Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

2011: A Wild Ride For The CIA

12/31/2011

The year has been a rollercoaster ride for the CIA -- incredible highs coupled with significant lows. But those dramatic ups and downs also underscored how intelligence is evolving and the agency is changing to keep pace. Keeping secrets is becoming more difficult and what the agency does is sometimes more visible.

Embraer wins contract to build military planes in Jax

12/31/2011

Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer Friday won a Defense Department contract to manufacturer military aircraft in Jacksonville. The contact, totaling $355 million, represents 50 high-wage jobs initially at an Embraer facility at Jacksonville International Airport. Mayor Alvin Brown, who lobbied heavily for the contract, said the company could begin hiring in January.

Air Force buys an Avenger, its biggest and fastest armed drone

12/31/2011

The Air Force has bought a new hunter-killer aircraft that is the fastest and largest armed drone in its fleet. The Avenger, which cost the military $15 million, is the latest version of the Predator drones made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., a San Diego-area company that also builds the robotic MQ-9 Reapers for the Air Force and CIA.

British Army Recruits to Train with 'Call of Duty' Games

12/31/2011

In an effort to provide virtual war simulated training to new recruits, the Ministry of Defense has proposed the development of war games along the lines of popular commercial versions like Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. The British Military is expected to benefit from the cheap production costs of war games compared to actual weapons training with aircraft, tanks and explosive rounds.

Sierra, Embraer Win USAF LAS; Hawker Fights

12/31/2011

Sierra Nevada and its major partner Embraer have been awarded a firm-fixed price contract for $355.1 million for the U.S. Air Force’s Light Air Support (LAS) aircraft program; but competitor Hawker Beechcraft indicated it will continue to fight the move in court.

Indian Navy to induct 24 Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft

12/31/2011

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma told India Strategic in an interview that the Navy was satisfied with the progress of the first eight Indian P8-Is being built by Boeing under a 2009 order and that the second order for four more aircraft was being processed to be placed within the current fiscal ending March 2012.

Mexico buys Russian tactical transport helicopters - source

12/31/2011

Mexico bought three Russian Mi-17V-5 tactical transport helicopters, an informed source in the Mexican military circles told RIA Novosti on Saturday. The Mexican navy ministry, which along with defense ministry is charged with efforts against drug trafficking and organized crime, signed a contract with Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport on December 22.

U.S. army to send new helicopter drone to Afghanistan

12/31/2011

The U.S. Army is almost ready to deploy to Afghanistan a new rotary-wing surveillance drone, the Boeing A160T Hummingbird, equipped with a cutting-edge 1.8-gigapixel camera, the army says. Three drones, or unmanned air vehicles (UAV) in military jargon, will be deployed to Afghanistan in May or June, after they complete flight testing in Arizona at the beginning of the year, said the US Army's project manager for unmanned air systems modernization, Lt. Col. Matthew Munster.

Marines’ F-35 Engines Costing Way More Than Other Services’

12/30/2011

There’s been lots of grumbling over the cost of the $380 billion F-35 fighter program, and some wheels squeak louder than others. On Wednesday, the Navy awarded a $1.1 billion contract for 30 F-35 engines to Pratt & Whitney Military Engines of East Hartford, Conn.

Ace Combat – Assault Horizon: Downloadable Skill-Pack Available

12/30/2011

How may gamers out there want to get a downloadable content (DLC) packs for free? Well, if you are pinning for some new skills for your Ace Combat – Assault Horizon in its multiplayer mode, you’ll be delighted to hear that this holiday season, Japanese video game developer-publisher Namco Bandai is equally pinning to sell you some Ace Combat DLC for “free”.

BAE to Help US Military, Saudi Arabia Avoid Friendly Fire

12/30/2011

BAE Systems‘ information and electronic systems integration sector has won a $13,480,910 firm-fixed-price contract to provide CXP digital transponder hardware to the U.S. Army and Navy and the governments of Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands.

Civilian contractors playing key roles in U.S. drone operations

12/30/2011

Relying on contractors has brought companies that operate for profit into some of America's most sensitive military and intelligence operations. And using civilians makes some in the military uneasy.

