Military Aviation News Archive
06/24/2011
Tomorrow is Armed Forces Day, when we celebrate the accomplishments of our servicemen and women. Yet it is also an appropriate time to reflect on the increasingly parlous state of our military.
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06/24/2011
A long-running US military project aimed at producing a "refrigerator sized" laser raygun capable of being mounted on US combat aircraft has received further funding of just under $40m.
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06/24/2011
Two pilots were killed on Thursday when a Russian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet crashed in the Astrakhan region on Thursday, law enforcement sources said. “At 4.43 p.m. the aircraft went off the radar screens around 43 km from the town of Akhtubinsk in Astrakhan region,” the source said.
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06/24/2011
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has launched a small, armed, unmanned helicopter which it says could prove attractive to Middle Eastern countries as an attractive alternative to the products being produced in Israel.
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06/23/2011
Syria's Soviet-era military systems breaking down under stress of clash with unarmed protesters.
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06/23/2011
The Russian defence market is set to expand considerably over the next decade, with the Russian authorities seeking to modernise and improve the capabilities of the Russian armed forces, and to cement Russia's place as a leading military nation.
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06/23/2011
The Defence Ministry today categorically stated that the process for procurement of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) was irreversible and the Government was moving ahead to the next stage of finalising the nearly $ 11 billion dollar, 126 aircraft deal.
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06/23/2011
Tactical Air Defense Services, Inc., an Aerospace/Defense Services contractor that offers tactical aviation services, aerial refueling, aircraft maintenance, and other Aerospace/Defense services to the United States and Foreign militaries and agencies, is pleased to announce that it is has secured a letter of intent from Cornucopia, Ltd. ("Cornucopia") to commit up to $8 million for the purchase of military aircraft and related parts and other aircraft assets.
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06/23/2011
Lockheed Martin and its U.S. military partners are attempting to counter at the Paris Air Show this week negative publicity over cost overruns and technical delays that have plagued the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter aircraft project. Senior project officials told reporters and analysts at a well-attended briefing here that they have "turned the corner" in the troubled development of the strike aircraft.
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06/23/2011
Alenia Aermacchi received military certification for its M346 jet trainer from launch customer the Italian Air Force on June 20, the firm said Wednesday. The Finmeccanica unit undertook 180 flights over the last five months, for a total of 200 hours’ flying time, to win the certification. The Italian Air Force will now start the acceptance procedure for the first two series aircraft, which it has named the T-346A.
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06/23/2011
If you needed any more evidence as to how important unmanned aircraft have become to the US military operations, the US Air Force today said drones have amassed over one million combat hours flown. While that number is impressive, it took the planes known as Global Hawk, Predator and Reaper, almost 14 years to do it, but it could take only a little over another two years to cross the two million mark according to Air Force officials.
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06/23/2011
As the dust over rejection of two U.S. companies from the Rs. 11,000-crore Indian Air Force tender for fighter aircraft settles, official sources said the United States would also have to reconcile with India's unwillingness to sign three military pacts. The U.S. was extremely upset after Boeing and Lockheed Martin were knocked out of the race for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).
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06/23/2011
The Boeing Company today announced the supplier team that will provide key components for the U.S. Air Force's KC-46 Tanker. The Air Force selected Boeing on Feb. 24 to replace 179 Eisenhower-era KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft.
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06/23/2011
Iraq's Air Force has followed on a contract with Hawker Beechcraft through the American Air Force Security Assistance Training command to support the force's fleet of King Air 250ER aircraft.
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06/22/2011
The US may be out of India's $10.4 billion MMRCA deal, the biggest in recent times, but its firms are making a last-ditch attempt to at least corner a slice of the pie. US defence major Raytheon announced here that it is willing to supply missiles and weapons systems which can be integrated into both Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Aviation's Rafale, the two jets which have been shortlisted by India for the project.
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06/22/2011
Pilots from the 60th Guard Air Base are now conducting training flights after sunset in spite of the rules held for the past 15 years. The air base command set the military pilots a task of intercepting a target in the air in complete darkness with zero visibility.
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06/22/2011
Boeing could continue manufacturing variants of its F-15 Eagle — a fighter first flown in 1972 - all the way until the 2020s, the president of its military aircraft division confirmed Tuesday. If Boeing can lock in deals with the air forces of Saudi Arabia and South Korea, it could make new investments “for the long term,” Chris Chadwick told reporters, to make its Eagles or Silent Eagles as cheap and easy to produce as they’ve ever been.
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06/22/2011
Airbus Military and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will jointly develop a new version of an early warning system for the Airbus Military C295 aircraft. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday.
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06/22/2011
U.S. military pride, strength and technology are on display at the 49th International Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget Airport here June 20 through 26. Held every two years, the Paris Air Show provides an opportunity for the U.S. to showcase the best the Department of Defense has to offer in people, aircraft, equipment and training on an international stage.
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06/22/2011
NATO responded on Tuesday to a Congressional threat to cut off funding to the U.S. military involvement in Libya by saying the United States was providing unique assets essential for the success of the mission.
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06/22/2011
Boeing began final assembly of the Indian navy's first P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft this month at the company's Renton factory. The P-8I, based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737 commercial airplane, is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the U.S. Navy.
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06/22/2011
The Boeing C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) is making final preparations for five aircraft to enter the U.S. Air Force Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) program in early 2012.
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06/22/2011
The Norwegian parliament unanimously approved the funding of four Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II training jets to begin fulfilling Norway’s future air-combat capability requirements.
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06/22/2011
In a special ceremony at its headquarters in Wichita today, Hawker Beechcraft celebrated the delivery of the 700th Beechcraft T-6. The milestone aircraft, a T-6C, was accepted by the United States Air Force (USAF) on behalf of the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF). To date, all of the RMAF aircraft have been delivered on or ahead of schedule and all remaining aircraft, ground support equipment and spares are expected to be in-country ahead of schedule.
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06/21/2011
Radar and missiles major Raytheon has enhanced its presence in India with multiple tie-ups with Indian industry, and has announced that its weapons are capable of being integrated on both of the finalists' aircraft in India's medium multi-role combat aircraft competition. The final two shortlisted for MMRCA are Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale.
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