2021 Military Aviation News
12/31/2021
Five Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday (Dec. 29), marking the 22nd intrusion this month. Four People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-11 fighter jets and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of the ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the PLAAF planes.
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12/31/2021
The US faced a major blow as UAE suspended talks to buy the 50 Lockheed F-35 US fighter jets worth USD 23 billion. This is a major setback for the US both economically and diplomatically. China seems to be an emerging winner in the ongoing tussle between US-UAE. UAE suspended the purchase deal of F-35 fighter jets with the US and has chosen Huawei's, a Chinese company, 5G technology.
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12/31/2021
Here's What You Need To Remember: The F-22 also collided with current events, as the economic demands of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the lack of a peer adversary made a $300 million fighter plane, in the view of government officials at the time, an unsustainable cost.
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12/30/2021
Recently the Navy released a new vision for its aircraft carrier air wing that describes how it plans to keep its fighter jets relevant in the future. In a potential conflict with a near-peer adversary, such as Russia or China, the Navy's aircraft carriers could make the difference, especially against China, because of its proximity to the sea.
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12/30/2021
The dozens of Type 90, or “Kyumaru,” tanks rumbling through recent shooting drills on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido exemplify the challenge its arms makers face both at home and overseas as the country fortifies its defenses against strategic threats.
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12/30/2021
The rumor that has been going around for a couple of years has just been confirmed. Pakistan is acquiring more than 25 Chengdu J-10 «Vigorous Dragon» multirole fighters, to face India’s purchase of the Dassault Rafale. The news was made public by Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Pakistan’s Interior Minister, during a public event.
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12/30/2021
India’s home grown light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 2 has achieved a milestone with the Deputy Chief of Air Staff (DCAS) accepting its comprehensive design review (CDR). DCAS air marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari accepted the CDR for Tejas Mark 2 last month, reported Business Standard.
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12/29/2021
NATO fighter jets scrambled around 370 times across Europe in 2021, mostly to check aircraft flying unannounced near Allied air space. Around 80 percent of the missions, 290 in total, were in response to flights by Russian military aircraft.
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12/29/2021
The government of Austria signed a deal with Italy on December 20 to procure 18 Leonardo AW169/169M helicopters, plus spares, training, and support, with an option for a further 18. The decision to buy the militarized version of the AW169 was announced in September 2020 by Austrian defense minister Klaudia Tanner.
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12/29/2021
The crash of a Royal Navy F-35B Lighting II sparked a race to find the jet’s remnants in November 2021. In the aftermath of the crash, the United Kingdom’s Navy scrambled to get to the site before the Russians could reach it and the potentially billions of dollars worth of top secret technology that went down with it.
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12/29/2021
The United Arab Emirates' landmark deal to procure 80 cutting-edge Dassault Rafale multirole fighter jets from France gives the Emirati Air Force a highly formidable interim solution until it finally takes delivery of F-35 Lightning IIs or another fifth-generation fighter. Turkey, on the other hand, still needs a similar stopgap solution and may find itself in a bind if the U.S. refuses to sell the advanced F-16s and modernization kits Ankara recently requested.
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12/29/2021
The Netherlands Ministry of Defence has declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s (RNLAF) F-35A fleet. The latest announcement makes the Netherlands the eighth nation and RNLAF the 12th military service to acheive IOC for their F-35 fleet of aircraft. Lockheed Martin F-35 Program vice-president and general manager Bridget Lauderdale said: “The declaration of IOC ushers in a new era of air power that gives the RNLAF transformational capabilities.
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12/28/2021
The Navy is further developing their MQ-25 Stingray aerial refueling drone, an odd-looking unmanned vehicle with a unique set of capabilities. The Navy explains that the “MQ-25 will be the world’s first operational, carrier-based unmanned aircraft and is integral to the future carrier air wing (CVW),” and that the MQ-25 “will provide an aerial refueling capability that extends the range, operational capability, and lethality of the CVW (carrier air wing) and carrier strike group (CSG).”
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12/28/2021
The U.S. Air Force has approved the divestment of four E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia throughout the fiscal year 2022. Airmen attached to the E-8 JSTARS fleet will be repurposed for new missions aligned with the future Air Force force design at Robins and other military bases as part of the changes, the Air Combat Command said Tuesday.
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12/28/2021
On December 24, the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio approved 5.4 trillion yen ($47.2 billion) defense spending in fiscal year 2022, starting in April, amid the increasingly tense security environment in east Asia. Including U.S. Forces realignment-related expenses allocated for mitigating impacts on local communities, this marked another record figure for the eighth year in a row in the history of Japan’s national defense budget.
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12/28/2021
In some ways, the passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act counts as a significant achievement. Leaders in the House and Senate overcame grandstanding and obstruction by lawmakers on both sides to pass a bill with broad bipartisan support. In doing so, they addressed a range of critical issues, from reforming how sexual-assault cases are handled to combating hunger among military families.
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12/28/2021
The Indonesian National Defense-Air Force (TNI-AU) has given up its quest to acquire Russian combat aircraft. Instead, the service will shift its focus to two Western alternatives, the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II and the French Dassault Rafale. The TNI-AU continues to plan and execute a long-term strategy aimed at modernizing its fighter fleet by upgrading existing assets and expanding capabilities, an effort that dates back to phase one of the Minimum Essential Force program undertaken from 2009 thr
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12/27/2021
The Royal Saudi Air Force and their US counterparts concluded a bilateral exercise in western Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s defense ministry said on Sunday. The combat readiness maneuvers were held at King Abdullah Air Base and are part of a number of joint exercises between both countries’ air forces to enhance military cooperation, coordination and exchange of expertise.
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12/27/2021
Naval News reached out to the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office in December 2021 for an update on the F-35 and how the U.S. Defense Department views the latest developments in peer nations copying this single-engine, single pilot stealth fighter that has entered operational service with the U.S. Armed Forces and U.S. allies around the world.
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12/26/2021
A MiG-21 Bison of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Rajasthan on Friday evening, killing the pilot, Wing Commander Harshit Sinha. This is the fifth crash involving a Bison jet this year. “This evening, around 8:30 pm, a MiG-21 aircraft of IAF met with a flying accident in the western sector during a training sortie...,” the IAF said in a statement.
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12/25/2021
Japan’s Cabinet approved a record 5.4 trillion yen ($47 billion) defense budget for fiscal 2022 on Friday that includes funding for research and development of a new fighter jet and other “game-changing” weapons as Japan bolsters its defense capabilities in response to China’s growing military might and its tensions with Taiwan.
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12/25/2021
Russia’s Central Military District (CMD) has received five MiG-31BM high-altitude interceptor fighters as per the basic weapons and military equipment supply plan of 2021. According to a Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation statement, a batch of five interceptor jets entered service with CMD’s fighter aviation regiment.
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12/25/2021
The carrier is armed with the Phalanx CIWS, which can be used to destroy incoming threats such as small boats, surface torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, and helicopters. It functions as part of an integrated, layered defense system in order to intercept closest-in threats.
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12/25/2021
The Lockheed Martin SR-72, which is rumored to be the world’s fastest plane, is expected to make a test flight in 2025, eight years after its private proposal in 2013. SR-72 will be the successor of the SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest manned aircraft which smashed speed records in 1974 and was retired by the U.S. Air Force back in 1998.
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12/25/2021
The Indonesian government has announced that it will not proceed with the acquisition of Sukhoi Su-35 ‘Flanker-E' multirole combat aircraft. It has instead shortlisted the Dassault Rafale and the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II for the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU), Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo said on 22 December.
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12/23/2021
A six-ship People’s Liberation Army Navy carrier group led by aircraft carrier Liaoning (16) is currently operating in the Pacific Ocean, according to releases from the Japanese military. The PLAN carrier group featuring Liaoning, destroyer Nanchang (101), a Luyang III-class destroyer, frigate Rizhao (598) and another Type 54A Jiangkai II frigate, along with a Type 901 replenishment ship, was in the vicinity of the waters off the uninhabited Oki Daito Island, 315 kilometers, or about 196 miles.
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12/23/2021
The year 2021 has been eventful for the Indian Air Force with the induction of the Rafale fighter aircraft, deployment of the S-400 air defence system and contract signing for the procurement of transport aircraft C295. The Narendra Modi government, ever since it came to power in 2014, has prioritised the modernisation of armed forces. This year, the government undertook several measures to modernise the Indian Air Force and equip it to be battle-ready. Let's take a look.
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12/22/2021
Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, announced the delivery of four Bell Huey II aircraft to the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) on Dec. 4. The aircraft are part of a Foreign Military Sale signed in December 2019.
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12/22/2021
The ministry reported on Monday, December 20, that in the week from December 13 to 19, the fighter aircraft conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states intercepted one Antonov AN-12 aircraft flying from Russian mainland to the Kaliningrad Oblast. Its its onboard data transponder had been switched on, but the flight took place without a pre-filed flight plan and without maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre.
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12/22/2021
This kind of cyber-reliant modernization trajectory for the F-35, intended to ensure the stealth jet retains its performance edge well into the 2070s and beyond, also needs to ensure that computer systems are sufficiently “hardened” against cyberattacks and intruders.
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12/22/2021
The Eurofighter Typhoon is an air superiority fighter aircraft manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo. As its name implies, the Typhoon is a multinational collaboration among the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Its combat debut came in 2011 during the military intervention in Libya with the UK’s RAF and the Italian Air Force. Although it proved itself to be a capable ground-attack aircraft, the Typhoon was designed to be a dogfighter.
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12/22/2021
The Department of Defense hires private companies to provide "enemy" aircraft for U.S. military training. DOD awarded almost $8.4 billion for these air support contracts in FY 2015 through 2020. We found contract awards for air support have increased since FY 2015. For example, the Air Force awarded an air support contract for $83 million in 2015 and awarded a $6.4 billion contract in 2020.
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12/21/2021
After Turkey was barred from acquiring them, Greece’s Air Force wants to get US-made F-35 fighter jets to bolster the country’s arsenal, hopes rising after an amendment in the American Senate tied to the defense budget. That was co-authored by New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez and Florida Republican Marco Rubio in an increasingly rare bipartisan move in the US Senate that has split over ideological lines.
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12/20/2021
Expect to see these soon: Chinese social media is boasting of its rapidly growing naval strength, with comprehensive and powerful battle groups soon to begin roaming the world’s seas. A set of graphic representations of Beijing’s next-generation aircraft carrier, only known as Type 003 at this point, is capitalising upon a rapidly looming shift in the world’s balance of power.
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12/20/2021
The Shandong, the second aircraft carrier of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, recently set out for realistic combat-oriented drills in the South China Sea, in a move experts said on Sunday will enhance its capabilities.
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12/20/2021
The Turkish Air Force is set to train with Qatar’s French-made Dassault Rafale jets to counter the Greek military, which has increased its air force capabilities with newly acquired Rafale fighter aircraft from its ally France, Nordic Monitor has learned.
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12/20/2021
The passage by the US Senate of the country’s defense budget, including the Menendez-Rubio amendment enhancing defense cooperation with Greece, has revived talk about Greece’s possible acquisition of the fifth-generation F-35 stealth multirole combat aircraft.
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12/19/2021
The history of air combat has seen one recurring theme—new tactics are learned in battle, forgotten or discarded when battle concludes, and relearned at great cost during the next war. This cycle continued into the 1960s, when America was drawn into the Vietnam War. Despite having a skill and equipment advantage, US Navy aircrews were faring poorly against North Vietnamese fighters.
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12/19/2021
Earlier this month, the US military announced it had ended its combat role in Iraq. The move comes just a few months after a July meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi and US President Joe Biden. Afterwards, the leaders issued a statement announcing that "there will be no US forces with a combat role in Iraq by December 31, 2021."
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12/19/2021
Turkey has reportedly offered Azerbaijan and Pakistan to join the production of national combat aircraft. "Our doors for the joint production of national combat aircraft are open to countries that want to cooperate with us," President of Turkey's Defense Industries Ismail Demir said in an interview with CNN Turk on Friday, December 17.
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12/19/2021
The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) received the second batch of the Meteor missile, which will equip the F-39 Gripen fighter, the first four units of which were delivered by Saab on November 24. The first batch, of a few units, had been purchased for development, integration and qualification of the aircraft. With the new armament, Brazil will make a leap in air combat capability, significantly increasing the Air Force’s deterrent capacity.
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12/19/2021
The US Government remains “very committed” to the sale of 50 F-35 combat aircraft to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as part of an agreement for the supply of $ 23.37 billion worth of military equipment to one of its main allies in the Middle East. This was indicated in a telephone call with journalists by a senior official in the Administration of President Joe Biden, who admitted, however, that it is a “very complicated sale.”
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12/17/2021
Boeing didn’t mention it, but Christopher Pyne did: the company’s Airpower Teaming System could be armed. Australia’s then defence minister, speaking at the unveiling of the ATS in February 2019, omitted details of kinetic missions that might be undertaken by the aircraft, a ‘loyal wingman’ drone. But they’re not hard to guess. Most obviously, they would be attacks on relatively easy surface targets but also, quite possibly, shooting down low-performance aircraft.
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12/17/2021
Four F-35A aircraft departed from Fort Worth, Texas, arrived at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, on Dec. 15, 2021, marking the arrival of the first Europe-based USAF’s Lightning II 5th generation.
Flying as RETRO 31-34 and supported by BLUE81, a KC-135R #59-1495, and BLUE82, a KC-10A Extender #84-0189, the four aircraft (#19-5473, #19-5474, #19-5475 and #19-5476) approached RAF Lakenheath as a 4 ship at 13.50L before braking off and then all of them landing on RWY24.
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12/17/2021
The U.K. Ministry of Defense has confirmed that a Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon FGR4 fighter jet shot down a hostile drone over Syria earlier this week, in what is the first confirmed air-to-air engagement for this type in British service. The event was also the first time that the RAF has fired an air-to-air missile during Operation Shader, the British contribution to the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in the Middle East.
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12/17/2021
Lockheed Martin will offer a variant of its T-50A in the competition to build the Air Force’s new tactical fighter trainer rather than a clean-sheet design, the company said Dec. 14, insisting it will achieve “competitive pricing” with the aircraft. The jet was second in the T-X competition that Boeing won with a fresh design three years ago.
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12/16/2021
On November 2nd, 2021, Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, director of the Air National Guard, announced the selection of the Utah Air National Guard’s 151st Air Refueling Wing as the KC-135 Test Detachment for the Air National Guard (ANG) and Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) Test Center (AATC). This announcement officially formalizes an arrangement between the Utah Air National Guard and AATC to continue providing operational test capabilities to the KC-135 community.
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12/16/2021
The U.S. Air Force wants to soon add to its arsenal remotely piloted air combat vehicles that may be networked and controlled by piloted aircraft, according to the service’s top official. The news comes days after USAF Secretary Frank Kendall also confirmed that the Air Force will ask for funding for two classified remotely piloted air combat vehicles in the next defense budget, according to reports.
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12/15/2021
The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced it was suspending discussions with the United States over the purchase of the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. A UAE official told CNN the country made the decision after "technical requirements, sovereign operational restrictions and cost/benefit analysis led to the re-assessment."
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12/15/2021
The U.S. Air Force says it wants a more realistic, cost effective way to transition advanced student pilots to the 5th generation strike fighter aircraft it envisions filling its fleet with. It’s looking at modified trainer-based platforms to meet that goal but what if a ready-made option already in exists in the form of Sweden’s oft-shunned Gripen?
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12/14/2021
The venerable AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, which got its first kill back in 1992, is set to get another major boost in capability. Although the U.S. military has a designated successor now in the works, the West’s most popular radar-guided air-to-air missile is about to be fielded in a new iteration, known as F3R.
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12/14/2021
The aircraft would come from Norway, which is replacing its current fleet of F-16 with F-35 Lightning IIs. Draken recently took delivery of a dozen of these fighters, and Romania intends to acquire the remainder. According to the Romanian media Digi24, of the 454 million euros (USS 514 million approx.) that the operation would cost, 354 are for the purchase of the F-16s and 100 million are for the logistics support package and modernization work.
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12/14/2021
A group of Air Force fifth-generation fighter jets from Alaska are in Japan to train alongside Marine Corps and Japanese aircraft and demonstrate their ability to disperse and fight far from home. F-35A Lightning IIs from Eielson Air Force Base’s 354th Fighter Wing arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on Dec. 3 for Operation Iron Dagger, according to a Thursday news release from Pacific Air Forces.
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12/13/2021
When desperate Afghans fought their way into Kabul’s international airport during the last two weeks of August, most of those lucky enough to get past Taliban checkpoints, the crush of their panicked compatriots, and U.S. military and diplomatic gatekeepers found a spot on a departing airplane.
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12/13/2021
Rafale is a twin-jet combat aircraft capable of carrying out a wide range of short and long-range missions, including ground and sea attacks. Rafale is a twin-jet combat aircraft manufactured by Dassault Aviation and is capable of carrying out a wide range of short and long-range missions. It can be used to perform ground and sea attacks, reconnaissance, high-accuracy strikes and nuclear strike deterrence.
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12/12/2021
Congress could be able to require the U.S. military to prepare a pair of studies about what it would take to put new engines into current and future F-35 stealth jets later in this decade. There is an entirely new powerplant under development under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, or AETP, with multiple prototypes being tested already. The hope is that the AETP engine or some other alternative would bring a significant performance boost to all three variants of the F-35s.
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12/11/2021
NATO members closest to the Russian threat are seeking “adjustments” to the alliance’s defense posture to show Russian President Vladimir Putin that America will defend NATO’s eastern flank in the event of hostilities in Ukraine. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian defense official who spoke to Air Force Magazine on condition of anonymity said “a signal” that the U.S. will deliver needed air defenses to Ukraine would be enough to deter Russia from mounting an invasion.
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12/11/2021
The Boeing Company recently won a modification contract to extend the service life of up to 32 F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft. The deal has been awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD. Valued at $366.5 million, the contract is scheduled to be completed by May 2024. The majority of work related to this deal will be executed in San Antonio, TX.
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12/11/2021
Finland has agreed to buy 64 Lockheed Martin fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of combat planes in a 10 billion-euro ($11.3 billion) deal that represents the Finnish military's largest ever purchase, the government said Friday. The Nordic country picked the U.S. company's F-35A fighters from among five contenders, which also included the Boeing F-18 Super Hornet, France's Dassault Rafale, Britain's Eurofighter Typhoon and Sweden's Saab Gripen.
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12/10/2021
Lockheed Martin has established a joint venture with Tata Advanced Systems to manufacture F-21 fighter wings at a production facility in India. The partnership comes after Tata manufactured parts for a fighter aircraft wing prototype to support a campaign to sell 114 F-21 fighters to the Indian Air Force.
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12/10/2021
Speaking to POLITICO at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall revealed the existence of two new classified drone programs on Saturday, both built for combat rather than intelligence-gathering.
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12/09/2021
The fiscal 2022 defense authorization conference bill largely accedes to the U.S. Air Force request to retire 201 aircraft with some conditions and a prohibition on retiring A-10 Warthog close air support planes.
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12/08/2021
Nine Chinese military planes entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday (Dec. 7), marking the sixth intrusion this month. Six People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Chengdu J-10 fighter planes, two Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, and one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare plane entered different areas within the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).
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12/08/2021
The Air Force demonstrated that it can operate the remotely-piloted MQ-9 Reaper over long-range flights in the Pacific using limited ground support gear and non-specialist ground personnel. The demonstration provided a boost for the service’s agile combat employment concept, it said Dec. 7.
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12/08/2021
The South African Air Force’s (SAAF’s) Gripen fleet is temporarily grounded, with no aircraft serviceable, due to a lack of funding and maintenance and support contracts not being renewed in time, but it is likely that the Gripens will be flying again in the new year.
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12/08/2021
A recent test flight of Boeing Australia’s Airpower Teaming System, the second such flight in the ‘Loyal Wingman’ program, which currently has two test aircraft, saw the first aircraft retract its undercarriage for the first time and the second aircraft take its first flight. A total of six have been ordered, with three to be acquired by the end of 2021.
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12/07/2021
Turkey has been delivering Turkish Bayraktar drones to Ukraine as scheduled according to the requirements of the deal and new delivery has nothing to do with the objection of Russia, the country’s top defense official said on Dec. 4.
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12/07/2021
The U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command approved the operation of KC-46A Pegasus to refuel AC-130J Ghostrider, HC-130J Combat King II, MC-130J Commando II, C-5M Super Galaxy and E-3G Sentry. Following this qualification, the KC-46 can now refuel nearly 70% of the receiving aircraft requiring in-flight refueling. Work is also underway to certify the Pegasus to refuel Air Force One.
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12/06/2021
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the service urgently needs to retire outdated air frames so it can focus on developing modern aircraft to counter a rapidly modernizing Chinese military. During a panel here Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Kendall mentioned MQ-9 Reapers, some C-130s, older tankers and the A-10 Warthog as examples of aging aircraft that will struggle in a conflict with China.
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12/06/2021
In a first for the Marine Corps, Marines from Marine Operational Test & Evaluation Squadron One conducted over-the-horizon heavy lift and troop transport ship-to-shore operations aboard CH-53K King Stallions over the Atlantic Ocean, Nov. 19-21.
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12/06/2021
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have the potential to work together in the defense sector, Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) Chairperson Ismail Demir said, indicating that Abu Dhabi has shown interest in the Turkish sector.
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12/05/2021
Russia has claimed to have escorted a US spy plane away from its airspace amid a new US warning that Vladimir Putin intends to deploy 175,000 troops to invade Ukraine in early 2022.
Footage apparently taken in the cockpit of a Russian military aircraft appears to show them tailing an American RC-135 reconnaissance plane over the Black Sea.
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12/05/2021
Intimidation gets results. And that’s why China may be less willing than feared when it comes to invading Taiwan. For now. The drums of war have been beating loudly throughout 2021.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton told an Australian Press Club luncheon late last month that “If Taiwan is taken, then surely the Senkakus are next. Please don’t rely on your imagination. The Chinese Communist Party could not be any clearer — not always with their words, but certainly with their actions.”
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12/05/2021
Today, fifth-generation fighters rule the roost. Because of their enormous design, production, and operating costs, they tend to be developed by the countries with the most significant militaries—most prominently the United States, Russia, and China, each of which have devoted significant resources to operate them. The American F-22 Raptor jets and F-35 stealth fighter jets are probably the two best fighter aircraft in the world, although other modern planes, could credibly threaten them in the
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12/04/2021
China and Russia have strengthened their political, economic and military relations this year, despite their uneasy history in the past, as both countries say they resent what they call growing pressure from the West.
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12/04/2021
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has signed for 80 Dassault Rafale combat aircraft from France, the manufacturer announced on 3 December. Signed in the presence of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Vice-Commander of the Armed Forces of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed ben Zayed Al Nahyane, the contract covers the F4 aircraft, representing the first export order for the latest standard Rafale.
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12/03/2021
The Israeli government has approved the planned procurement of a fleet of a dozen CH-53K helicopters, clearing a final regulatory hurdle for the buy and clearing the path for a final agreement to be signed by the end of the year. The approval from the Israeli government ministers committee for defense acquisition headed by prime minster Naftali Bennet was given on Nov. 28.
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12/03/2021
The Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency has signed a contract to sell up to 12 F-16 combat aircraft to US military provider Draken International to be used as part of training services, the Norwegian government announced on Thursday on its website.
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12/02/2021
Speaking at the Dubai Air Show in mid-November, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Executive Vice President Greg Ulmer said that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has requested details for the supply of 30 C-130J Hercules. “They are talking to us about potential for 24 C-130J-30s and six KC-130Js,” Ulmer told overseas journalists.
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12/02/2021
Northrop Grumman has received a $153 million dollar contract award from the U.S. Navy for full-rate production of lots 10 and 11 of the AGM-88E2 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM), the company said Dec. 1. The contract includes production of missiles for the U.S. Navy and German air force.
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12/02/2021
The Malaysian government has mandated a requirement for prospective suppliers of the 18 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) for the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), currently being evaluated, to source or procure at least 30 percent of products/services from domestic companies.
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12/02/2021
The Air Force is considering a new trainer aircraft — one intended to emulate 4th and 5th generation fighter jets and be able to better train the service’s newest fighter pilots how to fly in combat. Nope, not the T-7A Red Hawk. Another one. Maybe.
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12/01/2021
Airbus Defence and Space announced on September 1 that it has received an order from the Republic of Kazakhstan for two A400M airlifters. The order brings the number of A400M customers to nine. The first aircraft is scheduled to be handed over in 2024. To support the aircraft, Airbus will deliver a complete training and maintenance support package.
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12/01/2021
The Russian military will commence ground tests of its upgraded Tupolev Tu-160 bomber in December, TASS revealed, citing sources. The ground tests will begin with a maiden trial run on the Kazan Aviation Enterprise runway, the outlet added.
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12/01/2021
A repeat Eurofighter buy represents Spain’s best option for replacing an aged fleet of Canary Islands-based Boeing F-18 fighters, Airbus has claimed, after Lockheed Martin recently cited interest in its F-35 from Madrid. “The F-35 is an available aircraft, but for Spanish industry and for the Spanish customer, the Eurofighter is the right choice,” claims Kurt Rossner, Airbus Defence & Space’s head of combat aircraft systems.
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11/30/2021
Boeing might be out from the Future Fighter Capability Project (FFCP) that aims to replace the Royal Canadian Air Force’s fleet of legacy CF-188 Hornets (local designation of the F/A-18), as Canada’s federal government reportedly said that the replacement proposal based on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet did not meet the federal government’s requirements. The Canadian Press first reported the news saying that, according to three sources from industry and government who spoke on condition of anonymity
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11/30/2021
After more than three decades, the Royal Australian Air Force has formally bid farewell to its F/A-18A/B fighter jet, often referred to as the Classic Hornet, as it gets ready to withdraw its last examples of the type. The F/A-18A/B was Australia’s premier fighter and its first line of air defense for most of that time, but it has since been complemented by the F/A-18F Super Hornet and will be superseded by the F-35A stealth fighter.
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11/29/2021
Taiwan said 27 Chinese aircraft entered its air defense buffer zone on Sunday, the latest in a long series of incursions as part of Beijing's pressure on the self-ruled island. The Defense Ministry said Taiwan scrambled combat aircraft to "warn" the Chinese planes to leave. It also deployed missile systems to monitor them.
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11/28/2021
As US lawmakers' visit to Taipei irked China, as Beijing sent eight military aircraft into Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ), local media reported on Friday. The five US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Thursday to meet with government officials. The five-representative delegation is the second US congressional delegation visit to Taiwan this month. The recent visit is following a three-day visit to Taiwan by Senator John Cornyn-led group in November this year, reported Taiwan News.
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11/28/2021
Of all the F-15 photos we’ve featured so far, this one has to be the most exciting. It was captured by a Senior Airman on the tarmac of the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, at a time when the aircraft was preparing for a deployment overseas.
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11/27/2021
In September 2020, Swiss voters agreed to CHF6 billion ($6.4 billion) being spent on replacing Switzerland's ageing fleet of F-5 Tigers and F/A-18 Hornet jets by 2030. In June of this year, Switzerland appeared to have struck a bargain deal with United States manufacturer Lockheed Martin to provide 36 F-35A aircraft for just over CHF5 billion.
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11/27/2021
Saab this week announced that the Gripen E—a major enhancement of the original Gripen fighter design—has now entered the delivery phase. Six serial production aircraft have left the factory and are now being prepared and tested prior to delivery to the aircraft’s two customers. Four of the aircraft are destined for the Força Aérea Brasileira, and two for Sweden’s Flygvapnet.
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11/27/2021
The upgrade of MiG-31 high-altitude fighter-interceptors will boost the efficiency of their missions, in particular to protect Russia’s northern frontiers amid other states’ growing interest in the Northern Sea Route, Merited Military Pilot of Russia, Major-General Vladimir Popov told TASS on Friday.
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11/25/2021
Michael Hostetter, vice-president of Boeing Defense, Space, and Security Germany, told Janes that a letter of intent to proceed with the planned sale is expected to be released in January, immediately after the German government is seated in early December. In 2020, Germany’s Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer stated that Berlin plans to buy 30 American-made F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and 15 EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
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11/25/2021
Stationed at the naval base in São Pedro d’Aldeia, the aircraft will boost the Brazilian Navy’s mission capabilities including anti-surface warfare and maritime surveillance.
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11/25/2021
The militaries of each NATO Ally rely on machines and vehicles to help them perform at the highest levels. Meet the men and women who operate those vehicles and learn how their machines help keep people safe. This Italian pilot, who must remain anonymous for security reasons, flies the F-35A fighter jet, a fifth-generation multirole combat aircraft.
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11/25/2021
Russia carried out a military drill on naval bases in the Black Sea, south of Ukraine, with about ten crews of combat planes and ships that targeted hypothetical enemy warships, the Black Sea Fleet’s press office said on Wednesday.
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11/24/2021
“We believe we have a genuine requirement for them … it gives us visibility and intelligence gathering capabilities that we might not otherwise have,” said Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, when he spoke before the House Armed Services Committee in March 2020.
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11/24/2021
Pakistan on Tuesday rejected India's claim that an Indian pilot shot down the Islamic nation's F-16 fighter plane in 2019. The statement from Pakistan came a day after Indian President Ram Nath Kovind awarded pilot Abhinandan Varthaman India's third-highest honor, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top military officials looking on at the ceremony in New Delhi.
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11/24/2021
In the last week of October 2021, a number of Chinese combat air developments were uncovered in a short span of time. The first of these was the emergence of the expected twin-seat variant of the J-20 air superiority fighter at Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC), documented by progressively clearer photos and videos.
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11/23/2021
It followed a war-game at a desert airbase just north of the Israeli port city of Eilat last month, which sent fighter planes from Israel and seven other countries roaring into the skies. Such drills aim to send a strong warning to Iran, which has recently been holding its own large military exercises, and stress strategic alliances.
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11/23/2021
China used last week’s Dubai Airshow to show off its upgraded version of the L-15 attack fighter trainer, as part of an effort to broaden its influence in the Mideast and North Africa.
Showcased both on ground and in the air during the five-day show, the latest variant of the aircraft features “high performance, reliability and cost efficiency,” a spokesperson at China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) told Breaking Defense.
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11/23/2021
Radar experts at Raytheon Technologies Corp. will provide the 19 AN/APG-79(V)4 active electronically scanned array (AESA) airborne radar systems to upgrade U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18C/D combat jets under terms of a $63.1 million order announced Thursday.
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11/23/2021
U.S. Army aviation experts are ordering MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned combat aircraft for reconnaissance and attack, as well as satellite communications (SATCOM) air data terminals, maintenance, repair, and support services under terms of a $103.2 million order announced Thursday.
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11/22/2021
The United States and its allies should move more urgently in the face of rapidly evolving Chinese military tactics, the new U.S. commander of the Indo-Pacific region warned on Saturday. Admiral John Aquilino spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum and urged allies to take part in more joint military exercises, which have been growing in size and complexity in the region over the last couple of years.
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11/22/2021
Nine Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Sunday (Nov. 21), marking the 20th intrusion this month. Two People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, four Chengdu J-10 fighter planes, and one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). Meanwhile, two Xian H-6 bombers flew into the southwest and southeast corners of the zone.
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11/21/2021
Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, have become one of the weapons most closely associated with the global war on terror. Hundreds of U.S. drones, also known as remotely piloted aircraft, of various types have spent countless hours tracking terrorists and providing American and coalition troops with early warning.
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11/21/2021
An Air Force pilot was killed and two others injured Friday morning in a 'mishap' involving two trainer aircrafts at a Texas base. Officials at Laughlin Air Force Base said an accident involving a pair T-38 Talon jets occurred on the runway around 10am. One of the injured pilots was taken to San Antonio's Brooke Army Medical Center in critical condition. Their current condition remains unknown.
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11/21/2021
Amid India-China border tensions, the Chinese PLAAF recently dispatched an H-6K bomber close to the LAC, the disputed border with India. Satellite imagery accessed by the media outlets has revealed that China’s Air Force (PLAAF) has three airbases opposite eastern Ladakh – Kashgar, Hotan and Ngari Gunsa.
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11/20/2021
Like all areas of society, the Royal Air Force can't escape the need to go green or to save money, and it hopes that virtual training can help it do just that. It costs tens of thousands of pounds every time the RAF sends a pilot up in a Typhoon as part of a training exercise, but in the future the Air Force hopes to reduce how often this happens, and BAE Systems is helping it achieve that goal. Pilot training is currently 70 per cent in the air, and 30 per cent synthetic training.
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11/20/2021
Reports suggest that if negotiations progress at this pace, an announcement could be made before the end of this year. The French media also reported that President Emmanuel Macron will visit Abu Dhabi on December 2, followed by visits to Doha (Qatar) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) on December 3 and 4.
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11/20/2021
Tyndall Air Force Base’s unique airspace paves the way not only for the U.S. Air Force but also for sister service, the U.S. Navy, and many other service partners who come together to conduct mission objectives in as close to real world operations as possible. Tyndall welcomed Sailors stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, to bring their F/A-18 Super Hornet, for the 53rd Wing’s Weapons System Evaluation Program 22.02 to utilize the training environment.
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11/19/2021
A British F-35, one of the newest stealth fighter jets in the UK military, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday morning while operating off the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK Defense Ministry said in a tweet. The pilot ejected and was returned safely to the ship, and an investigation of the incident, which occurred during routine flight operations, had begun, the ministry said.
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11/18/2021
Russia delivered military equipment to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan this year, including combat aircraft and missile systems, Director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said in an interview with the RBC media group on Tuesday. "For example, we delivered Su-30SM aircraft, Mi-35M helicopters, Buk-M2E surface-to-air missile systems.
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11/18/2021
Ever since the standoff with India over Ladakh began last year, Chinese state media have frequently played up deployment of various military systems to the region. These have ranged from new artillery systems to tanks to helicopters, which have often been shown in exercises in “high-altitude areas”, a euphemism for the border with India. In comparison, Chinese state media have reported more sparsely on deployment of fighter aircraft and bombers of the People's Liberation Army Air Force.
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11/18/2021
Highly placed sources have confirmed to the Financial Express Online that, “Presently the ASEAN nation Malaysia is in the midst of evaluating the Request of Proposal (RfP) it had floated earlier this year for getting the light fighter jets for its Air Force.” India’s indigenous Light Combat Aircraft “Tejas’’ is in the forefront of Malaysia’s requirement of 36 low cost light fighter aircraft for its Air Force.
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11/18/2021
The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) has awarded a $143-million contract to Textron Aviation Defense LLC for the supply of eight AT-6 Wolverines, making it the first foreign customer of the US light-attack aircraft. Made during the Dubai Airshow 2021, the agreement requires the American defense firm to provide ground support equipment, spare parts, training, and other necessary equipment for the aircraft’s operation.
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11/18/2021
Sometimes saving your life means risking an early death. Earlier on Wednesday, an F35 fighter jet of the U.K. crashed into the Mediterranean Sea during a conventional operation, in a loss that cost the island nation at least $134 million (£100 million). Luckily, no one was injured, since the pilot ejected before impact and was subsequently recovered from the water.
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11/17/2021
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has confirmed that there was one fatality in the crash involving a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Hawk MK108 combat aircraft in Butterworth tonight. He also said that a second airman sustained injuries in the incident that occurred at about 10.07pm last night at the runway within the Butterworth Air Force Base.
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11/17/2021
A Swiss parliamentary committee said Tuesday it would probe the government’s decision to purchase 36 Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jets to replace its ageing fleet. The management scrutiny committee of the National Council lower house of parliament decided to investigate “the legality and advisability of certain aspects of the evaluation procedure taken for choosing the Swiss military’s new combat aircraft”, it said in a statement.
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11/17/2021
The United Aircraft Corporation is working on the development of Russia’s first single-engine fighter jet, the aptly named ‘Checkmate’. Its price is expected to be very affordable - $30-35 million. The low cost, as well as political considerations, mean that many countries that currently can’t afford to join the club of owners of 5th-generation fighters will be able to do so, thanks to the Russian manufacturer.
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11/16/2021
Russia will be actively looking to court international buyers, notably those in the Middle East at the Dubai Air Show 2021, which runs this week from Sunday to Thursday. Among the aircraft that will be on display is its new single-engine Checkmate light tactical fighter, a platform that has been widely touted as a more affordable option to America’s F-35 Lightning II. Currently, fourteen nations operate the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, and Russia clearly doesn’t want to los
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11/15/2021
South Korea's military has unveiled a computer-generated video of a homegrown fighter and radar-evading drones in a joint sortie, offering a glimpse into a future battle concept mixing the manned and unmanned assets currently under development. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) recently posted the short video on its YouTube channel, depicting the KF-21 fighter flanked by three stealth drones in joint air operations over South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo.
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11/15/2021
Dassault Aviation is highlighting its military and business jets at the Dubai Airshow, including a Rafale C combat aircraft, the Falcon 900LX and 8X, and a mockup of the upcoming 6X's cabin. The Rafale is being presented by the French Armeé De L'Air & De L'Espace (air and space force), which operates a detachment of the fighters at the UAE’s Al Dhafra Air Base, and visitors can watch it taking part in the daily flying display.
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11/15/2021
Russia is in talks with Turkey and has offered its help in developing advanced fighter jets, news agencies cited a top defense official as saying on Sunday, while no agreement has been reached so far. “Russia has repeatedly expressed readiness to assist Turkey (in the development of a fifth-generation fighter jet),” Dmitry Shugayev, head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), told RIA news agency at the Dubai Airshow exhibition.
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11/14/2021
US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met on the margins of the G20 gathering in Rome, ending weeks of speculation about whether such a summit would take place. Earlier that month, a short-lived diplomatic crisis had demonstrated just how strained ties between the two countries are.
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11/14/2021
The Spanish Ministry of Defence has signed the formal order for the acquisition of three Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft (MRTT). Under the agreement, the handover of the first aircraft in transport configuration is scheduled in the coming days, followed by its conversion to MRTT in 2024. The handover of the first fully converted aircraft is scheduled in 2023 and the third and final unit in 2025.
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11/13/2021
Dramatic cockpit footage has captured the moment an RAF jet intercepted a Russian bomber as it headed towards British airspace on Friday, as tensions on the Poland-Belarus border ratcheted up and fears grew of an invasion of Ukraine. The two nuclear-capable Russian Tu-160 'White Swan' bombers entered 'the UK area of interest,' the MoD confirmed after the incident.
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11/13/2021
Agile Combat Employment, or ACE for short, is a U.S. Air Force (USAF) operational concept that aims to give America an edge over its adversaries, by simply taking advantage of existing infrastructure, pre-positioned hardware, and personnel trained in multiple areas to strike fast and hard.
