Military Aviation News Archive
04/13/2012
A menacing Russian warplane entering UK airspace during the Cold War would have sent Royal Air Force supersonic fighter jets scrambling to intercept it. Britain's Top Gun pilots were on constant standby to take on Soviet aircraft in dogfights for control of the skies over Northern Europe.
Read More...
04/13/2012
The tragic MV-22 Osprey crash in Morocco that killed two Marines this week is likely to reopen the debate about the controversial aircraft's safety. The Osprey earned its bad reputation during its development, when 30 Marines died in three crashes, including 19 in a single 2000 accident in Arizona, and its detractors no doubt will point to this crash as further evidence of its untrustworthiness.
Read More...
04/13/2012
North Korea’s rocket, launched on Friday, appears to have broken apart minutes after blastoff, CNN quoted U.S. officials as saying. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency on Friday cited South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seook as saying that the reclusive communist state has launched the Unha-3 long-range rocket. Two U.S. officials confirmed the launch, CNN reported. There have been no reports of any injuries or damage inflicted by falling debris, CNN said.
Read More...
04/12/2012
South Korea is in the process of selecting a fighter jet to replace the older models in the Air Force’s arsenal. Worth more than 8 trillion won ($7 billion), the FX-III project is the largest single defense acquisition program the country has conducted. Under the program, 60 new fighters will be purchased to replace older models such as the F-4 and the F-5.
Read More...
04/12/2012
The U.S. Coast Guard has exercised a $78.5 million contract option to purchase the service’s 16th and 17th HC-144A Ocean Sentry Maritime Patrol Aircraft. The HC-144A is based on the Airbus Military CN235 tactical airlifter, more than 250 of which are currently in operation by 27 countries.
Read More...
04/12/2012
"We're fully aware of the team it takes to put these aircraft into the hands of our international partners," said Jeffrey Young, director of the Security Assistance Management Directorate at the recent delivery ceremony. Produced in the United States at the company's Philadelphia, Pa. facility, AgustaWestland configured the AW139s for the Egyptian Air Force's search and rescue missions.
Read More...
04/12/2012
Two Russian anti-submarine aircraft have flown over a Japanese destroyer preparing to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it passes over Japan's territory, a Japanese TV channel reported on Wednesday, citing the country's Defense Ministry. According to the ministry, the Il-38 planes were seen on Tuesday off the south-west coast of the largest Japanese island of Honshu, where the destroyer is currently based.
Read More...
04/12/2012
Defence minister A K Antony said on Wednesday that allegations raised by Mysura Reddy, a former TDP member in Rajya Sabha, against the purchase of medium multi-role combat aircraft from French firm Rafale are being looked into. A final decision will be taken only after the probe is completed, he told reporters here.
Read More...
04/12/2012
The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, today announced that another CH-146 Griffon helicopter will be established at 5 Wing Goose Bay. With this addition, three Griffon helicopters will now provide utility helicopter capability at 5 Wing.
Read More...
04/12/2012
Two U.S. Marines were killed and two severely injured in the crash of a hybrid aircraft in Morocco on Wednesday, officials said. The Marines were taking part in joint U.S.-Moroccan military excercises located in the south of the country based in Agadir, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Rodney Ford in Rabat, who gave the toll.
Read More...
04/11/2012
After remaining grounded for over a month after two crashes in close succession, the Mirage-2000 multi-role fighters are expected to take to the skies by end-April. Air chief marshal (ACM) N A K Browne, on the sidelines of IAF annual commanders' conference on Tuesday, said the Mirage-2000 fleet was undergoing systematic technical checks and would resume flying operations by month-end.
Read More...
04/11/2012
Eligible pilots, combat systems officers and engineers have an opportunity to join the ranks of airpower pioneers like Jimmy Doolittle and Chuck Yeager, but they have to apply for U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School to do so.
Read More...
04/11/2012
On Apr. 8, 2012, the first Voyager aircraft took to the skies for her maiden flight under the command of an AirTanker crew, to signal the commencement of the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) service to the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft, a version of the Airbus Military A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft, took off from RAF Brize Norton for a training sortie around the United Kingdom to allow the AirTanker crew to familiarise themselves with the aircraft.
Read More...
