Special Purpose

Military Aviation News Archive

Feature: Finance and false economy in defence

07/14/2011

In a book published in 1983, Norman Augustine, a luminary of the US aerospace industry, drafted a series of light-hearted “laws”, 52 in alli. Law XVI reads: “In the year 2054, the entire defence budget will purchase just one aircraft. This aircraft will have to be shared by the Air Force and Navy 3-1/2 days each per week except for leap year, when it will be made available to the Marines for the extra day.”

Costliest fighter upgrade

07/14/2011

The government today approved the costliest military aircraft upgrade programme yet, gifting to France a deal that will see the Indian Air Force’s 25-year-old Mirage fighter planes being dressed up for more than Rs 200 crore a piece.

Russian president Medvedev tackles old military-industrial problem

07/14/2011

Russia's ambitious $730-billion rearmament program appears to be stalling amid skyrocketing prices, late deliveries and, in some cases, the sheer inability of Russia's military industries to deliver the goods.

Iraq looking to buy F-16 fighters

07/14/2011

Iraq seems to be moving forward on plans to buy up to 18 US F-16 fighter jets at a cost of $3bn - after putting off a potential sale several months ago - according to an American military spokesman who spoke to CNN yesterday.

China’s Jet Engine Future

07/13/2011

China's military jet engine capability is increasing at a rapid pace, with implications not only for China's independent military capabilities, but also for the global defence industry. Yet China also faces major impediments in achieving its strategic aim of establishing itself as an independent manufacturer in one of aerospace's most complex engineering technologies: high-performance turbofan engines. Our recent paper, Jet Engine Development in China found that China's progress is uneven but th

Selfridge Announces Air Show Performers

07/13/2011

A mix of the old and the new will be on display in the air and on the ground next month at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base Air Show and Open House. Two Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets similar to the jets that flew over the lakefront during this past weekend for the Gold Cup Races are scheduled to appear at the free air show Aug. 20-21 along with the Air Force's new F-22 Raptor.

Hornet Buffs Up

07/13/2011

The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was not supposed to live this long. But with the latest slippages in the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program and aging fighter forces worldwide, Boeing talks about stretching production to 1,000 aircraft and keeping the line open to the end of the decade, despite the recent loss in India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft competition.

IAF to brief Lockheed Martin

07/13/2011

Lockheed Martin, one of the two US companies which lost out in the bid for the 126 combat aircraft deal, is expected to be conveyed the reasons for it by the Indian Air Force (IAF). The IAF is expected to brief Lockheed Martin Tuesday in detail about the reasons of their exclusion for which the request is understood to have been made by the US government, defence sources told PTI here.

U.K. endorses India Eurofighter deal

07/13/2011

The rumor among the Euro-aero-hacks in Paris this year was that all is not well with India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft program, which prompted them to ask American industry officials if they thought they might end up getting another shot at it. (Boeing’s top military aviation executive crossed his fingers.) But until and unless something actually happens, the Indians are going forward with their last round of competition between the Eurofighter Typhoon and France’s Dassault Rafale — and

China offers rare glimpse of military HQ

07/13/2011

When it comes to China's military relationship with the United States, U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen is not one to mince his words. "We don't have a relationship, it was stopped," the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says after climbing down from one of China's high-tech combat planes during a rare visit to the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army in Shandong province.

Boeing EA-18G Growlers Complete 1st Combat Deployment

07/13/2011

Boeing EA-18G Growlers operated by U.S. Navy electronic attack squadron VAQ-132 safely returned to their home base at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., on July 9, after completing an eight-month deployment that included combat operations in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) areas of responsibility.

Fighter jet maker Dassault using Microsoft Surface 2.0

07/12/2011

The new version of the Microsoft Surface tabletop computer made an unexpected appearance at the recent Paris Air Show, as Dassault Aviation showed a trio of Surface applications that work in conjunction with its Rafale military aircraft.

World of Warcraft: USA vs. China

07/12/2011

When the top commanders of the world’s two largest standing armies get together, you’d expect their tete-a-tete to show some results. But so far, we’re not getting much more than schoolyard nitter-natter.

