February, 2010 Military Aviation News
02/28/2010
Russian authorities have agreed to supply 10 Mi-24 advanced military helicopters to Lebanon instead of 10 MiG-29 fighter jets they had previously pledged to provide.
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02/28/2010
Prince Harry famously said he didn’t have the ‘brain capacity’ to fly an Apache attack helicopter – but now it seems he may be proved wrong.
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02/28/2010
The question, scrawled on a Pentagon whiteboard last fall, captured the strange and difficult moment facing the Air Force.
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02/28/2010
Taiwan's fighter jets would fall short in combat against military rival China, the U.S. government said in a report on Monday that could lead to new weapons sales sure to anger Beijing.
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02/27/2010
The Unites States Navy made a dramatic intervention to rescue a Tanzanian ship and seized eight of the marauding Somali pirates, who attempted to hijack the vessel on Sunday, it was revealed in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
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02/27/2010
Lebanon is grateful for Russia’s MiG-29 fighter jets, which Russia promised to give to the Mideastern country as a gift. However, Lebanese officials wonder whether the country really needs them. Lebanon tries to find out if Russia could replace the fighters with something else.
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02/27/2010
The new generation of Nomads will have a new generation of flight suits.
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02/27/2010
The South Dakota Air National Guard’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets is being replaced by newer models from Hill Air Force Base in Salt Lake City.
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02/27/2010
Today, Congressman Jim Oberstar announced that the 148th will be receiving the first of 18 F-16 block 50 fighter jets in April, final delivery will be complete by September.
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02/27/2010
Boeing has signed an AU$44 million change proposal with the Commonwealth of Australia to increase the scope of the Army Aviation Training and Training Support (AATTS) contract.
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02/26/2010
Pakistan has deferred the purchase of state of the art fighter J-10 planes from China till test flights.
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02/26/2010
Brazil looks poised by the end of March to pick the winner of a multibillion-dollar tender to supply its air force with state-of-the-art combat aircraft.
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02/26/2010
Saudi Arabia has decided to equip its new Eurofighter aircraft with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, and Brimstone anti-tank missiles. The Storm Shadow air launched stealthy cruise missile got its first combat experience over Iraq seven years ago. The 5.2 meter (16 foot) long, 1.3 ton missile has a 250 kilometer range and carries a penetrating warhead. The missile is a British modified version of the French Apache missile and entered service in late 2002, costing about $1.2 million each.
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02/26/2010
This week, the U.S. Air Force presented its revised request for proposals for the new KC-X tanker aircraft. Industry now has 60 days to submit bids, and the contract for the new tankers should be awarded sometime this summer.
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02/26/2010
China's military warned the US to "speak and act cautiously" to avoid reigniting tensions between the two countries amid speculation that the US is considering sales of advanced F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, following last month's announcement of a package of arms sales to the island.
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02/26/2010
Additional equipment is being developed to support early integration and testing of a revolutionary tactical network that will provide warfighters in the air, on land and at sea with secure, interoperable communications. The Lockheed Martin team developing the Airborne, Maritime/Fixed Station Joint Tactical Radio System (AMF JTRS) has received a contract option to increase the number of engineering development models (EDM) by 60 percent.
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02/25/2010
Due to the F-35 Lightning II delay, the USAF will have a wider variety of additional C-17s and 1,056 tankers and airlifters -- helping increase mobility of the Air Force -- though F-35 Lightning II interest will still be important. The Air Force is phasing out C-17 development in favor of the smaller C-27 aircraft.
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02/25/2010
European governments have reached an agreement on sharing the costs of the over-budget A400M military transport plane.
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02/25/2010
The Obama administration is sharply expanding American weapons transfers to both India and Pakistan, longtime rivals about to sit down for peace talks Thursday.
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02/25/2010
The MiG-29N jet fighters will not be grounded but will be used for at least another five years.
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02/25/2010
The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] a follow-on Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contract to support the Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (TADS/PNVS) and Modernized TADS/PNVS (M-TADS/PNVS) systems on the AH-64 Apache helicopter. The contract has a potential value of $90 million for 2010.
