Tell Us? – Analysis

04/09/2012

In early March, China released its defence budget for 2012, which broke the symbolic US$100 billion barrier for the first time. In fact, Chinese military expenditures will total US$106.4 billion (S$134 billion), an increase of 11.2 percent over 2011 – and this does not include possible hidden spending, which could add billions of dollars per year to the Chinese defence budget.

Military’s increased use of medications under fire

04/09/2012

U.S. Air Force pilot Patrick Burke’s day started in the cockpit of a B-1B bomber near the Persian Gulf and proceeded across nine time zones as he ferried the aircraft home to South Dakota. Every four hours during the 19-hour flight, Burke swallowed a tablet of Dexedrine, the prescribed amphetamine known as “go pills.” After landing, he went out for dinner and drinks with a fellow crewman. They were driving back to Ellsworth Air Force Base when Burke began striking his friend in the head.

The few who reached for the sky

04/09/2012

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Flying Corps. It was the product of a handful of brave and far-sighted individuals, reports James Holland.

Goodspeed Analysis: Middle East could collapse into full conflict if international talks fail next week

04/08/2012

An Israeli pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear program will probably begin with a rain of Jericho missiles obliterating the heavy water plant in Arak and destroying four small nuclear research reactors at the Nuclear Technology Center in Isfahan.

U.S. drone war: Reaper missions to quadruple by 2016

04/08/2012

As the war in Afghanistan supposedly winds down the drone war and missions by special forces will ramp up. Wars with large contingents of troops on the ground are not only expensive but often politically damaging. Better to keep the empire expanding and supposedly safe using high tech weapons and elite forces often acting in secret.

Fiery Navy jet crash presented pilots with tough choices

04/08/2012

Zooming along at 170 mph in a fighter jet carrying thousands of pounds of volatile fuel, two Navy pilots faced nothing but bad choices when their aircraft malfunctioned over Virginia Beach, Va., the state's most populated city. "Catastrophic engine system failure right after takeoff, which is always the most critical phase of flying, leaves very, very few options," said aviation safety expert and decorated pilot J.F. Joseph.

US sale of combat planes to turbulent Iraq concerns IDF

04/08/2012

36 F-16 fighter planes approved by Pentaqon for Baghdad last year are comparable to those in IAF inventories; Iraq is considered a possible strategic threat to Israel for the first time since 2003 US invasion. Israel is increasingly concerned with the military build-up in Iraq amid intelligence reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is solidifying its presence in the country, according to a senior IDF officer.

Russian Inspectors Begin Surveillance Flight Over U.S.

04/08/2012

A group of Russian military observers begin on Sunday a nine-day inspection mission in the skies of the United States under the Open Skies Treaty. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russia’s Tupolev Tu-154 LK-1 will take off on Sunday from the Travis Air Force Base, located in California, while the maximum range of the flight will total 4,250 kilometers (2,640 miles).

Eurofighter Signs Support Deal with European Partners

04/07/2012

Eurofighter signed a new, five-year support contract with NETMA, the NATO management agency that represents the four European partner nations in the combat aircraft program. As before, the Eurofighter industrial partners will deliver support to the individual air forces. Alenia values its part of the deal, to support the Italian air force, at more than $660 million. BAE Systems says its contract to support the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is worth $708.5 million.

Boeing confident bid about to fly with Brazilian Air Force

04/07/2012

A potential $4.3 billion deal between the Boeing's defense unit and the Brazilian government that has bounced on and off the table for years is back in play. And a Boeing Co. official said this week that the company expects to learn by June if it finished atop the process that has pitted aerospace makers from three nations in a bid to supply state-of-the-art fighter jets to the Brazilian Air Force.

DHS eyes military blimp to stop illegal border traffic

04/07/2012

The Homeland Security Department is vetting surveillance blimps as possible additions to its Southwest border fleet of unmanned aircraft, DHS officials said. To more quickly capture illegal entrants, drug smugglers and gunrunners, DHS Customs and Border Protection increasingly is embracing robotic technologies once relegated to battlefields.