10/22/2021 As Indian jets roar over Blue Flag, remembering Israel’s love for Mirage fighters  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. |
10/22/2021 India is Optimistic to Build an Indigenous Stealth Fighter  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. |
10/22/2021 Iran: Air Force Holds War Game  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. |
10/22/2021 US Navy interested in 64 ‘Tactical Surrogate Aircraft’  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. |
10/21/2021 China shows off drones recycled from Soviet-era fighter jets  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. |
10/20/2021 Singapore military aircraft that flew over Johor were taking part in exercise: Mindef  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). |
10/20/2021 Right on Cue, North Korea Testing Ballistic Missiles, as Predicted by DIA  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. |
10/20/2021 Lockheed Martin to manufacture training system to help protect combat jet aircrews from radar-guided enemy missiles  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. |
10/19/2021 Six companies bidding for RMAF LCA contract  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. |
10/19/2021 Israel Requests Refueling Aircraft ASAP From Boeing  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. |