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11/13/2021
The Russian Su-57 fifth-generation fighter and also MiG-35, Su-35 and Su-30 combat aircraft enjoy great demand in Middle East countries, Head of the state tech corporation Rostec Sergei Chemezov told TASS in the run-up to the Dubai Airshow 2021 international aviation exhibition on Friday.
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11/12/2021
U.S. Air Force researchers are making last call for a four-year $50 million project to develop the next generation of directional low-probability-of-intercept networked aerial layer communications for high-performance combat jets. Officials of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Information Directorate in Rome, N.Y., re-issued a broad agency announcement (FA875020S7003) on Monday for the Next-Generation Airborne Directional Networking project.
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11/12/2021
The State Department is mulling the sale of armed drones to Indonesia, but concerns over human rights abuses and the country’s past purchases of Russian equipment have set off a debate inside the Biden administration over approving the move, according to government and defense industry officials.
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11/12/2021
State-owned technology company Rostec said that a prototype of the latest generation of Russian single-engine fighters Checkmate was delivered on board the An-124 “Ruslan” freighter to the United Arab Emirates for display at the Dubai Airshow. In fact, a prototype of the new Checkmate single-engine combat aircraft has arrived in the UAE for its participation in the Dubai International Airshow. The state-owned company said the plane was delivered to the Dubai World Central complex by an An-124.
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11/10/2021
The F-35 fighter jet could be the plane that flies over the plain in Spain as the NATO country looks to become the latest European nation to acquire the fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft. If the European nation gets the greenlight to buy the weapon, then it will join the ranks of the UK, Belgium, Poland and Italy. Greece and the Czech Republic have expressed interest in the Joint Strike Fighter too.
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11/10/2021
China's military said on Tuesday it had conducted a combat readiness patrol in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, after its defence ministry condemned a visit to Taiwan by a U.S. congressional delegation it said had arrived on a military aircraft. The patrol was aimed at the "seriously wrong" words and actions of "relevant countries" on the Taiwan issue and the activities of pro-independence forces in Taiwan, a Chinese military spokesperson said in a statement.
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11/09/2021
Satellite photos have revealed China’s is so concerned with being able to destroy the United States’ enormous 100,000-ton aircraft carriers that it has built a mobile mock-up target in the middle of a desert. The US Naval Institute has published images based on a report from AllSource Analysis identifying a new use for an old ballistic missile live-fire testing range in the Taklamakan Desert, near the town of Ruoqiang in Xinjiang.
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11/09/2021
South Korea's sole aircraft maker has secured a deal worth $360 million from the Iraqi government to provide logistics support, pilot flight training and maintenance education for light attack and training aircraft.
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11/09/2021
By the end of this decade, the Spanish Air Force will replace its half-century-old fighter trainers with data-centric aircraft to train its pilots to fly fifth- and sixth-generation jets. And even though a contract isn’t yet on the horizon, Airbus is ready to start building.
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11/08/2021
Spain reportedly considers an order for a total of 50 F-35 stealth fighter jets. The order would comprise 25 F-35B and 25 F-35A, a Lockheed-Martin official told Jane’s on the sideline of a Royal Institute of International Affairs session. The F-35A would come as a replacement for the aging F/A-18 Hornets of the Ejército del Aire, the Spanish Air Force. As for the F-35B, it would allow the Spanish Navy to retire its antique AV-8 Harrier II, operating from the Juan Carlos I aircraft carrier.
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11/07/2021
Israeli and Saudi fighter jets participated in the same patrol mission (albeit at different times) on Oct. 30, accompanying a U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bomber circumnavigating the Arabian Peninsula and attempting to send a deterrence message to Tehran. Riyadh's willingness to join a military mission involving Israel is the latest indication that the actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran are incentivizing some Arab capitals to tiptoe toward overt security cooperation with Israel.
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11/06/2021
Saudi Arabia plans on topping up its stocks of AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs, with a batch of no fewer than 280 examples, worth $650 million, with which to arm its fighter jets. The planned missile spending spree comes as the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) continues its relentless campaign to shoot down drones launched against its territory by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
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11/06/2021
After nearly 15 years in development and a $4 billion Air Force investment, two brand-new fighter engines are in test, promising game-changing improvement in range and thrust. Which airplane they will equip first—and when—is suddenly a hot debate in Washington.
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11/06/2021
First flown in December of 1988, the venerable SAAB JAS 39 "Gripen" (Griffon) might actually be one of the most capable non-stealth jet fighters ever built. Designed to replace the SAAB 35 "Viggen" and SAAB 37 "Draken", the JAS 39 officially entered service in 1997.
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11/04/2021
Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer, is in talks with the Slovakian government to sell 10 FA-50 homegrown trainer jets in a $500 million deal, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said Wednesday. KAI is set to sign a deal with Slovakian aircraft repair company LOTN on Wednesday in Hungary upon President Moon Jae-in’s European tour this week.
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11/04/2021
Avionics designers at Lockheed Martin Corp. are exploring ways to connect Sikorsky’s next-generation helicopters with combat aircraft such as F-35 jet fighters. American Military News reports. Continue reading original article
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11/04/2021
It was July 20, 2017, and Capt. Brett DeVries was in trouble. The Michigan Air National Guard pilot was flying an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack plane on a training mission over Michigan’s Grayling Air Gunnery Range when the aircraft’s 30mm cannon malfunctioned, blowing off the A-10’s canopy and sending his maps and checklists flying.
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11/04/2021
In a just-released advertisement, Northrop Grumman drops a hint at what might be their entry into the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, an effort to field a sixth-generation combat aircraft.
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11/03/2021
Russia’s state tech corporation Rostec will for the first time demonstrate the Checkmate fifth-generation single-engine fighter at the Dubai Airshow 2021 that will run in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 14-18, a source in the aircraft-building industry told TASS on Tuesday.
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11/03/2021
Last month the United States Air Force awarded a $1,579,662,187 contract to General Electric, GE Edison Works, Cincinnati, for the purchase of twenty-nine engines—installs and spares—in support of the production of 12 Boeing F-15EX Eagle II aircraft. Initial deliveries of the engines will begin in October 2023.
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11/03/2021
Amid a simmering ‘missile race’ on the Korean peninsula, South Korea and the United States are running a large-scale air exercise in the region, with around 200 aircraft reportedly involved. The maneuvers represent a return to the large-scale collaboration of this kind between the two nations that was scaled back dramatically as Washington attempted to negotiate with North Korea about its nuclear weapons program.
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10/31/2021
A possible larger deployment may be on the horizon as Moscow hopes to increase its presence in the northeastern part of Syria. An undated photo apparently shows a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35S at the Qamishli Airport. The picture was posted on Twitter with geolocation. The photo also features a medium-range R-77 and a short-range R-73. The Su-35S has been a regular flanker in Syria since Moscow launched it back in September 2015.
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10/31/2021
The first images of the much anticipated two-seat Chengdu J-20 have emerged in various news reports, a development which for the first time shines a light on new dimensions of Chinese fifth-generation stealth fighter modernization.
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10/31/2021
The new International Flight Training School (IFTS), a joint venture between the Italian Air Force and Leonardo, currently located at Lecce-Galatina Air Base, in southeastern Italy, but about to relocate to Decimomannu Air Base, Sardinia, continues to attract the interest of foreign air forces. After the two Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) pilots, who have already reached the final stage of the LIFT (Lead In to Fighter Training) course.
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10/31/2021
Saab currently has nine jets ready in its assembly line and the number will rise by the end of December 2021. Four of these Gripens will be sent to the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) early next year. This delivery is part of a contract for 36 Gripen E signed years ago.
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10/31/2021
The US Navy brought more details about the NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) program, which will give rise to the 6th gen fighter still known only by the provisional designation of the F/A-XX. The new fighter jet will replace the Boeing F/A-18E/F as air defense and attack aircraft on US nuclear carriers in the mid-2030s. And its role will be quite different from the Super Hornet, as a document shows of the Navy recently released, the “Navy Aviation Vision, 2030-2035”.
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10/30/2021
The armed forces of the UK and India have successfully completed the first bilateral seven-day tri-service exercise, Konkan Shakti 21. The Indian Ministry of Defence said in a statement that the exercise was designed to provide an opportunity to the armed forces of the two countries to share best practices and experiences with each other.
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10/30/2021
Planning for Australian combat operations assumes that the RAAF and allied forces will have control of the air. This has been easy to achieve in the technologically lopsided engagements of the last couple of decades, including Afghanistan and Iraq. However, this is unlikely to be the case in the future – and the RAAF is investing significantly in world-leading technology designed to multiply the effectiveness of traditional platforms such as F-35s and Super Hornets.
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10/30/2021
The Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies recently published a study that recommends the rapid retirement and divestiture of the Air Force’s fourth-generation fighter jets. Despite calling for “wholly divesting” those fourth-generation platforms, the study, titled the Future Fighter Force Our Nation Requires: Building a Bridge, recommends that the Air Force “keep” large numbers of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Why? One pressing reason, apart from the fact that it costs less to operate a Fighting
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10/29/2021
China is definitely on the rise. But don’t write off American dominance just yet. Even if the trade wars between the United States and China that dominated the Trump era have receded slightly, many other issues have intensified. China tested a hypersonic and potentially globe-spanning weapon this summer.
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10/29/2021
Turkey is turning to the United States in hopes of buying a batch of new F-16V fighter jets. Since its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system, Turkey has been removed from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and forced to watch its geopolitical competitors improve their air warfare capabilities. Turkey believes F-16V procurement is vital to keeping its airpower sharp into the 2020s and beyond.
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10/29/2021
Moscow is ready to supply combat aircraft to Peru if the country makes a request, CEO of Russia's state arms seller Rosoboronexport (part of the Rostec state corporation) Alexander Mikheyev said in an interview with TASS ahead of the SITDEF 2021 international defense exhibition. "We reaffirm our readiness to supply new Russian combat aircraft of Peru's choice," he pointed out.
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10/28/2021
n recent weeks, the airwaves have been full of inflammatory rhetoric over Taiwan, increasing the risk that tensions over the island’s status could provide the spark for a military conflict, even a catastrophic war, between the United States and China. On October 10, President Xi Jinping of China called on the Taiwanese to merge with the mainland in a peaceful fashion, but warned of unspecified dangers if they chose otherwise.
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10/28/2021
After years of deliberation on how best to train seasoned fighter pilots to combat sophisticated foes, the Air Force has now floated publicly the idea of buying more than a hundred new advanced tactical trainers. And while the service’s future trainer, the Boeing’s T-7 Red Hawk, may be in the mix, the head of Air Combat Command wants to check out the market to see whether other companies can offer a more high-performance jet.
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10/27/2021
U.S. Air Force tactical air control party (TACP) Airmen, deployed to the 82nd Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron, along with the U.S. Army 1st Battalion 194th Armor Regiment joint fires observers (JFOs) in-training, and the Italian air force (Aeronautica Militare) Task Group Typhoon recently trained together at Udairi Range, Kuwait.
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10/27/2021
Although it has the Sino-Pakistan fighter JF-17 as its virtual favorite, the purchase of 12 combat aircraft by the Argentine Air Force (FAA) has gained a new chapter, according to sources on the Zona Militar website. United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the company responsible for Mapo-MiG, would have improved its offering of MiG-35 supersonic jets in order to beat the competition.
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10/27/2021
The Air Force’s “4+1” fighter plan for the 2020s, unveiled in recent months, will leave the service with a fleet that’s too small and improperly configured to deal with peer threats. What’s needed is a plan that emphasizes stealth aircraft; rapidly retires non-stealthy and expensive-to-maintain “legacy” airplanes; and doesn’t create gaps in USAF’s ability to control the air in a conflict, according to new analysis from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
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10/26/2021
The Air Force is eyeing Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail platform to replace its aging airborne early warning and control capabilities, a service official said Oct. 25. Gen. Mark Kelly, commander of Air Combat Command, said the E-7 Wedgetail could be the ideal solution to what he called the “multi-spectral problem” of updating the Air Force’s current air domain surveillance capabilities. Maintaining the Air Force’s fleet of E-3 Sentry AWACS will only become more difficult as the aircraft age.
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10/26/2021
Electronic warfare (EW) avionics experts at the Boeing Co. will produce EW avionics for the U.S. Air Force F-15 jet fighter fleet that will help protect the combat aircraft from radar-guided missiles. Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, announced a $55.4 million order in late September to Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis for the F-15's Eagle Passive Active Warning and Survivability System (EPAWSS) low rate initial
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10/25/2021
U.S. Marines landed two F-35B Lighting II stealth jets on a Japanese naval ship earlier this month in a show of allied democracies’ partnership in defending sea lanes in the Pacific Ocean The aircraft from Fighter Attack Squadron 242 successfully conducted the first ever landing aboard the JS Izumo following modifications to allow short take-off and vertical landing aboard the helicopter carrier.
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10/25/2021
U.S. Air Force fighter pilots and crew members are far more likely to be diagnosed with certain types of cancers than their fellow airmen, according to the most comprehensive military study to date. The study is the first confirmation of a connection long suspected by fighter aviators who saw their peers contracting some cancers at concerning rates. Earlier, less comprehensive studies had proven inconclusive.
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10/25/2021
A really interesting training mission was carried out on Saturday Oct. 23, 2021, in Sweden, where a U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130J Commando II aircraft landed on a highway on Gotland, Sweden’s largest island, strategically located in the the Baltic Sea. The American Special Operations aircraft arrived over the road segment used for the drills in formation with a Swedish Air Force C-130H (locally designated TP 84) and two Swedish JAS 39 Gripen jets.
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10/24/2021
The Biden administration has told lawmakers that the US is nearing a formalized agreement with Pakistan for use of its airspace to conduct military and intelligence operations in Afghanistan, according to three sources familiar with the details of a classified briefing with members of Congress that took place on Friday morning.
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10/24/2021
This spring the U.S. Air Force staged a small number of F-22 stealth fighters to an outlying airfield in Alaska. Now the service has sent F-16 fighters even farther afield, to a dangerous little base right next to Russia. As part of a so-called “Agile Combat Employment” exercise, the F-22s from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage—the Pentagon’s main Alaska base—flew out of King Salmon airport on a temporary basis back in May.
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10/23/2021
The C-130 Hercules is the absolute workhorse of the U.S. Air Force. The basic C-130, released into the wild in 1956, has been improved on and modified extensively throughout the years. The C-130J Super Hercules has hit the mainstream and is now parked on nearly every active C-130 ramp in the Air Force. The venerable Hercules is owned and operated by the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Navy, and the Air National Guard. It fills roles unique to each organization.
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10/23/2021
Amid all the debate and political sparring over funding, sustainment, per-aircraft cost, and long-term modernization, there is another pressing circumstance that tends to get obscured by the conceptual and budget-oriented turbulence surrounding the aircraft.
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10/22/2021
On Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, on a trip to Israel, visited an Indian Air Force contingent at an airbase in Israel. Five upgraded Mirage 2000 fighters of the Indian Air Force are in Israel to take part in the multilateral 'Blue Flag' exercise. The Indian Air Force had participated in Blue Flag in 2017, but the current edition of the exercise is the first to see the deployment of fighter jets.
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10/22/2021
The effort is being led by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program has its roots in an Indian effort to modernize the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) stock of older fighters, including the SEPECAT Jaguar and Dassault Mirage 2000. The AMCA project has undergone multiple iterations, but the core requirement is for a stealth, single-seat multi-role multirole fighter.
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10/22/2021
The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) on Thursday started the main and operational phase of a large-scale military drill codenamed ‘Devotees of the Velayat Sanctuary’. Iranian Air Force Commander Brigadier General Hamid Vahedi said that on the first day of the military exercise, the force’s F-7 fighter aircraft targeted the hypothetical enemy’s positions with Yaseen-90 standoff bombs developed by local experts.
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10/22/2021
The US Navy (USN) is researching options for a “Tactical Surrogate Aircraft”. The aircraft would supplement flight time and training in frontline combat aircraft, provide adversary air support and serve as a flight lead aircraft for Fleet Replacement Squadrons, a unit that trains naval aviators on frontline combat aircraft, such as the Lockheed Martin F-35C and Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
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10/21/2021
China has for the first time showed off retired 1950s era fighter jets that have been converted to unmanned drones, with satellite photos of two of its east coast bases near Taiwan showing a large number of the jets on site. The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command published the photos of two Shenyang J-6s on its Weibo social media account during a post about the ceremony marking the start of the training cycle for the second half of 2021 for a training brigade.
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10/20/2021
Singapore military aircraft that flew over southern Johor earlier this month were taking part in a multilateral exercise and had obtained the requisite approvals to enter Malaysian territorial airspace, said the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) on Tuesday (Oct 19).
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10/20/2021
No sooner had the Defense Intelligence Agency issued its North Korean Military Power report, in which it predicted Pyongyang would resume ballistic missile tests, than North Korea did exactly that, lofting a submarine-launched ballistic missile Oct. 19. The test, in which an SLBM launched from the port of Sinpo into the Sea of Japan, was detected and characterized by South Korea, which said the missile attained an altitude of about 40 miles, traveling about 280 miles downrange.
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10/20/2021
Radar experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will build a mobile advanced radar system to help pilots of the F-35 joint strike fighter learn to operate safely in hostile areas guarded by modern radar-guided surface-to-air missiles.
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10/19/2021
SIX companies are understood to have submitted bids to supply 18 light combat aircraft (LCA) to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in a tender that closed last week, sources say. While the details were not readily available, the contract for one squadron (18 planes) of LCA is said to be valued at around RM4 billion, with half of the amount, or RM2 billion, to be paid via counter trade involving crude palm oil or palm oil products.
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10/19/2021
In what appears to be a response to the growing tensions with Iran, Israel’s Ministry of Defense has requested the US hasten delivery of eight Boeing KC-46 refueling airplanes ordered earlier this year but expected to arrive only in two years.
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10/19/2021
A Namibia Defence Force (NDF) F-7 fighter jet has been badly damaged in a runway excursion at Ondangwa’s Andimba Toivo Ya Toivo Airport. The aircraft (0315) suffered the incident on 15 October. The Chief of the Namibia Defence Force, Air Marshal Martin Pinehas, told Informante that the aircraft had landed normally but its brake parachute failed to deploy, causing it to overshoot the runway. As Ondangwa is now a commercial airport, it does not have arresting systems, he said.
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10/18/2021
The Air Force will hold its annual Tien Lung drills from Monday until Oct. 29, with the bulk of the exercises taking place in Jiadong, Pingtung County, according to military sources. The source told CNA that Air Force F-16Vs, Mirage-2000s, and Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDFs) will take part in the annual maneuvers, which will also include competitive testing of the Air Force's air-to-ground, air-to-sea, air-to-air, and land-based combat skills.
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10/18/2021
Israeli Air Force and German Luftwaffe aircraft performed a flyby over the Knesset in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon as a display of the close cooperation between the two countries and their militaries, the Israel Defense Forces said. This was the first time that German aircraft have flown over Jerusalem since World War I.
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10/18/2021
Negotiations between Turkey and the United States have been continuing on Ankara’s purchase of Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to upgrade its existing warplanes, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday. The statements by the president came as a confirmation on earlier reports that claimed Turkey is set to acquire 40 new F-16V Block 70 aircraft and nearly 80 kits to modernize its F-16 fighters.
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10/17/2021
The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, flagship of the Marine Nationale, returned to service late in September after completing a three-month-long maintenance period. The recent maintenance focused on the modernization of the carrier’s combat system. Living conditions for the crew were also improved. The vessel conducted sea trials in September.
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10/17/2021
Moscow has touted the capabilities of its fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 multirole fighter for nearly a decade. While the development of the aircraft actually began in 2002, progress was slowed due to financial constraints in Russia and it wasn’t until January 2010 that the combat aircraft even made its maiden flight.
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10/15/2021
The Israeli Air Force will host a massive, multi-national aerial exercise beginning next week and lasting through the end of the month, which will include fly-bys over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the military said Thursday. Teams from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Greece and India will participate in the fifth biennial Blue Flag exercise, the Israel Defense Forces said.
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10/15/2021
The Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract will fund the development of a supersonic uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator. Awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s AFWERX, the contract is in partnership with Air Combat Command and the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate.
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10/15/2021
With its economy booming, Bangladesh is embarking on a modernization plan, which includes acquiring Western combat aircraft for the first time in its history. Eurofighter Typhoon is believed to be the front-runner while Dassault Rafale is seen as the second favorite, as per experts.
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10/14/2021
Newly obtained documents offer a clearer picture of an F-22 Raptor’s demise in Florida last year when it crashed near Eglin Air Force Base during training with other fighter jets. The F-22 grew increasingly wobbly upon takeoff, refused to turn left and shortly barrel-rolled into the ground after its pilot safely ejected, according to the Air Force’s investigation into the May 15, 2020, incident that was not previously made public.
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10/14/2021
The Air Force’s just-announced program to buy a new jet trainer is meant to support the “Reforge” overhaul of the fighter training enterprise put forward by Air Combat Command last year, but the program is in its earliest stage, and no timing for acquiring the airplane has been set, according to ACC.
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10/13/2021
The Israeli Air Force has asked the US Air Force to advance the acquisition of four out of eight tankers that are required for long-range missions, with two of them asked to be delivered immediately. The US State Department approved the possible sale of up to eight KC-46 tanker aircraft and related equipment to Israel for an estimated cost of $2.4 billion last March, marking the first time that Washington has allowed Jerusalem to buy new tankers.
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10/13/2021
Turkey’s request for Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits to upgrade its existing warplanes is valued at $6 billion (TL 54.02 billion), according to Turkish sources who spoke to two different media organizations Tuesday. Considering U.S. Congress' opposition to Ankara purchasing arms due to several lingering issues, it was thought that it would be difficult to win approval for the deal, however, reports have said that the new U.S. administration supports it.
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10/13/2021
Harry J. Kazianis, Senior Director at the Center for the National Interest and Executive Editor of the National Interest, spoke with Ken Moss, LMXT Capture Manager at Lockheed Martin, on the new LMXT program. Here is a lightly edited version of the conversation:
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10/13/2021
The Air Force is seeking “at least 100” and as many as 400 Advanced Tactical Trainer aircraft both to train fighter pilots and to serve as adversary aircraft in training, a role similar to that now performed by the AT-38. While the Air Force seems likely to be looking at adding to the role of the T-7A, the service did not mention that airplane or its maker, Boeing, in the request for information published Oct. 12.
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10/12/2021
Despite the Indian Navy’s head start in the 1990s, China’s carrier capabilities and virtually all carrier-relevant industries have overtaken India’s in scale and sophistication.
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10/12/2021
The IAF had in April 2019 issued a Request for Information (RFI) to acquire 114 jets at an estimated cost of $18 billion. The contract was promoted as one of the world’s biggest military procurement programs. The speculation about Washington’s desire to sell its fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to India for both the Airforce and Navy took rounds on the internet and became an instant topic of discussion among military analysts in 2018.
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10/11/2021
But an equally glorious, intriguing, and daring mission happened 24 years ago when an IAF reconnaissance aircraft made its presence heard over Islamabad, the capital of neighboring Pakistan, by unleashing a sonic boom in broad daylight.
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10/09/2021
New reports that the U.S. has secretly sent teams of special operations soldiers and Marines to Taiwan to train military forces there has added fresh fuel to rising tensions with an increasingly bellicose China. About two dozen troops have been conducting training missions with Taiwan‘s ground forces for at least a year, in an effort to shore up the island’s defenses against a possible invasion by Beijing, according to a report this week from The Wall Street Journal.
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10/09/2021
Lockheed Martin has delivered to the US Air Force an airborne high-energy laser prototype called AHEL, which will be tested next year on a ground-attack aircraft, the military technology manufacturer reported in release. The laser must first be integrated with other systems for ground testing and later the complete weapons system can be incorporated into an AC-130J Ghostrider aircraft to evaluate its performance in the air.
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10/08/2021
As China began to send large numbers of aircraft into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the country's Air Force on Saturday (Oct. 2) released a patriotic video meant to showcase its military capabilities and determination to defend the nation.
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10/08/2021
The Finnish government has approved an expansion to its defense procurement budget for 2022 that takes into account preliminary costs associated with the €10 billion (U.S. $12 billion) HX Fighter Program and the acquisition of new multirole aircraft. The proposal for new budgetary measures was presented to Finland’s national parliament, the Eduskunta, on Sept. 27. It is now included in the preliminary defense budget for 2022.
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10/08/2021
Faced with an inventory full of aging equipment, the Air Force is proposing to slash legacy aircraft it believes cannot survive in a high-end fight. The aim is to divert dollars needed to support these legacy platforms to modernization programs. While this approach has not succeeded in the past, leaders still feel it is the last card they have to play, given a cultural unwillingness to demand a greater share of the defense budget pie.
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10/07/2021
A serious shortfall in Korea's military capability is expected in the near future, as the country's plan to secure new assets to replace aging military aircraft and warships remains insufficient, a lawmaker said, Wednesday.
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10/07/2021
Russia's forthcoming unmanned combat air vehicle is about to enter its prototype stage, making its debut on the country's Ministry of Defense television station, TV Zvezda. The video (included below) is also the most in-depth analysis of the new aircraft, called the Sukhoi S-79 Okhotnik UCAV, to ever reach the public. The forthcoming Russian Okhotnik means "Hunter" in English, and it's huge.
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10/07/2021
The first new EC-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft recently made its inaugural flight, L3Harris announced Wednesday. Unlike a typical military aircraft procurement program, the US Air Force intends to modernize its aging Compass Call fleet by stripping sophisticated electronic warfare systems out of its legacy EC-130H aircraft and incorporating them onboard new Gulfstream G550 business jets.
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10/06/2021
A pair of F-35s from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada released dummy nuclear bombs at a nearby test range this month, moving the advanced stealth fighter closer to carrying the world’s most powerful weapons into combat, the Air Force said Monday.
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10/06/2021
Two Marine Corps F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters took off and landed on Japan’s largest warship, on Oct.3, marking the first time that fixed-wing aircraft have operated off a Japanese warship since World War II. The two F-35Bs from the “Bats” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242 flew from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, to operate on Izumo to test modifications to the big deck warship so the short takeoff, vertical landing version of the F-35 can operate from the ship.
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10/05/2021
RAAF had floated a tender in June 2020 for a new advanced jet trainer to replace its age-old BAE Systems Hawk 127 LIFT aircraft. “We have responded to a request for information (RFI) from Australian DoD for the Air 6002 Phase 1 requirement , which was issued on June 1, 2020, by offering our LCA as LIFT configuration,” says an HAL official.
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10/05/2021
China flew 56 fighter planes toward Taiwan on Monday in the largest show of force on record, continuing the three days of sustained military harassment against the self-ruled island. The first sortie of 52 planes included 34 J-16 fighter jets and 12 H-6 bombers, among other aircraft, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense. Later, four more Chinese J-16s flew toward the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone — a buffer outside a country’s airspace.
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10/05/2021
Earlier this year, India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) received a Rs 48,000-crore order from the country’s Defense Ministry for the supply of 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to the Indian Air Force. Buoyed by this mega-deal, HAL has been actively looking for foreign buyers, but may not be able to pitch its fighters to many countries due to certain export restrictions.
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10/04/2021
The French military says its planes have been banned from Algerian airspace amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries. "This morning, while filing flight plans for two of our planes, we learned that the Algerians were closing the overflight of their territory to all French military planes," Colonel Pascal Ianni, spokesman for the French military, told CNN Sunday.
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10/04/2021
The United States urged China to stop its "provocative" military activities near Taiwan after the island's forces scrambled jets to warn away close to 100 Chinese military aircraft entering its air defence zone over a three-day period. Taiwan, a democratically governed island that is claimed by China, has complained for more than a year of repeated missions near it by China's air force, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
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10/03/2021
China has infuriated Taiwan by marking the founding of the People’s Republic of China with the largest ever incursion by the Chinese air force into the island’s air defence zone. Taiwanese fighters scrambled against 38 Chinese aircraft in two waves on Friday, the Taiwan Defence Ministry said. It said Taiwan sent combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese aircraft, while missile systems were deployed to monitor them.
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10/02/2021
Saab delivered to Boeing its third aft fuselage section for use in the T-7A Red Hawk flight test program for the U.S. Air Force. The production and shipment of this aft fuselage section is the latest milestone in Saab’s (Sweden) contribution to the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the T-7A Red Hawk trainer for the U.S. Air Force. Upon completion of the EMD phase, Saab’s new plant in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, will take over the production of the aft fuselage sections.
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10/02/2021
North Korea fired a newly developed anti-aircraft missile on Thursday, state media KCNA reported on Friday, the latest in its recent series of weapons tests amid deadlocked denuclearization talks with the United States. It was North Korea's second known weapons test this week after launching a previously unseen hypersonic missile on Tuesday. It has also fired ballistic missiles, and a cruise missile with potential nuclear capabilities in recent weeks.
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10/02/2021
The crews of the aircraft of a separate naval assault regiment from the naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet conducted combat exercises at a practice range in the Crimea, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday. "According to the scenario, a Su-24MP tactical bomber while performing reconnaissance tasks, detects objects of a conventional enemy in a mountainous area. Su-24M fighter jets and Su-30SM multirole fighters took to the sky to eliminate the "enemy", the press service noted.
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10/02/2021
Argentina’s search for a budget-friendly fighter jet initially took it to narrow down on five sellers: China, Israel, Russia, South Korea, and the US. Despite the prominent view being that China / Pakistan’s JF-17 was the frontrunner, there is are indications that Argentina could ink a military deal with Russia.
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10/02/2021
Taiwan has said it scrambled its combat aircraft after 25 Chinese fighter jets entered its defence zone on a day Beijing marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The latest Chinese incursion – its biggest in weeks – involved 18 J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, and an anti-submarine aircraft, the Taiwan ministry said on Friday.
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09/30/2021
The new International Flight Training School (IFTS) is a joint venture between the Italian Air Force and Leonardo. Currently located at the 61° Stormo (Wing) at Galatina Air Base, in southeastern Italy but about to relocate to Decimomannu Air Base, Sardinia, (where a groundbreaking ceremony was held in December 2020 to mark the beginning of the construction works of a modern flight training campus).
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09/30/2021
Yesterday, Jeff Babione, the head of Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works advanced projects division declined to comment in a somewhat cryptic way on a video that emerged last week showing what looked to be a stealthy, advanced fighter aircraft-like test shape at the company's secretive Helendale radar-cross section (RCS) measurement facility. Separately, Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown said he was not aware of the clip and couldn't comment on it.
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09/30/2021
China will debut its next-generation, carrier-borne fighter jet later this year, according to the country’s main state-owned aerospace conglomerate and the chief designer of its current carrier-based fighter jet. This comes as China has demonstrated a pair of its land-based J-20 stealth fighters powered by indigenous engines at the ongoing Zhuhai airshow.
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09/29/2021
Argentina insists reports the country is buying the JF-17 Thunder warplane are premature, but analysts believe it could still succeed where other fighter types failed — mostly as a result of British pressure. Speculation arose after media reports highlighted a request in Argentina’s fiscal 2022 draft budget for $664 million to purchase 12 JF-17s from Pakistan.
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09/29/2021
China has finally showed off its most advanced fighter aircraft with domestic-made engines - a significant milestone as Beijing pushes the capabilities of its J-20 stealth jets in a bid to rival the United States' F-22.
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09/29/2021
Combat aircraft designers at Lockheed Martin Corp. will build 16 new F-35 jet fighter-bombers for the U.S. Air Force and Marine Corps under terms of a $1.1 billion order announced Friday. Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. - the organization handling F-35 aviation technology procurement for all military forces - are asking the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics segment in Fort Worth, Texas, to build 16, Lot 15 F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
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09/28/2021
The Defence Ministry inked a nearly ?20,000 crore contract with Airbus Defence and Space of Spain to procure 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft which will replace Avro-748 planes of the Indian Air Force. The deal, which was struck on Friday, September 24, is part of a series of measures to promote the private sector and break the monopoly of state-owned entities in defence manufacturing.
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09/28/2021
China’s military will display some of its most advanced weaponry and equipment when the country’s largest airshow gets under way this week. Airshow China opens in the southern city of Zhuhai on Tuesday after a year-long delay as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
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09/28/2021
US Navy aircraft carriers have started deploying with F-35C stealth fighter jets, aircraft that one fighter pilot called "a game changer" and said are making US carriers even more lethal. The first US Navy aircraft carrier to deploy with F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters, the variant engineered for carrier operations, was USS Carl Vinson, which departed San Diego last month and sailed through the South China Sea recently with the "Argonauts" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, on board.
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09/27/2021
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on Sunday (Sept. 26) that it recently simulated attacks by enemy aircraft and cruise missiles at the Jiupeng military base to verify the combat effectiveness of its air defense weapons. The MND pointed out that air defense forces moved into pre-selected strategic locations that maximized combat strength preservation to conduct operations against an imaginary enemy and showcase their training, CNA reported.
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09/27/2021
Interestingly, the service is now going for secondhand aircraft instead of brand-new ones to make up for its depleting fighter fleet. The EurAsian Times reported that IAF is buying used Mirage 2000 jets from France. The IAF currently operates 32 squadrons out of its mandated strength of 42. Even the ongoing procurements of 36 Dassault Rafale fighters and 83 indigenous Tejas Mark 1A LCAs will not fill this glaring shortfall.
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09/26/2021
India on Friday formalized the purchase of 56 C-295 military aircraft from Airbus, of which 16 will be manufactured at the European group’s plant in Seville and the remaining 40 in the Asian country in partnership with the local Tata group. The 16 units from Seville assembly lines will be delivered within 48 months, while the remaining 40 will be produced in India over the next 10 years under an industrial partnership with Tata that will involve technology transfer, according to a statement by
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09/26/2021
In recent developments, Iraq has decided to purchase 12 JF-17 Thunder Block III fighter jets from Pakistan. According to reports, the defense deal was approved by both the Iraqi and Pakistani governments, and a formal agreement is expected to be signed in Islamabad next month.
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09/25/2021
Partnering with the government of the Australian state of Queensland, Boeing has selected Toowoomba as the preferred site for the company’s first aircraft assembly facility of its kind outside of North America. Boeing Australia will establish the facility in the Wellcamp Aerospace and Defence Precinct at Wellcamp Airport. To produce and assemble the Boeing Airpower Teaming System (also known as Loyal Wingman).
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09/25/2021
As the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps set about overhauling their in-house red air adversary fleets, the first of three F-5N Tiger II aggressor aircraft set to undergo testing as part of a major upgrade program for the type arrived recently at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. The improved F-5Ns will be better suited to replicate more advanced aerial threats and do so more reliably and safely.
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09/25/2021
Lieutenant-General Michael Loh, who heads the Air National Guard, told reporters about this development at the Air Force Association’s Annual Air, Space and Cyberspace Conference recently. The development of the Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk was a closely guarded secret. The fighter jet program received the green light in the 1970s, at the peak of the Cold War. and took its maiden flight in 1981.
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09/25/2021
China's big international airshow in Zhuhai hasn’t even officially kicked off yet, but we are already getting a peek at what is going to be displayed there. One new development is China's J-16D electronic attack jet being seen with jamming pods for the first time. Now we are getting our first lifesize view of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's Cai Hong (Rainbow) 6, better known by its designation CH-6. It is a long-endurance, twin-jet engine, multirole drone.
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09/25/2021
Taiwan said today that 24 Chinese fighter jets have passed the air defense identification zone (ADIZ) after the island asked to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s Progressive and Comprehensive Agreement (CPTPP), which Beijing “categorically” opposes.
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09/23/2021
Argentina’s Ministry of Defense issued an official statement on Tuesday in which it denies having selected the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 Thunder fighter. According to the government, a provision of $664 million was included in the 2022 budget for the acquisition of multifunctional fighter jets, however, the competition is still in the technical and financial evaluation phase of five proposals.
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09/22/2021
When we floated the idea of the Eurofighter Typhoon in the Bangladesh Air Force, most people were shocked. How dare they suggest? They mocked as if Bangladesh Air Force would never be good enough to operate the Eurofighter or any high calibre combat aircraft. This mockery is deep-seeded in the psychology implanted into their minds by the old generation
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09/22/2021
Two Russian Aerospace Forces Tu-160 Blackjacks carried out an 8-hour mission that brought the bombers off the Baltic States on Sept. 21, 2021. According to the Russian MOD, the two strategic missile carriers performed a planned flight in airspace over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. The missile-carrier bombers were escorted by two Su-35S aircraft of the Aerospace Force and two Su-27 fighters of the Baltic Fleet’s naval aviation during their mission.
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09/22/2021
The Argentine Defense Ministry published a memo on Tuesday (21) outlining the news that the country will acquire JF-17 Thunder, Block 3 fighters of Chinese-Pakistani origin. On September 17, profile Section AEROSINT PSF — moderated by the Pakistan Strategic Forum of Pakistani Defense Experts — tweeted that Argentina was to include $664 million in funding to buy 12 PAC JF-17A/B Block III fighters (10 JF-17A single-seat and two JF-17B two-seater) in the 2022 draft budget submitted to the governmen
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09/21/2021
The 144th Fighter Wing welcomed the arrival of two F-117 Nighthawk aircraft Sept 13, 2021 to the Fresno Air National Guard Base, California, to conduct dissimilar air combat training missions.
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09/20/2021
The Air Force is moving forward with an amphibious, pontoon-equipped version of the MC-130J Commando II used by its special operators -- and hopes to be able to fly a prototype of the aircraft in less than a year and a half. A U.S. Special Operations Command official said at a conference in May that the military was considering developing an amphibious MC-130, but that concerns about feasibility meant that the Air Force would take a hard look at the idea before proceeding.
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09/20/2021
A military training jet crashed Sunday in a neighborhood near Fort Worth, Texas, injuring the two pilots and damaging three homes but not seriously hurting anyone on the ground, authorities said. Both pilots managed to eject from the plane before it crashed in Lake Worth, which is just west of Fort Worth, authorities said at a news conference.
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09/19/2021
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Barry conducted a "routine Taiwan Strait transit" on Friday, a statement from the US Navy's Seventh Fleet said. "The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the US commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific", it said, adding that the US military "flies, sails, and operates anywhere international law allows".
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09/19/2021
Three U.S. Air Force Airmen make final preparations for a 37th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules aircraft out of Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to drop 16 Polish special forces members at an abandoned runway near Biala Podlaska, Poland, during Aviation Detachment Rotation 21-4, Sept 15, 2021.
