Military Aviation News Archive
02/13/2012
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, a manufacturer of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), tactical reconnaissance radars, and electro-optic surveillance systems, announced the successful flight of a second multi-mission jet-powered Predator C Avenger aircraft.
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02/13/2012
The naval build-up by Beijing and a Pentagon shift in seaborne firepower towards Asia are creating an arena for rivalries.
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02/12/2012
The only thing left before India signs the estimated $800 million deal with GE Aviation for 99 GE-F414 engines now, is the clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
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02/12/2012
A total of five Russian military aircraft flew near Japanese territory on Wednesday, prompting the Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighter jets, Japanese Defense Ministry officials said Thursday.
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02/12/2012
The last three of 18 new and upgraded F-16 fighter jets from the United States arrived in Pakistan, a report by the Indo-Asian News Service said. One F-16 D Block 52 and two F-16 Block 15 Mid-Life Upgrade aircraft arrived from the United States at Pakistan's air force base Shahbaz, the air force said in a statement. The D Block aircraft is new but the Block 15 aircraft had been sent back to the United States for improvements, the Indo-Asian report said.
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02/12/2012
The Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget plan calls for spending of $178.8 billion to develop and buy new warships, fighter jets and other major weapons, a 7.5 percent drop from the level initially projected for the coming year, according to a detailed budget document obtained by Reuters.
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02/11/2012
Italy seems certain to scale back its major investment in Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, heightening uncertainty over the troubled stealth jet's future. Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola has said repeatedly since January that the country's originally planned order of the 131 supersonic warplanes by 2018 was being "reviewed" because military spending cuts were necessary as part of Prime Minister Mario Monti's austerity plan to shore up public accounts.
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02/11/2012
Airbus Military could be one of the main beneficiaries of the Singapore air force’s next round of procurements. Singapore has at the top of its procurement list aerial refueling tankers, strategic airlifters and anti-submarine warfare fixed-wing aircraft, purchases that will see that the island continues to be, for the next few years at least, the biggest spender on new defense equipment in Southeast Asia.
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02/11/2012
The U.S. strategic tilt toward the Asia Pacific region plays to Raytheon Co.’s strength in active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a key technology being used and sought by countries in the region to enhance the capabilities of their legacy fourth-generation fighters.
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02/11/2012
South Korea’s military joined the annual Thai-US joint military exercise for the first time this week as the maneuvers kicked off in Thailand's eastern seaboard province of Chonburi. The 10-day joint drill, code named Cobra Gold 2012, is scheduled to end on Feb 17.
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02/11/2012
UAC takes part in the Singapore Air Show 2012 international exhibition. UAC civil aviation is presented by SSJ100 and MC-21 aircraft. UAC military aviation is represented by Su-35 and Yak-130 aircraft. Be-200 amphibious aircraft and MC-21 cabin and cockpit mockup will be available on static display.
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02/11/2012
The Air Force training underway for hundreds of personnel in southern New Mexico is helping keep U.S. forces safe across the world. Holloman Air Force base is the primary training base for some of the newest aircraft in the military. The MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper at Holloman represent advances in technology and one of the newest career fields in the air force.
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02/11/2012
The selection process for IAF’s medium, multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) which ended last week with the selection of the Dassault Rafale, was an exceptional procurement process — free of scams and characterised by professionalism
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02/11/2012
Russia’s arms exports may reach a record $14 billion in 2012, a Russian think-tank said on Friday. Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport sold $10.7 billion worth of weaponry in 2011 under contracts with 57 countries, but this number could be readjusted to $12 bln with the addition of direct sales of spare parts by Russian arms producers.
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02/11/2012
The Turkish air force has halted flights with its Cessna T-37 jet trainers to perform technical checks on the type, Flightglobal.com has reported.The decision follows two fatal accidents in the last six months.
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02/10/2012
China’s surging defense budget, the world’s second-biggest, is helping spur military spending across Asia, offering U.S. and European suppliers a chance to offset slowing demand at home. Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. fighters will be on display at next week’s Singapore Airshow as the two biggest U.S. defense contractors prepare to compete with Eurofighter and Saab AB for a $7 billion South Korean order. The contest follows similar competitions in Japan and India.
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02/10/2012
The cost of Britain’s biggest military programmes has soared by £500million in a year because ‘wasteful’ defence chiefs failed to ‘live within their means’. A withering Commons report today finds that 15 crucial procurement projects are £6.1billion - or 11.4 per cent - over budget.
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02/10/2012
McCain, Graham, and Lieberman issued a we-are-all-Syrians statement tonight insisting that no options should be off the table and that we should think carefully about arming the rebels.
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02/10/2012
Russia and China, two veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council described as key arms suppliers to the embattled regime in Syria, are now accused of supplying weapons and fuelling an ongoing conflict in another military hotspot: Sudan.
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02/10/2012
At a conference about the development of drones for use in combat, Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) was interrupted Wednesday by an anti-drone protester as he was giving a speech. Standing onstage in front of a crowd of more than 500 people, McKeon was talking at the Assn. for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's annual program review conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
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02/10/2012
It was the "substantially higher cost" of acquiring and operating the Eurofighter Typhoon that led to its ejection from the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project to supply 126 fighters to IAF.
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02/10/2012
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wants to “rebalance our global and presence to emphasize where we think the potential problems will be in the world” with the goal of producing a leaner, more rapidly deployable military. Translation: Shrink land forces and rely more on the Navy.
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02/10/2012
The United States is seeking more access to Philippines ports and airfields to re-fuel and service its warships and planes, diplomatic and military sources said on Thursday, expanding its presence at a time of tension with China in the South China Sea.
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02/10/2012
India’s Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna was in Beijing this week, inaugurating his nation’s new $10 million embassy and meeting with his Chinese counterpart as well as a range of high-ranking Communist party officials. The biggest headline to emerge from the visit was invariably about the two countries’ commitment to reach $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2015.
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02/10/2012
Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force had to scramble fighter jets in response to flights by Russian military aircraft near Japanese airspace on Wednesday, Kyodo news agency said on Thursday citing the Defense Ministry. According to the ministry, a total of five Russian planes, including two Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers, two Su-24 Fencer reconnaissance planes and an A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control aircraft skirted Japanese territory on Wednesday.
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