Military Aviation News Archive
02/09/2012
A passenger plane landing at an island airport got caught-up in RAF war games involving 14 military aircraft. A report into the 'needless incident' today heavily criticised military planners and said the exercise should have been aborted once it was clear a passenger plane was about to land.
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02/09/2012
The Indiana Air National Guard's top official hasn't accepted Air Force plans to move A-10 fighter jets away from Fort Wayne's Air Guard base and replace them with light reconnaissance aircraft.
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02/09/2012
Prime Minister David Cameron says Britain will buy a new Boeing C-17 military aircraft to help move troops around. Cameron's announcement followed a critical report by U.K. lawmakers warning that Britain would struggle to mount a Libya-style mission in the future as sweeping defense cuts come into force. The prime minister says evacuating civilians from Libya brought home the importance of transport aircraft for the Ministry of Defense and Royal Air Force.
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02/09/2012
As the Air Force looks to trim more than $8 billion, Congressman Tim Murphy (R- PA 18) is battling a third attempt to close the Pittsburgh 911 Airlift Wing. He’s sponsoring a House Bill that stipulates that the Air Force has to keep C-130 aircraft at the Pittsburgh base, and cannot move them elsewhere.
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02/09/2012
How often do you get a do-over in Washington? Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell is taking his; having watched the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty fail its partners in 1995, he is now helping to lead its revival.
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02/09/2012
A parliamentary defense committee has questioned if Britain will still have the ability to conduct future operations on the scale of the Libya campaign after the strategic defense and security review has been fully implemented.
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02/09/2012
India has decided to buy 126 fighter jets from France, taken delivery of a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia and prepared for its first aircraft carrier in recent weeks as it modernizes its military to match China's. India and China have had tensions since a 1962 border war, and New Delhi has watched with dismay in recent years as Beijing has increased its influence in the Indian Ocean.
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02/09/2012
Prince Harry could return to combat duties in Afghanistan within the year following an announcement on Thursday that he has successfully completed an intensive training course to fly the army's Apache attack helicopter. The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that the prince – Captain Wales to his colleagues in the military – has qualified to fly the aircraft, which is one of the most sophisticated in the armed forces.
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02/09/2012
Russia used its satellites to help the Syrian government fight growing insurgency in the country, pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported. Russian officials provided the regime of President Bashar al-Assad with satellite photos showing the location of the bases and main forces of the Free Syrian Army, the most prominent militant rebel group, the London-based newspaper said on Wednesday.
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02/08/2012
While the news coming out of the Middle East over the past year has focused upon the percolations of restless societies, two aspects remain consistent amidst the region’s sea of political unrest: strong levels of investment in security forces and the appetite for defense-related acquisitions. The market for arms sales in the Middle East continues to be robust, notwithstanding the relative shift in security focus from external to internal concerns.
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02/08/2012
The annual Munich Security Conference is regularly the scene for the complaints of American official and semiofficial participants deploring Europe’s failure “to pull its weight” in defense, “free-riding” on American efforts, and failing to spend more money on trans-Atlantic arms purchases. Instead they spend money on their own-make arms and military aircraft, such as the French Rafale and EADS’ Eurofighter, which they sell to such overseas markets as India that might otherwise buy American.
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02/08/2012
Boeing was awarded a US$1 781 413 Foreign Military Sales contract on February 2, concluding a three year negotiation process. However, the contract’s value represents only a fraction of the amount that India is expected to pay for its ten C-17s. In April 2010 the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale to India, and quoted the value of potential sale as amounting to US$5.8 billion.
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02/08/2012
In an unusual bilateral tie-up, India has agreed to share with Brazil some of its experiences of carrying out an open tender evaluation to select a fighter for the over $10 billion MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) contract. Brazil is presently in the process of selecting a fighter for its air force.
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02/08/2012
Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, today announced that the U. S. Army's OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter fleet have accumulated 2 million flight hours. Over 750,000 of these flight hours have been flown in combat.
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02/08/2012
Electronic sensors that will be used on F-35 aircraft have been deployed in a major U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps amphibious exercise. Northrop Grumman said the AN/AAQ-37 active electronically scanned array radar and AN/AAQ-37 infrared distributed aperture system were fitted on its BAC1-11 test aircraft for Bold Alligator 2012 to provide F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter sensor capability in air-to-air and air-to-ground reconnaissance missions for participating forces.
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02/08/2012
The Russian Air Force will receive more than 10 modernized Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers by 2020, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. According to official data, Russia has at least 16 Tu-160 aircraft in service. There are plans to increase their number to 30. “The Tu-160 in service with the Air Force are already undergoing modernization,” Air Force spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik said. “We are planning to receive more than 10 aircraft of this type.”
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02/08/2012
Investigators have solved the murder of Idris Faizullin, a businessman and retired plane designer who worked on the Su-27 fighter jet. The Investigative Committee did not identify the five suspects it reported detaining, saying only that they were unemployed. But Lifenews.ru tabloid claimed the group was headed by Andrei Leletko, an officer with the Federal Security Service (FSB).
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02/07/2012
India plans to spend about $100 billion over the next 10 years to upgrade its largely Soviet-era military equipment, as Asia's third largest economy looks to match its military power with its economic clout.
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02/07/2012
In a fresh sign of thaw in Pakistan-United States strained relations, the US on Monday delivered three F-16 aircraft to Pakistan, which included a new fighter plane and two that were returned after being refurbished. “One F-16 D Block 52 and two F-16 Block 15 MLU (Mid Life Upgrade) aircraft arrived from USA at PAF Shahbaz Base. The arrival of last F-16 D Block 52 aircraft marked the completion of delivery of 18 aircraft of this category,” said a PAF spokesman in a statement.
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02/07/2012
Global Aviation Holdings Inc., the biggest charter-flight company for U.S. military troops, plans to reorganize by getting rid of more than half of its aircraft, citing the end of flying missions to Iraq and Afghanistan. Of 30 aircraft leases, the company would like to reject 16 “excess aircraft” to save about $40 million a year. The leases are for aircraft made by General Electric Co., Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc, according to papers filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in B
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02/07/2012
The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee suggested on Monday that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta rushed a decision to develop the Marine Corps version of the next-generation strike fighter jet despite new technical problems with the troubled program.
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02/07/2012
Since the release of the new defense strategy, much has been made of the shift to the Asia-Pacific region, its abandonment of the so-called two Major Theater Wars (MTWs) construct and the force structure reductions. The Administration will need to flesh out these ideas, explaining how it will implement the shift and why prospective adversaries will be deterred given the change from two to one MTWs and the associated force structure reductions.
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02/07/2012
Filipino law maker Luz Ilagan on Monday called for a probe into what she dubbed as the extensive and intensive intrusion of the US military in AFP operations. AFP refers to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The solon she will be filing a resolution within the week as she expressed her concern following various reports on the use of US spy planes, predator drones and unmanned aerial vehicles in recent military operations in the Philippines.
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02/07/2012
The two week event is the US Air Force’s largest and most important air combat training exercise. Held up to four times per year, more than 145,000 aircrew members and 440,000 military personnel have participated in Red Flag during its 37 year history.
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02/07/2012
Make no mistake: we’re entering a new world of military planning. Admittedly, the latest proposed Pentagon budget manages to preserve just about every costly toy-cum-boondoggle from the good old days when MiGs still roamed the skies, including an uncut nuclear arsenal.
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