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09/19/2021
Argentina intends to purchase 12 JF-17A Block III fighters from Pakistan according to a draft budget presented to the nation's congress. The news was disclosed on several media webs, including ukdefensejournal. ”The Government of Argentina has officially included US$ 664 Million in funding for the purchase of 12 PAC JF-17A Block III fighters from Pakistan in a draft budget for 2022 presented to its Parliament.”
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09/18/2021
Argentina plans to purchase 12 JF-17 Thunder aircrafts from Pakistan, it emerged on Friday. The news was revealed by Pakistan Strategic Forum on Twitter, stating that the South American country has officially included $664 million in funding for the purchase of fighter jets in a draft budget for 2022 presented to its Parliament.
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09/18/2021
A drill to test the counterstrike capabilities of the domestically-built Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) was held in Taichung Friday, marking the end of the five-day live-fire component of the Han Kuang exercises.
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09/18/2021
In an attempt to strengthen its fleet of fourth-generation fighters, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to acquire 24 second-hand Mirage 2000 fighters, made by Dassault Aviation. The IAF will also secure parts for its two existing squadrons of the aircraft. According to a Hindustan Times report, people in the know have said that IAF has initiated a contract worth €27 million with the manufacturer to buy the fighters, eight of which are in ready-to-fly condition.
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09/18/2021
Northrop Grumman’s Scaled Composites has unveiled a low-cost model of an optionally-crewed aircraft designed to fly alongside manned aircraft in a “loyal wingman” role. Evolving from the aerospace firm’s experimental Model 401 aircraft, the Model 437 technology demonstrator has a reported range of 3,000 miles (4,828 km) and a cruising speed of Mach 0.8. Its payload bay can carry 1,000 pounds (454 kg) of cargo.
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09/18/2021
Taiwan's air force scrambled on Friday to warn away 10 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, Taiwan's defence ministry said, the day after the island announced a $9 billion boost to military spending to counter the threat from China. Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
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09/17/2021
MBDA and BAE Systems have secured additional funding from the British and Italian governments to complete integration of key weapon systems destined to add capability to their F-35 combat jet fleets, the companies announced Sept 17. The cash injection will see MBDA’s SPEAR precision surface attack missile and Meteor air-to-air weapon integrated on the aircraft.
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09/17/2021
The U.S. Air Force has a tanker problem. Just one thing can solve it. A drone. A small, stealthy drone. It’s increasingly clear service leaders understand this. But they’re in no rush to do anything about it. The problem is obvious. In the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. military flies most of its warplanes from just a handful of big bases. And those bases—namely, Kadena in Okinawa and Andersen in Guam—are many hundreds, or even thousands, of miles from likely combat zones over the China and Phi
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09/17/2021
No matter what happens after much drama, tension, and delay -- it is assured that one of the finest multirole combat aircraft in the world; either the Eurofighter Typhoon or Dassault Rafale is arriving to defend the skies of Bangladesh.
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09/17/2021
China’s deployment of radar, anti-ship and anti-air missile platforms, and combat aircraft to outposts in the South China Sea has greatly expanded its ability to project power in waters far from its coast, according to a US think tank. “This feature will illustrate how these three capabilities are fundamentally linked, and how China’s aircraft carriers can take advantage of them to comfortably conduct operations at greater distances,” the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said Wednes
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09/17/2021
Airmen with the 332nd AEW continue to return to base following various forward deployments in support of the Afghanistan noncombatant evacuation operation. Overall, more than 100 332nd AEW personnel forward deployed to Afghanistan and various bases in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to assist in operations.
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09/17/2021
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) has started working with digital twin technology for the design and production of the National Combat Aircraft (MMU), Turkey’s long-awaited 5th generation fighter jet due to leave the hangar on March 18, 2023.
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09/17/2021
Somewhere in the California skies, a real-life scenario similar to scenes from the movie classic “Top Gun” has been playing out this week. And those planes in mock combat have been taking off out of Fresno. A pair of F-117 fighter jets arrived in town Monday for aerial combat training against the F-15 planes based out of the 144th Fighter Wing, the military airbase located next to Fresno Yosemite International Airport.
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09/16/2021
Japan could be the next partner nation for the trinational, British-led next-generation fighter program, an official hinted at the DSEI arms trade show in London. The United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy are jointly developing cutting-edge technologies to feed into the Future Combat Air System effort. The FCAS is to eventually lead to a core fighter aircraft and a raft of new capabilities alongside it by 2035.
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09/16/2021
Taiwan said it intercepted a fleet of nine military aircraft that took off from coastal China and flew sorties near the island on Wednesday, as the Taiwanese armed forces conducted anti-landing drills as part of their largest annual exercise.
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09/15/2021
The United States may not be the only power to utterly and completely disregard Beijing's claims to the near entirety of the South China Sea. Just last month, China announced that it would demand that all "foreign ships" report their course, call signs, and cargo before entering what Beijing has said are its territorial waters.
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09/15/2021
Air Force Reserve Command kicked off a week-long exercise, Rally in the Rockies 2021, by landing a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft on the highway near Rawlins, Wyoming on September 13, according to a release from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Services (DVIDS).
Military officials say that the highway closed early in the morning to ensure the aircrew could safely practice recovering personnel without access to a runway within simulated enemy territory.
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09/15/2021
On the day that America observed the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, its most potent tool for responding to future such assaults was operating near the places they are most likely to originate. The USS Ronald Reagan, hosting 90 strike fighters and other combat aircraft, was underway in the North Arabian Sea, near the mouth of the Persian Gulf and within easy reach of Afghanistan.
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09/13/2021
A British firm is set to strike a deal that will see it design and develop a replacement for the Red Arrows' aircrafts. Suffolk-based Aeralis was given £200,000 by the RAF to develop a new aircraft that could be converted from basic trainer to aggressive fighter by swapping engines and wings earlier this year.
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09/13/2021
The Han Kuang exercises, the nation’s major war games, are to start today and run for five days. The drills are to include a military aircraft emergency takeoff and landing exercise on a regular roadway on Wednesday, featuring all three fighter jet models in Taiwan’s fleet, a military source said last week.
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09/13/2021
Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi, a subsidiary of industrial conglomerate Rostec, introduced a new fighter, dubbed “Checkmate,” at the 2021 edition of the biennial Russian MAKS Airshow. The reveal followed what is perhaps the most sophisticated mass-marketing campaign of any Russian military hardware product, replete with multiple teasers and promotional videos, slick chess iconography, a dedicated splash page with a countdown timer, and a healthy dose of Twitter trolling.
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09/13/2021
"Excellent news: Greece has just announced its intention to acquire six additional Rafales. Together, we are working to build true European autonomy," French Defence Minister Florence Parly tweeted. Greece was the first European country to buy the combat jets made by Dassault Aviation.
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09/13/2021
A Middle-East nation, amid regional tensions, is spearheading massive modernization efforts to replace its aging Mirage 2000 fighter fleet. Billions of dollars have been invested in a bid to procure 96 super-sophisticated aircraft. The US, the UK, and France are the key recipients of these contracts. One of the richest nations in the world is now interested to acquire F-35s from the US after signing deals to acquire Dassault Rafales, Eurofighter Typhoons, Boeing F-15EX.
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09/12/2021
F-16 fighter jets from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) were scrambled in response to a potential air threat on Saturday morning (Sept 11). A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "After ensuring that our security was not compromised, we stood down our aircraft." Mindef added that on average, RSAF fighter aircraft are deployed to investigate and deal with 350 potential air threats each year.
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09/12/2021
On Sunday, Taiwan accused China of sending 19 strike fighters, four strategic bombers and one surveillance aircraft into its air defence zone. Since 2013, it’s launched more than 4400 flights to test the defences of its least compliant neighbours. Why? International affairs analysts say they’ve uncovered a pattern.
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09/12/2021
Col. Todd Nehls of the Wisconsin Army National Guard had just completed a year-long tour of duty for the National Guard Bureau, to be the Wisconsin National Guard’s subject matter expert on terrorism, shortly before the Sept. 11 terror attacks. “I was in disbelief,” Nehls said when he learned that terrorists had flown passenger jetliners into both World Trade Center towers. “Though this was a scenario talked about for years, few listed it as probable.”
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09/11/2021
Russia’s Su-30SM multi-role fighter jets arrived in Belarus to form a joint military training center for the two countries’ air forces and air defense, the Belarusian defense ministry reported on Wednesday. The aircraft landed at the Baranovichi airfield in the Brest region, 94 kilometers away from Hrodna, which homes the training center. The aviators are supposed to carry out joint combat duty to guard and patrol the borders of the supranational Union State.
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09/10/2021
Indonesia has quietly signed a contract with Lockheed Martin for C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, multiple sources have told Defense News. Photos taken during the Indonesian Air Force chief’s visit to the aircraft’s production line suggests construction on the first aircraft is underway. The government and industry sources told Defense News that Indonesia will acquire five C-130Js under a Direct Commercial Sales contract.
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09/10/2021
A second U.S. Marine Corps squadron in Japan has declared its F-35B fighters are ready for operations, less than a year after officially kicking off the process of transitioning to the stealthy fifth-generation aircraft. The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing announced Thursday that Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 attained initial operational capability with the Lockheed Martin-made jet, 10 months after transitioning away from the Boeing-made F/A-18D Hornet.
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09/10/2021
During Red Flag Alaska 21-3, fighter jets complete multiple sorties, practice tactical maneuvers, and multi-squadron simulated combat objectives. Spending numerous hours in the air at a time requires a hefty load of fuel to keep them airborne. How are fighter jets able to stay in the air for prolonged periods? It’s in large part because of the KC-135 Stratotanker, which acts as a gas station in the sky, allowing jets to refuel midflight without the need to touch back down.
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09/10/2021
The U.S. Navy’s second new America-class Amphibious Assault Ship, which can carry F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, is now making great progress toward deployment and operational service with the completion of the Final Contract Trials (FTC).
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09/09/2021
A Navy aircraft carrier strike group and a destroyer steamed separately through the South China Sea on Wednesday, just days after China imposed a law requiring foreign vessels to give notice before entering waters claimed by Beijing. The guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold “asserted navigation rights and freedoms” within 12 nautical miles of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, according to a 7th Fleet news release Wednesday.
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09/09/2021
India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday cleared the much-delayed purchase of 56 C-295 medium transport aircraft to replace the Indian Air Force’s ageing fleet of Avro-748 planes, the defence ministry announced on Wednesday. The deal is expected to be worth $2.5 billion.
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09/09/2021
Members of the 1st Fighter Wing and 192nd Wing from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, participated in Red Flag Alaska 21-3 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, from Aug. 12 - 27, 2021. Red Flag-Alaska 21-3 is a large-scale exercise meant to simulate a real-world combat scenario, hosted by Pacific Air Forces and conducted over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex.
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09/09/2021
The Indian Air Force (IAF) would procure 350 more aircraft over the next two decades, including a fleet of Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), said IAF chief, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, on Wednesday. All efforts, he added, would be made to procure combat aircraft from indigenous sources.
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09/09/2021
Turkey is open to foreign cooperation in jointly manufacturing its defence industry projects such as its planned 3rd generation national combat aircraft, Ismail Demir, the head of Turkish Defence Industries Directorate (SSB) said. Turkey can negotiate with those who want to participate under its own terms, Demir told state-run broadcaster TRT on Monday.
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09/08/2021
There’s a war going on and, like it or not, you’ve already been drafted into it. But there’s no battlefield, no explosions, and no uniforms in this fight. Instead, it’s unfolding in Reddit threads, Facebook comments, and other social media forums where people swap information and, unwittingly or not, disinformation.
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09/08/2021
A new tactical aircraft study underway could make certain what has until now been a suspicion: The U.S. Air Force is unlikely to purchase all of the 1,763 F-35A jets in its program of record.
The service is undertaking the study as it readies its fiscal 2023 budget and grapples with reducing the types of fighters it flies from seven to four main platforms by 2030, as prescribed by the service’s chief of staff.
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09/07/2021
A scheduled military aircraft emergency takeoff and landing drill on a regular roadway will take place early in the morning on Sept. 15 and feature all three models of fighter jets in Taiwan's fleet, a military source told CNA on Monday. The drill will begin at 6:30 a.m. on a 3-kilometer section of Provincial Highway No. 1 near Jiadong and Fangliao in Pingtung County, and feature an Indigenous Defensive Fighter (IDF), an F-16V, a Mirage 2000-5, and a E-2K airborne early warning aircraft, the sou
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09/07/2021
The defence ministry said 19 aircraft including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers entered its so-called air defence identification zone (ADIZ). Taipei has been complaining for more than a year about repeated missions by China's air force near the island. China sees democratic Taiwan as a breakaway province, but Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign state.
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09/07/2021
U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, who leads Air Combat Command, wishes he could tell the public more about the service’s secretive sixth-generation fighter program, Next Generation Air Dominance. Last September, the Air Force disclosed that a full-scale NGAD demonstrator had already flown, signaling that the program is further along than most outside aerospace analysts predicted.
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09/06/2021
Satellite photos expose a showdown brewing in the South China Sea. Against all assurances, Beijing has armed its artificial island fortresses with aircraft and warships. Now the world is pushing back. Beijing said it guaranteed free and open access to the South China Sea’s shipping lanes. Beijing said it would never militarise the region. But that’s all changed.
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09/06/2021
The Chinese-claimed island dispatched combat aircrafts to warn away the Chinese advances, as well as monitoring them with missile systems, according to the defence ministry. The ministry reported ten J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, along with an anti-submarine aircraft. Reportedly four H-6 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, were also among the Chinese aircraft. Taiwan reported the latest incursion into its airspace on Sunday.
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09/06/2021
India is pitching its HAL Tejas light combat aircraft to the Southeast Asian country. “The Russian side is considering the possibility of Rosoboronexport’s [Russia’s state arms exporter] participation with MiG-35 in the Malaysian Air Force tender for the supply of training and light combat aircraft.
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09/06/2021
Taiwan's air force scrambled on Sunday against renewed Chinese military activity, with its defence ministry reporting that 19 aircraft including nuclear-capable bombers had flown into Taiwan's air defence identification zone. Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the self-ruled island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence zone near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
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09/05/2021
Two Philippine Air Force (PAF) jets scrambled to intercept an unidentified foreign aircraft spotted flying toward the country’s airspace last Thursday. In a statement, the PAF said it deployed two FA-50 aircraft to intercept the unknown aircraft, which was detected flying about 120 nautical miles northwest of Bolinao, Pangasinan.
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09/05/2021
Five sailors missing after a helicopter went into the sea after crashing on the deck of an aircraft carrier on Monday are now presumed dead, U.S. 3rd Fleet said today. The MH-60S was on the deck of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) when an unspecified mishap caused the helicopter to fall into the Pacific about 60 miles off the coast of San Diego, Calif., on Aug. 31 at 4:30 p.m. local time.
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09/05/2021
One of the lesser-known Lightning II variants, the F-35B is nonetheless slated to become a core pillar of the Marine Corps’ ability to project power. Although commonly referred to in the singular, Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter is technically three different planes: the F-35A conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variant that is being procured by the US Air Force (USAF) to phase out the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) varian
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09/05/2021
The Liberian-flagged tanker Mercer Street was transiting through the Gulf of Oman on July 29, bound for the United Arab Emirates, when it was attacked by two delta-winged drones packed full of explosives. The startled crew issued several distress calls. But before help could arrive, a third drone slammed into the pilothouse early in the morning of July 30. The explosion ripping a six-foot-hole in the vessel and killing the ship’s Romanian captain and his British bodyguard.
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09/05/2021
The U.S. Navy has just unveiled one of its latest ships: the Kansas City LCS 22, an Independence-Class Littoral, in San Diego. It is one of the most nimble ships the Navy has ever created. It's also controversial, with critics calling out its troubled history and saying it breaks down too easily. As recently as 2018, and after billions of dollars in investment, it wasn't clear the Littoral Combat Ship program had much of a future at all.
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09/04/2021
The UAE and Egyptian navies have embarked on a 10-day joint marine drill in Emirati waters as part of the countries' Zayed 3 military exercise programme. Zayed 3 was launched in May, and has also featured land and air elements. It is the third such joint exercise between the UAE and Egypt since 2014.
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09/04/2021
The crews of Su-24 bombers and Su-30SM multirole fighters of the Baltic Fleet’s naval aviation delivered precision bombing strikes from an altitude of 2,000-meters against targets that simulated a notional enemy’s command posts, manpower and combat hardware during drills in the Kaliningrad Region, the Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.
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09/04/2021
No requests have come from foreign states yet for the purchase of Russia’s most advanced Checkmate light tactical fighter jet, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Friday. "No," he said in response to a corresponding question.
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09/04/2021
South Korea's planned aircraft carrier could have a distinctly British flavor. In fact, it could be a mini version of the Queen Elizabeth. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) this week signed a memorandum of understanding with top British defense contractor, Babcock International, to work together to design and build the new CVX, South Korea's light aircraft carrier.
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09/03/2021
Senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Motaqi has called on the residents of the Panjshir Valley to lay down their weapons, but there is little sign of them complying. Dozens of Taliban fighters are said to have been killed in skirmishes along its borders since 15 August, when Kabul fell, and fighting is continuing.
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09/03/2021
Even though the Biden administration has stopped its efforts to evacuate people from Afghanistan, private citizens are working around the clock to rescue those who have been left behind. The group Ark Salus intends to rescue Afghans who helped the U.S. military during nearly two decades of war.
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09/03/2021
A Philippine aircraft carrying soldiers crashed in July after an "unrecoverable stall", killing more than 50 people in one of the country's worst military air disasters, the armed forces said Thursday. The C-130 Hercules transport plane was loaded with nearly a hundred people, most of them fresh army graduates, when it overshot the runway while trying to land on the southern island of Jolo in Sulu province.
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09/03/2021
U.S. troops destroyed or disabled nearly 100 combat vehicles and dozens of aircraft before vacating the airport in Kabul on Monday, in a last-ditch bid to deprive the Taliban of the use of some American military equipment.
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09/01/2021
Hours after the U.S. Military officially withdrew from Afghanistan Monday, video surfaced of Taliban fighters celebrating at Kabul’s airport. The militants can be seen sitting inside cockpits of airplanes and helicopters the U.S. provided to the Afghan Air Force. While U.S. forces were able to get some of the equipment out of the country, much of it was abandoned. The Pentagon says troops disabled the gear before they left Afghanistan.
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09/01/2021
It’s a rare thing for an alliance to last as long as the ANZUS Treaty, signed 70 years ago today. A Brookings Institution study in 2010 reviewed 63 major alliances over the past 500 years and found only 10 lasted more than 40 years. These included NATO, ANZUS and the US–Japan treaty.
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09/01/2021
The Nigerian air force has about a squadron worth of light attack aircraft — their pilots and maintainers trained by U.S. Air Force personnel — to fight terrorists in the African nation. U.S. Africa Command noted the induction ceremony for the A-29 Super Tucano, a turboprop light attack aircraft, in an Aug. 31 release.
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09/01/2021
Red Flag-Alaska 21-3 concluded at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Aug. 27, strengthening interoperability and showcasing air dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. RF-A is a Pacific Air Forces-sponsored multinational exercise that provides a simulated combat environment through a series of large force employment training, close air support, and joint offensive counter-air exercises.
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08/31/2021
The arduous airlift demands of the Afghanistan evacuation mission haven’t changed the U.K. Royal Air Force’s plans to retire its C-130s by 2030, its top officer said Aug. 27. “This is the first large-scale operation that we’ve done with our A400s, and it’s demonstrated that this is an aircraft with real potential and enormous capacity,” said RAF Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston in an interview with Defense News. “It flies much higher and much faster and carries a greater payload than the C-130.
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08/31/2021
An air force F-16 fighter aircraft left the runway, and ended up nose-down at Pingtung Air Base this morning, according to reports today, Tuesday, August 31. Pilots were rehearsing for the upcoming Han Kuang military exercises when the fighter jet overran the runway after landing at around 6:30 am. Witnesses reported seeing several firetrucks and ambulances rush to the scene of the incident.
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08/31/2021
The last U.S. forces flew out of Kabul’s airport, the Pentagon said Monday, bringing down the curtain on America’s longest war. The head of the U.S. Central Command, Marine Gen. Kenneth F. “Frank” McKenzie, said the final liftoff of American military aircraft came one minute before midnight in Kabul — just before the start of Tuesday, the day set by President Biden as the deadline for the departure of U.S. troops.
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08/30/2021
A newborn baby is cared for prior to departing a C-17 Globemaster III, August 23, 2021 at a Middle East staging area. A 315th Airlift Wing aircrew from Joint Base Charleston, S.C. helped deliver the baby while aboard a C-17 Globemaster III carrying Afghans evacuated from Afghanistan moments before landing at a Middle East staging area.
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08/30/2021
U.S. military aircraft are now ferrying food, tarps and other material into southern Haiti amid a shift in the international relief effort to focus on helping people in the areas hardest hit by the recent earthquake to make it through the hurricane season. Aircraft flying out of the capital, Port-au-Prince, arrived throughout the day Saturday in the mostly rural, mountainous southern peninsula that was the epicenter of the Aug. 14 earthquake.
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08/29/2021
The first-ever incursion of Chinese military helicopters into Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ) this week suggests that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could be rotating through its arsenal of aircraft to probe the capabilities of the Taiwanese defense system and how it responds, experts said on Friday.
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08/29/2021
The four-blade multi-purpose aircraft was just taxiing on the tarmac, but the exercise sent a message to the world: the Taliban were no longer a group of ragtag soldiers wielding Kalashnikov assault rifles on battered pickup trucks. Elsewhere, since the fall of Kabul on 15 August to the hard-line Islamist group, the Taliban's fighters have been pictured showing off a host of US-made weaponry and vehicles.
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08/27/2021
A joint air combat exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) will be held this year, the first of its kind between the two countries. According to The Senkei News, it was revealed on August 22 that the IAF and JASDF will conduct joint training exercises, the novelty of which is that it will be the first time that Japanese pilots will be tested against Russian-designed fighter jets.
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08/27/2021
Projecting unrivaled combat airpower requires a lot of training in and out of the classroom. While both are equally important, some of the most valuable training a pilot can get is by strapping into the cockpit of their aircraft and going head-to-head with another pilot in another fighter. This is where the Airborne Tactical Advantage Company comes into play.
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08/27/2021
Qatar has received its first batch of the new generation F-15 combat aircraft, produced by the United States and Boeing, in partnership with the Gulf state. The rollout took place on Wednesday in a ceremony at Boeing’s headquarters in the US state of Missouri, with the Qatari Minister of State for Defense Affairs Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah in attendance.
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08/26/2021
During the first '2+2' meeting involving the foreign and defence ministers of India and Japan in late 2019, the two nations agreed to hold a military exercise involving their fighter aircraft. It would have been the first such training venture between the two countries, which have held drills involving warships, land-based forces and transport aircraft of their air forces. The fighter exercise, proposed to be held in mid-2020.
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08/26/2021
A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed today in Rajasthan's Barmer during a training mission. The pilot ejected safely, officials said. The MiG-21 Bison jet set a hut on fire after it crashed into it in the Matasar Bhoortiya village of Barmer this evening. The pilot is safe, officials said.
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08/25/2021
The US Navy’s Boeing MQ-25TM T1 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) refueled a Navy E-2D Hawkeye command and control aircraft in a test flight from MidAmerica St. Louis Airport last week, Boeing announced. During the flight, pilots from the Navy Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-20 did a wake survey behind the MQ-25 to check its stability before making contact with the other aircraft. The E-2D then received fuel from the MQ-25.
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08/25/2021
Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has signed an agreement with MBDA to assemble, integrate, and test the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) in India. Under the agreement, MBDA will assist the state-owned Indian defense manufacturer in setting up a facility within its existing manufacturing complex in Bhanur, Telangana. The facility will provide maintenance, repair, and overhaul of the missiles, adaptable to assembly, integration, and testing of the MBDA’s CAMM missile.
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08/25/2021
As the philosopher, The Notorious B.I.G., wrote, “Mo’ money, mo’ problems.”
But what if instead of money, it was a flightline full of fifth-generation fighter aircraft from the U.S. Air Force? Enter the Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, safety office. “During RED FLAG-Alaska, Eielson’s operations tempo goes from a drizzle to a downpour,” said Master Sgt. Ryan Smith, 354th Fighter Wing flight safety non-commissioned officer.
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08/24/2021
Evacuation planes landing in Kabul to rescue US citizens and Afghans are taking no chances — they’re making nose-dive combat landings and deploying decoy flares to ward off potential missile attacks. One French Air Force A400M taking off from the beleaguered airport launched a half-dozen flares moments after takeoff, footage from ITV Turkey posted by CBS News shows. The flares are designed to draw heat-seeking missiles away from the aircraft.
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08/23/2021
Observers have been noting how the Sukhoi Su-75 ‘CheckMate’ revealed in July this year represented a transformation in Russian fighter design, based on the plane’s striking similarities to US jets (the F-35, and the Boeing X-32 experimental aircraft).
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08/23/2021
Evacuation planes landing in Kabul to rescue US citizens and Afghans are taking no chances — they’re making nose-dive combat landings and deploying decoy flares to ward off potential missile attacks. One French Air Force A400M taking off from the beleaguered airport launched a half-dozen flares moments after takeoff, footage from ITV Turkey posted by CBS News shows. The flares are designed to draw heat-seeking missiles away from the aircraft.
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08/23/2021
Ahmad Massoud, leader of Afghanistan's last major outpost of anti-Taliban resistance, said on Sunday he hoped to hold peaceful talks with the Islamist movement that seized power in Kabul a week ago but that his forces were ready to fight.
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08/21/2021
A Spanish military plane carrying 110 evacuees from Afghanistan took off from Kabul Friday to land in Dubai. Some 50 out of the passengers are to travel on to Spain, according to the Foreign Affairs minister, José Manuel Albares. Among the passengers are three Afghan families from the embassy in Kabul and captain of the Afghan paralympic basketball team, Nilofar Bayat among others.
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08/21/2021
The RC-135 spy plane was inducted into the US Airforce in January 1964 amid the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Boeing Defence and Integrated Systems designed and developed the aircraft, which was meant to replace the C-135 Stratolifter and aid the US in its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations against the erstwhile Soviet Union.
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08/21/2021
On Aug. 9, an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon dropped a 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) in a designated area of Fort McCoy’s impact area on North Post for the first time in post history as part of training in the Northern Lightning 2021 exercise.
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08/21/2021
United Kingdom (U.K.) Carrier Strike Group (CSG 21) and USS America Expeditionary Strike Group (AMA ESG) with embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, begin multinational advanced aviation operations in support of Large Scale Global Exercise (LSGE) 21, Aug. 20.
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08/20/2021
After stunning the Biden administration with a lightning takeover of Afghanistan on Sunday, the Taliban found some unexpected presents from the fleeing Afghan army, including U.S.-made planes, armored vehicles, guns, and even night-vision goggles.
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08/19/2021
If you’re in the business of selling drones, precision weapons or stealth technology, Morocco’s Air Force could be your next customer. The African nation is bolstering military-to-military relations and connecting with defense companies to modernize its air power capabilities. Moroccan officials have singled out the use of drones in combat as “a key dimension of its military modernization efforts,” according to Samuel Ramani, a defense expert at the University of Oxford.
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08/19/2021
The Italian Air Force will get new tankers, SIGINT and CAEW assets while also continuing the development of special C-27J variants, as disclosed in the new multiyear defense planning document.
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08/18/2021
In a release Tuesday, Royal Air Force reported that Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets on Quick Reaction Alert based in Romania with 121 Expeditionary Air Wing have scrambled to intercept a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer aircraft. The Typhoons, from Number 121 Expeditionary Air Wing, are conducting NATO Enhanced Air Policing and scrambled as the Russian aircraft was detected entering the Bucharest Flight Information Region, heading towards Romanian territorial airspace.
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08/18/2021
State-owned plane maker Hindustan Aeronautical Limited has placed an order worth Rs 5375 crore for 99 F404-GE-IN20 engines and support services with US-based GE Aviation, to power the Tejas light combat aircraft. According to HAL CMD R Madhavan, this is the largest-ever purchase order placed by the state-owned aircraft manufacturer for the light combat aircraft.
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08/18/2021
Once the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan’s airfield in Kandahar on Friday, it didn’t take long for photos to appear on social media showing Taliban fighters posing with military helicopters such as U.S.-made Black Hawks and Soviet-made Mi-17s. After the group took over Mazar-i-Sharif airport this weekend, more photos followed, this time of Taliban members standing next to an A-29 attack plane and MD-530 utility helicopter.
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08/16/2021
The Air Force will deploy enough aircraft to ferry out “thousands per day” from Kabul as the American diplomatic presence draws down and more Afghan interpreters are brought out of the country, the Pentagon said Aug. 13.
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08/15/2021
A Russian Beriev Be-200 aircraft crashed near near Kahramanmaras, in southeastern Turkey, during a firefighting mission, to fight a fire that broke out during the day as a result of a lightning strike in the forest area on Aug. 14, 2021. According to the reports, five crew members (military, belonging to the Russian Federation) and three Turkish forest inspectors were killed in the incident (some sources say just 7 people were aboard).
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08/15/2021
Sources in the Russian military-industrial complex have reportedly stated that an upgraded and modernized version of the Su-57 is to begin serial production as of 2025. The modernization is part of the Megalopolis development program. According to TASS, among the main improvements of this «new Su-57» is the incorporation of the second stage engine, the Izdelie 30, and the renovation and upgrade of the cockpit, probably to unify as much as possible the production of the Su-57 and S-75 Checkmate.
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08/15/2021
The Afghan National Security Forces has a long record of losing track of U.S.-supplied guns and rifles. But as the Taliban gains territory following the U.S. troop withdrawal, Afghanistan could lose far more lethal weapons: combat aircraft. The Pentagon says that has not happened yet, and that the Afghan Air Force continues to fly missions and carry out airstrikes against the Taliban every day.
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08/13/2021
The U.S. Air Force operated some of its aircraft from a state highway as part of the Agile Combat Employment concept during exercise Northern Strike 21. According to the press release, this was the first time in history that the Air Force has purposely landed modern aircraft on a civilian roadway in the United States, with four A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and two C-146A Wolfhounds landing on the Michigan State Highway M-32 near Alpena on August 5, 2021.
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08/13/2021
US aerospace company Lockheed Martin Corp. is open to setting up a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in India for F-21 to further sweeten its bid for the 114 fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF), its representatives said on Wednesday. Michael Kelley, vice president, India, Lockheed Martin aeronautics strategy and business development, and Brett Medlin, the F-21 India campaign lead, are in the country to hold talks with government and IAF officials on the multibillion-do
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08/13/2021
Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems Inc., Sacramento, Calif., will build BQM-167A Air Force Subscale Aerial Target (AFSAT) drones under terms of a potential $338.1 million U.S. Air Force contract announced Friday.
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08/09/2021
As the U.S. Air Force restructures its aircraft inventory to compete with China, the service is taking calculated risks in its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft portfolio, a top general said Wednesday. In its fiscal 2022 budget request, the Air Force proposed mothballing four of its 16 E-8 JSTARS aircraft, which are used for ground surveillance and targeting, as well as 20 Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 surveillance drones.
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08/08/2021
You may be hearing more jets flying through the sky next week as Camp Douglas in Juneau County hosts about 60 aircraft and 1,000 members of the U.S. military for a 12-day-long training exercise.
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08/08/2021
Turkey’s Baykar Savunma has revealed that the unmanned fighter jet it is currently working on will have low visibility and aggressive maneuverability. After being ejected from the F-35 program, Turkey is banking on the large stealth jet drone to provide it with the ability to penetrate enemy air defenses and attack military targets.
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08/06/2021
The Michigan Air National Guard took off and landed multiple planes on a four-lane stretch of State Highway M-32 Thursday, which is the first time that modern combat aircraft have intentionally landed on a U.S. civilian road, the Selfridge base said. Part of M-32 near Alpena in the northwestern part of the state was closed down for the training exercise, which was dubbed "Thunder Landing Zone (LZ)."
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08/06/2021
The Russian Defense Ministry gave the green light to the Su-30SM upgrade program, an aircraft that has been deployed in large numbers in the Air Force and Naval Aviation, to bring it to the SM2 version or as the Russian press calls it, Super Sukhoi.
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08/06/2021
TheM-346FA (Fighter Attack) is a light attack version of M-346 jet trainer developed by the Italian firm Leonardo. The first two aicraft were spotted on footage released by state news agency of Turkmenistan. The news agencsy reported that urkmenian President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov personally appreciated the new aircraft and flew one of them.
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08/05/2021
On 22 February, the Indonesian Survey Institute published the results of a poll that rated Minister of Defence Prabowo Subianto as the top performer among President Joko Widodo’s ministers, with 75% of respondents expressing satisfaction with his performance. The result should be taken with a grain of salt as it might only reflect a reaction to name recognition rather than actual performance.
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08/05/2021
The possibility of exporting the latest Sukhoi `Checkmate’ Light Tactical Aircraft (LTA) aircraft will be discussed in case India expresses substantive interest in this new fighter. “For our part, we are open to cooperation and are ready to consider all proposals. Our countries are already actively developing cooperation in the field of aviation technology,” a top officer of Russia based Rostec has told Financial Express Online. Adding, “The Indian military aviation fleet is almost 80% equipped
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08/04/2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin got a sneak peek of a new fifth-generation lightweight single-engine fighter jet at an air show just outside of Moscow on Tuesday. Russian aircraft makers unveiled a prototype of the stealth fighter dubbed "Checkmate" for the 68-year-old leader at the MAKS-2021 International Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky, ahead of its official unveiling later in the day, according to a statement from Rostec.
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08/02/2021
The National Democratic Coalition in the United States of America (NADECO – USA) has condemned the delivery of six A-29 Super Tucano aircraft to Nigeria from the US. The group, in statement on Tuesday, July 29, cited alleged gross human rights abuses as part of the reasons why the US should not have delivered the aircraft to the West African country.
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08/02/2021
Japan’s defence minister has called on the international community to pay greater attention to the “survival of Taiwan” as he warned that China’s military build-up was enveloping the island. Nobuo Kishi, the younger brother of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, told the Financial Times in an interview that broad international pressure was crucial to prevent Taiwan’s future being decided by military confrontation.
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08/02/2021
The owner of a private hospital in Afghanistan said the Afghan air force bombed the facility on Saturday, killing one person and injuring three others. He said the hospital was targeted because the military erroneously believed Taliban fighters were being treated there.
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08/02/2021
Nationalist politician and Soviet Air Force veteran Viktor Alksnis drew attention to recent images of Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber aircraft in Syria, writing on Facebook that military pilots use commercial GPS receivers during their combat operations.
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08/01/2021
But what is significant is that while Xi, accompanied by three politburo members of his Communist Party and General Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, began his Tibet tour from Nyingchi Prefecture, which is just opposite India’s Arunachal Pradesh, the strengthening of the EAC through the induction of the Rafale is the recognition of its growing role.
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08/01/2021
According to information released by the Italian Navy on July 30, 2021, the first Italian Navy F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) fighter aircraft landed on the Cavour aircraft carrier after the test and certification activity carried out with U.S. F-35 during the "Ready for Operations" (RFO) campaign concluded at the end of April this year.
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08/01/2021
The U.S. Air Force’s Variable In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA) has been redesignated as the X-62A, according to the Air Force Materiel Command. The highly modified F-16 fighter has been operating for nearly 30 years as the NF-16D, the “N” signifying a permanent test modification. The aircraft’s redesignation reflects, in part, its years of testing in support of new technology development, but also highlights a new mission that is being added during a major upgrade for the aircraft.
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08/01/2021
The day is fast approaching when a Ford-class aircraft carrier will set sail armed with F-35C stealth fighter jets, bringing an as of yet unprecedented combat capability to warfare. What might this mean? Will it truly give the U.S. Navy an edge over major power rivals in terms of reach, attack pace and overall power projection? Potentially.
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07/31/2021
The Michigan National Guard, in coordination with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and local partners, plans to close a portion of Michigan State Highway M-32 for five hours on August 5 to test its ability to land aircraft on roadways designed for cars and trucks.
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07/31/2021
The South China Sea has been a hotbed of naval activity this week, with a British aircraft carrier strike group, an American surface action group, and forces from China's People's Liberation Army all staging exercises in the contested waterway. The British Royal Navy's aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has been the center of attention, with state-run Chinese media outlets and diplomats accusing Britain of stirring up trouble in the disputed waters at the behest of the United States.
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07/31/2021
Tempest is more than just a next-generation aircraft, it’s a connected system designed to respond to future combat environment challenges. UK’s Ministry of Defense has just made a huge step towards bringing Tempest to life, by awarding BAE Systems a contract that officially kicks off this groundbreaking project.
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07/29/2021
With congressional members rejecting the U.S. Air Force’s plans to make substantial cuts to some of its oldest aircraft fleets, the service will put its plan to shift some close air support aircraft to Arizona on hold as it figures out other options.
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07/29/2021
According to sources, Russia is now developing a two-seat Su-57 fighter for tandem flight with the Okhotnik combat drone, TheDefensePost reported. The latest version of the fifth-generation stealth fighter is being reportedly designed to control four Okhotniks simultaneously, Russian state media outlet TASS reported, citing a source.
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07/29/2021
Four additional Dassault Rafale multirole combat aircraft have arrived in Qatar, having left France on 27 July. This delivery of three single-seat Rafale EQ and a twin-seat Rafale DQ means that nine aircraft remain to be delivered under the Qatar Emiri Air Force’s (QEAF's) order for 36 aircraft.
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07/29/2021
More than 250 personnel assigned to the 325th Fighter Wing packed up and went on temporary duty to Naval Air Station Key West, Florida, from July 10 - 24. They travelled in support of the 43d Fighter Squadron’s F-22 Formal Training Unit capstone. Units from Tyndall Air Force Base and Eglin AFB were present to ensure F-22 Raptor student pilots, who flew in 54 sorties for the dissimilar air combat training over the southern Gulf of Mexico, were met with success.
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07/29/2021
Drone warfare is on the rise. From single unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), we have witnessed the progress of drone swarms in quite a short period of time. But as countries engage in drone warfare and drone defense systems, it is becoming a necessity for drones to have their own attack systems as well. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) had recognized this need a while ago and initiated the LongShot program, whose rendering was recently released by General Atomics.
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07/27/2021
The United States Air Force is sending more than two dozen F-22 stealth fighters to an exercise in the western Pacific this month, an unusually large deployment of the powerful jets that analysts say sends a strong message to a possible adversary in China. Pacific Air Forces in Hawaii this week said approximately 25 F-22s Raptors from the Hawaii Air National Guard and from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, will deploy this month to Guam and Tinian islands for Operation Pacific Iron 2021.
