Military Aviation News Archive
05/17/2011
A Marine Corps pilot escaped injury Tuesday when the F/A-18 fighter jet he was flying slid off a runway during a landing at USMC Air Station Miramar, a base spokeswoman said.
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05/17/2011
Pakistan is to return to the United States on Tuesday the remains of a stealth helicopter used in a special forces raid to kill al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, Pakistani television said, quoting army sources. Pakistan agreed to return the tail of the helicopter following a late night meeting on Monday between U.S. Senator John Kerry and Pakistani officials in Islamabad. "Tomorrow the tail of the helicopter will be returned to America," Kerry told journalists. The UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter cras
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05/17/2011
Of the many planned stops on a U.S. tour this week by a top-level Chinese military delegation, one — the iconic Grand Canyon — is an especially apt metaphor for the wide divide between Washington and Beijing over explosive issues like U.S. support for Taiwan.
Pentagon officials hope the visit, which begins Monday in Washington, will mark a fresh beginning for a prickly, start-and-stop relationship between the two military behemoths. The Chinese delegation is led by Gen. Chen Bingde, the counter
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05/17/2011
Pakistan is seeking a U.S. Foreign Military Sales order to provide funds for the purchase of spare parts for its U.S.-made military aircraft. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in its notification to Congress Friday, said the estimated cost of the spare parts for F-16s, C-130s, T-37s, T-33s and other aircraft or systems/subsystems of U.S. origin used by the Pakistani air force is $62 million.
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05/17/2011
The U.S. is developing aircraft carrier-based drones that could provide a crucial edge as it tries to counter China's military rise. American officials have been tightlipped about where the unmanned armed planes might be used, but a top Navy officer has told The Associated Press that some would likely be deployed in Asia. "They will play an integral role in our future operations in this region," predicted Vice Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, commander of the U.S. 7th Fleet, which covers most of the Paci
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05/17/2011
India is clearly a key player in shaping the future of Chinese power, globally and in the Pacific. At the same time, the significant 2nd and 3rd world fighter market will be dominated by exports from China, Russia, India or Brazil. Neither the U.S. nor Europe is planning a lower cost export fighter. Indian leadership when they saw the Chinese role out of the J-20 understood its impact on global markets. This is an advanced aircraft, which will have implications for upgrades for customers of C
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05/17/2011
EADS North America delivered the first of six UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopters (LUH) to the South Dakota Army National Guard yesterday during a delivery ceremony at the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota's Black Hills.
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05/17/2011
The second Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II production aircraft flies above the compass rose of Rogers Dry Lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., May 13. The aircraft, designated AF-6, ferried to Edwards AFB from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base following the Air Force formally accepting the fighter into its inventory May 12. The first production jet, AF-7, was delivered to Edwards AFB May 6.
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05/16/2011
The UN special envoy was on Sunday headed for Libya to urge a ceasefire between Muammar Gaddafi's troops and rebels seeking to topple the strongman, as an anti-regime revolt entered a fourth month.
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05/16/2011
The fierce combat in Libya has unleashed a once-hidden arsenal of portable anti-aircraft missiles that the government fears could easily be siphoned off to terror groups, giving rise to a potential threat to commercial aviation that the U.S. is only beginning to confront, government officials and arms experts said.
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05/16/2011
The much-awaited order for the American C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force will be cleared this month. The IAF's order for 10 aircraft is expected to cost some Rs. 18,000 crore (roughly $4 billion). The Ministry of Defence has given the go-ahead for the purchase of these aircraft from the U.S. through the Foreign Military Sales (government-to-government) route.
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05/16/2011
Australia and the other members of the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) last week completed a major military exercise to plan and conduct a joint military operation for the defence of Malaysia and Singapore. The FPDA countries - Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and the UK - conducted Exercise Bersama Shield 2011 from 2-13 May. Participants were challenged to jointly plan and execute tactical missions for 46 combat aircraft and nine warships.
