10/22/2019 USAF awards $6.4bil for mock dogfighting services  The US Air Force’s (USAF) Air Combat Command awarded seven companies contracts worth $6.4 billion in total to provide mock dogfighting and aerial combat training services over the next five years. As part of the Combat Air Forces Contracted Air Support programme, the companies will fly their own fleet of fighter aircraft against USAF fighters during Red Flag exercises, the USAF says in an online award notice posted on 18 October. |
10/22/2019 Industry details self-protection update bid for Eurofighter  The Eurofighter Typhoon’s self-protection equipment will be the subject of a major modernisation effort, with industry partners having launched plans for a so-called Praetorian Evolution, or “Evo” package of capabilities. Details of the proposed enhancement were outlined to partner air forces, the Eurofighter consortium and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency on 9 October by EuroDASS: a venture involving Elettronica, Hensoldt, Indra and led by Leonardo. |
10/22/2019 RAAF Super Hornets eye computing upgrade, IRST  A pair of notifications on a US government website indicates that the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) may increase the processing power of its Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers, and that it will add an infrared search & track (IRST) capability. |
10/22/2019 USA clears possible Korean AMRAAM sale  The US State Department has cleared the possible sale of 120 Raytheon AIM-120C-7/C-8 AMRAAM missiles to South Korea. A statement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency estimates the cost of the potential deal at $253 million. The package includes support equipment, logistics, and spare parts, and stems from an original request from Seoul. |
10/21/2019 Will Germany Choose America's F-15EX as Its New Fighter?  The German air force will select a new fighter aircraft in early 2020, German minister of defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced in late September 2019. The plane will replace the Luftwaffe’s fleet of 93 Panavia Tornado fighter-bombers and complement the service’s roughly 140 Eurofighter Typhoons. For the longer term, Germany is working with France to develop a next-generation warplane under the Future Combat Air System program. |
10/21/2019 From growing pilots to shifting training while also meeting growing demands, Army aviation has challenges  Army aviation faces current and future challenges as it adapts itself to both find new pilots while also preparing the next generation of aviators for air combat not seen in generations. In recent weeks, top Army aviation leaders have said publicly that while the number of pilots in the ranks fills the current aviation needs of the combatant commanders, junior pilot numbers are short and could create a critical gap as senior pilots retire or end their service. |
10/21/2019 Open Skies Help Keep the Peace With Russia  International security isn’t a given. Historically, peace among the great powers is a rarity. It’s also a great accomplishment. Like trust, peace and security take a long time to build and only a moment to dismantle. One of the pillars upholding international peace and security today is the 1992 Open Skies. Treaty. Thirty-four nations, including the U.S. and Russia, have agreed to this treaty, which allows signatories to fly unarmed surveillance aircraft over one another’s territory. |
10/21/2019 AIM-260 and Peregrine Incoming: Why the U.S. Air Force Urgently Needs New Air to Air Missiles  The United States is set to receive at least two entirely new classes of long range air to air missile in the 2020s, which are intended to replace the AIM-120 AMRAAM currently in service. U.S. defence manufacturer Raytheon, best known for its THAAD, RIM-161 and AIM-120 missiles, in September announced the development of the ‘Peregrine’ - an entirely new family of air to air missiles intended to be deployed by next generation American fighters. |
10/20/2019 Israel 'Modified' Their F-35 Stealth Fighters. The Results Speak for Themselves.  On May 22, 2018 Israeli Air Force commander Amikam Norkin announced that its F-35I stealth fighters had flown on two combat missions on “different fronts,” showing as proof a photograph of an F-35 overflying Beirut. While details on those missions have not been released—apparently, they were not deployed in a massive Israeli air attack on Iranian forces in Syria that took place on May 9, 2018. |
10/20/2019 Defense chief: US troops leaving Syria to go to western Iraq  Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that under the current plan all U.S. troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq and the military will continue to conduct operations against the Islamic State group to prevent its resurgence. Speaking to reporters traveling with him to the Middle East, Esper did not rule out the idea that U.S. forces would conduct counterterrorism missions from Iraq into Syria. But he said those details will be worked out over time. |