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07/27/2021
Thirty years ago, the Air Force teamed with our Navy, Army, Marine Corps and coalition partners during Operation Desert Storm to sweep the skies of Iraqi MiG fighters, destroy Iraq’s war-fighting infrastructure and decimate its fielded forces. In 1991, America’s Combat Air Force maintained and operated aircraft like the F-15C Eagle and the A-10 Warthog to win the short and decisive conflict.
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07/27/2021
Eighteen months after receiving its first fifth-generation jet fighter, the F-35C Lightning II, a California-based squadron is ready for a carrier deployment and full combat operations. The squadron was the first to achieve that status among not only Marine aviators but aviation units for all the services.
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07/27/2021
The Canadian Foreign Policy Institute’s recent open letter effectively argues why buying new fighter jets is wholly unjustifiable given present and probable existential threats. Consider: forest fires this year have killed more people in Canada than enemy aircraft ever have.
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07/26/2021
On Tuesday, Rostec, Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate, unveiled its new stealth fighter at the MAKS air show. Before the unveiling, photos had been taken of a mock-up plane underneath a tarp; the tarp was later removed, and viewers were able to gather first impressions from the plane’s shape. Soon after photos of the revealed mockup were made public, Rostec opted to unveil the plane publicly, allowing for closer study.
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07/26/2021
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held exercises in all major Chinese sea areas over the past week in moves that displayed the PLA’s determination and preparedness,” Chinese state-controlled media proclaimed. At the heart of the storm was Taiwan. Beijing believes it is getting above itself. It has accepted at least two US military flights carrying supplies and diplomatic envoys. It has also dared to open a diplomatic office in Lithuania under the name of “Taiwan”.
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07/26/2021
As the nation's security forces battle insurgents and bandits across the country, the federal government has procured a total of 32 different types of fighter planes, combat helicopters, and associated platforms since 2015, a period of six years, according to statistics obtained by THISDAY. The war against insurgency has dragged on for 11 years with thousands of people killed and an estimated three million people displaced.
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07/25/2021
Russian anti-aircraft artillery systems in Syria intercepted a number of missiles launched by Israel in airstrikes this week in an area southeast of Aleppo, according to a Russian military official.
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07/25/2021
The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program aims to build a homegrown fifth-generation fighter jet with “sixth-generation characteristics,” intended to replace the aging fleet SEPECAT Jaguar, Dassault Mirage 2000, and MiG-27. The AMCA is eyeing a complementary role for the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) air superiority fighters, to serve as a flexible force multiplier with versatile missions.
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07/24/2021
Russia has presented India with an offer of 21 MiG-29 fighters, Asia News International reported citing a spokesperson for Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.
India is currently considering the offer, according to the outlet. The offer comes a year after India’s council for defense purchases approved the acquisition of the fighter along with 12 Su-30MKI fighters amid a border standoff with China.
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07/24/2021
French aerospace and defense firm Thales has been awarded a contract to provide new avionics equipment for Rafale fighters to enhance their operational effectiveness. The company will supply the cutting-edge French combat aircraft with digital multi-function displays and Scorpion helmet-mounted sight and display systems.
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07/24/2021
A portion of a Northern Michigan highway will be closed when the U.S. Air Force trains personnel to land on civilian roadways as part of the annual Northern Strike war-readiness training exercise next month,
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07/24/2021
Rosoboronexport, the state-owned company in charge of promoting and selling Russian military equipment abroad, signed 13 export contracts, worth approximately € 1 billion, during the first 2 days of MAKS 2021.
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07/22/2021
By the end of September 2021, the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is expected to respond to a Request for Proposal from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). The Malaysian Air Force has sent out a global request for low-cost light fighter aircraft. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a top officer has confirmed to Financial Express Online “The Company will be responding to the RfP from RMAF for the Light Combat Aircraft `Tejas’. And it has to be sent at the end of September.”
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07/22/2021
As the U.S. Air Force restructures its aircraft inventory to compete with China, the service is taking calculated risks in its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft portfolio, a top general said Wednesday. In its fiscal 2022 budget request, the Air Force proposed mothballing four of its 16 E-8 JSTARS aircraft, which are used for ground surveillance and targeting, as well as 20 Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 30 surveillance drones.
(Read More...)
07/21/2021
Chinese aerial incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) have received a lot of attention since the island’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) began making the data public in September 2020. Understandably, the larger scale incidents, like that of June 15 – the largest thus far, involving 28 aircraft – have generated heated debates about the rationale for the incursions.
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07/21/2021
Japan’s defense minister has confirmed that the U.S. ally will base its Lockheed-Martin F-35B Lightning II Short Take off and Vertical Landing or STOVL fighter jets at the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands.
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07/21/2021
Turkey’s Baykar has begun the conceptual design phase of what it hopes will become the jet-powered unmanned aircraft system, better known as Combat Unmanned Aerial System (MIUS).
The company also has released an official rendering of its future unmanned fighter jet, which shows new combat drones during sorties from TCG Anadolu, Turkey’s first amphibious assault ship.
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07/21/2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin got a sneak peek of a new fifth-generation lightweight single-engine fighter jet at an air show just outside of Moscow on Tuesday. Russian aircraft makers unveiled a prototype of the stealth fighter dubbed “Checkmate” for the 68-year-old leader at the MAKS-2021 International Aviation and Space Salon in Zhukovsky, ahead of its official unveiling later in the day, according to a statement from Rostec, the state-owned military giant which is responsible for exportin
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07/20/2021
Landing a civilian variant of military aircraft on the island of Taiwan is yet another "salami-slicing" provocation by the US, and it sent a wrong signal to Taiwan secessionists, Chinese mainland analysts said, after the US reportedly landed a civilian variant of a warplane on the island on Monday. The Chinese mainland will not allow US military planes' recent landings on the island of Taiwan to become routine, experts said.
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07/20/2021
Adopting new manufacturing technologies has often proven to be a game changer for companies seeking to enter a new market or retain their leadership in an existing one. For GE, 3D printing is the latest tool for staying ahead of its competitors in the aircraft industry.
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07/19/2021
China claims that J-20 is equal to the US F-22 Raptor and even superior in some aspects. In a 2014 interview with Chinese Phoenix TV, Song Zhongping, a former officer in the Second Artillery (China’s missile force), claimed that China was not going to export the J-20 for fears that its fifth-generation technology could fall in the wrong hands.
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07/19/2021
Since 2018, the Marines have ramped up their efforts to train in the Nordic region and to operate in Cold Weather. With the Nordics ramping up their defense capabilities, and working greater integration with each other and with their North Atlantic partners, there are enhanced opportunities for Marines to work in the region as well.
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07/19/2021
Russian aircraft makers say they will present a prospective new fighter jet at a Moscow air show that opens next week. The new warplane hidden under tarpaulin was photographed being towed to a parking spot across an airfield in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, where the MAKS-2021 International Aviation and Space Salon opens Tuesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit the show's opening.
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07/18/2021
Chairman Xi Jinping insisted it would never happen. But it has. China has permanently stationed combat aircraft on its illegal artificial island fortresses in yet another South China Sea escalation. Y-8Q anti-submarine patrol and KJ-500 airborne early warning & control (AWAC) aircraft were spotted by the US Naval Institute in May. It didn’t seem entirely unusual. Such aircraft had dropped in on the islands before.
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07/18/2021
Two years ago, the Liberal government launched a multi-billion-dollar competition for 88 new fighter jets. The government is now evaluating three bids: Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter, Boeing’s Super Hornet, and SAAB’s Gripen. Early next year, the government expects to choose the successful bid and award the contract.
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07/17/2021
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan has resulted in the resurgence of the Taliban in the country. While the Afghan forces continue to counter the insurgents at various places, Afghanistan’s Vice President Amrullah Saleh has accused the Pakistan Air Force of extending help to the Taliban. Amid the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken control of a major trading town located on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Spin Boldak-Chaman border post.
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07/17/2021
Russia’s Central Military District (CMD) announced on Thursday that the country’s armed forces have conducted combat readiness exercises in new geographic areas. The drills were held in the regions of Samara, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, and Krasnoyarsk. Similar exercises were also conducted in the Republic of Khakassia.
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07/17/2021
A new commander returned to Okinawa and took charge of America’s largest combat air wing Friday during a ceremony in sweltering heat at Kadena Air Base. Brig. Gen. David Eaglin took command of the 18th Wing from Brig. Gen. Joel Carey at a hangar ceremony flanked by over 200 airmen and two aircraft, including the iconic F-15C Eagle. Eaglin arrived from Osan Air Base, South Korea, following a two-year stint as deputy commander of 7th Air Force.
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07/17/2021
The United States Air Force is sending more than two dozen F-22 stealth fighters to an exercise in the western Pacific this month, an unusually large deployment of the powerful jets that analysts say sends a strong message to a possible adversary in China. Pacific Air Forces in Hawaii this week said approximately 25 F-22s Raptors from the Hawaii Air National Guard and from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, will deploy this month to Guam and Tinian islands for Operation Pacific Iron 2021.
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07/15/2021
According to Polska-Zbrojna, the Polish Air Force is readying its Lask-based F-16s to deploy to Iceland, to support NATO’s Icelandic Air Policing. The deployment of the Polish aircraft is to begin as of August this year. Lt. Col. Michal Kras, Detachment Commander hailing from the Polish Air Force, referred to the deployment, in the interview for Polska Zbrojna, as a demonstration of allied solidarity. The Polish Aircraft would be engaged in air policing efforts in the North Atlantic.
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07/15/2021
The Air Force faces an uphill fight with its plans to cut five units worth of C-130s, largely from the Guard and Reserve. The service, however, says the tactical airlift fleet can afford to absorb some risk and that there could be future lift possibilities outside of the venerable Hercules. USAF wants to cut 55 C-130 tails, down to a fleet size of 255. Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom, the deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, said that number “covers what we need for our tactical airlift fleet a
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07/15/2021
Hawaii Air National Guard F-22s are deploying to an exercise in the Western Pacific that includes a large number—about 25—of the stealth fighters from Hawaii and Alaska that are a key part of the “kick down the door " force for any possible conflict with China. “Pacific Iron 2021 " will focus on deploying and sustaining air power from smaller and dispersed bases on Guam and Tinian Island in the Northern Mariana Islands and also includes about 10 F-15E Strike Eagles and two C-130J cargo aircraft.
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07/15/2021
India is all set to ink another major defence deal with the United States (US), to acquire fighter jet engines worth $700 million. Negotiations are almost over for the engines that will be used to power the homegrown Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
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07/15/2021
Anatolian Eagle (AE) does not need introductions: organized by the Turkish Air Force at Konya Air Base, in central Anatolia, south of Ankara, Turkey, AE is a very well-known series of exercises hosted by the Turkish and attended each year by several foreign air arms. It is inspired by the U.S. Red Flag and Maple Flag series, the aim of which is to train fighter pilots for the first few days of a modern conflict.
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07/15/2021
Russian defense giant Rostec published a Youtube video on Tuesday teasing a new fighter jet that is expected to be unveiled at the MAKS-2021 aviation exhibition. The trailer featured a blurry, long-distance shot of an aircraft, accompanied by B-roll footage of what appears to be —namely, the United Arab Emirates, India, Vietnam, and Argentina—reacting to the announcement.
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07/14/2021
Yesterday, the first 2 new Beechcraft T-6C Texan II training aircraft arrived in Colombia, out of a total of 8 acquired in 2020. According to the press release of the Colombian Air Force (FAC for its initials in Spanish), the official reception ceremony took place at the Air Combat Command No.1. It was attended by the Minister of National Defense, Diego Molano Aponte, and General Ramsés Rueda Rueda, Commander of the Colombian Air Force.
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07/14/2021
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) locally produces more than 600 aircraft components in cooperation with around 250 national companies, which will prevent a total of $500 million from leaving the country to foreign suppliers in the coming years. The company contributes to the development of the auxiliary industry at all stages from production processes to tests of the final product, as well as research and development (R&D) activities in the engineering and technical fields for high-tech produc
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07/14/2021
Key U.S. ally the United Kingdom is growing its defense investments in its land, air and sea platforms, the nation’s defense chief said July 13. “We are giving our forces the military strength they need to deter adversaries in this new competitive age,” said Ben Wallace, U.K. secretary of state for defense. “We are investing heavily in modernizing our warfighting capability.”
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07/14/2021
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to operationalise its second squadron of the Rafale combat aircraft by the end of July and it will be based in Hasimara air base in West Bengal, officials said on Tuesday. The first squadron of the Rafale jets is stationed at Ambala Air Force station in Haryana. The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, 2020, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of arou
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07/13/2021
Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia and Malaysia have elevated their strategic partnership by launching the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) on 27 January 2021. Given the tenacious strategic context of Southeast Asia today, CSP defence cooperation has high potential spinoffs for Australia and Malaysia.
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07/12/2021
With the older Chetak and Cheetah helicopters at the fag-end of their technical life, India’s chopper arsenal needs urgent upgradation. The Indian armed forces are set to request the government to acquire “a minimum inescapable quantity” of the Russian Kamov-226-T helicopters in a fly-away condition, reported The Times of India.
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07/12/2021
The Chinese military’s use of ageing J-7 jets in a Taiwan fly-past last month has raised questions about why the second-generation fighters were deployed alongside more modern warplanes. Military sources raised the possibility that the planes had been converted into drones, which offer a cost-efficient way of honing the People’s Liberation Army’s combat drills and testing Taiwan’s response, and added they may also have been a way of testing whether all the island’s warplanes have resumed operati
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07/11/2021
It’s big. It’s remote. It’s mysterious. It’s an enormous radioactive desert in “outback” China. And Beijing is building its equivalent to Area 51 there. Two of them. The arms race between East and West is once again heating up. Stealth is old news. As are cruise missiles and high-flying spy planes. The “black” projects of the 2020s are all about drones, artificial intelligence and sixth-generation combat aircraft.
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07/10/2021
The Department of the Air Force has announced plans to move close air support and rescue missions, including A-10 Thunderbolt II and HH-60 Pave Hawk weapons schools and test squadrons, to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base beginning in fiscal year 2022. The proposed plan would transfer rescue and attack missions, aircraft and personnel to Davis-Monthan AFB as part of the Air Force’s vision of making the base the Center of Excellence for close air support and rescue missions.
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07/10/2021
The U.S. Department of Defense loves a good buzz phrase: capability over capacity, making the tough choices, taking risk now to reduce future risk. The DoD has used all three to rationalize a fiscal 2022 budget that shrinks the U.S. military’s size in the hope that new technologies will eventually lead to new acquisitions. The truth is the proposed budget is the latest in a series of funding requests that have fallen short of what the DoD needs to rebuild for the future.
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07/10/2021
Afghan Air Force Major Dastagir Zamaray had grown so fearful of Taliban assassinations of off-duty forces in Kabul that he decided to sell his home to move to a safer pocket of Afghanistan's sprawling capital. Instead of being greeted by a prospective buyer at his realtor's office earlier this year, the 41-year-old pilot was confronted by a gunman who walked inside and, without a word, fatally shot the real estate agent in the mouth.
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07/10/2021
Experts say U.S. fifth-generation fighter aircraft — the stealthy F-22 and F-35 — remain the best in the world. However, China is upgrading its J-20 “Mighty Dragon” to try to close the gap.
The J-20A, developed by Chengdu Aerospace Corp., is the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s heavy twin-engine, single seat, low observability, multi-role jet that made its first flight in 2011.
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07/08/2021
Russian fighter jets have been filmed 'buzzing' a US spy plane over the Black Sea in the latest standoff between Moscow and western powers in the contested region. Footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry showed two Sukhoi Su-30 fighters flying close alongside a Boeing P-8 Poseidon of the US Navy on Tuesday evening. The Kremlin said fighters were scrambled as the plane approached its airspace and blocked in from 'violating the state border'.
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07/08/2021
Israel, the United Kingdom and pilots for the U.S. Marines conducted a trilateral exercise known as Tri-Lightning 2 in Israel as the UK’s Queen Elizabeth carrier is making its way through the Mediterranean. The drill was built on another exercise called the Falcon Strike, which took place in Italy in early June in which the United States, UK, Italians and Israelis practiced with F-35 jets and other aircraft.
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07/07/2021
NATO and Partner nations scrambled fighters to meet increased Russian air activity across the Baltic Sea. Spanish Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighters met the Russian aircraft to ensure the safety and security of the Baltic Sea Airspace. Partners Sweden and Finland also joined.
According to the Lithuanian Ministry, Spanish Typhoons carried out the most sorties — eight — between June 14 and 20.
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07/07/2021
The Chinese J-31 jet somewhat lacks when it comes to F-35B-like vertical take-off-and-landing, Can China's fifth-generation, carrier-launched J-31 fighter take on US-made F-35C or F-35B? Well, there are some factors to consider that shed light upon this question.
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07/07/2021
The “Black Knights” of U.S. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314 have taken their next step ahead of deploying on Navy aircraft carriers for the first time. The squadron of Marine Corps F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters officially attained full operational capability, the service said in a news release issued last week.
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07/07/2021
U.S. Navy aerial warfare experts are asking Raytheon Technologies Corp. to build 565 AIM-9X precision short-range infrared-guided air-to-air missiles for jet fighters and other combat aircraft under terms of a $328.2 million contract announced last week.
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07/06/2021
In late June, a Brazilian Naval Aviation’s H225M helicopter took off from the Foudre-class landing platform dock ‘NDM Bahia’ to conduct a firing trial of an air-launched anti-ship Exocet AM39 missile. The missile was fired against the ex. Inhaúma-class corvette ‘Jaceguai’ – a ship decomissionned in 2019. It hit the corvette’s bow leading to its sinking.
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07/06/2021
117 ‘First Jet' Squadron has been reactivated as an F-35I training unit, ahead of it becoming an operational squadron at a later date. As with the IAF's two existing operational F-35I units – 140 Sqn ‘Golden Eagle' and 116 Sqn ‘Defenders of the South' – 117 Sqn is located at Nevatim Air Base (also known as 28 Air Base) in southern Israel's Negev Desert. All three units form the IAF's Adir Division.
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07/05/2021
A Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday afternoon (July 4), marking the third such intrusion this month. A single People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the PLAAF plane.
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07/05/2021
Last September, with a razor-thin majority, 50.1% of Swiss people voted in favor of a $6.5 billion budget to buy 30-40 new jets under the Air 2030 Program, which includes upgrading the country’s aircraft and defense systems. According to Swiss media reports, the 36 F-35A jets can be bought for $5.4 billion costing $2 billion cheaper than other jets. “With 336 points, [the F-35A] showed the highest overall benefit and was the clear winner with a lead of 95 points or more over the other candidates
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07/05/2021
“This milestone is a testament to the dedicated work of the joint government, military and industry teams sustaining, maintaining, operating and flying F-35s around the globe,” said Bridget Lauderdale, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program. “With every delivery and every flight hour, the enterprise gets more mature and effective and we are laser focused on continuing to deliver the most capable, available and affordable 5th Generation fighter aircraft.”
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07/05/2021
When ASPI began its work, the F-35 joint strike fighter was Australia’s biggest and most expensive program ever. (Now that label has passed back to the submarines.) The F-35 arrived 10 years late. (The Attack-class submarine program exhibits similar tardiness.) The F-35 is now slowly delivering what Australia wants. Because of the delay, Australia spent $6 billion on an ‘interim’ Super Hornet capability, later topped up with another $3 billion on Growler electronic-warfare aircraft.
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07/04/2021
A Philippine air force C-130 aircraft carrying combat troops assigned to fight Muslim militants crashed and exploded while landing in the south Sunday, killing at least 42 army soldiers on board and three civilians on the ground in one of the worst disasters in the air force’s history.
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07/02/2021
The 80th Fighter Squadron trained in Red Flag-Alaska 21-2 at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, from June 14 to 25. The first full-fledged Red Flag exercise following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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07/02/2021
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) signed a contract, worth USD $50 million with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defense to upgrade Kfir aircraft for the Sri Lankan Air Force. The deal includes replacing the aircraft’s basic avionics with the advanced 4+ generation fighter aircraft avionics in order to one day integrate advanced radar, sensors, communication systems, and new helmets.
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07/02/2021
On June 24 the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency authorized the sale of a dozen Lockheed-Martin F-16 Block 70/72 jet fighters and associated weapons to the Philippines totaling $2.43 billion. Such a sale could fulfill Manila’s requirement long-standing plans to procure Multi-Role Fighters (MRF).
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07/02/2021
Switzerland has chosen Lockheed Martin's F-35A Lightning II as its next-generation fighter jet, the government said on Wednesday, angering opponents who have pledged a new referendum to overturn what they dubbed an unnecessary "Ferrari" option.
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06/30/2021
Afghans who maintain the country’s military aircraft have been learning to fix damaged aircraft over the past two months via videoconferences with U.S.-funded contractors just a few rooms away. It’s practice for the day when the American contractors will leave the country, said Col. Abdul Fatah Ishaqzai, head of maintenance for the Afghan air force. The future of the country’s air force, one of Kabul’s chief advantages over the Taliban, may depend on calls like these.
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06/30/2021
The Kremlin strongman’s announcement comes after HMS Defender was fired on by a Russia coastguard off Crimea and the presence of a UK carrier strike group in the eastern Mediterranean. Putin issued the chilling warning as he addressed newly graduated military and secret service elites in the Grand Kremlin Palace. “You are the very ones who will be operating this hardware,” Putin told 400 “top graduates” from 18 military schools.
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06/30/2021
But the question remains, can European jets ever match American fighter aircraft. France, Germany, and Spain are partners in the FCAS program. FCAS is the largest defense project that is projected as an anchor in the French-German ties, the two most powerful countries in Europe.
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06/30/2021
America’s global military power rests upon twin pillars of training and technology. U.S. forces are the most rigorously trained and best equipped in the world. In recent years, the two pillars have tended to intertwine as digital technologies enabled breakthrough approaches to training.
Nowhere is this more true than in the case of air combat training.
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06/30/2021
A team of engineers, analysts, and pilots are pushing the boundaries of F-35 combat aircraft operational testing. The United States Operational Test Team is partnered with Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Detachment 6.
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06/29/2021
Some Israeli observers say the missile test is part of Moscow's effort to gain a very strong presence in the Mediterranean. For example, they say that in recent days the Russian Air Force and the Russian Navy performed a joint combat drill just 30 km from the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, is currently in the eastern Mediterranean near Cyprus.
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06/29/2021
On June 24 the U.S. State Department approved the potential sale of 12 F-16 Block 70/72 fighters to the Philippines, following a request from the government in Manila as its searches for a Multi-Role Fighter (MRF) to defend the nation's airspace and surrounding seas. However, a day later the Philippine defense secretary, Delfin Lorenzano, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the F-16 package was too expensive, and that the Philippine Air Force (PAF) was examining other options.
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06/29/2021
The United States has a long history of urging its closest allies to spend more on defense, and over the past few years Europe and Japan have started to respond. But there’s a catch: Rather than content themselves with procuring capabilities that complement U.S. forces, they are about to drop some very expensive investments into the development of their own next-generation fighter aircraft.
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06/28/2021
After three months of drone and rocket attacks on facilities in Iraq housing U.S. and coalition personnel, President Joe Biden ordered airstrikes Sunday on three Iran-backed militia facilities in Iraq and Syria. “At President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
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06/28/2021
A report from the US task force dedicated to investigating UFOs — or, in the official jargon, UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) — has neither confirmed nor rejected the idea such sightings could indicate alien visits to Earth. On Friday June 25, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its eagerly awaited unclassified intelligence report, titled “Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena”.
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06/28/2021
Even as Russia massed over 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders in April, Andriy Zagorodnyuk felt sure President Vladimir Putin wouldn’t go to war. The former defense minister in Kyiv, who’d also spent years on projects to modernize Ukraine’s military, reasoned that Putin knew an invasion would be no walk in the park for Russia this time.
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06/28/2021
The Nordic country is set to replace its older fleet of F-18 Hornet aircraft, in what is being considered as Europe’s largest fighter procurement in a decade. The winner of the bid is likely to be announced by the end of the year, reported AP News. The Defence Ministry of Finland stated that the winner will be picked after due consideration on four major parameters including the fighter’s military capability, the security of supply, the cost and proposed industrial cooperation with the country.
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06/28/2021
The Cold War Jaguar fighter-bombers have been modified by India to deliver nuclear gravity bombs, constituting a critical part of India’s nuclear triad. The Anglo-French fleet of the Sepecat Jaguar aircraft was initially purchased in 1978 after India felt the need to have a dedicated deep strike aircraft. Other prominent ground attack fighters with the IAF have been the Russian MiG-27 fighters.
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06/27/2021
Dassault Aviation is set to bring an F5 standard of the existing aircraft, “endowed with an impressive number of capabilities”. “At the start of the 2030s, the F5 standard will allow us to further improve the Rafale’s first entry capacity, with new sensors and armaments, but also capacities to communicate, collaborate and be interoperable,” French magazine Zone Militaire quoted Frédéric Parisot, Vice Chief of the French Air and Space Force, as saying.
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06/27/2021
Germany’s parliamentary budget committee this week approved the defense ministry’s requested €50.3 billion (€60 billion) budget for 2022 in Berlin. The budget includes crucial funding for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) that is being developed jointly with France and Spain for service entry around 2040.
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06/27/2021
The F-16 Fighting Falcon has proven itself to be one of the world’s most successful combat aircraft, having now flown over 400,000 combat sorties and a combined 19 million flight hours. There are roughly 3,000 operational F-16s today in service with the air services of 25 different countries, and the United States Air Force operates more F-16s than it does any other fighter model in its fleet.
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06/26/2021
Members of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade got a look at development of the SB-1 Defiant vertical lift helicopter, the Army said on Friday. The active duty and National Guard soldiers of the brigade, headquartered at Fort Campbell, Ky., visited the Sikorsky Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., to learn about the design of the medium-lift helicopter destined to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk, which first saw service in 1974.
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06/26/2021
In the two decades since Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to develop the F-35 fighter, the industrial team it formed has had to overcome many engineering challenges. Each of the three variants—for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps—had to be nearly invisible to enemy radar.
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06/26/2021
The Russian military on Friday launched sweeping maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea featuring warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles, a show of force amid a surge in tensions following an incident with a British destroyer in the Black Sea. Moscow said one of its warships fired warning shots and a warplane dropped bombs in the path of British destroyer Defender on Wednesday to force her out of an area near Crimea that Russia claims as its territorial waters.
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06/26/2021
The U.S. State Department has approved a Philippines government-to-government Foreign Military Sales (FMS) request for F-16 Block 70/72 combat aircraft, with notification of the proposal delivered to Congress on June 24. The request covers 10 F-16Cs and two F-16D two-seaters, plus associated engines, subsystems and armaments.
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06/25/2021
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has stood by the decision to sail a warship through Black Sea waters claimed by Russia after Moscow threatened it would bomb British ships in the event of further “provocative steps” in the region.
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06/25/2021
Satellite imagery has shown ongoing work at a North Korean airbase that will result in modernization and expansion to house larger and more heavily armed aircraft, a U.S. think tank said Thursday. Citing satellite imagery dated June 12, Beyond Parallel, a project of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the maintenance and expansion project at North Korea's Sunchon Airbase will improve the conditions of the runway and also provide a smoother environment.
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06/25/2021
The U.S. Air Force notified lawmakers that it has approved Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, to host its F-22 Raptor formal training unit, a move three years in the making. But don't expect to see more fifth-generation jets there just yet. The service last week told Congress it had completed the necessary environmental analysis and signed a record of decision approving the base as its top pick to host the formal training unit, or FTU, Air Combat Command spokeswoman Alexi Worley told Military.
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06/24/2021
The U.S. Air Force can't provide its pilots with additional flight hours in part because aircraft sustainment costs have surged to roughly $1 billion, top service leaders told lawmakers Tuesday. While flying hours do not directly equate to how experienced or proficient a pilot is, there have been concerns about declining cockpit time for years, as this is crucial to maintaining aircraft skills.
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06/24/2021
Malaysia has released a long-awaited tender for a new light combat aircraft and advanced fighter trainer, three weeks after accusing China of sending 16 military aircraft over the South China Sea near Malaysian airspace The Southeast Asian country’s defense ministry has issued a notice seeking 18 Fighter Lead In Trainer-Light Combat Aircraft (FLIT-LCA) to replace its aging fleet of aircraft currently serving in both roles.
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06/24/2021
United States Marine Corps fighter jets aboard a British aircraft carrier flew combat missions over the Middle East this week -- the first time US warplanes have gone into combat from a foreign warship since World War II, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.
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06/23/2021
The North Korean People’s Air Force hasn’t acquired a new combat aircraft in more than 30 years. Foreign sanctions and the slow collapse of North Korea’s economy mean the air force has little choice but to maintain, for as long as it can, the planes it already has. How many planes are we talking about? Joseph Dempsey, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, scrutinized recent satellite imagery and made an educated guess.
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06/22/2021
"Of the eight terrorist gun trucks sighted by our surveillance team, the aircraft successfully took out six of the trucks." Fighter aircraft of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Sunday eliminated scores of ISWAP-Boko Haram terrorists including their commanders in Lamboa in Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State. PRNigeria gathered that the multiple airstrikes conducted by a mix of aircraft including Alpha-Jets, L-39 and MI-35 helicopters, might have also killed the notorious ISWAP Logistic Comm
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06/22/2021
Twenty-eight combat aircraft probed Taiwan’s defences earlier this week. It was the most powerful force to do so yet. Is this Chairman Xi Jinping’s new “trustworthy, loveable and humble” China? The June 15 foray into airspace claimed by Taiwan represents a significant step-up in firepower.
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06/22/2021
Like scenes out of Top Gun, The Sun cheered Navy and RAF jets as they roared off the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth to target IS in Iraq. It was the first time British warplanes have launched combat sorties from an aircraft carrier since Harriers bombed the Balkans in the ’90s.
The £3.2billion, 65,000-ton vessel has eight UK and ten US F-35Bs on board as she leads the most powerful Naval flotilla to set sail from Britain since the Falklands War.
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06/22/2021
The San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson — the first to support newer F-35C stealth fighters — arrived in the Hawaiian Islands operating area last week for drills that coincided with a Russian spy ship shifting from a spot off Kauai to international waters north of Oahu.
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06/22/2021
The Russian jet – Su-57 is the world’s fourth operational fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft after the American duo F-22 and F-35, and the Chinese J-20. According to reports in the Vietnamese portal Soha, Vietnam wishes to acquire 12-14 Su-57 stealth jets keeping in mind the budget dynamics. The delivery of “affordable” Russian jets is likely to take place between 2030 and 2035.
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06/21/2021
Twenty-eight combat aircraft probed Taiwan’s defences earlier this week. It was the most powerful force to do so yet. Is this Chairman Xi Jinping’s new “trustworthy, loveable and humble” China? The June 15 foray into airspace claimed by Taiwan represents a significant step-up in firepower. It comprised the most modern of China’s combat aircraft. It represented a complete “strike package” containing command, surveillance, strategic strike and long-range fighter aircraft.
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06/21/2021
China’s state media Global Times cited a report by PLA Daily, Army’s official newsletter, on the simulation exercise. It does not mention which aircraft was used in this exercise though. There has been an increasing application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in military combat training with major powers including the US, China, and Russia joining the race.
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06/21/2021
“We’ve got him! Mission accomplished!”. Alec Bierbauer could hardly believe his eyes as he stood before a floor-to-ceiling TV at CIA Headquarters in Virginia, watching live video stream from an outpost in Afghanistan. He was transfixed by footage of a tall man in a white robe. A fragile, camera-toting surveillance drone built by San Diego’s General Atomics was stalking Osama bin Laden as it quietly looped over his compound near Kandahar on Sept. 28, 2000.
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06/21/2021
An aircraft carrier would more significantly increase South Korea’s ability to contribute to regional security alliances or multi-national expeditions, both symbolically and materially. Carrier aviation has seen a renaissance of sorts among Washington’s military allies due in large part to the advent of the F-35B stealth jump jet, which can operate from affordable amphibious carriers.
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06/20/2021
A single People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) maritime patrol plane flew into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday (June 18), marking the seventh such intrusion this month. The aircraft, a Y-8 anti-submarine turboprop, entered the southwest corner of the nation’s identification zone, the Minister of National Defense stated. Taiwan responded by dispatching aircraft, issuing radio warnings, and deploying air defense missile systems.
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06/20/2021
The US says it needs a “combat-credible” presence in the South China Sea to deter Chinese aggression. And Australia will almost certainly be asked to contribute. US President Joe Biden’s nominee for assistant secretary of defence Ely Ratner told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday that “a combat-credible forward posture” of forces was needed to “deter, and if necessary, deny a fait accompli scenario”.
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06/20/2021
In early June 2021, the Sukhoi corporation announced the beginning of the development of a fifth-generation single-engine tactical fighter. Such aircraft are now widely distributed abroad and this model is to become an export version of the Su-57.
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06/19/2021
On Jun. 14, 2021, the F-35B BL-4, the fourth STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) aircraft assembled in Italy, at the FACO (Final Assembly and Check Out) facility, in Cameri, carried out its maiden flight. The aircraft, coded “4-03” and serialled MM7454, is the third aircraft destined to the Marina Militare (Italian Navy).
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06/19/2021
The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is drilling near Hawaii this week as it prepares for an upcoming deployment later this summer. After a maintenance period in which the Navy updated the carrier so it could accommodate the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter and the CMV-22B Osprey, USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) is expected to deploy later this summer to the Indo-Pacific region, USNI News understands.
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06/19/2021
It was the second week in March last year and the world was focused on the worsening Covid-19 pandemic, as it raged around the globe. Off the northwest coast of Ireland, however, another drama was taking place. Three pairs of British Royal Air Force (RAF) fighters raced to intercept Russian long-range aircraft heading south down the Atlantic, the third time that week the same Cold War-style, airborne cat-and-mouse encounters had played out.
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06/19/2021
The German defense ministry has forwarded a request to lawmakers seeking approval for almost 4,5 billion euros, or $5.3 billion, that would pay for the country’s contributions to the next stage of the Future Combat Air System.
(Read More...)
06/19/2021
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) is building Europe's second-largest subsonic wind tunnel for testing the country's fighter jets. "The wind tunnel is intended to be used in the development of indigenous, rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft, especially the Turkish Fighter," a press release read Friday. The tunnel, including three different sections – large, small and open – will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology measurement and sensing devices for advanced testing.
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06/17/2021
The French military is coming to Oahu to train as the United States and France revamp their strategies in the Pacific amid tensions with China. U.S. Pacific Air Force spokeswoman 1st. Lt. Amber Kelly-Herrard said French pilots will arrive on June 29 for several days of training. French forces will be flying a variety of warplanes, including Rafale fighter jets, A400M Atlas transport planes and A330 refueling planes, according to a tweet from France Pacific Command.
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06/17/2021
The US Air Force (USAF) recently demonstrated a process for converting commercial-grade jet fuel to military-grade fuel, an ability that could give commanders greater flexibility in planning combat operations. The process could let US military aircraft refuel at commercial airports, allowing US military aircraft to operate from more locations. That could make it difficult for adversaries to predict from where aircraft might land and take off.
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06/17/2021
This comes days after a Russian Sukhoi Su 30-SM fighter jet had its first encounter with an Italian F-35A Lightning II aircraft. According to The Aviationist, two Blackjacks were escorted by two Su-27 fighters of the Baltic Fleet’s naval aviation and two Su-35 aircraft of the Aerospace Force, in an eight-hour long-range aviation (LRA) mission in the Baltic region.
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06/17/2021
“This year: [KNAAZ] is to deliver 15 combat aircraft to the customer under export contracts. As you know, the Ministry of Defense signed a long-term contract for the Su-57, this year the supply of four production aircraft,” Borisov told reporters.
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06/17/2021
China's bewilderingly quick construction of airfields atop man-made islands in the South China Sea, as well as its extra-territorial claims over that body of water, have grabbed headlines for years and the issue remains one of the most significant strategic and geopolitical problems of our time. Yet another far less discussed, but similar strategic expansion is underway in the western reaches of the Chinese mainland, which has gotten much less attention, yet it isn't all that less concerning.
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06/17/2021
Several U.S. Air Force aircraft including F-16s, C-130s, and KC-135s have deployed to northern Africa for the continent’s largest exercise, African Lion. The exercise drew 7,000 participants from nine nations and wraps up June 18 with USAF aircraft flying alongside Moroccan aircraft for close air support training and C-130s airdropping personnel.
(Read More...)
06/16/2021
NATO fighter jets policing the Baltic airspace were scrambled twice last week to identify and escort Russian military aircraft flying in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
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06/16/2021
A second squadron of F-35A fighter jets is coming to Eglin Air Force Base, according to a Monday announcement from U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. While details were scarce, that news was confirmed Tuesday by public affairs personnel from the 33rd Fighter Wing, the Eglin-headquartered wing to which the new squadron will be assigned, and the 96th Test Wing, the base's host unit.
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06/16/2021
China has flown 28 warplanes into Taiwan-controlled airspace, the biggest sortie of its kind since the Taiwanese government began publishing information about the frequent incursions last year. The flights are widely seen as part of an effort by Beijing to dial up pressure on Taiwan, a self-governed democracy of about 24 million people off the Chinese coast that the Chinese government considers a part of China.
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06/15/2021
The United States will not conduct airstrikes to support Afghan security forces after it withdraws its remaining troops from Afghanistan, the head of U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, told Voice of America. In an interview published by VOA on Monday, Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said the U.S. will conduct airstrikes in Afghanistan only when plans to conduct terrorist attacks against the American homeland, or those of its allies, have been uncovered.
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06/15/2021
So seems to be the reasoning behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force, which has deployed artificial intelligence (AI) in simulated aerial combat training against its flesh-and-blood aces, enabling human pilots to adapt to the rapid-reaction moves of AI fighter jets, while also training the AI on how to win every engagement, according to an initial report from the Global Times.
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06/15/2021
The one real advantage Afghanistan has had in its unrelenting war with the Taliban is in the air. With the withdrawal of U.S. forces though, Kabul is finding itself unprepared for the loss of the very air assets that, until now, have given it an edge over the insurgency.
(Read More...)
06/14/2021
Despite Rafale jets winning the first duel against Gripen aircraft, Sweden recently made a fresh bid to sell its SAAB Gripen fighter jets to India as the Indian Air Force looks to acquire 114 fighter jets to replace its aging fleet of Soviet-era jets.
(Read More...)
