Military Aviation News Archive
12/21/2011
As Iraq continues along the long road towards rebuilding its Air Force aircraft fleet, it continues to evaluate the available options like the Italian one represented by the M-346 of Aermacchi, the British BAE Hawk and the Korean KAI T-50 Golden Eagle. However, at the moment the Czech offer appears to have stolen a march as the nation’s interest has now switched to second-hand Aero L-159A: a single-seat light multi-role combat aircraft designed for a variety of air-to-air, air-to-ground and reco
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12/21/2011
The aerodrome, in West End Road, will host Typhoon jets before and during the Olympic Games next summer, and
has been designated as the main base for military aircraft in the capital, in a security operation that includes 13,500 troops across the various London 2012 venues. HMS Ocean, the largest warship in the Royal Navy, will be anchored in the Thames at Greenwich, from where Puma and Lynx helicopters will be on 24-hour standby to combat any terrorist attack.
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12/21/2011
The U.S. aerospace industry will post solid gains for 2011, but faces strong headwinds in 2012 and beyond with predictions of massive job losses if budget sequestration efforts go into effect, said the head of the Aerospace Industry Association (AIA).
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12/21/2011
As the world watched the last convoy pass through the gates at Khabari Crossing on the Kuwait-Iraq border, they may not have realized those on the ground had some help in the skies from airmen with a historic lineage. Col. Rodney Petithomme, 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group commander, and Lt. Col. Jason Plourde, commander of the 79th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron “Tigers," both part of the Tuskegee Airmen heritage, flew the last combat mission over Iraq, Dec. 18, 2011, piloting F-16s.
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12/21/2011
The battle to win a $1.5 billion contract to supply Australia with new combat transport aircraft has heated up. A US bid document has prompted a European competitor to suggest its offer could save as much as $300 million in the lifetime of the project. The tender for as many as 10 ''battlefield airlifter'' aircraft to replace the RAAF's DHC-4 Caribou, which were retired in 2009, has been under way since September.
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12/20/2011
As Iraq continues along the long road towards rebuilding some military capabilities, including a fully independent and capable air force, the acquisition of an advanced jet trainer aircraft is being accorded a high priority. It seems, though, that the nation’s interest has now switched from the BAE Hawk, KAI T-50 Golden Eagle and Aermacchi M-346 to second-hand Czech Aero L-159As.
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12/20/2011
As unmanned aerial vehicles become increasingly common, warfighters continue to press for more imagery from a broader range of high-resolution sensors, putting more pressure on those who design the systems that collect images and send them to analysts. System developers are responding by deploying different types of sensors and electronics that analyze and compress images before they’re transmitted.
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12/20/2011
Today, the Honourable Julian Fantino, Associate Minister of National Defence, made the following statement following Japan's decision to purchase the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Like Canada, countries are choosing this state-of-the-art aircraft over other fighters including the F-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
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12/20/2011
Oman has placed a $600m order with Texas-based Lockheed Martin for a second batch of 12 F-16C/D Block 50 fighters, the US Ministry of Defence has said. The new aircraft, which includes ten single-seat fighters and a pair of two-seat trainers, will join 12 of the aircraft already in service with the Royal Air Force of Oman, the DoD said in a contract notification.
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12/20/2011
The 2012 defense authorization bill will likely mean the retirement of four B-1 bombers from the Dyess Air Force Base fleet over the next five years, U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer said. The legislation, approved last week by Congress, mandates the retirement of six B-1s staggered over five years to save about $400 million, free up funds to reinvest in modernizing the aging fleet and provide spare parts to keep the remaining B-1s in the air. It's not clear yet which B-1s the Air Force will cut.
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12/20/2011
With the death of Kim Jong Il, and the apparent succession by his youngest son Kim Jong Un, the world's fourth largest Army, and a modest but capable nuclear arsenal, fall into the hands of an unknown man in his late 20s. The exact age of the younger Mr. Kim is unknown, as his birth date may have been changed to reflect a more auspicious number, but he was likely born Jan. 8 in 1982 or 1983.
