Military Aviation News Archive
10/30/2011
The report is part of the new publication “Strategic Survey for Israel 2011“ Edited by Anat Kurz and Shlomo Brom, this volume includes thirteen analytical essays written by INSS researchers. Focus is on Israel’s strategic environment in the period under review, particularly in the wake of the major changes experienced in the Middle East commonly known as the “Arab spring.” The ongoing Palestinian issue and Iran’s nuclear program remain at the fore of the challenges facing Israel.
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10/29/2011
The US may have been ejected out of the $10.4 billion race to supply 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to the IAF, but it is going great guns on other fronts. After the $4.1-billion contract for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft, the US seems all set to bag the $1.4-billion deal for supplying 22 heavy-duty attack helicopters or gunships to the IAF.
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10/29/2011
The first problem concerned a fatigue crack in the idler gear that occurred at cruise propeller speed. This led to an in-flight shutdown and also caused the cancellation of the A400M’s appearance in the flying display at Paris as a precautionary measure. With the fault located, EPI instigated a redesign to shift the resonance point out of the running range.
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10/29/2011
India's Defence Ministry has invited the two rivals for a $12 billion jet fighter contract - France's Dassault and the European Eurofighter consortium -- to unveil their bids next week.
The Dassault group is hoping to secure the contract for 126 jets, one of the largest military contracts of recent years, with its Rafale fighter which has yet to find any foreign buyers.
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10/29/2011
India is going to soon ink yet another $1.2-billion deal with the US for six more C-130J " Super Hercules" military transport aircraft, even as the IAF gears up for intensive training on the first six of these aircraft for "special operations".
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10/29/2011
The White House says the United States has drones in Ethiopia and that the unmanned aircraft are there to conduct reconnaissance missions, not airstrikes. Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Friday that the operation is part of the U.S. government's partnership with Ethiopia to promote stability in the Horn of Africa and combat terrorism.
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10/29/2011
he Obama administration may transfer combat helicopters from existing Marine inventory to Turkey, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Friday. The DSCA has formally notified Congress of a possible sale of AH-1W Super Cobra Attack helicopters to Turkey. The notification was required under the U.S. Arms Export Control Act.
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10/29/2011
Like a strike fighter aircraft that averts danger from all directions as it heads toward its mission, the political agility of the Boeing Corp.'s F/A-18 Super Hornet program is being tested as it maneuvers through congressional budget-cutters, dodges errant flak from the Missouri legislature and hones in on foreign sales.
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10/29/2011
Twenty-eight members of the NATO Council agreed to end the seven-month air operations in Libya from October 31 at their meeting in Brussels on Friday, media reports said. The decision came after Libya’s 42-year leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed on October 20. Confrontation between Gaddafi loyalists and the opposition lasted for nine months and left thousands dead.
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10/29/2011
Russia’s third prototype Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation fighter will be ready to take to the skies in the near future, a military industry source said on Thursday.
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10/29/2011
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has successfully flown its medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) as part of a key test programe.
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10/27/2011
The up-again, down-again, F-22 Raptors at Langley Air Force Base are up again. The Raptors were authorized to fly as of Tuesday, said Monica Miller Rodgers, a spokeswoman for Joint Base Langley-Eustis. The commander of the 1st Fighter Wing had ordered a pause in flying last Thursday after a pilot reportedly experienced symptoms of hypoxia.
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10/27/2011
A Georgia man was jailed for nearly four years Wednesday for his role in a "broad conspiracy" to illegally export sensitive military equipment to Iran, officials said. Michael Todd, president of The Parts Guys company, was also ordered to forfeit more than $160,000 in connection with his efforts to supply Iran with components for US fighter jets and attack helicopters.
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10/27/2011
Bulgaria will delay the purchase of eight fighter jets to replace Soviet-era aircraft because of budget cuts next year. A procurement plan and tender for the acquisition of military aircraft will be postponed after the Cabinet decided to narrow the 2012 budget deficit to 1.35 percent of gross domestic product, from 2 percent this year, Defense Minister Anyu Angelov told reporters in Sofia today.
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10/27/2011
While the win in Libya may reassure some of NATO’s critics and embolden its advocates, if you think it will pave a road to Damascus, think again. A unique alignment of conditions made intervention possible in Libya that is not present in Syria.
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10/27/2011
France has begun withdrawing its combat aircraft from Libya operations, returning four Mirage F1s to France as operations come to a close following Muammar Gaddafi’s death and NATO’s withdrawal at the end of the month. On Monday four Mirage F1CRs returned to Base Aerienne 188 Mont-de-Marsan, after having been based at Souda, Crete, as part of Operation Harmattan, France’s contribution to NATO’s Operation unified Protector. On Monday two Mirage 2000Ds also returned from Souda.
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10/27/2011
Russian flight safety authority Rosaviatsia denies it has any plans to temporarily ground the nation’s fleet of Mil Mi-8T helicopters, the watchdog said on Wednesday following media reports that a ban was being considered. The Mi-8 and its updated variant, the Mi-17, is the most widely produced helicopter in history, and hundreds remain in service throughout the world, particularly in Russia and the former Soviet Republics.
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10/27/2011
Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) crews started flight training on their first A330 MRTT with Airbus Military instructors at the Airbus Military Getafe facilities in Spain yesterday.
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10/26/2011
Although it is far from certain that the Airbus Military A400M transport will meet two of its 2011 targets — receiving its type certification and flying the fifth test aircraft — program officials are generally upbeat about overall development progress and confident that the far more important objective, delivering the first customer aircraft, can be met next year.
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10/26/2011
An Air Force fighter jet crashed in a sparsely populated part of southern Nevada on Monday, but the pilot was able to eject from the aircraft and didn’t suffer any injuries, authorities said. The F-15C Eagle from Nellis Air Force Base crashed on federal land northwest of Alamo, Nev., said Lt. Ken Lustig, an Air Force spokesman. Alamo is about 100 miles north of Las Vegas.
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10/26/2011
Allied air power saved the Libyan revolt from being crushed at least once, if not twice, this past summer. Nearly 8,000 allied strike sorties kept Gadhafi's forces on the defensive, destroyed their command-and-control network, and eliminated much of their supply infrastructure.
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10/26/2011
From managing hot pursuits of an intelligence target halfway around the world, to real-time intelligence gathering at the scene at a far away location, to the firing of a lethal precision missile at a top terrorist - modern armies no longer consider these unmanned combat systems just expensive toys.
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10/26/2011
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta assured anxious Asian allies that the U.S. will maintain its large military presence in the Pacific as a counterweight to China, despite mounting pressure at home to cut spending. US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta at a news conference during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence ministers’ meeting ion Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, on Sunday.
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10/26/2011
America's Air Force has again grounded portions of its stealthy fleet of F-22 Raptor tactical fighter jets. This comes on the heels of a recent four-month grounding of the fleet earlier this year. While the call for accountability is certainly warranted, Air Force leaders appear to be doing everything possible to keep the pilots safe while trying to identify the problem.
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10/26/2011
Boeing delivered the 12th C-40A aircraft to the U.S. Navy on Oct. 21. The Boeing 737-700 derivative was modified at the company's Wichita facility for troop and cargo transport missions. Boeing and Navy representatives marked the milestone with a ceremonial "passing of the key" at the Wichita facility before the aircraft departed for its home base at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.
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