March 13, 2013 Military Aviation News
03/13/2013
The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, made the astounding admission today that 12 JAS 39 Gripen Advanced Light Fighter jets, which were purchased as part of the Arms Deal more than a decade ago, and cost billions of rands in public funds, are in long-term storage.
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03/13/2013
Soon after taking over as Communist Party and military chief, Xi Jinping launched a series of speeches referring to "The China Dream." It was music to the ears of Col. Liu Mingfu of the People's Liberation Army. Three years ago, the former professor at its National Defense University wrote a book of the same name, arguing that China should aim to surpass the U.S. as the world's top military power and predicting a marathon contest for global dominion.
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03/13/2013
The flap over the U.S. Air Force choosing for a second time a Brazilian aircraft for its Light Air Support program appears unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. The Sierra Nevada Corp., in partnership with Embraer Defense and Security, said they are moving ahead with plans to produce A-20 Super Turcano aircraft in Florida for the LAS program.
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03/13/2013
The $397 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will not be ready to go into operation until at least 2019, 23 years after the Pentagon signed a contract in 1996 with Lockheed Martin to produce just fewer than 2,500 of the aircraft for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, according to a new report.
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03/13/2013
After more than a decade of waiting for a new search-and-rescue plane, the military today is barely a step closer to flying one — and, that, says Defence Minister Peter MacKay, is not his fault. "I will express to you ... no small degree of frustration that we have not been able to move this project forward," MacKay said at a news conference Tuesday in Ottawa.
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03/13/2013
Top Pentagon officials on Tuesday underscored their support for the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter, saying they would try to protect funding for the most expensive U.S. weapons program despite continued U.S. budget uncertainty and cost over-runs. The $396 billion program is already seven years behind schedule and 70 percent over initial cost estimates.
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03/13/2013
The armed forces and the military industrial complex must listen to each other and keep their sights on the future, rather than the existing weaponry, Vladimir Putin told a meeting dedicated to the development of combat aviation at the Novosibirsk Aircraft Plant.
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03/13/2013
Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and the Defense Ministry are in talks over a deal for new Ilyushin Il-78 Midas aerial refueling tankers for the Russian Air Force, UAC said on Tuesday. The aerospace holding declined to say when a deal might be signed or on what terms.
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