06/14/2021
President Joe Biden and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have known each other for years, but their meeting Monday will be their first as heads of state. And it comes at a particularly tense moment for relations between their two countries.
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06/13/2021
While on a nighttime training mission, Schmitz, assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, could not recover his F-16 after he severely damaged the aircraft's landing gear upon touching down, striking an antenna array short of the runway. He attempted an ill-advised cable arrest with his mangled gear, as suggested by members in the control tower, then tried to eject as his left wing hit the runway, according to an Accident Investigation Board report released in November.
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06/13/2021
“Strategic ambiguity” underscores that the possibility of any American military and diplomatic assistance to Taiwan in a potential war between Taiwan and mainland China is deliberately unclear. “The ‘pros’ are principally that it would hopefully add further deterrence to the Chinese calculus if they knew that the US would conduct combat operations to defend Taiwan. But the ‘cons’ are that it is unclear what the US public would feel about such a strong commitment.”
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06/12/2021
The military combat plane that crashed in late May near Nellis Air Force Base had an in-flight wing flap issue, according to a report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board on Friday. About 2:17 p.m. on May 24, an experimental Dassault Aviation Mirage F-1 Turbo-jet, N567EM by Draken International was destroyed, killing its pilot, during a routine combat training. The plane was used in support of the U.S. Air Force on base in Las Vegas.
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06/12/2021
Russian planes breached Danish airspace twice on Friday, Ritzau reported, citing the Defense Ministry in Copenhagen. Trine Bramsen, Denmark’s defense minister, said such acts are “very rare” and to be taken “seriously,” according to Ritzau. “There should be no doubt that it’s unacceptable,” she said.
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06/12/2021
Airborne radar experts at Raytheon Technologies Corp. will build upgraded radar systems for advanced versions of the Boeing F-15 Eagle jet fighter under terms of a $3.1 billion contract U.S. Air Force contract announced Wednesday.
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06/10/2021
FS21 is a joint, multinational exercise with participants from the United States working with service members from Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom, that optimizes the integration between 4th and 5th Generation aircraft, increases the level of cooperation in the F-35 logistics and expeditionary fields, and strengthens interoperability of allied and partner air forces during joint operations.
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06/09/2021
Swedish defense minister Peter Hultqvist on Tuesday reportedly re-pitched to sell SAAB’s Gripen fighter jets to India during an event hosted by the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers, Mint reported. This is the second time Sweden has pitched its Gripen jets to India. Earlier, Indian PM Narendra Modi met his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven in a video conference (March 05), under which the two leaders are said to have discussed key matters on various subjects including sale of Gripen jets.
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06/09/2021
Around 24 Chinese fighter jets, including J-11s and J-16s, recently held exercises near eastern Ladakh amid the heavy deployment of forces on the ground at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by both countries. The exercises come when both sides have been engaged in a military standoff for over a year now at the LAC in Ladakh.
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06/09/2021
As the decision on the next fighter jet to fly with the colors of the Swiss Air Force is about to be made, local media reports that the scales might be tilted in favor of the Dassault Rafale. The Air 2030 tender was launched in 2020 following the positive outcome of a referendum on whether Switzerland should acquire or not new fighter jets. 50.1% of voters have voted “yes” to the procurement of new aircraft for the Swiss Air Force.
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06/09/2021
The Russian Air Force’s Sukhoi Su-34 has been seen as one of Russia’s most capable strike fighters; it blends a time-proven airframe design with numerous modern performance features. The combat aircraft also proved it was more than capable when it was deployed to Syria, where it was employed in attacks against rebel and ISIS forces.
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06/08/2021
The Arctic Challenge Exercise (ACE), organized by Finland, Sweden, and Norway, is scheduled to be held from June 7-18, 2021 on the Rovaniemi airbase in Finland, Norway’s Bodo base, and Swedish base Lulea. This year’s edition of the drills is headed by the Finnish forces with a limited number of participants due to the coronavirus pandemic. Held every two years, ACE is one of Europe’s largest tactical air exercises.
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06/08/2021
The U.S. Navy's new unmanned tanker aircraft just completed its first aerial refueling of a manned fighter jet, the service said Monday. The MQ-25 Stingray drone was able to successfully attach to and refuel a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet during a test flight June 4 out of MidAmerica Airport, Illinois, the service said in a release. The airport, near St. Louis, Missouri, serves as the location for the test program, overseen by the drone's manufacturer, Boeing.
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06/07/2021
Six Israeli F-35 stealth fighters landed in Italy last week to take part in a two-week air exercise in Italy with its air force, alongside those of the United States and United Kingdom, in the largest and farthest drill that the aircraft have taken part in to date, the military said Sunday. Though the explicit goal of the exercise is to improve the overall capabilities of the F-35 jet, which entered military service in late 2016
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06/07/2021
Not a day goes by without some new rumors about Russia’s military development, which are eventually confirmed, or sometimes not. This time, it looks like the “war of drones” concept is getting closer to turning into reality, as fighter jets become capable of coordinating not just one, but 4 simultaneous drone attacks.
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06/07/2021
The sheer dominance of the Israeli Air Force has come about through super-efficient training, intelligence operations conducted by Mossad and other agencies to gauge the vulnerability of its opponents, and a resilient approach to design and acquisition of new aircraft. One country that always but unsuccessfully challenged the Israeli air dominance was Egypt. The country is veering off course in its weapons procurement policy, purchasing more from nations such as Russia and France.
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06/06/2021
China has stepped up incursions into Southeast Asian airspace, drawing the ire of Malaysia in the most recent breach, as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region with the mix of a vaccine charm offensive and a show of force. Malaysia's air force scrambled jets this week to intercept 16 Chinese aircraft entering its national airspace. The Chinese aircraft were "flying in tactical formation" and came within 60 nautical miles of Borneo, the air force said on Monday.
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06/06/2021
There was a time when the US military had used both American and Soviet-made aircraft to train its fighter pilots. In a YouTube video released recently, a former F-14 Tomcat Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Ward Carroll shared exciting details of secret dogfight training he was part of in 1985. Held at Nevada’s Tonopah Test Range Airport, Carroll took part in the secretive Constant Peg program and its equally secretive training unit- the Red Eagles.
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06/05/2021
A British-led aircraft carrier group voyage that will take the HMS Queen Elizabeth to the disputed South China Sea would push Beijing further into an angry defensive position, analysts believe. The 65,000-ton aircraft carrier with more than 30 aircraft plans to visit the Asian waterway for military drills with the U.S. Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces, British media outlets say.
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06/05/2021
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Air Force’s 2011 decision to award Boeing the development contract for its next-generation aerial refueling tanker. Now designated the KC-46 Pegasus, the aircraft is based on a version of the company’s 767 commercial transport that has been modified to deliver fuel to other aircraft in flight, carry cargo and transport personnel (including wounded troops).
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06/04/2021
Often called a “flying tank,” the classic and much revered A-10 Warthog plane has for years been cherished by ground forces under enemy fire in combat. The battle-tested aircraft continues to live into future years due to various upgrades and sustainment efforts. The aircraft’s titanium hull, flight trajectory, and redundant electronics enable it to both withstand incoming enemy small arms fire as well as hover above and fire its 30mm cannon during dynamic fast-moving warfare scenarios.
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06/04/2021
China has once again flexed its muscles against Malaysian claims in the South China Sea, this time using airpower and not the typical deployment of coast guard vessels or maritime militia. On the afternoon of May 31, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) flew 16 aircraft consisting of Ilyushin Il-76 and Xian Y-20 multi-role airlifters over Malaysian maritime zone airspace close to Sarawak.
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06/04/2021
After a year-long competition with several other cities, Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith was chosen to host a multi-national training site for F-16 Falcon and F-35 fighter jets. The competition for the mission comes with an estimated $800 million – $1 billion economic impact on the region, according to the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce.
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06/03/2021
According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, the security cooperation between China and the UAE may prompt the US to review its decision to sell what is considered the world’s costliest combat aircraft. China’s growing footprints in the UAE and the rest of the Middle East are being critically looked at by the US. The UAE is one of the closest allies of the US in the region.
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06/03/2021
Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have risen sufficiently for The Economist to declare on the cover of its May 1, 2021 edition that Taiwan is now “the most dangerous place on Earth.” According to this narrative, Beijing has invested heavily in military capabilities that it can now bring to bear in a confrontation over Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province.
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06/03/2021
Rooted in a sea of sand, the U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT) mission is, in-part, seamlessly accomplished by both active duty and the Air National Guard—proving the concept of Total Force Integration (TFI). TFI is nothing new. Once called “Future Total Force,” TFI became the standard about 15 years ago—fully integrating the Air Force’s active duty, guard and reserve components in exercises and contingency operations around the world.
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06/03/2021
The US Air Force just started taking delivery on the new F-15EX Eagle II in March of this year, but the jets already found their way into a massive force-on-force war game held in Alaska last month. Thus far, only two F-15EXs have been delivered, and both saw action during the exercises.
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06/02/2021
The Taiwanese air force is building up a force of 206 of the latest F-16 fighters. Now it needs aerial tankers to boost the new fighters’ endurance. That’s the surprising—and likely dead-end—recommendation of an analyst at Taiwan’s military think-tank.
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06/02/2021
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $24.29 million contract from US Naval Air Systems Commandto provide non-recurring engineering and logistics sustainment programme support for F-35A Lightning II combat aircraft on order from Poland The contract was not competitively procured, the DoD announced on 28 May.
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06/02/2021
Around five countries, including those located in Southeast Asia, are considering the purchase of Russia’s new fifth-generation Su-57 fighter, Rosoboronexport Director General Alexander Mikheev said on Tuesday. “We conduct negotiations with several countries, there are requests, and we see interest … [including from] the Southeast Asia … Four or five countries are interested,” Mikheev told reporters.
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06/02/2021
The Air Force is planning to retire most of the A-10 "Warthog" ground-attack jets stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force base by next fall, under a plan unveiled as part of the Biden administration's proposed $715 billon defense budget. But seven members of Arizona's congressional delegation have vowed to fight this latest Air Force plan to start retiring the A-10 Thunderbolt II jets — a mainstay of operations at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
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06/02/2021
Sixteen aircraft from the People’s Liberation Army Air Force conducted a large-scale transport formation exercise over the South China Sea near Borneo on Monday and entered the airspace of Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) said in a statement today.
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06/01/2021
The Força Aérea Brasileira (FAB, Brazilian air force) is reducing its order for the Embraer KC-390 airlifter. The decision, which was revealed in a notification on May 26, is driven by budgetary constraints that have arisen as a result of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Brazil has been one of the hardest-hit nations by the health crisis, and the cost has caused “direct limitations on the strategic projects of the armed forces” according to the notification.
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06/01/2021
A pretty interesting M-346 “Master” sporting a camouflage paint scheme quite close to the one used by the combat aircraft of the Turkmen or the Azerbaijani Air Force was spotted at Venegono airport, in northwestern Italy, after its first flight, by photographer Oscar Bernardi, on May 28, 2021. The aircraft was reportedly involved in the very first flight in the new livery.
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06/01/2021
The largest Checkered Flag exercise held to date wrapped up at Tyndall Air Force Base, May 21. Checkered Flag, one of the Department of Defense’s largest air-to-air exercises, is a two-week long, large-scale aerial exercise designed to integrate fourth and fifth-generation airframes to enhance mobility, deployment, and employment capabilities of aviators and maintainers.
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05/31/2021
As tensions with Russia simmer, thousands of NATO troops, several warships and dozens of aircraft are taking part in military exercises stretching across the Atlantic, through Europe and into the Black Sea region.
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05/31/2021
The Ministry of National Defenses’ Institute of National Defense and Strategic Research (INDSR) said that aerial refueling aircraft for Taiwan’s F-16 fleet would help the nation maintain air superiority in its air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Chen Liang-chi, an associate researcher INDSR, on Thursday (May 27) published a short analysis of the strategic significance of aerial refueling aircraft in Taiwan's air defense.
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05/31/2021
The two Asian neighbors have been locked in a protracted border standoff in the Ladakh region, with reports of the Chinese PLA amassing advanced weapons on the Tibetan plateau emerging on a regular basis. With an uncanny similarity to America’s stealth F-35 Lightning II fighter jet, the FC-31 ‘Gyrfalcon’ is a twin-engine mid-size fifth-generation aircraft being developed by Shenyang, a state-owned aircraft manufacturer.
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05/31/2021
The Chinese Navy is rapidly expanding its aircraft carrier fleet, with two in service and at least one more under construction. And while still new to the game, their experience of operating carriers is growing all the time. Regional rival India has a much longer tradition of carrier aviation, but fewer and smaller carriers. The first indigenous aircraft carrier, Vikrant, could keep India competitive however.
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05/30/2021
On Friday, LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said that the planned parade on a military base of Benin in Benghazi would be the largest military parade in the history of Libya. Later, the crash was confirmed by LNA spokesman Khalifa al-Obeidi who expressed grief over the death of Jamal ibn Amer via Facebook.
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05/30/2021
“The pilots practiced fulfilling tasks in new geographical areas,” the press office said.
The aircraft of this type have been deployed at the Hmeymim airfield for the first time, which has become possible as a result of the upgrade of the second runway with the complete replacement of the runway’s surface and the installation of new lighting navigational and radio equipment.
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05/29/2021
The U.S. Navy is preparing to receive F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets from the Air Force as it moves to rid its inventory of legacy F/A-18 Hornet models used in its Reserve fleets, according to its fiscal 2022 budget request. The Navy will shelve roughly 55 aircraft over the next year, the documents state, in hopes of transitioning to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. But to make sure it has enough fighters available amid the conversion, it expects the Air Force to transfer some F-16s to it.
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05/29/2021
Russia recently deployed military fighter aircraft to Libya to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors, or PMCs, operating on the ground there, U.S. Africa Command officials said.
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05/29/2021
The deployment of one aircraft carrier is not usually big news. The deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan to support the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, however, highlights the massive gap between U.S. global commitments and U.S. military power.
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05/29/2021
The US Air Force wants to mothball over 200 aircraft in the coming year to free up funds for new technology and weapons, according to the service's fiscal year 2022 budget request. The Department of the Air Force's latest budget request asks for $173.7 billion, which includes an increase in research, development, test, and evaluation funding but a decrease in funds for procurement.
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05/29/2021
Croatia’s government has selected the Dassault Rafale to fulfill its long-standing requirement for a multi-role fighter to replace its aging MiG-21s. Although local media had reported the selection a few days earlier, the decision was officially confirmed in an announcement made on May 28, the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Croatian National Guard.
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05/28/2021
Another batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed at the Ambala airbase on Thursday, taking the total number of Rafales in the Indian Air Force (IAF) inventory to 23. According to people aware of the development in Dassault, four aircraft were supposed to take off from Merignac-Bordeaux airbase in France on May 20, but only three could because of the unavailability of more mid-air refuellers in the UAE.
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05/27/2021
Two F4-1 Rafale aircraft test flew for the first time last month as part of the “readiness for use review campaign” in France’s Istres, the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) revealed in a statement. The fleet of eight Rafales, two Mirage 2000s, and two Alphajets performed eight “complex missions ” representing 50 sorties, the French Defense Procurement and Technology Agency stated.
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05/27/2021
The MQ-9 Reaper has become the signature weapon of the war against terror, an eye in the sky able to scrutinize targets on the ground for extended periods before delivering laser-guided precision strikes. As a combat aircraft though, it lacks speed and maneuverability and the ability to survive against modern air defenses. Rather than retiring the drones though, the U.S. military is intent on upgrading its Reapers from assassins to warriors capable of taking on near-peer opponents.
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05/27/2021
While the Air Force’s latest F-35 stealth fighter jets are deadly, early-model F-35s wouldn’t stand a chance against a near-peer rival. The Air Force may start to retire their oldest F-35A airfares in favor of newer, more advanced builds of the same airframe, a senior Air Force official suggested in a recent interview.
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05/27/2021
According to TASS, Russian state aerospace company Sukhoi is now developing new light tactical fighter aircraft. “The Sukhoi company is developing a single-engine light tactical plane with the takeoff weight of up to 18 tonnes. The plane’s maximum speed will be above 2 Mach. It will also have super-maneuverability and improved takeoff and landing performance, thanks to a thrust vector control engine. The plane’s thrust-to-weight ratio will be above 1,” news agency reported, citing an industry so
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05/26/2021
The emergence of photos and videos of Russian Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bombers apparently taken in Syria’s coastal Latakia province suggests that the aircraft are now operating, for the first time, from Moscow’s Khmeimim airbase outpost in that country. Earlier this year, The War Zone examined runway extension work at the base which would help accommodate the big swing-wing bombers, and you can read more about that here.
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05/26/2021
The defense budget coming out May 28 will contain few big surprises. Plans to retire some older planes have already been reported, and the longer-range plans typically surfacing at budget time—known as the Future Years Defense Plan, or FYDP—are still being debated. But inklings of the service’s direction will be sprinkled throughout, all of them designed to maximize options going forward.
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05/26/2021
Saab has secured a contract to upgrade radar warning equipment on the Tornado multi-Role combat aircraft operated by the German Air Force. Saab secured the $48m (Skr400m) task order from German company Panavia Aircraft. The Tornado multirole aircraft is operational in five different forms, including the Tornado GR 1 interdictor strike aircraft for close air support.
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05/26/2021
The Boeing Co. received a $18.9-million delivery order for the production and delivery of 48 automatic backup oxygen system retrofit kits for the T-45 aircraft. Per the terms of the deal, the company will supply installation tooling, engineering reach back, spares and support equipment for these kits. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD.
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05/25/2021
Nellis Air Force Base confirmed the pilot killed in a crash Monday afternoon worked for Draken US, the company that provides adversary air support for the installation. The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. near Washington and Nellis. The contracted plane was a Dassault Aviation Mirage F-1. The pilot was the sole occupant.
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05/24/2021
Lithuania on Sunday called for European Union countries to jointly recommend that planes avoid Belarusian airspace, after a Ryanair flight was forced to land in Minsk and an opposition activist on board detained. The proposal for a joint declaration will be put forward at a meeting of European leaders on Monday and will include a call to recognize the incident as a violation of International Civil Aviation Organisation rules, the foreign ministry said.
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05/24/2021
The U.S. and Europe reacted with outrage after Belarus ordered a Ryanair Holdings Plc flight transiting its airspace to land and arrested a journalist on board, an unprecedented violation of European air travel protocols. “The United States strongly condemns the forced diversion of a flight between two EU member states and the subsequent removal and arrest of journalist Roman Pratasevich,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
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05/24/2021
Where are the greatest opportunities — for the United States and allies as well as their potential adversaries — in terms of military innovation between now and 2040? Where can one expect the greatest vulnerabilities to develop or emerge?
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05/24/2021
Based on Lockheed Martin’s backlog of F-16 orders, planned upgrades, and the recent revelation that the Air Force plans to depend on the fighter into the late 2030s, the F-16’s sunset years now could come in the 2070s, or later.
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05/24/2021
For years now the U.S. military has been looking for the next-generation fighter aircraft, the one that will keep America at the top of the list for aerial supremacy. Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) is how the program meant to come up with the next fighter is called, and we already got a preview of how the thing could look in the United States Air Force’s acquisition report released back in April.
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05/23/2021
The U.S. Navy has declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS), signaling the system’s readiness to provide precision approach and landing capabilities to tactical carrier aircraft at sea.
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05/23/2021
The F-5 was built by the United States mainly for export to nations that could not afford the top-line Western fighters, but did not want the MiG-21s. The F-5 is normally armed with two 20mm cannon, and three tons of missiles and bombs. Introduced in 1962, over 2,200 were built between 1959 and 1987. The F-5 was more reliable and upgradeable than the MiG-21 which is one reason why so many upgraded F-5s are still flying.
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05/23/2021
According to reports, Croatia is likely to purchase 12 second-hand Rafale jets from the French government and finally replace its aging MiG-21 fighter jets. According to a Croatian publication Jutarnji List, the country is planning to purchase 12 used Rafale F3Rs from the French Air Force inventory. The oldest of these airframes could be as much as 10 years old, for a deal just under one billion euros for the entire package.
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05/23/2021
According to reports, the tests of F4-1 were conducted between April 26 and 29, involving test crews from the French Air Force, the French Navy, and Dassault Aviation, under the stewardship of the Director-General of Armament (DGA). The DGA is the French government’s defense procurement and technology agency responsible for project management, development, and purchase of weapon systems for the French military.
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05/22/2021
A Turkish fighter jet pilot knew he was shooting at a Russian warplane in airspace over the Turkish-Syrian border area when he was ordered to fire by the commander of the Air Force, Gen. Abidin Ünal, a senior officer who worked at Air Force headquarters at the time revealed.
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05/22/2021
An interesting report from Air Force Magazine says the new F-15EX performed with “mixed results” in a recent service wargame in Alaska called Northern Edge. Citing Air Force officers involved in the testing and assessments, the report says the newly arrived F-15EX was pitted against extremely sophisticated “red-team” adversary forces to assess its ability to rival or engage 5th-Gen attacks. The F-15EX was also integrated with U.S. 5th-Gen assets such as F-22s and F-35s.
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05/22/2021
The government’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update provided refreshing clarity about our deteriorating strategic environment and the need for new military capabilities to address it. These include long-range strike capabilities to impose greater cost on potential great power adversaries at greater range from Australia. The government also included a shopping list of those capabilities giving a broad outline of schedule and the scale of investment.
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05/22/2021
While Croatia is still officially deciding which one of two contendents will replace its aging fighter fleet, local media reports that the winner was already chosen. In January 2020, Croatia sent a request for bids seeking to buy a squadron of new or used fighter jets in an effort to modernize its air force. The country has been attempting to replace its antique MiG-21BisD/UMD fighters from the Soviet era.
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05/22/2021
An Indian Air Force pilot was killed in a MiG-21 fighter jet crash at Langeana village of Punjab’s Moga district in the wee hours of Friday. The pilot has been identified as IAF MCC Squadron leader Abhinav Chaudhary and he was on night training when the accident happened.
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05/21/2021
On 15 May 2021, Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence François Bausch attended the departure for Mali of a contingent of the Luxembourg Army in support of a European Union Training mission. This was the first operational flight of a Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) aircraft for the Luxembourg Army and the first landing of MMF in Luxembourg.
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05/21/2021
Four Chinese military planes intruded on Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday (May 20), including two fighter-bombers, which breached the median line, as the nation grappled with a surge in COVID-19 cases. On Thursday afternoon, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced that one Y-8 electronic warfare plane and one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft penetrated into the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, while two Xian JH-7 fighter-bombers crossed the Taiwan Strait
(Read More...)
05/21/2021
President Muhammadu Buhari has inducted three brand new JF-17 Thunder Multi-role fighter aircraft into the inventory of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to boost its operation. Performing the ceremony on Thursday in Makurdi during NAF 57 celebration grand finale, Buhari said that the Service has fulfilled its constitutional mandate of defending the nation’s territorial integrity.
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05/21/2021
Having reviewed the J-15’s payload and reliability in context in Part 1 last month, it is finally possible to consider the J-15 on basis of its own merits and flaws. The physical dimensions and characteristics of the J-15 are virtually identical to that of the Su-33 with the same addition of canards, shortened tailsting, folding wing and tail modifications, tailhook and undercarriage strengthening, and corrosion alterations to facilitate carrier operations.
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05/21/2021
U.S. Navy avionics experts are asking industry to weigh-in on a plan to upgrade flight-control software in Navy attack jets to reduce the risk of pilots crashing into the ground on difficult missions. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., issued a request for information on Wednesday (223201-21_AGCA) for the upcoming Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) Flight Control Computer (FCC) Upgrade.
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05/20/2021
A Chinese military plane entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday morning (May 19), marking the 11th such incident this month. A People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi anti-submarine warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the PLAAF turboprop.
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05/20/2021
The F-35 program will turn 20 years old this fall. That’s longer than the entire service life of many legendary aircraft programs. The B-36, for example, was retired 13 years after its first flight in 1946. The F-86 went from first flight to retirement in 18 years.
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05/20/2021
The Air Force’s now airborne sixth-generation aircraft may indeed incorporate several unprecedented technological breakthroughs in the areas of speed, stealth, maneuverability, weapons and artificial-intelligence-enabled sensing, some of which may surpass the limits of current F-35 performance. While early in development and as of yet unproven, program acceleration, rapid progress and high enthusiasm for the Air Force’s sixth-generation next-generation air dominance platform.
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05/20/2021
Approximately 130 Airmen and 11 aircraft from the 127th Wing traveled to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada last month to participate in Green Flag-West 21-03, a realistic air-land combat, close air-support training exercise, designed to give Airmen the experience of working in a deployed environment. Approximately 130 pilots and maintainers from both the 127th Operations and 127th Maintenance Groups, participated in the exercise that spanned three weeks and included around-the-clock flying missions.
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05/19/2021
Russia’s Mil Mi-28NM attack helicopter armed with next-generation missiles and rockets is capable launching UAVs including Kamikaze drones. “The latest Mi-28NM attack helicopter is capable of interacting with kamikaze drones. The inclusion of kamikaze drones in the gunship’s airborne armament is one of the areas of interaction between Mi-28NMs and UAVs,” Vitaly Shcherbina, Chief Designer of the Combat Helicopters Program at the Mil and Kamov National Helicopter Center.
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05/19/2021
The US Air Force will this month start awarding contracts for construction work to upgrade the Campia Turzii base, enabling it to support heavy cargo aircraft and host fighter jets, boosting NATO’s capacities in the Black Sea area.
(Read More...)
05/19/2021
The Australian Defence Force's new Joint Strike Fighter has taken to the skies above the Northern Territory for the first large-scale air combat training exercise since the COVID pandemic hit. About a dozen Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighters made the trek to the Top End, along with 40 other aircraft and over 500 Defence personnel, for the month-long exercise.
(Read More...)
05/19/2021
A People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday morning, China’s tenth incursion this month. According to a Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense post on Twitter, a Chinese Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft was spotted entering the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ. This marks the tenth time a Chinese military aircraft has entered Taiwan’s ADIZ in May.
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05/19/2021
US Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, announced Friday it has awarded contracts totaling $19.2 million to five companies to produce prototype aircraft for its Armed Overwatch program. In a notice published on the US federal contracting website, SOCOM said that the awards will go to Leidos Inc. of Reston, Virginia; MAG Aerospace of Fairfax, Virginia; Textron Aviation Defense of Wichita, Kansas; L-3 Communications Integrated Systems of Waco, Texas; and Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nevada.
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05/19/2021
Just as the United States is moving forward with its Boeing F-15EX to complement the F-35, Russia is taking a similar course with its Mikoyan MiG-35 (NATO reporting name Fulcrum-F), an all-weather combat attack aircraft that was developed to be capable of destroying enemy targets day or night, including moving and stationary ground and surface targets.
(Read More...)
05/18/2021
A pilot sustained minor injuries after two U.S. Navy T-45 Goshawk training aircraft from Training Squadron 22 at Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas, collided in mid-flight Monday morning, The incident happened in Ricardo, about eight miles from the base, at approximately 11 a.m. local time, the Naval Air Training Command announced on its official Facebook page.
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05/18/2021
Two RAF Typhoons have successfully bombed a group of Islamic State jihadis in Iraq, according to UK militarily chiefs. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the fighter jets used precision-guided bombs to take-out heavily armed IS militants who were dug-in at a site near to the city of Mosul. The Typhoons were called in to support an Iraqi security force after it came under heavy small arms fire from the terrorists on May 11.
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05/18/2021
As I have demonstrated on other occasions, the “best” US combat aircraft for export, the F-35, is basically worthless. The decades old F-16 and F-18 in updated configurations are better. F-22 is truly remarkable but is in limited numbers, will not be built anymore (tools destroyed), and is not for export. The EU Eurofighter is behind in the generation race for modern combat aircraft. The French too. The West is losing out.
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05/18/2021
Turkey is threatening to go ahead with Russian military purchases despite warnings from Washington. The threat comes as the impasse between the NATO members deepens over Ankara's purchase of a Russian missile system. With Washington stepping up its pressure on Ankara to reverse its purchase of the Russian S 400 missile defense systems, Turkish defense minister Hulusi Akar this month defended its intentions, dismissing American concerns.
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05/18/2021
France, Germany and Spain said on Monday they had reached a deal over the next steps of the development of a new fighter jet, Europe's largest defence project at an estimated cost of more than 100 billion euros ($121.4 billion). France in particular has billed the combat jet project -- which includes a next-generation manned and unmanned aircraft -- as crucial for Europe to strengthen its defence autonomy and face competition from China, Russia and the United States.
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05/17/2021
The Air Force Civil Engineer Center and the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center's Detachment 4 are leading $152 million construction projects to upgrade infrastructure at Air Base Campia Turzii, Romania, in support of NATO operations.
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05/17/2021
India is also in the process of establishing two squadrons of French-made Rafale fighters, which are being inducted under a deal worth €7.8 billion with Dassault. The Rafale jets just like the S-400s are dubbed as a game-changer for India against its two key adversaries – China and Pakistan.
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05/17/2021
Finland has received final quotations from aerospace giants for its HX fighter competition where Dassault Rafale, Saab Gripen, Stealth F-35 Jets, F/18 Super Hornets aim to replace the country’s aging F-18C/D Hornets. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Saab, Dassault and Eurofighter are all pitching their fighter jets, making it a truly western aircraft supremacy contest.
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05/16/2021
In May 2021 an article in Izvestia reported that the 2nd Aviation Regiment in Chelyabinsk had received the first delivery of a refitted model of its beefy Su-34 supersonic bombers, codenamed the Fullback by NATO and nicknamed the Platypus or ‘Hellduck” due to its distinctive broad, flattened nose.
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05/15/2021
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems demonstrated a soldier on the ground using a tablet computer to control an MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The demonstration, which occurred on 23 April at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona, showed a Joint Terminal Attack Controller using a tablet to control the electro-optical/infrared camera on the aircraft, the company says on 13 May. Joint Terminal Attack Controllers are military service members trained to call in air strikes clo
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05/15/2021
MacDiill Air Force Base could be home to a new tanker aircraft. The base was named one of two finalists under consideration for KC-46A jets, according to the Air Force Times. If selected, 24 of the new aircraft will replace KC-135 Stratotankers at the base now. The only other active duty base in competition for the jets is Fairfield Air Force Base in Spokane County, Washington. One of the two will house the KC-46 Main Operating Base.
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05/15/2021
Some of you may already be aware that Boeing is presently working on a trainer aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. It’s called T-7A Red Hawk, an evolution of the Boeing T-X concept developed by Boeing together with Swedish company Saab. And by developed, we don’t only mean designed. The aircraft, expected to enter service shortly, was not only penned by the two companies but it is also being put together in different parts of the world.
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05/15/2021
The weapon safely launched from an F/A-18F Super Hornet and flew the expected flight path over the Point Mugu Sea Test Range in California. The preliminary analysis provided by the prime contractor, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, indicates all primary and secondary objectives of the shot were met.
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05/15/2021
Is there something faster, stealthier, more maneuverable, and more lethal than the F-22? It seems that could be true. So little is known about the now airborne 6th-Gen stealth fighter aircraft, yet it is a potential breakthrough platform that is exploding onto the scene years ahead of what was previously anticipated.
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05/15/2021
Fort Campbell, Kentucky, is entering the latest frontier of flight simulation technology with the Army-owned and operated Black Hawk Aircrew Trainer, or BAT, a highly immersive device that the installation began using May 3. Boasting a complete UH-60 cockpit, state-of-the-art visual systems and a dedicated operating station for instructors, the BAT allows pilots to build mission readiness while saving the Army both time and money.
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05/15/2021
The Air Force will ask Congress to retire 421 legacy aircraft through 2026, replacing them with just 304 new fighters, according to fiscal 2022 budget talking points obtained by Air Force Magazine. The savings derived from operating a smaller fleet will be put toward acquiring new systems such as the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter later this decade, and a new Multi-Role fighter, called MR-X, in the 2030s.
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05/15/2021
Radar experts at Raytheon Technologies Corp. will provide the U.S. Marine Corps with six AN/APG-79(V)4 active electronically scanned array (AESA) airborne radar systems under terms of a $20 million order announced last week. Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the Raytheon Intelligence & Space segment in El Segundo, Calif., for replacement AESA radar systems for the Marine Corps F/A-18C/D Hornet carrier-based jet fighter-bomber.
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05/14/2021
The Biden administration will seek $11 billion to buy 85 Lockheed Martin F-35 jets in the coming fiscal year, tracking a plan outlined last year by the Trump administration, according to a U.S. official. With a $715 billion budget request for fiscal year 2022, the Pentagon had considered increasing the quantity of next-generation fighters it planned to buy but decided to instead focus on using additional funding to upgrade the F-35 with new capabilities every six months, the official said.
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05/14/2021
China has threatened to bring 'economic carnage' upon Australia in response to big defence spending announced in Tuesday's federal budget. The government outlined a huge boost for the defence force, more funding for spies and help for exporters to find new markets in a massive push back against an increasingly assertive Beijing.
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05/14/2021
Nigeria’s air force has attacked civilian targets including a school six months after Declassified revealed that a private company in England was training military helicopter pilots from Africa’s most populous nation. Multiple villages in Konshisha district, eastern Nigeria, were destroyed by a military helicopter on 8 April in retaliation for the killing of 11 soldiers by “armed bandits” during a communal dispute over land.
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05/14/2021
God forbid, should war break out, between the US and China for any reason, they would have to deal with US aircraft carriers, in a big way. Those lethal nuclear-powered “large deck” US Navy carriers that ply the seven seas, also come with a formidable carrier strike group.
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05/13/2021
A Chinese military plane entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday (May 12), marking the seventh intrusion this month. One People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ Wednesday afternoon, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the PLAAF plane.
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05/13/2021
The Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted two Mirage 2000 tactical combat planes and a French air force C-135 aerial refueling tanker over the Black Sea earlier today. Russia’s National Defense Control Center said: "The Russian fighter’s pilot identified the aerial targets as two Mirage 2000 tactical aircraft and a C-135 aerial refueling tanker of the French Air Force and shadowed them over the Black Sea.
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05/13/2021
Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets operated by Taiwan’s Republic of China Air Force, or ROCAF, have test-fired AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, or AMRAAMs, for the first time on the island, according to reports. The missiles were apparently launched from a pair of recently upgraded F-16V jets, which had reached initial combat capability last March.
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05/13/2021
The U.S. Air Force wants to downsize from seven types of fighter jets or attack aircraft to a mix of four, including the A-10 Warthog close-air support aircraft, the service's top general said Wednesday. Speaking during the annual McAleese conference, Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown said the service expects to determine the right mix of aircraft for the future through its "TacAir study." It will also assess how future fighter concepts will fit into the current mix of fourth- and fifth-generation fighter
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05/12/2021
The four Italian Air Force F-35A jets replace the German Air Force’s four Eurofighter aircraft, deployed to Ämari Air Base since August 2020. F-35s have landed in Estonia before – in 2017, two US Air Force F-35As, deployed to the UK, flew from RAF Lakenheath to Ämari for a short visit. But this is the first time the stealth aircraft have been deployed as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission.
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05/11/2021
French military leader said that the Islamic State (IS) is "regenerating" underground with stealth and developing its military as France is sending warships and aircraft to Syria and Iraq in order to examine the threat the group poses, the Associated Press reported. Rear Admiral Marc Aussedat, the head of a task force that features the Charles de Gaulle nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, said reconnaissance flights are being carried out to help French forces on the ground observe the Islamic Stat
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05/11/2021
The United Kingdom has set a requirement that its Royal Air Force have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. But according to Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, the service needs to work under the assumption that it has to hit that target a decade earlier — and accept that other budget priorities will be cut to make it happen.
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05/11/2021
When Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga became the first foreign leader to visit U.S. President Joe Biden in the White House last month, their joint statement garnered a lot of attention. For the first time since 1969, the leaders referenced their shared interest in the “importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and “the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”
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05/11/2021
For years, drone warfare has been an essentially American pursuit. The new age of armed robots has been symbolized by Predators and Reapers spewing deadly Hellfire missiles. But guess who’s the biggest exporter of combat drones? China. “In 2014–18 China became the largest exporter in the niche market of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), with states in the Middle East among the main recipients,” according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
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05/11/2021
The US Air Force awarded a fighter pilot for skillfully landing a damaged aircraft without a cockpit canopy or working landing gear after what the service described as a "catastrophic" failure. Capt. Taylor Bye, a 75th Fighter Squadron pilot, pulled off an emergency belly landing in her A-10C Thunderbolt II fighter jet in April last year after a gun malfunction over Grand Bay Range at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia sent panels and her cockpit canopy flying and prevented her landing gear from de
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05/11/2021
The exercise, which started on 3 May, is being conducted on and above the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, the Gulf of Alaska, and temporary maritime activities area. Hosted by the US Pacific Air Forces, the joint training exercise will see participation from over 15,000 service members. It will run until 14 May. According to the USAF, F-15EX’s participation in the exercise will allow the service to implement changes in advance before fielding.
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05/11/2021
The recent loss of a 40-year-old Indonesian submarine has highlighted the need for the Southeast Asian nation to replace many of its military platforms, but plans to do so have been stymied by budget shortfalls and a lack of adherence to its long-term vision.
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05/10/2021
On March 16, the United Kingdom rolled out its Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, a document that will serve as the guidepost for its military going forward. Included in that document were both cuts to existing systems and investments in new technologies.
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05/10/2021
When Myanmar’s military junta seeks to gain a tactical advantage against pro-democracy demonstrators or ethnic resistance groups, it sometimes deploys Chinese-made drones to survey the situation and provide crackdown targets.
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05/09/2021
A top-ranking delegation from China's National Aero-Technology import-export corporation, CATIC, is currently in Argentina to discuss defense cooperation and with the proposal to offer the Argentine Air Force supersonic capable aircraft, according to InfoDefensa.ar, an Argentine site which specializes in defense industry issues.
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05/09/2021
It’s just two digits but the number on the hull of the first of China’s largest amphibious landing helicopter docks (LHD) points to a high value. The first Type 075 Yushen-class Hainan ship was given the pennant number “31” when the PLA Navy commissioned it on April 23, the navy’s 72nd anniversary.
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05/09/2021
A French air force pilot has filed a criminal complaint alleging that as part of a hazing ritual he was tied to a target on a firing range while fighter planes flew overhead and fired off munitions, his lawyer told Reuters on Saturday. The complaint did not identify any of the people alleged to have carried out the hazing, or say how many of them were involved. Reuters was not able to independently establish the identities of those responsible for the incident.