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02/25/2010
The Boeing Company today received the final Request for Proposal (RFP) document for the U.S. Air Force KC-X Tanker competition, and released the following statement from Jean Chamberlin, vice president and general manager, Boeing USAF Tanker Program.
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02/24/2010
The Ethiopian government today said that a tactical aviation unit comprising of five helicopters has headed to Sudan’s Darfur region to join the badly-needing African Union and UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur (UNAMID).
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02/24/2010
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Brazilian counterpart Nelson Jobim today that Boeing Co.’s F/A-18 fighter jet offers the best technology in the $7.5 billion competition to modernize the South American nation’s fleet.
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02/24/2010
A key House Republican plans to press Navy leaders this week on the Pentagon's apparent reluctance to enter into a multiyear deal with Boeing Co. for F/A-18 aircraft, arguing that the costs saved are worth the risks of a long-term financial commitment.
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02/24/2010
U.S. Air Force officials defended on Tuesday a Pentagon decision to cancel development of the second engine for Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 jet fighter, but acknowledged it was a "close call."
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02/24/2010
Boeing Co., the second-largest defense contractor, is scaling back production of the C-17 military cargo plane by a third so it can extend the life of the assembly line while waiting for international orders.
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02/24/2010
Indian air force pilots have begun testing two Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets for flight evaluation trials, part of an order for 126 planes in a deal valued at $10 billion.
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02/23/2010
With the first German Air Force UAV crews trained in Israel, Germany is preparing to send the first of its Israeli-supplied Heron 1 to Afghanistan by March, Luftwaffe officials said.
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02/23/2010
In October 2007, not even the design concept had been selected, but 24 months later the Mantis medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned air vehicle demonstrator flew for the first time—even allowing for some non-program-related distractions.
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02/23/2010
Admitting that aircraft crashes were a matter of concern, the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Naik said Monday they couldn't be entirely ruled out.
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02/23/2010
European defense and aerospace giant EADS should not expect any more government money to help salvage the over-budget A400M military transport plane, the French defense minister said Monday.
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02/23/2010
The United States Air Force officially becomes the first F-35 Lightning II customer later this year, when the first of the stealth fighters is delivered to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The delivery will initiate a massive recapitalization of the Air Force's multi-role fighter fleet, and will usher in profound increases in capability, a Lockheed Martin executive said Friday.
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02/23/2010
At a time when the combat power of the Indian Air Force is at an all-time low (29 squadrons, against a sanctioned strength of 39.5 squadrons and a required strength of 45 squadrons), two significant events connected with the enhancement of its capabilities are underway without much fanfare and are hopefully gathering momentum quietly, away from the public gaze.
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02/23/2010
The Pentagon has painted a grim picture of Taiwan's air defense capabilities, saying that many of the island's 400 combat aircraft would not be available to help withstand an attack from rival China.
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02/23/2010
The LONGBOW Limited Liability Company, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman [NYSE: NOC], was recently awarded an $86 million contract from AgustaWestland to support LONGBOW FCR systems on the United Kingdom Apache AH Mk-1 aircraft.
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02/22/2010
USMC Considers 'Synchropter' for Cargo Drops in Hostile Terrain
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02/22/2010
Cancelling the F-22 Raptor, the most capable fighter plane ever produced, is yet another act in the tragedy of a nation that, bankrupting itself, embracing moral decline, and apologizing to its enemies, is losing the will to prevail. In pursuit of false prosperities that have failed even the economy, America for three presidencies and an entire generation has diminished its arsenals, unbalanced its military, and forgotten its genius for strategy.
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02/22/2010
In a low, tan building in Nevada, Air Force personnel sit in padded chairs and control aircraft over Iraq and Afghanistan. They are 7,500 miles away, yet feel more affected by war than ever.
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02/22/2010
The multibillion-dollar competition to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force is expected to kick off this week as the Pentagon spells out its latest requirements to replace its aging fleet of Eisenhower-era aircraft.
