June, 2009 Military Aviation News
06/30/2009
The Air Force is replacing Boeing’s current fleet support contract for the USA’s B-52 heavy bomber fleet, with a 10-year, $750 million firm-fixed-price Engineering Sustainment Program contract. All of the USAF’s 94 remaining B-52Hs were built at and delivered from Boeing’s Wichita, KS facility, and the ESP contract will support about 150 Boeing jobs.
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06/29/2009
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and the U.S. Air Force unveiled the next-generation of high-flying unmanned aircraft - the RQ-4 Block 40 Global Hawk - in a ceremony today at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., manufacturing facility.
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06/29/2009
Russia's Air Force has resumed Su-24 Fencer attack aircraft flights after a 10-day suspension following two crashes in mid-June, a Defense Ministry official said on Monday.
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06/29/2009
Boeing has connected the F-15E Mission Training Center (MTC) at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, to the U.S. Air Force's Distributed Mission Operations Network (DMON), enabling F-15E pilots at the base to train virtually with pilots located around the world for the first time. Mountain Home is the first of three F-15E training centers Boeing will link to the network this year.
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06/28/2009
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman said on Saturday that the first Pakistan-made JF-17 Thunder aircraft would start flying by the end of this year.
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06/27/2009
Air Force officials here announced June 26 its proposed force structure realignment for fiscal 2010.
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06/26/2009
In January 2007, the big question was whether there would be a competition for the USA’s KC-X proposal, which will cover 175 production aircraft and 4 test platforms. The cost for this first phase alone is likely to reach $35+ billion spread over about 20 years, but the USAF believes that adding new plane types to America’s 40-50 year old aerial tanker fleet is its #1 priority. Otherwise, unpredictable age or fatigue issues, like the ones its F-15A-D fleet experienced in 2008, could ground its a
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06/26/2009
Like a swarm of angry bees, unmanned aerial, ground, and sea vehicles automonously converge on enemy troops, aircraft and ships, decide what to do, then engage the enemy with surveillance or weapons to help U.S. forces defeat them. All this without direct human intervention. Sounds like science fiction? The American military is one of several working on the technology, called “swarming,” in order to make this scenario a reality.
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06/26/2009
The Elbit Systems/Rockwell Collins joint venture Vision Systems International, LLC recently announced $54.1 million in contracts. These awards will begin production of their Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS), which will equip all American and exported F-35 fighters. The contracts will cover low rate initial production (LRIP) Lots 1, 2 and 3, and run through 2012. They include Lockheed Martin’s purchase of 52 F-35 Gen II Helmet Mounted Displays, and 30 aircraft shipsets. VSI also received cont
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06/26/2009
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is delivering the first batch of upgraded Kfir fighter jets to the Colombian Air Force in a ceremony held at IAI's facilities in Israel. In attendance at the ceremony was Juan Hurtado Cano, the Colombian Ambassador to Israel, high ranking officers from the Colombian Air Force, and executives from the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD-SIBAT), and IAI.
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06/24/2009
Boeing today announced that the AH-64D Apache Block III prototype helicopter successfully demonstrated Level IV unmanned aircraft system (UAS) connectivity on June 8 during a flight test over the Arizona desert.
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06/23/2009
Members of the 413th Flight Test Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla., and contractor Boeing recently successfully fired the high-power laser aboard the Advanced Tactical Laser aircraft for the first time in flight.
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06/23/2009
The U.S. military has to have flexibility across the spectrum of conflict to handle the threats of the future, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.
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06/22/2009
Russia has bought 12 unmanned aerial vehicles from Israel in a recent deal worth $53 million, a Russian government official said on Monday.
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06/21/2009
International participants in the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II program have begun purchasing aircraft and making long-range commitments to integrate the fighter into their fleets, a Lockheed Martin executive said Wednesday at the Paris Air Show.
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06/19/2009
At the 2009 Le Bourget air show, Alenia Aeronautica announced that Italy’s Air Force has signed a long-awaited contract to buy Alenia’s new M346 Master advanced trainer jet. This initial agreement covers 6 jets and an integrated training service, with an option for another 9 aircraft.
