Military Aviation News Archive
11/16/2011
The last time the remote Australian city of Darwin played a significant role in American military planning was during the early days of World War II, when Gen. Douglas MacArthur used the port as the base for his campaign to reclaim the Pacific from the Japanese.
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11/16/2011
Russia’s Irkut corporation said on Tuesday it had secured orders for at least 300 Su-30MK fighters and that it had already delivered over half of them. Orders have been placed by India, Algeria and Malaysia, Irkut’s marketing director Andrei Alyoshin said at the Dubai Airshow 2011.
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11/16/2011
The importance of the Gulf region to the UK has been underlined here at the Dubai Airshow, particularly with ongoing Typhoon export campaigns in the UAE, Qatar and Oman.
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11/15/2011
Israel and South Korea are increasingly at odds over a $1 billion contract for the Israeli air force's new advanced jet trainer to replace its venerable A-4 Skyhawks, amid reports that Israel has already signed a preliminary deal with Italy to buy a rival aircraft. How this dispute is resolved is likely to determine potentially lucrative Israeli defense contracts with one of the two countries.
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11/15/2011
The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a $383 million contract to maintain, operate and sustain the Persistent Threat Detection Systems (PTDS). The tethered aerostat provides real-time, around-the-clock reconnaissance and surveillance of broad geographic areas for warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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11/15/2011
The Malaysian defense ministry plans to buy 18 Russian Su-30MKM fighters fit to carry Russian-Indian BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, the Izvestia daily said on Tuesday. The paper said, citing military sources, that Malaysian Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi plans on Tuesday to visit the Irkut aviation plant, producing Su-30MKI fighters for India. According to Izvestia, one such aircraft would cost Malaysia about $50 million, future maintenance included.
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11/15/2011
Russia is close to signing new contracts with Saudi Arabia on the export of helicopters and air defense missiles systems in addition to recent arms deals with Riyadh, state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Monday.
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11/15/2011
Fresh from operations over Iraq and Afghanistan, the US Marine Corps Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey is making its regional airshow debut at Dubai.
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11/15/2011
Though the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master prototypes have been a regular sight at international air shows, Dubai sees the public debut of the production aircraft, in the shape of the first T-346 to be delivered to the Italian Air Force's Reparto Sperimentale Volo at Pratica di Mare.
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11/15/2011
Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Pakistan's Chief of the Air Staff, underlined the importance of the new JF-17 Thunder which, he said, “represented a much-needed capability for the Pakistan Air Force”.
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11/15/2011
The joint Russian exhibition (pavilion: W560) has been organised by the state corporation Russian Technologies. Rosoboronexport, the sole Russian exporter and importer of military and dual-purpose products, technologies and services, is representing a host of products from the Russian aerospace industry, including the Su-35 and MiG-29M/M2 multifunctional fighters, Yak-130 combat trainer and the Be-200 amphibious aircraft.
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11/15/2011
Raytheon has completed the development and testing of a new 'WiPak' method of wirelessly integrating its Paveway family of laser-guided and dual-mode (laser/GPS) bombs.
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11/15/2011
Taking off from Gioia del Colle in Italy, Patounas met up with his wingman (in this event in a Tornado) off the Libyan coast, from where they were directed to Bani Walid. They located and attacked a tank, loitering in the area for an hour. Reports of gunfire then resulted in them being vectored to Sirte, where they discovered nothing more lethal than a local firework display, patrolling for another hour.
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11/14/2011
As Kenyan troops push their way into Somalia's hinterland in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants, several security analysts and observers allege an unseen hand behind Operation Linda Nchi. The allegations have been riding on the wave of unconfirmed reports in the early days of the incursion that claimed that unmanned American drones had attacked several targets inside the lawless nation.
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11/14/2011
Irkut is at the show promoting its Yakovlev-designed Yak-130 advanced jet trainer for the Middle Eastern market, as it also nears the receipt of a new order from the Russian air force and first deliveries to export customer Algeria.
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11/14/2011
The U.S. Air Force recently revealed that an F-16 pilot, killed when his aircraft dove into the ground during an air combat training exercise, appears to have passed out because high G-forces while making a high-speed turn at 6,000 meters (18,000 feet). Fighter pilots are equipped and trained to deal with handling up to 9 Gs. But some of these methods require the pilot to contract abdominal muscles and take a deep breath to maintain consciousness.
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11/14/2011
The current console space has its fair share of World War II flight combat games. Early on, there was the arcade action of both Blazing Angels games followed by Heroes Over Europe and the simulation title, IL-2 Sturmovik. All four games had both good and bad qualities, but ever since, developers have preferred the comfort of modern flight combat. Air Conflicts: Secret Wars revisitsthat heroic era, and although it's a budget title, there is some fun tucked away here.
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11/14/2011
Pakistan Air Force is participating in Dubai Air Show-2011, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister of UAE, Sheikh Muhammad Bin Rashid Al-Makhtum, on Sunday. Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force also attended the inaugural ceremony along with a large number of delegations from different countries including Air Chiefs of a number of Air Forces, said a press release.
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11/14/2011
The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor military transport aircraft, is likely to get its first international customer from the Middle East, where its debut at the Dubai Airshow received interest from United Arab Emirates royals, program executives said Sunday. "The first international customer will come from the Middle East," said John Garrison, president and chief executive of Bell Helicopter, which runs the program in an alliance with Boeing Co.
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11/14/2011
Embraer Defense and Security, in concurrence with the Brazilian Air Force, recently announced that International Aero Engines AG has been chosen to provide the powerplant for the country's new KC-390 multi-role tanker/transport aircraft. The engine has been designated the V2500-E5.
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11/14/2011
Defence analysts monitoring the three-way dogfight for the multi-billion contract say Tokyo has been impressed with the stealth technology of the Lockheed Martin F-35, which will enable it to carry out clandestine monitoring of Chinese, North Korean and Russian military assets in the region.
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11/14/2011
The Afghan Army Air Force continues to grow. In the last year it has gained a thousand personnel (for a total of 5,000), and 26 aircraft (for a total of 66, mostly Mi-17 transports and Mi-35 gunships helicopters). In addition to the helicopters there are also Russian transports and Italian transports and some trainers. Eventually, there are to be 8,000 personnel and 145 aircraft, mostly helicopters and transports, plus trainers that can double at light attack aircraft.
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11/14/2011
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has asked Britain to bid the Eurofighter Typhoon for its combat aircraft fleet competition, a British government spokesman said, dealing a blow to French efforts to sell the Rafale to the Gulf state. "We have received the request for proposal for the Eurofighter Typhoon," an official from the U.K. Defense & Security Organization said Nov. 13 on the opening day of the Dubai Airshow. "We're working on it."
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11/13/2011
British, French and U.S. aircraft began the action in mid-March, in a “coalition of the willing” named Operation Odyssey Dawn that was led by U.S. Africa Command. On March 31, NATO took command. Eleven other nations sent aircraft to join the campaign. They were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Jordan, Norway, Qatar, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates.
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11/13/2011
Thousands of onlookers fixed their eyes on the North Las Vegas skyline Saturday morning as Air Force jets soared over Nellis Air Force Base. Aviation Nation, Nellis’ annual open house, is celebrating 70 years of the Air Force’s presence in the valley. “It’s our way of being accountable to the public, to let them know the capabilities of their Air force and what we provide,” said Nellis spokesman Lt. Ken Lustig. “These performances are sort of sweet and condensed versions of what we do on a reg
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