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02/22/2010
The Israelis have unveiled a type of drone known as Eitan, (“strong” in Hebrew) the size of a Boeing 737. The drone, a Heron TP operated by some NATO countries, is getting a lot of attention in the Middle East media, because its range extends to Iran.
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02/21/2010
Brazilian aerospace company Embraer has revealed more details about its plans concerning international partners for its KC-390 military tanker and transport aircraft programme. South Africa's Denel Saab Aerostructures (DSA) is known to be interested in becoming one of the industrial partners in the KC-390.
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02/21/2010
Cape Town traffic was faced with an unusual hazard at midday yesterday: the first two Saab Gripen C single-seat fighters destined for the South African Air Force were being towed to AFB Ysterplaat.
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02/21/2010
India will narrow down the number of bidders by mid-2010 for its $11 billion fighter jet tender, a minister said, in a closely watched deal where diplomacy and strategic interests will play a big role.
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02/21/2010
American defence giant Lockheed Martin on Tuesday said it will deliver the first C-130J Hercules aircraft in December this year to the the Indian Air Force and expressed hope to receive Letter of Request (LOR) for six more planes.
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02/21/2010
Just weeks after the Pentagon announced a restructuring of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the U.S. Air Force is now re-evaluating when the plane will be considered ready for service, Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser said Feb. 19.
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02/21/2010
Every day, the Air Force reports dozens of successful flights supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Fighters, bombers and other combat aircraft provide overwatch for troops on the ground, protecting the war fighters and deterring the enemy.
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02/20/2010
The U.S. Navy is planning to demonstrate an armed, sensor-equipped, carrier-based unmanned combat aircraft system (UCAS) by 2018, as a follow-on to carrier-suitability and autonomous aerial-refueling demonstrations planned for completion in 2013.
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02/20/2010
South Korea’s technologically ambitious defense ministry aims to test a scaled demonstrator for a stealthy combat drone by 2013, extending the country’s expertise in unmanned aircraft and hedging against cancellation of the KF-X fighter program.
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02/20/2010
The United States is reported ready to provide light attack aircraft to the Lebanese army and to establish an elite Special Forces unit, a major step toward boosting the military's now-feeble firepower.
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02/19/2010
With the inauguration of a modern Command and Control Center to view satellite images and of the radars acquired together with the Super Tucano intercept planes and equipment to heighten border security, the Government aims to escalate the war against drug trafficking via air and land.
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02/19/2010
The United Arab Emirates has taken a fresh jab at talks to purchase the South Korean-built T-50 jet trainer following stalled negotiations to acquire its rival, Italy's M-346 trainer.
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02/19/2010
The missiles are out in full strength at the Defexpo in Delhi’s enormous Pragati Maidan complex, but it seems that flower pots are also being considered as potential weapons of influence for India’s growing defence market. At least, that is what some Russians seemed to believe.
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02/19/2010
The fourth generation Russian-origin jet fighter aircraft, MiG-29K, which would be used for carrier-based operations, would be formally inducted into the Indian Navy on Friday in presence of Defence Minister A K Anthony on Friday.
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02/19/2010
A thorny inflation clause and a shopping list of military gadgets dominated closing stages of talks to rescue the delayed A400M troop plane on Thursday as France held out the prospect of a deal next week.
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02/19/2010
Lockheed Martin Corp. says it has reduced delays in the development phase of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet to about 13 months. That's far less than the 30-months earlier feared and puts the program in the running for millions of dollars in Pentagon performance awards.
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02/19/2010
India will continue to selectively buy arms and aircraft from suppliers in the US and other countries—excluding Russia, with which it has an inter-government pact—through the foreign military sales, or FMS, route that bypasses competitive bidding, defence minister A.K. Antony said.
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02/19/2010
The Pakistani Air Force on Thursday inducted the first squadron of JF-17 Thunder multi-role combat aircraft it jointly developed with China as part of its efforts to maintain a “balance” of conventional forces in the region.
