June 02, 2011 Military Aviation News
06/02/2011
The Marine Corps confirmed Thursday that it plans to replace helicopters based at Futenma air station on Okinawa with the new Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, a move that could complicate already tense U.S.-Japan relations involving the island. The Ospreys could begin arriving at Futenma in 2013 as part of a worldwide effort to upgrade the Marine Corps’ aging fleet of Vietnam War-era Sea Knight helicopters, according to the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Bases Japan public affairs o
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06/02/2011
When France sold the Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missile to the UAE (under the name Black Shaheen) in the 1990s, the United States strongly objected that the sale violated the voluntary guidelines under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). France sold the missile anyway, but the US successfully pushed to tighten up MTCR guidelines in 2002 to prevent further transfers like this.
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06/02/2011
The Czech army has ordered the grounding of its nine jet trainer and combat aircraft, the L-39 Albatros, following an accident investigation into a engine failure that forced the pilot to eject in December 2010. Five of the planes will be immediately removed from service and a further four only used for training young pilots — after thorough overhauls of the engines.
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06/02/2011
An Australian Army Boeing CH-47D Chinook transport helicopter has crashed in Afghanistan, killing one passenger and injuring the five other occupants. The incident occurred during a resupply mission 90km (48nm) east of the central Afghan town of Tarin Kot, said Australia's Department of Defence. Ground fire has been ruled out as the cause of the crash, it added.
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06/02/2011
Can America’s defense budget be cut? Yes. Unfortunately, President Obama is going about it exactly backward. He has asked the Pentagon to identify $400 billion in savings. But coming up with an arbitrary figure and telling our military to find some way to hit it isn’t the smart — or safe — way to make the necessary cuts.
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06/02/2011
Russia and NATO fighter aircraft will take part in the first ever joint exercise during the upcoming Vigilant Skies 2011 anti-terrorism drill to run between June 6-10, Russian National Antiterrorism Committee spokesman Nikolai Sintsov said on Wednesday. This is the first such counterterrorism exercise held between NATO and the Russian Federation, Sintsov said, adding that it will be held as a part of "the NATO-Russia Council Cooperative Airspace Initiative."
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06/02/2011
Russia may start buying Ukrainian-built An-70 propfan military transport aircraft in 2012-2013, deputy commander of the Russian Air Force Maj. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said on Wednesday. "The plane is undergoing factory tests, and next year it will be tested by [Russian] military pilots," Bondarev said. A final decision on the purchase of the An-70 will be maid by a state commission on the basis of the tests results, General Bondarev said.
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