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12/20/2011
Eventually it may become passé to call drones the “eyes in the skies” for ground troops, if only because they will be called on to do so much more than the reconnaissance missions that so far have been their forte. Efforts continue to outfit more unmanned aircraft systems with weapons. And the day is coming when UAS will carry cargo and people in and out of war zones, officials said Dec. 16 at an Army Aviation Association of America conference in Arlington, Va.
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12/20/2011
Flying drone aircraft over Afghanistan from the comfort of a military base in the United States is much more stressful than it might seem, even for pilots spared the sacrifice of overseas deployment and separation from family and friends.
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12/20/2011
The Japan Ministry of Defense has announced its selection of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II as the Japan Air Self Defense Force’s (JASDF) next generation fighter aircraft, following the F-X competitive bid process. The F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant (CTOL) was offered by the United States government with participation from Lockheed Martin. The initial contract will be for four jets in Japan Fiscal Year 2012, which begins April 1, 2012.
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12/19/2011
Seoul put South Korean forces on high alert and Pyongyang urged an increase in its "military capability" as the death of North Korea's enigmatic leader Kim Jong Il spurred fresh security concerns in the tense region.
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12/19/2011
Two early warning aircraft that were sent to the United State in June last year for upgrades have been returned and will be tested soon, military sources said Sunday. They have been retrofitted with more efficient eight-blade propellers and their radar and surveillance systems have been upgraded. The two aircraft, originally called E-2T, were sold to Taiwan by the U.S. in the 1990s.
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12/19/2011
The Israeli and Italian Air Forces on Friday completed a two-week joint training exercise involving fighter jets from both nations. The exercise involved pilots flying F-16A, F-16C and F-15Is from three Israeli squadrons, pitted against Italian Air Force pilots flying Eurofighter Typhoons and Panavia Tornado strike fighters.
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12/19/2011
After first denying that the Iranian military had captured the CIA's RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone, and then reluctantly acknowledging the fact only after PressTV aired footage of the killer bot, the Associated Press reported that "the Obama administration said Monday it has delivered a formal request to Iran" that they return it.
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12/19/2011
The last U.S. soldiers rolled out of Iraq across the border to neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday, whooping, fist bumping and hugging each other in a burst of joy and relief. Their exit marked the end of a bitterly divisive war that raged for nearly nine years and left Iraq shattered, with troubling questions lingering over whether the Arab nation will remain a steadfast U.S. ally.
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12/19/2011
Around 1,100 Air Force pilots fly remotely piloted aircraft – or drones. These planes soar over Iraq or Afghanistan but the pilots sit at military bases back in the United States. A new Pentagon study shows that almost 30 percent of drone pilots surveyed suffer from what the military calls "burnout." It's the first time the military has tried to measure the psychological impact of waging a "remote-controlled war."
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12/18/2011
The RAF faces a freeze on recruiting pilots after being forced to clear a three-year backlog of trainees caused by defence cuts, confidential documents show. Despite sacking 170 trainee pilots earlier this year, air force chiefs have found they still have 150 recruits “too many” for their flying programme, papers passed to The Telegraph disclose.
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12/18/2011
Russia will try to stop any military attack against Iran as the two countries have mutual interests and any attack against Tehran would also be a serious problem for Russia, a Russian military analyst tells Press TV.
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12/18/2011
Miss Blessing Liman made history on Saturday, December 10, 2011, when she became Nigeria’s first female military pilot. 25-year-old Blessing was commissioned along with her male colleagues who completed the Direct Short Service Course 2010/2011 at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Base, Kaduna. It may be argued that the emergence of Nigeria’s first female military pilot is long overdue.
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12/17/2011
The Serbian air force, left with just a handful of operational planes after wars in the 1990s, wants to buy a dozen aircraft at a cost of around 1 billion euros (1.3 billion), a defence official said on Friday. "The procurement of two squadrons, weapons systems, spares and training will likely require additional borrowing," said the official, who asked not to be named. "Parliamentary approval would be needed."
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12/17/2011
A hack led to the recent capture of a United States RQ-170 Sentinel drone by Iran, a science-oriented tech site reported. The Christian Science Monitor interviewed an Iranian engineer who said they exploited a vulnerability in the drone's system to fool it into landing in Iran. “The GPS navigation is the weakest point. By putting noise (jamming) on the communications, you force the bird into autopilot. This is where the bird loses its brain,” the Iranian engineer said.
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