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02/18/2010
Flight International reports that Bangladeshi planning minister A.K. Khandker has informed Parliament that the government intends to buy “a squadron” of fighters and 2 maritime patrol aircraft, as part of its 2010 procurement plans. This would be a significant commitment for Bangladesh, whose 2008-2009 defense budget came in at around $1 billion.
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02/18/2010
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) of New Zealand is working to ensure the successful completion of the C-130 Hercules life extension programme, following the news that Safe Air in Blenheim is planning to reduce its workforce by a hundred positions.
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02/18/2010
On Monday, two Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the Luftwaffe —- the German Air Force —- took off from the Laage Air Base in Germany on probably the most important mission the plane has flown.
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02/18/2010
Piloted by Lockheed Martin F-35 Test Pilot Jeff Knowles, the third F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter landed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., today.
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02/18/2010
Lockheed Martin has successfully completed the paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) F/A-18 qualification flight test program. The paveway II Plus LGB uses an enhanced laser guidance package, significantly improving the precision of current paveway II LGBs.
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02/18/2010
The Boeing Company delivered an E-4B National Airborne Operations Center aircraft to the U.S. Air Force on Feb. 8, after 11 months of maintenance at Boeing’s Wichita facility. The aircraft returns to service in support of the center’s mission -- providing senior government and military decision makers with connected and protected air travel.
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02/17/2010
Pentagon officials on Feb. 16 confirmed Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn’s announcement one day prior that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program will be delayed by about one year.
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02/17/2010
Police forces all over the UK will soon be able to draw on ... modified military aircraft drones [to] carry out surveillance on everyone from protesters and antisocial motorists to fly-tippers, and will be in place in time for the 2012 Olympics.
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02/17/2010
The widespread introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles to the battlefield during the last decade has been called revolutionary. But their applications so far have mostly been in the reconnaissance and surveillance realm, with only a handful of aircraft able to fire weapons.
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02/17/2010
EUROPEAN aerospace giant EADS has received an new finance offer from partner governments which could rescue the troubled A400M military transport project, a company spokesman said on Monday.
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02/17/2010
Boeing is looking further ahead in the Indian defense procurement and development market as it now enters the third and final phase of field trials for the proposed F/A-18IN for India’s 126 Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition.
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02/17/2010
France's Dassault Aviation, desperate to find the first foreign customer for its multi-role Rafale fighter, is concentrating on a potential sale of 60 of the jets to the United Arab Emirates.
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02/17/2010
While Pakistani leaders and judiciary are locked in an unending internal battle and the armed forces are engaged in an ongoing treacherous terrorism network Pakistan’s arch rival India has embarked on a huge armament programme that is seen as genuine threats to both Pakistan and its strategic ally China.
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02/16/2010
US defence major Lockheed Martin Tuesday said it may consider selling the fifth generation fighter aircraft F-35 if approached by the Indian Air Force (IAF). “We will consider this if the IAF approaches us,” Orville Prins, vice president for Lockheed Martin India’s operation, told reporters at the sixth edition of Defexpo India.
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02/16/2010
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, the Chief of the Air Staff, insisted that air power must not be seen as an “optional luxury” when Britain’s future defence capability is considered.
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02/16/2010
Northrop Grumman Corporation has successfully demonstrated that its MQ-8B Vertical Unmanned Aerial System (VUAS) can resupply U.S. or coalition troops deployed on a combat mission.
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02/16/2010
Boeing successfully completed stores (weapons) ground vibration testing on P-8A Poseidon test aircraft T1 on Feb. 5 in Seattle. The tests will provide data to validate predictions of aircraft performance prior to flight testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., later this year.
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02/15/2010
Coinciding with the starting signal for India’s largest defence exhibition, DEFEXPO 2010 (15-18 February 2010), a German Air Force Eurofighter fighter aircraft will be heading to India today. However, this aircraft will not be making acrobatic manoeuvres for the visitors of the show but, rather, will be thoroughly examined by the Indian Air Force (IAF) as part of the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) MMRCA programme. The Eurofighter will join India’s ongoing programme, which has been ini
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02/15/2010
Electronic and computer attack—the futuristic segment of the Pentagon’s arsenal—will benefit from the proposed 2011 military spending plan, but identifying all the key pieces is difficult without close scrutiny.
