Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Mexico is Adapting its Military to meet the Cartel Threats

02/06/2012

Woe is the diplomat who uses the wrong word, no matter its veracity. Over the past year, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Undersecretary of the Army Joseph Westphal separately have used the word "insurgency" to describe the Mexican government's fight against indigenous criminal cartels.

Viewpoint: Restructuring military - time to get it right

02/06/2012

Today’s active-duty force, a legacy of the Cold War, is simply too large for the nation’s needs, a tremendous waste of dollars. In restructuring, however, we simply cannot afford to apply the same business model used over the past 60 years and expect different results. Getting it right will require a new approach.

Why India chose Rafale

02/06/2012

When Pratibha Patil travelled to Europe last October, she and others in her entourage had a pleasant surprise in the sky. At one point along the air space that the President’s flight was using, half a squadron of Eurofighters appeared on both sides of her Air India plane. In the graceful style of these sleek war machines, they escorted the presidential aircraft to its safe landing at Patil’s next destination. Even so, those manning the Eurofighters could not resist showing off.

China's Role In JSF's Spiraling Costs

02/05/2012

How much of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s spiraling cost in recent years can be traced to China’s cybertheft of technology and the subsequent need to reduce the fifth-generation aircraft’s vulnerability to detection and electronic attack? That is a central question that budget planners are asking, and their queries appear to have validity. Moreover, senior Pentagon and industry officials say other classified weapon programs are suffering from the same problem.

Designation as active associate secures future of Duluth's 148th Fighter Wing

02/05/2012

The U.S. Air Force on Friday announced that Duluth’s 148th Fighter Wing will become one of only six active associate units in the country - meaning active-duty personnel will train and work with guardsmen at the base. The announcement all but erases concerns that the base will be targeted for cuts after the Defense Department said it will seek to trim total defense spending by $33 billion next year and $487 billion over 10 years.

Local Air Guard base to stay open

02/05/2012

Fort Wayne’s Air National Guard base would lose its nearly 20-plane fighter squadron but gain half as many manned surveillance aircraft under plans announced Friday. The commander of the 122nd Fighter Wing said the Air Force is recommending that the A-10 jets the base has flown in recent years be retired and replaced with MC-12 turboprop planes.

Panetta reassures European allies over defence cuts

02/05/2012

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reassured European allies on Saturday that Washington remains committed to their security despite an austerity drive, as NATO pushed for new ways for alliance members to maintain capabilities at lower cost. The declarations came amid declining defence budgets and growing U.S. discontent over Europe's low spending and diminishing capabilities, which add to the United States' defence burden.

India & the market of war

02/05/2012

The Indian military finds itself in the midst of a renaissance driven by induction of top-of-the-line weapon systems it had been lusting after for years. At a time when the western world is feeling the sharp edge of cuts in military spending, New Delhi is pumping billions of dollars into fighting machines such as stealth jets, aircraft carriers, nuke-powered submarines, submarine hunters and special operations aircraft.

Boeing to build 10 C-17 military cargo jets for India in $1.8 billion foreign military sale

02/04/2012

Aircraft manufacturers at the Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) Defense, Space & Security segment in Long Beach, Calif., will build 10 C-17 Globemaster III military cargo jets for the Indian Air Force in New Delhi, India, under terms of a $1.8 billion contract modification announced Thursday from the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The aircraft sale is part of the Foreign Military Sales program.

MILITARY: F-35 shows why it's so hard to cut a federal program

02/04/2012

For all its high-tech stealth and record price tag, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter embodies the droll military motto, "Hurry up and wait." Conceived in the heady post-Cold War 1990s, the futuristic fifth-generation jet fighter was to be a technological marvel built in a rush and paid for with "peace dividend" dollars. But now with the economic crash, the fighter is billions over budget and years behind schedule.

No war with China in near future, says IAF officer

02/04/2012

Bangalore, (IANS) Discounting US intelligence reports of a limited armed conflict between India and China, a senior Indian Air Force officer Friday ruled out any war in the near future but said Indian forces were fully prepared to protect the country’s strategic interests. “I don’t see any war in the near future.

