8/22/2019 Goodbye F-15s, Hello F-16 Vipers: The Air National Guard Is Getting an Upgrade  As reported by AirforceTimes, lawmakers at a House Armed Services readiness subcommittee hearing on Mar. 22, 2017 were told by Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, director of the Air National Guard (ANG), about plans to retire its 236 F-15C/Ds to save costs. He added that the service plans to replace those retired aircraft with upgraded F-16s. |
8/22/2019 Northrop Grumman to boost RQ-4 production capacity  Northrop Grumman plans to more than double production capacity for the RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-4C Triton unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) to 12 aircraft per year in anticipation of growing demand for the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform. |
8/22/2019 Why RSK MiG sees a future in regional turboprops  Russian fighter manufacturer RSK MiG is preparing production of an updated version of the Ilyushin Il-114 regional turboprop in a bid to create additional workload beyond its long-standing MiG-29 family. |
8/22/2019 ANALYSIS: Taiwan's F-16 deal and the price of deterrence  Washington's formal approval to sell 66 new Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D Block 70s to Taiwan provides a much-needed boost for the island state, but has already drawn the (inevitable) ire of Beijing. A Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) statement on the pivotal sale has been expected for some months, with confirmation finally coming late last week from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. |
8/21/2019 2 Blue Angels planes touch in Florida during midair practice run  The U.S. Navy says two Blue Angels jets touched midair during a practice run in the Florida Panhandle. Navy spokeswoman Lt. Michelle Tucker tells the Pensacola News Journal a jet made momentary contact with the underside of a second jet’s outer wing Wednesday as the pilots practiced over the Naval Air Station Pensacola. She says no one was injured. |
8/21/2019 India Set To Revamp Su-30 MKI Fighter Jets For Exporting To Friendly Nations  As India looks to overhaul its Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fleet for better, India also hopes to make a mark in the defence export market by offering upgraded Sukhoi aircraft to friendly nations. The Russian aircraft is one of the best fighters the Indian Air Force has and now India hopes to sell the tweaked versions to strategic partners. |
8/21/2019 Russian Su-35 jets allegedly intercepted Turkish warplanes over Idlib  The Turkish Air Force allegedly deployed some of their warplanes to the southern countryside of the Idlib Governorate after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) scored a series of gains near the city of Khan Sheikhoun. According to the aviation publication Avia.Pro, two Russian Su-35 jets intercepted the Turkish warplanes and forced them to leave Syria’s airspace. |
8/21/2019 Seoul to receive four more F-35As, as Tokyo confirms F-35B  South Korea is set to receive four additional Lockheed Martin F-35As, bringing the number of the type on the Korean peninsula to eight. According to a report by official news agency Yonhap, quoting military sources, the four aircraft will arrive later this week. By the end of 2019 the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) will have ten examples on the peninsula, out of a total order for 40. |
8/20/2019 The F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter Is Back! (Don't Get Too Excited...)  Eleven years after the U.S. Air Force retired the type, an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter has made yet another public appearance. Dismantled and being hauled across the American West on a tractor-trailer. Photographer Chris McGreevy spotted the truck and its F-117 cargo on Aug. 16, 2019 on Columbia Way near the Palmdale Regional Airport outside Palmdale, California. |
8/20/2019 US Navy looks to replace or improve F/A-18E/F EO/IR targeting pods  The US Navy (USN) is soliciting options to improve or replace the electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) air-to-air and air-to-surface targeting pods on its Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers. The move comes amid concern about the current hardware's readiness state and sustainment cost. |