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02/15/2010
Russia and India will sign the first contract on the manufacturing of a fifth-generation jet fighter in late February-early March, a Russian defense industry official said Monday.
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02/14/2010
The U.S. Army has received its first production models of the AN/ZPY-1 Starlite lightweight radar. This system weighs 65 pounds (29.5 kg), occupies 34 cc (1.2 cubic feet), uses 750 watts of power and costs about $2.3 million each. The Starlite was designed for use in the army's new 1.5 ton MQ-1C Sky Warrior UAV. Starlite can deliver photo quality black and white images of what is down there, in any weather. The army has developed software that enables the Starlite images to be transmitted to ex
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02/14/2010
The helicopter was filled with men and dark in its cabin when a voice cut over the whir of the rotors.
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02/13/2010
American defence contractor, Lockheed Martin, has said it expects the Government of India (GoI) to shortly issue a Letter of Request (LoR) to the United States government for the acquisition of an additional six C-130-30J Super Hercules transport aircraft.
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02/13/2010
The Australian air force says a new training program is under way supported by Boeing's C-17 Globemaster III Aircrew Training System.
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02/13/2010
Israel is pressing the U.S. administration to clinch a deal for up to 75 F-35 Stealth fighters but Lockheed Martin wants to sell the fifth-generation fighter to Arabs as well.
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02/13/2010
The four-nation Eurofighter consortium foresees substantial growth opportunities on the world market, with India playing a crucial role, it said Friday.
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02/13/2010
Spain's two biggest trade unions said Friday they would call on European colleagues to mobilise to save the over-budget Airbus A400M military plane project from being scrapped.
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02/12/2010
The Boeing Company, industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency on Feb. 11 successfully demonstrated the speed, precision and breakthrough potential of directed-energy weapons when the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) engaged and destroyed a boosting ballistic missile.
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02/12/2010
Bangladesh has vowed to buy a squadron of new fighters and has resumed efforts to purchase two maritime patrol aircraft.
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02/12/2010
On 29 January 2010, the Sukhoi PAK-FA, which could variously be described as a technology demonstrator, the first prototype of the future T-50 fighter, or an intermediate step between the two, took to the air for the first time from the freezing runway of Dzemgi Air Force Base (shared with the KnAAPO plant) at Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East Siberia. A fundamental step has at last been accomplished in the development of the long-expected Russian response to the American F-22 RAPTOR a
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02/12/2010
Leaders of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program are partnering with U.S. and international aerospace leaders, including Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. These three primary partners are supported by up to 600 suppliers. In all, the parties involved in the production of the F-35 reside in more than 30 countries, spanning 17 time zones.
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02/12/2010
The European EADS aerospace group, which controls Airbus, will begin to wind down development of the A400M military transport plane if an agreement on budget overruns is not agreed with partner governments by Monday, a report said here Thursday.
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02/12/2010
The great Indian arms bazaar is thriving. From fighters and helicopters to submarines and howitzers, India's never-ending hunger for military hardware and software continues to attract global armament companies in hordes.
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02/12/2010
Boeing today announced that it has formally signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the India-based manufacturer to provide weapons bay doors for eight P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft that will be delivered to the Indian navy.
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02/11/2010
Much of this strategic partnership between France and Brazil is due to the latter's desire to remain flexible and not solely dependent on US suppliers, plus the former's eagerness to find additional takers for the products of its expensively maintained military industrial complex, as tight international competition and varying price ranges have recently led many traditional French clients to shop with different vendors.
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02/11/2010
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reopened talks to purchase South Korea's T-50 supersonic trainer aircraft, following stalled negotiations to acquire Italy's M-346 trainer jets, defense procurement officials here said Thursday.
