December 31, 2011 Military Aviation News
12/31/2011
The Indian defense procurement bureaucracy has struck again. Despite over a decade of pressure from the Indian Air Force to obtain new trainers, new basic flight training aircraft have still not been obtained. As a result, trainee pilots are only getting 25 hours of flight time before going off to train on a specific type of aircraft (fighter, transport, helicopter). These trainees are supposed to get 75 hours before moving up to the advanced trainers and service aircraft. This problem has been
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12/31/2011
All six crewmen aboard a Sudanese military helicopter were killed when it crash-landed and burned in North Kordofan state on Friday, the army said. Fire broke out because of a "technical problem" aboard the Russian-made aircraft three minutes after takeoff from a base at El Obeid, the state capital, army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told AFP.
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12/31/2011
The year has been a rollercoaster ride for the CIA -- incredible highs coupled with significant lows. But those dramatic ups and downs also underscored how intelligence is evolving and the agency is changing to keep pace. Keeping secrets is becoming more difficult and what the agency does is sometimes more visible.
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12/31/2011
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer Friday won a Defense Department contract to manufacturer military aircraft in Jacksonville. The contact, totaling $355 million, represents 50 high-wage jobs initially at an Embraer facility at Jacksonville International Airport. Mayor Alvin Brown, who lobbied heavily for the contract, said the company could begin hiring in January.
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12/31/2011
The Air Force has bought a new hunter-killer aircraft that is the fastest and largest armed drone in its fleet. The Avenger, which cost the military $15 million, is the latest version of the Predator drones made by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., a San Diego-area company that also builds the robotic MQ-9 Reapers for the Air Force and CIA.
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12/31/2011
In an effort to provide virtual war simulated training to new recruits, the Ministry of Defense has proposed the development of war games along the lines of popular commercial versions like Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3. The British Military is expected to benefit from the cheap production costs of war games compared to actual weapons training with aircraft, tanks and explosive rounds.
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12/31/2011
Sierra Nevada and its major partner Embraer have been awarded a firm-fixed price contract for $355.1 million for the U.S. Air Force’s Light Air Support (LAS) aircraft program; but competitor Hawker Beechcraft indicated it will continue to fight the move in court.
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12/31/2011
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma told India Strategic in an interview that the Navy was satisfied with the progress of the first eight Indian P8-Is being built by Boeing under a 2009 order and that the second order for four more aircraft was being processed to be placed within the current fiscal ending March 2012.
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12/31/2011
Mexico bought three Russian Mi-17V-5 tactical transport helicopters, an informed source in the Mexican military circles told RIA Novosti on Saturday. The Mexican navy ministry, which along with defense ministry is charged with efforts against drug trafficking and organized crime, signed a contract with Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport on December 22.
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12/31/2011
The U.S. Army is almost ready to deploy to Afghanistan a new rotary-wing surveillance drone, the Boeing A160T Hummingbird, equipped with a cutting-edge 1.8-gigapixel camera, the army says. Three drones, or unmanned air vehicles (UAV) in military jargon, will be deployed to Afghanistan in May or June, after they complete flight testing in Arizona at the beginning of the year, said the US Army's project manager for unmanned air systems modernization, Lt. Col. Matthew Munster.
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