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06/18/2009
The US Marines’ helicopter force is aging on all levels, from CH-46 Sea Knights that are far older than their pilots, to the 1980s-era UH-1N Hueys and AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters that make up the Corps’ helicopter assault force. While the V-22 program has staggered along for almost 2 decades under accidents, technical delays, and cost issues, replacement of the USMC’s backbone helicopter assets has languished. Given the high-demand scenarios inherent in the current war, other efforts are clea
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06/18/2009
The Russian Defense Ministry has received three strategic missiles, 20 combat aircraft, 20 tanks, three spacecraft and other military hardware since the beginning of the year under government defense contract, a senior military official said on Wednesday.
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06/18/2009
The Boeing Company will dedicate funding to further development of the F-15 Silent Eagle program, with the goal of a flight demonstration in the third quarter of 2010. The announcement came at the Paris Air Show following meetings with potential customers and reaffirmed a commitment to the prototype program made by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems President and CEO Jim Albaugh at the air show on June 14.
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06/17/2009
“The demand for Russian aircraft and helicopters grows despite the ongoing global financial crunch. It makes us feel special obligations and responsibility both as a supplier, and as a reliable time-tested partner,” head of the Rosoboronexport delegation Alexander Mikheev emphasised. “We take every necessary measure and constantly revise every line of defence cooperation, which nowadays actively expands, among other things due to developing relations with NATO member-states.”
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06/17/2009
Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye serves as the US Navy and French Navy’s carrier-capable “mini-AWACS” aircraft. Its primary role is advance warning of incoming aerial threats; ship-based radars are far larger and more powerful, but cannot scan below the angle of the horizon. Secondary roles include strike command and control, land and maritime surveillance, search and rescue, communications relay, and even civil air traffic control during emergencies. E-2C Hawkeyes began replacing previous Hawkey
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06/17/2009
BAE Systems has been awarded a $33.6 million low-rate initial production contract for the ALE-55. The AN/ALE-55 is part of the U.S. Navy’s Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) system that provides fighter aircraft with electronic defense against radar guided missiles.
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06/17/2009
The Boeing Company announced today that it has completed satellite communications and air traffic management upgrades on the U.S. Air Force's 32 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) surveillance aircraft as part of the Integrated DAMA/GATM (IDG) program.
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06/16/2009
Global competition in the 20-ton air transport segment continues to intensify, with Brazil’s launch of its KC-390 program. Embraer figures reportedly place the global C-130 replacement market at around 700 aircraft. In response, it will develop a jet-powered rival to compete with Lockheed Martin’s C-130J, the larger Airbus A400M, Russia’s AN-12 and its Chinese copy the Yunshu-8, and the bi-national Irkut/HAL MRTA project. Smaller aircraft like the EADS-CASA C-295M and Alenia C-27J may also repre
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06/16/2009
Russia would like to expand sales of such warplanes as the Su-34 throughout the world, President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Chinese TV released on Monday.
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06/16/2009
A Turkish military delegation has come to Russia to discuss the possible acquisition of Mi-28 attack helicopters. This is not the first time the two countries have discussed cooperation.
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06/15/2009
The Bell Boeing Program Office announced today that it has been awarded Phase 1.5 of a two-phase Joint Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to support the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft for the Marine Corps (MV-22), and Air Force Special Operations Command (CV-22).
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06/15/2009
Saudi Arabia’s Assistant Defence and Aviation Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan received the Kingdom’s first two Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft at a ceremony hosted by BAE Systems at its Warton plant near Preston on June 10.
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06/15/2009
Despite all of the high-tech fighter hours flown in theater, Hawker Beechcraft’s twin-propeller King Air 350 continues to gain traction as an affordable, long-endurance option for light cargo delivery in remote areas – and effective manned battlefield surveillance and attack. Iraq’s Air Force was the first to order them, and an initial 6-plane order from the US Marines/Navy followed in July 2008.
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06/13/2009
The P-3 Orion remains the USA’s main maritime patrol aircraft, and is also finding use in overland surveillance roles despite the fleet’s age. Earlier DID articles have noted the extra effort required to preserve the USA’s P-3C Orion maritime surveillance & patrol aircraft, along with radar and weapons upgrades. Lockheed has even opened a new production line for the international fleet to cover wings that have to be replaced.