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05/16/2011
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the Swiss Army knife of combat weapons versatility and lethality. At $65 million to $112.5 million per aircraft at its drive-the-car-off-the-lot cost and $382 billion in total program costs, the F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program (see "Figuring F-35 costs" on E2). But at more than twice the price of the newest commercial airliner, the fifth generation fighter may be worth it: more impervious to radar, performing more roles a
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05/15/2011
The South African Air Force has grounded its fleet of 24 BAE Systems Hawk Mk120 lead-in fighter trainers after one experienced an engine surge during a fly-by to celebrate Freedom Day last year. Air Force chief Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano says the move was precautionary. He added the aircraft, assigned to 85 Combat Flying School at AFB Makhado landed safely.
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05/15/2011
US troops will be deployed in Pakistan if the nation’s nuclear installations come under threat from terrorists out to avenge the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the Sunday Express can reveal.
The plan, which would be activated without President Asif Ali Zardari’s consent, provoked an angry reaction from Pakistan officials last night.
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05/15/2011
At $65 million to $112.5 million per aircraft at its drive-the-car-off-the-lot cost and $382 billion in total program costs, the F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program. But at more than twice the price of the newest commercial airliner, the fifth generation fighter may be worth it: more impervious to radar, performing more roles and replacing more aircraft in the nation's arsenal than any aircraft in history, industry and military officials said. The single-seat, single-engine F-
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05/15/2011
The imposing Art Deco building that dominates the hills above the Bay of Naples has been turned into a war room for Nato's military campaign against another notorious dictator, Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
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05/14/2011
The Swedish Armed Forces have released photographs, which it claims indicates that Muammar Qaddafi still retains several fighter aircraft.
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05/14/2011
Britain’s military says that it is bringing its drone controllers back from the western United States and setting them at an air base in northern England. Air Chief Marshal Stephen Dalton said Friday that the transfer of the controllers from the U.S. to the U.K. would allow “more efficient and effective use of our resources.”
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05/14/2011
India's military has the capability to detect any suspected intrusion by low-flying aerial vehicles, similar to what happened during the recent operation by the U.S. Navy Seals in Abbotabad, Pakistan, according S. Sundaresh, Distinguished Scientist of Defence Research and Development Organisation said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 20th convocation of Sathyabama University here, Mr. Sundaresh, who is also the Chief Controller, Research and Development, Armaments and
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05/14/2011
British Army personnel are taking to the skies over Libya in RAF Sentinel aircraft, helping gather essential intelligence in support of NATO-led operations to protect civilians on the ground below.
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05/14/2011
he Air Force is planning to buy a "light attack and armed reconnaissance" aircraft for use by U.S. and foreign pilots in counter-insurgency warfare. At about $10 million per plane, it's probably the cheapest combat aircraft the service will buy in this century -- which is one reason why few politicians or pundits are paying attention. But the competition to select a winning aircraft raises broader questions about the way the military buys weapons, and in particular whether Pentagon policymakers
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05/13/2011
If the official statements by the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi about the battle for this city were true, then much that was visible around the airport on Thursday did not actually happen or exist. There were no clusters of rebels and machine-gun trucks at the traffic circle by the outdoor bazaar and huge mosque. The empty fighting holes, left in haste on Wednesday by fleeing Qaddafi soldiers, were not empty. The loyalist soldiers there were just especially well-camouflaged.
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05/13/2011
Air Force Fighter Plane Crashes in Gboko - A Nigerian Air Force Fighter Jet F-7Ni at the early hours of Wednesday, crashed at Mbaniongu Mbazaam, near Yandev in Gboko local government area of Benue State. The ill fated jet crash landed near the Yandev Community Secondary School, at kilometer 4, Buruku road, but no casualties were recorded in the accident. In a statement by the Command Public Relations Officer of the Tactical Air Command of the force in Makurdi, Wing Commander Adebayo Makun, the t
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05/13/2011
In the U.S. Army, aviation remains a growth industry, especially the unmanned kind. The service continues to purchase hundreds of drones, ranging from large Predator-like aircraft to backpack size Ravens. Now the Army is seeking yet another big-ticket item: a long-endurance unmanned helicopter that can fly at high altitudes and survive in extreme weather conditions. While the Army owns and operates hundreds of fixed-wing unmanned air vehicles, rotary-wing UAVs have been a tough sell. After many
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