January 25, 2013 Military Aviation News
01/25/2013
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has completed painting the first of two Tunisian Air Force C-130J-30 Super Hercules. Tunisia currently operates a fleet of C-130Hs and C-130Bs, first purchased in the mid-1980s. The new C-130Js will support Tunisian operations across the mission spectrum, including relief efforts around the world, firefighting and traditional airlift sorties. The first aircraft is due for delivery later this year.
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01/25/2013
The fighters from Sweden flew into town a few days ago, landing at Nellis Air Force Base after a 15-hour journey across the Atlantic, the American heartland and, finally, darting down from above the Rockies. With the help of state-of-the-art U.S. Air Force KC-10 air tankers, each of the eight Saab JAS-39 Gripen (pronounced "Gree-pen") fighter jets refueled a dozen times to make it to Nellis for this week's Red Flag air combat training exercise.
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01/25/2013
“Once bitten, twice shy” appears to mean nothing to Moscow in doing business with Beijing.
Russia was badly burned by China a decade ago after an agreement to build the Sukhoi Su-27/J-11A in China ended up being reverse-engineered by Shenyang Aircraft Corp. as the J-11B fighter. China’s decision to ignore intellectual property rights (IPRs) in the Su-27 deal ended further production of the fighter in 2004.
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01/25/2013
The fallout from the Conservative government’s F-35 purchase is being blamed for yet another military equipment project going off the rails. Public Works and Government Services Canada rejected all the bids from companies for a project to outfit soldiers with a futuristic system of sensors that would better allow them to communicate and find their way on the battlefield.
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01/25/2013
The Russian Air Force has decided to go back to pattern type camouflage paint jobs on its combat aircraft. The recently resigned defense minister had ordered all combat aircraft to be painted one of several shades of gray. This saved money because the aircraft did not have to be repainted to a different camouflage pattern if it was transferred to another part of the country.
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01/25/2013
China is unlikely to use the KJ-2000 or KJ-200 as airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft on its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, due to weight, size, and other factors. The Liaoning needs a type of medium-sized AEW aircraft that do not occupy much space, military expert Du Wenlong said in an interview with China Central Television on January 19.
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01/25/2013
French warplanes destroyed two Islamist bases in northern Mali as a leading Al-Qaeda-linked group in the region split Thursday, with the breakaway group saying it wanted talks to end the French-led offensive against the militants. The bombing raids overnight targeted Ansongo, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the town of Gao and extremist bases in the nearby village of the Seyna Sonrai, a Malian military source said on condition of anonymity.
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01/25/2013
Japan scrambled fighter jets against Chinese planes far more frequently in the last quarter of 2012, underscoring growing concerns that the territorial dispute between the two nations is escalating into more dangerous tensions in the sky. The increase shows Tokyo is responding aggressively to Chinese planes entering areas inside and outside of what Japan considers its airspace over the East China Sea.
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01/25/2013
Typhoon fighter jets have been scrambled to intercept Russian military planes almost 30 times in the past three years, the Government said tonight. RAF Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) aircraft were launched eight times last year, 10 times in 2011 and 11 times in 2010 after Russian military aircraft approached or entered the Nato air policing airspace which the United Kingdom patrols.
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01/25/2013
Four private companies are interested in the purchase of eight unused L-159 fighters from the Czech military, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes Wednesday. A special Defence Ministry commission will secretly assess and evaluate their bids Wednesday, LN writes. The Czech Aero Vodochody aviation technology maker can be expected to have the biggest chances, it adds.
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01/25/2013
Canada is extending its air support for the military intervention to drive al-Qaeda’s regional affiliate and its allies from Mali. The Canadian government will contribute its heavy-lift C-17 transport plane for more than three additional weeks, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Thursday.
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