Lincoln Strike Group Helps Stranded Iranians

02/04/2012

Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (ALCSG) assets responded to a distressed Iranian fishing dhow in the Arabian Gulf, Jan. 31. At 12:37 p.m. local time, an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter, assigned to the Golden Falcons of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 12 and embarked on aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), spotted the disabled Iranian fishing dhow M/V Sohaila with nine crew members aboard.

Sierra Nevada Corporation Corrects the Record on U.S. Air Force Light Air Support Program

02/04/2012

Misinformation and Legal Wrangling Delaying Mission-Critical A-29 Super Tucano for American Warfighters in Afghanistan Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the winner of the U.S. Air Force Light Air Support (LAS) competition, today issued a point-by-point rebuttal of misinformation being spread by the disqualified contender for the contract.

Fighter deals intensify global aerial arms race

02/04/2012

Big decisions on warplane purchases by Japan and India have intensified competition in the multi-billion-dollar global market, with Western defense firms scrambling for orders in Asia and the Middle East as their home-country budgets shrivel.

Factbox: India's growing defense market

02/04/2012

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.

Estonia Joins NATO Ground Surveillance Network

02/04/2012

Estonia will be part of NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) project, the country’s Defense Ministry said. The North Atlantic Council decided on February 2 to collectively cover the costs for operating the AGS network as a NATO-owned and operated capability.

Australia receives Chinook helicopters

02/03/2012

Two Boeing Chinook CH-47D helicopters formerly used by the U.S. Army have been delivered to Australia and will enter operation this year. With the aircraft's acquisition by the Australian military, the total number of the country's Chinook fleet will be seven. One of the helicopters received is replacing and aircraft lost last year during operations by Australian forces in Afghanistan.

Israel's New Allies

02/03/2012

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Greek Cyprus this month in what will be the first ever visit by an Israeli leader to the neighboring Mediterranean island. And, according to UPI, Nicosia is currently studying an Israeli request to station military aircraft in its territory.

U.S. plans $2.8 billion upgrade of F-16 fighter

02/03/2012

The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it plans a $2.8 billion upgrade of about 350 of its aging F-16 multi-role fighter planes to help offset slower purchases of the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

United States DoD contracts for February 1, 2012

02/03/2012

Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp., San Francisco, Calif., is being awarded a $359,700,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2103) for nuclear propulsion work at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory and Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.

Brazilian Defense Minister Travels to India to Strengthen Bilateral Cooperation in Defense Industry

02/03/2012

Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim, arrives next Saturday (04/02) in New Delhi, the capital of India, for a series of meetings with officials and visits to military installations in the Asian country. The trip aims to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation between the two countries.

US to end combat role in Afghanistan in 2013: Panetta

02/03/2012

The United States plans to end its combat mission in Afghanistan as early as mid-2013 and shift to a training role, more than a year before most American troops are due to withdraw, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.

Russian new fighter

02/03/2012

Military Space Review talks about Serial Three Su-35S Flanker-E multipurpose jet fighter, which has been successfully tested for the first time at the end of January. India is a potential export customer of the aircraft.

Boeing-Textron V-22 Is Said to Lose $1.75 Billion in Pentagon Budget Cut

02/02/2012

The Pentagon will eliminate 24 V-22 Osprey aircraft built by Boeing Co. (BA) and Textron Inc. from its five-year budget plan, saving $1.75 billion through 2017, according to two U.S. officials. The planned reduction to 98 planes from 122 will be reflected in a final, multi-year contract that’s under negotiation between the Navy and companies, according to one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision hasn’t been announced.

Greece needs to stop its military spending or there will be no country there to defend

02/02/2012

Greece is bankrupt but their military is shopping for arms. In 2010 Greece spent a greater share of its income on arms than any other Nato country except the US. In the meantime, Greece is seeking a deal with private lenders and the EU "by the end of the week" its prime minister said today, as Athens races to avoid a financial meltdown ahead of debt repayments due in March.