04/11/2012
A contract has been signed Apr. 5 between Eurocopter and PT Dirgantara Indonesia/Indonesian Aerospace for the supply of six EC725. To be received in 2014, Indonesian Aerospace will customize and deliver these combat search and rescue configured helicopters to the Indonesian Air Force under a contract signed with the Indonesian Ministry of Defence last month.
Read More...
04/11/2012
The Army's helicopter fleet is tired. It's flown six times harder over the past ten years than any Army leader expected in the hot, dusty climates of Iraq and Afghanistan. That's why service leaders have started scraping the paint off select helicopters to find hidden cracks. Army maintainers found one helicopter riddled with over 300 cracks in its airframe after removing the paint.
Read More...
04/11/2012
Stick or twist? That is the choice facing UK defence secretary Philip Hammond, who is poised to announce a decision on the future of the nation's carrier strike ambitions and choice of embarked combat aircraft. The main issue to be decided is whether to keep faith with a decision made in late 2010 to switch allegiance from Lockheed's short take-off and vertical landing F-35B to the manufacturer's C-model carrier variant.
Read More...
04/11/2012
Kenya increased spending on military equipment last year with the importation of eight war ships and six armoured vehicles, data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) shows. Kenya’s overall military spend rose to Sh52.2 billion ($594 million) in 2010 from Sh47.5 billion ($580 million) in 2009. The figures are adjusted for inflation and are based on a mean annual exchange rate of Sh88 to the dollar.
Read More...
04/11/2012
The Pentagon plans to increase its fleet of armed and long-haul surveillance drones by at least 45 percent over the next 10 years. The U.S. military’s inventory of unmanned aerial vehicles, will grow to 645 aircraft in fiscal 2022 from about 445 in fiscal 2013, including versions of Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) (NOC)’s RQ-4 Global Hawk and General Atomics’ MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-1 Predators.
Read More...
04/11/2012
“Will Minister Antony resign?” More than any other, this is the one question that I have been asked by Americans in recent weeks about the defence minister who has been in the news for the better part of this year. Most of the people asking this question have some connection with the military-industrial complex in the United States of America or the country’s defence and strategic community.
Read More...
04/11/2012
Georgia conducted a test flight of its first domestically produced unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on Tuesday, the Georgian Defense Ministry said in a statement. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili observed the “successful” test flight, which took place at a military base near the capital of Tbilisi “amid complex terrain and climate conditions,” the statement said.
Read More...
04/10/2012
The Chinese military has added sea-based unmanned aircraft to its rapidly growing arsenal, with the first of those aircraft already deployed. The People's Liberation Navy (PLN) has begun fielding unmanned surveillance aircraft aboard its fleet of warships, according to recent news reports. Foreign intelligence agencies have already confirmed the existence of one Chinese-built maritime aerial drone aboard PLN ships, United Press International reported Monday.
Read More...
04/10/2012
As independent analysts everywhere accused the government of fantasy, a serious charge when the nation’s defences are in question, again we must ask if the charge is too harsh. To this the analysts reply that the hub of the SDSR’s thinking is the acquisition at some time in the future of two aircraft carriers equipped, at some further time in the future, with squadrons of the F-35B or F-35C Joint Strike Fighters.
Read More...
04/10/2012
The USS Enterprise has been sent to the Persian Gulf, the US Navy said Monday as tensions rise over Iran’s nuclear program. It will be the fourth time in the last decade the US has had two aircraft carriers on simultaneous missions in the area. The deployment of the second aircraft is "routine and not specific to any threat," stated Commander Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. The Enterprise and its strike group entered the fleet’s area of responsibility on April 3.
Read More...
04/10/2012
It was 50 years ago this summer and fall that the last of the 744 B-52s built, an H-model that is still flying out of Minot Air Force Base, N.D., rolled off the assembly line and was accepted into the fleet. October also marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when all of the old Strategic Air Command’s bombers, including Barksdale’s B-52s, were put on 100 percent alert status for a full month.
Read More...
04/10/2012
One of the hottest topics in the defense and diplomatic worlds is the Obama administration's "rebalancing" of U.S. interests toward Asia. The new focus is a slate of military and geopolitical strategies meant as a hedge against China, and to a lesser extent its client, North Korea. But what does it mean for the armed forces when the White House focuses its gaze on a new part of the world, and a new foe?
Read More...