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02/11/2010
According to media reports India has recently embarked on the most ambitious air power modernisation programme in its entire history. The proposals include the 126 MMRCA for US $10 billion, ten C-17 heavy lift transport aircraft worth $2.4 billion, eight Boeing P8I LRMP (for the Navy) worth $2.1 billion, six Lockheed Martin C-130J for $962 million, six second-hand Sea King helicopters (for the Navy) and a whole host of other equipment including many helicopters for the Indian Army. There are als
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02/11/2010
Russian will supply Vietnam with 12 Su-30MK2 fighter jets under a 1 billion-U.S. dollar arms deal, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.
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02/10/2010
On 29 January 2010, the Sukhoi PAK-FA (Perspektivnyi Aviatsionnyi Kompleks Frontovoi Aviatsy, literally "Future Front line Aircraft System"), which could variously be described as a technology demonstrator, the first prototype of the future T-50 fighter, or an intermediate step between the two, took to the air for the first time from the freezing runway of Dzemgi Air Force Base (shared with the KnAAPO plant) at Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East Siberia. A fundamental step has at last b
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02/10/2010
It is among the U.S. Air Force’s most finite resources, but the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is still growing in capabilities, and it’s an aircraft America is happy to allow an ally to use.
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02/10/2010
Even as China now openly talks of setting up naval bases abroad, and for one reason or the other has been increasing its naval footprint in the Indian Ocean Region, India has now decided to upgrade two fighter bases in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
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02/10/2010
Lockheed Martin has formally delivered the 50th MH-60R helicopter, fully equipped for its mission to protect the U. S. Navy fleet from hostile submarines and surface ships.
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02/10/2010
Boeing will present world-class products and services including the F/A-18IN Super Hornet, C-17 Globemaster III, P-8I, AH-64D Apache and CH-47F Chinook to Indian government officials, military officers, and other valued stakeholders at Defexpo 2010. The exhibition takes place Feb. 15-18 at the Pragati Maidan complex in New Delhi.
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02/09/2010
Russia has begun flying a stealthy fifth-generation fighter to rival the U.S. F-22, but Western analysts question whether Sukhoi can develop and deliver the aircraft by 2015 as promised.
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02/09/2010
Lockheed Martin Corp, the world’s biggest aerospace company, is keen to supply India with defence equipment including fighters and ships, in deals Indian defence sources say are potentially worth $20 billion.
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02/09/2010
Currently two of the most sought after contracts for American and European aviation contractors are the new Indian and Brazilian fighters. The two contests have been underway now for over a year with companies like Boeing; Lockheed Martin; Rafael of France; MiG of Russia; Sweden’s SAAB and the European consortium Eurofighter all challenging each other for these deals. With the domestic market in the United States committed to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Europe finishing their buy of Eurofi
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02/09/2010
Boeing has eliminated the distinctive canted tails from the early prototype and production configuration of the proposed stealthy Silent Eagle version of the F-15.
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02/09/2010
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force have successfully connected a virtual pilot training platform through the Distributed Mission Operations Network.
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02/09/2010
Iran started on Monday production of two domestically-developed unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering high-precision bombing strikes and performing reconnaissance missions, the Fars news agency said.
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02/09/2010
Lockheed Martin Corporation and Kaman Aerospace Corporation, a subsidiary of Kaman Corporation [NASDAQ GS: KAMN] have successfully demonstrated to the U.S. Marine Corps the capability of the Unmanned K-MAX® helicopter to resupply troops by unmanned helicopter at forward operating bases in Afghanistan.
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02/09/2010
Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company, has been awarded a $1.5 million contract for the provision of engineering support services for the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) fleet of F/A-18A/B Hornet aircraft.
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02/08/2010
China is outfitting a new attack helicopter with a European engine despite export restrictions put in place after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. The move comes as European officials push hard for lifting restrictions on defense exports to China.
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02/08/2010
Brazil's government denied Thursday it had made a final decision to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France after a news report said the planes' maker, Dassault, had lopped two billion dollars off their price. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "still has not decided on the selection process," the state news agency Agencia Brasil said.
