Military Aviation News Archive
03/17/2011
A Yas Air Ilyushin IL-76TD, registration EP-GOL performing a freight flight from Tehran Mehrabad (Iran) to Aleppo (Syria), was intercepted by Turkish F-16 fighter aircraft and diverted to Diyarbakir (Turkey) for a safe landing.
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03/17/2011
Iran unveiled its first home-made multipurpose micro fighter jet in a ceremony attended by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.
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03/16/2011
Right now, helicopters are needed most. With roads, airports, and ports washed away or clogged with debris, the only way to reach many of the affected areas is by helicopter. Yet Japan now has barely 100 military helicopters engaged in relief efforts. The United States should start sending all of its heavy-lift helicopters in Japan and South Korea to northern Japan. Similarly, the Air Force should dramatically ramp up the number of C-17s bringing in supplies to Misawa Air Base, so that supplies
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03/16/2011
Senior U.S. military officials believe that Libyan strongman Muammar el-Qaddafi’s Russian-made attack helicopters -- and not his warplanes -- pose the biggest challenge to the creation of a no-fly zone over the war-torn country, a policy option drawing increasing support in both Arab and Western capitals.
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03/16/2011
The V-22 Osprey, an innovative aircraft that combines the best of both helicopter and airplane, was one of the programs under consideration. In combat conditions, the Osprey could move our Marines in and out of battle safer and faster than any of the helicopter options available then or even on the drawing board. It was clear that for the force of the future, an aircraft with game-changing capabilities was the smart choice. The decision to proceed with this forward-looking program was, and remai
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03/16/2011
Africa's share of international major conventional weapons imports increased from 5% in 2001–2005 to 7% in 2006–10. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) adds the Middle East accounted for 17% of imports over the same period, down from 21% in the years 2001–2005.
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03/16/2011
The world's opinion-makers, in both government and media, seem to have settled on the idea that imposing a "no-fly zone" over Libya would be a good idea for all concerned. Not everyone has jumped on this bandwagon yet, but it seems to be the most popular option under discussion by those advocating "doing something" about the situation in Libya.
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03/16/2011
The much maligned F-35 program recently received a vote of confidence from two of its three major constituencies, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. A revised interservice agreement between the two envisions the procurement of 680 F-35s. The Navy will buy 260 F-35Cs, specifically designed for carrier operations. The Marines will buy a mix: 80 F-35Cs and 340 short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35Bs.
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03/16/2011
Seven test versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) have been cleared to resume flight testing, but others remain grounded while investigators work to determine why one aircraft's primary generators failed last week, the program's top official told Congress March 15.
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03/16/2011
India’s defence minister A.K.Antony is reported to be resisting American attempts to use an Indo-U.S. Strategic dialogue as a lobbying point to sell American warplanes in the $10 billion MMRCA deal.
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03/15/2011
The Air Force has received two more F-15K fighter jets from U.S. defense contractor Boeing, bringing the total number of the advanced aircraft in the country to 47, officials said Monday.
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03/15/2011
BAE Systems has signed an agreement with French defence company Dassault to build a self-piloting drone which will be used by both countries' air forces, as part of the Government's plan to cut defence costs by purchasing more kit with other nations.
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03/15/2011
India believes that China now has five airfields in Tibet (Gongar, Pangta, Linchi, Hoping and Gar Gunsa) that are bases for military aircraft. India is also seeing more Chinese warplanes being based full time in Tibet. This was somewhat unexpected, and it's all about thin air.
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03/15/2011
More than half of Americans support U.S. participation in creating a no-fly zone over Libya, but support for unilateral U.S. military action is lower – and a new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds substantial skepticism about the aims and outcome of political unrest across the region.
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03/15/2011
Fly-by-wire technology has long been credited for enabling military fighter jets to maneuver through the air. As the advanced computer controls continue to migrate into the commercial airliner and business jet fleets — and more importantly, come down in cost — the digital-only revolution is finally gaining some momentum in rotary-wing aircraft.
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03/15/2011
India occupies the first place on the list of the world's largest importers of weaponry in the past five years, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said.
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03/14/2011
Colonel Moammar Gadhafi is curbing the use of ground troops as his commanders fear mass defections, military planners said on Tuesday. Britain's leading military think tank said Col Gaddafi could instead use fighter jets and, in particular, attack helicopters to inflict punishing damage on the rebel forces.
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03/14/2011
The Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) is designed and developed indigenously by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in four years since the project began in 2006, and is likely to be ready for induction by the Army and Air Force before 2014, according to defense news.
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03/14/2011
The royal is off to a secret US experimental combat weapons base where he will learn how to hunt the Taliban in his attack helicopter.
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03/14/2011
In the last five years Middle Eastern states accounted for 17 per cent of international arms transfers, say researchers at Sweden's SIPRI.
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03/14/2011
India is planning to deploy its 290km range supersonic BrahMos cruise missile on the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) being developed with Russia.
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03/13/2011
When a U.S. stealth bomber was shot down over Serbia, agents from around the world descended to scavenge parts like these - and in China's case, build their own stealth programme. Live reports on the most expensive leak in the history of military technology.
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03/13/2011
French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised Brazil his government would support Dassault's proposed technology transfer of its new fighter jet as the company seeks an edge in its bid to win a multibillion-dollar Brazilian military contract.
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03/13/2011
Arab League foreign ministers voted on Saturday to ask the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.
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03/12/2011
Lockheed Martin said Friday that aircraft AF-4, one of four F-35A models flying at Edwards Air Force Base in California, "experienced a dual generator failure and oil leak during flight operations on Wednesday. The jet returned safely to base."
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