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06/13/2009
BAE Systems recently completed its $14.7 million acquisition of Advanced Ceramics Research, a Tucson, AZ-based maker of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and ceramic materials for military and commercial application. The initial agreement was originally announced on March 12/09; this latest step represents its finalization and approval. The company will now become part of BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Rockville, MD.
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06/12/2009
Brazil has now made a pair of requests for UH-60Ls to fulfill its strategic commitments for search and rescue, air mobility, “and provide for the defense of vital installations and close air support for ground forces.”
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06/12/2009
France and Germany said Thursday that they were giving themselves another six months to decide whether to proceed with Airbus’s troubled A400M military transport plane, prolonging the agony — and the costs — for the European aircraft manufacturer, which is already grappling with the worst industry downturn in decades.
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06/11/2009
The F-5E/F Tiger II was a follow-on upgrade to the wildly successful F-5 Freedom Fighter, a low-budget aircraft designed to capture the lower tier of the non-Soviet global fighter market in the 1960s and 1970s. A number of countries still operate F-5s, but the airframes are very old. The Swiss bought 72 F-5E/F fighters in 1976, and another 38 in 1981, for a total of 110 (98 single-seat F5E, 12 two-seat F-5F). Switzerland currently flies about 54 F-5s; A squadron of 12 were leased to Austria whil
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06/11/2009
The Boeing Company has been awarded a four-year U.S. Air Force contract to sustain the A-10 Thunderbolt II weapon system and integrate current and future upgrades into the aircraft’s avionics, mechanical and structural systems. Boeing is one of three contractors that will fulfill A-10 Thunderbolt Life-Cycle Program Support (TLPS) task and delivery orders for the Air Force. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity TLPS contract will allow the Air Force to authorize up to $1.6 billion of aircra
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06/11/2009
Boeing and teammate L-3 have delivered four Block II F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Tactical Operation Flight Trainers (TOFT) to the U.S. Navy and declared them “Ready for Training.” Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, Va., has two of the trainers, and two are located at NAS Lemoore, Calif.
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06/10/2009
Almost 22 months after its first flight over the skies of St. Augustine, Fla., Northrop Grumman's (NYSE:NOC) first E-2D Advanced Hawkeye test aircraft flew north to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, in Maryland, to begin the next phase of testing in preparation for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in 2011.
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06/10/2009
The Indian Air Force says no one survived when one of its transport planes carrying 13 people crashed near the border with China.
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06/10/2009
Despite a slew of upgrades that recently got 2 of its P-3/CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft sent to map key areas in Afghanistan, only 45% (9/20) are available at any one time. That fleet’s other duties include patrolling Canada’s long Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Ocean coasts. Its 1960s-era H-3/CH-124 Sea Kings, which have been described as “10,000 nuts and bolts flying in formation,” have an availability rate of just 35.7% (10/28).
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06/10/2009
The U.S. Defense Department says one of the aircraft involved in bombing an Afghan village a month ago, during an operation that caused numerous civilian casualties, violated rules designed to protect civilians. But a spokesman says there is no indication that the violation caused the casualties. Procedures for protecting civilians will be part of a 60-day review that the new U.S. commanders heading for Afghanistan have been ordered to conduct.
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06/10/2009
Back in February 2006, InsideDefense.com’s Inside The Air Force (ITAF) reported that momentum was building within the Air Force to sell the ultra-advanced F-22A Raptor abroad to trusted U.S. allies, as a way of plussing up numbers and production. The USAF originally initially intended to purchase 700-800 F-22 fighters, but that was cut to 442, then 381, and recently cut again to just over 180. These cuts have had obvious effects on the cost per aircraft, and on the ratio of aircraft to total R&D
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06/09/2009
The current US Air Force fleet, whose planes are more than 23 years old on average, is the oldest in USAF history. It won’t keep that title for very long. Many transport aircraft and aerial refueling tankers are more than 40 years old – and under current plans, some may be as many as 70-80 years old before they retire. Since the price for next-generation planes has risen faster than inflation, average aircraft age will climb even if the US military gets every plane it asks for in its future plan
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06/09/2009
Air Mobility Command's hub for global airlift, air refueling and aeromedical evacuation is "all in" with its commitment to support joint worldwide operations, kicking off efforts this week to airlift more than 300 Stryker vehicles to military forces in Afghanistan.