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02/08/2010
British forces are relying increasingly on unmanned drones to attack targets in Afghanistan, mirroring controversial tactics used by the US.
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02/07/2010
41st Airlift Squadron loadmaster Staff Sgt. Lindsey Thornton had the honor of flying with local Singapore media, the Brunei Minister of Defence and Jori Haji Abdullah, the Commander of the Royal Brunei Air Force aboard his aircraft which has been the highlight of his crew's trip to Singapore.
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02/07/2010
The US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, met Saturday in Ankara with the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan.
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02/06/2010
The Taiwan Air Force said Friday it would buy three Eurocopters for search and rescue operations, the first arms deal with Europe since the sale of Mirage warplanes and Lafayette frigates in the 1990s. "We invited international tenders. The Eurocopter Group won the bid because its price was lower than our bottom price," air force press officer Yin Shih-hsien said by phone.
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02/06/2010
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) is in talks with seven customers outside the U.S. to sell 35 C130J transport planes and will ramp up its production to meet demand, an executive told Dow Jones on Tuesday.
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02/06/2010
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in no uncertain terms today that if Congress attempts to put back money for the C-17, the military cargo plane built in Boeing’s Long Beach plant, he will recommend to his boss, President Barack Obama, that he vetoes the whole defense spending bill.
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02/06/2010
The seven governments behind the troubled Airbus A400M military airlifter program Friday called for a "rapid conclusion" to their negotiations with the military aircraft division of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.
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02/06/2010
Boeing Co. said Japan may initiate a contract to procure a new fleet of 40 fighter jets as early as next month, a potential opportunity to sell its F-15 or Super Hornet models.
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02/05/2010
Brazil's government denied Thursday it had made a final decision to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France after a news report said the planes' maker, Dassault, had lopped two billion dollars off their price.
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02/05/2010
Far from being satisfied with a $6.4 billion arms package proposed by Washington last week, Taiwan said on Wednesday it wants more weapons, and more advanced ones at that, a move sure to further infuriate China.
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02/05/2010
Indian Air Force's multi-role Su-30 MKI fighters could be armed with supersonic cruise missiles by 2012, giving them the capability to strike ground targets from stand-off distance.
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02/05/2010
South Korea will supply eight ageing, ground-attack aircraft free to Peru to try to encourage arms deals with Central and South American nations, defence officials said Thursday.
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02/05/2010
Top Pentagon leaders on Wednesday underscored their commitment to the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program and challenged some of the arguments Boeing Co is hoping could help it sell more of its F/A-18 fighters before production of the F-35 gets into full swing.
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02/05/2010
Lockheed Martin has received a U.S. Air Force contract valued at $243.5 million for an eighth production lot of the JASSM cruise missile. The award brings the total contracted quantities of the cruise missile to over 1200.
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02/05/2010
Boeing connected the F-22 Mission Training Center (MTC) at Langley Air Force Base, Va., to the U.S. Air Force's Distributed Mission Operations Network (DMON) in November, allowing F-22 pilots at the base to train virtually with pilots in other aircraft platforms for the first time. The MTC at Langley is the first of four F-22 training centers that Boeing will link to the network over the next three years.
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02/04/2010
On Jan. 29, a Russian pilot conducted a test flight of the first warplane entirely designed and built by Russian companies since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The plane, formally known as the Prospective Aircraft Complex of Frontline Aviation (PAK FA), is manufactured by the state-owned Sukhoi aircraft corporation. Russian sources describe the PAK FA as the first fifth-generation multi-role fighter/attack warplane built outside the United States, but some analysts doubt it meets that categ
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02/04/2010
Malaysia, which had ordered four Airbus A400M military transport aircraft, is likely to receive its orders on time, according to Airbus Military defence capability marketing vice-president Peter Scoffham.
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02/04/2010
As mechanized forces bog down in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan, low-tech solutions to problems become more attractive. One of these is the use of small, simple aircraft to replace jets for the close air support (CAS), armed reconnaissance and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions that dominate air operations.