S. Korean, U.S. air forces to hold aerial refueling drills

07/12/2011

South Korean and U.S. Air Forces have recently reached an agreement to stage an aerial refueling exercise on a regular basis here, using a U.S. in-flight tanker, a military source said Monday. The first joint refueling exercise in which the U.S. is to mobilize its KC-135 tanker currently based in Okinawa, Japan, is expected to take place in the latter half of this year, the source said.

Do humans have a role in the robot wars of the future?

07/12/2011

After thousands of years of intra-species fighting we have to face the possibility that the institution of war may no longer need us.

Boeing, US Air Force Reserve Welcome C-17s to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

07/12/2011

Boeing on July 9 joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to commemorate the base's transition to the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter. Wright-Patterson, home of the 445th Airlift Wing, previously flew the C-5A Galaxy and is the latest Air Force Reserve Command unit to transition to a fleet of C-17 aircraft.

F-22 deliveries halt as grounding continues

07/11/2011

Deliveries of F-22 Raptors to the Air Force have been halted due to the continuing suspension of flight operations for the stealthy fifth-generation air superiority fighter. Even though manufacturer Lockheed Martin continues to build the aircraft at its Marietta, Ga., factory, the company is unable to do required flight testing for each aircraft as it leaves final assembly. Nor can government test pilots from the Pentagon’s Defense Contract Management Agency fly their acceptance flights for new

USAF requests information on F-16 AESA upgrade

07/11/2011

The US Air Force has taken the first public step towards upgrading hundreds of Lockheed Martin F-16s with active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. The Aeronautical Systems Center (ASC) published a six-page request for information in late June, asking suppliers for information about options for upgrading between 300 and 600 later-model F-16s from 2017.

US to announce F-16 upgrade deal with Taiwan

07/11/2011

The US-based Chinese-language Duowei News says the United States will announce in September a deal to upgrade Taiwan's aging F-16 A/B fighter jets.

With U.S. military aid cut, Pakistan eyes China

07/11/2011

Pakistan's increasingly "close and effective defense ties" established with China during the past decade will allow Islamabad to "fill the gap" arising from the prospect of reduced military aid from the United States, a senior Pakistani official said on Sunday after reports emerged of cuts of up to $800 million in U.S. aid.

U.S. fighter jets intercept aircraft near Obama's weekend getaway

07/10/2011

Two F-15 fighter jets have intercepted a small aircraft near Camp David in Maryland, where President Barack Obama is spending the night with his family, according to the U.S. military. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the civilian aircraft was out of radio communication just after noon on Saturday. Fighter jets intercepted the plane and directed it out of restricted airspace near Camp David. The plane landed without incident.

China Urges Japan to Stop 'Risky Actions' in East China Sea

07/10/2011

China urged Japan to stop "risky actions" in the East China Sea, the Ministry of National Defense said on its website. Flights of Chinese military aircraft over waters under China's "management" is "completely" in accordance with international law, the ministry said

NFTC project director calls it quits, Tejas programme is likely to suffer

07/10/2011

The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas programme which has seen several delays since the project was conceived 27 years ago, has suffered another setback as Air Commodore Rohit Varma, project director of the National Flight Test Centre (NFTC) which oversees all flight test-related activities of aircraft, quit his post on Friday.

'Hands-free' landing is a step toward unmanned naval flight

07/10/2011

Are the days of "Top Gun" coming to an end? Not yet. But the Navy moved a step closer to a new era of unmanned carrier-based aerial combat last weekend. Aboard the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower off the Virginia coast Saturday, an F/A-18D Hornet, modified to emulate an unmanned aircraft, made its first carrier touchdown without a pilot's guiding hands.

UK hardsells the Eurofighter

07/10/2011

Having used it for aerial operations in Libya, the UK says India could do no better than invest in the Eurofighter. In New Delhi to talk defence relations and pitch for the Eurofighter over the French Rafale (the only two aircraft left in the race for IAF's 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft bid), British defence secretary Liam Fox told TOI in an exclusive interview that UK has been "extraordinarily impressed by its capability and availability" in the Libya operations.