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06/08/2009
France will consider leasing or buying Lockheed Martin C-130J air transports as part of a plan to meet urgent airlift requirements until it receives its first A400M transports, or in the event the program is terminated.
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06/07/2009
The RQ-4 Global Hawks isn’t a full successor to the famous U-2 spy plane just yet, which is why the USA is keeping its U-2s for now. It’s close, however, and some people have described the HALE UAV as the equivalent of having a photo satellite on station. Flying at 60,000 feet for 30-40+ hours at a time, the jet-powered UAV uses sophisticated radars and other sensors to monitor developments on land, sea, and air over an area of about 40,000 square miles/ 100,000 square km. Reported image resolut
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06/05/2009
Martin has signed a contract with the Sultanate of Oman for a C-130J Super Hercules. The aircraft, to be delivered in mid-2012, is in the longer C-130J-30 configuration.
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06/05/2009
Boeing P-8A Poseidon test aircraft T2 takes off from Renton Field today to begin its successful first flight. T2 took off at 10:32 a.m. Pacific time and landed two hours and 56 minutes later at Boeing Field in Seattle at 1:28 p.m.
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06/05/2009
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Axsys Technologies, Inc., (NASDAQ: AXYS) for $54 per share of Axsys Technologies’ outstanding common stock. The cost of the transaction would be $643 million.
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06/04/2009
Lockheed Martin today released its media briefing schedule for the 2009 Paris Air Show. Briefings will take place in the Lockheed Martin Press Center, Lockheed Martin Chalet, Row A, No. 397, unless otherwise designated below.
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06/04/2009
The Boeing Company today outlined its presentation schedule for the Paris Air Show, which begins later this month and is marking its 100th anniversary this year.
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06/04/2009
FLIR Systems announced today that it is experiencing a strong demand around the world for the company's Star SAFIRE and Talon classes of stabilised, multi-sensor airborne systems.
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06/04/2009
The Afghan National Army Air Corps is a vital and rapidly growing component of Afghanistan's security forces and is building airpower to deny terrorists a safe haven in Afghanistan, a U.S. Air Force general here said.
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06/03/2009
On Tuesday, June 2, Lockheed Martin and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) successfully conducted the initial demonstration flight of the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA). This flight marks the final and most significant milestone of Phase II of AFRL’s ACCA program, in which Lockheed Martin replaced the mid/aft fuselage and empennage of a Dornier 328J aircraft with an advanced composite structure.
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06/03/2009
The United States Department of Defense has awarded Lockheed Martin a $2.1 billion contract modification to produce 17 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters in the third lot of low-rate initial production (LRIP). The buy also includes the first international orders – two F-35 operational test aircraft for the United Kingdom and one for the Netherlands.
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06/03/2009
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force have successfully completed Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) A-10C site activations at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, AZ, and Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany.
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06/03/2009
The 19-ft-long, 5,000lb bombs can penetrate over 20ft of concrete and 100ft of earth and could be used to target North Korea's intricate system of military bunkers and a series of munitions tunnels along the border.
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06/02/2009
"Syria Buying MiG-31s, MiG-29s for $1 billion" covers ongoing speculation about a potential fighter deal with Iranian financing; some reports even place the Islamic Republic of Iran as the ultimate recipient. Recent reports say that Russia has put the deal on the backburner, though Syria denies this. What’s even more interesting are the parallel reports that Israel may be selling UAVs to Russia, and speculation that the 2 sets of events may be related.
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06/02/2009
The Boeing Company on June 1 submitted a proposal offering its A160T Hummingbird for the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory's Immediate Cargo Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Demonstration Program.
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06/01/2009
The Indian air force has slanted to a more ornithologically conscious approach to flight planning following a bird strike involving one of its aircraft and reported in the flight levels. A huge four-engine IAF IL-76 transport was flying at more than 22,000 feet when it struck a yet-unidentified bird.
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06/01/2009
After inducting its first Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), the IAF is planning to replace the Russian IL-76 aircraft with some other "modern aircraft" as the platform for the system in future. India is the first country in South Asia to own an AWACS, popularly called 'an eye in the sky'.
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