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02/04/2010
A swath of Asia-Pacific states is in the throes of revamping their fighter inventories. As a result, Western and Russian manufacturers are either wrestling to sustain market share or vying with rival fighter builders in traditional client markets.
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02/04/2010
A Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter today became the fifth F-35 to begin flight operations.
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02/04/2010
The Boeing Company today announced that it has been awarded a $324 million Foreign Military Sales contract from the Electronics Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., to upgrade France's fleet of four E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, as well as the fleet's ground system.
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02/04/2010
Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company, today announced that Project Vigilare, a Network Centric Command and Control System (NC3S) solution for Australia, recently completed its first data transmission with a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft using Link 16.
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02/03/2010
Ministers are expected to meet again in Berlin on Thursday, after talks between the countries and the company broke down last week. Airbus had set a deadline of January 31 to reach a resolution.
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02/03/2010
Lockheed Martin Corp said on Tuesday it was working closely with the Pentagon to ensure its $300 billion F-35 fighter jet program met, or beat, new schedule and cost targets after a Pentagon shake-up.
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02/03/2010
Singapore’s choice of an advanced jet training system is due next month and could be crucial to the future export prospects of Italy’s M-346 Master and Korea’s T-50 Golden Eagle. These dissimilar training jets have been bid here by rival prime contractors, ST Aero and Lockheed Martin, respectively. The decision here is likely to influence the United Arab Emirates, which notably failed last November to confirm its previously announced selection of the M-346 over the T-50.
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02/03/2010
What Tejas wants, Tejas gets. The much-delayed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme will get an additional funding of Rs 8,000 crore.
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02/03/2010
Russia's fifth-generation fighter performed its maiden flight on Friday.
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02/02/2010
Sudanese Air Force has been deploying Russian fixed- and rotary-wing platforms for conventional warfare and counter-insurgency operations, according to worldtribune.com .
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02/02/2010
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that he was replacing the general in charge of the Pentagon’s largest weapons program — the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter — and withholding $614 million in award fees from the contractor, Lockheed Martin.
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02/02/2010
U.S. Defense officials outlined plans to double production of unmanned aircraft, part of an expanded 2011 budget unveiled Monday that emphasizes the importance of international hot spots and natural disasters as well as large-scale warfare, as provided under a new strategy document.
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02/02/2010
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. announced a billion-dollar venture Monday that it hopes will respond to military demand for technology to fight two wars, including Black Hawk helicopters that can see and fly on their own.
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02/02/2010
On December 29, 2010, a prototype Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter took off on its maiden flight at 11.19 a.m. in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia's Far East.
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02/01/2010
Lockheed Martin has received $59 million from the U.S. Air Force for additional Sniper® Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP). This order represents the second increment on the U.S. Air Force’s Sniper ATP Lot 9 contract, originally awarded in September 2009, bringing the total value of the Lot 9 buy to $95 million.
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02/01/2010
A Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter crash in the Far East earlier this month was likely caused by pilot error, a source close to the investigation said on Saturday.
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02/01/2010
Training is underway at the Swedish Armed Forces Technical school in Halmstad and will continue until the end of the year. The technical training also includes a On the Job Training (OJT) part at the Swedish Air Force Wings F 7 in Såtenäs and F 17 in Ronneby. As part of their training, technicians spent time at Saab’s Gripen manufacturing hub in Linköping. The technicians’ training programme forms part of Thailand’s 2008 procurement contract for six Gripen fighter jets.
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02/01/2010
Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) today welcomed the first class of C-17 Globemaster III student pilots at RAAF Base Amberley.
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02/01/2010
A prototype of Russia’s first stealth fighter successfully completed its long-delayed maiden flight Friday, receiving a warm welcome from government officials who hope that the jet will become a new centerpiece for its aging air fleet.
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02/01/2010
IAF is all set to conduct a high-voltage firepower exercise to showcase its `shock and awe' capabilities to both domestic as well as international audiences.
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