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05/08/2021
The Air Force will continue pushing for the retirement of its oldest Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawks, the service’s top officials said Friday, potentially setting up another fight with Congress about the future of the embattled surveillance drone.
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05/08/2021
Australia has a highly capable, professional military equipped with small numbers of very complex, extremely expensive aircraft, ships, submarines and land vehicles. Australia could fight other middle powers and win, but Australia should only ever plan to be in a major conflict against a great power if we are in very good company.
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05/07/2021
China’s development of a new aerial refueler, known as the Y-20U, would significantly boost the PLA Air Force’s capability to carry out long-range raids. This could have ominous implications not only for India but also for the whole of the Indo-Pacific.
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05/06/2021
The United States military maintained a constant presence in the South China Sea last month, flying an average of two reconnaissance runs every day in April, according to a recent report out of Beijing. In its monthly summary, the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI)—a Peking University think tank tracking military activity around China—said at least 65 U.S. military aircraft operated in the contested waters, where the U.S. Navy carried out 83 percent of those missions
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05/06/2021
Swedish defence procurement agency FMV has extended its Gripen development support contract with Saab until 31 December 2022. Under the SEK998 million ($117.54 million) deal, the OEM will continue to operate and support test aircraft and advanced tools such as testing rigs and simulators on behalf of the Swedish Air Force and other Gripen operators.
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05/06/2021
Increased threats and attacks by Iran-backed militias forced American contractors to evacuate Iraq’s Balad Air Base in March, where they were supporting Iraq’s F-16 program, a U.S. government report said this week. Without the Americans, the Iraqis cannot perform the full range of maintenance tasks on the country’s fleet of F-16s, which are key in the fight against the Islamic State group.
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05/06/2021
U.S. Airmen and C-130J Super Hercules aircraft assigned to the 86th Airlift Wing, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and the 143rd AW, Rhode Island Air National Guard, arrived at Siauliai AB, Lithuania, on May 5, 2021, to provide airlift and airdrop during Swift Response 21.
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05/06/2021
The Air Force carried out the first flight test of a “Skyborg” drone last month with an Kratos UTAP-22 Mako equipped with a bespoke autonomy system, moving the service one step closer to fielding an uncrewed “loyal wingman” for human pilots.
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05/05/2021
Boeing's P-8 program is close to winning another foreign sale after a federal agency has approved the potential sale of six more of the maritime reconnaissance and patrol aircraft to India's navy. If the deal goes through — and most P-8 sales have been inked after such approvals — the order is worth up to $2.42 billion to Boeing, but final price could be lower depending on how many jets and weapon systems are ordered.
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05/05/2021
You go to war with what you have, not with what you need. It’s an old saying. But a relevant one. With admirals, generals and politicians warning a new Pacific war may be just three to five years away, the question is being asked: Does Australia have what it needs? Last year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised to spend $270 billion over 10 years to prepare for a “poorer, more dangerous” world.
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05/05/2021
This is the second Rafale deal that Egypt has signed with France in five years. After signing the agreement on May 4, the Egyptian defense ministry stated that the procurement would be financed through a loan to be repaid over the next 10 years. For France also, this is the second Rafale deal this year after Greece signed a $3.04 billion agreement on January 25 for 12 second-hand aircraft and six new ones.
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05/05/2021
In a major move, India and the UK on Tuesday vowed to expand bilateral defence cooperation, including through technology collaboration in developing combat aircraft and complex weapons, during a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson.
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05/04/2021
The Portuguese 301 “Jaguares” Squadron-hosted Nato Tiger Meet event has started at Beja Air Base in Portugal. More than 3,000 military staff and 57 aircraft with a tiger in their logo will take part in the two-week tactical-level live-fly event. It will be one of the largest international exercises ever conducted in Portugal.
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05/04/2021
Egypt signed a contract with the French Dassault Aviation company to purchase 30 Rafale fighter jets, announced the Egyptian Armed Forces in a statement on Monday evening. The deal will be financed by a loan that will be repaid over 10 years, the statement said, adding that Egypt had signed a contract in 2015 with France to get 24 Rafale fighter jets for the Egyptian Air Force. The 24 Rafale aircrafts were part of a deal valued at 5.3 billion euros ($5.9 billion).
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05/04/2021
F-35B Lightning fast jets will be the cutting edge of the Carrier Strike Group’s (CSG21) formidable power in the air. These are next generation multi-role combat aircraft equipped with advanced sensors, mission systems and stealth technology, enabling them to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.
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05/04/2021
Five years since its return to the Middle East with a military base in Syria, Russia is moving into weapons markets left vacant by the United States and boosting sales to traditional clients. Moscow’s expanding arms sales bring money and geopolitical influence, as it seeks to challenge US hegemony.
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05/04/2021
The Bundeswehr German armed forces needed fast-speed adversary air training services for the nation's combat pilots. They found their solution from Top Aces Inc. in Dorval, Quebec. Top Aces will provide advanced airborne training to the Bundeswehr starting on 1 Jan. 2022 at Wittmundhafen Air Base in Wittmund, Germany.
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05/03/2021
Israel is once again warning that it may have no choice but to preemptively attack Iran’s nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. And its air force is becoming more capable of executing such a challenging mission. In late April, Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen warned that a “bad” nuclear deal between the United States and Iran “will send the region spiraling into war.”
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05/03/2021
A Taiwanese military expert has advised the nation's armed forces to closely monitor China's development of a new refueling tanker aircraft, warning that it would significantly boost the Chinese air force's capability to carry out long-range raids. Ou Si-fu, a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), said in an online article on April 28 that China is in the process of developing a refueling tanker variant of its Y-20 military transport aircraft.
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05/03/2021
Finland has received final quotations from aerospace giants for its HX fighter competition where Dassault Rafale, Saab Gripen, Stealth F-35 Jets, F/18 Super Hornets aim to replace the country’s aging F-18C/D Hornets.
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05/02/2021
Defense deals by Taiwan worth $18 billion with the former US administration of Donald Trump are certain “to fortify Taiwan's national defense capacity", an expert noted on Friday. Boosting defense capacity by the island nation “under the US Indo-Pacific Strategic Framework is mainly to counter-balance and prevent the Chinese use of force on Taiwan,” said Taiwanese academic Chien-Yu Shih.
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05/02/2021
Six U.S. Air Force F-15E fighter jets featuring modified munitions carriage completed their first delivery of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) to Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates.
The carriage allows the jet to carry up to 15 JDAMs, which convert unguided bombs into all-weather precision-guided munitions.
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05/01/2021
Five Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday, including two multi-role strike fighters, according to Ministry of National Defense (MND) data.
The aircraft involved in the sorties were two J-16 multi-role fighters, one Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft, one Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, and one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control plane, the MND said.
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05/01/2021
The British Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon detachment in Romania is set to start conducting Nato enhanced Air Policing (eAP) patrols. On 29 April, the Germany-based Nato Air Command officers gave formal accreditation for the RAF’s 121 Expeditionary Air Wing (EAW) for the eAP mission. The formal accreditation was given following a training period by 121 EAW to test and assure its air policing procedures.
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05/01/2021
Total Force Airmen from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam completed a multi-faceted, air-combat exercise April 22, flying more than one hundred sorties alongside partners from the Royal Australian Air Force and other U.S.-based units. The exercise, Pacific Edge 21, was hosted over three weeks to provide cost-effective and realistic training, tailored to equip multi-national warfighters with skills to fly, fight and win against advanced threats throughout the Indo-Pacific Region.
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05/01/2021
Five F-35A Joint Strike Fighters and a single F-22 Raptor "talked" with each other using their proprietary stealthy datalinks via a U-2S Dragon Lady spy plane carrying a specialized communications gateway payload, during a recent demonstration. This marks the first time that the Air Force's two stealth fighters were able to exchange data freely in flight, something that has been years in the making.
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05/01/2021
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has been touted as the most advanced aircraft ever built, but it is also on track to be the most expensive military program in the history of the United States, if not the world. The fifth-generation stealth fighter could cost more than $1.5 trillion over the life of the program, which could last until the 2070s.
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04/30/2021
As the Navy approaches the first-ever deployment of its advanced carrier air wing – with the fifth-generation F-35C Joint Strike Fighter paired with the CMV-22B Osprey to serve as the carrier onboard delivery plane – leadership from USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and Carrier Air Wing 2 say they’ve ironed out many integration issues between the ship and the two new aircraft types and are ready for a final exercise this summer to prove they can deploy.
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04/30/2021
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has conducted a trial of the 5th generation Python-5 air-to-air missile (AAM) for the Tejas, India’s indigenous light combat aircraft. The trials aimed to test the Python-5’s air-to-air weapons capability and the capability of the already integrated Derby Beyond Visual Range (BVR) AAM.
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04/30/2021
Cobham Mission Systems announced on April 29, 2021, it won subcontracts to provide chaff and flare dispenser equipment for the German Air Force’s Tranche 4 Eurofighter Typhoon fleet.
Cobham’s Chaff and Flare Defensive Aid Systems include flare dispensers for off-board infrared-seeking missile countermeasures and chaff dispensers that deploy particles to neutralise threats from radar guided missiles.
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04/30/2021
The latest, upgraded version of the JF-17 fighter jet has recently been spotted equipped with China's most advanced air-to-air combat missile that is also used by China's J-20 stealth aircraft, with military observers saying on Thursday that the weapon will give the China-Pakistan jointly developed light fighter the upper hand against its counterparts in dogfights and make it one of the world's best in its class.
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04/28/2021
As the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)’s first ever carrierborne fighter, the J-15 Fei Sha (Flying Shark) has been the focus of substantial English language and foreign media coverage since its maiden flight in August 2009. On cursory review of various Chinese fighter types, perhaps only the J-20 and FC-31 stealth fighters have received more foreign interest (and prompted a greater word count) than the J-15.
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04/28/2021
Taiwanese military intercepted a Chinese spy plane apparently trying to test Taiwan's radar capabilities by flying at an extremely low altitude of only 30 meters. On Monday, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense announced that a Y-8 electronic warfare plane (Y-8 EW) and a Y-8 tactical reconnaissance aircraft (Y-8 RECCE) intruded into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), Taiwan News reported.
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04/28/2021
The Israeli military continues to engineer new external fuel tanks for its specially configured “Adir” variant of the F-35 stealth fighter jet. The Adir, or F-35I, is an aircraft tailored by Israel for unique mission sets particular to address the kinds of enemy threats Israeli forces are likely to encounter. Simply put, extra fuel tanks can massively extend strike range and multiply combat options for Israel, should it be confronted with an operational need to attack enemies at greater distance
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04/27/2021
U.S. military planners have a growing number of options should the Taliban, or any other group, decide to target American and NATO troops as they prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan. Two U.S. B-52 bombers arrived at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Monday, charged with providing air cover for the approximately 10,000 U.S. and NATO forces set to depart Afghanistan over the coming months.
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04/27/2021
Since the end of the 1970s, Iran has been the target of international sanctions that have limited its ability to acquire new aircraft. The restrictive measures have been used as a way for the United States to strongarm the policies of the Islamic republic, particularly on its nuclear program. While Iran previously seemed to have found an alternative supplier in China, things appear more complicated.
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04/26/2021
The Atlantic Council called for the speedy approval of the military protocol between Bulgaria and Romania. The document was signed nearly a month ago. The aircraft of the third NATO countries will be allowed to conduct airspace protection operations on both sides. According to lawmakers in the new parliament, the document has not been submitted for ratification.
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04/26/2021
In the past couple of weeks, Russia has deployed a large, battle-ready military force on the borders of Ukraine. Elements of that force have now been returned to barracks, but the threat of a Russian attack on Ukraine can no longer be dismissed. Neither can the possibility of military co-ordination between China’s President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin to demonstrate their rising military power compared with the relative decline of America.
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04/26/2021
It is no secret that the Israeli Air Force considers the combat range as one of the most important factors when adopting a new fighter aircraft and that, because of this, it was the first operator to ask for external fuel tanks for the F-35 Lightning II or, more specifically, for the customized F-35I Adir. The first studies for new fuel tanks started at least during the system design and development phase (SDD) of the 5th gen aircraft, but after 2019 nothing new surfaced, at least online.
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04/25/2021
The T-50TH is a special version of the T-50 Golden Eagle developed for Thailand. The T-50 Golden Eagle is a family of South Korean supersonic advanced jet trainers and light combat aircraft, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) with Lockheed Martin. The T-50 is South Korea’s first indigenous supersonic aircraft and one of the world’s few supersonic trainers.
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04/24/2021
Four F-2000A Typhoon jets, belonging to the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) have deployed to Kuwait, to support Operation Inherent Resolve, the multinational campaign against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, as part of “Prima Parthica”, as the Italian Armed Forces operation is dubbed at national level.
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04/24/2021
Despite solid combat performance, the F-35’s high maintenance costs and ongoing parts supply problems continue to be a drag on the fifth-generation fighter aircraft, giving critics ammunition as Congress readies to receive the Biden administration’s first budget.
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04/24/2021
Just five weeks after the first F-15EX Eagle II fighter jet touched down at Eglin Air Force Base — and less than two weeks after that F-15EX was officially unveiled to the public — the second of the new fighter aircraft arrived at the base. F-15EX "002" was flown to Eglin on Tuesday by Maj. Aaron Eshkenazi, F-15EX operational test pilot with the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron (85th TES), part of the Eglin-headquartered 53rd Wing.
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04/23/2021
A senior US general said on Thursday that he believed a Syrian missile exploding in Israel was not intentional, but rather showed a lack of Syrian air defense capability. “I think it reflects actually incompetence in Syrian air defense ... I do not believe it was an intentional attack,” Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing
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04/23/2021
Myanmar seems to be on the verge of a full-blown civil war. The energy-rich country has long been prey for various regional and global actors, including Russia. What are Moscow’s ambitions in the Southeast Asian nation? On February 1, Myanmar’s generals seized power in a coup, triggering nationwide protests. It is believed that around 700 protesters and civilians have been killed over the past two and a half months.
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04/23/2021
The US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) said in a press release: “The MQ-9 is an unmanned aircraft with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike capability, traditionally used for Counter-Violent Extremist Organisation (C-VEO) combat operations. That mission is now shifting.”
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04/23/2021
Imagine an aircraft that can be used as an advanced trainer for Air Force recruits, which also can carry bombs and ammunition to counter hostile targets both in the air and land and is cheaper than conventional fighter jets. Well, the Indian Air Force’s Hawk trainer could offer you a package deal after the latest modification.
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04/23/2021
Over the last two weeks you may have heard a rumble in the sky, that’s because the Air National Guard has started its fighter jet training exercises. Off the Savannah coast, airmen from across the country are getting fighter jet training at Savannah’s Air Dominance Center. In 20 second intervals, 40 fighter jets took to the sky to hone their skills for whenever they’re called on.
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04/21/2021
The Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) next-generation A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is now fully operational, able to carry out missions such as transporting personnel across large distances and extending the range of fighter jets. Other than refuelling RSAF's F-16 and F-15SG fighters in mid-air, it can also refuel another MRTT, enabling the refuelled A330 to travel further or stay in the air longer on a single flight.
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04/21/2021
Nine Chinese military planes entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday (April 20), marking the 17th intrusion this month. Five People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, two Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes, one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare plane, and one Shaanxi Y-8 reconnaissance plane flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ.
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04/21/2021
Twenty F-15s and four F-16s belonging to the U.S. Air Force deployed to Poland on Apr. 19, 2021. The two dozen USAF fighters arrived at Lask (EPLK) and Krzesiny (EPKS) airbases from where they will operate within the framework of an Agile Combat Employment exercise during Aviation Detachment Rotation (AvRot) 21-2. The F-15s, both E and C models, come from RAF Lakenheath, UK, and belong to the 48th Fighter Wing, whilst the F-16s are assigned to the 480th Fighter Squadron.
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04/21/2021
South Korea celebrated its entry into the “elite group of fighter jet producers” this month, unveiling its domestically-developed KF-21 Boramae in a blaze of lights and pop music and a glowing endorsement from President Moon Jae-in. Moon lauded the technology, economic benefits, military capabilities, and national prestige the development of the plane represented, a perspective largely shared in most reporting of the multibillion-dollar project to develop a multi-role fighter jet.
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04/21/2021
The defense ministers of France and Germany on Tuesday set a deadline for the end of April to reach a deal on the future of a next-generation stealth fighter. During a visit to Paris, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said there were still some final points, involving engine development and legal issues, that needed clarification.
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04/20/2021
The Italian Navy flagship, the aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH 550), departed Naval Station Norfolk Apr. 16 after Joint Force operations with U.S. military forces in the Atlantic Ocean. ITS Cavour participated in a sequence of operations with U.S. assets and the F-35 Joint Program Office has delivered a flight clearance recommendation to the Italian Navy for the safe operation of fifth generation F-35B fighter aircraft.
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04/20/2021
The four U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets that recently flew a mission over the highly contested South China Sea were photographed landing at their home base, Yokota Air Base in Japan, at the end of their return flight. The images confirm that these jets were armed for counter-air operations with a heavy load of live air-to-air missiles.
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04/19/2021
Israel and Greece have signed their biggest ever defense procurement deal, which Israel said Sunday would strengthen political and economic ties between the two countries as their air forces launched a joint exercise. The agreement includes a $1.65 billion contract for the establishment and operation of a training center for the Hellenic Air Force by Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems over 22 years, Israel's defense ministry said.
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04/19/2021
At least five rockets hit the Iraqi military airbase at Balad north of Baghdad, wounding two Iraqi soldiers, the Iraqi military said in a statement. Security officials had said earlier that the Katyusha rockets had fallen on the area of the base that houses US contractors, and that no casualties had been reported.
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04/19/2021
IAF fighter jets were set to take part in the “Iniohos” exercise starting on Sunday in Greece. The exercise will include dozens of aircraft, in which the IAF will participate alongside several other partnering nations, the military said in a statement on Sunday. It said that they will simulate scenarios of air-to-air combat, air superiority, and advanced surface-to-air missile threats above enemy territory.
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04/18/2021
The Israeli military has carried out air attacks against what it says were targets in the Gaza Strip following a rocket attack from the Palestinian enclave, the second such exchange in recent days. Saturday’s attacks hit what the military described as “terror targets” operated by Gaza’s ruling faction Hamas.
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04/18/2021
The Chinese military sent yet another aircraft into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced that day. The Chinese J-16 multirole fighter conducted a sortie in airspace southwest of Taiwan, between Taiwan and the Taiwanese-held Pratas Islands, according to the MND.
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04/17/2021
Setting the stage for creation of the second Rafale squadron at Hasimara in West Bengal, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Bhadauria will flag off six Rafale fighter jets from Merignac-Bordeaux airbase in south-western France on 21 April. The arrival of these six Rafale jets will raise the number of these fourth-generation-plus fighter jets with the Indian Air Force (IAF) to 20.
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04/17/2021
“During routine training mission at the landing approach at the training aviation center of the city of Balkhash, the Su-30SM multi-role fighter jet crashed,” the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan reported. A statement from the press service confirmed that both the pilots of the aircraft ejected safely and [have] been rescued.
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04/16/2021
In September 2020, the USMC Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) embarked ten F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters onboard the UK’s new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, joining British platforms of the same aircraft type. The deployment underlined the interoperability benefits of acquiring an aircraft such as the F-35B, as well as its role in projecting the UK’s carrier strike capability, according to Cdr Edward Phillips, HMS Queen Elizabeth’s Commander Air.
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04/16/2021
As part of an effort to maximize Mobility Air Forces and Combat Air Forces integration as well as enhance agile combat employment capabilities in the Indo-Pacific theater, a contingent of Airmen from the 19th Airlift Wing participated in an off-station training exercise at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, March 29 – April 7.
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04/16/2021
South Korea has rolled out the prototype of its new indigenous fighter, the KF-21 Boramae. The new jet will complement the country’s mostly American-made fleet, fitting between its older F-15 and F-16 fighters and complementing its brand-new, fifth-generation F-35s.
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04/15/2021
The skies above Myanmar's hinterlands have thundered from Russian-made jets over the past three weeks as they bomb strongholds of ethnic rebels along the country's borders with China and Thailand. On other nights, witnesses say, Russian-made attack helicopters shattered the silence and lit up the sky.
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04/15/2021
This major F-35 programme milestone strengthens national defence and global partnerships between the United States, Denmark and other F-35 partner and buying nations. “The security situation around the world is increasingly complex,” said Trine Bramsen, Danish minister of defence. “Being able to defend yourself and your allies is crucial. For peace. For stability. For freedom and democracy. With the new F-35 fighter jets we will increase our ability to protect Denmark.
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04/15/2021
A US Air Force F-15C Eagle fighter fired the longest known air-to-air "kill" shot to date in a recent test, the service said Wednesday. The fighter fired an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) at a BQ-167 target drone and scored a "kill" from the farthest distance ever recorded during testing at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida in March, the 53rd Wing said in a statement.
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04/14/2021
According to presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, 14 Nigerian pilots are currently training with the aircraft at the Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. Mr. Garba posted a video of what appeared to be test-flight operations on his verified Twitter handle. The video was credited to the Sierra Nevada Corporation, a private American aerospace firm.
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04/14/2021
China sent 25 warplanes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone on Monday, the largest breach of that space since the island began regularly reporting such activity in September, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said. The Chinese flights came a day after the US secretary of state warned Beijing that Washington was committed to the defense of the democratic, self-governed island, which China considers part of its sovereign territory.
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04/14/2021
Ukraine, faced with Russian troops on two fronts, has gone public with plans to buy combat aircraft that are not Russian-made. The vulnerable NATO partner plans to become independent of Vladimir Putin’s military in a crucial domain.
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04/13/2021
The Su-57 project will occupy a sizable chunk of Russian defense spending. The Kremlin is keen to offset as much of these costs as possible through a series of high-profile export contracts.
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04/13/2021
Twenty-five Chinese air force aircraft including fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, the island’s government said, the largest reported incursion to date.
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04/13/2021
The Air Force officially rolled out its newest fighter jet on Wednesday at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, where the service finally announced its name. The F-15EX will be called the "Eagle II," following the naming tradition of the F-15C Eagle and the F-15E Strike Eagle.
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04/06/2021
Taiwan's Defense Ministry on Monday reported a new incursion by China's air force into the island's air defense identification zone, made up of eight fighter jets and two other aircraft, one of which flew through the strategic Bashi Channel. Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained over the last few months of repeated missions by China's air force near the island, concentrated in the southwestern part its air defense zone near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
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04/06/2021
The F-16 multirole fighter aircraft, now made by Lockheed Martin, is getting a new shield system. L3Harris Technologies, a Florida-based firm, announced in late March that it had received a contract from Lockheed to develop “a new advanced electronic warfare system to protect the international F-16 jet against emerging radar and electronic threats.”
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04/06/2021
The F4 generation of the Dassault Rafale is backed by an investment of $2.3 billion by the French defense ministry, announced in January 2019. The latest F4 version will see the incorporation of new generation technologies, especially enhanced aircraft connectivity, through software-defined radio, new links, and satellite communications.
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04/05/2021
Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, said Sunday it aims to develop its own transport and multipurpose aircraft for the military. KAI has reached a consensus with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on the need to develop transport and multipurpose aircraft to meet domestic demand for the planes, the company's Executive Vice President Ryu Kwang-su told Yonhap News Agency on the sidelines of a press conference.
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04/05/2021
Israel's air force received on Sunday a new intelligence aircraft that will provide the military with "unprecedented" reconnaissance capabilities, the Defense Ministry said. The so-called "Oron" airplane landed on Sunday in the Nevatim airbase in southern Israel after more than nine years of developments by the Defense Ministry, the Israeli Air Force, the Intelligence Directorate, the Israeli Navy, and the Israel Aerospace Industries, according to a statement issued by the Defense Ministry.
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04/05/2021
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and five escort vessels have passed through a key waterway off Japan on their way to the Pacific Ocean, the Joint Staff Office of the Japanese Defense Ministry said Sunday. The carrier group was spotted around 8 a.m. Saturday roughly 470 km southwest of Nagasaki Prefecture's Danjo Islands, the joint staff said. The convoy then passed through the Miyako Strait, the 250 km-wide waterway between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island.
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04/05/2021
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had deployed as many as 24 fighter jets, including the JF-17, in response to India’s airstrike on Balakot terrorist camps on February 26, 2019. Several of these jets managed to cross the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto India-Pakistan border, releasing precision-guided glide bombs on Indian military installations in the Rajouri sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
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04/04/2021
The U.S. Navy today awarded Boeinga $1.6 billion production contract for the next 11 P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Nine aircraft will join the U.S. Navy fleet and two will go to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), a cooperative partner in the P-8A joint program since 2009. The contract brings the total number of U.S. Navy P-8A aircraft under contract to 128 and the RAAF total to 14.
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04/04/2021
A Chinese military Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft entered Taiwan's southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, but left the area after Taiwan scrambled fighter jets in response to the intrusion, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The aircraft flew into the airspace between Taiwan and the Dongsha Islands in the South China Sea, which are controlled by Taiwan, according to a chart provided by the MND.
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04/03/2021
The Norfolk-based USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group started flight operations this week to support the continuing campaign against Islamic State remnants in Syria and Iraq. Aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 3, based at Naval Air Station Oceana, began flying March 31 in support of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve to demonstrate U.S. commitment to security in the region.
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04/03/2021
The Nigerian air force says it has yet to establish the whereabouts of a military plane that disappeared off the radar Wednesday evening near Borno -- an insurgency troubled state in the country's northeast region. A Nigerian air force spokesman told CNN Thursday afternoon that the fighter jet had been deployed to provide air support to ground troops, who were under fire from Boko Haram fighters before radar contact was lost.
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04/03/2021
The Japanese air force is assigning its new F-35 stealth fighters to alert duty, meaning that any day now the radar-evading jets could take off on short notice in order to intercept and shadow Chinese warplanes probing Japan’s air-defense zone. But if Tokyo had its way, the F-35 would sit out this dull, labor-intensive work. The stealth fighter is too expensive, too unreliable and too valuable for other missions to waste it on boring up-and-down flights.
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04/03/2021
Air Combat Command is changing the aircraft maintenance organizational structure to improve synchronization between maintenance and fighter squadrons. This new structure, called Combat Oriented Maintenance Organization, or COMO, flattens the maintenance organizational structure and transitions aircraft maintenance units into fighter generation squadrons.
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04/02/2021
China has stepped up its military posturing around Taiwan over the past week, a trend that is set to fuel growing concerns that Beijing might move closer to attacking the island. Taiwan and Japan on Monday both reported incursions into their respective air defence identification zones, the first simultaneous announcement from Taipei and Tokyo.
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04/02/2021
Canada's top military procurement official says he is optimistic the federal government will finally end its decade-long search for a new fighter jet for the Royal Canadian Air Force next year despite challenges and delays from the pandemic. Three fighter-jet makers submitted their bids last summer to provide the military with 88 new aircraft to replace the Air Force's aging CF-18s, and government evaluators are now busily assessing those proposals to determine which best fits Canada's needs.
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04/02/2021
As they conduct bombing and surveillance missions around the globe, today's U.S. military pilots rely on aerial refueling aircraft built as early as 1957, when the Soviet Union dominated American security fears, the average home cost $12,000 and "I Love Lucy" was debuting new episodes. The cost of keeping those aging jets in the air has grown sharply while the military awaits a next-generation refueling plane whose rollout has been repeatedly delayed by design and production issues.
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04/02/2021
Ukraine’s Lviv State Aircraft Repair Plant (LSARP) has repaired and handed over a MiG-29UB trainer aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force (UAF). LSARP is part of state-owned defence industrial group Ukroboronprom and is the only enterprise in the country that repairs the MiG-29.
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04/01/2021
A Philippine military plane with local journalists on board ignored repeated radio warnings to “stay away” and “leave immediately” on Tuesday as it flew low over contested reefs near where Chinese vessels were moored in the South China Sea. The incident occurred as hundreds of Chinese vessels believed to be manned by militias in the South China Sea have spread to a wider area, the Philippines said on Wednesday, defying its demand for the flotilla to be withdrawn immediately.
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04/01/2021
The U.S. Army has awarded contracts to both Bell and a Sikorsky-Boeing team to continue into a second phase of competitive development and risk reduction as the service prepares to begin its formal program to acquire a future long-range assault aircraft, or FLRAA, by 2030.
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04/01/2021
China is readying itself for American and Japanese involvement in any Taiwan Strait conflict, with recent warplane exercises around the island aimed at displaying its ability to isolate Taiwan from potential support, according to analysts in Beijing and Taipei.
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04/01/2021
Speaking at an International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) virtual event, the head of the UK’s Armed Forces Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Sir Nick Carter said that by 2030 a Royal Air Force(RAF) tactical formation could be made of up two Typhoon Fighter Jets, ten Mosquito uncrewed fighter aircraft and 100 Alvino swarming uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs).
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03/31/2021
A total of 10 Chinese military planes flew into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday (March 29), marking the 17th such incursion this month. Four People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter planes, four Chengdu J-10 fighter jets, and one Shaanxi KJ-500 early warning and control aircraft entered the southwest corner of the ADIZ, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND).
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03/31/2021
Nearly two-thirds of the aircraft flying off U.S. Navy carriers could be unmanned someday, including the possibility of drone fighter jets, a top aviation leader said this week. Like the Air Force, the Navy will take a "family of systems" approach to its next-generation air dominance, or NGAD, program, which will use aircraft, sensors and other equipment that complement one another and work together to stave off threats, Rear Adm. Gregory Harris, the chief of naval operations' air warfare direc
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03/31/2021
NATO jets responded on Monday to an unusually high number of Russian military aircraft flights near allied airspace. Alliance fighter aircraft were "scrambled 10 times on Monday, March 29, 2021, to shadow Russian bombers and fighters during an unusual peak of flights over the North Atlantic, North Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea," the organization said in a statement.
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03/31/2021
China’s Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), recently unveiled its plans to build a new fourth-generation fighter. “The company aims to make breakthroughs in its fourth-generation fighter jet program by boosting related technologies, including additive manufacturing, control over surface electromagnetic defects, and automated fiber placement so that the aircraft can be successfully developed".
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03/31/2021
The Navy is leaning toward replacing its fleet of Super Hornets with another manned fighter that will work with emerging unmanned aircraft concepts under the umbrella of the service’s Next Generation Air Dominance program.
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03/30/2021
Tyndall Air Force Base will be the home of three F-35 Squadrons, the Air Force officially announced Monday. Air Force officials said in a news release that the decision to bring the squadrons of F-35A Lighting II was based on infrastructure capability, quality of life for Airmen, and airspace. The official announcement only came after the base passed an environmental impact analysis.
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03/30/2021
A Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) contingent of nearly 180 pilots and air engineering technicians is participating in a two-week drill organized by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), a PAF spokesman said on Sunday. The Aces Meet 2021 is an aerial exercise to maximize the combat readiness of participating countries through air-to-air combat training.
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03/30/2021
Ten Chinese military aircraft including fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan's air defence identification zone on Monday, the island's defence ministry said, in a further escalation of tension across the sensitive Taiwan Strait. The island's defence ministry said the air force deployed missiles to "monitor" the incursion into the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone. It also said its planes warned the Chinese aircraft, including by radio.
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03/30/2021
The "Red Flag 21-2" combat scenario training exercise brought aircraft from seven NATO nations and detachments from across the U.S. Air Force together, the branch said. Over 100 aircraft were involved in the weeklong event at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., held earlier this month, notably including F-16 Fighting Falcons and a NATO E-3A AWACS surveillance plane stationed at Geilenkirschen NATO Air Base, Germany.
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03/30/2021
Rep. Adam Smith’s recent attack against the F-35 program was followed by an avalanche of anti-F-35 hype putting the aircraft under pressure in the court of public opinion. Unfortunately, most of these assaults have been made without realization or acknowledgement of the benefits that the F-35 provides.
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03/29/2021
French military experts also quoted the source saying that French President Emmanuel Macron may propose to the defense minister of Ukraine to renew the local fleet of fighter jets. According to sources from Intelligence Online, the possible sale of Rafale fighters to Ukraine is a top priority in the discussion during the upcoming visit.
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03/28/2021
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is facing a shortage of 405 pilots, the federal government recently informed the country’s Parliament. Junior defense minister Shripad Naik said in the lower house of Parliament that the number of pilots in IAF at present is 3,834 against the sanctioned strength of 4,239.
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03/28/2021
Foreign journalists appear to be misunderstanding China’s aircraft carrier program. Some of the recent reporting combines larger aircraft carriers that carry jets with smaller “carriers” that operate helicopters. There are currently two types of Chinese aircraft carriers; one for fixed wing combat aircraft and a second type of carrier that is actually an amphibious ship that carries troops plus landing craft and helicopters to put them ashore.
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03/28/2021
The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, was himself briefed about the achievement by the Russian Navy’s Commander-in-Chief, Nikolai Yevmenov. “Within the framework of an Arctic expedition for the first time ever in the history of Russia’s Navy a pair of MiG-31 jets performed a flight over the North Pole and were refueled in midair,” he informed.
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03/27/2021
Two A-10 pilots, flying together for the 30th time in Desert Storm on Feb. 15, 1991, attacked a massive formation of Iraqi armor in the deserts of Kuwait. One pilot, a young first lieutenant named Robert Sweet, survived and became a prisoner of war. The mission commander of the flight, an experienced captain, who lingered above the site of the shoot down for three minutes and 45 seconds—intentionally drawing fire, attempting to help the search and rescue of his wingman, was ultimately shot down
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03/27/2021
The Department of Defense (DOD) develops a new National Defense Strategy (NDS) every four years to align the U.S. military’s force structure, operational concepts, programs, and budgets with the president’s national security priorities. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin plans a comprehensive review of the present NDS, published in January 2018, and has indicated that while the strategy’s focus on great power competition and conflict remains sound, updates may be warranted.
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03/27/2021
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace on 25 March announced a NOK1.7 billion ($200 million) deal with Lockheed Martin for involvement in Lot 15 to Lot 17 production of the F-35 Lightning II multirole combat aircraft. The deal covers delivery of rudders, vertical leading edges and main landing gear closeout panels for more than 500 aircraft.
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03/27/2021
Twenty Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Friday in the largest incursion yet reported by the island’s defence ministry, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions across the Taiwan Strait. The ministry said the air force deployed missiles to “monitor” the incursion into the south-western part of its air defence identification zone. It also said its planes warned the Chinese aircraft, including by radio.
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03/27/2021
Pollen—and politics—is in the air. In the Battle of the Budget, the Air Force and its premier acquisition program, the F-35 fighter, is under attack. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith launched his opening salvo, calling the F-35 “a rathole” and saying he wants to “figure out how we can get a mix of fighter attack aircraft that’s the most cost-effective.”
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03/26/2021
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to receive three more French-made Dassault Rafale fighters next week and another nine by mid-April, according to reports. The combat aircraft will land at the Ambala airbase in the northern state of Punjab.
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03/26/2021
Wang Songxi is a flying instructor with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Northern Theatre Command Air Force. He claims to have flown many Chinese fighter jets as well as the Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 during his career. Designed and developed by Sukhoi Aviation Corporation during the Soviet-era, the Sukhoi Su-30 is a twin-engine, two-seat supermaneuverable fighter jet.
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03/26/2021
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has come under criticism for what the opposition says are lies and contradictory statements about why the Armenian military did not deploy fighter jets purchased from Russia during last year’s war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
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03/26/2021
The first of the United States Air Force's Boeing F-15EX fighters arrived at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida earlier this month. Touted by the defense contractor to be a cost-effective aircraft for the service, the F-15EX is set to undergo combined developmental and operational tests.
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03/25/2021
When the F-22 burst onto the scene in the early 2000s, it was heralded as a new generation of air-dominance, speed, thrust, maneuverability, and stealth. It was widely reported to be the most capable air-to-air platform ever to exist and is actually still regarded as such by many. The original plan was for the Air Force and the Pentagon to acquire as many as 750 F-22s, but there are now 186 operational F-22s.
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03/25/2021
An F-35B with VMX-1, the U.S. Marine Corps’ test and evaluation squadron based at MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Yuma, Arizona, was damaged during a night CAS (Close Air Support) mission on Mar. 12, 2021. According to Military.com’s Oriana Pawlyk, who was the first to report about the mishap, the F-35B was operating over the Yuma Range Complex, when a PGU-32/U Semi-Armor Piercing High Explosive Incendiary-Tracer (SAPHEI-T) 25mm round exploded after leaving the fighter’s GAU-22 gun pod.
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03/25/2021
The fighter jet, currently under development, exploits the cutting-edge advances in artificial intelligence (AI) by the Chinese and is expected to roll out by 2035. Experts agree that the superiority of the next-generation fighter jets will be determined by the application of AI in data processing and decision making. The AI is expected to usher in radical changes when it comes to computing, sensing, targeting, maneuvering, and various kinds of attack tactics in combat aircraft.
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03/25/2021
Russia’s announcement that it is ready to hold negotiations with Ankara on the delivery of Su-35 and Su-57 fighter aircraft if requested may cause further tensions between the US and Turkey, experts say.
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03/25/2021
A naval combat drone could be headed to the decks of the U.K.’s two aircraft carriers in the future. Under the recently revealed Project Vixen, the U.K. Royal Navy is studying the potential for adding a large unmanned aerial vehicle that could undertake missions including aerial refueling — like the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray — as well as strike, potentially in loyal wingman-type role, networked together with its F-35B Lightning stealth fighters.
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03/24/2021
The Taiwanese Air Force has reportedly grounded its F-5E fighter jet fleet following a mid-air collision and crash of two aircraft. The accident has claimed the life of one pilot while the other pilot has gone missing, reported several media sources. According to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), four F-5E fighter jets took off on a training mission from Taitung’s Zhi-Hang Air Base.
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03/24/2021
Three crew have been killed in an accident today involving a Russian Aerospace Forces Tu-22M3 Backfire-C bomber at Shaykovka airbase in the Kaluga region, western Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the crew lost their lives due to an “abnormal operation” of the ejection seats.
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03/24/2021
As the U.S. military reevaluates how many F-35 stealth fighters it needs in its future combat force, America's closest ally is following suit and won’t commit to buying the full number it originally planned. The Royal Air Force is also evaluating its combat warplane mix, a top U.K. defense official said Monday.
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03/24/2021
L3Harris Technologies has secured a contract from Lockheed Martin to develop a new advanced electronic warfare (EW) system for the F-16 fighter jet. L3Harris designed the new EW system, known as ‘Viper Shield’, to provide advanced countermeasures to US and global coalition partners. It protects F-16 aircraft from emerging radar and electronic threats with advanced digital technologies.
