6/18/2019

PARIS: NATO tanker fleet passes countermeasures test

Officials involved in the multinational multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) fleet (MMF) – which will see eight adapted Airbus A330s pooled between five European nations – are keen to introduce more countries to the capability-sharing agreement.

6/18/2019

PARIS: USAF still finding FOD in Boeing KC-46 and expects more

The US Air Force (USAF) continues to find foreign object debris (FOD) inside the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus in-flight refuelling tanker, including loose material found this week, and it expects to discover objects for the foreseeable future.

6/18/2019

PARIS: Turkish Fighter emerges, as US spat intensifies

Turkish Aerospace is one of the many companies at this year’s show to have pulled the covers off a new full-scale aircraft model – its fifth-generation Turkish Fighter (or TF-X) – and even stole some of the limelight from the unveiling of the Franco-German Future Combat Air System at the same time.

6/18/2019

PARIS: Dassault and Airbus unveil New Generation Fighter

Dassault kicked off its home show attendance in some style, unveiling a full-scale model of a proposed next-generation fighter that it and industrial partner Airbus Defence & Space soon expect to advance towards a first demonstration phase.

6/17/2019

Saudi crown prince accuses rival Iran of tanker attacks

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in remarks published Sunday that the kingdom will not hesitate to confront threats to its security and joined the U.S. in accusing its bitter rival Iran of being behind the attacks on two vessels traveling near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital trade route for Arabian energy exports in Asia.

6/17/2019

Russian EW Weaknesses Endure While Other Nations Innovate

Airborne electronic warfare (EW) systems are becoming an increasingly important part of the electronic systems in fighter aircraft. Moreover, the functionality of many airborne EW designs are no longer just limited to being a self-protection system. One of the secondary—but growing in importance—features of this technology is to be able to record all the signals and electronic emissions that the aircraft is either subjected to or in range of during its mission.

6/15/2019

Iranian threat to shipping is real and growing, as US ‘smoking gun’ video evidence shows

The U.S. military released an aerial video last night that shows an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps patrol boat removing a magnetic mine from the hull of the Japanese tanker Kokuka Courageous after it apparently failed to explode. The video, recorded by a U.S Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft, appears to have caught the Iranians red-handed, trying to remove the evidence that would directly link the Guard Corps to the coordinated attack on two tankers yesterday in the Gulf of Oman.

6/15/2019

2,000 air force personnel from 4 nations join Red Flag-Alaska exercises

Red Flag-Alaska, an exercise involving 2,000 personnel, 85 aircraft and the air forces of four Pacific Rim countries, is underway, the U.S. Air Force announced. The majority of the aircraft, from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the South Korean Air Force, the Royal Thai Air Force and the U.S. Air Force, are flying from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Eielson Air Force Base, both in Alaska.

6/15/2019

Revised contract signature restores A400M prospects

Airbus’s launch partners for the A400M Atlas tactical transport have signed a key contract amendment via Europe’s Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) defence procurement agency, concluding a process initiated by the airframer more than two years ago.

6/14/2019

USAF does carry test of hypersonic ARRW missile on B-52 bomber

The US Air Force (USAF) conducted a carry test flight of its AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) on a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress aircraft on 12 June at Edwards AFB in California. The prototype did not have explosives and was not released from the B-52 during the flight test, says the USAF. Instead, a sensor-only version of the ARRW prototype was carried externally by a B-52 during the test to gather environmental and aircraft handling data.