Military Aviation News Archive
11/09/2011
Dozens of suspected counterfeit parts have been installed on U.S. defense equipment from Raytheon Co., L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. and Boeing Co., including aircraft deployed to Afghanistan. The Senate Armed Services Committee found counterfeit parts - usually from China - on at least seven aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin Corp. C-130J transport plane, Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and L-3 27J Spartan transport.
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11/09/2011
The Boeing Company’s presence at the 2011 Dubai Airshow will include the Middle East debut of the 787 Dreamliner, the world’s most advanced passenger jet, and the innovative Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. The two aircraft will be part of a formidable lineup of defense and commercial products and services designed to meet the needs of Middle East customers. The show runs Nov. 13-17 at Dubai’s Airport Expo.
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11/09/2011
The U.S. Marine Corps will soon be using a tactical Smartphone network developed by Lockheed Martin to support their humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission exercises. The Marine Corps Forces Pacific Experimentation Center has acquired the MONAX system, which the Office of Naval Research purchased, a portable private 4G network that provides voice, data and video services through commercial Smartphone technologies.
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11/09/2011
India is close to purchase two additional Russian-Israeli airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft, the Times of India newspaper reported. India ordered three A-50EI variants, developed on the basis of the Russian Il-76MD military transport plane and fitted with the Israeli-made Phalcon radar system, in 2004. They are already in service with the Indian air force (IAF).
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11/09/2011
Russia expects to sell up to 90 warplanes in the Middle East by 2025, the United Aircraft Corporation said on Tuesday. These will mostly include so called 4++ generation fighters - Su-35 and MiG-35, an UAC spokesman said.
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11/09/2011
India has taken delivery of the first batch of 80 Mi-17V-5 tactical transport helicopters ordered under a $1.345 billion deal in 2008, Russian arms sales agency Rosoboronexport said on Tuesday. The helicopters are being built by Russian Helicopters' Kazan Helicopter Factory (KVZ) subsidiary.
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11/09/2011
The Russian Defense Ministry will sign a contract with aircraft construction company Irkut on the delivery of 65 YakovlevYak-130 advanced jet trainers within the next two weeks, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, said on Tuesday. The contract is expected to be fulfilled by 2017, he said, without elaborating on the contract price of the jets.
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11/08/2011
The Bell Boeing joint venture will bring the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor to the Dubai air show for the first time, as it continues to push for the type's first export sale.
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11/08/2011
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee is planning to crack down on counterfeit electronic parts, which more often than not originate in China and eventually make their way to U.S. military weapon systems. The committee, led by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., released the results of a months-long investigation on Monday.
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11/08/2011
The U.S. general in charge of training Iraq’s fledgling air force said Monday that there are no plans to have American aircraft protect the country’s airspace when U.S. forces depart next month.The Iraqi air force is in the process of acquiring 18 F-16 fighter jets from the U.S., but the jets and pilots won’t be ready for at least two years, according to Maj. Gen. Russell J. Handy, commander of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Iraq, and director of the Air Component Coordination El
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11/08/2011
The Spanish Ministry of Environment, Rural Affairs and Fisheries has extended its existing contract with Airbus Military for the maintenance of three C212 aircraft for two more years. These C212 aircraft are used by the Fisheries Inspections Department for the surveillance of Spanish territorial waters.
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11/08/2011
With Iran said to be on its way to obtaining a nuclear weapon, Israel and the United States plan to hold the largest-ever joint exercise aimed at testing their defense against ballistic missiles. The drill, dubbed "Austere Challenge," is scheduled to take place in May 2012, and will simulate Israel's ballistic missile defense in action, the Israel Hayom daily reported on Monday.
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11/08/2011
Kazakhstan’s Air Defence Forces have received the first modernized Antonov An-12 military transport aircraft. It was repaired and re-equipped at an aircraft factory in the Russian city of Taganrog. Among other things, navigational equipment was installed to ICAO standards in the cargo aircraft, which allows it to fly outside Kazakhstan. The An-12 is also referred to as a similar aircraft to the American Lockheed C-130 Hercules which is widely used around the world.
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11/08/2011
We are at a critical point regarding our nation’s security. The weak U.S. economy and massive national debt are currently the biggest threats to our country. Attempts to decrease our nation’s debt will result in the Department of Defense budget reductions of $400 billion and future cuts to our military are expected to increase over $1 trillion in the next 10 years.
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11/08/2011
The U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] $46.8 million in contract options to begin modernizing 29 long-range radars which provide advanced warning and air traffic control surveillance over North America’s airspace.
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11/08/2011
The procurement, integration, testing, and installation of the new equipment was carried out by Arinc Engineering Services of the USA. The new technology allows Iraq’s Air Force to establish efficient operational control with modern equipment in the towers at the two airbases, as part of the rebuilding of Iraq. Arinc performed the work under a US Air Force Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract, awarded by the USAF Electronic Systems Center (ESC) Aerospace Management Systems Division.
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11/08/2011
NATO jets were scrambled Monday as four Russian air force planes flew near the territory of the Baltic states, Lithuania's defence ministry said, adding that the unusual number was a cause for concern, AFP reported. Defence ministry spokeswoman Ugne Naujokaityte said that four Danish F-16 fighters, which currently police the skies of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, took to the air twice to escort the Russian planes.
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11/07/2011
The remains of the pilot of the MiG-29 combat jet that crashed in Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul Valley last month have been recovered after a fortnight-long combing operation in the snow-capped mountains, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said Nov 6.
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11/07/2011
When you add up F-4 (Phantom), F-16 and F-15, you get F-35. The next fighter plane of the Israel Air Force is taking shape on Lockheed Martin's production line and flight lanes here, in Dallas' sister city. The industrial and technological prowess of the largest military corporation in the world, with annual revenues exceeding $40 billion, cannot fail to impress visitors from Israel. The thorn in the rose is a financial one: The F-35 will be right on the money, but only if paid in full.
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11/07/2011
Brigadier General Dick Lord, the Fleet Air Arm pilot who has died aged 75, was instrumental in the development of America’s Top Gun fighter pilot academy, made famous by the film of the same name.
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11/06/2011
On the evening of April 5, a pilot settled into a leather captain's chair at Creech Air Force Base in southern Nevada and took the controls of a Predator drone flying over one of the most violent areas of southwestern Afghanistan. Minutes later, his radio crackled. A firefight had broken out. Taliban insurgents had ambushed about two dozen Marines patrolling a bitterly contested road.
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11/06/2011
The details are emerging as Boeing and rival Lockheed Martin, with its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), move from being cut out of the Indian Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft and look to non-JSF partners like Japan for new business. Along those lines, Boeing’s concept for a newer Super Hornet is intended to improve the basic airframe in terms of thrust/weight ratio, acceleration, agility, maneuverability, combat persistence, low-observable characteristics and sensor capabilities.
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11/06/2011
Now, battle-lines for the Europe versus France contest, after elimination of US and Russia in earlier rounds, have been clearly drawn. India on Friday opened the financial bids of the two fighters left in the fray for the world's biggest combat aircraft deal, but promptly declared it would take at least two-three weeks to declare the eventual winner since tons of data had to be computed.
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11/06/2011
The last of the Canadian pilots and aircrew who helped enforce a UN-sanctioned no-fly zone over Libya have returned home to a military air base in Nova Scotia.
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11/06/2011
The Ace Combat series has long been known for its heavy action bent and disregard for the more accurate side of flight sim territory, and the latest instalment, Assault Horizon, is no different, and once more discards any pretence at real flight mechanics in favour of total arcade thrills.
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