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03/23/2021
According to reports, tactical formations and maneuvers were practiced by the Eastern Theater Command, along with air-to-surface attacks, especially against sea targets. Images of the exercise published by a Chinese website navy.81.cn show several combat jets from the PLA’s fighter fleet from the Eastern Military District, including Flankers and indigenously designed J-10 Dragons, taking to the sky
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03/23/2021
The UK’s new military modernization plan includes a proposed increase in the number of nuclear warheads, sets ambitious targets for new warships but is silent on the whether the country should buy more F-35s. “We’ve committed to 48; we’ll buy 48,” UK Minister for the Armed Forces, James Heappey, told reporters on a call this afternoon. The original plan was to buy 138 fifth-generation fighters, but British officials in recent months have declined to say if that is still the plan.
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03/23/2021
Taiwan is ready to deploy its upgraded Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets for operational missions, with the program to upgrade the entire fleet on track for completion by 2023, according to the Air Force chief of staff. Lt. Gen. Huang Chih-Wei was addressing lawmakers at Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan, when he confirmed that 42 F-16s are upgraded to the F-16V standard. A formal handover ceremony is scheduled for later this month, with President Tsai Ing-wen in attendance.
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03/22/2021
Two Taiwanese fighter jets crashed on Monday in the third such incident in the past half year, at a time when the Beijing-claimed island’s armed forced are under increasing pressure to intercept Chinese aircraft on an almost daily basis.
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03/22/2021
Although some American officials believe that the chances of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan are increasing, the small island nation wouldn’t go down without a fight. Taiwan’s newly upgraded F-16V fighter jets will soon be fit for duty, according to a recent Taiwanese report. The F-16V, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is the most capable F-16 variant to date and features an advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar for better all-weather target acquisition and situational awareness
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03/22/2021
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan Sunday just weeks before Washington is due to withdraw the last of its troops under a deal struck with the Taliban last year. New US President Joe Biden said last week the May 1 deadline agreed by predecessor Donald Trump would be "tough" to meet - prompting outrage from the insurgents, who warned that Washington would be "responsible for the consequences".
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03/22/2021
The two services announced the FOC (full operational capability) of the aircraft on March 8. According to Janes, this announcement will allow the French forces deployed with the carrier Charles de Gaulle and in Jordan (as part of Op Chammal) to fly the latest variant of the Rafale fighter jet.
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03/21/2021
Discussions during the meeting centered around defense, but also tackled issues of common interest. Al-Ruwaili attended a flight demonstration by combat aircraft taking part in the “Falcon Eye 1” exercises at the Souda Air Force Base in Greece and met with the participants.
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03/21/2021
According to reports, Taiwan has successfully completed the upgrade of 42 of its 141 F-16A/B fighter jets to the F-16 V standard. Eventually, all the F-16s in its fleet would be upgraded by 2023, for which work is being carried out by the local company Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation with support from Lockheed Martin.
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03/21/2021
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Britain’s Hercules transport planes used by special forces
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03/21/2021
Airmen from the 2nd Bomb Wing loaded and employed nearly 50 types of various munitions and flew a total of eight sorties in support of exercise Combat Hammer, March 8-12. A week-long evaluation of the wing’s capacity to generate, load and employ conventional weapons on target, Combat Hammer measured the effectiveness and lethality of Barksdale’s combat capabilities.
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03/20/2021
The Rafale F3-R multirole fighter has been approved for operational service by the French Navy and French Air and Space Force. The navy and air force ‘are now authorised to make operational use of all the capacities that are developed around the F3-R standard, which is already installed in half the French fleet and will eventually be installed on all Rafale aircraft in service’, the French MoD announced on 17 March.
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03/20/2021
A Russian official has branded rubbish reports in Algeria that Moscow is manufacturing state-of-art Su-34 fighter jets for the Algerian army, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports. Reports from Algiers indicated that Moscow is set to deliver a first batch of six Russian Su-34 fighter aircraft to the North African country and that Algerian pilots would start training to fly the aircraft in the summer of 2022.
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03/20/2021
Europe’s next-gen fighter jet program FCAS is facing some teething problems, with two prime contractors — Airbus and Dassault Aviation — locking horns over the aircraft’s feasibility and the issue pertaining to who will lead the initiative.
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03/20/2021
Indian firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has announced that its Nashik Division completed production of 140 Su-30MKI jets from raw material stage (phase 4). The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is a multirole combat fighter aircraft equipped with thrust vectoring control and canards. It is jointly developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and HAL for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
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03/20/2021
Germany’s Greens like to think of themselves as their country’s most committed champions of Europe. They see in France their most important partner to further European integration and to advance the green and socially just transformation of the European Union. French President Emmanuel Macron’s vision for a sovereign Europe, too, is shared whole-heartedly by the Greens.
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03/20/2021
Aircraft with advanced air dominance capabilities have emerged as a top acquisition priority for countries across the Asia-Pacific, driven by the evolving geopolitical landscape. Several nations are pursuing fighter aircraft programmes, which are set to see significant progress over the coming decade.
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03/19/2021
The exercise was held to generate dissimilar aircraft combat training with the Alaska-based aircraft from the Eielson Air Force Base, exposing the Hawaiian F-22 Raptors to new combat strategies that are likely to be faced in the event of an air-to-air battle. “We’re helping the F-22s by replicating adversary capabilities so that they are trained and ready for any fight the Air Force wants to take them to,” said Capt. Daniel Simpson, 18th Aggressor Squadron pilot.
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03/19/2021
Service members from seven NATO member nations are at Nellis Air Force Base, supporting Red Flag 21-2 to test and sharpen their abilities in countering threats while building a cohesive protocol for real-world events. “For decades, Red Flag has been the world’s premier air combat training environment,” said Maj. Stephen Wahnon, tactical director and NATO E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System Red Flag detachment commander.
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03/19/2021
The F-35 is in the middle of a public relations storm. With the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, referring to the program as a “rathole” and news reports attacking the aircraft, the public is left to wonder about America’s newest fighter. However, reality dictates a far different conclusion: The F-35 is an operational success.
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03/18/2021
A Russian military official on Wednesday denied manufacturing Su-34 fighters for the Algerian Air Force this year. The Russian Sukhoi SU-34 fighter is among the latest additions to the Russian Air Force arsenal, in operation since 2014. A representative of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) in Russia stated that Russia did not engage in manufacturing aircraft for Algeria.
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03/18/2021
The recent decision by the Biden administration to send $125 million in military aid for Ukraine is a welcome site in Kyiv, but the country needs and deserves much more, according to a former chief adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister.
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03/18/2021
Royal Air Force Typhoons have used the MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missile in action for the first time, with a pair of aircraft reportedly firing four weapons at cave complexes on March 10. The network of caves, southwest of Erbil, was being used by Daesh terrorist forces.
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03/18/2021
The air wing of the Indian Navy's latest carrier, INS Vikrant, could include a new indigenous fighter plane. The TEDBF (Twin Engine deck Based Fighter) is the natural successor to India's Light Combat aircraft (LCA), the Tejas. If it is flown it will be inherently better suited to the Indian Navy's needs. But in the short term it faces competition from off-the-shelf Western types, notably the Super Hornet and the Rafale.
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03/18/2021
A dozen years into its fight with the Islamic insurgent group Boko Haram, Nigeria is getting some new weapons: a pair of Wing Loong II drones from China. The deal is one of a growing number of sales by state-owned Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC), which has exported scores of the aircraft. The United Arab Emirates has used AVIC drones in Libya’s civil war, Egypt has attacked rebels in Sinai with them, and Saudi-led troops have deployed them in Yemen.
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03/17/2021
Arms imports in the Middle East grew by 25 percent between 2011–15 and 2016–20, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI) report published on Monday. But overall, and for the first time since 2001–2005, the volume of major arms transfers between countries did not rise from the previous five year period, SIPRI said.
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03/17/2021
The sea services see themselves moving toward a future where they are just as likely to perform a mission with an unmanned platform as a manned one, based on the specifics of the mission and what assets are available. A third of the Navy’s fleet and half of Marine Corps aviation could be unmanned under this hybrid vision the two services are pursuing, which they argue in a new Department of the Navy Unmanned Campaign Framework is necessary to stay ahead of adversary capabilities.
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03/17/2021
A Ukrainian engine will power Turkey’s new Atak II-class T929 helicopter, the head of Turkish Aerospace Industries announced Monday in a TV interview, during which he also identified the price of the future TF-X fighter jet as $100 million per unit.
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03/15/2021
Russia is reportedly keen to discuss the possibility of supplying Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets to Turkey. Russia is also keen to pitch the same jets to the Indian Air Force as it showcased its military-tech during the ‘Aero India’ exhibition. Turkey is believed to be exploring the 4++ generation Su-35 fighters and the fifth-generation Su-57 stealth fighters after Ankara was ejected from the F-35 jet project the US after Ankara inked S-400 missile deal with Russia.
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03/15/2021
Russia’s announcement that it is ready to hold negotiations with Ankara on the delivery of Su-35 and Su-57 fighter aircraft if requested may cause further tensions between the US and Turkey, experts say. Turkey hired a Washington-based law firm last month to lobby for its readmission to the US F-35 fighter jet program after it was suspended following its purchase of the Russian air defense system.
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03/14/2021
At least four people were killed Saturday in a military plane crash in Kazakhstan, the government said. The An-26 military transport plane crashed as it was landing in foggy conditions at the airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, the country's Emergencies Ministry said.
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03/14/2021
A military expert said on Friday (March 12) that new satellite imagery appears to show a helicopter base that could threaten Taiwan is being built in China's Fujian Province. Ho Cheng-hui was cited by the Taiwan news website pourquoi.tw as saying the base had not been previously reported. He added it could be regarded as a product of Xi Jinping's "desperate desire to resolve the Taiwan issue and expand the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) combat power."
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03/14/2021
The MiG-31BM fighters based at the Northern Fleet’s Rogachyovo airfield have been replaced by MiG-29K fighter aircraft s of the 100th shipborne aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet’s Air Force and Air Defense Army, according to a Russian Navy statement.
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03/12/2021
Two Chinese military turboprops entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday (March 8), marking the fourth such intrusion this month. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) sent one Shaanxi Y-8 reconnaissance plane and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan scrambled fighter jets, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems.
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03/12/2021
Tecmash Group (part of Technodinamika within the state tech corporation Rostec) has launched serial production of ice sensors with artificial intelligence elements that will be installed on the latest fighter aircraft, the Rostec press office reported on Thursday.
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03/12/2021
The U.S. Air Force officially accepted the first F-15EX from the Boeing Co. March 10 at the company’s St. Louis facility. The new fighter is a two-seat aircraft—though operable by a single pilot—with fly-by-wire flight controls, digital cockpit displays, and advanced avionics systems, to include the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System, an electronic warfare upgrade also being fielded on F-15E Strike Eagle models.
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03/12/2021
Two specially instrumented US F-35Bs from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River), Maryland, landed aboard Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour, off the US East Coast, on March 1, 2021. The flagship of the Marina Militare (Italian Navy) had left Naval Station Norfolk (Virginia) on February 28, in preparation of the four-week sea trials.
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03/12/2021
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) always has been highly intrigued by the MiG-29 Fulcrum, and for the country’s military to get its hands on one, it indeed had to jump over plenty of hurdles. According to one report, “Israel obtained a nearly complete, crated, MiG-29 via a covert deal with a Polish general. The aircraft was at Gdansk awaiting shipment to Syria but was instead put on a plane and flown to Israel in late 1985. The Soviets soon got wind of this and demanded its return.
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03/12/2021
The US aerospace Boeing Company is open to leasing KC-46tanker, a derivative of the Boeing 767 passenger aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF), which is seeking quotes for mid-air refuellers. Confirming this to Financial Express Online, in an exclusive interaction with Financial Express Online, Torbjorn Sjogren, VP, International Government & Defence, Boeing Global Services, said “We are in talks with the IAF for KC-46tanker.
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03/12/2021
Denmark flew its first F-35 Lightning II production aircraft ‘L-001’ becoming the fifth European Nato nation to be armed with the F-35 fighter jet alongside the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Italy.
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03/12/2021
A US Department of Defense (DoD) contract notice indicates that the country could field a new fighter jet by 2029. This development assumes significance given that the US is currently developing the sixth-generation fighter jet under the NGAD program.
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03/12/2021
The Indian Air Force will induct the second squadron of Rafale fighter aircraft at Hashimara Air Force base in West Bengal in mid-April, said officials. The Air Force would be moving fighter aircraft there in May. The training of the fighter pilots in France completing around the same time.
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03/10/2021
Washington and Kiev are trying to block the Chinese takeover of a jet-engine maker little known outside Ukraine, Motor Sich. If the sale goes through, it will let China obtain a key defence technology that has eluded them for decades, in one of the few remaining disciplines where the US and its allies retain a competitive advantage.
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03/10/2021
A Request For Information (RFI) issued to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has revealed that the Royal Navy is seeking information on potential electromagnetic catapult and arrestor wire systems that could be used to launch and recover ‘air vehicles’ from ‘a suitable ship’ by as soon as 2023.
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03/10/2021
The supersonic test flights are scheduled to take place over the next few months. Developed by Swedish aerospace giants Saab AB, the JAS-39 ‘Gripen’ is a light single-engine multirole combat aircraft that is highly agile and versatile. The Gripen fighters boast the best electronic warfare (EW) equipment and have already been exported to Brazil, Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
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03/10/2021
The US Air Force's desire to radically reshape and accelerate the way it develops future fighter planes could propel China to ramp up its plans for next-generation aircraft, Chinese experts said. A military insider familiar with China's next-generation aircraft project said Chinese aircraft designers were keeping a close eye on anything disclosed by their American counterparts about NGAD, or the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme.
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03/09/2021
Southern Nevada and Southern Utah residents may notice increased noise from military aircraft as the Air Force conducts Red Flag 21-2 from Monday to March 19. More than 80 aircraft are scheduled to depart Nellis twice a day and may remain in the air for up to five hours during Red Flag, according to a press release issued by the Nellis Air Force Base. There will be night launches as well to allow air crews to train for nighttime combat operations.
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03/09/2021
The F-35 stealth fighter jet has had quite a trajectory over a period of many years, including substantial ups and downs marked by some breakthrough successes such as new weapons integration, performance enhancing software upgrades, wargame performance, favorable pilot reviews, growing global demand and some measure of initial combat success.
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03/09/2021
To augment its fighter fleet, India has purchased 36 Dassault Rafales from France. Eleven of them have already been inducted into the IAF. Six more are scheduled to arrive this month. The country has also moved forward with the development of its indigenous fourth-generation LCA Tejas fighters, which are expected to support the Rafales in carrying out future missions.
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03/09/2021
U.S. Navy aviation experts are asking industry to develop a prototype hypersonic missile to enable the carrier-based F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet fighter bomber to attack high-priority targets while giving the enemy little time to deploy countermeasures. Officials of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in Arlington, Va., issued a special notice (N00014-21-S-SN06) on Tuesday for the Screaming Arrow project to arm the Navy Super Hornet with hypersonic weapons.
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03/09/2021
A US Department of Defense (DoD) contract notification has offered a hint that the US could field a new fighter aircraft by FY 2029. The $74m contract notice with Raytheon for the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) aircraft integration mentions a number of existing airframes but leaves the option open for future integration on to current or next-generation fighters before the close of fiscal year 2029.
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03/08/2021
The accident occurred on Sunday evening in Normandy where he had a holiday home, according to police sources. In his tribute, President Emanuel Macron said Dassault, 69, loved France and his death would be "a great loss". Dassault was the son of industrialist Serge Dassault, whose group builds Rafale war planes and owns Le Figaro newspaper.
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03/07/2021
Showcasing Alliance vigilance and readiness, Spanish NATO Air Policing assets scrambled on March 4 to intercept Russian fighters flying in international airspace in the vicinity of Alliance territory .
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03/07/2021
The Indian military has been on a shopping spree since the border standoff with China began last year. After almost nine months, the two counties finally agreed to disengage their troops from Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh last month. During the standoff, India started receiving French Rafale jets. Out of 36 aircraft ordered, it has received 11 so far. Six more will be delivered this month.
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03/07/2021
In a bid to bolster the air capabilities, the Indian Air Force has proposed the procurement of 114 additional fighter jets under MMRCA 2.0. Swedish aerospace giant Saab had lost the first MMRCA competition to French Dassault, which signed a contract for 36 Rafale jets with New Delhi. However, the loss did not deter Saab, which is now pitching hard its multirole Gripen fighters to New Delhi by offering its entire production technology to meet the ‘Make in India’ norms.
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03/06/2021
Japan’s Ministry of Defense has denied reports that it is scrambling fewer fighter jets against Chinese military aircraft infringing on Japanese airspace due to an increased reliance on the F-35 stealth fighter.
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03/06/2021
A successful test on Friday of the technologies that go into a “solid fuel ducted ramjet” (SFDR) has propelled the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) into an exclusive group of manufacturers that can build long-range air-to-air missiles (AAM) capable of shooting down enemy aircraft hundreds of kilometres away.
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03/06/2021
The first-ever deployment of B-1 Lancer bombers to Norway is allowing U.S. airmen to train in Arctic conditions and NATO ally Norway to test its defenses, particularly against its eastern neighbor, Russia, military officials from both countries said Friday.
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03/06/2021
Amid interests shown by Swedish company Saab to manufacture its Gripen fighter aircraft in India, prime ministers of the two countries on Friday noted defence is an important area of a long-standing collaboration.
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03/06/2021
The company said that the agreement will increase the aircraft’s production capability to six aircraft for Royal Australian Air Force. As noted by the company, the Loyal Wingman is the first military combat aircraft to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years.
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03/05/2021
October 26 of this year marks the 20th anniversary of the day in 2001 when the development contract for the F-35 fighter was awarded to an industry team led by Lockheed Martin. Called the Joint Strike Fighter at the time, it was an improbable project: a family of tactical aircraft that could do everything for everybody, in the process replacing most of the nation’s Cold War fighter fleet.
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03/05/2021
Guyana Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd has said that two Venezuelan Sukhoi SU 30 fighter jets entered the country’s airspace. The jets flew over the community of Eteringbang and the airstrip at a ‘very low altitude’ on 2 March. The incident is the latest in a ‘long-running border conflict’ between Guyana and Venezuela.
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03/04/2021
India on Tuesday signed a key pact with the Philippines for the sale of "defence material and equipment", which are likely to include BrahMos cruise missiles. Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who was also present at the pact's signing ceremony in Manila, has reportedly said that his country is buying BrahMos missiles.
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03/04/2021
Two F-35B Lighting II joint strike fighters (JSFs) are undergoing sea trials aboard the Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour (CVH 550). The specially instrumented US F-35Bs were flown by the test pilots from Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River), Maryland, to the Italian Navy flagship carrier on 28 February.
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03/04/2021
Russia officially announced on Feb. 25 that Egypt had received five Sukhoi Su-35 advanced combat aircraft. The Russian Khabarovsk Krai region’s official media agency stated that the most important achievement of the military factory in the region was delivering the five Su-35 fighter jets to Egypt, out of the 24 jets that were agreed upon, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
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03/04/2021
The U.S. Air Force just reconfigured the F-15E Strike Eagle to carry more Joint Direct Attack Munitions under its wings, proving the fighter can be used to transport a heavier payload and eliminating the need for a cargo plane. The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, said Tuesday that the loadout was tested last month during a "proof of concept" trial, demonstrating the jet could carry 15 JDAMs, a large increase from its standard load of nine, officials said in a
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03/04/2021
Kelley Aerospace of Singapore just unveiled its supersonic Arrow drone: a stealthy, autonomous aircraft capable of flying missions alongside manned jets. This is the latest entry in a long list of new high-performance combat drones known as “Loyal Wingmen” being introduced by countries around the world.
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03/03/2021
Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets have flown off the flight deck of a Navy aircraft carrier for the last time. Members of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, known as the Death Rattlers, returned to California last week after a 10-month deployment with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group. It was the final F/A-18 Hornet carrier deployment for the Marine Corps, officials said in a news release about the historic mission.
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03/03/2021
Two specially instrumented U.S. F-35Bs from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River (NAS Pax River), Maryland, landed aboard Italian aircraft carrier ITS Cavour, off the US East Coast, on Mar. 1, 2021.
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03/03/2021
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in the Exercise Desert Flag-VI along with the air forces of the UAE, the US, France, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Bahrain for the first time, it said on Tuesday. The exercise is scheduled from March 3 to 21 at the Al-Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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03/03/2021
MQ-25 Stingray is a next-generation unmanned aerial refuelling aircraft being developed by Boeing for the US Navy's Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) programme. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will offer carrier-based unmanned aerial refuelling capability to the US Navy.
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03/03/2021
Developed by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Tejas is a single-engine, fourth-generation, multirole light combat aircraft. The fighter has been designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with HAL’s Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) for the primary use of the Indian Air Force and the Navy under the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program.
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03/02/2021
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Seong-yong was to visit Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) on Tuesday to check the development of the country's first indigenous fighter jet, the military said. The visit to KAI, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, in the southern city of Sacheon comes as the final assembly of a prototype of the KF-X warplane is under way ahead of its planned rollout event in April.
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02/28/2021
The fighter-like machine is an evolution of the Boeing T-X concept and has been developed by Boeing together with Swedish company Saab. It is powered by a General Electric turbofan engine capable of generating 17,000 lbf (76 kN) of thrust with afterburner, while seating, of course, two pilots.
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02/28/2021
The U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II demonstration team is being assigned a new jet ahead of the 2021 airshow season. The aircraft, serial 81-0962, was recently repainted by the 355th Equipment Maintenance Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, in the Vietnam-era SouthEast Asia (SEA) camouflage. The A-10 is not new to camouflages, as it was painted with the green and gray European One camouflage during the Cold War.
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02/28/2021
A Tyrannosaurus rex replica named “Stan” proudly stands in front of the Google Corporation’s headquarters in California. With his threatening gaze and gaping mouth, he provides a stark contrast to the rest of the campus. Google highlights the extinct apex predator as a sobering reminder innovation is more than just a term – we must ‘innovate or die’.
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02/27/2021
Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander of Pacific Air Forces, said the U.S. Air Force should push for the rapid procurement of the Boeing-built E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft to replace the service’s aging E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system fleet and meet the demand for such capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region, The War Zone reported Thursday.
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02/27/2021
Two pilots aboard a Mirage F1B fighter jet suffered non-life-threatening injuries after the aircraft slid off the runway at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida Thursday morning, an official for the aircraft owner told Air Force Times. “They are doing fine,” said John Rupp, a spokesman for Airborne Tactical Advantage Company said Thursday evening. “One of our two-seat Mirage F1Bs supporting military flight training at Tyndall, upon return, slid off the runway. One of the pilots elected to eject.”
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02/27/2021
The Sukhoi Su-57 is a stealth-capable multi-role fifth-generation fighter jet being developed for the Russian Air Force. Airforce Technology details the key features of Su-57 that make it a force multiplier for the Russian armed forces.
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02/27/2021
A top U.S. Air Force general wonders whether the U.S. has the “courage and focus” to build a next-generation warplane to counter China. Gen. Mark Kelly, who oversees his service’s fighter jets and drones as head of Air Combat Command, gave full-throated support for the highly classified Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, project.
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02/27/2021
The U.S. Air Force’s top general said the service is committed to the F-35 stealth fighter following comments and headlines in the past week that suggested the demise of the aircraft may be near. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown said on Thursday the U.S. could end up buying fewer than the 1,700-plus jets it envisioned when the project began more than two decades ago, but rejected recent high-profile reporting portraying the aircraft as a failure.
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02/26/2021
One of the contenders for Canada’s Strategic Tanker Transport Capability (STTC) project is now conducting limited operations for the United States Air Force (USAF). The KC-46A Pegasus is “executing four to six missions daily” to support USAF and joint training missions, Gen Jacqueline Van Ovost, commander of Air Mobility Command, said during the Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium on Feb. 24.
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02/26/2021
Reports are coming in of an unspecified “incident” involving a Mirage F1 fighter jet operated by the Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, or ATAC, at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida. An official statement from the base's public affairs office confirmed that an incident occurred at around 11:25 AM local time, but offered no additional details.
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02/25/2021
The jets are supporting an operation by Syrian pro-government forces to secure the road between Homs and Deir al-Zour, according to a monitoring group. IS militants have carried out a string of deadly ambushes and hit-and-run attacks in the region recently. The latest, on Wednesday, reportedly killed nine soldiers and militiamen.
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02/25/2021
China's unrelenting air assault on Taiwan has claimed its first victims – that nation's defence and home affairs ministers. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force shows no sign of releasing the pressure on Taiwan. Instead, it has continued its recent escalation of sending bombers and long-range fighters along with surveillance aircraft over the tiny Taiwanese Pratas Atoll at the northern tip of the South China Sea.
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02/25/2021
The Air Force’s next generation tanker is starting to go operational, but in a very limited way, with the goal of freeing up older planes for combat missions. Air Mobility Command announced Feb. 24 it is phasing the KC-46 into operations, by making it available to U.S. Transportation Command for taskings that would otherwise be filled by KC-135s and KC-10s, based on what the Pegasus has been cleared to do.
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02/25/2021
The transformational acquisition ideas championed by former Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper will survive his departure from the service, but it will take “courage” to implement them, USAF acquisition leaders said at AFA’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium. They also said the Air Force’s new tactical aircraft study—in parallel with a Joint Staff study—will take a decades-long look at aviation requirements.
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02/25/2021
The head of the Senate panel that authorizes military programs said he’s impatient for the Pentagon to finish rigorous combat simulation testing of the F-35 and provide an assessment of the stealthy fighter jet’s effectiveness. “We’ve been building it” for years “and it’s still in operational testing and evaluation, and once that’s finished -- and we hope it’s finished promptly -- then we can make a much more thorough assessment of the system,” Senator Jack Reed, chairman of the Armed Services
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02/25/2021
India’s biennial military aircraft show, Aero India, went off without a hitch in early February in the southern Indian tech capital of Bengaluru. Despite the travails of pandemic-era traveling, the United States sent a deputy undersecretary, a Navy admiral, and three Air Force generals. It also sent a nuclear-capable B-1B bomber. But the real star of the show was what escorted the U.S. aircraft in the sky: an Indian-built Tejas fighter jet.
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02/25/2021
The U.S. Air Force isn't ruling out bringing a new fighter jet into its inventory as it looks to replace older, fourth-generation F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, according to the service's top general. As the service tries to determine the right mix of aircraft for its future inventory, it's considering the idea of a new fighter that falls somewhere between fourth- and fifth-generation airframes -- one that could easily be upgraded throughout its life, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles "CQ" B
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02/24/2021
A Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 23), marking the 16th such intrusion this month. One People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan immediately sent fighter jets, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the Chinese aircraft.
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02/24/2021
Agile Combat Employment exercise at Amendola Air Base, saw U.S. Air Force F-16s operate alongside the Italian Air Force F-35s. U.S. Air Force F-16s belonging to the 555th and 510th Fighter Squadrons of the 31st Fighter Wing, based at Aviano Air Base, Italy, took part in an Agile Combat Employment exercise at Amendola AB, Italy, on Feb. 16-17, 2021.
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02/24/2021
Like all good ideas, this one began in a bar. The participants were test pilots and flight test engineers, each with a decade or more of experience launching and certifying new airframes. Some had been there at the beginning of the C Series and other Bombardier business jet and multi-mission programs; others had test-flown de Havilland aircraft and even combat platforms.
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02/24/2021
The Russian-built Sukoi Su-57 could soon be operating over foreign skies as the latest reports suggest international customers have expressed interest in the fifth-generation combat aircraft. The Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation has reportedly received a number of requests from foreign customers for the Su-57E—the export version of the multirole fighter aircraft that is currently entering service with the Russian Air Force.
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02/23/2021
The first batch of Tejas fighter jets will be equipped with the Uttam radars. Of the 123 Tejas fighters that the Indian Air Force will get, 40 will have Israel’s mechanical radars and 83 will have Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars.
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02/23/2021
Israel has signed a letter of acceptance (LOA) with the United States for the procurement of two Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft, and plans further similar agreements to enhance its qualitive military edge (QME) in the region.
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02/23/2021
Russia has released a video showing, apparently for the first time, its Orion unmanned aerial vehicle during field trials in Syria, including dropping weapons. The footage seems to have originated from the drone’s combat evaluation that reportedly took place in 2018.
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02/22/2021
The annual review of Global Firepower ranked Egypt's military strength 13th globally for the year 2021 out of 139 "countries considered" compared to ninth out of 138 states in 2020. The rating Egypt received is 0.2216 - with 0.0000 considered 'perfect' – against 0.1872 last year. Egypt was preceded - in order - by the United States, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, France, United Kingdom, Brazil, Pakistan, Turkey, and Italy.
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02/22/2021
After a series of pandemic-defying trips across the world, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto appears to have settled on the French-made Rafale and an under-strength squadron of American F-15EX jet fighters to bolster Indonesia’s front-line air defenses, with deliveries expected over the next three years.
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02/22/2021
In the first decade of February, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, better known as DARPA, announced the start of the design phase of a program it calls LongShot. Three companies were selected for this stage, namely General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
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02/22/2021
Britain's new space force could be deploying RAF Typhoon fighter jets to the 'edge of space' in a bid to destroy enemy satellites in the near future, senior military sources have revealed. Selected fighter pilots will take part in Space Command's training missions with the ultimate aim of taking down Chinese and Russian military, intelligence and communication satellites during wartime.
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02/21/2021
Two pilots, including a trainee from Japan, died when a military training jet crashed near Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama on Friday, officials said. Executive airport director Marshall J. Taggart Jr. said officials were informed about the crash in an adjacent, wooded area just after 5 p.m.
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02/21/2021
After nine Chinese air force aircraft flew near the Pratas Islands on Friday, the Taiwanese Defence Ministry said it tracked 11 aircraft on Saturday - eight fighter jets, two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers and an anti-submarine aircraft, also near the islands.
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02/21/2021
The company made its debut at the February IDEX defence show in Abu Dhabi where, alongside Everis ADS it showed all the capabilities it can offer to the military sector after a particularly positive 2020 in terms of defense projects.
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02/21/2021
At least four rockets struck an Iraqi airbase Saturday night, the Iraqi military said in a statement, while other officials said one person was wounded at the base where an American defense company services combat aircraft. Four security officials said that the individual wounded at Balad airbase in Salahaddin province worked for the company, and one of them said his nationality was South African. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
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02/20/2021
A total of nine Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on the day the country reshuffled its top military, intelligence and China policy officials, reports said Friday (Feb. 19). The government changes included the announcement in the early evening of new heads for the Ministry of National Defense, the Mainland Affairs Council and the top intelligence agency, the National Security Bureau (NSB).
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02/20/2021
Top Aces Corp., the first company to operate the F-16 commercially, imported its first four of 29 jets from Israel late last month, President Russ Quinn told Air Force Magazine. The jets were broken down and flown via cargo jet to the company’s F-16 Center of Excellence in Mesa, Ariz. After nearly six years of locking down the deal and working with the State Department, Quinn said Top Aces has received approval to bring all 29 aircraft to the U.S.
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02/20/2021
The image shows what may be yet another upgrade to the fighter jet, as it is shows a “Beast Mode” configuration with fourteen Meteor Beyond Visual Range weapons and two Infrared Imaging System Tail-Thrust Vector Controlled short-range air-to-air missiles, along with an external fuel tank for extended missions.
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02/20/2021
F-16 Fighting Falcons from the “Triple Nickel” and 510th fighter squadrons participated in a training exercise this week with the first air unit in Europe to acquire F-35 Lightning II jets. The U.S. jets and personnel, assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base in Italy, participated in the exercise alongside Italian air force partners taking place on Feb. 16 and Feb. 17, according to an Air Force media release.
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02/20/2021
The Afghan air force, a key factor in the government’s ability to keep Taliban insurgents at bay, won’t be able to fly effective combat missions within months if the few remaining allied advisers leave, a new report said. Almost 94% of NATO’s Train Advise Assist Command-Air personnel, tasked with helping build Afghanistan’s air force, have already left the country over the last nine months, a report to Congress by the Lead Inspector General for Operation Freedom’s Sentinel said.
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02/20/2021
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is progressively overturning its long-held ambition to operate a fighter fleet comprised solely of fifth-generation stealth aircraft. The commander-in-chief has announced that he is launching a new study of the Air Force’s tactical fighter fleets that could result in expanded plans to blend “legacy” fourth- and fifth-generation fighters to meet a range of mission sets.
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02/19/2021
China’s FC-31 is a twin-engine stealth fighter demonstrator, which includes two iteratively different flying airframes that have been under active flight test since late 2012 and late 2016, respectively. This aircraft has often incorrectly been dubbed the “J-31” and been given various other names over the years, such as “J-21.” None of these J-designations remain true to the aircraft’s current state.
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02/19/2021
In support of its efforts to modernize America’s bomber fleet, the Air Force will begin divesting 17 B-1B Lancers from its current fleet as authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act.
This action will not affect the service’s lethality or any associated maintenance manpower. It will allow officials to focus maintenance and depot-level manpower on the remaining aircraft, increasing readiness and paving the way for the bomber fleet modernization ready to meet future challenges.
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02/19/2021
Indonesia will purchase F-15EX jets from Boeing and Rafale fighter aircraft from France between 2021 and 2024, the head of its air force said on Thursday. The country will also buy C-130J transport planes and medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicles, Marshal Fajar Prasetyo, chief of staff of the Indonesian Air Force, said at the annual Air Force Leadership Meeting.
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02/19/2021
Satellite imagery appears to indicate China has begun serial production of a tanker aircraft based on its indigenous Xi’an Y-20 airlifter, filling a notable gap in the power projection capabilities of its air force. The overhead imagery of the airfield at Xi’an-Yanliang — taken Dec. 30, 2020, and provided to Defense News by Planet Labs — shows four Y-20s with the shadows of refueling pods on their outer wings clearly visible, indicating that these are Y-20U tankers.
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02/18/2021
After the US and the UK, Italy will soon become the third country to fly the ‘world’s most-advanced’ F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters from an aircraft carrier. The country’s ‘Cavour’ carrier is set to undergo the first trials with the fifth-generation fighter jets.
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02/18/2021
Germany and France have launched a new effort to resolve an impasse over the development of a joint fighter jet, Europe’s biggest defence project that has sparked tensions between Berlin and Paris, security and industry sources said on Wednesday.
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02/18/2021
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has made significant progress in updating its initial fighter pilot training regime. A new report from the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) has outlined a number of initiatives the PLAAF has taken to improve how it prepares young pilots for joining operational squadrons. Authored by CASI analyst Derek Solen, the report also lists several previous shortcomings in initial fighter pilot training.
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02/18/2021
The US Air Force is studying a future fighter fleet that might include new Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters or possibly a clean-sheet 4.5 generation fighter. The service has for years advocated for recapitalizing its fleet with stealth aircraft, in particular the Lockheed Martin F-35. However, in 2020 it deviated from that stealth aircraft buying plan and began purchasing the Boeing F-15EX to replace ageing F-15C aircraft.
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02/18/2021
A surprising defence-technology partnership is emerging between Japan and the UK. The cooperation is mostly preliminary but not at all basic: the two countries are working together on some of the most challenging systems used in combat aircraft. And there’s good reason to think they’ll pool resources on more such programs.
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02/17/2021
An Israeli ministerial committee approved the purchase of new jets, aircraft and munitions from U.S. companies, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, in a deal that would be worth billions of dollars. “A ministerial procurement committee has approved the purchase of a new F-35 squadron, four new refueling planes, and a large quantity of munitions,” the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss matters still under negotiation.
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02/17/2021
The U.S. Air Force will call its first U.K.-based F-35 Lightning II fighter squadron the Valkyries.
The 495th Fighter Squadron, part of the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, will take on the title, according to a release. The service announced the nickname for its first overseas Joint Strike Fighter squadron Monday; the name beat other crowdsourced choices, including Archangels, Sabres, Sentinels and Swordsmen, the release states.
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02/17/2021
Securing the first Asian customer for its latest product, Czech aircraft maker Aero Vodochody has signed a contract to sell 12 L-39NG jet trainers to Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence. Deliveries are scheduled for the years 2023 to 2024, and Czech arms exporter Omnipol is acting as an intermediary for the deal.
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02/17/2021
The Navy this year will be firing a high-energy laser weapon that is fully integrated with one of its destroyers, which proponents say is a major step toward fielding directed energy technology. Joe Ottaviano, Lockheed Martin business development director for advanced product solutions, said he has heard the adage that battlefield lasers always seem to be “one year away” from fielding, but asserted that this time is different.
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02/16/2021
Seeking to score a long edge over its adversaries - China and Pakistan, India is developing the Astra Mark 2 missile which will allow its fighter aircraft to destroy enemy planes from 160 kms in aerial combat, senior defence official said. Astra is a beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM), which flies over four times the speed of sound at Mach 4.5, and efforts are now on to integrate the over 100 km strike range missile on the indigenous fighter aircraft LCA Tejas, sources said.
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02/16/2021
The Brazilian Air Force (Força Aérea Brasileira: FAB) announced on 12 February that it had despatched one of its recently acquired airlifters to Fairbanks to be exposed to temperatures as low as -37.8°C (-47.8°C including wind chill).
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02/16/2021
Following its Atlantic crossing, the aircraft carrier Cavour, the flagship of the Italian Navy, will conduct its first trials with the F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter. Italy will become the third nation to begin flying the fifth-generation aircraft from an aircraft carrier.
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02/15/2021
Eyeing Iran and its terrorist proxies in Syria and Lebanon, Israel’s Cabinet approved on Feb. 7 an Israeli Air Force request to use U.S. foreign military financing and loans to fund approximately $9 billion worth of U.S. military aircraft and weapons. Jerusalem’s decision initiates a process intended to culminate in the Air Force’s acquisition of new American fighter aircraft, air refuelers and helicopters.
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02/14/2021
Fighter aircraft were scrambled in response to a "potential air threat" on Saturday (Feb 13) morning, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) said. "Some of you might have heard us flying this morning. Our fighter aircraft were scrambled in response to a potential air threat," said RSAF in a Facebook post. The RSAF said it responds to and investigates more than 350 suspicious air threats on any given year in order to protect Singapore’s skies.
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02/14/2021
The F-35A Joint Strike Fighter will participate in fewer air shows this year as military leaders deal with an engine shortage for the fifth-generation stealth jet. Bloomberg News reported this week that there is a growing shortage of F135 engines, which are manufactured by Pratt & Whitney, now owned by Raytheon Technologies Corp.