US aircraft carrier in drill zone: Iran

12/30/2011

A US aircraft carrier entered a zone near the Strait of Hormuz that is now being used by the Iranian navy for military drills, an Iranian official said on Thursday amid rising tensions over the key oil-transit channel. "A US aircraft carrier was spotted inside the manoeuvre zone ... by a navy reconnaissance aircraft," Commodore Mahmoud Mousavi, the spokesman for the Iranian exercises, told the official IRNA news agency.

Boeing Statement on Saudi Arabia Purchase Agreement

12/30/2011

Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney today welcomed the announcement by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that it has reached an agreement to purchase from the U.S. government 84 new Boeing F-15 fighter aircraft and to upgrade 70 of its existing F-15s.

NORAD F-16's Intercept Airplane Over Washington DC

12/29/2011

Two F-16 fighter jets flew over to check on an airplane that lost radio contact, government officials said. It happened "in the vicinity of the National Capital Region at approximately 1215 EST today," NORAD said Wednesday afternoon.

F-22 backup oxygen system to be inspected

12/29/2011

The F-22 Raptor continues to have growing pains. The Air Force says it is implementing a technical order requiring the backup oxygen system in each F-22 to be removed, inspected and returned to service before that aircraft can fly again. The system, known as the Emergency Oxygen System (EOS), is designed to be used when the pilot is having physiological symptoms that indicate a problem with the main air supply.

Ministry of Defence forced to update its war games for Xbox generation

12/29/2011

The British military has had to radically improve some of its simulated training war games to keep the attention of recruits who have grown up in the Playstation and Xbox generation, a Ministry of Defence scientist has admitted.

Drone flights are no threat yet to St. Louis Boeing production

12/29/2011

Offsetting losses in other manufacturing sectors, the St. Louis economy continues to benefit from military aerospace production dating to the first prototypes that rolled out of McDonnell Aircraft Company hangars in the mid-1940s.

UK, Italy, Germany, Spain pitch for Eurofighter

12/29/2011

The Eurofighter is in a face-off with France’s Rafale for the race to provide 126 fighters to the Air Force, that is grappling with a serious shortage of combat aircraft. A decision on the matter is expected within the next few weeks, with Defence Ministry officials indicating that the winner would be announced by the first week of January.

Modernisation tests on the SU-25UBM aircraft completed

12/29/2011

Experimental testing on the strike-fighter plane Su-25UBM destined for the training of pilots, with performance suitable for combat missions has been completed. The certification that confirms the end of the tests has been signed by the commander in chief of the Russian Air Force, Colonel-General Alexander Zelin, who has recommended the start of its mass production.

China denies sending troops to North Korea

12/29/2011

China on Wednesday dismissed media reports saying that Chinese troops had entered North Korea, Xinhua said. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said reports claiming that Chinese force had entered North Korea as requested by the country to help maintain its stability were “totally groundless.” Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands paid their last respects to former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as the reclusive country started a two-day funeral service for its deceased “dear leader.”

IAF inducts sixth C-130J aircraft

12/28/2011

The IAF has inducted its sixth C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft procured from the US at the Hindon air base near here. This is the last of the six C-130J Super Hercules ordered by India under the US Foreign Military Sales program, IAF officials said.

Saab reports new military orders

12/28/2011

Swedish defense and security company Saab recently received two orders worth a combined total $36.7 million. The first, from the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration, is for continuous support of the operational capacity of the Gripen jet fighter. Gripen is a single-engine, multi-role aircraft. It comes in four variants and is used by Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Thailand and South Africa. It has a maximum speed of 1,372 mph at altitude.

The Year Of The Reaper

12/28/2011

Two months ago, the U.S. MQ-1 Predator UAV fleet hit a million hours in the air. Over 20 percent of those hours were flown this year. The Predator replacement, the MQ-9 reaper has flown nearly 250,000 hours so far. America's large UAVs (MQ-1, MQ-1C, MQ-9, RQ-4 and RQ-170) flew some 400,000 hours this year.

Defence modernisation in year 2011: Critical deals materialised, others faced time overruns

12/28/2011

India's quest to modernise its armed forces into a lean, mean fighting machine continued in 2011, with a few critical deals materialising and several others facing time overruns. During the past 12 months, India finalised the purchase of some important military equipment, such as 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavylift cargo planes from the US and the upgrade of 51 Mirage-2000 combat planes initially by the French manufacturer and later in India.