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02/13/2021
Before the development of the F-22 Raptor, the F-15 Eagle ruled the skies. It replaced the vaunted F-111 as the U.S. military’s primary fighter bomber and, for much of its life, it was the fast-moving air superiority fighter, king of all air superiority fighters. In much of the world, it still rules — and there are many, many reasons why.
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02/13/2021
When the Clinton administration first conceived the notion of a “joint strike fighter” in 1995, it was the ideal solution to a host of military challenges. The basic idea was a family of highly survivable tactical aircraft that could share common technology to accomplish a dozen different missions for three U.S. military services.
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02/12/2021
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has notified Congress of the potential foreign military sale (FMS) of an F-16 air combat training centre (ACTC) to Jordan. Approved by the US State Department, the estimated $60m FMS includes related devices such as mission trainers, combat tactics trainers, instructor / operator stations, tactical environment simulators and brief / debrief stations.
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02/11/2021
The first Boeing KC-46 tanker aircraft destined for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) has completed its maiden flight. The first flight marks a major milestone in the delivery programme as the aircraft will now move into the certification phase of development. KC-46 programme manager Jamie Burgess said: “This is an exciting milestone for the JASDF and Boeing.
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02/11/2021
As the U.S. Navy asserts its presence in the South China Sea, Taiwan’s leader says its ties with Washington remain solid over the transition from the Trump to the Biden administration. President Tsai Ing-wen said Tuesday that U.S. military support remains firm even as China sends increasing numbers of military aircraft into Taiwan's southwestern airspace.
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02/10/2021
The flight, which lasted for 12 hours, took place over Russia and the Barents-, Norwegian- and Greenland Seas, the Defense Ministry in Moscow informs. Russia’s strategic bombers are based at Engels Air Force Base near Saratov in southwestern Russia and have to fly north for exit to international air space without violating other nations borders.
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02/10/2021
Russian state-run corporation Rostec has announced that the fifth-generation Su-57 multirole fighter jet’s cockpit received maximum automation. The development was disclosed by Rostec-controlled United Aircraft Corporation in its New Horizons corporate magazine. The publication noted that the single-seat fighter jet achieved maximum automation of the ‘routine piloting and combat use processes’.
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02/10/2021
Two US Navy aircraft carrier strike groups began operations in the disputed waters of the South China Sea on Tuesday, the latest show of naval capabilities by the Biden administration as it pledges to stand firm against Chinese territorial claims. The carriers USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Nimitz and their accompanying guided-missile cruisers and destroyers are showing the US Navy's ability to operate in highly trafficked, challenging environments, the US Navy said in statement.
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02/10/2021
The U.S.-led air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria often prioritized tactical, close-air support operations and bombing runs over strategic, "deep strike" missions, according to a new Rand Corp. report. But while the aggressive effort crippled some ISIS strongholds, it did little to accelerate the caliphate's defeat in the long run, the report found.
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02/09/2021
Boeing has received a licence from the US government to offer its F-15EX fighter jet to the Indian Air Force. Boeing will compete with Sweden's Gripen and France's Rafale among others for the Indian Air Force's plan to buy 114 multi-role aircraft to replace its Soviet-era fleet.
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02/09/2021
Air Force fighter jets will lose out on the benefits of upgraded training ranges unless the service also decides to relocate certain squadrons, according to a new RAND Corp. report. The Air Force contends its crumbling, outdated training infrastructure doesn’t offer what Airmen need to learn how to fly against adversary pilots and threats like surface-to-air missiles or communications jammers. Improving those ranges is one aspect of a multibillion-dollar push to modernize air bases
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02/09/2021
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has hired General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, to craft designs for an air-launched missile-toting air-to-air combat drone as part of a program called LongShot. In concept, a larger manned aircraft would fire this unmanned air vehicle, which could then fly to a certain area and engage multiple aerial threats with its own weapons.
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02/08/2021
The danger is rising that long-running tensions between China and the US over Taiwan could lead to military hostilities. That puts the island in the front rank of geopolitical risks for US President Joe Biden. Conflict need not come about by design. Revelations that Chinese military aircraft simulated missile attacks on a nearby US aircraft carrier during an incursion into Taiwanese airspace, three days after Mr Biden’s inauguration, underscore how misunderstandings could escalates.
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02/08/2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the Chinese military to enhance its combat readiness during the upcoming Spring Festival holidays when he recently inspected an aviation division of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force. Experts said other militaries should not have the illusion that they can make provocative moves during the holidays without meeting PLA's countermeasures.
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02/08/2021
Not that long ago, Boeing was asked to create of an improved version of the F-15 strike fighter. Last week, the new version of the aircraft, dubbed F-15EX, completed its first successful test flight at the Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri.
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02/07/2021
n recent years, China’s technological strides and development of a wide range of air-to-air missiles (AAM) has prompted some nations to integrate these missiles on their fighter fleet, or simply go in for collaboration/purchase of a Chinese combat aircraft like the Chengdu JF-17 Thunder. The JF-17, developed in partnership with Pakistan, has been exported to Myanmar and Nigeria and promises to equip a host of third world countries with an affordable option towards beyond visual range.
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02/07/2021
China on Friday warned off a US warship sailing near contested islands in the South China Sea, Beijing said, the first such encounter made public since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The USS John S. McCain "broke into China's Xisha territorial waters without the permission of the Chinese government," Beijing's military said in a statement, using its name for the disputed Paracel Islands.
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02/07/2021
A Chinese Y-8 tactical reconnaissance plane entered the southwestern section of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). The aircraft flew into the airspace between Taiwan and the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands, which are controlled by Taiwan, in the South China Sea, according to a chart provided by the MND.
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02/07/2021
The Marine Corps is converting a fifth squadron to the F-35B Lightning II strike fighter. In a Jan. 29 ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Arizona, the “Vikings” of Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 225 (VMFA(AW)-225) were re-designated Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225 (VMFA-225) as they engaged in the process of learning to operate and maintain the F-35B version of the Lightning II, according to a release from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
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02/06/2021
The final KC-46A Pegasus tanker in a fleet of 12 arrived at the New Hampshire Air National Guard Base at Pease on Friday, capping off a nearly two-year transition from the former Eisenhower-era KC-135 tankers used by the 157th Refueling Wing. Celebrating the last of the tanker’s dozen at Pease was Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, who has pushed for the fleet's full arrival, as well as transparency and continued monitoring of the manufacturing of the aircrafts.
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02/06/2021
On the morning of Jan. 8, 2021, 13 U.S. Airmen, all assigned to the 517th Airlift Squadron, boarded a C-17A Globemaster III aircraft and flew from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to March Air Reserve Base, California. Their mission: to train and prepare for global operations in a deployed environment.
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02/06/2021
Among the myriad technological developments in airpower—including advanced propulsion, better stealth, directed-energy weapons and hypersonics—perhaps the most important will turn out to be artificial intelligence. AI has the potential to transform air combat operations and the way airpower is conceived and used.
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02/06/2021
At a ceremony at Yelahanka airbase in Bangalore this Wednesday, Indian aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aerospace Limited (HAL) signed onto a $6.58 billion agreement to deliver 73 new Tejas Mark 1A Light Combat Aircraft jets and 10 Tejas Mark 1 two-seat training jets to the Indian Air Force.
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02/05/2021
The 5th-generation F-22 Raptor has been one of the world’s most dominant fighter aircraft since entering service and has defined what air dominance means to the U.S. Air Force. To ensure that it remains relevant for years to come, the Ogden Air Logistics Complex’s 574th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, through collaborative efforts of the F-22 System Program Office along with partners Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
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02/04/2021
The Azerbaijani government has denied accounts, first published on January 8 in Haqqin.az but subsequently deleted, of three Turkish military bases allegedly being established in Azerbaijan as a consequence of Turkish military assistance to Baku during last year’s 44-day Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. The reports, if accurate, would represent a significant development in the geostrategic balance of power in the post-Soviet Caucasus.
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02/03/2021
Over two decades since the inception of Russia’s hotly-anticipated fifth-generation fighter, the first serial Su-57 model has entered service. Russia’s United Air Corporation has released video footage of the first Su-57 (North Atlantic Treaty Organization reporting name “Felon”) being built and, literally, rolled out of the factory prior to being transferred to Russia’s Air Force.
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02/03/2021
The US Naval Aviation Training System and Ranges programme office (PMA-205) has flight tested the Tactical Combat Training System Increment II (TCTS II) on an F/A-18F Super Hornet.
Developed and built by Collins Aerospace Systems, TCTS II is the US Navy’s next-generation air combat training system.
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02/02/2021
The Finnish Defence Forces’ Logistics Command has submitted its Best and Final Offer (BAFO) to Eurofighter for the HX Fighter Programme. The HX Fighter programme is aimed at replacing the airforce’s Hornet fleet. In February last year, the Finnish Defence Forces’ Logistics Command received responses from five fighter manufacturers to the revised request for HX Fighter jet replacement programme quotation.
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02/02/2021
Turkey will retrofit F-16 fighter jets to extend their life cycle significantly, the head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), Ismail Demir, said Sunday. “Structural upgrades of the F-16 Block 30 aircraft continue. In the project, 1,200-1,500 pieces of structural parts per aircraft are being renovated, and repair and replacement work are being carried out if necessary with body reinforcement,” Demir said on Twitter.
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02/02/2021
Our colleagues at the Italian defense journal RID have highlighted the departure of the Cavour for the United States: “The aircraft carrier CAVOUR has left for the United States where it will embark the F-35Bs of the Navy stationed Beaufort and will acquire the certification to operate the aircraft.
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02/02/2021
Dassault Aviation has signed a contract for the sale of 12 Rafale fighter jets to the French Air and Space Force (FASF). The contract was signed on 29 January by Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier and French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly. Parly was on a visit to the Argonay plant in Haute-Savoie, which has been producing flight control systems for all Dassault aircraft since 1963.
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02/02/2021
The LRASM already is integrated with the U.S. Air Force’s B-1B jet bomber and U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter-bomber aircraft, and soon will be integrated with the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. It appears that the F-35 Lightning II will become the fourth aircraft able to launch this next-generation anti-ship missile. LRASM is designed to detect and destroy high-priority targets within groups of ships from extended ranges in electronic warfare jamming environments.
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02/02/2021
The US and India have held discussions on F-15EX fighter jets and the two respective air forces have exchanged information about it, a top Boeing official has said after the aerospace major received approval from the American government to offer its latest multi-role combat aircraft to the Indian Air Force. The F-15EX is the latest and most advanced version of the multi-role, all-weather, and day and night versions of the F-15 aircraft family.
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02/01/2021
Beijing’s two largest air sorties into Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) last month were more directed at the new administration of US President Joe Biden than Taiwan, an analyst said. Institute for National Defense and Security Research assistant research fellow Jeremy Hung made the comments in a research paper published on the institute’s Web site on Wednesday.
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02/01/2021
Five Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan's southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday, the same day the Ministry of National Defense (MND) revealed a United States military reconnaissance aircraft was monitored flying close to Taiwan's airspace. Although the American aircraft's flight route was not indicated, this is the first time the ministry has revealed the movement of a U.S. military aircraft since September 2020.
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02/01/2021
Large-deck nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will be a key part of the Navy’s force structure for the next half-century, at a minimum. The primary reason for this is the remarkable adaptability and flexibility of the carrier air wing. When the current, evolving air wing is married to the functional improvements embodied in the new Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN),?the result will be an advanced military capability of unparalleled flexibility, mobility, effectiveness, efficiency,
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02/01/2021
The Indian Air Force (IAF), which has been undertaking one fighter aircraft project at a time, is now looking to acquire 114 combat aircraft in a deal expected to cost over Rs 1.3 lakh crore. The IAF has already issued the Request for Information for the tender. Very soon, a proposal would be made to get the Acceptance of Necessity before the Rajnath Singh-led Ministry Defence for the project.
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01/31/2021
British fighter jets have eliminated two cells of Islamic State fighters with a bombing raid on caves in northern Iraq. RAF Typhoons launched laser-guided missiles on a network of extremist hideouts near the city of Bayji, 130 miles north of Baghdad. Defence chiefs say they carried out the strike to stamp out an ISIS uprising in the region.
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01/31/2021
South Korea is in the final stage of assembling a prototype of what would be the country's first indigenously developed fighter jet, which is expected to be unveiled in April, officials said Sunday. South Korea has been working on the KF-X project since 2015 to develop a homegrown cutting-edge fighter aircraft to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of F-4 and F-5 jets.
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01/31/2021
China’s “Mighty Dragon” – the J-20 stealth fighter – changed the regional balance of power when it was unveiled 10 years ago and represents a decade of modernisation for the country’s military. Its maiden flight, on January 11, 2011, shocked the world, which had no warning that China was about to become the second country – after the US – to develop an advanced fifth-generation fighter with stealth and supersonic cruise capabilities, as well as super manoeuvrability and super avionics.
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01/30/2021
Maintaining the capability of deployed forces is key to the joint force commanders as they support U.S. foreign policy. When the Navy deploys a carrier battle group, the joint commander expects the air wing to have its maximum capability. In the battle group, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is now the key strike element and also a critical part of any air defense operation. As the Navy F-35C enters the fleet, the F/A-18 will continue to be the majority aircraft in the air wing now and into the planne
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01/30/2021
Canadian-headquartered contract air service provider Top Aces took delivery of the first of its long-planned fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons this week. Four former-Israeli Air Force F-16A/Bs, known as Netz (Hawk), were loaded aboard a giant Antonov An-124 transport aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport on Jan. 27, 2021, bound for Top Aces’ new F-16 Center of Excellence at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Arizona, where they arrived the following day.
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01/30/2021
The U.S. Navy is considering removing conformal fuel tanks, from the Block III upgrade package for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets after discovering various issues with them during testing. Deciding not to pursue these tanks, which are designed to extend the Super Hornet's range even without it having to carry drop tanks in place of other underwing stores, could have significant ramifications for the service's future tactical aviation plans. It could also impact the export prospects for these jets,
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01/30/2021
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is facing turbulent skies. Threats from China and Russia are on the rise. The Air Force aircraft inventory is the smallest and oldest in its history and the service's purchasing power is set to further decline amid the economic ravages wrought by COVID-19. Compounding the situation is the simple fact that perceived weakness risks opportunistic aggression by competitors around the world.
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01/29/2021
Boeing Co. and Sikorsky unveiled their plan Monday to replace the aging fleet of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as the Army’s long-range assault aircraft of the future. The joint team’s Defiant X helicopter is capable of flying low and fast to bring troops where needed while evading adversaries over complex terrain, according to the Boeing website.
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01/29/2021
China put its new carrier-based early warning aircraft through its paces again on Wednesday, a military source said, after images of the plane were shared online. “The [test] flight took place early on Wednesday morning in Xian,” said the People’s Liberation Army insider. “It was another regular test before the plane enters service.”
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01/29/2021
Any suggestion that the departure of former US President Donald Trump from Washington would provide a temporary pause in US-China tensions has been swiftly dispelled. In the short time since President Joe Biden was sworn into office, China has flown more than two dozen combat aircraft near to the self-ruled island of Taiwan and passed a law allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels. Meanwhile, the US Navy has sent an aircraft carrier strike group into the South China Sea.
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01/29/2021
Six Chinese fighter jets entered Taiwan's southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday, the fifth day Beijing has sent at least four aircraft into the airspace since U.S. President Joe Biden took office. Four J-10 multirole fighter aircraft, a KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and a Y-8 electronic signals intelligence plane entered the airspace between Taiwan and the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands in the South China Sea.
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01/29/2021
The Boeing Company revealed on Thursday that Washington had granted it a licence to market its newest heavy fighter, the F-15EX, in India. Seven of the world’s premier fighter manufacturers have already indicated interest in competing for the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) ongoing acquisition of 114 medium fighters - a contract worth an estimated $20-30 billion.
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01/27/2021
US President Joe Biden’s first international crisis will likely be over the future of Taiwan. Beijing has been positioning for this outcome for months by steadily increasing military pressure against Taipei. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force on Saturday dispatched what the Global Times gloatingly called a ‘bomber swarm’ of 13 combat aircraft into Taiwanese airspace just south of the island. This was much larger than previous sorties and included eight long-range H-6K bombers.
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01/27/2021
Greece and France have sealed a $2.8 billion deal for the purchase of 18 Rafale fighter jets for the Greek air force. The deal is part of a larger weapons purchase program that Greece is carrying out as it sits down to negotiate a solution to a growing dispute with Turkey over energy rights in the eastern Mediterranean.
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01/27/2021
The UK’s first fleet of uncrewed fighter aircraft is one step closer to reality following a £30-million contract to design and manufacture a prototype in a three-year deal supporting more than 100 jobs in Belfast.
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01/26/2021
Indian and Chinese soldiers have clashed along the countries' disputed border, Indian officials have confirmed, as a months-long standoff between the nations continues. The violence in the Naku La area of Sikkim came four days before the countries held another round of talks on Sunday in an attempt to end the tensions in the remote Ladakh region.
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01/26/2021
The uncrewed combat aircraft will be designed to fly at high-speed alongside fighter jets, armed with missiles, surveillance and electronic warfare technology to provide a battle-winning advantage over hostile forces. Known as a ‘loyal wingman’, these aircraft will be the UK’s first uncrewed platforms able to target and shoot down enemy aircraft and survive against surface to air missiles.
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01/25/2021
Just two years after the first two F-35As arrived in Australia, the RAAF now has 30 F-35As in service with 3SQN and 2 Operational Conversion Unit (2OCU) at Williamtown, and an additional three aircraft at Luke AFB in Arizona preparing to be ferried across the Pacific.
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01/24/2021
US President Joe Biden’s administration on Saturday urged China to stop placing military pressure on Taiwan, while calling on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage in peaceful dialogue. The statement by the US Department of State was issued after 13 Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said.
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01/24/2021
Eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Saturday, and Taiwan’s air force deployed missiles to “monitor” the incursion, the island’s defence ministry said. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has conducted almost daily flights over the waters between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea in recent months.
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01/23/2021
Israeli warplanes fired several missiles toward central Syria early on Friday, killing a family of four — including two children — and wounding four other people, state media reported. Separately, the Israeli military said it downed a drone that had crossed into Israel from Lebanon. It did not say how the aircraft was brought down. There was no immediate word from the Lebanese side but the militant Hezbollah group has sent drones into Israel's airspace in the past.
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01/23/2021
In a flashy recruitment video released by China's People's Liberation Army Air Force last week, four J-20 fighters are seen soaring through stormy skies, deftly maneuvering between lightning strikes. Lost in the dramatic digital imagery was an important detail: For the first time ever, the Chinese jets will be powered by domestically made engines instead of Russian ones.
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01/23/2021
Southern Nevada residents may notice increased noise from military aircraft as the Air Force conducts Red Flag 21-1 from Jan. 25 to Feb. 12. More than 80 aircraft are scheduled to depart Nellis Air Force Base twice a day and may remain in the air for up to five hours during Red Flag. There may be night launches as well to allow air crews to train for nighttime combat operations.
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01/23/2021
On Jan. 1, Congress overrode then-President Donald Trump’s veto of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Much of the news was about the vote itself, but another important story is the 93 F-35 fighter jets that were included in the bill — 14 more than the Pentagon requested in its budget.
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01/23/2021
U.S. Air Force air combat experts are asking electro-optics engineers at the Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. to upgrade infrared search and track (IRST) sensors for the Air Force F-15C jet fighter aircraft to enable the aircraft to detect, track, and attack enemy aircraft in a stealthy way without making its presence known.
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01/22/2021
Last week, U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a 10-year contract for the maintenance of F-16 fighter aircraft but later some sources reported that the service also is considering buying new fourth-generation fighter aircraft.
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01/22/2021
The first of 84 Greek Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters to be upgraded to the F-16V Viper standard took to the skies for the first time on January 17. Greece’s minister for national defense, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, announced the news on Twitter, noting that the maiden flight was conducted with “absolute success”, and that the upgrade program “continues at an intensive pace.”
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01/22/2021
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reportedly agreed to a deal to buy Lockheed Martin-built F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft from the US. Sources familiar with the matter were cited by Reuters as saying that two countries have signed agreements. It involves the procurement of 50 F-35 aircraft and was approved by the US State Department through the foreign military sale (FMS) programme. It was notified by Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in November 2020.
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01/19/2021
Military website, Global Firepower, has published its military strength ranking for 2021 featuring 138 countries, with the ranking utilising more than 50 different factors to determine a given nation’s PowerIndex. However, the ranking does not simply rely on the total number of weapons available to any one country, but rather focuses on weapon diversity to provide a better balance of firepower available.
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01/19/2021
Three Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, the eighth consecutive day there have been incursions, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND). The aircraft, a Y-8 tactical reconnaissance plane, a Y-8 anti-submarine plane and a Y-8 electronic warfare plane, entered airspace southwest of Taiwan, between Taiwan and the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands in the South China Sea, according to a chart provided by the MND.
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01/19/2021
If you need cutting-edge skills and technology—high-tech gears for satellite systems, top-level secure communication systems or a deep knowledge of artificial intelligence and machine learning—you can find them in Australia. ‘What this country has is amazing’, says Lockheed Martin Australia chief executive Joe North. ‘But you’ve got to go and find it, that’s the challenge.’
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01/18/2021
The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing based at Miramar announced it is preparing for a major exercise next week known as Winter Fury. The exercise will be conducted from Jan. 19 to Feb, 19 at training locations across Southern California, Arizona, and the coastal islands.
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01/18/2021
A Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday, the seventh consecutive day there has been such an incursion, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND). The aircraft, an electronic warfare version of China's Y-8 transport plane, entered the airspace southwest of Taiwan between Taiwan and the Dongsha (Pratas) Islands in the South China Sea, according to a chart provided by the MND.
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01/18/2021
China’s move to introduce a two-seat variant of its J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighter raises what could be called one of the defining discussions or debates of our time, regarding the scope, utility, or limits of artificial intelligence.
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01/17/2021
Long-range Iranian missiles rained down dangerously close to a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean on Saturday and 100 miles from the US Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group, Fox News reported. US officials, who wished to remain anonymous, said that at least one of the missiles landed 20 miles from the commercial vessel.
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01/17/2021
Ethiopia has denied a Sudanese allegation that an Ethiopian military aircraft crossed the border into Sudan. Sudan said on Wednesday that the aircraft entered its airspace in a “dangerous and unjustified escalation” that “could have dangerous consequences, and cause more tension in the border areas”.
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01/17/2021
The U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), together with Hellenic Armed Forces, executed Eddie’s Odyssey, a first of its kind, joint training mission on Velopoula Island and over the Aegean Sea, Jan. 13-14.
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01/16/2021
Two Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday (Jan. 14), marking the 11th such intrusion this month. A People’s Liberation Army Air Force Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft and a Y-8 electronic warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, the Taiwanese military scrambled fighter jets, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the tw
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01/16/2021
F-16 fighter jets from the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, practiced combat cooperation with the Romanian Air Force while conducting “all-domain targeting operations” in a Jan. 14 bilateral exercise in the Black Sea region, according to a U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa release.
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01/16/2021
“With just a few seconds to run to the target, we got a red autopilot caption and the Tornado yawed violently after a massive bang on the left-hand side. I shouted to Paul, “We’ve been hit, we’ve been hit,” and he came back, “mark is good, continue.” So I stuffed the nose down, and re-engaged the terrain-following radar [TFR] — we were right at the point of weapon release. As we flew into a wall of tracer fire, Paul said “Committing.” I already had my “commit” button depressed
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01/16/2021
Lockheed Martin and the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) have signed the Lightning Air System National Availability Enterprise (LANCE) contract to support the UK’s Lightning fleet. The aircraft support contract is valued at approximately £76m ($101m) and will ensure and enhance the UK F-35 fleet’s availability and capability to conduct combat missions worldwide.
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01/16/2021
India’s Cabinet Committee on Security—chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—met on January 13 to approve the purchase of the Mk1A version of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). Funding of Rs 45.696 Crore ($6.4 billion) covers the acquisition of 73 LCA Mk1A single-seaters and 10 LCA-T Mk1A two-seaters. An amount of Rs 1,202 Crore was also approved for the design and development of associated infrastructure. Mk1A production is slated to start in 2022.
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01/15/2021
The 492nd Fighter Squadron completed a three-day Agile Combat Employment exercise at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, Jan. 13, 2020. Four F-15E Strike Eagles and a 14-Airmen maintenance team with limited support equipment participated in a simulated deployment to a forward-operating base on the north side of the RAF Lakenheath airfield. Airmen and aircrew underwent cross-discipline training, learning new skill sets from their peers in other career fields.
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01/15/2021
The Boeing Company recently won a modification contract involving the production of KC-46 aircraft. The deal was awarded by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH. Valued at $1.69 billion, the contract is scheduled to be completed by Apr 30, 2023. Through the latest contract modification, Boeing will offer 12 KC-46 aircraft, data, subscriptions and licenses, and G081 flat file in addition to those being produced under the basic contract.
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01/15/2021
Johan Segertoft, head of the Gripen E program at the Swedish aerospace company Saab, speaks about the new E version in terms that might seem more suited to computers than to military hardware: He talks about software upgrades and data layers, coding and multicore processors. “Our job is to let the pilot make decisions faster than the other pilot,” Segertoft says, and, over the years, Gripen pilots have out-maneuvered a few other hotshot fighters in international exercises.
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01/14/2021
Clearing the way for inducting another four squadrons of the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) into the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Union Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sanctioned the procurement of 83 fighters on Wednesday.
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01/13/2021
The Syrian state news agency Sana said Israeli aircraft attacked the eastern Deir al-Zour and Albu Kamal regions. It did not mention any casualties, but the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nine Syrian soldiers and 31 militia fighters were killed.
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01/13/2021
Israel has repeatedly bombed positions within Syrian territory amid Syrian air defenses’ failure to intercept, respond, or stop its missiles, which targeted military posts and bases for the Syrian regime, the Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and local and foreign militias.
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01/13/2021
This week the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing [NYSE: BA] a $1.7 billion contract for 12 KC-46A tanker aircraft. With this sixth production lot, Boeing is now on contract for 79 KC-46A tankers. The company delivered the first KC-46A to the Air Force in January 2019. Since then, Boeing has delivered 42 tankers to four different bases. The next-generation KC-46 brings new capabilities and operational flexibility to the U.S. Air Force and international customers.
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01/13/2021
Three Chinese military aircraft entered the southwest corner of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND). The planes involved were a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, a Y-8 electronic warfare plane and a Y-8 tactical reconnaissance plane, the ministry said.
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01/13/2021
BAE Systems and Vertex Aerospace have signed a nine-year agreement to enhance availability of the U.S. Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier II fleet, the company said in a Jan. 12 release. The U.S. Department of the Navy awarded Vertex Aerospace LLC the $123 million contracted maintenance, modification, aircrew and related services (CMMARS) task order in July 2020 to provide aircraft maintenance and contractor logistics support services for the U.S. Marine Corps’ AV-8B Harrier fleet.
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01/12/2021
A Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday (Jan. 11), marking the 8th such intrusion this month. A People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, the Taiwanese military scrambled fighter jets, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the plane.
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01/12/2021
The Japanese archipelago lies in a volatile region rife with historical tensions and territorial disputes. China’s defense spending has increased at a double-digit rate annually for much of the past three decades. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has drastically modernized its air capabilities with development of the J-20 fighter and the upcoming FC-31, and has demonstrated consistently assertive behavior, including airspace violations and military buildups in the South China Sea.
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01/12/2021
Reports suggest, Britain, after its exit from the European Union, is seeking to claim its role in world affairs. It is now supporting Ankara’s efforts of building the TF-X fighter, which is likely to pose a threat to its Mediterranean neighbor Greece. The situation in the eastern Mediterranean has been tense with Turkey and Greece involved in a dispute over energy exploration rights and maritime boundaries in the area.
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01/12/2021
Twelve years after Moscow began a major modernization campaign for its armed forces, a new report published by the Center for Naval Analysis highlights the improved capability of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) and naval aviation. According to the report’s author, analyst Leonid Nersisyan, between 2009 and 2020 Russia’s armed forces received roughly 460 brand-new fixed-wing combat aircraft, 110 Yak-130 jet trainers and 360 attack helicopters.
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01/11/2021
Israeli military jets carried out several low flying flights over Beirut as reconnaissance drones also buzzed overhead Sunday in what has become a daily occurrence. Israel regularly violates Lebanon airspace, often to carry out strikes in neighboring Syria. On Christmas Eve, Israeli jets flew low late into the night, terrorizing Beirut residents who are no strangers to such flights. They were followed by reported Israeli strikes in Syria.
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01/11/2021
US Navy USS America, the lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, along with the 31st MEU, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
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01/11/2021
According to the report, the 98th mixed regiment as part of the Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula and the 317th Pacific Regiment in Kamchatkawil, receive the new version of Long-range MiG-31 fighters with K index that will be armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missile. The Kinzhal is the latest Russian air-launched system that consists of a MiG-31K combat aircraft as a delivery vehicle and a Kh-47M hypersonic missile.
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01/11/2021
China will cease using the Russian engine currently fitted on China's new generation J-20 stealth fighter jet, replacing it with an upgraded home-grown engine. A military insider told the South China Morning Post Chinese aircraft engineers found their domestically built WS-10C, the modified version of the WS-10 engine, to be as good as the Russian AL-31F engines.
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01/10/2021
On 7 January, the Picatinny Arsenal press release said that the U.S. Army strives to increase aircraft survivability through the design, development and production support of countermeasures such as decoys, chaff, and flares that divert enemy missiles.
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01/10/2021
The United Kingdom’s F-35s will be equipped with a small but powerful new surface-to-ground missile in the near future: the Spear 3 missile, manufactured by MBDA, a European arms manufacturer, stands for Selective Precision Effects At Range and hints at the missile’s unique capabilities.
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01/10/2021
According to a military insider, Chinese aircraft engineers found the indigenously built WS-10C engines to be as capable as the Russian-made AL-31F ones. The Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter is a single-seat, twinjet, all-weather multirole fighter, which currently stands as the most advanced indigenously built aircraft in the ranks of the Chinese military.
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01/10/2021
Dassault Aviation, in conjunction with the Clermont-Ferrand facility of l’Atelier Industriel de l’Aéronautique (AIA, the French air force’s maintenance organization), this week delivered the first Mirage 2000D to undergo a major mid-life update (MLU) program to the Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace (AAE, France’s air and space force). The fighter was ferried to AAE's Base Aérienne (BA, air base) 118 at Mont-de-Marsan on January 7.
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01/09/2021
The exponential growth of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) creates new risks for the Department of Defense (DoD). Technology trends are dramatically transforming legitimate applications of sUAS while simultaneously making them increasingly capable weapons in the hands of state actors, non-state actors, and criminals. Small UAS may also pose hazards to DoD operations in the air, land, and maritime domains when controlled by negligent or reckless operators.
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01/09/2021
NATO says that Russian military activity near the alliance's airspace increased slightly this year as its jets across Europe scrambled more than 400 times to escort or shadow unknown aircraft.
In a statement released Monday, NATO said almost 90%, or about 350 of these missions, were connected to flights by Russian military aircraft.
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01/09/2021
Missile specialist MBDA has received a contract valued at $746 million for the production of the SPEAR missile system from the Royal Air Force. SPEAR (known in UK service as SPEAR3) is a 1.8 meters long, cruise missile system that has a range of more than 140-kilometres.
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01/09/2021
The first Sukhoi Su-35SKs were delivered to Egypt on August 5, after the signing a $2 billion contract for 24 of the Russian-made fighters in March 2019. The Su-35SKs followed a similar number of Dassault Rafales and 46 MiG-29M/M2 fighters. The deal attracted the ire of the US, with threats of sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) regulation.
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01/08/2021
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems received a contract from the US Air Force (USAF) to modify two of its company-owned Avenger unmanned air vehicles (UAV) with Skyborg autonomy technology. The modifications will include upgraded datalinks, the core Skyborg system design agent software, and other undisclosed payloads, says General Atomics on 6 January.
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01/08/2021
The Sri Lanka Air Force is to increase its air capability including combat aircraft within the year and it has already sent a number of aircraft including fighter jets Kfir and MI-17 for overhaul purposes overseas, Air Force Commander Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana said yesterday.
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01/08/2021
China will cease using the Russian engine currently fitted on China’s new generation J-20 stealth fighter jet, replacing it with an upgraded home-grown engine. A military insider told the South China Morning Post Chinese aircraft engineers found their domestically built WS-10C, the modified version of the WS-10 engine, to be as good as the Russian AL-31F engines.
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01/07/2021
Diameter Bomb I (SDB I) to Saudi Arabia, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced last week. The proposed sale comprises 3,000 air-launched SDB I munitions, as well as spares and support, for an estimated USD290 million.
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01/07/2021
Geopolitics is the study of how a nation's geography and geology shape its domestic and international politics. Thus, the U.S., which is shielded by oceans on both its east and west coasts, evolved differently from, say, Germany, which was surrounded by potential enemies.
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01/07/2021
The number of Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s airspace last year was the highest since 1996, which experts say is worsening the risk for conflict without drawing international headlines. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) flew about 380 sorties into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) last year, a defense ministry statement said last week.
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01/07/2021
QinetiQ has secured a new five-year contract from the UK MOD, through the Engineering Delivery Partner framework, to provide engineering services for the Typhoon combat aircraft. The new £127 million contract will see QinetiQ delivering a wide range of services in support of the multi-role fighter from planning and acceptance through to regulatory assurance and trials support, as well as initiatives to optimize the in-service capabilities of the aircraft.
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01/07/2021
Twelve years after Moscow began a major modernization campaign for its armed forces, a new report published by the Center for Naval Analysis highlights the improved capability of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) and naval aviation. According to the report’s author, analyst Leonid Nersisyan, between 2009 and 2020 Russia’s armed forces received roughly 460 brand-new fixed-wing combat aircraft, 110 Yak-130 jet trainers and 360 attack helicopters.
(Read More...)
01/06/2021
The United States’ Nimitz carrier strike group has left Somalia after assisting the US military withdrawal from the Horn of Africa nation. The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group arrived to support operations in Somalia on 21 December and provided operational and close air support to Joint Task Force – Quartz (JTF-Q) and Operation Octave Quartz (OOQ).
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01/06/2021
MiG 21 Bison aircraft has crashed in Rajasthan's Suratgarh. The MiG crashed while landing.
As per initial reports, the pilot of the aircraft has survived the crash and there has been no damage to property. The MiG-21 Bison fighter plane crashed at Suratgarh airbase of Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan, where the pilot is safe and the administration has reached the spot. The fighter plane was on a regular practice flight. The villagers informed the administration after the blast.
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01/06/2021
Pilots of Greece’s Hellenic Air Force, who in the near future could be flying both F-35 and Rafale multirole fighters, are set to be trained at a new flight academy, equipped with a complement of 10 new M-346 advanced jet trainers, which Israeli company Elbit Systems has now been hired to establish and operate. Worth approximately $1.68 billion, this is the biggest defense deal between the two countries and also includes upgrades for Greece’s T-6 Texan II turboprop trainer aircraft.
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01/05/2021
The Royal Australian Air Force’s maritime patrol capability will be boosted with Australia set to acquire two more P-8A Poseidon surveillance and response aircraft, bringing the total fleet size to 14, the Australian Department of Defence said in a Jan. 4 release. The government has also approved sustainment funding for the current approved fleet of three MQ-4C Triton aircraft.
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01/05/2021
The Pentagon said on Sunday that it had ordered the aircraft carrier Nimitz to remain in the Middle East because of Iranian threats against President Trump and other American officials, just three days after sending the warship home as a signal to de-escalate rising tensions with Tehran.
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01/05/2021
Four Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday (Dec. 4), marking the third intrusion this month. One People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Y-8 electronic warfare plane, a Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, a Y-8 reconnaissance plane, and a Y-9 electronic warfare aircraft intruded into the ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).
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01/05/2021
Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday said his government hopes to purchase a third squadron of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft from the United States before President Donald Trump leaves office on Jan. 20. “Without a doubt, we need to expand the F-35 array,” Gantz told Israel’s YNet television. “Right now, we have two squadrons. I reckon we will expand that. That is what I requested of the Americans,” he said.
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01/04/2021
The Mi-24D is a variant of the Mi-24 “Hind”, a pretty famous attack helicopter that gained notoriety during the Soviet-era war with Afghanistan. During that conflict, the threat posed by the durable and heavily-armed Soviet gunships was recognized by U.S. intelligence agencies which supported Taliban guerillas with Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) such as the FIM-92 Stinger missiles provided through several cover organizations to the insurgents in November 1987 through January 1988.
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01/03/2021
With eye on China and visualising the future of warfare, Japan has begun to develop a remote-controlled fighter aircraft which will be ready for deployment in 2035. Nikkei Asia is reporting that the 15-year project has acquired urgency to counter China's cascading advancement of hi-tech weaponry.
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01/03/2021
The debate over inducting latest fighter jets to control skies intensified in Pakistan and India right after the latter received Rafale fighter jets from France. However, the vigorous debate has now shifted to the Chinese-made J-20 stealth fighter jet because defence analysts say that it will be the real game changer in the region.
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01/02/2021
Four Rafale fighters of the French Air Force will land in India this month to participate in joint exercises with the Indian Air Force’s Golden Arrows Squadron that was resurrected in September last with the induction of the Rafale fighter jets. The exercises have been scheduled between 19 and 25 January in the skies over the deserts of Rajasthan, people familiar with the matter said.
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01/02/2021
China showed no sign of ending its campaign to send warplanes into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), despite a conciliatory New Year’s address by President Tsai Ing-wen Friday (Jan. 1). For several months, aircraft and ships from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been approaching Taiwan in what has generally been considered a campaign of intimidation against the island’s independence-minded government.
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01/02/2021
President Moon Jae-in flew on a Peace Eye military aircraft early Friday and inspected South Korea's combat readiness in a show of commitment to national defense on New Year's Day, the presidential office said. It is the first time that a South Korean president has flown on the airborne early warning and control aircraft regarded as a core part of the South Korean Air Force, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
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01/01/2021
The Pentagon has put a decision on approving full-rate production of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 on indefinite hold, as officials remain unable to say when the fighter jet will be ready for combat testing that’s been delayed repeatedly since 2017.
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01/01/2021
Multiple news outlets reported that Belarus has received new Su-30SM twin-seat fighter aircraft equipped with an advanced Man-Machine-Interface system developed by the Thales. The fighter jets were designed by Sukhoi Design Bureau on order from the Ministry of the Republic of Belarus based on the upgraded export version of the Su-30. A contract for delivery was signed in 2017.
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